#Ah - and - for the record - this is the team I took into the final battle. It seemed appropriate. They were here from the beginning. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

astaroth1357 · 3 years

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Demigod MC Series: Athena

So. I have to deal with the virgin goddesses… By mythos, there really shouldn't ever be children of Artemis, Hestia, or Athena (yes, Athena was a virgin goddess). PJ got past that by making it canon that Annabeth and her siblings were born from cracking open Athena's skull (yes, that's also more or less the canon explanation). They gloss over it real quick but I remember, Rick. I've always remembered and that mental image has haunted me for years...

I can't, in good conscience, ignore the history around Athena's worship (call it an academic restraint) but I REFUSE to do the skull thing. So, since I make the rules here, I'm going with magic adoption. They still get magic powers, they're just more human than demigod. Cool? Cool.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena

Lucifer

The human that popped out of the portal seemed to have enough sense not to attack everyone in the room for a change, but even Lucifer could tell that was more of a strategic choice than for lack of ability...

Their very existence was highly unusual… and quite worrisome. He wasn't even aware Athena could have "children" of her own, but apparently she had been taking in some particularly bright humans to raise and train like her own...

Unbeknownst to him, a surprising amount of human scholars, diplomats, and generals have her to thank for their trade… and that alone should speak to the level of intrigue at play here.

Was this an accident or Athena's attempt to plant an Olympian spy in the Devildom too…? Either way, he didn't trust them from the get go…

Look, Lucifer isn’t stupid. Athena is a goddess of Wisdom and War and war happens on more than just the battlefield…

Since they've shown up records have been going missing, official documents keep getting misplaced, and he swears that there's some kind of bug in the student council room...!

It's infuriating watching the MC suck up to Diavolo when he's almost certain that they're running their own agenda behind the scenes! And he can't prove any of it!! They cover their tracks too well!

Lucifer has one of those corkboards covered in newspapers and string in a secret wing of the Castle - 100% dedicated to just tracking the MC's activities…. The longer they're there, the more obsessed he becomes...

He swears between Simeon, Solomon, and MC he feels like a shepherd wondering why the sheep are growling… The Devildom has never been in more danger than it is right now... Send help.

Mammon

To be honest, he kind of thought that they were just going to be Satan 2.0 but that's not really true.

They're more than just a book sponge! Though they do read, like a lot. Let’s just say from one schemer to another… Game recognizes Game.

They come up with plans and ideas soooo fast, it’s insane! Honestly, there are times where he has a new money-making plot and he just brings it to the MC first to run it over.

Nine times out of ten, not only do they sniff out any problems but they have a solution for him in a matter of minutes! His scheme game has been on point since they’ve shown up!!

They’re also even better tutoring than Satan is, so he’s even managed to get a couple A’s for the first time in his life! Lucifer actually told him he was proud (which he secretly recorded and now uses as a ringtone much to his brother’s regret...)

So yeah, he likes them... buuut that doesn’t keep him from thinking they act a little weird sometimes...

Mammon: *points to a unused tower close to the RAD building* Over there is the Tower of Sorrow. We use it for storage.

MC: Ah. Interesting… *starts writing in a notebook, muttering* It may need a few minor tweaks but the location is defensible...

Mammon: *stops* Ya say somethin’?

MC: *looks back up* Nope! Say, you’ve been to the Castle a lot haven’t you? Do you know any good ways in?

Mammon: Uhm… Why do ya want to know that…? *starts looking around for Lucifer*

MC: In case of emergencies. I like being prepared. 🙂

Mammon: Look, I don’t know what Lucifer might’a told ya…

MC: I’ll pay you a thousand Grimm for it.

Mammon: Well shit, ya want those maps with or without color?

... Yeeeah, that’s pretty weird… But it’s probably fine. I mean, as long as they keep giving him money, who’s he to complain? 🤷‍♀️

Leviathan

Also thought that they’d be a lot more like Satan but was pleasantly surprised that they were into more than books.

What else did they like exactly? Military strategy!!

It’s been a looong time since he’s been able to talk to someone who’s actually interested in all the battles he’s fought, both in the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, and their curiosity is kind of flattering...! Not a lot of people take his strategic prowess all that seriously anymore...

Plus, they are the BEST partner to have any turn-based strategy game. Hands down. He once got stuck on a level of D-COM for weeks until the MC walked in and mopped the floor with the AI!! They have a serious head for probability and tactics.

The House once made the mistake of letting these two be on the same team during a Hell Game and they absolutely demolished the competition. Mammon didn’t even get a single shot off before half his team was lost to a rigged paint grenade… It took a whole day to clean up…

However, Levi’s also noticed some odd things about the human… He likes that they’re interested in his past but maybe they’re a little… too interested?

Levi: -and that’s how we defeated the Four Horsemen before they escaped from Purgatory.

MC: Wow, Levi that’s seriously impressive!! *furiously scribbling on a notebook*

Levi: Well t-thanks… 😅 But, uhm... are you writing that down…?

MC: Hm? Oh no, just doodling. *they lift up the notebook to show a bunch of cute little sketches on the page… and not the magic-based invisible ink all over them…*

Levi: Oh you draw too? Can you do fanart???

MC: Eh, sometimes. But say Levi, can you tell me about your naval ranks again? I’m still really curious… *gets the pen ready again with a smile*

Satan

Oh, it's been a long game of cat-and-mouse between these two… and unfortunately, it’s been pretty addicting too.

He honestly had every intention of tricking the human into making a huge mess do he could bother Lucifer, but at every turn they proved just a hair too clever for him...

He once gave them a cursed book to “lend” to Lucifer, but they saw through it the moment they touched it and lifted the spell before handing it over.

He rigged a podium to spray glitter during one of Lucifer's speeches but the MC disconnected the trigger mic before he even got on stage. It was pretty dang frustrating...

At one point he got so desperate that, just as a test, he tried to trap them in the House's Music Room. Fortunately for them, it only took a few minutes to work out an escape. They even passed by him in the hallway with a wink!

It's confounding! It's infuriating!!

...and it's so damn sexy... He should be furious but he’s just in awe!!

Add on that they know their art, literature, and multiple different crafts thanks to the tutelage of their adopted mother and that’s it. He’s finished. This boy is in love.

Truthfully though, a part of him is 90% sure that they’re also gathering state secrets… Like, they’re watching Barbs and Diavolo far too close for comfort - but he just can't bring himself to care. 🤷‍♀️

The MC could walk into his room one day and say, "Hey, do you want to help overthrow the monarchy with me?" and he dreads it because deep down he knows that he wouldn’t say no…

Take some notes, kids. Some bad influences get you to drink or do drugs. Others pull you into a centuries long conspiracy to destabilize and topple rival realms from within… But he has fallen for their brain hard. Devil help them all…

Asmodeus

They’re pretty clever, he’ll give them that, but uh… Are they a little off to anybody else?

Asmo is a charmer by birthright so he has a bit of nose for when someone’s just a liiittttle too nice… Not much of a nose mind you, because he can be thrown off by compliments himself, but enough to think that the MC might be a little too… “kind” for their own good...

First off, who wants to spend that much time with Levi?? They don’t even seem that interested in anime! They just keeping asking him for old war stories…

Then all the sucking up they do to Diavolo and Barbatos? Look, he gets it. Diavolo is a delicious piece of man-hunk and his butler could give him a lesson or two in sweet-talk (and he has), but they seem to be just a little too… nosy.

Of course, Asmo’s suspicions disappear pretty quickly after they start to spoil him with spa nights and beauty secrets they picked up from “casual research” into the subject.

And you know, get a little Demonus in Asmo and start massaging his back? Oh, sweetie he’ll sing like a bird!! … with gossip. Singing with gossip.

Asmo: So I’ve heard that Lucifer has been spending more time at RAD than usual… His whole club is talking about it, they think he’s meeting with some witch!

MC: Hm, is that so? *works on a knot near his shoulder blades* What do you think?

Asmo: Ooh~! Right there, MC! *purrs and lays his head on his arms* Well come on, this is Lucifer we’re talking about! I’m sure he’s just working.

Asmo: Hmm... though come to think of it, I think I heard him asking Barbatos for the spare keys to the Tower of Sorrow…

MC: Oh really? Huh. *works out the knot and gets up* I just remembered that I left some papers with Satan... I’ll be right back.

Asmo: You’re going already??

MC: *waves him off quickly* I’ll be right back, Asmo. *hurries out the door to do totally on-the-up-and-up things… surely*

Beelzebub

Honestly he doesn't like this one… But not for the reasons you'd expect.

He agrees with everyone else that they seem a little shady, but Solomon and Simeon are too so it's not like that's anything new... 🤷‍♀️

No, no. He dislikes them because they're the person who FINALLY figured out how to keep him from eating all the food in the kitchen!!

Turns out that the trick was to put a teleportation charm on the fridge door that would send all the food away if it’s opened after a certain time of night…

And where does it go? The Purgatory Hall fridge. And where does the Purgatory Hall food go…? The HoL fridge…

It doesn’t sound so bad until you remember that it means half of their fridge is now Solomon’s leftovers…. 🤢

After they put the same kind of spell on the pantry, it was all over… He couldn't get midnight snacks from the House anymore… Everything was contaminated by Solomon…

The MC is a nice enough person, he doesn’t have a lot of complaints about them, but he wants them to leave. Now. This is inexcusable… He’s so hungry… and he doesn’t want to die by “goulash” or whatever Solomon calls his latest culinary catastrophe… He’s still too young for death… 😓

Belphegor

In a way, he absolutely could not have asked for a better person to help him get out of that attic.

… In another way, he got one of the worst possible people to try and kill... Like. They saw through his scheme sooo fast…

How was he supposed to know that the human had training in body language and sniffing out lies???

Getting the door open was a piece of cake for them. They knew enough magic to undo the seals and just rummaged around Lucifer's stuff long enough to find the key to the door. He could not have found a more competent individual for a break out, really.

It’s just… well he didn’t expect to go from locked in a room like a prisoner to tied up in enchanted rope, still like a prisoner but now mobile. 😑

They even used his own hug ruse against him! They caught his wrists when they got close and tied him up before he could shake them off...

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the best look for them either - what with walking Belphegor downstairs to the others like a one-man-prison-caravan but they're as silver-tongued as they are sly so they talked their way out of it beautifully…

And like hell was he going to trust them after that!! And not even Beel liked them so something had to be up...

Well, you want a detective? Look no farther than Belphie (no seriously, it’s in the canon). He can put things together pretty fast when he puts his mind to it and watching the MC for a while gave him enough proof to work off of...

He always knew that, humans were bad news and the MC just proved it to him all over again. They are bad news, bad bad news and they’re going to-!

Overthrow… Diavolo…? Is that what he is getting from them…? Huh…

Wait a second, MC. You might just have him interested… 😏

#you say athena mc is smart #i say athena mc is spy #because where better to use your smarts #in war #obey me #obey me shall we date #shall-we-date-obey-me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me demigods

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sup-hoes-its-me · 3 years

Note

I have a Shikamaru request! It’s a bit long winded so dust with me 😊. Shikamaru is assigned to protect reader who is the last of her clan that a lot is not known about. (So he also has the secret mission of finding our more about the clan and their abilities). They end up falling for each-other (of course). And after reader finds out she is pregnant she learns that Shikamaru was meant to learn about her. I’m seeing some angsty fluffy goodness! And hopefully a happy ending. 🥰

Healing You (Shikamaru x Reader)

A/N: Thank you for your request! These long detailed ones are perfect and give me just enough information to give you the perfect story. I skipped the pregnancy part because im not totally comfortable with that...hopefully you still enjoy.

word count: 5500

Shikamaru had been anticipating this mission for a while. The Hokage told him it was of utmost importance to be ready at any time for this clan princess to show up. He was expected to drop all other missions or plans to escort this woman, whoever she was across the country to her homeland deep within Frost country. He wasn’t expecting much, actually he was expecting probably the worst client ever.

For someone to request escort at the drop of a hat like that, someone with enough money to do so as well... Shikamaru could only assume they were an asshole of the highest caliber. Probably some old woman or a spoiled little child, someone he definitely would not get along with for a month long mission just the two of them. He could remember the urgency in Kakashi’s tone when he assigned the mission, the amount of trust behind his words.

Shikamaru walked into the office casually, hands shoved deep in his pants pockets. Kakashi sat there alone at his desk, looking through paperwork and sifting through piles of white sheets, each with different names and faces. He must have thought long and hard about who he was to pick for this mission, the boy concluded.

This was going to be tiresome, he deduced quickly. Another tedious mission.

“Shikamaru, I have an important mission for you,” the man said clearly. “You can look through these files, if you want, but we don’t have any clear information on this one, I’m afraid.” He tossed over a folder full of records. Death receipts, birth certificates, first hand accounts of battles witnessed. He didn’t know what to make of what he was looking at other than a common last name running across the pages.

Hirawa.

“What is this about?” he questioned.

“In about a month's time, possibly longer, possibly shorter, I don’t have an exact date, you will escort Princess Y/N Hirawa, of the hidden Hirawa clan to the Land of Frost.”

“Who’s on my team?”

He shook his head at that question. “No one. This is a solo mission, and I’m entrusting you alone with this. It’s important you keep your mouth shut about all of this until we know it’s safe, for you and the princess.” Safe? Just what kind of mission was this anyway? Obviously it had something to do with this clan, not that he’d ever heard of them. “She has a bounty on her head, quite large at that. But we believe she can become the key to mastering some ninjutsu, particularly medical jutsu.”

“Well, what’s her clan’s kekkei genkai?”

“That’s what we don’t know, and for you to find out. All we know is that there's some dangerous people out there who want this power, and we need to protect her at all costs, you understand,” he stressed, and Shikamaru nodded. This wasn’t that big of a deal, he guessed. Protecting one girl from some rookie bounty hunters, not to mention he was being sent out alone. This was going to be a walk in the park.

The worst part of it all would be putting up with some troublesome girl for an entire month. Making conversation and having to pretend she wasn’t getting on his last nerve. That would tire him the most.

“Rumor has it, she was never able to awaken her ability, so I’m hoping you can help coax it out of her and see what we’re dealing with.”

“Of course. I’ll figure it out.”

“Good. I’m counting on you. You should take the files to look over in your free time, you’ll have lots of it before this mission. I have copies here for myself,” he motioned to another folder on her desk filled to the brim with papers just like the one he was holding. It was strange to have so much information at their fingertips, but not enough to put a description to their kekkei genkai. They must be secretive, similar to how the Uchiha hides their secrets on the stone tablet, or something.

He left the Sixth Hokage’s office and walked away to his home, where he could more closely go over the information in this folder, try to deduce something from all this random information. He would get to the bottom of this, he was a genius after all. Whether he had the help of this woman or not, he would figure it out for the Hokage.

And so, here he stood outside of Kakashi’s office with all his supplies packed in his bag, dressed for a long mission away from home. The princess had arrived. He was to meet her and then immediately they were supposed to leave off to her homeland.

The Anbu officer to his left opened the door, and motioned for him to walk in. So uptight for just a little meeting, was all this security really necessary, he wondered to himself. As he looked into the room, he spotted Kakashi standing along the window behind his desk with a smaller woman at his side, wrapped up in thick robes made of wool, embroidered with thick silver and white yarn.

Admittedly, her clothes looked incredibly expensive. He questioned how she wasn’t sweating bullets with the typical warm weather outside here in Konoha. He was expecting her to turn around, to be this hideous creature.

“Ah, Y/N, it seems your escort has arrived,” Kakashi hummed, placing a soft hand on the woman’s back as she turned around. When he finally got a good look at her face, he was taken aback, nearly enough to throw him off balance. She was decidedly the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life. Wrapped up in those blankets was a young woman, who couldn't be much older than he was, with piercing eyes that immediately cut through his.

Her hair fell just perfectly around her face to frame her features, the soft color suiting her eyes and skin perfectly. Her eyelashes flickered over her eyes a few times as she gazed over at him, and he felt swoon. She had the softest skin he’d ever seen combined with those mesmerizing eyes and the shape of her face which looked like it belonged cradled in his hands.

He felt this inert urge to run in the opposite direction from her, out the room and down the hall, back to home where he could catch his breath. He already knew his cheeks were turning bright red under her stare, and he could tell Kakashi was judging him with those dark eyes of his.

“It’s nice to meet you, Shikamaru Nara,” she hummed, and he felt faint. Even her voice was precious, almost like she was singing. He choked down his breaths, trying to keep his cool the best he could. It was uncharacteristic of him to act this way with a client. He was just her escort, not some pervert. They were going to live together for basically a month, he needed to get a grip on his emotions. “Your Hokage was telling me great things about you.”

“Oh, uh,” he paused, frozen without words to leave his lips, just an empty mind full of her image. He shook his head a bit, eyes now glaring down at the floorboards beneath him. “You too, Princess.”

“Please, just call me Y/N. Princess is just too formal for me,” she told him, waving off the title almost as quickly as it left his mouth. “Kakashi, it was nice getting to know you this morning, I hope to see you and your wonderful village again soon.”

“You’re welcome back whenever you like.”

She rounded the table and approached Shikamaru carefully, eyeing him down as she did so. She took in his appearance and his stance, the emotions she could see radiating off his person from his body language. From the looks of it, he simply appeared flustered and confused. Not exactly the most ideal for the situation at hand, but they would manage. Men usually had a similar reaction when they saw her for the first time, either they were in awe or they were trying to kidnap her.

He nodded in her direction and then to the Hokage before turning around and starting out the door, the girl following closely behind him. He could hear the swishing of her thick robes around her ankles, just barely skimming the floor. He still didn’t know her personality at all, but he wouldn’t mind looking at her once in a while on this trip.

“So, why are you heading to the Land of Frost?” he asked, and she sighed.

“One of the village elders is dying. They believe my kekkei genkai is the only way to reverse the incoming death, and its consequence on my people,” she explained.

“Why doesn’t another one of your clan members do it? Surely the rest of your family lives-”

“There is no one else. I am the last living Hirawa,” she told him simply, and he could sense a bit of ice dripping off her tongue at those words. How could she not be upset recalling the annihilation of her entire clan. “The problem is that I haven’t been able to awaken my kekkei genkai. I’m not sure what they want with a useless Hirawa like me.”

“Listen, I’m sorry about your clan, but calling yourself useless really isn’t-”

“How would you feel, Shikamaru, if you were the only person in the world with the ability to save a human being from their certain death and you couldn’t even activate that gift? You have to understand how that feels for me,” she told him solemnly, her head hung low as she walked toward the gates of the village right beside the boy. People looked at her as she moved through the village, they stared in awe at her clothes and her face and the unique glimmer in her eyes. And she cowered inward, tucking herself into her robes and the fur of her hood even further, away from the prying eyes of this village.

He stayed silent, not really knowing how to respond to what she’d said to him. The sadness and the anger in her tone, deep within her words, was immeasurable. She was in pain, a conflict with herself. He wasn’t going to get into that just yet. They’d only met a few minutes ago.

They left the village together and started on their journey. It was going to be a long month, that’s for sure.

________

It had been a week of walking through the forest already, days of sleeping on the ground beneath the stars, eating rations out of his bag over the fireplace. Originally, he thought this mission would be easy, that she seemed like a normal-ish girl who wouldn’t give him any trouble, but he was wrong.

She was too quiet. It was strange, walking with someone for hours without a single word shared between them. He tried to start up a conversation, and she would reply with one word answers, sometimes if he was lucky, two or three words. She rarely looked at him, choosing to either stare at the ground where she took each step, or up at the stars and the vastness of it all. She was lost in her own mind.

Every night, as they were falling asleep, he could hear her looking over at him, scanning his form for a sign that he was still awake. He would remain still, facing the opposite way on his side, head propped up on his bag. Then, when she thought she was safe, he would hear the sobs run through her weak form. She would shake and quiver, curling in on herself and crying out into the forest for only Shikamaru and the moon to hear.

He felt terrible for her, needless to say. The guilt he felt just from hearing her cries, and knowing her internal struggle was enough to make this trip difficult. His heart hurt for her, as strange as that was to say. Normally, it was easy to remain objective, but with Y/N, it was different. He felt attached. He felt like her problems were also his. It was maddening.

She laid on the ground beside him, the majority of her soup still in her bowl and her water bottle resting at her side. She stared up into the clouds, occasionally, her eyes would slide over to see what he was up to and then she would look back at the sky. “You need to eat. We have a lot of walking until we reach the next town, probably a week’s worth. I can’t carry you if you get too tired,” he told her, pushing her bowl closer to her side.

“You know, Shikamaru, sometimes I wonder why people like you Leaf nin even protect someone like me. What’s the point? I’m useless to you and the enemy,” she muttered hopelessly. He still pushed the soup closer until she sat up and took the bowl into her hands, taking a small sip from the spoon. “I just don’t get it. How can you call me princess when I’m just as normal as the next woman on the street?”

“Listen, I don’t know what anyone else has told you, but that’s a load of bullshit.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, just because you can’t access your abilities right now doesn’t make you useless. You’re still a person just like everyone else,” he explained, stabbing his spoon into his soup as he found himself getting a little worked up. He couldn’t stand this self-pitying bullshit from her. Yeah, she was sad and all, but she didn’t have to rub it into the wound like this.

She looked surprised at his words.

What did she expect him to say? That she was right and then just abandon her out in the woods? He was beginning to think this girl was just plain stupid.

“It’s just been impossible since the incident to think of anything else. I’m sorry for upsetting you,” she sighed, taking another sip of her now cold soup.

He questioned carefully. “What incident?” He was on a mission after all. To discover her clan secrets and bring them back to the village to study. Even if she was being emotional, he could still gather some intel.

She bit her lip, and looked up to the sky again, blinking back tears from gathering in the corners of her eyes. She took a few deep breaths before explaining herself. “The day my clan was massacred. The day that those people slaughtered my sensei in front of the entire village and then killed my parents.”

He paused, lifting his eyes to look at her. She was crying, as he expected, silent tears dripping from her eyes into her lap. But she was holding strong otherwise, not a falter in her voice or a catch in her breath. She wasn’t even shaking. She was really serious about keeping these emotions private, in the middle of the night where he couldn’t hear or see.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he assured, but she shook her head.

“I’m fine. I should talk about it anyway. I haven’t had a person to talk to in years, you know.” Sitting on her face was the saddest of all smiles, a weak attempt at remaining strong. She wiped at her eyes with her wrist and continued. “I’m not even sure why they wanted us all dead, but it had something to do with the war and my clan’s actions. They were barbaric. They slit the throat of my sensei in town square and we watched her blood drip across town while they carried her head.”

“Oh, damn.”

“I know,” she agreed, “As sick as it is to say, I’m glad they only stabbed my parents with a sword. We used to be royalty, it took them killing an entire army of soldiers to get to the throne room to kill them. I was only a child hiding in the curtains, I had to watch without making a sound. I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t even breathe, or they would have killed me too.”

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. That’s horrific.”

“When they left, it was only me. I had to walk my way to one of the outer villages for help. I was a mess, covered in my parents blood. They’d stolen everything. All the secrets of the clan. I never got the chance to read the sacred texts. I only know from my Sensei the very basics of what we can do.”

He absorbed what she had said, taking in each word. Admittedly, she lived a terrible, horrible life, one to rival Sasuke at that. He asked, “You haven’t been able to retrieve any of the texts, have you?”

“No, unfortunately. That’s why it’s taken me this long to figure out how to unlock my ability. I literally do not know how,” she confessed, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. “It feels strange, knowing I have this ultimate healing ability and I can’t even use it to save anyone.”

“Ultimate healing ability?”

“Well, yeah. That’s our kekkei genkai. We can heal basically anything besides death. Blindness, deafness, rotting limbs, in some cases, paralysis. I’m not sure how it works, but that’s what it does. That’s why they want me to come home so desperately. I’m the only one left who can heal her.”

“You’ll figure it out,” he stated bluntly, and she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“What?”

He reiterated, “You’ll figure out how to use your kekkei genkai. I believe in you. You’re beautiful, smart, and modest, not a fool.”

She found her cheeks begin to heat up at his words, and she leaned back, her eyes catching onto his. “Thank you, Shikamaru. It’s not everyday I get earnest compliments like that.” It was true. Normally, she did get compliments, but not the nice kind. She would often get harrassed on the street by men without brains, or recieve backhanded comments from people of her own village who hated her for what she could not be.

He shook his head, “Well, you should. You’re a strong woman, you just need more faith in yourself. You have almost no self-confidence whatsoever.” He was right about that too. Sad, wasn’t it? “You’re obviously a good person, so be proud of yourself. Not a lot of people could have gone through what you did and still be on the good side to this day.”

“I-” Y/N froze, her eyes growing wide. “Did you hear that?” she asked, her eyes flickering from Shikamaru into the woods. There were voices, soft and quiet voices, but they were still there, hush in the background. He stood up on his feet, and motioned for her to stay down close to the ground.

“Come out, whoever you are.”

And, indeed, a group of men emerged from the forest, at least ten of them. They sauntered up to the pair and the leader smirked. “We’re not here to hurt you, Leaf shinobi. Just hand over the princess and no harm will come to you,” he said, his voice musty and disgusting, like he’d been smoking cigarettes everyday for the past ten years. They knew, clearly, that a leaf shinobi wasn’t just about to abandon their charge and go running for the hills. His request was a joke.

Y/N wasn’t a fighter. She couldn’t help even if she wanted to. She was solely a healer, and even then, her skills were shaky at best. She could only do the most menial and mediocre of work on her patients. Shikamaru was against these men completely alone.

She felt fear creeping up her spine and sending shivers through her body. She barely knew the boy, had only known him for a week or so, but damn, did she like him. He was kind to her, one of the kindest people she’d met in a long time. She wanted him to be safe, to save her and come out on top like the shinobi of the Leaf are supposed to.

He turned around and waved for her to run. “Princess, Imma need you to run. I’ll come find you when it’s safe. Just go.”

She was hesitant to take off, but one stern look from him shot down any thought of staying. The woman gathered up her robes and ran in the opposite direction of the crew and her protector. Immediately after she left, she heard screaming from behind, the shouts of men in pain and men filled with anger. So much yelling. She held her breath, and kept running, running until she could only hear the faint yells of the men. She couldn’t hear Shikamaru. He was far too quiet to have those loud theatrics on the battlefield.

Y/N took cover in the roots of a tree, and just listened, felt what was going on around her. She studied the chakra signatures floating through the air, counting how many men still lived and how many were alive and well. Likewise, she kept close track of Shikamaru’s energy, making sure he was still going.

If he died, she didn’t know what would come of her. Would she be sold off? Murdered? She knew of the unspoken bounty on her head amongst the criminals, and that struck fear in her heart. All she could do was pray for Shikamaru’s survival.

After what seemed like hours but in reality only about 10 minutes, the screams and shouts finally came to a halt. The chakra signatures of most of the men were completely gone, meaning they had died sometime during the battle. Only some remained, and they were weakened severely, probably passed out or bleeding out.

Shikamaru’s alarmed her. It was weak, almost as weak as the rest. She crawled out from under the tree and started back in the direction of the campsite, keeping her head low nearly in a crouch to stay unseen. There was no telling what was happening over there or who was still out here.

When she got to the campsite though, her eyes widened and she nearly screamed. While the rest of the men collapsed on the ground in bloody heaps, Shikamaru lay in the middle of them, bleeding out from a ginormous wound protruding from his side. She fell onto her knees beside his barely breathing form and held her hands over the wound, trying her best to run her chakra through her, but she was weak. Only a faint light emanating from her hands, not enough to come close to saving him.

“Shikamaru? Shikamaru, can you hear me? Please, try to stay awake, okay?” the girl pleaded, resting one of her soft hands on his cheek. He sighed into her touch. It was just as he imagined. Warm and gentle, like the caress of a feather. At least, if he were to die, it would be in the arms of an angel, he decided.

“You need to head back to the Leaf. Tell Kakashi what happened,” he sputtered out, blood leaving his lips and dripping down the sides of his face. “I lived a good life.”

“No, no, no. You are not dying on me. Not happening,” she whispered. She continued to pour her chakra into his wound, not that it was doing anything serious. Tears filled her eyes and she bit her lip, trying to keep them from falling, but she couldn’t help it. All these tears plagued her life. Memories that made her cry. All the pressure. All the death. Poor Shikamaru lying here dying after saving her life. “I’m going to save you,” she muttered firmly.

Pressure built up in her chest and she pushed further and further, digging deeper into her chakra reserve. It actually hurt the amount of effort she was putting in. It was exhausting, and after about a minute, she was gasping for breath. “Stop. It’s okay, princess.”

“Dammit, Shikamaru, I told you not to call me princess, “ Y/N shouted, and in that moment, she felt something shift inside her. A well of energy she never knew she had opened up and she felt it being filled not by her own chakra but by the men around her. Her body absorbed every last bit of chakra in their bodies, filling hers completely. When Shikamaru looked up at her, he noticed a slight glow coming from her skin that wasn’t there before.

It seemed she awoke her kekkei genkai.

With all the newfound energy she had, she channelled it into saving Shikamaru. Right in front of her eyes, his wound began to close and blood sunk back into his body. He groaned at the feeling, shifting uncomfortably on the ground. Finally, she had done something great.

And as she watched the last bit of his wound shut and the blood to seep back into his body, she found herself grow lightheaded.

As she was passing out, she heard him calling her name, and the only thing she could do was smile. She did it. She saved him. Her vision went black and sleep overtook her swiftly.

________

After Y/N saved Shikamaru and awoke her kekkei genkai, the boy gathered up both of their belongings, hoisted them over his shoulder, and then carried her in his arms to the next village. She wasn’t waking up anytime soon, he found that was probably a bad side effect of using the ability. It completely drained her. He just knew he had to move before any of those guys woke back up. He was not ready to fight again.

He enjoyed feeling her in his arms, pressed tightly to his chest with her head lolling side to side. Y/N was sweet and cute, with her little, “don’t call me princess” proclamation before saving him. It seemed she was just as much a princess as everyone thought she was, and a powerful one at that. She basically brought him back from the dead, and he would be grateful for his entire life for what she’d done for him.

The two of them rested for the night in a village inn just a couple miles away before waking up the next morning and setting off with a new bounce in her step toward your homeland where she was sure she could save the village elder now. He watched as the girl walked eagerly in front of him, swinging her robes by her sides and letting her hair loose instead of a tight braid.

This side of her, it was gorgeous. She was gorgeous. Maybe, he found himself harboring just a tiny crush on the girl who saved his life, the girl who took his breath away when they first met. Maybe he liked her a lot. It was pointless to have such feelings for a girl he would probably never meet again after dropping her off in her homeland.

But he could enjoy his time now, with the girl of his dreams at his side.

He found himself wanting more time with her. Much more time. He knew they only had about a week before they arrived in the Land of Frost, and it was depressing him. He wanted her to come back to the village with him and live there, just so he could see her face everyday and hear that sing-song voice run off her tongue.

Was that so much to ask for? Well, yes, but he still wanted it…

They found themselves stopped for the night or two in a village on the coast. She was tired from all the walking and sleeping in the grass. She was willing to spend a few dollars to have a nice bed to sleep in for the night. She booked a room at one of the inns in town and collapsed into the mattress in the room, throwing her robes to the side and cuddling into the comforter. It had been so long since she was living in such comfortable conditions.

He took a seat beside her and pulled out a book, flipping to the most recent page and diving in. He was more than happy to finally rest. He was lazier than she was, after all. They had been walking for almost a month now, he was tired of it. The only thing that kept him going was seeing her smile every now and then, especially the ones directed at him, or in response to something he said.

Something about those smiles just made him feel good inside. It was sickening. These mushy, gushy feelings he was having. He was beginning to think he might be falling for the girl, like, falling in love. He was disturbed. Was he really that weak to a pretty face, soft hands, and a warm heart?

“Shikamaru?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ll be home in a week, and you’ll have to go back to the Leaf Village,” she said. He nodded. At that point, they would go their separate ways and it would all be over, this friendship they had. He’d never felt so torn about a mission until now.

He replied casually, “Yeah. Time flies, huh?”

She held her breath for a moment, thinking over her next words very carefully. She’d actually been pondering when she was gonna tell him over the last few days, thinking over every way the scenario could play out. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to leave you, Shikamaru,” she confessed, finally letting go of the breath she was holding.

He raised a brow, setting down his book and turning to face her. “What do you mean?”

“Well...it’s just that your Hokage seems to really like me, and I don’t really have a home anymore with my clan gone,” she mumbled, twiddling her fingers in her lap. “I was thinking maybe after I heal the elders and the village that I could go home with you instead. Live in the leaf village.”

He just looked at her. Had all his longing been for nothing? Could she really mean it? Coming home with him? Could his future really involve seeing her every day, introducing her to his best friends, and healing his people when they were injured?

“I mean, if you don’t think it’s a good idea, though, I totally get it-”

“No! I-I love that idea, actually.”

“Really?”

“Would I say it if I didn’t mean it?”

He watched as her lips curled into a bright smile and she clasped her hands together. “Shikamaru, I’m so happy. You and the other Leaf nin are the only people to show me any kindness in a long time. I get to go home to people that will care about me.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty good at that back in the Leaf. Caring, that is.”

She fell back against the bed and sighed, curling up in the sheets once again. He watched as she smiled into the covers and closed her eyes, relishing in this feeling of newfound freedom and happiness, of the hope she found in him and the village. Despite finding women troublesome most of the time, he was willing to go through trouble for her. He felt like he’d do just about anything for this girl.

So unlike him. Tch. Get a grip, Shika.

Her next words had him melting like putty in her hands though. He just couldn’t help it.

"I'm glad you were assigned this mission with me. You helped me awaken my abilities, and I think it was fate that brought us together for that to happen," she sighed. "This meeting, you and I, it was always meant to be. I'm sure of it now."

"Maybe you're right. I wouldn't know," he replied.

It was quiet for a while, just her lost in her own dreams, her own thoughts. Her eyes trailed over to him, and she just knew she was swoon. With his lazy grin and his thoughtful gaze. It was so obvious to her now.

She confessed, “I think I like you. As more than just a friend, Shikamaru. I know I probably shouldn’t be telling you this considering I still need you to escort me to the village and all, and you might not want me to go back to the Leaf with you now, but I just-”

He couldn’t wait anymore. He was going crazy. Finally, he kissed her.

She felt his hands resting on either side of her head and his lips pressed carefully to hers, testing the waters. She brought her own hands up to cup his own, bringing him closer and deeper into the kiss. She smiled and sighed, enjoying the feeling of pure bliss. It had been so long since she felt something so good. Something so sweet.

“You like me too?”

“You’re dumb as hell.”

And he kissed her again. And again. And maybe a couple more times after that.

#shikamaru x reader #naruto x reader #shikamaru x you #naruto #shikamaru nara #shikamaru imagine #shikamaru one shot #naruto one shot #naruto imagine #imagine #x reader #oneshot #naruto x you #naruto x y/n #shikamaru x y/n

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swbumblebee · 3 years

Text

The group of Jedi Generals and senior clone officers were clustered together in the hanger, watching with keen eyes as troops from both the 212th and the 501st were suiting up and organising themselves into ground teams, ready to ship out.

Marshall Commander Cody let the usual Skywalker/Tano banter wash over him, as much background noise as the whirring of machinery and the thud of boots. Instead he focused his gaze on his own General, who was standing silently with an uncharacteristically distant look on his face.

“Sir, everything alright?” he asked in a low voice, positioning himself so the question was as private as possible.

The Jedi didn’t move for a solid twenty seconds.

Cody dithered.

“Sir?”

“Hmmm?!”

General Kenobi finally acknowledged him, seemingly quite startled to find Cody so close. “Oh ah, yes. Sorry Cody I’m just…” he trailed off, and Cody watched with a sinking feeling as the vacant look took over his face once more.

He was starting to recognise that look:

Force Oisk was going down.

“Padawan” the General cleared his throat suddenly and Cody was instantly alert.

To his amusement, both the younger Jedi looked up at the summons, stopping their horsing around immediately.

“Would you run and fetch my Shoto from my room please?” the senior Jedi asked politely, addressing Commander Tano.

Both younger people looked at him with the most confusing expressions. General Skywalker tilted his head in surprise and Commander Tano’s eyes widened in excitement as a smile formed.

“Really?” She asked in an endearingly childish tone, as if her Grand Master had just announced life day had come early. Cody half expected her to start bouncing on the balls of her feet.

General Kenobi only hummed in confirmation, tilting his head as if listening to something. If he wasn’t so used to the aforementioned Force Oisk, it would have been decidedly creepy to Cody.

“Yes…” he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I’m not quite…but…yes” the General finally said, nodding firmly once at the end of his sentence. “Would you mind?”

“Err Sure! I’ll go get it now!” she exclaimed enthusiastically. Turning back to the group seemingly as an afterthought, halfway to the doors, “I call Master Obi-Wan’s squad!” she called as she bounded out.

General Kenobi shook his head fondly.

“Sorry, Sir…what’s a shoto?” Cody asked, hoping to jump in before it became any more of A Thing.

“Ah apologies Cody, that was rude of me” his C.O apologised. “A Shoto is a second lightsaber blade, slightly shorter than a main sabre. One uses it when performing double bladed fighting forms.”

Cody blinked.

He knew there were Jedi who had two sabers, Commander Tano for instance, but he’d never seen his own use anything other than his trademark single azure blade. Force knows he was lethal enough with it.

“Yeah, Jar’Kai” General Skywalker chimed in. “Master’s really good at it.”

Of course he was. Cody would have been surprised if his breathtakingly competent General was bad at anything.

“I don’t suppose it’s telling you why?” Skywalker asked drily.

“Unfortunately not” his Master replied flatly.

Before Cody could ask what the hell they were talking about now, Commander Tano positively skipped back over to them waving a lightsaber hilt that was slightly stubbier than the one Cody was used to seeing.

“I’ve got it!”

It would’ve been a very cold person who didn’t smile at the enthusiasm of the young Jedi, and like the sun coming out from behind the clouds Cody’s General gave a soft smile as he took the hilt in his hands, briskly clipping it to his belt.

“Thank you Ahsoka.” The senior Jedi cleared his throat “hopefully I won’t have call to use it but” he shrugged “at least I can be prepared.”

Cody had A Bad Feeling about this.

“Master please can I go with Master Obi-Wan?” Commander Tano’s excited plea cut off his next question as she bounced in front of Skywalker, who rolled his eyes.

“I hope you’re as excited to hang out with me one day” he teased.

“We’ll hardly be ‘hanging out’” General Kenobi corrected. “But, Anakin if you have no objections, Ahsoka you’re with me.”

Skywalker nodded and shook his head fondly as Commander Tano punched the air.

“Try and learn something Snips” he tugged playfully on her Padawan beads “I’ll see you later.” He looked at them all, suddenly serious “May the Force be with us.”

---

Cody had tried to prize an explanation from his mystic Jedi before they found themselves in the middle of the fray:

“General, why did you have to bring your shoto blade?”

He got a shrug in return.

“The Force told me to.”

Well. Ask a silly question.

But an hour or so later, as Cody paused (rather unprofessionally) mid-way through kicking a clanker into the other end of next week, it became apparent that the Force knew what it was doing.

Gradually the others around him, separatist and clone, were pausing and looking up as one, as on the top of a low building just up ahead their General was showing them just what this “Jar’Kai form” in the hands of a Jedi Master could do.

Once the spectacle had caught his attention Cody found he couldn’t look away; his General was moving almost faster than the eye could follow; blue and yellow blurs following him as he quite simply decimated the forces in between him and his goals; both the rusty old bastard that was Grievous, and the all-important controls for the shield generator.

Flips, turns, twists and jumps. So far away from his usual contained, tight style. Every so often the sun glinted off red hair, highlighting intense blue eyes and a determined grimace that spoke of utmost concentration, and the whole picture looked like a scene from one of the stained glass windows Cody once saw in a place of worship on some long forgotten planet.

He could’ve stared at the scene quite happily for hours.

“Still with us Commander?”

Waxer’s voice, clearly amused, in his ear brought him crashing back down to earth.

He cleared his throat, infinitely glad his helmet concealed his blush at being court staring (he did not moon, thank you very much Rex).

“Lieutenant. Keep that flank covered” he instructed, with a vicious kick to a nearby grenade bot.

Waxer, the impertinent shit, snorted in his ear.

“Don’t you worry Codes, if you ask Tano nicely she might let you borrow her recording. Maybe just tell her you also want some pointers on your Lightsaber work.”

That little-

The click of the radio signaled the dead air that met his insults.

---

There was no denying the very small voice at the back of the Commander’s mind that was seriously considering nabbing the footage, but by the end of the battle reality was sinking in. It occurred to Cody that there were now twice as many lightsabers to catch when they inevitably fell from a great and dangerous height.

Wonderfull.

#cody #obi-wan kenobi #the team #codywan #or at least #Cody's got a crush #snippet of nothing #Master Kenobi is a badass #Ahsoka is a Jedi nerd #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #Cody is the heart eyes emoji #general Kenobi #Master Kenobi #obi-wan fanfic

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panvani · 3 years

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Mochizuki Jun The Case Study of Vanitas Anime da Vinci Interview - pt. 3 -

This is part three of my translation of Anime da Vinci’s interview with Mochizuki Jun regarding The Case Study of Vanitas. This is the final part. Thank you for all your support. Feedback and suggestions are highly appreciated. The first part can be found [here], and the second part can be found [here].

In summary: Mochizuki talks about her first impressions for the anime, her involvement in its production, what she’s looking forward to, and a final message for her fans.

There is one translation note.

Studio Bones brings to mind scenes of action. Fight scenes with Roland are highly anticipated.

- The anime began airing in July. Please tell us your first impression when you heard Vanitas had been slated for animation.

Mochizuki Jun: First I was really grateful, like “Yaaay! I’m sooo happy!” then I got super worried and started thinking “oh God, I better be careful or I’m gonna die.” Of course I was happy to an extent, but I’m a total pessimist at heart. While the staff was getting chosen, I kept thinking “if I mess up now, all plans for the anime will vanish just like that,” and I got so so scared. My boss started getting on my case, saying “can you at least survive until we get a decision for when the anime will broadcast?” and such questions then went “wait wait, no, first of all, please just don’t die.” I was finally able to really digest what good fortune it was to have an anime announcement when I received contact that “Kajiura Yuki-san is going to do the background music!” and I still went “ah, but I still think I might die...” ... ahaha...

- Different mangaka tend to be involved with their anime in very different ways, depending on the lead director’s principles, et cetera. How was Mochizuki-sensei involved with the anime production?

MJ: Since the fundamentals of the anime were left to Director Itamura Tomoyuki and Studio Bones as their production, I considered it my job to be the go-between for my readers and the anime. I didn’t want to get in the way of the things the director wanted to do (if I made a nuisance of myself I’m very sorry Mr. Director). I gave my two cents when it came to stuff like “oh, if you cut that scene my readers will be very sad,” and “I think maybe this character should be depicted more like this...”

MJ: Director Itamura was always gentle, but he’d never concede when he wanted to make a point. I can’t thank him enough. If I were too cautious as the original creator, I’d end up getting stuck.

- Were you present during the dubbing process? Please tell us about any impressions you got from the seiyuu, or any performances you thought were especially impactful.

MJ: I’m someone who loves voice acting so I would’ve been present at all the recording sessions if I could, but the dreaded COVID meant I could only be present for the recording of the first episode. As the voices were put in place, I actually felt a more intimate understanding of my characters as the author. I’m really grateful.

MJ: Hanae Natsuki-san’s voice for Vanitas made his repulsiveness seem more appropriate for Vanitas’ age. I guess I sometimes need to be reminded that Vanitas is eighteen years old. I thought that Ishikawa Kaito-san’s voice made Noé out to be more honest and innocent.[1] I’m looking forward to hearing the characters that’ll be introduced from episode 2 onwards.

- What did you think when you saw the first episode of the anime?

MJ: I first the first episode during its advanced screening, which was also my first time seeing an anime adaptation of my work on the big screen. To see the characters of Vanitas move with so much energy and hear Kajiura-san’s music and everything else all really left an impact on me. Since the theme color of this work is “blue,” I was so happy to see the beautiful way “blue” was incorporated.

MJ: Then for a specific point, the scene at the end with the stained glass was so gorgeous, and it made me want to hurry up and get to Paris, and such I said to my assistant.

- Are there any scenes you particularly look forward to in terms of “how would this be animated?”

MJ: When you say “Studio Bones” you always think of these fantastic action scenes, so right now I’m really looking forward to battle scenes with Roland!

- Finally, do you have any messages for fans who may be enjoying the anime?

MJ: A team of such wonderful people have assembled for the production of The Case Study of Vanitas. I’m really looking forward to the anime as a viewer, and I’m trying my best to make the work more exciting as the original author. Please continue to show your support for my original work and the anime!

[1] The word I translate as “innocent” is ��然, tennen, which usually gets translated as “natural airhead.” This isn’t a phrase we use in English, so I took the time to look into what it actually means. Basically, 天然 isn’t used for someone who’s actually stupid, but someone who’s a bit naive or silly. It’s not really an insult, and usually gets used in affection. For example, the first result I found was someone talking about how a senpai they’re friendly with had taken to calling them 天然.

#the case study of vanitas #vanitas no carte #mochizuki jun #vnc #logxx #logam

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minachuuu · 3 years

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When The Lights Go Out

❣When The Lights Go Out❣

❤ Pairing: Gahyeon x Fem!Reader

❤ Genre: Suggestive & Fluff

❤ Word Count: 5.1k

❤ Song Suggestions: Daybreak by DreamCatcher & Squeeze by Fifth Harmony

“Hey Y/n!” The door swung open, forcing you and Gahyeon to jerk apart your hovering lips. Yoohyeon, followed by the rest of the DreamCatcher girls entered the green room from the venue of the show both your group and your girlfriend’s were going to perform at. “Long time no see!”

It’s not like the rest of her group don’t know that you two are dating, you never tried keeping it a secret. And even if you wanted, it was almost impossible to keep something hidden from them.

DreamCatcher was one of the closest groups you have ever met, they dropped and picked up Gahyeon from all your dates even before you two were official. It was also important for her that you met all of them beforehand.

You remember that day pretty vividly. It was a little nerve racking, the thought of meeting all these powerful girls that were her older sisters, of course they’re watching over her. You do the same with the maknae of your group, so you understand where that came from. But luckily for you, they all loved you. Putting aside all the joking threats, or at least you hope they were jokes, of taking care of Gahyeon, you actually became pretty close with all of them.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you would be lying if you said that sometimes you wish they weren’t around all the time.

“Hey Yoohyeon!” You waved with your free hand as you wrapped the other around your girlfriend, she sheepishly cuddling into your shoulder. “Hi girls!”

“Did we interrupt something?” Handong chuckled as her gentle eyes laid over you both.

“No, not really,” You responded while shaking your head, bringing Gahyeon closer to you with your arm as she chuckled in your neck. “We were just talking-”

“Really? Wow, how boring.” SuA scoffed at us, sitting besides me as she took out her phone. “If I were you and I hadn’t seen my girlfriend in so long I would just ea-”

“Unnie!” Gahyeon reached and jokingly punched SuA away.

“What?! I’m just saying the truth!” She defended herself, trapping you in between of a bickering battle. “We’ve all been busy with comebacks and don’t pretend you weren’t all ‘Aw, I miss my Y/N!’ every single day for you two to be all ‘We’re only talking’ Gahyeon-ah! Especially when Y/n is dressed like that!”

Red rushed up to your cheeks as your eyes scanned your body from head to toe. Thanks to your comeback, you embarked on your usual ‘tour’ around music shows. With all the glamour, of course the extravagant outfits were included, and this time, you fancied a two piece costume that highlighted all your best, exalted all your movements and most importantly, could make everyone fall at your feet at any given time. All combining with your newest concept, a classy version of the already known girl crush concept. You had asked to be the first in the dressing room and the makeup chair, so you could be able to visit your girlfriend in her green room as soon as possible.

Gahyeon wasn’t complaining about it either, since your comeback overlapped with the promotions of her group’s comeback. They were already on their last week of promotions whereas this was your first one, giving you both an opportunity to spend a little time together, even if it just meant stealing kisses in between stages, curtains and dressing rooms.

“So...! You really missed me that much?” Your hand raised your girlfriend's chin to meet her eyes with yours.

“Of course I did, you pabo.” Gahyeon poked your nose with hers as you giggled together.

It’s not like you weren’t that lovey-dovey, but you preferred not going overboard with the public demonstrations of affection that much, it just didn’t feel comfortable enough. Especially with both of you being idols, you never knew what pair of eyes could be around.

But right now, you were only surrounded by her members and staff, who already knew you and your relationship pretty well, so maybe sneaking a kiss wasn’t so bad-

A knock on the door made you turn your head away from your girlfriend, especially when the voice coming from the opening entrance was the one from your group leader.

“Hello Dreamcatcher sunbaenim!” Her head peaked in, scanning around for you as she bowed to all the girls and staff in the room. Her eyes finally landed over you, a relieved gasp coming out of her mouth as she signed you to follow her. “It’s five minutes until they call us to stage Y/n!”

You sighed, nodding at your leader in response. Gahyeon patted your chest letting you know it was okay for her since, after all, this was work for both of you, and you couldn’t neglect it just for a relationship. You stole a quick peck from her lips and stood up from the couch.

“Will I see you later?” Gahyeon asked, playing lightly with your hair.

“I’ll try my best jagi.” You winked back at her.

Maybe it was the outfit with a combination of a makeup that perfectly highlighted everything she already loved about you, or maybe all this accumulated time without seeing each other, but Gahyeon couldn’t resist pulling your hand and you with it in for a more lively kiss.

Of course you didn’t reject the offer, softly brushing your lips against hers, before going for a more daring approach. She wrapped the edges of your top around your neck, pulling you closer. Recognizing the flavor of her favorite lip balm, you never got tired of tasting her lips over yours.

“Sooo… ” Your leader cleared her throat as she rested against the door frame, waiting for you to stop saying goodbye to your girlfriend. Her voice hesitated as she tried to make the moment a little bit less awkward for the spectators. “Congrats on the song unnies! It’s pretty good!”

“Thank you!” JiU chuckled back to her, following the thread of awkwardness. You started noticing the clumsy pace of the conversation, laughing against each others’ lips in the process. “Your album is pretty good too! Gahyeon invited us to listen to it and we really liked it.”

You heard your leader giggling and halting her words, and just then is when you felt the entire room turning their eyes over at you both. You placed a last peck on her lips and pulled away, unhurriedly releasing her hand in the process. Gahyeon sent a flying kiss your way and winked back at you, causing your cheeks to flare up.

“You guys know we love you both but you don’t have to rub it all on our faces.” Siyeon sneered, making you turn to her. Her happy eyes relieved you, knowing she was just messing with you as she often liked to “You know? Some of us feel a little lonely and you don’t help.”

“I’m so sorry Unnie,” You chuckled at her as you bowed in respect, moving towards the exit door. “Good luck today everyone!”

“Thank you!” All the girls waved back at you, in a chorus of happy and excited voices.

“And good luck to you too,” Your girlfriend planted a kiss on your cheek as she accompanied to the door. “Give your all Y/n, promise?”

“It’s not going to be hard with you on my mind.” You returned the kiss as you stood under the door frame. Getting lost in her perfect eyes once again, a calling force that didn’t let you say goodbye to her completely.

“Let’s go, I told the girls we would meet them behind the stage.” You leader pulled your hand, calling you back to reality.

“Oh, true.” You shook your head to ground you back, taking in a deep sigh. You allowed yourself one last word to your girlfriend as you started walking away from Dreamcatcher’s dressing room. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She was quick to respond as she waved to you.

You started walking backwards unable to take apart your eyes from her. It was your leader who rolled her eyes at both your puppy-eyed faces and turned you around by the waist, playfully slapping your shoulder to bring you back once again.

“You’re feeling lonely Siyeon-ah?” You heard SuA’s loud voice coming from the inside. “Let me fix that for you!”

“Unnie, what are you doing?” Siyeon responded in a fairly confused tone. “Unnie!?”

You chuckled at the last words you could hear coming from that dressing room before your girlfriend closed the door behind her. You had enough time to get to the stage by then, so it wasn’t necessary to run towards your destination.

“Should I remind you?” Your leader broke the silence as you walked together. “They haven’t even raised our dating ban, if someone-”

“...Someone catches us like that I could get into big trouble.” You finished your leader’s words as you sighed. “We’re both adults, we know what we’re doing.”

“I don’t doubt that, but you’re still in a rookie group.” She shoved her shoulder against yours, shaking her head. “Don’t forget that Y/n.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” You giggled as you shoved her back.

You both arrived at the stage just when your group was being called in to pre-record your performance, all your group got into their positions as you greeted the team and the staff. Usually it takes about three to five takes of the same choreography, with different camera angles and closeups so that they can be stitched together and edited to get the final cut that will air later.

Your group breezed through the first three easily and quickly, but by the third pass, a new fire rose inside of you when with a glimpse you spotted Gahyeon on the stage wings, her eyes not leaving your moving silhouette as you graced the stage with your daring choreography.

By the fourth and fifth take, you noticed how cameras focused a bit longer on you. BUt what they didn’t know is that you only made it for the girl living inside your heart, and standing a few feet away from you.

What you couldn’t notice until you finally finished your pre-recordings, was that your girlfriend already fashioned her comeback attire and her killing makeup, the sight punching you straight in the stomach, leaving you breathless. All happened behind you as your group thanked the show’s staff for their hard work and started moving out of the stage. Not until one of your members jumped and surrounded you with her shoulders, happy with the smooth shoot.

You shook your head back to reality, walking alongside your members. And just as you were exiting the stage, it was DreamCatcher’s turn to record their performance. Remembering to hide your relationship from unknown eyes, Gahyeon brushed by your side just politely bowing to all your group, and her eyes maybe lingered an extra second over yours. Only then you were able to catch a closer glimpse of her outfit.

DreamCatcher always had this super badass concept attached to them, and their styling was no joke either. Rolling with this new biker concept, Gahyeon fashioned some shorts that kept her thighs uncovered, a leather jacket loose enough to drape off her shoulders and high black leather biker boots. Her hair was let down, styled to look as if the wind tapered just enough against it. Her members fashioned similar outfits, some with pants or vests, but it was your girlfriend who you couldn’t take your eyes away from.

“Hey guys,” You called your group as you kept your eyes firmly over Gahyeon. “Do you mind if I stay over here for a while? I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Your leader chuckled at your obviously flustered expression. “Just don’t get caught on camera drooling over Gahyeon.”

You instantly raised your hand to your mouth, cleaning over a fictitious drool that your leader made you thought was already hanging from your mouth. Your groupmates chuckled at that, as you furrowed your eyes towards them, as they headed back to their green room.

DreamCatcher’s comeback music started resonating over the entire venue, turning you around to pay attention. Making sure you were well within the shadows and out of the cameras’ reach, you leaned over a wall, making yourself comfortable to watch your girlfriend give it all on her performances.

You never got tired of watching her in her element, you could see the passion seeping through her in every movement she nailed and every verse that she sang. All combined only prompted you to fall more and more for her, wondering whatever you did to deserve such an amazing girlfriend in your life.

Lost in your trance, you never noticed how they only needed three takes to get everything perfectly, and they were already on the finishing pose of the last one. Maybe it was one of the advantages of being in a more experienced group.

“This has been DreamCatcher!” JiU and the girls acknowledged the staff’s hard work as they bowed, making you remind in embarrassment how you were all hypnotized to forget that. “Thank you so much for your hard work and caring for u-”

Abruptly, the lights of the entire venue shut completely off, leaving everyone in the dark. Mumbles of confusion were heard all around as people started using the lanterns on their cellphones to light up the rooms around.

You straightened up the wall, ready to run to your girl if necessary until your urgency was relieved when her group was instantly surrounded by all their managers and their cellphone lights. And really it was you who was going to need a little more help to find your way around, since your phone was with your managers, all the way back at your dressing room.

“Attention!” One of the high ranked staff called the entire stage area. “There has been a problem with our power plant! All artists must be moved to the dressing room area until we can get the backup power back on!”

People started moving around you, and you decided that it was better to stay exactly where you were, hoping somebody could help you. To your great luck, one of DreamCatchers managers who already knew you well enough, saw you and invited you into their lighted brigade.

You greeted the girls in the formal way that you were expected to when there were other people around, bowing down them as they politely greeted you as if you hadn’t been kissing one of their members an hour ago.

“Really good performance out there DreamCatcher sunbaenims!” You congratulated them, walking besides them to their green room.

The girls giggled at your comment, partly because they were not used to talking so formally with you by now, but they all thanked you genuinely anyways. A light brush against your hand made you slowly turn your head towards it’s direction, only to find your girlfriend staring to the front, but walking right beside you.

You understood her message perfectly, taking her hand in yours and intertwining your fingers. After all, the darkness wouldn’t let anybody see what was going on down there.

You entered their dressing room behind them, only to end up once again at the same couch you were with before being called by your leader.

“The heaters are off too, it shouldn’t be too cold but we can give you this in case you’d like to cover yourselves.” One of the show’s staff approached behind you, handing out blankets to everyone. “We’re so sorry for the inconveniences.”

“Thank you!” All the people inside the room chorused as they exited the room, heading to the next one with another batch of blankets.

Gahyeon grabbed one from the stack over the table, and draped it over both your bodies, using it as a perfect excuse to cuddle back into you.

“You were amazing out there.” You whispered to your girlfriend as the air started filling itself with other conversations to kill time. “I was really thinking ‘Wow, that’s my girlfriend!”

“Y/n! Stop, you’re making me blush!” She whined back to you. Her hands roamed under your laced shirt, resting over your core. The whole gesture caused a chill to bolt down your spine, as you surrounded her shoulders with your arms. “You’re not bad yourself Jagi!”

“You really liked it?”

“Of course I did!” She playfully slapped your arm, a little offended by your questioning. “And I’m so excited to see everything you guys can do, especially you.”

“Oh, can think of one thing that I would love to do…” You added, chuckling to yourself.

“Really? What is it?” Gahyeon excitedly jumped in her place, her bright eyes still shining in the obscure room, full of curiosity.

“Eh-” Caught off guard, you cleared your throat as you avoided her eyes. “I can’t tell you now-”

“Y/n-yah! That’s not fair!” She complained, puckering her lips. “You can’t go saying that and then just not tell me!”

“Yes I can.” You answered dryly.

“Please tell me?” She begged in the cutest voice she could, trying to get you to fall for her.

“No.”

“Then I’ll make you!” She returned with a confidence that flustered your brain.

“No, Gahyeon. What are you-” You halted when you saw Gahyeon’s smile grow up, as you felt her hands roaming to your exposed ribs from under the blanket. “Oh no, don’t you dare.”

But it was too late, she started tickling you mercilessly making you contort over your own body, trying to fight back the laughter that urged to come blasting out of your mouth. The blanket ended up falling on the floor from all the movement, as you fighted against your girlfriend’s playful hands.

Your stomach was starting to hurt from trying to contain the laughter and all the shifting out of your body, as she couldn’t stop cooing at you, taunting you to say exactly what she wanted to hear.

You somehow managed to stand up from the couch and away from your girlfriend’s hold. And it was your turn for vengeance. Gahyeon could see it coming from the wicked smile growing on your lips, and didn’t waste a second standing up and running away from you, out of your reach and quickly enough, out of the room you were sharing with her group.

Bolting behind her, you weren’t sure if you heard the voices of your members or DreamCatcher call both your names or you had just hallucinated them. But it was a worry that lasted just one second, enough for your eyes to catch the silhouette of your girlfriend running away from you across the dark halls of the venue.

Gahyeon’s cute taunting giggles helped you go behind her as this game of cops and robbers started for both of you. She ran in between the different dressing rooms and up and down the stairs, sometimes barely avoiding your hand as she turned out to be faster than you imagined.

She just knew that once your hands were on top of her, there’s no way you were taking them off. Which, right now, wasn’t such a bad idea for her.

She cut the corner and quickly entered an empty dressing room behind her, covering her mouth from the giggles and heavy breaths that tried to escape and give away her location. But it didn’t work out too well after all, because even in the dim light that the entire building was buried on, her platinum, purple-ish hair was bright enough, and you knew exactly where she was hiding.

Gahyeon’s breathing calmed down but she stopped hearing your steps. She waited for a few seconds, but curiosity won over her, and to her own demise, she peaked her head out of the dressing room’s door to try and find you. That’s when you jumped in surprise against her, surrounding her with both your arms to avoid another escape attempt.

“Finally! My vengeance will fall upon thee!” You thickened your voice as your hands fought against your girlfriend to find her tickly spots.

“I promise I won’t do it again!” She giggled, looking at your eyes for forgiveness. “Only if you tell me what you wanted to say downstairs!”

“Ah…” You abruptly stopped trying to reach her, trying to remember what you actually wanted to say. You placed your hands around Gahyeon’s waist, pulling her close to you. “Wait- I don’t remember what that was.”

“Want me to remind you?” You felt her hands sneaking back to your ribs once again, a cheeky smile growing on her perfect lips as she giggled.

“You’re in a very compromised position right now.” You raised your eyebrows this time, softly moving your hands up and down her waist to remind her that you could attack first. “Would you really-”

The new sudden tickle attack caught you off guard, making you accidentally kick the door to the dressing room close behind you. But at least you weren’t defenceless now, as you started tickling her back in response.

Drowning in between your smiles and giggles, you didn’t realize there was a couch sitting exactly behind you. And just one more step back was enough to tumble both of you back over it, with Gahyeon falling on top of you.

“Fine! Fine. I give up!” You breathed out as you took in the impact and laid down the couch comfortably, Gahyeon snuggling against you as you both calmed down your breath.

“So you’re going to tell me what you wanted to say before?” She looked up at you, and there was no way you could say no to the brightest eyes in your life.

“I can’t remember it exactly,” You started, gaining a sigh out of her. You took her chin in your hand and raised her close to your lips. “But I think it would be better to show you.”

Her head tilted in curiosity, with her eyes narrowing full of desire to know and a light nod from her head were enough of an answer for you.

Your hand traveled back to her neck as you pulled her closer to you, crashing your lips together with an accumulated craving from both sides. Letting your fingers play with her hair as you soaked your senses in each other's fragrances.

“Is this what you wanted?” Gahyeon’s voice resembled that of her morning voice, as she tried to keep her tone and volume low. Just exclusive for the moment.

“For longer that I can remember,” You whispered back against her lips, sneaking words between each gentle brush of your lips. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the girls. But we don’t get much time together… Alone.”

“And you couldn’t wait a bit longer?” She giggled, raising her eyebrows but clearly not against everything that was happening.

“You tell me about it,” You scoffed back. “You’re the one who couldn’t keep her hands off me down in the dressing room.”

“Look,” She moved her hair to the side, shaking her head as she seductively leaned her lips against your ear. “I’ll just say that whoever put you in that outfit deserves a raise.”

“I’ll make sure to pass down that message to the stylist then.” You teased back as you turned your head, capturing her lips with yours once again.

Time seemed to stop for both of you as your lips coordinated their delicate choreography. It didn’t matter how used to each other they were, they would never have enough of the velvet like sensations and flavors, those whose combination sparked fireworks up in your hearts and entire melodies in your bellies.

Her hand made it up to your cheek, gently caressing it as you couldn’t have enough of each other. You raised your hand to meet hers, interlacing your fingers together and pulling your hands apart of your face. A smile growing against your lips prompted you to sit up, directing Gahyeon up with you. Her unoccupied hand shooting up at your collar as she pulled you up herself, not breaking your lips apart at any moment.

Only a lack of air in both your lungs prompted you to halt, but your hands clutching to each other gave up how far from the end this was it. Gahyeon took advantage of the break to move on top of you, straddling your hips. The dim light of the room was enough to catch a glimpse of her hooded eyes and cheeky smile, just as she snaked her arms around your shoulders and up your neck, lacing her hands with your hair.

You let your hands roam to her hips, pulling her as close to you as possible. The smirk growing on your lips caused a big smile on your girlfriend’s face. You shook your head, incredulous of the entire situation, begging that no one woke you up if you were dreaming.

Only Gahyeon was able to bring you back, as she used her hands behind your head to bring you closer to her. Benefiting from that, you placed her lips right on the edge of her jaw, charming your way around her skin. Your hands roamed to her thighs, gently holding at them as you slowly kissed lower each time, eventually arriving at her exposed neck. Little gasps escaped your girlfriend’s mouth as you dangerously kissed closer to her collarbones, but her private whispered whines only kept you wanting more.

“Y/n?” She gasped your name, immediately making you pull apart.

“What happened Jagi?” Your hand gently put her hair behind her ear, resting over her blushing cheeks. “Anything wrong?”

“No, just...” She sheepishly whispered, locking her eyes with yours. A glance full of love in its purest form only made you question why you hadn’t crossed each other’s life earlier. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Not hesitating a second you smiled back at her, gently pulling her head closer to yours.

Connecting your lips once again, lingering with each other a bit more aggressively this time around. Your leather and lace outfits smoothly grinded against each other as you desperately enjoyed each other as much as you could, feeling your heart burn itself with a sweet warmth that you knew only by Gahyeon’s side.

Your tongue brushed against her lips, asking for permission to go further. She let you in with a mild whine as your tongues played against each other for dominance, unleashing brief moans from both of you, as her hands pulled your hair roughly and your fingers dove harsher against the skin on her hips.

Between the clicking of your mouths and the creaking of your complex and expensive costumes, you didn’t notice the door creaking open, and a hand clicking the light over the room.

“Here you are, they’re calling us back to the st-” Dami’s voice abruptly stopped as her eyes laid upon the sight in the room. Her cheeks heavily blushing, her eyes growing in circumference as the words she planned to say completely left her mind.

Both of you jumped apart, looking back at Dami startled. For what seemed like minutes, none of you three dared to move as to try and hide from your own existence, each of you asking for the earth to swallow you whole.

“Oh, look at that,” You cleared your throat as you quickly took your hands off your girlfriend’s hips, hiding them behind your hair. “The light is back…”

“That’s… That’s good!” Gahyeon janked her hands away from your shoulders, standing up from your thighs and fixing back her clothes. “Yes, that’s definitely good.”

Dami could do nothing but stand there just, staring back at forth at the both of you. And you both dared to do anything but stand up and try to fix your clothes as much as you could. A crushing silence engulfed the room as you three just… stood there in awkward quietness.

“Hey, did you find them Unnie?” Your leader’s voice approaching from the hall made you shut your eyes and furrow your eyebrows, shrinking in your place.

“I haven’t but I think I heard Dami over here.” JiU’s voice answering back marked Gahyeon’s turn to hide behind her hands, pulling them up to her face as both’s steps kept moving closer to the room. “There she is!”

“Hey Dami, did you find somethi-” Your leader’s voice now at the door halted when her eyes laid upon yours, as you apologetically smiled back, your cheeks growing in redness.

Both your leaders crossed their arms at the sight in front of them, bearing the disapproving grin all over their faces, it was kind of clear for everyone what had happened in that empty room, and if it wasn’t for poor Dami, who might have to carry that image in her mind for the rest of her life, who knows how far you and Gahyeon could have taken it.

“Do we want to ask about it or...?” JiU called off as a grin grew on her face.

Both of you just shook your head, walking towards the door to go back to work. Your leaders followed you close behind as you walked the halls of the now lighted venue all together. You turned your head towards your girlfriend to catch her already looking back at you with a faint smile on her perfect lips. You returned the smile adding a wink to the mix, to what you both giggled at the ridiculousness of the entire ordeal.

“Oh hey! There you are- WOAH.” SuA stopped her steps as she came closer to both of you. But contrary to the other girls before her, she released a loud chuckle to the air. “Oh Gahyeon-ah. I knew you would take my advice.”

“SuA!” JiU told her off but there was no turning down her loud laughter as that called the rest of the girls around you.

“Yeah…” Siyeon tried to contain back her laughter as she scanned both of you from head to toe. “There’s no way you both are going back into the stage like that, hurry to hair and makeup quickly for a retouch.”

“Yes unnie.” Gahyeon and you chorused as you took a quick peek at each other.

Your disheveled hair-dos matched your lipsticks, that now lied beyond the borders of both your lips. Not mentioning the ran eyeliner, but you could swear that was from the tickling and not the making out part. But neither of you bothered explaining, you both knew you were gonna get nagged about this for a long time, and preferred ot giving them more weapons to do so.

“Dami, are you okay?” Yoohyeon’s sudden change of tone to one more concerned called everyone’s attention to both of them. “You look like you had seen a ghost.”

Gahyeon and you couldn’t contain the cackle that the comment caused, JiU and your leader following with you. Soon everyone but Dami was giggling as they understood the real reason of her appalled expression, as she sighed lowering her head, trying to get the image out of her head.

“Yeah, don’t mention it.”

#dreamcatcher imagines #dreamcatcher scenarios #gahyeon imagines #gahyeon scenarios #girl group imagines #girl group scenarios

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miraculousluvbug · 3 years

Text

WINGLESS | Ch. 2

***WARNING: Season 4 Spoilers Ahead

***New to Wingless? Start at Chapter 1!

CH. SUMMARY: Of all the people Rena could let slip that she knows Ladybug's identity in front of . . . it had to be Chat Noir.

< < < THREE MONTHS AGO < < <

Ladybug swung from building to building, the exhilaration of a job well done fueling the fire in her veins. Traffic it would seem had resumed immediately, the sounds of wheels on pavement and cars obnoxiously honking ricocheting throughout the city’s architecture. This didn’t surprise Ladybug, seeing as the city had grown quite accustomed to akumas blocking the roads. Once the tips of her toes touched a rooftop, it wasn’t long before she was joined by another pair of boots.

“That went well,” commented Ladybug as she swiveled to face her teammate.

Rena Rouge folded her arms across her chest and popped a hip, lips puckered in a frown. “Are you kidding, girl?”

Ladybug’s face fell. No, she wasn’t kidding. She honestly had felt it went well. Was she missing something? Did a disaster strike while she was focused on her lucky charm? Had her Miraculous ladybugs not corrected all of the damage? Were there civilians hurt somewhere--

Abruptly, Rena clapped her hands on Ladybug’s shoulders and squealed, putting a halt to Ladybug’s internal meltdown. “That went amazing! We’re like a well-oiled machine, you and me. I still can’t believe I get to do superhero stuff!” At the sound of Alya’s impromptu shrieking, some pigeons nearby took flight, cooing what Ladybug imagined was a bird version of crotchety old people grumbling. Not even the least bit deterred, Rena leaned forward into Ladybug’s personal bubble, eyes wide with excitement. “But what I really can’t believe is that I’m doing it all with my best friend!”

Ladybug relaxed her posture and let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. But she quickly regretted it when she got a nice, big whiff of crepes, urine, and cigarette smoke. Ah, Paris. Home, sweet home. However, noticing her thoughts were veering dangerously offtrack, Ladybug shook herself mentally.

So nothing had gone wrong. Rena was just being Rena and drawing out the suspense. Ladybug patted her friend’s right hand--which was still firmly squeezing her shoulder--and smiled sweetly.

“It sure is convenient that I don’t have to hide from you anymore,” the spotted-heroine remarked. “I think half the time I took so long to get to a battle because I always had to come up with excuses.”

Rena grinned with a knowing glint in her eye. “I might be impressed if your excuses were actually good.”

Rolling her eyes, Ladybug turned away from Rena, causing Rena’s hands to fall to her sides. “Hey, you try having to come up with five hundred different reasons you have to flake on your friends and see if you fare any better.”

Rena was about to sass her best friend some more, but the words caught in her throat at the sight of Ladybug hugging herself. She recognized this stance. Ladybug’s head was in what Rena deemed the “Guilt Grotto.”

Rena stepped forward to wrap Ladybug in a warm, girl-you-better-get-your-head-out-of-the-guilt-grotto-or-I’ll-tickle-you embrace when there was movement across the rooftops in her periphery. She craned her head to the right to find the familiar silhouette of Chat Noir vaulting his way over, a goofy grin clearly plastered across his face the closer he got.

In a matter of seconds, he landed squarely beside Ladybug, startling her. Ladybug, the epitome of grace that she was, did a series of awkward hand gestures before falling back on her bum, shrieking.

Chat Noir didn’t even look a teeny bit remorseful.

“Looks like I got here just in time!” he quipped, bowing and sliding his baton back into place on his suit.

Rena held out a hand for her friend as Ladybug voiced her question: “In time for what?”

Chat bounced on the balls of his feet. “Well, for the akuma, of course! You guys were having a quick team meeting, right?”

Rena and Ladybug shared a look. So that’s what he was so happy about. Ladybug opened her mouth to reply, but Rena beat her to it.

“Actually, we already took care of the akuma.”

Chat Noir visibly deflated. His ears drooped and his belt tail started to swish back and forth. “Oh.” He turned to the edge of the rooftop and hunkered down, letting his legs kick to and fro in an attempt to get rid of some of the adrenaline.

Ladybug winced. Chat did not sound happy. Hesitantly, she sat next to him. Rena then took a seat beside her, making her the middle. “Sorry, Chat. I know you like battling akumas more than I do.”

Chat nodded before murmuring, “Thirteen.”

“Hm?” Ladybug scooted closer to him to hear him better, their legs nearly touching. She leaned to her right to get a better look at his face and tilted her head innocently. If she were Marinette then, she might have fallen off the rooftop altogether, but she was Ladybug, and Ladybug had way more poise.

Chat didn’t answer immediately. Whatever it was that he was about to say, Ladybug knew it must be something important if he, the guy who was always upfront about his feelings, found it difficult to say. The guy who told her . . .

It’s precisely when something is important that it’s important to say it.

No matter what.

Ladybug gingerly rested a hand on his arm, hoping he understood what the gesture meant. It’s okay. Take your time. I’m ready to listen.

After a few more moments of staring at his feet, Chat Noir lifted his head so his eyes bore into Ladybug’s. They creased with . . . Was that worry? Sadness? Fear?

“Thirteen,” he repeated, a bit louder. “That makes it thirteen times you and Rena have battled an akuma without me. Since Montparnasse Tower.”

Ladybug was speechless. As she stared ahead, eyes unfocused, she tried her hardest to recall all the akuma battles. It was challenging as her memory loved to fail her when she needed it most. Had he really not been in any of those battles? Had it really been thirteen times?

Had he . . . had he really been keeping count?

Ladybug didn’t know what to say, but she knew she had to say something, anything. But what could she say? Was she sorry?

No, she couldn’t be sorry that the akumas had been defeated, that the victims had been rescued, that she had been able to do so quickly because Alya had been spending a record amount of hours by her side.

She couldn’t be sorry about any of that. She was only sad that he felt sidelined.

That was not her intention.

But she knew what the solution to that was.

And she would rather die before she let Chat Blanc see the light of day.

Somehow, knowing her identity had led to him being akumatized. Somehow, whether it was in an alternate timeline or when their memories had been wiped by Oblivio, she knew that what he said at Montparnasse Tower--that to know him was to love him--was truth. And Chat Blanc had told her what their love did.

Their love destroyed the world.

Their love had killed her.

Their love broke the moon, for crying out loud.

But, most importantly, their love hurt him.

Chat Noir had told her he loved her, many times, and she had even been considering giving his pun-spurting, jokes-at-the-worst-times self a chance. But being forced into combat with her akumatized partner had violently squashed any hope she had for them, for LadyNoir as Alya coined it on her blog. Ladybug would be damned if she allowed that to happen again. And if that meant encouraging him to move on even though it broke her heart . . .

Well, it wasn’t supposed to be easy being a hero.

Ladybug had this entire conversation with herself in a matter of seconds. She was careful not to let her face expose any of her innermost feelings, instead sporting an expression of neutrality. What she ultimately decided to do was tell him the only truth she had to offer. He hated secrets and she hated lying. What a pair they made.

“I wish it could be different,” she whispered.

And oh, how she did. She desperately yearned to tell him who she was, to know who he was, to tell him about Alya and Nino and all the other people she had entrusted with a Miraculous.

She wanted him to know how she grew up, what kinds of things she did at school, how she was utterly ridiculous when it came to her rotten luck (and she tried very hard to push a certain blue-eyed blonde out of her head the moment that phrase came to mind). She was sure he would snicker at all the times she made a fool of herself in front of Adrien, of all the ways she made her own life a living hell with her clumsiness.

Or perhaps he wouldn’t laugh. Perhaps he would pat her shoulder and uplift her with words of encouragement. She didn’t know. After the stunt he pulled with the balcony of candle-lit roses, the boy was a wild card, an enigma. He was complex.

And it thrilled her.

But no matter how she felt about him, they couldn’t know each other that way.

Sighing quietly, Ladybug brought her knees up to her chest and turned away from Chat Noir. If she had been watching him when she responded, she might have seen him look longingly at her, but she didn’t.

Rena Rouge did, though.

Wanting to make her friends feel better, Rena added, “Don’t you worry your pretty kitty head about it. I’m sure all those battles would have taken way longer if we weren’t already together.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both stiffened. Chat’s gaze flicked from Rena to his partner over and over before they finally rested on Ladybug. “Uh, what does she mean by that?”

Ladybug shot a glare in Rena’s direction, but her eyes softened when she saw that Rena genuinely appeared surprised.

He didn’t know? Rena’s eyes asked Ladybug.

He didn’t know, Ladybug’s affirmed.

One would think Rena was Lady Luck because her pendant had decided that that moment was the best time to beep, and she couldn’t agree more. Now she had an escape route from this conversation. “Welp,” she clapped her hands together, “I’m gonna go chill in that fine-lookin’ alley over there.”

Before Ladybug could agree, Rena sprang from her spot and promptly disappeared. She was a regular magician, and her latest trick was leaving Ladybug with a rabbit to put back in the hat.

Or, er--a cat back in the bag. Whatever.

“What she meant by that . . . ” Ladybug began slowly, like she was addressing a wounded animal. Which, maybe she was but just, you know, emotionally wounded.

“Yeah . . . ” prompted Chat, signalling that he was not going to drop this.

Ladybug quickly jumped to her feet and began her ritual of frantic pacing. “Look, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while, but I didn’t know how to because I knew it would raise questions that I couldn’t answer--”

A blonde boy in white leather with somber blue eyes appeared in front of her and she dug her heels into the cement, skidding to a stop.

Chat Noir was behind Ladybug now, his voice soft and curious. “Bug?”

Ladybug was frozen in place for a few more seconds before she shook her head hard enough to give herself shaken-baby syndrome and nodded, satisfied that the aggressive head-shaking had rid her of he who shall not be named. She whipped around and started.

Chat Noir was incredibly close.

She didn’t know he had gotten this close.

Geez, his eyes were really cat-like.

He also had a really cute nose--

Ladybug, FOCUS!

Ladybug took a step back. She made it her mission to ogle his bell instead of looking into his dumb kitten eyes. “You--” she began, but Ladybug’s throat was suddenly dry. She gulped. “You know how much I hate secrets and lying. And I know how much you hate secrets and lying. So I’m not going to lie to you. But I may not be able to answer the questions I’m sure you’ll have, so please . . . ”

Ladybug grabbed one of his hands then and held it firmly between her own, pleading with every fiber of her being that this would communicate how much he meant to her even though she knew what she was about to tell him would make it seem like he didn’t mean anything.

Please forgive me, Ladybug’s heart supplied.

When he didn’t immediately take his hand back, she looked up at him. She looked into those dumb kitten eyes and knew without a shadow of a doubt--

She was a masochist.

This was going to hurt. He didn’t like when she was the only one to know Rena’s identity. He definitely wasn’t going to like that Rena knew hers. This would be so much easier if she wasn’t ogling those big, emerald green, beautiful, brazenly dumb kitten eyes.

But she was a masochist. And she needed to see them while they still held love for her.

“I told Rena Rouge who I am.”

There. She ripped off the band-aid. Straight to the point. Zero room for interpretation. After all, her worst arguments started because of her clumsy miscommunication.

Ladybug braced herself for an explosion. She had played this moment in her head a couple hundred times since exposing herself to Alya.

Yelling. There was always yelling.

Sometimes, he stomped away while doing that weird T pose where his fists didn’t connect to his hips . . . a pose she herself was guilty of, too.

Others, he chastised her about her thoughtlessness--to which she responded that she definitely thought about it long and hard that day.

Ladybug braced herself for an explosion because she was sure there was going to be one, especially after seeing him upset about her always running off to Master Fu. He hadn’t even known there was a Guardian for a while.

What she hadn’t braced herself for was the expression on his face.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

His head was bowed.

His eyes were closed.

A lone tear slid down his cheek.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Her heart thudded against her ribcage, screaming at her to run because he wanted her Miracul--!

No! She refused to finish that thought.

Her head yelled back that he wasn’t akumatized right now, that she wasn’t back there, that she wasn’t with him. She desperately tried to shove the image from her mind. This was more than she could bear. She just--she couldn’t take it! She couldn’t take it because . . .

Because . . .

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Because he looked just like him.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

He looked like Chat Blanc.

-----

Heya! Thanks for reading. ❤ Check out my Instagram for Wingless updates. I'm also posting pieces of a Wingless cover with each chapter update!

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butwhatifidothis · 3 years

Note

I have thought it would have been a hella better game if Sothis had been the protagonist too! Here’s how I imagine it would be like:

Byleth is the actual reincarnation of Sothis and the child-Sothis we see at the start of the game is actually her subconsciousness. Sothis/Byleth is still the emotionless mercenary with no social skills when the game starts, but she does become more and more emotional and expressive as she begins interacting with specifically Rhea, Flayn and Seteth, her old family. They do form a bond with the lords and the students though (I think the dynamic in AM as a close friend is nice) and most of Byleth’s thoughts are shown through child-Sothis’ commentary.

They can still have the “protagonist being ignorant about Fodlan” thing going on, but with a little twist that it is actually because Sothis keeps confusing the old Fodlan of her era with modern Fodlan and gets blinding headache all the time but actually that is her getting flashbacks. Because of this Jeralt took them away to Morfis (which didn’t exist in her time yet) and they only returned recently after being hired by Rodrigue who had them take care of some bandits in the Kingdom (that is why she has heard of the Tragedy but doesn’t know the details of it).

For example, when she leads the class to the Red Canyon, she mistakenly thinks it is a big, prosperous city that is supposed to be the capital of Fodlan and the lords and Rhea have to explain to her the legend of Zanado. Then she faints and gets a flashback of a beautiful city called Zanado with many humans and dragons living together in peace and unimaginably sophisticated technology located in the exact same valley. She confuses a lot of places with old Fodlan too. To her, Arianrhod is still a small fishing village, Fhirdiad is a food paradise and tourist’s attraction, Goneril is the capital of Agartha, a neighbouring belligerent nation, Enbarr is an ordinary small town where she landed when she first crashed into Fodlan, the Valley of Torment is a fertile valley with a large population focused on agriculture, the Church of Seiros is supposed to be called the Church of Sothis instead and she doesn’t know what the knights are because such concepts did not exist in her time nor Morfis, etc.

Of course, because she often gets so confused by the current Fodlan, the lords and Rhea still have a lot of explaining to do every time they have to travel somewhere like they do in the game. Claude becomes very suspicious of her too.

When she gets attacked by Solon, child-Sothis merges with Sothis, now reincarnated as Byleth, and regains her memories and power as the goddess and from now on her emotions and stuff are back. Then a cutscene showing Sothis’ memory of how and why she came to Fodlan as an alien, how she created the Nabateans and passed her knowledge to the humans in Fodlan, how Fodlan thrived as a nation of Nabateans and humans living together, how Agartha rose as a highly technologically advanced belligerent neighbouring country in the east and how Fodlan and Agartha fought in a war that devastated the entire world so much that she spent centuries healing it until it finally began prospering again and she went to sleep. In her memory we are also shown that the Nabateans all had symbols like the current crests of the 12 Elites and we are misled into thinking those with the crests are the descendants of the Nabateans. The cutscene then ends abruptly when Sothis is jolted from her sleep and the last thing she sees is a wicked man (Nemesis) raising an axe on her and a young girl’s screams that she knows it’s her daughter Seiros.

She is very confused right now because apparently the world she knew is just completely forgotten by the people, and apparently five of her children founded an empire called Adrestia with a human an entire thousand years ago. She knows they can live longer than 1000years and realises they must still be alive now and wants to find them. She also doesn’t know how she died too and is rather panicked that she will be killed again if word gets out she is Sothis. Ah, and she is very curious of the true identities of the 12 Elites as their first names were not recorded and shared the same crests with some of her children. Sothis worries if they were her children who adopted a different surname because that would mean her children fought amongst each other and may be they destroyed each other to the point that Fodlan was in such a ruin that no one remembers the old Fodlan now.

After this cutscene showing the old Fodlan under Sothis’ guidance ends, Byleth who has now remembered her life as Sothis and regained her full power, wakes to Rhea singing a lullaby very popular in old Fodlan so Sothis thinks Rhea may know something about the old Fodlan, but she is paranoid because she thinks there are parts of her memory missing and does not know for sure if Rhea is trustworthy. As a result, she doesn’t immediately tell Rhea she is Sothis and Rhea is not aware that her mother has already come back.

Rhea suggests having Sothis sit on the Holy Throne to jolt her memory and she accepts, hoping to remember what happened to her after the man with the axe showed up. However, before she can sit on the actual throne, Edelgard comes in with her soldiers and battle begins. Then the Imperial army attacks the Monastery before Sothis gets a chance to investigate and talk to Rhea/Seteth/Flayn. Sothis is completely stunned when Rhea turns into a dragon to protect the people because she finally realises Rhea is Seiros all along. She goes back immediately to protect Seiros when she is in danger but gets hit by Thales’ magic energy balls and falls down the cliff. She manages to tell Seiros she is Sothis before falling down the cliff though.

From this point, the route differs into the three non-CF routes.

SS will be a more personal story about Sothis trying to recover her memory and finding out what happened to her family. Sothis will also slowly realise Seteth and Flayn are her family and Macuil and Indech will also join them on this route to help rescue their little sister. Unfortunately, none of them can tell Sothis what exactly happened on the day of the Red Canyon Tragedy because Seiros was the only survivor and the four of them weren’t present in Zanado at the time. They can only tell Sothis that the five of them banded together with Wilhelm, a human and later Seiros’ husband and fought with Nemesis and his 12 Elites who tried to conquer the southern half of the continent and subjugate them to his tyranny. They can confirm the 12 elites were not their siblings and just magically got the crests of their family via unknown means. In the end Sothis rescues her daughter and storms Shambhala. The family are happily reunited and strive to rebuild Fodlan together after Rhea explains what she did to Sothis in her infant state.

VW will be a story about Sothis and Claude learning about what happened to old Fodlan and Agartha. Claude notices that Sothis has been reading up on the founding of the empire/church and the legends about the 12 Elites/saints too. He suggests they team up because he is also doing the same thing. Sothis tells him about the truth of her identity, her missing memory and the old Fodlan she remembers. This clarifies things up for Claude so Claude actually opens up to Sothis and begins trusting her as a friend and the rest follows canon. Rhea will explain what happened in the Tragedy and the fates of their family. Sothis and Claude take down Nemesis to avenge herself and her family. They also learn that Agartha is why Almyra and Fodlan fight all the time.

AM will still focus on Dimitri and the Kingdom but this is how I would frame the story: Sothis thinks the Kingdom nobles descended from the 12 Elites are the descendants of the Nabateans and may know something about her children and what happened to them. Sothis asks Dimitri if he has heard of the Nabateans. Dimitri doesn’t know anything but promises he will help Sothis investigate into this. Everything follows canon until Cornelia’s death, who not only taunts Dimitri about his stepmother but also mocks Byleth that she is assisting the descendants of the 12 elites who slaughtered her entire family 1000 years ago in a war against the descendants of her own children. Sothis in the end comes to term with the possibility that Dimitri’s ancestors might have killed her and her family and continues to support Dimitri as she believes he will make a good king while Edelgard is currently a terrible ruler who has caused the suffering of thousands of people.

CF, on the other hand, will be a much darker story. After Sothis wakes up to Rhea singing to her, she gets to choose between “ask Rhea” and “ask Edelgard” about the saints and the elites. If “ask Edelgard” is chosen, Edelgard will ask why and you can choose “tell Edelgard the truth”. She will lie and convince Sothis into helping her by telling her that Seiros and the four faints did a major cover-up and they were the ones who killed sothis and turned their blades against the rest of their siblings for power. The man Sothis saw in her memory was a bandit hired by the five saints to kill sothis and the other children, known as the 12 elites now, banded together to resist Seiros around a heroic mortal that is Nemesis. When they lost, Seiros hunted down the 12 elites, crafted weapons from their bones and gave their blood to her own allies. The church then lied to the people again that the 12 elites were helping her because one of the five saints didn’t want people to remember their siblings as villains forever. Her own ancestor wilhelm helped Seiros in her unjust war for power and she intends to make things right now and asks if Sothis wants to be a part of that. If Sothis refuses her offer and expresses her scepticism of Edelgard’s claims, the game will immediately end because Edelgard will kill her.

If chooses “yes” then you enter the CF route. Edelgard tells Sothis she intends to declare war on the church to take down Rhea and take back the lands occupied by the evil descendants of the people who slaughtered Sothis’ children, aka Faerghus and Leicester. Edelgard, however, tells Sothis she intends to capture Rhea so Sothis will be able to ask Rhea the same questions to prove her claim. They do not return to the Monastery for the Holy Throne ritual and the coronation scene and war declaration scene play instead. When Sothis returns to the Monastery, she is with the Imperial army intended to conquer the Monastery. Sothis confronts an infuriated Rhea, who is extremely mad about her betrayal, and asks why Rhea/Seiros sent the assassin on her and killed her siblings. Seiros quickly realises Byleth/Sothis is in fact the reincarnation of her mother, but Edelgard notices that and has Thales attack Sothis from behind to prevent Seiros from telling Sothis the truth and swaying her to their side. Sothis falls off the cliff and Seiros tries to kill Edelgard for turning her mother against her and killing her again before she retreats to the Kingdom.

Five years later, Sothis wakes up and rejoins Edelgard’s army only to find out the Empire is on the brink of collapse against the combined might of the Kingdom-Church-Alliance with only Garreg Mach, Gronder, Fort Merceus and Enbarr left in their control. Not all of the Black Eagle students are fighting on their side either - Ferdinand, Dorothea, Petra and Caspar have abandoned the Empire and are fighting for the Kingdom-Church-Alliance army while Linhardt and Bernadetta simply refused to join the war. Instead, Ladislava, Fleche, Randolph, Count Bergliez, Arundel and Jeritza have become your new units.

Sothis continues to help Edelgard in the war and they quickly reclaim the territories lost to the allied powers. As they continue to push forward, Sothis encounters Seteth and the other three saints too (Indech and Macuil joined Rhea after learning of what Edelgard did to Sothis) on the battlefield. They will try to tell Sothis the truth and you have an option between “question Edelgard’s claims and spare them” and “believe in Edelgard’s words and kill them”. If the former is chosen, the game will end immediately as Edelgard will backstab Sothis instantly if she knows Sothis has turned against her. The rest follows canon, but Seiros will try to tell Sothis the truth again on Tailtean. Sothis will be killed if she believes Seiros instead of Edelgard here too. Heartbroken and traumatised by the fact that her mother has killed all of her only remaining family members and has already tried to kill her twice and is about to come and kill her again, Seiros transforms into a dragon in Fhirdiad and sets the city to fire once the citizens have been evacuated, hoping to bring down all of her enemies including her mother with the fire in order to avenge her friends and family.

In the end, Sothis kills Seiros as canon but loses her power and immortality as a goddess because it was Seiros’ magic that kept the creststone alive, and without the protection magic on the stone it would just be an ordinary stone and couldn’t function as a heart. Sothis almost dies without a working heart but the Agarthans save her by a heart replacement surgery on her using Seiros’ heart on the condition that she will give them the Crest of Flames creststone and the sword and share her blood with them regularly. Everything else continues as canon and the route can end with a realistic dark ending (everything crashes and burns) or a fake happy ending (the one in the game).

YOOOO dude this is great! Byleth as a character is so uninteresting, at least to me, because the only actually interesting thing about them is something that was done to them, not something they did. Byleth was born without a heart and was given the heart of a long-dead Goddess to let them live - neat! Intriguing! But nothing else catches your eye like that about them. They live on as a mercenary who apparently only wanted to ever ask questions about anything ever at all once they get to the monastery. The biggest thing they’ve done is make a name for themselves for how well they fight in battle.

Now, we pivot the idea of Sothis being the protagonist, that’s where things start getting interesting. She fell from the stars and created new life? She helped humans prosper in knowledge only to have that knowledge be used for evil? She healed all of Fodlan from the devastation caused by the war humans enacted and fell into a sleep because of it? Those are all things she does that are worth getting to know more about. Her being murdered during her rest by another greedy human and was reduced to nothing but a dormant consciousness for a thousand years being coupled with the “being given the heart of a long-dead Goddess” being what was done to her isn’t the only interesting thing about them anymore. That’s all stuff that offers so much to the player to want to delve into, especially with a character who is gradually more and more vocal about their want to learn about themselves, with thoughts and feelings about what happened to them, what happened to their family, what they did in the past they can’t remember.

I especially like all the ways you can just get a game over in CF - in a way that reminds me of that one mission in Sacred Stones where if you beat the boss you get an insta-game over since he was your only way to progress the story lmao, except this is turnt up to 11, and instead of punishing you for being a dingus and fucking up the plot, in a way it’s trying to save you from becoming a kin-killing pawn to a tyrant.

About the only thing I might have a bit of a ehhh with is Agartha being why Almyra and Fodlan feud, just because I find them feuding due to themselves and not a third party to be more interesting to me (personally! That’s just for me lol, it’s not an inherently bad notion!), but thanks you so much for sending this!!

#ask #anon #anti edelgard #Anti-edelgard #just to be safe #like omega safe lmao #this is so cool!!

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petersasteria · 3 years

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The Forces of Nature || Ch.16

Pairing: Peter Parker x Superhero!Reader Summary: “There’s this kid out there that can control the wind or something. I think she’s a great addition to the team. Let’s recruit her.” 1,602 words Series Masterlist || Parker

“The swine flu has been worse recently. We don’t know where he lives exactly, but he’s definitely mad.” Rhodey told everyone as they played footage of The Violent Swine on the big screen. “Yesterday, he killed five people and injured one person.”

“How awful.” Y/N sighed and shook her head. She wasn’t a fan of violence. In fact, it was one of the reasons why she was hesitant to join the team when Peter asked her. “What should we do? We haven’t started yet. When will we act? We’re just sitting here doing these stupid meetings talking about ‘our plans’! We barely did anything!” She exclaimed, getting angry and impatient.

“Calm down, Avatar.” Tony said, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Calm down?! I’m sorry, but I can’t calm down. I can’t sit here while innocent people are dying because of this angry and vengeful man who’s clearly getting our attention. Let’s just act. Screw the plan!” Y/N pointed out. Steve nodded in understanding and agreement. Everyone was quiet for a while.

“Look, I’m sorry for lashing out.” Y/N said quietly. “I’m just mad that we haven’t gone into action yet. I know it’s dangerous, but isn’t our job protecting people? Isn’t that what the Avengers are for? I joined all of you because I want to help people. I didn’t join here to sit and watch them die until a plan was formed. Let’s just go for it.”

“She’s right.” Wanda said as she gave Y/N a small smile. “We should go for it.”

“So, there’s no plan?” Bucky asked.

“We’ve been training our asses off. I think it’s time to put our skills to use.” Y/N mentioned.

“Okay. Let’s just update Parker. Speaking of, where’s Peter?” Tony asked and looked at Y/N. She looked at him and said, “He stayed at home to take care of aunt May. She’s sick.”

“Okay, then. I’ll just text him about the meeting.” Tony said before pulling out his phone to text.

“Y/N, shouldn’t you be going home? It’s, like, 7PM.” Steve told her in concern. Y/N glanced at her watch and her eyes widened. Steve was right.

“Shoot! I have to go. Eunice is taking the night shift tonight and she said she’d only leave when I get home so that she knows I’m safe.” Y/N said as she hastily got up from her seat and packed her things.

“I’m glad that someone’s looking after you, Y/N. You’re lucky.” Nat smiled softly. Y/N smiled back, “Thank you. Eunice is a blessing sent from heaven. I’d be nothing without her and I'd probably live in the streets if I never met her.”

Once she was done shoving everything in her bag, she said goodbye to everyone and left. She rushed home and if she was being honest, the journey home was all a blur. She smiled to herself when the view of her apartment building came to view as she walked from the train station. She smiled at the couple who were going down the stairs as she was going up.

She had a skip in her step when she arrived at her floor. She took out her key from her jean pocket, but frowned when she saw the front door slightly open. She pushed the door open and said, “Eunice, I think you left the door o- AH!”

She cut herself off with a gasp. Suddenly she couldn’t scream and only tears streamed down her face. She shakily brought a hand to her mouth as the other hand shut the door behind her. The sight was traumatic. She was so busy taking in the sight that she failed to notice the words ‘overthrow gaia’ on the wall written with blood. Eunice’s blood, she assumed.

“Oh my god.” Y/N said as she cried. She broke down and fell to the ground. She carefully crawled to Eunice’s lifeless body and looked at her.

She didn’t know what to do. There were so many questions in her head that needed answers. Y/N knew she could see memories, but so far, all she’s been seeing were her own memories. She figured that she could see Eunice’s last memory before she died with the blood that surrounded her.

“I hope this works, oh my god.” Y/N sniffed before putting her hands on the floor. Tears, leaves and mud worked with seeing memories. Blood, however, doesn’t work. This frustrated Y/N because she wanted to see who did this cruel thing.

She looked at Eunice’s face and saw three letters carved on her forehead. ‘T.V.S’ it said. Y/N was angrier now. She grabbed her phone and called Clint.

“Hey, Y/N! We just saw you. What’s up?”

“Eunice is dead.” Y/N said bluntly as she cried. “I-I found her lying on the floor and there’s blood everywhere! I don’t know what to do.”

“Okay, we’ll be there ASAP. Call the police and don’t touch her, okay? Stay away from Eunice.” Clint said as he informed everyone about what happened.

Y/N nodded as she moved away from Eunice. She leaned against the wall as she sat on the floor, “Please come soon, okay?”

“Okay, we promise that. Call 911.” Clint said before hanging up. Y/N catches her breath first before calling 911.

“911, what’s your emergency?” The lady asked.

“My guard- my best friend is dead. She- She’s surrounded with her own blood in the living room. I just got home and I don’t know what to do.” Y/N cried hysterically.

“Okay, what’s your address?”

Y/N gave all her details and the lady said, “They’re already on their way, okay? Stay on the phone until they get there.”

“Okay.” Y/N cried.

Clint, Wanda, Thor, Nat, and Steve arrived at the same time as the police and the paramedics. The door was aggressively pushed open by one of them and you didn’t care. “They’re here.” You croaked out.

The paramedics came in and handled Eunice’s body and the police asked Y/N some questions and that annoyed her.

“Look, I don’t know, okay?!” Y/N cried. “I told you everything! I came home from a meeting and I saw her lying on the floor with blood surrounding her! That’s everything I know!”

The five Avengers comforted Y/N while the police told her that they’ll be investigating more about it and that she needed to stay at someone else’s place.

“You can stay at the compound. You’re welcome to stay there as long as possible.” Nat said before pulling Y/N in for a hug.

On the files and records, it said that Eunice was murdered. Outing himself, the police already knew that The Violent Swine was behind this. Deciding he was ‘some kind of alien or something’, the police said he was hard to catch and they closed the case already. This angered Y/N until the funeral. She heavily invested her time finding out what happened to Eunice instead of grieving with Eunice’s family who she just got to know. Y/N didn’t give herself a chance to grieve and it was getting all too much and she didn’t want to admit it.

When the funeral was over, Y/N was left behind. She didn’t know that the Avengers arrived after everyone left. It wasn’t until she felt a hand on her shoulder that she knew of their presence.

“We’re sorry for your loss.” Tony said softly. Y/N could only nod.

“I will never forgive The Violent Swine for this.” She said softly. “We need to catch him now. I don’t care how we’ll do it.”

The next few days were spent locating and going to where The Violent Swine is, but when they arrived at the scene, The Violent Swine had already left.

Coming home from another failed mission, the Avengers went to the meeting room with frustrated looks on their faces.

“Why can’t we fucking catch him?!” Bucky exclaimed.

“He’s always one step ahead and it’s frustrating, but we need to be two steps ahead of him.” Bruce told everyone.

“How will we do that?” Peter asked as he took off his mask and ruffled his hair. “It’s difficult.”

Rhodey looked at the screen while everyone was talking about the next step, when Rhodey saw something unusual.

“Guys.” He said. When no one stopped talking, he raised his voice. “Guys!”

Everyone looked at him and Sam asked, “What?”

Rhodey turned to all of them and said, “The Violent Swine left New York.”

“Where is he now?” Scott asked. “Is he in Vegas? Is he on vacation?”

“He’s in Greece.” Rhodey answered. “He’s bringing the battle to Greece. I don’t know why, but we’re going there. Let’s finish him.”

“I’m down.” Y/N said without hesitation.

“Y/N, we have school.” Peter pointed out. “We can’t just leave.”

“I don’t care. He killed Eunice and he’ll pay.” Y/N glared at Peter before looking at Rhodey. “Count me in. I’ll get a passport and everything, I don’t care anymore. A final exam isn’t going to stop me from getting him.”

“Fine.” Peter said. “I’m in too.” The two teens looked at each with a small smile on their faces.

“We’re going to Greece, then.” Tony finalized. “When are we leaving?”

“...Now? Knowing him, he’ll start chaos as soon as he arrives.” Nat said, earning a chorus of agreements from everyone.

“You know what to do.” Steve said, everyone turning to him. With a hint of eagerness in his eyes he said, “Avengers, assemble.”

* * * *

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @blueleatherbag @cocoamoonmalfoy @thatforgottenangel @parkerpeter24 @slutforsr @givebuckyhisplumsnow @buckys-little-hoe @runawayolives @chewymoustachio @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @yourstrulyamour @beverlythrillz @pearce14 @juliediggory @yaya4302 @alexx-stancati @rumplebutterbaby @dummiesshort @spideyspeaches @moonlight-onyx @marvelsimps @angelsgrxzer @dreamy-clousds @bora-world @hunnybunimdun @supred12 @more-like-reyna @caitsymichelle13 @aayaissaa @oliviabren03 @wannabemobwife @bigassnocash

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @holland-styles @trustfundparker @alinastarkrovs @felicityparkers @hufflepuffprincess24 @tommysparker @justasmisunderstoodasloki @quaksonhehe @call-me-baby-gir1 @itstaskeen @theonly1outof-a-billion @lost-in-the-stars03 @justafangirlduh @piscesparker @speedymaximoff @miraclesoflove @lexirv @blairscott @getbywithasmile @pqrkerr @lavender-writer @blackbat2020 @hoodpankow @bi-lmg @emmastarz @moonchild-s-blog

#peter parker #peter parker series #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker fanfiction #petersasteria #the forces of nature fic #k's works

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monsoonblooms12 · 3 years

Text

In Sunshine & In Shadow: Chapter 1-Love & Laughs

Summary of the Series: Let's set out on the walk of life. Pack up for embarking on an adventure of a lifetime with our favourite residents. A series of love, friendship and travel. It is all about fuelling your wanderlust❤️

In this chapter: Pooja and Ethan spend some cute moments and the talk of the trip begins.

A/N: This has been sitting in my drafts for a long time as I figured out the storylines I wanted to do for the various pairings. Now that I have planned everything, I can finally start posting. This chapter is Poo & E. We meet the others in the next chapter💛

If you enjoyed the story, please like it, leave a comment or reblog. Your feedback keeps me going💕

Thank you so much @jamespotterthefirst for prereading. Love you💛💛

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey X f!MC (Dr. Pooja Sharma)

Word Count: around 2.2K

Rating: General

Prompt :- @choicesaprilchallenge2021 Day 6: Sonder

Derry Roasters was abuzz with enthusiasm, but it didn't seem to act on her. To her, it felt like someone had turned the hourglass of her life, let the sand flow and forgot to turn it back. Her time had stopped there on its tracks.

Around her, people rushed through their day, not waiting for anyone. She felt like the still picture amidst a fast-motion video. Sonder was the word Pooja would use to describe the way she felt. Sonder, for her, is Surprise and Wonder intertwined in a single word. Wonder, at how life changes every minute of every moment. And Surprise at how, even after so many afflictions, tribulations, one will find the happiness that destiny had in store for them.

The thoughts in her mind swirled and asked for all her cognizance. Transfixing her mind in them, she let her emotions engulf her with leaden steps.

Ting Ding Ding

Pooja's eyes tardily broke contact with the empty bone china coffee mug as she picked up her phone.

Brookline Rejuvenate sent you an email.

But for her, it manifested being a testament that all of it was happening.

That she was not tumbling around in an atrocious daydream, which would vanish the instant, she fluttered her orbs agape.

Yes.

Edenbrook, the nonpareil hospital in the entire States, was closing down.

Every day of operating there, felt like she was relishing in the will-o'-the-wisp of her aspirations.

The thoughts of Edenbrook made her mind travel to the day when it all began. The elegant calligraphy on the envelope with the Cerulean and Lime Green Logo that bore her name. The message that turned her life upside down forever.

Then the Diagnostics Team. The extreme cases they had solved. They saw its end too. They were working their free hours at the free clinic or in the ER. Everything, every day, seemed to rush around her.

The days seemed to fly past, and so did the time remaining for Edenbrook.

Everyone had started looking up places to carry on with their medical careers & residencies. But no one wanted to leave Edenbrook before it closed down. They wanted to cherish every day before the ticking clock struck midnight and supply the last of their best healthcare to as many people as possible.

The thought of leaving everything behind was painful for Pooja. You are taking away the most valuable of things, she convinced herself. You are taking away memories. Beautiful memories. Painful memories.

But there was another nagging thought that piqued her time and again.

The Gala was everything she ever imagined. But the most memorable of the moments was The Kiss. He had kissed her.

In front of everyone.

Her mind went to the embedding touches Ethan left on her that night.

Now, as Edenbrook's time came to an end, and she planned about the rest of her residency, she thought of her and Ethan's relationship.

Were they meant to be? Were all those feather-light touches, the kisses in the rain, the tears they shed together, going to end in vain? Were their lives only connected till here?

Was it the beginning of the end?

"You're here."

You will live a hundred years, Ethan Ramsey.

Tearing away from the colossal reticulation of her thoughts, she turned towards him. His summery blues, meeting her ambers.

"Hey You"

Ethan came over and sat in front of her.

"You didn't tell me you were coming here. I had to ask Alex and Sienna to know about your whereabouts."

Pooja let out a tiny laugh. "Whereabouts? You are making me feel like a criminal."

Ethan chuckled. "If so, then you would be the most beautiful criminal I have ever seen."

This made Pooja giggle harder. "You are talking as if you have met hundreds of criminals."

"I will never win any debate with you. So let's just...let it be?"

"Accepting Defeat, Dr. Ramsey?"

"If it makes you smile that, then I will always accept defeat for you."

A blush crept up her neck as she said, "Okay, too much. Now stop"

Ethan let out a last chuckle as his order arrived. A Vienna, a coffee and black forest cake for him and a butterscotch one for her.

Taking her piece in hand, Pooja said, "All I need is you."

"Hey, what about me?"

"Ah, you know you can never win the battle against this" She held up the cake.

"You're ridiculous."

A subtle tee-hee, and they were surrounded with a perfect silence as they got lost in each other's world.

A world where all the hustle-bustle inundating them evaporated. There were no questions asked, no side looks given, and no stops in the world of their love. In this world, their coffee, cake and their memories were their sole companions.

There were no catechisms, no side looks given, and no obstructions in the world of their love.

"So…umm..." Ethan began.

"Yeah?"

Oh, C'mon Ramsey, it is obvious that you have fallen real deep for her! Alex's usual tease came ringing in his ears.

Oh Lexandra, why don't you leave me alone?

But she is right.

Ugh! Since when did The Ethan Ramsey, the man who could make an intern tremble with fear, start to fumble?

He took a deep breath, centred himself and began again.

"Can we go on a tour? With all of your friends or the Invincibles as you all ridiculously like to call yourselves.

"Wait. You Remember That?"

"How can I forget when you are singing the name in front of me every 10 minutes or so?"

"Or maybe you need a membership to the Invincibles? Which, I should make clear, you are not getting."

"You are ridiculous-"

"-ly smart. Ya, I know, Thank you very much. And speaking of the trip, I would go on a trip at any time, anywhere, you don't need to ask. Just tell. I will be ready in 10 minutes."

"You know I am not talking about a trip from here to Brookline. We could go on, you know, an international tour. To a place of your choices."

Pooja's face became Stoic, expressionless. A sudden flurry of anxiousness spread through Ethan's Heart.

Then he remembered. A tip Alex had given him "free of cost" as she would like to say, a few days back.

"Anytime you are asking Poo to go on a trip to one of her favourite places, just count till five after placing your point."

"Five? Why?"

"Just do as I say, and you will see for yourself" Alex winked and left.

So he did.

One, He saw Pooja's eyes widen a bit.

Two, Her Amber eyes were full of joy and excitement.

Three, A light blush and the faint dimple on her left cheek appeared, adding a shimmer to her beauty.

Four, Her lips crept up in a faint smile.

Five, Her face and expression fully express-

"YAY! YAY! YAY!" Her cheer came along which earned her side-glances from the other customers. But who cares when it's an international trip you are talking about?

Of course, Ethan thought, Lexandra was right.

"That is a Thantastic idea!!!"

"I am sorry, but Thantastic?" Ethan couldn't help but chuckle. She was a source of his never-ending amusement.

"Gawd Thanie! Thantastic is just an Ethan version of Fantastic. Duh!"

She bent over the table.

Deceiving him to think that she was going to kiss him. In front of the entire coffee shop.

Only for her to smack his forehead lightly and comedically.

Since when did you become a sappy idiot like that? Ethan mentally ridiculed himself.

"Stop making a comedy show out of me in front of the entire coffee shop."

"Stop acting comedically, and I will stop too" Pooja shrugged and flashed that one dimpled smile that he had come to be a fan of

The things the girl does to me! And I thought love didn't exist. Even Ethan's mind was satirizing him.

The snap of two fingers brought him back from Ethan-land to the Derry Roasters, Boston, Massachusetts.

"I thought Ethan-land doesn't exist. Glad to be proven wrong." Pooja's mocking giggle was a melody he wanted to record on a vinyl and play on a record player time and again.

He thought of presenting a counter-argument.

You still won't win.

So instead of wasting his energy in vain, he decided to save it for later.

"Hmm. Coffee done. Now let's head home. We will ask them to pack the cakes."

"Buy a few more."

"Hmm?"

"You know trip planning? And I am pretty sure I said that you can bring along your fri-"

"I think you mean The Invincibles?" Pooja cut him off, cocking her right eyebrow.

"Whatever." Rolling his eyes, Ethan didn't let his amusement seep through his features.

They both got up. Ethan bought a bunch of cakes while Pooja giggled, nearly tripped and sprained her left ankle lightly, and finally succeeded in texting her mates to join them for trip-ing plan.

When Ethan came out of the coffee shop, hands full, he saw her slight limping as she walked towards their car.

Shaking his head, and having a mental peal of laughter because of her clumsiness, he went to the car. Opening the rear door, he kept all the goodies on the back seat.

Then he turned towards Pooja. She still had all of her attention transfixed in reading something fascinating on her phone. She didn't even notice him.

In a quick motion, he went up to her, and before she could process the whole thing, picked her up bridal style and seated her in the front passenger seat.

The next minute, he was behind the wheel and was driving them home. More specifically, The condo of the Invincibles.

Mental eye-roll.

"Ahem, Ahem"

Of Course. She was yet to speak something.

"So what are you now, Super Ramsey? Picking me up in the middle of the pathway?"

"You were limping, Poo."

"You know I can manage myself just fine."

He stopped the car. The condo was still a block away.

"Why did you stop? This is not where we live. You know that."

Ethan turned towards her and caressed her cheek softly.

She melted into his touch. Her eyes closed momentarily, her beautiful eyes and alluring shadowy eyelashes reflecting the serenity her heartfelt.

"Poo. I know you are a strong, independent woman. You like to be self-dependent."

He paused a short breath. Taking her hand in his and kissing the top of it, he continued,

"But I cannot see you hurt, be it a slight limp or a broken arm. I will always take care of you."

"I know you will. You always do. But a limp, a broken arm is faint compared to what I have been through. You don't need to worry about me all the time."

"I will always worry about you."

"Eth-"

He placed a finger on her lips. "No more ifs, or buts. It is something I wanna do. Not something I have to do."

And with a look of assurance and care, Ethan started to drive again. His features were calm, his blue eyes had hues of red and golden of the traffic in front of them.

The unsaid string of words that dangled between the two of them was what had tied them together so strongly. Which made him believe she was meant to be his and her to believe that he was meant to be hers.

Pooja waited for that day, impatiently, when he would be hers and she, his. Angst in fiction was her love, but angst in her real life? Not really. At least, not with Ethan Ramsey.

Stop being melodramatic.

She snapped at herself.

It took them an additional five minutes to reach the condo. Once there, Ethan was the first one to get out of the car. Pooja followed. She stood next to Ethan, who was now taking out the pastry boxes.

His senses called out to him, informed him of her presence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the exact spot where she stood.

Then, as if it was a second nature to him, he swept her towards him by the waist and kissed her in four steps.

First, He kissed her dimpled cheek, earning a gasp from her.

Then, he kissed her forehead and left silent praises for her heart to hear.

Third, His suck on her neck felt like the touch of a feather to her.

And Lastly, His soft pink lips meet her rosy moist ones, full of passion and a love so pure that threatened to overpower their senses.

Slowly, he turned her around in the rhythm of a dance, and hugging her from the back, he sensually pulled at the tip of her ear as his soft words warmed her heart.

"Shall we?"

Not what she wanted to hear, but the feels in her heart didn't let her feel disappointed.

"Of Course." A reply she made with an unvoiced wish that the next time he kisses her like he did today, he says those words which will make her, his forever.

PS: Here's to hoping that this was not an utter mess and you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading and have a good day ahead🧡

Tags (Please let me know if you would like to be added or removed!) :@bbrandy2002 @whimsicallywayward15 @ohramsey @nervoussaladsludgeopera @trrfanaddict @hopelessromanticmonie @ilikemenbutonlyethanramsey @lovablegranny @bellcat2010 @gkittylove99 @kingliam2019 @starrystarrytrouble @3riche @chetachisblog @zoehanji @withbeautyandrage @drariellevalentine @mvalentine @aestheticartsx @angela8754 @schnitzelbutterfingers @ao719 @choicesstan1 @neotericthemis @arnikki-2406 @anotherbeingsworld @maurine07 @sophxwithers @twinkleallnight

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miracleonice87 · 4 years

Text

Begin Again

a Mathew Barzal song fic

a/n: a one shot based on “Begin Again” by Taylor Swift. obviously I don’t own any of Taylor Swift’s music/lyrics! I’m not even a big Swiftie anymore (edited: lol dying bc I wrote that before she released folklore and evermore and sucked me RIGHT back in) but I love her “Red” album and always listen to it in the fall. also, the NYC traffic/parking/location situation in this is purely fantasy BS, lol.

summary: Mat Barzal meets Hayden Parker (fictional) in a coffee shop, and they start something new.

warnings: swearing. talk of a concussion/migraines/weight loss — otherwise, complete and total fluff.

______

With a deep breath, you glanced at your reflection in the mirror hanging near your front door before you left your Brooklyn apartment. You hadn’t worn these heels for several seasons now — he hadn’t liked it when you wore high heels. You had let his opinions — on your clothes, shoes, music, books, movies, and friends — dictate how you lived for too long. You smirked now, admiring how the pointed-toe snakeskin stilettos looked paired with your raw cut black jeans and silky pink blouse. He would’ve hated this look (“too gaudy,” he would have said), which made you love it that much more.

You popped in one AirPod and flipped the inside lock on your door before pulling it closed. You made your way down the hall as the lyrics started to flow.

There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range

His horse and his cattle are his only companions...

You fought the urge to roll your eyes thinking about your former flame’s constant unwarranted comments about this classic ballad which often wafted through your apartment from the record player in the living room.

“I don’t get this song — like, is he singing to himself?” he would ask. You never bothered to tell him the real background and meaning — you loved the song, and you got it. You always had.

Emerging from the main entrance of your building, you hummed along to melodies from your favorite playlist, and walked the three or so blocks to your destination. Soon, you were stepping in from the bustle of the street to find solace in an only-slightly less busy coffee shop, one you had come to frequent because of its location — sandwiched within the six blocks between your apartment and the fashion magazine where you were interning this semester.

“Hi, one large double shot mocha, please?” you requested, stepping up after the man in front of you paid for his order. You tapped your AirPod to pause your music, just in time to hear: “Nice shoes.”

You lifted your head and glanced toward the pick-up section of the counter, where a classically handsome man in his twenties stood donning a well-tailored navy blue suit. Your heart lurched in your chest as you realized he was looking straight at you.

“Me?” you inquired softly, just to be sure, as you slipped your bank card back into your wallet. He nodded, smiling. “Yes, you. Nice shoes.”

You bit your lip involuntarily, slowly walking his way to wait on your coffee. “Thanks. You’ve got nice style yourself,” you complimented, and you were surprised by your own boldness in that moment. Something about his confidence made you confident, too. And something about his model good looks seemed unsettlingly familiar somehow.

He extended his hand as you took your position next to him. “I’m Mat,” he greeted. You couldn’t help but smile, nearly breathless from his innate charm.

“Hi, Mat,” you replied, engaging his handshake. “I’m Hayden.”

“Hayden. Pretty name for a pretty girl,” Mat mused, holding onto your hand for just a moment longer than was customary. You knew it was silly — God, was it silly — but you felt yourself blush at his flattery.

“Large Americano,” a barista called out. Mat stepped forward, thanking her and stuffing a bill — you couldn’t help but notice that it was a large one — into the tip jar atop the glass pastry display. He turned back to you as he unfastened the lid and blew gently on his coffee. Another thing you couldn’t help but notice — his perfect pink lips.

“So, Hayden, are you a native New Yorker?”

Hmm, you thought. Why isn’t he running for the door after getting his drink? You decided to play along, feeling more daring than you had in ages.

“I am not,” you confessed. “I’m from Maine, actually.”

“Ah, still an East Coast girl,” Mat remarked with a grin. “I’m from the West — near Vancouver.”

You arched your brows. “Wow, Canadian, huh?” Mat chuckled.

“Born and raised. You know what they say, though: opposites attract,” he commented, hazel eyes piercing into you even as he took a cautious sip from his cup. You studied his face — he seemed more familiar with each word he spoke.

“They do say that, don’t they?” you retorted, skirting his inference. Just then, the barista set your mocha on the counter.

“Thank you so much,” you said, also pushing a tip into the jar, thankful that Mat’s attention was on grabbing a cup sleeve from the island nearby instead of on the much smaller bills you had to offer the staff.

You turned toward the island, too, reaching for the cinnamon. Mat offered you a sleeve as if it was second nature, and you graciously accepted, trying to relax the muscles on your face that seemed to have permanently turned upward into a smile since you’d been in the man’s presence.

Suddenly, you gasped.

“Islanders,” you whispered under your breath as Mat watched you stir your cinnamon into your drink. He froze.

“What?” he asked with a nervous laugh, wondering if he had heard you correctly. Your eyes darted around, making sure no one within earshot was paying attention.

“You play for the Islanders. Right?” you asked softly. He nodded, silent, ducking his head a bit; you began to backpedal.

“Oh, God... I didn’t mean - I, uh... I promise I’m not like a hockey fangirl, or anything,” you choked out, cheeks flushed. Your hands started to shake slightly as you replaced the lid on your to-go cup. “I just, uh, my brother. My brother played hockey. He always talked about you, and, uh, I just realized that that’s why I recognized you.” You winced.

“This... this isn’t as weird as it sounds, I swear,” you insisted. “It’s just that, my brother played in the Q. He was good, and, uh, I knew about all the other good hockey players, because of him.”

Mat’s demeanor had quickly changed — from slightly uncomfortable to giddy. He was smirking at you while you sputtered, taking a sort of masochistic pleasure in watching you squirm. His grin was infectious.

“What’s your last name?” he asked when you finally stopped talking. “Parker,” you responded, the two of you stepping away from the island and taking up residence near the front windows of the cafe.

“Parker... Parker,” he repeated. You were distracted by how good your name sounded falling from his tongue. Then, he gasped, too.

“Oh shit, your brother’s Nick Parker? Damn, how’s he doing?”

Your brow quirked as you watched the light flicker on in his eyes when he pieced it together. A National Hockey League star recognized your brother’s name, your name. What the hell was happening?

You cleared your throat, attempting to come back into orbit. “Uh, yeah, he’s good now. He, uh... it was a battle there for a couple years. He had migraines every day for about 16 months... lost a lot of weight. It was... it was tough,” you told him, your voice lowering noticeably. Mat watched you carefully, concern written all over his striking features. It was evident that Mat knew your brother’s story.

Your older brother Nick had been a top 20 prospect in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as a teen, playing forward for the Halifax Mooseheads. But after a nasty late hit during a playoff game, he had been left with a debilitating concussion and, after a long period of unsuccessful rehab, had been forced to walk away from the game just as he was entering his prime.

Those troubling days hung like a thick, black fog over your family’s history, and you suddenly recalled being 15 again, cross-legged outside Nick’s bedroom door for hours, begging him to let you into the dark room to hold onto him as he cried, both because of the pain and because of the weight of his unrealized dreams. It had taken countless neurologist appointments, physical therapy, and your parents’ unwavering insistence that he regularly see a sports psychologist for him to return to some semblance of normalcy after a long road to recovery.

Now, minus the occasional treatable migraine, Nick was thriving. You beamed at the thought, your well-polished black nail picking at the corner of the cup sleeve on your mocha as you looked back to Mat and continued.

“But he’s finishing law school now, seeing a therapist and keeps himself in great shape, which helps. He’s getting married next summer to this great girl,” you finished, pride swelling in your chest at how far your brother had come. Mat’s eyebrows lifted, his worried expression morphing into elation.

“No shit!” he exclaimed. “Damn, I’m so happy for him. Tell you what, lotta guys wanted nothing to do with him when he was tearing it up. And we were all gutted for him after it happened.” You gave him a grateful smile.

“Thanks,” you said softly. “I’ll have to let him know you said that.” Mat nodded, then pressed on. “Maybe I’ll get the chance to tell him myself one day,” he added brazenly, casually taking another sip.

No response came to your brain, so you curled your fingers around your own cup and took a long draw, eyes darting to the activity outside the window, Mat’s never leaving your unsure face.

The church bells chiming from a nearby steeple were the only thing that could pull Mat’s gaze from you, as he checked his large-face Rolex. He seemed angered by the time staring back at him, and he ran his hand aggressively through his hair as his eyes rolled just slightly.

“Listen, Hayden, I hate to do this,” Mat began with a sigh. “But we’ve got a game in Pittsburgh tomorrow night, and the team plane leaves in like half an hour.”

You’re surprised by how deflated you feel in that instant, casting a downward glance at the shoes Mat had complimented only minutes ago, before you’d started feeling like maybe you’d known him your whole life.

A quiet, “Oh,” was all you could muster, still not meeting his eyes.

His hand then came to rest on your upper arm, and it’s only then that you noticed how big it was, long fingers curling easily around your bicep.

“But hey... I’ll be back late tomorrow night. Whaddya say we grab coffee here the next morning? Wednesday. Maybe 8?”

You turned your eyes upward to take in his face. He looked hopeful. He was hopeful that he’d see you again.

You nodded. “I’d love to, Mat. I’ll meet you here.”

Mat beamed, a relieved breath falling from his lips. “Good,” he commented. “I’ll see you then.” He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek, leaving you reeling when he pulled away.

“Bye, pretty Hayden,” Mat said with a wink before turning and exiting the coffee shop, walking down the block to the Cadillac he’d just unlocked. He was still in sight when he glanced over his shoulder and threw you another breathtaking grin. You smiled back, frozen in place as you watched him drive away.

_____

Mat was going to be late.

At least, that’s what you had convinced yourself at some point within the last 48 hours.

He was either going to be late or he was going to stand you up altogether. So even though you woke up at 5:30 and initially felt the need to rush through your routine to get down to the coffee shop as quickly as possible, you didn’t. You forced yourself to slow down. Because Mat was going to be late. Or, he wasn’t going to be there at all.

So you were surprised when, after throwing on a red chiffon dress with tiny white flowers and a cognac leather jacket, you walked through the coffee shop door at 8:02 and heard, “Hayden!”

Your head snapped up.

At a corner table in the back of the shop was Mat, dressed in a smart grey sweater and distressed black jeans, a silver chain looped around his neck, standing to wave you over with a broad smile across his face.

He came. And he’d arrived before you did.

You walked over to Mat and he embraced you warmly, the two of you exchanging kisses on the cheek. He squeezed your elbow affectionately as you stepped back from him.

“Oh, here. Let me,” Mat said as he pulled your chair out and motioned for you to sit.

“Thank you,” you said quietly, his chivalry catching you by surprise. Once you were seated, he pushed your chair in slightly before taking his place across the table from you.

“I got you a mocha,” he told you, nodding at the cup in front of you. “Double shot, right?”

You nodded. “You’re sweet. Thank you,” you said, the two of you beaming at each other for a moment, lost in a daze.

“So how was the game?” you inquired, pulling you both back to earth. Mat cleared his throat before answering you.

“It was good! We won. It’s usually a tough battle with them but we kinda dominated, which was nice for a change,” he spoke, looking pleased.

“You score?” you asked teasingly as you sipped from your cup.

“Uh, yeah, actually,” he told you with a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “Two goals and an assist.”

Your eyebrows lifted on your forehead. “Mat, that’s amazing! So my brother was right. You are good.”

Mat shook his head, trying to shrug you off.

“Ah, nah. I kinda think it had more to do with a good luck charm I met this week,” he remarked slyly. You licked your bottom lip before biting on it gently. Mat took notice, mirroring your motions as he stared at your lips.

“So, how’s work been this week?” It was Mat’s turn to deflect.

You told him how hectic it had been, with you arriving at the office around 9 and leaving at 6 on the day you’d first met, then departing after 7 yesterday, despite it being only a part-time internship in addition to the five classes you were taking online. He asked about your combination of on-campus and online learning throughout your college career in order to accommodate your dream internships, and he was already in awe of what a hard worker you were.

You pointed out that you weren’t the only one at the table with a crazy schedule, and you asked him how he balanced hockey with his personal life. He answered you easily, launching into stories about his teammates and his family and his friends who all kept him grounded in different ways. There was one name he kept bringing up — Tito. He told you that you’d have to meet him. Before you could hesitate, you said you’d like to. His visage brightened at that answer. He reminded you of sunshine.

He continued to regale you with a vast array of stories, stopping often to ask you questions and invite you to tell him stories of your own. It took a bit of time, but soon you were opening up about your own life — your parents’ recent and shocking divorce after 30 years of marriage, and your struggle with your grandmother’s death last fall.

It wasn’t all dark, though. In fact, most of it wasn’t. You also told him about the crazy theater actor roommate you’d had when you first moved into the city to study fashion at NYU, and how her frightening antics had eventually pushed you into accepting your uncle’s offer to pay for your own apartment in the city, as he was single and childless and had always delighted in spoiling you and your brother. You told him about your only two cousins on your dad’s side, two siblings bracketing you and your brother in age, and how the four of you were more like siblings than cousins. You told a slightly off-color joke at your own expense that most of your friends and coworkers would never laugh at, but it left Mat breathless, throwing his head back with boyish giggles flowing from his mouth like your favorite song. This caught you off-guard — you couldn’t believe he actually seemed to think you were funny. The last one certainly never did.

At some point, the conversation shifted to music. Mat’s jaw dropped when you told him that you own every James Taylor album on vinyl, after he told you that that’s one of his favorite artists of all time. He said he’s never met anyone who has as many James Taylor records as you. You simply shrugged. You explained that you and your mom have seen every tour James Taylor has been on since you were eleven and had started playing guitar. Mat’s eyes went wide — he told you that he dabbles in guitar, too.

After this, you quieted a bit. He noticed. It comes off to him as shyness, but you know what it really is. It’s fear. All at once you realize just how far you’ve let your guard down with this stranger. You’ve only just met this person, yet you have more in common with him than anyone you’ve encountered since moving into the city.

He sensed that something was off, so, in the silence, he reached a hand across the table and took yours in his grasp, stroking the back of it with his thumb. You looked into his mesmerizing eyes, and your hesitance melted.

After several more minutes of easy conversation, you check the time. You need to be at work in ten minutes.

“I’m sorry to be the one to break this up this time,” you started, and Mat sat back, looking understanding though disappointed. “But I’ve gotta get to work. Thankfully, it’s just right down the street.”

“Let me walk you,” Mat quickly insisted. You smirked at him, digging in your purse to find your office key.

“Didn’t you drive here?” you asked, chuckling. He simply shrugged. “Yeah, but if pretty Hayden works just down the street, I might as well walk her to the office and spend a few extra minutes with her,” he told you with a smug grin. You felt your cheeks get hot.

“Sounds good to me,” you admitted quietly. Mat nodded, then rose from his chair, reaching for his wallet to leave another tip.

“Thank you,” you said, putting your hand on his forearm tenderly. “For the coffee. For this.”

He smiled down at you. “You’re welcome,” he replied.

The two of you walked out the cafe door, which Mat pushed open even from behind you. You pointed in the direction of your office building and the two of you fell into step, side by side. Your heart leapt when Mat reaches for your hand. It felt unbelievably natural — which terrified you.

Your recent relationship history flashed through your brain all at once, like a film reel. Your brain screamed, “Slow down!” while your heart whispered, “Relax.” You weren’t sure which to believe. You opened your mouth to bring him up, to give a fair warning, to tell Mat that you might not be ready for... whatever this was.

Then, he started to talk about the movies that his family watches every single Christmas. You weren’t at all sure what had brought that subject to his mind — maybe your earlier questions about his younger sister back in Coquitlam — but you’re grateful for the diversion from your own messy mind. You decided to engage him on that topic instead, rather than bring up your last boyfriend who’d shattered you then walked away.

And for the first time in eight months, you decided to leave what’s past, in the past.

Like a pinball machine, Mat had already bounced to yet another new topic — his practice later this morning. As he finished a story about pranking Tito in the locker room after a skate last week, you bubbled over with giggles. He watched you with admiration and wonder coursing through his entire being. You eventually observed how he was gazing at you, and you sensed that he had something more important to say than his joke on his teammate.

“Hey, so, uh,” Mat started, clearing his throat. Your suspicion had been correct. “What are you doing tomorrow night, after work? We have a home game tomorrow at 7:30 and I, uh, I wanted to see if maybe... you wanted to go? I requested a ticket for you... just in case you want it. If you do... I was thinking maybe we could grab dinner after?”

The sentences Mat spoke seemed to be rolled into one giant question mark. His unwavering self-assurance had seemed to falter slightly for the first time since you’d met him, surprising you. You only needed a moment to consider your answer.

“I’d love to come watch you play,” you told him, wrapping your hands around his upper arm affectionately. You watched him exhale, a smile slowly overtaking his face.

“Thank God,” Mat breathed, making you both burst into hysterics as he leaned his head down to touch yours for a moment.

Bewilderment overcame you as you realized that you hadn’t felt this way about anyone in... you couldn’t even remember how long. You’d thought it might never happen again. That for you, this feeling might just be... gone.

You couldn’t believe that on a Wednesday, in a cafe, you’d watched it begin again.

189 notes · View notes

jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets · 3 years

Text

I Loved Him... Once - CH 3

Title: I Loved Him… Once

Author: jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Heid (Aaron Hotchner x Spencer Reid)

Rating: This ones General but eventually as the series goes it will be Explicit

Tags: canon typical violence and gore, eventual smut as the series goes, angst, fluff, pining., its gunna be a slow burn guys.

Summary: A series following the team as they solve crimes and take down the bad guys.

In Part one of this series, we follow the team as they take down a serial killer that has taken a piece of one of their own. And through it all, Spencer and Hotch come to a few conclusions and realizations of their own.

AO3

Masterlist

*** My works are not to be posted on any sites without my permission! But comments and reblogs are love! <3 Please and thanks!!

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

Chapter three

Spencer pulled into the bureau parking lot later the next day. Once he parked, he rested his head on the steering wheel for a few moments, wallowing in what he could have almost had but didn’t get the chance to even ask for, before letting it go and putting himself back into work mode.

He got out, grabbed his bag, and quickly made his way inside. And as soon as his feet hit the bullpen floor, JJ was there ushering everyone who had already arrived into the conference room.

“Spence, hey! How was your holiday?” She asked as ash approached him and they walked towards the stairs together.

“It was… okay.” He answered, shoving his hands in his pockets and matching her strides, “How was yours? Did Henry have fun camping?”

“Oh yeah! He had loads of fun and way too many smores,” they both laughed, and Spencer had a feeling the smores had more to do with Will then JJ, “all though it was a much shorter vacation then I was hoping for, but I kind of expected as much. So what did you do with your six days?”

“Uh…” Went to a lecture series, zoned out during said lecture series, thought about Aaron, had a small breakdown in the middle of the lecture series because of Aaron, was seconds away from asking Aaron out on a date right before they got called back… “Not much really, just… a couple lectures, nothing too fun.”

“I'm sure it was still fun, you love stuff like that.”

Great, Spencer thought, another person who thought he wasn't any fun. Maybe it was better he didn't get the chance to ask Aaron out. He might have thought going out with Spencer wouldn't be a good time, that he'd think a ‘fun night out’ included some form of education rather than something romantic. As if he needed yet another person to tell him he was boring, and this time it would be followed up by a harsh rejection he wasn't sure he'd be able to take.

But he just nodded with a smile at JJ as they ascended the stairs and made it to the conference room door. “Well, vacation is officially over and now it's back to work,” then she opened the door and walked in, Spencer following after her.

JJ walked in and sat on the other side of the table beside Emily, the two of them instantly opening the case files in front of them and quietly discussing between themselves, while they waited for everyone else. Derek was sitting beside Emily, case file open before him but seemingly stuck in his own little world, eyes glued to the page but not really looking. Garcia was up and walking around the table, distributing the last of the case files frantically, and it looked like Dave was the only one still missing.

So that left three free chairs at the table. One beside JJ which he assumed had already been claimed by Garcia, one beside Derek and the last… beside Aaron. He figured it would probably be in his best interest to sneak in and take the open seat beside Derek, so that's exactly what he tried to do. Tried.

As soon as he walked into the room and attempted to make the turn in Derek’s direction, he was stopped clean in his tracks when suddenly Aaron stood abruptly, eyes locked on Spencer. The entire room went silent, still, even Derek looked up from his file, and Spencer just stared at Aaron. No one moved or even dared to make a sound as the two had their awkward stare down, even the clicking of Garcia's heels had ceased, and the tension was constricting.

“What is going on?”

The deep, smooth baritone of David's voice cut through the moment and Emily answered for them all, “We have no idea…”

David took in the situation, looking from Spencer, to Aaron who was still standing and looking completely shell shocked, then shrugged. “Well, I don't know about you, kid, but I don't plan on standing for the entire briefing.”

“Right… right, sorry,” he finally managed to pull his gaze away from Aaron, and turned to continue his plan of sitting beside Derek, “I'll just sit-”

When he turned he was suddenly slammed right into David, who had managed to sneak around him, and they were now in some sort of side stepping dance battle for the chair beside Derek. “Sorry, kid,” they bumped into each other again as they both moved the same way, “I'm so sorry, so sorry.”

Spencer tried a few more times to get around him, but after more then a few failed attempts he admitted defeat and turned to take the chair beside Aaron, the one chair he didn't want to take. “I'll just… sit… here, I guess.”

“Yeah, you do that, and I'll sit here beside my good friend, Derek.”

Derek gave Dave an amused look, but let it go, and everyone watched as Spencer moved to take the open seat, Aaron finally sitting back down at the same time as Spencer.

On the other side of the room, still slightly afraid to move, Garcia slowly sank herself down in the chair beside JJ, and leaned in to talk quietly to the two girls, whisper yelling, “What the hell was that?!”

“I… I don't know,” Emily stuttered out, a little concerned that as a profiler she didn't even know where to start with the behaviour they just witnessed, '' I actually don't know!”

“We're gunna have to keep an eye on that right?!” Garcia asked again.

“Oh, definitely,” JJ chimed in, all three of them sticking their heads close together and continuing to observe the two boys across the table.

Spencer sat, not quite having the courage to look over at Aaron, but he could tell he was looking at him. Which made him all the more nervous to be sitting there. So instead he occupied himself with opening his case file then digging through his bag for a pen.

A light tap on his shoulder broke his severe concentration on finding a pen, and he closed his eyes to steady himself, then turned to his left. Aaron was still staring at him, as he had suspected, but was now holding out a pen to him. He forced himself to look up and make eye contact with Aaron, taking the pen with a shy smile. “Ah… t-thank-you.”

“You're welcome,” he waited a beat, then asked quietly, “how was your lecture series?”

“Oh,” Spencer took a pause, thinking back on how he had run out of there like a bat out of hell, and all because of the man currently asking him about it. So he just raised a brow and responded with a slight smirk, “enlightening.”

Aaron nodded, not quite understanding the underlying message there and Spencer was thankful for that, then leaned in closer to say, “I was going to-” Before he was cut off by Strauss walking into the conference room.

“Good, you're all here,” she looked around the room and everyone sat up a little straighter as she did, then she turned her attention to Aaron as she continued, “I'll expect you to be in California tonight so that you can get started there early tomorrow morning. Get this solved quickly.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Aaron nodded.

She took one last look around the room, then landed on Garcia with a heavy stare, “I'll leave you to your briefing then,” and closed the door behind her as she left.

“Right, right, the briefing!” She stood quickly, grabbing the remote and pointing it to the screen on the wall, bringing up pictures from the scenes. Anything that was going to be said between Spencer and Aaron was lost behind the case. “Over the last few days San Diego, California has been faced with a slew of murders, to be honest with you much too gruesome for my gorgeous eyes, so I'm just gunna turn away while you all look.”

She clicked the remote a few times, promptly turning her back to the screen as she did. The team looked upon their victims, all taking a few minutes to gather their thoughts before Emily started the process, “Who are they, Garcia?”

She clicked a few more times, the unmutilated faces of the victims coming up as she spoke, “Joe Marsden, thirty-three, Karl Jennings, thirty-two, and yesterday's victim Adam Knoxs, thirty-five.”

“Any connections between them?”

“None that I could find so far,” she sighed as she explained, “Joe was an elementary school teacher, he taught grade two and from what I can tell was very much loved by both students and parents. Karl worked at a local restaurant as a line cook. And Adam was a receptionist for a private medical practice. As far as I can tell by phone records and credit cards, none of them ever crossed paths in any way.”

“Keep digging, Garcia, see if you can find anything that might connect these people, no matter how small it may seem.” She nodded at Aaron, then Derek was the next to speak.

“The victimology is way off,” he said as he turned his chair, pointing to the screen, “there doesn't seem to be a type here. One has blonde hair and blue eyes, the other brunette with brown eyes, and the last guy is balding with grey hairs on the side. None of them look anything even close to similar, so why these three men?”

“He's right, it doesn't make any sense,” JJ added, “not to mention the fact that each victim seems to have been mutilated differently each time. Joe had his eyes crossed out, Karl had his ears cut off, and Adam had his mouth sewn shut. Are we sure this is even the same unsub for all three murders?”

“See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” Spencer spoke up, everyone turning towards him.

“Good eye, kid,” David looked over to him, then asked, “what else do you know about this?”

“The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’,” he began, gaining the attention of everyone in the room, “The three monkeys are Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering its eyes. Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering its ears. And Iwazaru, who speaks no evil, covering its mouth. There are various meanings ascribed to this proverb, some of which tend more to the innocent side of being of good mind, speech, and action. But the phrase is more often than not used to refer to dealing with the immoral side of things in terms of turning a blind eye. It's also sometimes used as a code of silence, perhaps this unsub took it in the literal sense. It's possible that these victims wronged him in some way. Whether they are connected to each other, or only connected through the unsub alone, if they each wrong or betrayed him in a way that pertains to the japanese principle, then this could be it. Maybe he's not a serial killer on a spree but rather a man out for revenge, and maybe he got it.”

“If he's right, and these three men are the end of his killings, then we may never catch this guy,” Derek said as he turned towards Aaron.

“That's why we're being called in,” he answered, “California PD has exhausted all their leads, and whether this guy is done killing or not, they need our help to catch him and bring him to justice. Wheels up in thirty.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaron was sitting in his usual place at the back of the jet while the rest of his team started to file in slowly. Spencer was one of the last of his team to get on, clearly making eye contact with Aaron as well as eyeing the empty seat across from him, but ducking to the side at the last second and sitting in a seat at the very front of the jet. Every part of Aaron was itching to reach out to Spencer and offer him the seat that he deliberately made sure was left empty across from him, but after their tension filled moment in the conference room he thought it best to maybe just leave it alone for now. So he sat alone at the back of the jet, quietly going over his case file while they took off.

As soon as they were up and level and able to walk around, David was settling himself down in the empty seat he had meant to be for Spencer.

“So?” David asked with a sigh, folding his hands together in his lap and looking at Aaron expectantly.

“So, what?”

“Well after all that awkward tension back in the conference room I assumed you must have some juicy gossip to share,” he smirked and shifted in his seat, as if settling in for a long story, “so, did you do it? Did you call him? Is that what that was all about?”

“No, I didn't get the chance to.”

“What do you mean you didn't have the chance?” He leaned forward, holding his hands out to Aaron in disbelief, “You had six full days off without any calls, you had plenty of chances to call him.”

“I had Jack for four of those days, spent the first two on the phone negotiating those four days out of Haley,” he sighed, closing the file on his lap, “and I don't know if Spencer would be all too happy with spending time with both me and my son.”

“Why wouldn't he be? I'm sure Spencer would love to spend time with Jack.”

“Well, if it means anything I was going to call him yesterday,” he sighed again, wishing he could have had just one more day of peace, then he would have been able to make that call, “I was going to ask him if he would be interested in joining me and Jack for a walk in the park, or perhaps dinner and a movie night. But just as I was about to call him I received the news from Strauss ordering us back into the field.”

“A missed opportunity, story of our lives.'' Aaron just nodded. “So what are you going to do about it then?”

He thought for a second, then answered, “Maybe on our next vacation-”

“Aaron, that could be months away, we don't even have anything scheduled right now. The kid’s waited this long, but he's not going to wait forever.”

“Who’s to say he's even waiting for me?”

“That's the thing,” he shrugged, “you will never know until you ask. And if you keep waiting until the next vacation, or the next day off, there will always be an excuse. Work, Jack, or even just nerves. If you want to know if it is you that Spencer has been waiting for all these years, then you just need to ask.”

He nodded, David was right, of course he was right, he was the ‘embodiment of love’ after all. And if he kept letting all those excuses get in the way, then he would keep putting it off as he has already for so long, and he would never know how Spencer felt. But then there was that split second on the call… “Well…”

“Well what, Aaron? Out with it.”

“I…” He stopped and thought about it for a second, about to back out but then decided to just keep going. Maybe David would have some answers that he didn't. “I can't be certain if this is what I actually heard or not, but when I called him to tell him we had a case, I'm sure he was in the process of saying that he was about to call me.”

“That's great!” He clapped his hands together.

“But why would he have been calling me on his vacation?”

“Obviously he was thinking about you as much as you were thinking about him,” David was actually thrilled over the idea, “maybe he was going to bite the bullet and make the first move, since you're taking your sweet time.”

“You think?”

He shrugged with a pouted lip, “That's what it sounds like to me.'' Aaron just hummed, lost in thought, mulling over all this new information. “Just ask him out, Aaron. Why not go to dinner after the case is over?”

He nodded, “I'll ask him. Once the case is over and we're headed back home, I'll ask him.”

“Good,” he sat back, folding his hands in his lap again, “but if you don't follow through this time, I will ask him for you myself.”

Aaron chuckled and shook his head. To most, that would be an empty threat, but Aaron knew better than that when it came to David Rossi. “I'll ask, I promise.”

“You better.”

Aaron left it at that, settling back in his chair just as Rossi had. They had a while yet before they landed, so he just resigned himself to reviewing the case file in silence. Now that David was done with his inquisition, for now at least.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"God, I am so over planes." Spencer just scoffed in the seat beside Derek as he whined, so he turned to him and asked, "Problem, pretty boy?"

"You're complaining about being stuck on a plane for too long, but Rossi just spent eleven hours flying back from Italy, only to be instantly put on a plane again to fly to California," he lifted his head from the file in his hands, though not looking at Derek as he said, "you spent what, four and a half?"

"Have you no sympathy?"

"For you?" He questioned, going back to his case file, "No."

Derek swiftly smacked him with his own case file, though they both were laughing when he did. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments before Spencer asked, "So how did your sand, sun, and fun go?"

"Well, there was a lot of sand, a lot of sun, but not a whole lot of fun was had."

"Really?" He turned to Morgan again, "But you seemed so adamant about there being so much fun to be had. What did you spend six days doing at the beach?"

"You got into my head, kid. I spent all six days reading ‘The Art of War', got through most of it before being called back." Spencer nodded, smirking and pursing his lips as he did, and Derek asked, "What, are you proud of me or something?"

He waited a second, then answered, "You spent six days reading ‘The Art of War' and you only got through most of it? It took you that long to read it?"

Derek nudged him with a laugh, “just because you're a genius."

"So six days of sitting on the beach, reading, and no fun," he thought, then added, "I assume that means no fine exotic women either."

"Nah, no fine exotic women."

Spencer's smirk grew impossibly wider at Derek's comment, and incredibly mischievous as he took his opportunity to finally get the one up on him. "Well, handsome exotic men then. I'm not here to judge."

"Oh, pretty boy!" Derek shouted, the two breaking into a fit of laughter as Derek hit him with the file again, "Coming back with the jokes now?!"

“Sorry to break up the party,” Aaron said as he came up on Spencer's left, “Garcia has some new information for us.”

Aaron leaned over Spencer on the end of the booth to place his laptop on the table as everyone gathered around, little to Spencer's knowledge he definitely leaned in a little too far on purpose. And little to Aaron’s knowledge the action almost caused Spencer to spontaneously combust in his seat. But somehow the two managed to hold it together, and Aaron stood back looking at the screen, “Go ahead, Garcia.”

“So, while you guys were taking off we got a call from the California PD, they found another body. They’re waiting for you guys to get there before they clear the scene.”

“Alright,” Aaron began, full boss mode now. The authority in his voice always sent a chill down Spencer's spine. “I know it will be late, and everyone’s tired after their travels today, but as soon as we land I would like everyone to head to the latest crime scene. I want as many fresh eyes on the scene as we can get. After that we'll all head to the hotel for some sleep and start early tomorrow morning." Everyone nodded their understanding and then Aaron continued on with the next day's assignments. "Tomorrow morning Prentis and Rossi, I want the two of you to head to the local PD and get us set up, start the geographical profile. Morgan and JJ, I want you two connecting with the families of the victims. Get to know them and see if they might have the missing link that tells us how these victims are connected. Reid, you're with me. We're going to visit the old crime scenes and speak with the coroner."

Though they were currently sitting on a plane full of profilers, no one noticed the fact that Aaron made sure he was paired up with Spencer. Well, all but one. It also didn't go unnoticed by David when Spencer's neck suddenly turned a nice shade of red when Aaron picked him as a partner. These two would be the death of him, he was sure of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

They arrived on scene late at night. It was dark in the back alleyway, but the lights the local PD had set up lit it like it was day. The crime scene unit was already there, gathering evidence where they could find it, but by the looks of it they hadn't found much. Same as the last three murders.

They all split up, David and Aaron going to speak with the officers on site, Emily and Derek to look at the body, and Spencer went with JJ to talk to the few people crowding the other side of the police tape. Though it was in vain, none of them had seen or heard anything and were merely just there out of curiosity. Still they seemed to be without any leads.

With no evidence and nothing else to help them move forward with the investigation at the scene, Aaron gathered them all and told them to head to the hotel and get some much needed sleep. They would stick with the plan they had made on the jet and go to their respective positions in the morning. It was enraging to come all the way out here, to have a fresh crime scene, and yet still have nothing to help them. Spencer was not happy to be going back to their hotel empty handed, but then again maybe some sleep would help them all regroup.

He started following behind JJ towards the cars, but stopped as the coroner walked past him, asking him to stop for a moment, “May I take a look at the body before you head to the morgue?” The coroner nodded and waited for Spencer to pull back the zipper and look.

“Hey, Reid,” Derek called from the car, waving Spencer towards him, “come on, man, let's head out.”

“Yeah, one second,” he called back, undoing the zipper, “I just wanted to take a look at the body and see if the killer is still following the pattern of the three wise monkeys-”

When he laid eyes on the face of the body he dropped the bag and took an immediate, staggering step back. His breathing picked up, given away by the sudden heavy rise and fall of his shoulders, and the team abandoned the cars to start walking over to him, concerned.

Before they reached him, he stumbled, knees weak. Aaron lunged forward to catch him but Derek beat him to it, grabbing Spencer under the arms as he almost hit the ground. He lowered him slowly, the rest of the team running now to make sure Spencer was okay.

“Reid, hey talk to me,” Derek said, allowing Spencer to lean back against him, his eyes still fixed on the gurney, “what’s going on?”

Without moving his eyes from the body bag on the gurney, he whispered so quietly that Derek was barely able to hear, “I… I know him.”

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

A/N: Please let me know what you guys think XD I love reading your comments and talking to you guys <3 And in the next chapter we get even more Spencer and Aaron, so look forward to that!

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hunnyuwu · 4 years

Text

Sucker For You || NCT Jaemin

Premise: Jaemin typically has strong feelings once he catches the love bug, and you are definitely not an exception to that.

Pairing: Staff! reader x Idol! Jaemin

Genre: Fluff, romance

WC: 2.7 K

Warnings: A lil steamy by the end ;) [but still PG13 lol]

~~~

Jaemin descended from the black, silver laced stairs that led to the hidden area beneath the stadium stage. He slicked the sweat off his forehead as he noticed that it was way too hot in there.

“Jaemin, over here!”

The boy looked up, his foot finally hitting the solid floor of the area swarmed with SM staff. He smiled bashfully as the only thing he saw was a Polaroid camera being lifted up before the blaring white light of said item set off, momentarily blinding him. He felt a rush of heat flood his cheeks as he looked down, his pectorals and abdomen on full display for the world to see. And he knew exactly why he was being bombarded with cameras and long glances.

While the boy was confident in his body, especially since he had started working out as of late, he was still flustered when people intentionally stared a little too long. He peered over to Jeno, the boy who Jaemin thought had the body of a god.

Who was he to show off his body to millions of thirsty fans all over the world, when Jeno had a lot more to offer?

“One more, Jaemin!”

Jaemin snapped out of his internal thoughts as he redirected his attention back to the camera, this time tugging the bottom of his jean jacket to half-heartedly cover his abdomen and nips. An act he would soon regret as the shoulders of the jacket fell down to his elbows right as the camera set off, showing off his defined collarbones and shoulders like he was posing for the cover of Vogue.

“Thank you, Jaemin!”

The girl taking photos of him ran off to do god knows what, leaving Jaemin flattered yet embarrassed all at the same time.

“Hyung, I know you have been working out, but I didn’t know you were hiding all of that!”

Jaemin chuckled as the youngest, who spectated the entire scene, walked over with a look of pure amazement. Jaemin discarded his jacket, throwing it over his shoulder, fully exposing his torso as the camera was finally out of view.

He brought a hand up to Jisung’s fluffy black hair, “Ah, thank you my cute little baby!”

“Hyung...” Jisung whined cutely, actively leaning away from Jaemin’s encroaching touch.

The two of them, along with a fleet of staff, headed back towards the makeup and changing rooms to get ready for the post-concert Vlive event which was to be held an hour after.

“I’m going to get changed. What about you, Hyung?” Jisung said, ready to depart to a different section of the room.

Jaemin sighed, a smile lighting up his lips. He peered over to the makeup area where a few girls were huddled around, whispering about something he couldn’t even begin to guess.

Jaemin trained his vision back to Jisung, who started laughing, to see what had the boy suddenly so jolly.

“You should really ask her out, Hyung.”

Jaemin blushed, sucking in air harshly through his nostrils as he gave the youngest a puzzled look.

“What?”

“C’mon, it’s obvious. You like Y/N.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes, scoffing with the best of his acting abilities.

“I definitely do not like Y/N.”

“Hm, okay Hyung. Your loss.”

Jaemin tilted his head, an eyebrow arching up to the sky.

“And why is that?”

“Because I see Jeno Hyung talking to her right now.”

Without another thought, Jaemin, almost snapping his neck, whipped his head to see if that was true.

Which was definitely the case.

Jaemin’s vision became clouded with green as he witnessed you giggling at something Jeno said, accompanied with that famous eye smile of his. His jaw clenched tightly as he watched Jeno rest his bulky arms over your shoulders, an action the blonde male only did to those he was extremely comfortable around.

You were a recent addition to the NCT Dream Team, a makeup artist and aspiring stylist intern that was striving to eventually make it within the fashion industry. Ever since your arrival, the members of Dream recruited you as a close friend as you were right within their age range, being an ‘00 liner about to go into Junior year of university. Jaemin had taken a liking to you ever since the day you set foot into their practice room to introduce yourself. Unfortunately, he also noticed that Jeno had also been encroaching on you as of late, going out on late night grocery store visits with you, or even sticking around you a little longer after recordings and shows. Jeno and you had become extremely comfortable lately, and that was a big problem for Jaemin.

The bubblegum haired male bit his inner cheek, a deep frown forming over his features as fast as the spread of the bubonic plague.

“You should do something about it, Hyung.”

With that last remark, Jisung ran off to join up with Chenle, who was on his way to get changed.

Jaemin sucked in the heavy air surrounding him, before releasing it all at once, finally making up his mind. He stomped over to the makeup area, surprising some of the makeup Noona’s at his rash movements through the cluttered space.

He stopped abruptly, causing two individuals to also quickly end their discussion.

You looked up curiously, a small smile forming over your lips as the two of you made eye contact. On the other hand, Jeno shot the pink haired boy an unamused look.

“Can you touch up my makeup?”

Jaemin said, a fake smile pushing his lips upward as he was fully aware of the penetrating glare he was receiving from the stark blonde male beside you.

You nodded like an obedient puppy, ready to get to work, “Of course!” You chirped, patting Jeno’s shoulder to indicate his departure.

“Off you go, Jeno. We can talk more later, but duty calls!”

You ran off, collecting your personal materials at your station.

With one last glance at Jaemin, Jeno walked off to the other side of the room, but that was the least of Jaemin’s concerns. As he walked over to the makeup chair, he noticed the way his heart harshly beated with every step he took.

‘So beautiful...’

He muttered small praises of your form before finally settling into the cloth material of the seat.

“Do you just want a touch up of your current makeup?”

“Yes, please.” Jaemin breathed out quickly, drawing a cute giggle out of you. He noticed the way your eyes disappeared as you gave a whole-hearted laugh, making his heart squeeze with the harshness of a python attack.

“It’s been too long, Jaemin-ssi. How have you been lately?” You said calmly, starting your work on his face. You neared his features, alarming Jaemin to the point that he thought that you may have literally taken his breath away.

“I’ve been good. Did you watch the concert?”

“Yeah! I watched a little bit of it. I can’t believe you pulled off a stunt like that!”

Jaemin pursed his lips, concentrating his eyes to your focused features. He grazed his pupils all over your face like you were applying makeup to his.

“What stunt?”

“Showing your body off like that? You have a lot of courage, Jaemin-ssi.”

Jaemin choked on his spit, but subdued his reaction before he ended up spitting on you. Something that would surely make you hate him forever.

“I didn’t think of it like that, b-but thank you. Did you... did you like it?”

He didn’t miss the way your eyes shook a little as your hand stuttered on his face. You quickly resumed your movements, but your impulsive response sparked a flame of confidence within him.

“You see me shirtless all the time, Y/N. What’s the difference between the stage and now?”

He questioned, using his free hands to gesture down to his completely bare torso. You shook your head with a little lip bite, looking like you were having an entire battle within yourself.

“Oh hush, Jaemin-ssi. I just thought you were cool, but nothing more.”

Jaemin felt a little defeated, but he came too far to back down now.

“Call me Jaemin, no honorifics.”

“Huh?”

You were startled to say the least, shifting backwards with widened, doe-like eyes. Jaemin smirked a little, masking over the quaking anxiety bubbling within him.

“You call ‘Jeno’ casually, why not me?”

Your face contorted, diving back into his face to complete your work. Jaemin silently waited for your answer, his eyebrows drawn together as he focused on your every movement.

‘Why are you so perfect?’ Jaemin let his mind roam to a random place, imagining you and him in your shared apartment, about to do things-

“J-Jeno and I are just friendly is all! I can call you Jaemin if you want.” You nodded affirmatively, resolving that internal battle within yourself. You shot him a bright smile, conveying your true feelings.

In actuality, you had nothing but the hots for Jaemin ever since you laid eyes on him. He truly was that sweet neighborhood boy that all the girls on the block would fall in love with. He was charming, charismatic, adorable, caring, thoughtful... Basically everything that your mother would want you to bring home. But he also had this mysterious, sinister side that you had wanted to crack open ever since you once witnessed that devilish smirk flit over his pink lips after teasing a girl on set.

While by no means were you into men who displayed a sweet side to only be the devil once you got to know them, but you didn’t mind getting into the mystery that Jaemin was to you. He had a playful, bad boy charm that made you grasp onto his every movement like he was the opposite side to your magnetic charge.

And that’s why you had kept your distance from him, because you simply loved observing him.

"Are you sure you two are only friends?”

You gasped, feeling slim, cold fingers wrap around your wrist gently. Going numb, you clumsily let the makeup brush between your fingers slip from your grasp. The clattering sound of wood meeting tile rang around the two of you, but it went unnoticed by you as you merely held Jaemin’s burning eye contact with concerned fragility.

Were you the next subject of his flirting tendencies?

Your eyebrows scrunched together, confused by his serious gleam.

“What are you implying, Jaemin?” You whispered, not physically grasping the close proximity between your faces.

“You like Jeno, don’t you?”

Your frown deepened as you drew away, your body responding for you immediately.

“No... it’s bold of you to assume something like that.” You let out cooly, bending down to scoop up the makeup brush that you dropped.

Jaemin felt guilt eat away at his gut as he watched your back, currently switching out the dirty makeup brush for a fresh one.

“Well, would you ever like me then?”

He saw the way your back muscles stiffened up, unconsciously drawing a little smirk to form over his pink, plush lips that were freshly redone. He let out a fake pout, noticing that you were staring at him through the reflection of the makeup mirror.

“Well?”

“What’s with you today, Jaemin?” You chuckled out nervously, trying to diffuse the rising tension around the both of you. Your laughter never reached your eyes as you winced from the way your heart rung within your mind. It was beating at an abnormal pace, and you knew it only meant one thing.

“Oh, nothing.” He chirped.

You sighed, horribly confused from his bipolar behavior. Yeah, you witnessed his behavior around others, but you never knew how much it would give you whiplash personally. You turned back around to touch up his eyeshadow, praying to God that your hand wouldn’t shake from the effects of your rattling heart.

You dove back into your craft, using all your effort to ignore the drilling eyes that were piercing into your soul through his spindly eyelashes.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?”

You scoffed, attempting to throw him off your embarrassed shock.

“My, you’re really in a flirty mood tonight, aren't you!” You exclaimed, finishing the last few details of his light brown eyeshadow that made his eyes stand out beautifully.

“I mean it, Y/N.”

You gulped harshly, your brain didn’t allow you to even process his words. To avoid any further confrontation, you spun around so that you were looking down at your makeup supplies on the white surface table by the mirror.

You ignored him, wading through your materials to act like you were busy looking for the next product you wanted to use on him.

After a few moments of sheer silence, a high pitched yelp escaped your lips as you felt heat hovering over your back and hands land on both sides of you, effectively trapping you against the solid surface.

You whipped your head upwards to look at your reflection within the mirror, your jaw unhinging upon the unholy sight.

Jaemin was caging you with his body... his bare torso moments away from colliding with your form. All you could see was the flexed definition of his arms and one feral eye peak out from behind your head, mimicking the prowl of a predator upon their prey.

“J-Jaemin?” You called out, not missing the animalistic glint shining within his chocolate brown irises.

“Not so bold now, are we?” He muttered with that beautiful smirk that he showed to the cameras, but this time, a sadistic edge played along the ends of his lips and eyes, sending your body into raging, hormonal mess. Your spine tingled as your felt goosebumps rise along your arms and neck.

He leaned down, pressing his nose into your nape, eliciting a striking gasp from you.

You whipped your head side to side, wondering how the hell no one was reacting to what the boy was doing to you at this very moment.

“Jaemin, what are you doing?!” You hissed, finally regaining some of your senses back.

“What do you think?” He growled, sending your mind into a muddled pool of incoherent warnings and signals.

He pressed his newly done lips into your arched neck, drawing out another confused gasp out of you. You finally turned yourself around within his muscly entrapment, only to cower once you came face to face with the beast.

“Tell me, Y/N. What do you think I’m doing?” He said lowly. A dim fire danced within your body and soul as you watched his eyes easily devour you from his superior stance. You backed away a little, your butt pressing up into the cold surface behind you. Jaemin followed along, allowing his torso to come centimeters away from yours.

“Being a flirty jerk.” You muttered with distaste, but you were anything but distasteful toward him right now. In fact,

You were rather excited.

“Am I catching your eyes, at least?”

You rolled your eyes, glaring up into his jestingly, “Whatever floats your boat, Love.”

“Hmm,” Jaemin purred, letting his eyes draw closed, “I like the way that you call me that.”

“What?” You barked, astonished by his sheer audacity.

With one swift movement, you shoved him off you, thankfully landing in the makeup chair with a plop, or you would have been in big trouble.

He slouched back, shooting you a lazy smirk, “You don’t have to shove me to touch me, Y/N. You can just ask to feel me up, I’m not as shy as I may seem.” He drawled, his hooded eyes practically setting you on fire like a witch on the stake.

“I have no idea what you’re on about today, Jaemin.” You hissed with your arms crossing over your body, but you knew the scarlet red tinting your cheeks would give you away like a children’s book.

“Is that so? Well, I’ll tell you plainly if you go out with me this weekend.”

“Huh?”

“Saturday evening at our dorms. I’ll take you out on a date.”

“A date?!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Jaemin shot up from the chair, shooting you a wink before walking away.

“What if I say no?!” You called out, making the bubblegum haired boy to slowly turn around to face you.

“I won’t take ‘no’ as an answer, because I know you want me just as much as I want you.” He said plainly, before finally exiting the room.

You huffed with no particular emotion, because you were basically feeling every single emotion at once.

“So that’s what it’s like to survive a tornado, huh?” You muttered, not able to tear your eyes away from the door Jaemin just seconds ago slipped past.

But he was right.

You really wanted him, too.

~~~

“Sooo, did she say yes?” Jisung cheerfully chirped, nudging Jaemin as the group of them were getting ready for the Vlive event.

“I’ll tell you that after this weekend.” Jaemin chuckled weakly, scratching at the nape of his neck.

He put on one hell of an act for you, praying to the heavens that it worked. While he did it to rile you up, it was partially fueled by a hidden fuel that he never knew he had.

Jaemin sighed tiredly, using the thought of you to keep him awake for the Vlive event.

“I always knew you liked her, Hyung!”

“I-”

Jaemin gave up his useless protests.

It was just fact at this point...

Jaemin was one hell of a sucker for you, and he knew that wouldn’t be changing any time soon.

#neowritingsnet #NCT-WRITERS #nct writing #na jaemin #jaemin x reader #jaemin x y/n #nct jaemin #jaemin fluff #jaemin romance #nct drabbles #nct imagines #nct jeno #nct jisung #nct dream #NCT #nct x y/n #jaemin imagines #neo culture technology #neo zone

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elsanna-shenanigans · 3 years

Text

August Contest Submission #6: The Burdens of Winning

Words: ca. 6,000 Setting: mAU Lemon: No CW: None

The bus rounded the corner and there they were, the Olympic rings, practically gleaming in the sunlight as if welcoming the busloads of athletes to the world stage. Elsa kept her earbuds in and didn’t move from her seat like so many of the others, whipping out their phones and snapping photos and selfies, crowding the far side of the bus. The trainers and coaches turned a blind eye. There was a pandemic and they should stay apart, but the joy was good for morale and in turn, good for winning. After a few minutes, the athletes settled back into their seats. The energy remained alive, buzzing. Elsa could hear the excited chatter through her music. She sighed heavily and pulled her hood up before leaning her head against the window.

They had been in Tokyo for who knows how many days now. Time outside the pool blended together into a blur. All Elsa knew was that the opening ceremony was tonight and she was being forced to attend. Somewhere in there was a series of interviews and promos as well. The burden of being the female face of the national swim team was heavy and exhausting. Each medal she won, each record she broke, the media demanded more. She hated every moment in front of a camera.

She adjusted her goggles and stepped up onto the block. The entire team was here, practicing. If she was nostalgic, she would have thought of the good old days, being in school, always practicing as a team, the water forever choppy with the various strokes and kicks. But she had no time for that and she actively chose to ignore how lonely her professional training really was. The accumulation of years of practice, countless laps, hours of training in the water, and even more outside of it.

To her right a coach was shouting at various swimmers, calling them by their names. She didn’t bother to meet them or get to know them. A few familiar faces and names, sure, but she didn’t know them really. A lot of the team wouldn’t even qualify into the finals with her, a friendship would just be a distraction and another disappointment in a long line of disappointments.

A whistle blew somewhere to her left, it wasn’t her coach so she remained poised on the starting block. A tall man with wide shoulders entered the water nearly perfectly. He was this year’s star swimmer. He didn’t necessarily win every world event with a gold medal, but he made the podium and the media was desperate for a new face after Phelps hung up his speedo.

Mr. Golden Boy, that’s what Elsa called him in her head. She knew only knew people by their swimming events and times and only if they competed against her. She didn’t know their hobbies, their relationships, their families. A lot of them hung out outside of practice. But she didn’t understand how they had the time. So she just referred to them by nicknames she made up in her head. It was easier, hands-off.

“Take your mark” Elsa’s coach shouted, and she gripped the edge of the block and tensed her muscles. A short burst of a whistle and Elsa was launching forward like a spring.

The water was cold and clear, a mild taste of chlorine crept past her tightly pressed lips but she kept her head tucked between her arms and kicked with both feet. Surfacing in one fluid motion, she broke into her stroke. It was a good dive but it could be better. She swam to the opposite end of the pool and hopped out with ease.

“I want to run the start again,” Elsa said to her coach.

“And I want you to practice your turns, so we’ll do one more dive. Then I don’t want to see you out of this damn pool until our time here is done.” His mouth was covered with a mask but his furrowed brow and bulging neck vein were all too visible.

Elsa took the disposable mask from the volunteer nearby and walked back to the opposite end of the large pool.

“…I reckon I’ll wear the mirrored ones, they’ll look way cooler.” somehow, through all the commotion and noises in the aquatic center, a single voice, with a thick Australian accent broke through.

Elsa looked and saw her rival, Anna Harding standing in the hallway behind the empty stands. She didn’t notice Elsa as she was talking with someone, gesturing wildly with her hands. She was a good distance away and Elsa couldn’t hear what she was saying. How that once sentence broke through, she’ll never know, but it annoyed her.

“Anderson! How hyped are you to be here?” Mr. Golden Boy shouted, he jogged up to walk next to her and waited for a beat for her to answer, never once dropping his wide all-too-white smile. “It’s the Olympics! Show, like, a smidge of emotion.”

“I’ve been here before, I’ll be here again,” Elsa responded, further annoyed now. The two of them had done several interviews together and now the man thought they were friends.

“I like that attitude but dude, live in the moment a bit alright?” He started to lean to nudge her arm but pulled back. Instead, he gave a quick nod and jogged away.

Elsa took her mask off and dropped it in the bin before climbing back on the block and starting the process all again.

No distractions.

~~~

“And it looks like… YES it’s Anderson with the Women’s 400m gold medal! Followed close behind by Australia’s Harding with the bronze going to…”

Elsa stopped listening to the announcers, their voices faded into a sea of various voices in just as many languages. She raised her arm and waved to the cameras. A smile never once crossing her face. A movement to her left caught her attention and she saw the Australian swimmer reaching across the lane rope to shake her hand. Elsa took it and heard the announcers erupt with approval.

“Good on ya mate, I’ll get you in the next one,” Anna said through short breaths.

“I’d like to see you try,” Elsa mumbled as she made her way to the designated exit area on the side. Once out of the pool she was directed to the media ally for various interviews without being given a moment to catch her breath.

A quick glance over and she saw Anna staying with the bronze place winner, talking to a camera.

“Solo or group?” someone was asking her, gesturing towards the camera.

“Solo.”

~~~

The time between races was long, filled with eating, sleeping, or practicing. Which was normal. The painful part, the one Elsa hated was the time between suiting up and lining up to race. Because of the virus, everything was spaced apart, even the swimmers’ individual entrances took a long time.

Most of the women chatted amongst their teammates or spoke to international friends to pass the time. And a few others, like her, remained seated, hood pulled up and headphones on to block the noise and distraction.

“What’s in your ears?”

Elsa looked up and saw Anna staring at her, she had pulled a chair over and was sitting backward in it. Her chin resting on the chair’s back. Between her mask and swim cap, only her eyes were visible. They seemed to pierce right through Elsa and she didn’t like how that made her feel.

“Oy, blondie, did ya hear me?” Anna asked again tilting her head slightly.

Elsa let out a heavy sigh and took one earbud out. “Can I help you?”

Anna leaned back and held both hands up. “Whoa mate, I’m just tryin for some small talk. You can put down the eye daggers.”

“I’m trying to focus for the race.”

“Ah, I’ll leave you be then. Don’t want to be beating you when you’re distracted.” She stood up and spun her chair around before sitting back down, her back now to Elsa.

“You and your stupid yellow cap aren’t going to beat me,” Elsa mumbled under her breath as she put her earbud back in.

~~~

“Australia takes the gold! A disappointing loss for Team USA’s Anderson”

Elsa huffed, stared at the scoreboard, refusing to believe the time she was seeing. Anna had beat her and set a new World Record. This was impossible, Anna had never beaten her before.

“Did say I’d get ya in the next one,” Anna said, beaming for the cameras and reaching her hand across to shake. Elsa took it begrudgingly.

Elsa exited the pool and auto-piloted to the media ally. She was stopped by the first news crews, stuffed into a tiny square, they all were wearing masks and face shields. Their eyes seemed to bore into Elsa as a microphone on a pole was shoved towards her face.

“How does it feel to break a world record and clinch the Gold Medal?” The reporter asked.

“It feels amazing! It was such a good race.” Anna said. Elsa somehow didn’t notice her presence before now. “I’ve been working on this for such a long time and to do it here on the Olympic stage is just incredible”

“And Elsa, how does it feel to just narrowly miss the gold and have your long-standing record shattered?”

Elsa shifted into her public face, swallowing down the astounding amount of cuss words that threatened to escape. “I’m thankful to be here to witness history. Harding is a great swimmer, I’m honored to be able to compete against her.”

“The two are set to face off more times over the next few days, I know the folks at home are excited to see the battle for gold.”

The next half an hour went on like this, short interviews with various media outlets from all over the world. Anna’s home country of course got a longer time slot. The entire time Anna walked with Elsa, seemingly refusing to do any interviews solo. It irritated Elsa as she was not able to dip into the locker room and had to do a painfully slow walk of shame through the cameras.

~~~

Elsa slammed into the wall, hard, a wave of water followed after her, splashing, turbulent, and violent. It matched how she felt as she glanced up at the scoreboard and saw her name in first and Anna’s in second. She nearly smiled. But it wasn’t worth smiling when she failed to beat the world record.

And there Anna was once again, reaching across the lane rope to shake her hand. And there too was Anna walking with her down the media ally. Ignoring Elsa’s request to go solo. And the media ate it up, two rivals trading golds and silvers back and forth. It was the perfect sports story.

The next two races ended with Elsa receiving a silver medal. She would be lying if she said she was mad at Anna for beating her both times. The other girl was nothing but kind and supportive. Always taking the time to shake the other swimmer’s hands or hug her teammates when they did well.

It seemed Anna, like Elsa, was her country’s star female swimmer. Just like Elsa, she too couldn’t swim a heat, not even a medal race, without the media stopping her for interviews. These interviews often involved Elsa joining, Anna’s presence next to her was very calming. Anna was a natural at handling the questions, laughing when she needed to, never talking bad about the officials or other swimmers. The more the two of them did interviews together, the more Elsa was able to better play off of Anna. She became more engaged, more relaxed.

The second the pair went their separate ways in the locker room, was the moment all the anger and resentment came bubbling back up in Elsa. She was mad at herself, she was starting to become distracted. She often found herself looking for Anna in the ready room before a race. And she hated how once she found her and Anna gave her a smile and maybe a little wave, she would have a strange feeling wash over her.

Elsa never had time for friends or love, if that’s what this feeling was. She ripped her cap off, pulling a few strands of hair with it, and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water wash off the chlorine and the complex feelings.

~~~

The aquatics center was darker now. It was later in the evening, the media and few spectators had all gone home. Only the lights on the pool and the emergency lights in the stands were on. It gave the place an almost eerie feeling. There were a few other swimmers here, each with their own lane. She was assigned to lane 1, she despised the wall but with the virus raging she had no grounds to argue. There was a small bin with her name and country flag on it. She managed to get two hours, probably due to the late hour.

Elsa stepping up onto the block and dove in. She came out of the water as if sprinting but quickly slowed her pace. She needed to work her muscles, not strain them.

She fell into a practice rhythm, stroke, stroke, stroke… breathe, stroke. Her legs ever so slightly kicking, she wasn’t worried about her legs, she could turn them on and power forward when needed. It was her arms she was worried about, she made stroke adjustments, high elbow, cupped hands, trying to see what felt right.

As desperately as she tried to focus on the push and pull of the water, her mind wandered away. Maybe she should have tried to befriend some of her teammates. A flip turn. Anna seemed to be having so much fun. Stroke, stroke, breathe. But fun was distracting, and she needed to focus. Stroke, stroke, breathe. No distractions. Another flip turn. Why did her mind keep going to Anna? Stroke, stroke, breathe.

Elsa slowed her pace as she came back to the wall in the deep end of the pool. She had long since lost track of her laps. She left her body slow to a stop and reached up to hold onto the wall.

She exhaled and glanced up at the scoreboard where the clock was. Only 20 minutes had passed. It felt like 2 hours, she was defiantly distracted and it was affecting everything. Her strokes felt off, her mind was clouded. She pushed off the wall and dipped below the surface, letting her body drift down till her feet made contact with the bottom of the pool and her ears popped from the pressure. It was quiet down here. She could look over and see the bodies of other swimmers going back and forth in the other lanes. And all around the bottom of the pool were underwater wires and cameras. They sat dormant now, powered down until the next race.

Elsa kicked off the bottom, surfacing to splashes and kicks and soft voices that carried through the cavernous aquatic center.

“Oh hey, fancy seeing you here.”

Elsa looked up and saw Anna sitting cross-legged on the pool deck of the lane next to hers. She was in a loose-fitting swimsuit, like the type of one-piece suit someone might wear to the beach. Her caps were missing, instead, her long red hair hung freely around her shoulders, she was spinning her goggles around one finger.

“Can I help you?” Elsa responded, already annoyed that the person who was beginning to occupy so much brain space was now a few feet from her.

“Actually, I reckon I can help you,” Anna replied, the ghost of a smirk on her face.

“And how do you propose you can help me?”

“Ah,” Anna put her goggles on, “because I’ve beaten you in the last two races? And we’ve been neck and neck in the others.” In one fluid motion, she slipped into the pool.

Elsa felt like she was seeing red, and it wasn’t just the flowing red locks of the person in the lane next to her.

Anna surfaced laughing, which only further annoyed Elsa. To be so arrogant and to rub it in her face too was taking it too far. “Sorry, I’m just joshing ya. No hard feelings mate.”

There was a pause, a shaky exhale, and Anna added, more softly, “You know I really admire you.”

Now Elsa felt like someone punched her and she was stunned into silence. What was this girl’s deal? Was this some new form of emotional warfare?

“We’ve been swimming against each other for a long time. And maybe it’s the pressure of your third Olympics, maybe it’s all the bull shit from the virus but you’re not you lately.” Anna continued.

Who was Anna to know who Elsa was or wasn’t? Elsa let herself sink slightly so her mouth was just under the surface but she could still breathe through her nose as she tread water. A smarter person would have probably just ignored Anna and continued swimming. But Elsa found herself anchored in place.

“I’m sure you’re questioning why I, of all people, am floating here telling you this. But to me, our rivalry only exists for those seconds when we’re in the water. Outside of that, I think you’re a great swimmer and a good role model. I would like to be your f-friend.” Anna turned away from her for a second, seemingly distracted by whatever the swimmer in lane five was doing.

“Friend?” Elsa repeated slowly as if trying the word out for the first time.

Anna turned back to her, her head tilted slightly to the side. “Yes, a friend, a mate, a buddy, a pal. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but you don’t seem to have many.”

“I uh…” Elsa started “I don’t have time for friends, I have to focus on swimming.”

Anna lifted a hand out of the water and pointed at Elsa, “Well, as your new friend, that’s the first thing we’re going to work on.”

Elsa really should have restarted her laps and ignored Anna. And she really, really should ignore this excitement that was bubbling in her chest. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a friend, and not someone who she was doing a press tour with or someone who wanted something from her. Then again, maybe Anna wanted something from her too.

But if Elsa was truly, deeply honest with herself, whatever Anna wanted in that moment, she wanted to give it to her. Anna had a pull, a gravity about her and Elsa was trapped in her orbit.

“Alright let me lay it out for you. You do have time for friends because they’re good, help lift you up and motivate you. You, my friend, have completely forgotten why you started swimming in the first place.”

“What? No, I haven’t, I’m still winning.”

“Yea nah, see the fact that you responded that way shows I’m right.”

Elsa frowned but remained where she was.

“So tell me, Elsa, back when you were a kiddo, why did you start swimming?” Anna lifted her goggles up and two ocean blue eyes seemed to penetrate right through Elsa’s shell.

Behind her own mirrored goggles, Elsa closed her own eyes. Shutting the world and Anna out for a moment. Why did she start swimming? It felt like eight lifetimes ago. She really had to dig deep, fuzzy memories of kids playing in the pool. Games of Marco Polo and mermaids. Joining the summer team, playing cards between races. Laughing. She had fun. Before she was scooped up into the USA Swimming training program.

She remembered now, how quickly everything changed. No more summer league, training every day for hours. Before she used to smell of bubble-gum then she shifted and everything was chlorine. Her friends moved on without her. The clashing of worlds when they could no longer relate to each other. The girls got into makeup and she got into tight-fitting racing suits. The boys started playing Halo and she sat to be measured for custom goggles. After a while, all she had was the pool and her coaches.

Elsa was 15 when made her Olympic debut and now, here in Tokyo, it was her third. In those nearly 10 years she had completely given herself to her sports. It wasn’t that friends were a distraction, it was that she didn’t want to get hurt again.

“Elsa?” Anna asked, breaking the other woman from her thoughts.

Elsa opened her eyes and looked at the Australian. In her loose-fitting casual suit and free-flowing hair, Anna appeared to never forget the fun of swimming. And look where that got her? She was neck and neck, or even besting Elsa. Anna knew everyone on her team and several others from around the world. She greeted everyone like lifelong friends and no one could deny her contagious charisma on camera.

“I started swimming because it was fun and I could hang out with my friends.” Elsa finally admitted out loud.

“I thought you didn’t have time for friends?” Anna replied, that ghost of a smirk reappearing.

“I did back then.”

“And what happened?”

“I went one way and they went another. Our paths never crossed again”

Anna floated forward and hung both arms over the lane rope. “That was back when you were a kid, people grow up and grow apart. That’s as normal as a flower blooming.”

Elsa didn’t respond, she didn’t see the comparison to flowers, not every bud bloomed.

“Just because your old mates ditched you doesn’t mean you can’t make new ones. Especially here with like-minded folks. Now I reckon you haven’t had any fun in a while yeah?”

What are you trying to say"

“I watched you practice for a bit before you noticed me, you’re all in your head and that’s doing no one any good.”

“How did you know it was me?”

“So many questions, you Americans ask so many questions, just live a little.” Anna laughed, “Your name is on the box mate.” She gestured to the box behind the starting block that currently held Elsa’s dry clothes.

“So now you’re stalking me, how did you even get a lane next to me anyway?”

“Again with the questions, I didn’t purposely try, I suppose it’s the universe just pulling us together.” She winked and pulled her goggles back down. Elsa dipped back down into the water just below her eyes to hide the heat rising in her cheeks. “Now a question for you mate, when’s the last time you pretended to be a mermaid?”

The rest of the allotted practice time consisted of the two of them swimming back and forth in their lanes, dolphin kicking, spinning, and splashing each other. Elsa wasn’t sure when or how exactly it happened. One minute they were just swimming and the next they were doing spins and twists and diving down. Anna made some great faces underwater and for once in a long time, Elsa was having fun. She even smiled which only seemed to fuel Anna into further antics.

Elsa left the locker room later feeling lighter and more focused than she had been in years.

~~~

Despite the Olympic events being closed to the public, there was still a sizable audience piled into the aquatics center. Swimmers and other athletes were clustered in the stands by their country. There wasn’t to be any audience at all, but the officials decided some bodies in the stands brought more life to events.

Elsa spotted the US cluster, they were hard to miss in their snow-white outfits and obnoxious red, white, and blue bucket hats. Elsa had yet to put hers on. It was a very ugly hat, but if the team was wearing them maybe she could suck it up for a little bit. Elsa took a deep breath and started up the stairs of the bleachers. She was spotted almost instantly.

“Anderson! Sit with us!” One of her teammates called. Elsa nodded, thankful her mask prevented her from having to fake a smile.

“I’m surprised you’re here but man it’s good to have you.” The girl, whose name was Jan? Jenny maybe? Swam Butterfly, she was the same age as Elsa but this was her first Olympics.

At least Elsa was pretty sure of that. After her practice with Anna last night she had gone back to her room, deciding that she would make an effort to be more present. She stayed up later than she should have, reading through the USA Swimming’s Tokyo roster, putting faces to names and names to events.

Elsa sat down between Jannet, she was sure now, and a backstroker named Sam. They both beamed at her, Sam pulled out his phone to get a photo of the three of them.

“No, no photos,” Elsa started to say but caught herself, “…without our hats!” She said, forcing as much positivity through her words as possible. This earned her a few cheers from the people around them and she mashed the ugly hat on her head as the photo grew to more people.

“I can’t believe we got a photo with Anderson.”

“Dude I know, she’s always training.”

“Bruh this is unreal, tag me in that shit.”

“My mom’s gonna be so excited!”

Various voices from all around her, excited and happy tones. She had been so worried they would be cold towards her, or there would be whispers about why she was here. Instead, her teammates seemed almost welcoming, be it a bit starstruck.

“Are you excited for your race this afternoon?” Elsa asked Sam who seems to nearly implode.

“You know when I swim? Dude this is awesome!”

The hype of Elsa being there finally calmed down and she was able to actually talk with people.. Elsa had the day off from racing today. It was interesting, being a casual spectator instead of studying the strokes. She hadn’t really watched a men’s race in so long, she had forgotten how animated they got when they won. Slapping the water, sitting on the lane ropes, their arms lifted high into the sky as cameras flashed.

During a lull Elsa stood to locate some kind of drink, talking so much was exhausting. She walked into the wide hallway behind the bleachers and saw long red hair clashing with a bright yellow jacket that read AUSTRALIA down the arm in a green font that perfectly matched the pants.

Anna turned as Elsa neared as if pulled by some invisible force. She smiled behind her mask before speaking, Elsa could tell from the creases in the corner of her eyes “You’re here? And not cranking away at the gym? I must be dreaming.”

“I’m here, I was even sitting with my team.”

“They let you sit with them while wearing that hat?” she teased.

“We all have this thing,” Elsa replied, tapping the hat with one finger.

“And you lot say our outfits hurt the eyes.” She reached forward as if to touch Elsa but pulled her hand back after a sideways glance at a nearby volunteer. “I’m really glad you came, I hope you have a good time. I’m coming for you soon though, be ready.”

“I’m always ready,” Elsa responded, the absence of a touch that never was hung heavy in the air and she wished Anna had broken protocol.

“Oh, I know.” Anna winked again and walked off in the opposite direction. Elsa fought the urge to follow her. Team Australia was on the opposite side of the pool and Elsa had no valid reason to go that way and was thus barred from going any further.

Elsa bruised herself by looking at a random floor tile, she didn’t want to get caught staring at someone. So occupied she was that she didn’t see Anna turn back to look at her before rounding the corner.

~~~

Today was the day. The last race of her Olympics, till the next one that is.

Elsa dove into the pool, this was her warm-up period. She was there with a handful of other swimmers, swimming lengths across the wide part of the diving pool while other races took place in the main pool.

Stroke, breathe. Stroke, breathe.

She went at a steady pace and focused on her reach, turning her shoulders and pulling the water back. Today felt better, her strokes felt more fluid, and her mind wasn’t clouded. She let it freely drift from one subject to the next, without dwelling on the angle of her elbows, or how much her hand was scooped. Anna kept drifting to the forefront of her mind and Elsa allowed herself to swim through those thoughts. She decided when she won today, she would do all her interviews with Anna. She was done with doing the media ally solo.

In the blink of an eye, she was sitting in a chair in the ready room. Both caps on, goggles on, only one earbud in. She nodded and waved to anyone she made eye contact with but she didn’t talk to them. She wasn’t going to change completely overnight and she still had to focus.

There was a sudden shift in the energy of the room and Elsa turned her head to see that yellow cap enter the room. Anna sat down in front of Elsa again and turned in her chair.

“So what’s in your ears today eh?”

“Just some bass-heavy EMD music,” Elsa replied.

“Oh didn’t take you for a clubber.”

“I’m not, fast beats just help me focus.”

“Ah, you’re gonna need that today my friend,” Anna once again winked and Elsa was starting to think maybe she wasn’t imagining things. That or Anna had a facial tick and Elsa was completely caught up in a fantasy.

They walked out to the swim floor one by one as they were announced by lane number for the women’s 800-meter freestyle race. Anna was in lane 5 today, Elsa in lane 4. All that stood between her and the podium was 16 lengths of the pool. Elsa stepped up onto the started block and waited.

“Take your mark.” came the far too robotic sounding announcer, followed by a sharp single beep.

Her muscles reacted on instinct and she dove into the water. Kicking, surfacing, and falling into her rhythm. She breathed every few strokes, pacing herself for the final sprint that was still many lengths off. The woman from Japan matched her pace over in lane 3 and Elsa regretted not knowing her name.

A flip turn and now with every breath she could see Anna, her yellow cap a bright beacon above the blue lane rope. She was also matching pace with Elsa, their strokes synchronized, Anna breathed on the left, and every few strokes they looked at each other. It was electrifying.

Another flip turn and Elsa could only see the edge of the Japanese women’s fingers, she was already falling back. But there were many lengths to go for Elsa to maintain the lead.

As she came into the wall an official dipped a number into the pool, letting her know how many lengths she had left. Another flip turn and there was Anna again.

Finally, after many lengths, Elsa and Anna headed towards the wall. Bells rang indicating this was the final lap. They would be coming out of this flip turn in a sprint.

Elsa resurfaced after the turn and began kicking. Harder. She could no longer see the Japanese woman but she had no time to focus on that fact. All that mattered was to get to the wall, turn one last time and slam into home. She could already taste the gold. She could hear the National anthem in all its obnoxiousness.

She turned and exploded off the wall, pulling from every reserve. She wasn’t breathing as often, trying to stay as streamlined as possible. Anna, she could see, was doing the same. They were no longer in sync, swapping the lead back and forth.

They passed the halfway point and Elsa pulled whatever energy she had left. Desperately pulling and kicking at the water. She saw the yellow cap fade in and out of her line of sight. The lane rope shifted to a solid color, the wall was near. This was do or die.

Elsa slammed into the wall at full speed and a wave of water splashed up onto the deck in response. She looked not to the scoreboard but over to Anna. Who, despite being out of breath, smiled at her.

The other swimmers came into the wall around them and Elsa glanced now at the board. She couldn’t believe what she saw

(AUS) Harding A.- 8:12:57

(USA) Anderson E. - 8:13:83

She had lost by the narrowest of margins. Instead of being mad, she turned back to Anna who was already climbing over the lane rope. She hugged Elsa with one arm and pumped the air with the other. Beaming for the cameras.

“Told you I’d get ya,” Anna said in a voice loud enough only for Elsa to hear.

And Elsa didn’t reply. She just smiled, genuinely for the first time in a long time. She gave Anna a hug in return and regrettably let her go to turn to the Japanese women. Giving her a handshake and congratulating her on her race.

When Elsa turned back, Anna was surrounded by other swimmers and the officials were trying to subtly clear the pool without ruining the photos for the press.

Elsa couldn’t remember another time she felt so happy to come in second.

~~~

The Australian anthem has just finished playing. Anna reached out a hand to first Elsa and then the bronze medalist. Elsa pretended not to notice how Anna’s hand lingered just a few seconds too long in hers.

They posed for pictures together for what seemed like hours before the volunteers were ushering them towards the media. Anna placed a hand on Elsa’s back, ever so slightly, like a question that Elsa could choose to lean into or walk away. She picked the former and Anna’s step seemed to spring a bit as they walked towards their first interview. The woman with bronze had vanished and at the moment Elsa didn’t care, but for an entirely different reason than she usually did.

Finally, the pair entered the locker room, it was surprisingly empty, their medal ceremony was the last of the day, and there weren’t any more races, practice times would start within the hour but for right now, it was quiet.

Anna was first to speak, she removed her mask and smiled at Elsa and Elsa felt her face heat up. She copied Anna, removing the massive mask that obscured most of her face and returned the smile.

“Here, you deserve these,” Anna said, handing Elsa her gold medal bouquet.

“Are those for me?” Elsa said, of course, she had her own bouquet but the gesture and genuine tenderness of Anna made everything more special.

“No they’re for the empty chair behind you, of course, they’re for you.” She paused then added, “Sorry, they’re not orchids or crocuses or roses.”

“I’ve only heard of roses. I know nothing about flowers.”

“Oh well, in that case, enjoy these sunflowers, they bring out the blue in your eyes.”

“Anna?” Elsa asked, nearly whispering the name, she wasn’t brave enough to look into the other woman’s eyes so she stared down at the flowers, they were yellow like all of Anna’s team gear. Elsa decided she liked yellow, and she liked yellow a lot.

“Will you, join me in the dining hall? I want to take you to dinner.”

“Wow in the IOC-provided cafeteria where everything is free? You shouldn’t have.” Anna teased but her tone lacked any malice. She stepped closer to Elsa, closing the gap but still giving her space.

Elsa smirked and found her confidence, “Oh hush, you know that’s our only option.”

“I know, I’m just teasing you.”

A door opened at the other end of the locker room. “Ms. Harding, you’re wanted for an interview please.”

Anna sighed and shook her head, “the burdens of winning I suppose.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment and then leaned in and kissed Elsa on the cheek. She stepped back to allow a shocked Elsa to catch her breath.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Anna said and winked before walking away and through the locker room door to flashing cameras.

Elsa lifted a hand to her face where Anna touched her, closed her eyes, and smiled.

#elsanna #submission #august 2021 contest #prompt: flowers

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