#Even when I’m sick I love reading what others are rambling about
Note
I WAS MINDING MY DAMN BUSINESS LISTENING TO ONE OF MY FAV SONGS AND THE BUS OF CODE PHIL RAN INTO ME AND DESTROYED MY LIFE anyway which witch by florence + the machine (best artist ever) oh my god is literally him in the worst way possible the pain the agony (also if u don't want anymore song recs idm^^ ik I've left quite a bit in the askbox but I can slow down if needed :] )
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And it's my whole heart
Weighed and measured inside
And it's an old scar
Trying to bleach it out
And it's my whole heart
Deemed and delivered a crime
I'm on trial, waiting 'til the beat comes out
I'm on trial, waiting 'til the beat comes out
Who's a heretic now?
Am I making sense?
How can you make it stick?
Waiting 'til the beat comes out
-
this verse radiates energy from the realization he has of his history with the federation combined with them realizing that he's figured them out and need to make quick work of him in order to keep him in line. not only messing with him physically in experiments but also mentally in making sure to break him down and making him look crazy in order to decrease his threat levels towards any future acts they may commit against the people of the island. also the 'deemed and delivered a crime' can also associate with the brief period of certain members of the island learning about phils federation lineage and creating contingency plans behind his back in case he goes rogue to attack them. (of course he does but not willingly ;-;)
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I'm not beat up by this yet
You can't tell me to regret
Been in the dark since the day we met
Fire, help me to forget
And it's my whole heart
While tried and tested, it's mine
And it's my whole heart
Trying to reach it out
And it's my whole heart
Burned but not buried this time
-
oh this part verrrrry specifically is what made everything click right in my mind for this au- especially when thinking about his friendship with etoiles. when I hear this section, I got reminded of the 'repairs' the federation forces onto phil with every trip, how everytime they continue and continue to crack him more and more and shatter him into pieces but he keeps getting. back. up. no matter what they do to him, at the end it's etoiles who's there to keep reminding him that he is still his own person, at his core he is whole and the federation can't take away who he is for long. everytime the federation fucks him up and tries to make it seem as if nothing had happened with the memory wipes of said experiments, this time,, phil has people alongside him to help him remember who he is. the repetition of 'and it's my whole heart' is so codebreakers in this au with it being phil repeating the mantras etoiles has instilled in his mind that he's still his own person and he is still good despite all the damage the federation not only inflicts on him but attends to inflict onto others. it's very good that many of the island members he surrounds himself with are powerful enough to make sure he isn't hurting others physically. mentally though, seeing a good friend lose himself and have to constantly remind himself of who he is can be taxing on the mind.
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Chained and shackled, oh
All that gravel, oh
It's a pity, oh
Never to return
But I never learn
It's a pity, oh
(x2)
-
the repeating outro reminds me very specifically of the conditioning training the federation instilled in phils head. acknowledging the metaphorical weights they placed upon him to keep him shackled to them and the island- not only when referring to him unconsciously returning to them in times of enhanced stress and post-acts of rule breaking, but in the clips of his wings that leave him physically immobile when in the world of the skies that he so desperately wants to go back too
AAAAAAAAAAA so many florence songs r him rn it literally inspired me to make a q!phil playlist bc of it and the brain is braininggggggg. also wow with having like 3 song asks shoved in here im really living up to the disc anon name LMAOOOOOO - 💿
Can I just say I am absolutely in love with how you connect lyrics to things and explain them and word everything??? Because HELLO????
ADDING THIS TO THE PLAYLIST POST AS SOON AS I GET DONE WRITING THIS RESPONSE
Honestly the overall song gives me kind of.. angry vibes?? As in connecting it to the code au, it feels like a song that connects to Phils anger towards the Federation that‘s fueled by his close friends, but especially so by Etoiles who has been there for him as much as possible. Repeatingly helping him back up no matter how many times he‘s forced back down to kneel, to submit.
THIS SONG IS SO GOOD WAAAH
#I apologise for my comments not being that long OQJSJA#but this song hits hard and it‘s so good#deffo agree that it reflects Phil in the code au so heavily#i think it‘s especially so with the lyrics ‘I‘m not beaten by this yet - you can‘t tell me to regret - been in the dark since the day we met#- Fire Help me to forget‘#ITS SO GOOD#also ik I already stated it in another post BUT please feel free to come ramble here whenever KAJSJ#it’s very silly in the most positive way#Even when I’m sick I love reading what others are rambling about#qsmp#code philza <3#💿 anon#winged.rambles
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Petrichor | Joshua Hong
Synopsis: Joshua Hong has felt inexplicably drawn to you since the first time he saw you. Alas, he was betrothed to another. Against his better judgment, Joshua still allows himself to get close to you. When you start to fall for him too, what happens then?
Pairing: naiad! joshua x human g/n! reader (ft. spirit of opportunity! platonic minghao x reader, cameo by cupid! jeonghan, mention of god of time, chronos! seungcheol)
Genre: greek mythology au, ancient athens au, forbidden love, fluff, angst
Word count: 26.6k words
Warnings: loss of vision, discrimination, greek deities, insecurities, blood, slight profanity, toxic relationship (Joshua’s betrothed is a b*tch), dehumanisation (because of Joshua’s betrothed. She calls him pet), mention of mutilation (again it’s the betrothed) , violence, food, slightly suggestive, fainting and sickness (reader gets sick), nicknames (darling, bunny)
Note: I’m including the preview in this version of the full fic because it flows better. I also apologise in advance if there are any spelling/ grammatical errors.
A/n: Once again, thank you Yena @fairyhaos for inspiring this fic! And a huge thank you to @wonijinjin, @brownsugarbaybee, @wheeboo and @slytherinshua for listening to me ramble about this fic ❤️ I hope I’ve done this trope justice and I’m really sorry for the wait. As always, feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated!! Thank you ❤️
ᨒ Petrichor (noun): the scent of the earth after rain. Some would describe the scent as distinctively earthy, pleasant, and sweet.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
The situation that Joshua Hong found himself in was one he never expected. The whole thing was ironic really. As a naiad, a water nymph, he knew that mortals, humans specifically, would be inexplicably drawn towards him should they ever lay eyes on him. In fact, much to Joshua’s annoyance, there were several occasions where he had to avoid some rather unsavoury characters.
Yet this time, the tables were turned. Here Joshua was, crouched behind some foliage near the creek he presided over just so he could observe this one human from afar. There was something about this human that inexplicably drew Joshua towards them. He was completely enamoured and fascinated by everything about them.
They became a regular sight at the creek over the past few months. Joshua remembered the first time he laid eyes on them. It was a balmy morning in spring. He had just finished his duty of directing some fresh water to a nearby town. When he returned to the creek, the human was there, sitting on a sky blue picnic mat crafting an intricate looking object. He remembered being struck by the sheer brightness in the human’s eyes. Literally and figuratively. Their eyes glistened under the sunlight, reflecting the sparkles from the water’s surface. At the same time, their eyes were full of life. They told Joshua everything about the human’s appreciation for their surroundings, their life, and most of all their determination to live life to the fullest. Joshua was in awe. That was the first time he ever saw such striking eyes.
Since then, Joshua felt as if there was a magnet pulling him closer to the human. Overtime, Joshua began noticing other details about the human. They would always visit the creek on the weekends, often staying for hours at a time. They would simply sit on the picnic mat reading or making those intricate looking crafts. There were even instances when they would pluck the tiny flowers around the creek to make flower crowns. He even noticed some of the human’s quirks. Like how their eyes would crinkle slightly, or how there would be a ghost of a smile on their face when they read something funny or accomplished something. They would also crinkle their nose and furrow their brows when they were concentrating. One thing Joshua definitely picked up on, was that the human was always alone. This puzzled him immensely. Weren’t humans supposed to be social creatures?
Eventually, the amount of time Joshua was spending observing the human began to drive him crazy. Sure, he could partially blame the fact that naiads were naturally curious creatures. But he knew that the attraction he felt went beyond the confines of rational curiosity. This was infatuation, obsession even. In Joshua’s attempt to figure out what this attraction was, he approached his acquaintance, a relative of Cupid, Yoon Jeonghan, to ask if he was hit by yet another one of Jeonghan’s infamous stray arrows. To his disappointment, Joshua was not. (Jeonghan adamantly insisted that “using arrows is soooo 2 centuries ago” although he cheekily admitted that he did randomly shoot love arrows into the air “just for the fun of it”.)
Still, Jeonghan did give him a somewhat useful piece of advice. Infatuation. Love. Jeonghan explained that these feelings were complicated. There was usually much more nuance that needed to be teased out when attraction was involved. Especially in this case where the attraction was one-sided (for now anyway). Simply put, Joshua had either really fallen for this human, or there was something about this human that he longed for. Something that sparked an intense sense of desire and curiosity within him, like a personality trait or the human’s way of life. Perhaps it was a bit of both possibilities?
Whatever it was, Joshua would need to figure that out for himself. Outwardly, Joshua cursed Jeonghan’s advice, thinking that it was just like a relative of Cupid to tell people to keep spying on humans like a creep from the sidelines. However, deep down, he knew Jeonghan was right. His desire, his need to decipher this complex feelings of attraction for the human was overwhelming. That human lit a fire within him, and he needed to quell those flames before it completely consumed his life.
So, Joshua (rather reluctantly) continued his routine. He hid behind the foliage, and he watched.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
When you emerged from the shade of the dense forest, the warmth and light of the mid-morning sun welcomed you. Taking a moment to recenter yourself after the somewhat strenuous trek to your destination, you closed your eyes. Reopening your eyes, you were once again greeted with the most picturesque landscape before you.
Sure, it might seem like another open field of grass next to a creek. A sight that was not uncommon in the rural forested areas surrounding the Athenian capital. But this place was different. There was something about this particular field of grass next to this creek that was absolutely mesmerising. You shouldn’t be surprised. Afterall, the gods lived on Mount Olympus which overlooked Greece. The scenery should be befitting for the gods to lay their eyes upon. Regardless, no matter how many times you visited this place, you were always enthralled by the scenery.
The field of grass was extremely luscious. You loved to feel the blades of grass brushing against your fingertips. They were soft, almost feathery. Tiny flowers were scattered across the entire field, providing subtle pops of different colours to the otherwise uniform vibrant emerald colour of the grass. You were also treated to the sight of butterflies. Besides the occasional rustling of the foliage, if it was silent enough, you swore that you could almost hear their wings fluttering as they flew across the field towards the mountains that lay in the background. Sometimes, when you arrived early, you would be treated to the sight of the majestic mountains that were shrouded in the morning mist slowly clear, allowing the sun to peak out from between the mountain peaks.
You always loved the way that the streaks of the sun’s rays would descend upon this little oasis. They illuminated the whole area with a gentle, golden glow, making the whole space look ethereal. You liked to think that the sun god Helios paid extra attention to illuminating this field because it was so secluded, so untouched from civilisation.
You especially adored the way that the sun’s rays were reflected on the creek. This was certainly the clearest, bluest waters you had ever seen. Where others saw water, you saw alluring pale blue crystals that sparkled and twinkled underneath the sun’s rays which danced gracefully across the surface of the water. Even when the light breeze brushed against the water, the ripples simply created another bewitching performance for you. You could spend hours watching the water, entranced by the beauty of it all.
However, you had to admit that you loved the scent that blanketed this area more than anything. You would inhale deeply, savouring the fresh air. The air was such a stark contrast to the stuffy air you were usually surrounded by in the Athenian capital. While you could detect the crisp, fresh odor of pine from the forest, it was faint compared to the scent being emitted from the open field of grass next to the creek that lay before you. The scent was distinct. It was sweet, pleasant, and had an element of earthiness to it. If you could liken the scent to anything, it would be the scent that lingered in the air right after there was a bout of rain, or the scent of the morning dew that always lingered on the grass and flowers. Petrichor. Yes, that was the word used to describe this scent.
As your eyes drifted over the landscape, and you inhaled the scent of petrichor that wafted through the air, a wave of peace, contentment, and emotional reprieve washed over you. Beyond that, you were overcome with a feeling of gratitude and nostalgia. Gratitude towards your friend, Minghao, for pushing you to find this place, gratitude for being able to actually see this ethereal sight in your lifetime, and nostalgia for all the times you had spent your weekends here. You smiled softly, allowing yourself to embrace all these emotions all at once. There was no need to repress any emotions here. You could just let go. Here, you were alone. Alone but free and happy.
Yes, you thought to yourself, this field was a sacred space for you. A sanctuary, an escape where you could rest, heal, and seek refuge from the chaos of daily life.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Once you made yourself comfortable on your picnic mat, you gazed fondly at the well-thumbed leather bound book that lay on your lap. Out of all the Greek tragedies and epics you read, you had to say that this compilation of popular Greek quotations was your favourite. Sure, you read this book multiple times over, to the point that you could recite most of the quotes by heart. But you loved the feeling of physically flipping through the pages and letting your eyes drift over the words on the paper. Running your fingers over the leather, you carefully opened the book and let yourself be immersed in the beautifully crafted words.
You quickly lost track of how much time passed. Only when your stomach called out for food did you notice that it was already midday. Placing your book down, you turned to rummage through your woven basket for the lunch you packed. As you did so, you accidentally nicked the palm of your hand on one of the unfinished crafts inside. You hissed at the stinging sensation, quickly pulling your hand out to inspect the damage. You sighed when you saw a tiny cut across your palm. It wasn’t deep, but it started to draw a bit of blood.
Unbeknownst to you, someone had been watching you all morning. It was Joshua. He was silently observing you from his usual spot behind the foliage. Currently, he was lost in his thoughts wondering why you were reading the same book again. Today was probably the fifth time that he’s seen you bring the book to the creek. When you placed your book down and turned towards your basket, Joshua stood on his tip toes while craning his neck to see the title of the book engraved on the leather cover.
However, your hiss of pain broke Joshua’s concentration. Out of shock, he yelped and stumbled forward, fortunately regaining his balance before he fell through the foliage. Joshua’s eyes widened and he instinctively slammed his hands over his mouth to try and muffle the yelp that had already escaped him.
You were making your way to the creek to clean your wound, but the sudden rustling of the foliage behind you caught your attention. Also, was that a yelp? Was someone else here? Turning, you stalked cautiously towards the foliage.
Joshua did not dare to move a muscle as he heard your footsteps approach. He thought the best thing was to just stand still and pray to the deities that you would walk away. Well, today certainly was not his lucky day. In his attempt to stabilise himself, he had forgotten that he was in fact taller than the bushes that he was hiding behind.
You eyed the black tuft of hair sticking out from between the bushes. So your suspicions proved to be correct. There was someone else here.
“Hello? Is everything okay?” You called out.
Joshua scrunched his face, internally cursing to the deities that they had once again let him down. He began to shuffle around trying to figure out what he should do. His brain told him that he should turn and flee, but his heart said otherwise. It was the first time Joshua had heard your voice, and his heart fluttered in response when you called out to him. This was okay, right? Meeting you would be okay. Maybe he would be able to figure out why he was so drawn to you better this way. Relenting to his heart’s desires, he steeled his nerves and tried to push his way through the foliage to meet you, which proved to be more difficult than he expected.
Your caution turned into amusement and curiosity as a figure emerged from the bushes. Or at least was trying desperately to. It was apparent that he was struggling to disentangle himself from the bushes. He was cursing under his breath, muttering how he was not going to help the Goddess Gaia water her plants anymore. He stomped around, shoving the plants aside before finally stumbling out of the bushes.
Huffing, he pulled the twigs out of his hair, brushed the leaves off his chiton, and made sure that the gown rested comfortably on his shoulders. He readjusted the belt around his waist as well. You watched as he proceeded to angrily twirl his gold jewelry back in place, his necklace, his ring on his pinky finger, and the arm bands around his biceps. You swallowed thickly at the sight. With that build, the divine aura around him, his gold jewelry, there was no way that he was an ordinary man. His aura reminded you of Minghao’s. Perhaps he was a spirit as well?
You were unable to keep yourself from snickering. He might be a spirit but just now, he seemed like a clumsy, stumbling fawn trying to walk.
Hearing your snickers, it finally clicked in Joshua’s mind that he was being watched. And by the entrancing human that captured his attention. He suddenly ceased his frantic readjustments and looked up at you like a deer caught in headlights.
His wide eyes made you burst out laughing.
Joshua’s expression softened. You were even more mesmerising up close. Your laughter was like music to his ears. Taking in your presence, Joshua’s eyes landed on the injured palm you were clutching close to your body.
Joshua cleared his throat awkwardly, “Uhm, you should really get that cut healed.”
Sobering up quickly, you nodded, “I’ll just clean it in the creek and bandage it with a cloth that I have on me.”
When you turned towards the creek, Joshua’s hand shot out to grasp your wrist, “No… Don’t clean it in the creek… Wait… I mean… I can heal that for you if you want? Does that sound creepy. I swear I’m a naiad? Yea, you probably have never heard of a male naiad before. That explains why I’m so weak. I can’t heal big wounds or reverse curses or whatever. I’m kind of useless as a naiad. That’s what everyone else says. I can’t do anything the other naiads can… Uh…I apologise, I’m rambling again aren’t I?”
You shook your head, indicating that it was okay. He was a naiad. That explained the divine aura around him. He was definitely a cute naiad, though you felt a pinch of pity for him since that was how lowly he thought of himself. You stood there, patiently waiting for him to gather his thoughts.
Realising what he was doing, Joshua let go of your wrist. He gave you a sheepish look, “I mean… I can still heal small cuts like that… if you don’t mind of course.”
“Sure!” You chirped.
“Really?” Joshua was dumbfounded. Why would you trust him when you both just met?
You shrugged your shoulders and extended your injured palm out to him, “I’m y/n by the way. What’s your name? I think I should probably know the name of the handsome naiad who is going out of his way to heal me. Don’t you think so?”
Joshua flushed at your words, even your name was beautiful. Muttering that his name was Joshua, he took your hand in his, treating your hand as he would treat a delicate rose petal. A soft, warm blue light emitted from his hand enveloping yours. Soon, the cut was gone. All that was left was a faint line from where the cut was, and the strong scent of petrichor which calmed you down greatly.
Inspecting your palm, you beamed at Joshua, “Thank you! Wow, that was amazing! I’ve never actually seen a naiad’s powers in action!”
Joshua turned his body away from you, refusing to look you in your eyes. He couldn’t believe that you, the human he was completely enamoured with, was treating him with such kindness and gratitude. You thought he was amazing, that his powers were amazing. He had expected you to run or look at him in disgust. He didn’t make a good first impression on you with his stumbling and rambling. Plus, he had basically blurted out all his flaws, his insignificance compared to other naiads.
Sensing Joshua’s discomfort, you tried to tone down your excitement. Trying to convey as much sincerity as you could in your voice, you said, “really Joshua. Thank you, I really mean it.”
Joshua fiddled with the hems of his chiton. Then, he lifted his head and whispered, “no problem.”
You observed Joshua’s nervous disposition, finding yourself unable to look away. There was something about Joshua, something that made you want to find out more about him, something that made you want to spend time with him. Obviously, there was the physical attraction you felt towards him. Joshua was incredibly attractive. His black undercut made his otherwise gentle eyes look more piercing, as if he was staring right into your soul. But the corners of his lips curled upwards, softening his appearance. His muscles were made more prominent by the golden armbands that rested on his biceps.
Joshua’s physical appearance screamed strength. Yet, you could discern that within him, there was inner turmoil, deep seeded sadness, hopelessness and self-loathing. You chalked it up to being the accumulation of emotional scars over the years, left by the sharp swords of those who had repeatedly hurled insults at him. The ones who called him a useless naiad. The ones who damaged him, ostracised him, leaving him a vulnerable shell of what he could have been.
Your heart ached for Joshua. From personal experience, you knew that underneath all the hurt and discrimination he endured, lay a pure, innocent, soul who longed to be healed. You were determined to help him, to save him. You wanted him to find the strength to love himself, and make peace with who he was as a person, who he was as a naiad. You swore to yourself that as long as he would let you, you would stand by Joshua’s side.
An awkward silence filled the air. Joshua shrank into himself slightly under your tender gaze, snapping you out of your thoughts. Biting your lip to reprimand yourself from staring too long, you hesitated before gesturing towards your basket, “Joshua? It’s midday right now. I was actually just about to have lunch. Please, you’re welcome to join me, I always bring extra food… and I would really love to get to know you better. However, if you’re uncomfortable with my presence, I can go and you can have the creek to yourself.”
“Me?” Joshua pointed to himself.
“Who else here is named Joshua?”
“Why?” Joshua breathed incredulously.
“Why not?” You replied.
Hearing your response, Joshua recoiled even further. It was beyond his imagination to think that a person as perfect as you would want to get to know someone as damaged as he was. He really longed to get to know you too. It’s just that this was all so embarrassing for him, and he really should not let himself get close to you. This could end badly for the two of you. He should have run earlier, he actually should run and hide right now. He was grateful that you would give him the option to choose whether he wanted you to stay or not, though you shouldn’t have to go because he was being a blushing idiot. He looked at you patiently waiting for him to give you a response while he grappled with all his emotions.
Just as Joshua opened his mouth to excuse himself politely, his heart once again betrayed his brain. To your delight, and his horror, he blurted, “No, please don’t go. Stay. I… I would love to get to know you better too.”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Wheezing, you grabbed onto Joshua’s forearm, “So the rumours were true? Narcissus is only Narcissus because that stupid cupid Jeonghan shot a love arrow into the pond where he was trying to check his reflection?”
Despite Joshua flushing at the close contact between the two of you, Joshua nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, it’s true. Stupid cupid. That’s a new name for Jeonghan. I’ll have to call him that next time.”
In the short span of three hours that you spent talking to Joshua over lunch, you had gotten more comfortable with each other. Once Joshua warmed up to you, seeing that you were really sincere in wanting to get to know you, he opened up a little. He still wasn’t quite comfortable talking about himself, but he was happy to talk about the adventures of his acquaintances.
By now, you could safely say that you were completely enamoured with Joshua. He was so gorgeous. You loved the spark of life that lit up in his eyes when he talked about something stupid his acquaintances did (and especially when you said something funny). His laugh was melodic. You adored his little quirk of raising his clenched fist in front of his face while leaning backwards when he laughed. It was so endearing to see how the reserved chuckles turned into full blown belly laughs now that he was enjoying himself. You were definitely successful at breaking down some of his walls today. You also came to know that Joshua was hilarious, witty, and best of all, he was unpredictable in the best way possible. You thought you were about to cry laughing when Joshua placed a piece of lettuce on his head, insisting that he needed some shade from the afternoon sun.
Squeezing Joshua’s arm one last time before letting go, you heaved a deep sigh to compose yourself. Your eyes landed on your tiny sundial. It was almost 4 in the afternoon. You pouted slightly, realising that you would soon have to part ways with Joshua.
Noticing the change in your mood, Joshua asked, “Do you need to go soon?”
You shook your head, “I can stay for another half an hour.” You would really be pushing it as the forest would get dark very quickly. However, anytime spent with Joshua was worth possibly getting lost in the forest.
Shaking those thoughts out of your head, you took another deep breath, relishing in the scent of petrichor that lingered in the air. Was it just you or was the scent stronger now that Joshua was right next to you? Shrugging, you let a comfortable silence envelop the two of you.
“Y/n? Can I ask you a question before you go?”
You let out a hum in response to Joshua.
“How did you find this creek? It’s kind of far from the rest of Athenian civilisation.”
Musing over his question, you explained cryptically, “I guess it all started with one word, kairos.”
Joshua raised his eyebrow at that. You shifted so you were facing him, “You see, my friend, Minghao, he’s a spirit of opportunity. You’ve probably never heard of him. Long story short, I was going through some stuff, and was in desperate need of a break. When Minghao found out, all he said was that word, kairos. He explained that kairos meant the right time. He said that despite all that I was going through, it showed that it was the right time for me to get out of my comfort zone. The right time to venture out of the capital which I lived in all my life to try and find something, perhaps a place, that would help to heal me.”
You paused to gesture to the scenery around you before continuing, “As you can tell, I found this place. You can bet I really hated him at the time. Like you said, it is far from the rest of Athenian civilisation. Honestly I almost gave up when he told me I had to walk through the dense forest. But it was worth it. I don’t know how to explain it. When I was walking through the forest, it was as if there was a little voice in my head telling me to walk this way. It felt like there was a magnet drawing me to this place. Then I came across this little oasis. Minghao was right, it was the right time for me to venture out. I guess… you could say that this creek, this whole area, I didn’t find it. It found me. It healed me when I needed it the most.”
You could still remember the day Minghao told you to walk through the forest.
“Y/n. You will find what you need when you take the opportunity to venture out of your comfort zone. Given you’re feeling this way, it’s the right time.” Minghao said exasperatedly.
You rolled your eyes at him, “of course you would say that, you’re a spirit of opportunity.”
Finally sick of your protests, Minghao pushed you out of your house towards the path he had asked you to take, “Don’t come back until you actually try to find what you need.” Then, he added more quietly, “Y/n, please. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Seeing Minghao’s pleading eyes, you relented. If Minghao was this convinced that this walk would do you some good, you should at least try. Minghao’s advice had never steered you in the wrong direction before. Still, you grumbled as you stormed through the dense forest, pushing away the twigs and foliage out of your way. You didn’t know how long you were stalking through the forest. Letting out a frustrated growl, you were about to give up. Your feet hurt, you were tired, and all you wanted to do was go home to sleep. Just then, you saw some light streaming through the thick shade of the forest.
It was as if the light was a rope, wrapping itself around you and pulling you in that direction. Something inside you told you that you should venture forward, just a little more. So that’s just what you did. And you’ve been coming back to this oasis ever since.
You smiled at the fond memory. You should thank Minghao once again for leading you to find this place. You did meet Joshua because of it. He’s one more attractive reason as to why you will be returning again next week, if he is agreeable to it that is.
Joshua nodded in understanding. Since there was a naiad presiding over this creek, ie, him, it was normal that mortals would find the creek more alluring.
You let out a regretful sigh, “I’m sorry Joshua, I really have to go now before it gets dark… I really had a good time today. With you. Would you be okay meeting again next week? You see, I return here every weekend. Only if you’re okay with it.”
You looked at Joshua hopefully. You really wanted to see him again.
Joshua’s heart fluttered at the prospect of spending another weekend with you. While his conscience began acting up, telling him that this was a really bad idea to make it a recurring thing as you both might end up hurt or worse should she find out, against his better judgment, he elected to ignore his conscience.
Joshua stood up, smoothened out his chiton, and held his palm out to you shyly, “Sure. I’ll be happy to. Same time and place next week?”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Before you knew it, a month and a half had already passed since that fateful day that Joshua stumbled (literally) into your life. “Same time and place next week?” became a routine question that you would ask each other at the end of your weekly meetings.
During that time, you made some progress with Joshua. You were beginning to break down the walls he built to protect himself. You were happy and touched that he was now comfortable enough with you to open up a little bit more. You could tease each other, and share little stories about your daily lives. Joshua no longer lowered his head or turned away when talking to you. He would look you in the eyes and listen to your stories intently with his face scrunched in concentration (and with a light blush dusted across his cheeks). More often than not, you would both talk about your shared interests and hobbies. In one of your earlier conversations, you were overjoyed when Joshua expressed his interest in the crafts that you frequently made by the creek. As it turns out, Joshua loved to make little crafts as well, and your meetings soon turned into crafting slash gossip sessions.
Originally, you were prepared to do most of the talking. However, as Joshua got more comfortable with you, you were pleasantly surprised that he was more willing to tell you stories as well. Sure, he was still rather reluctant to delve into his personal life or history too much, but he was more than happy to tell you about all the little flowers he was able to water, or all the little animals he came across in the forest. Of course, you respected his boundaries. Afterall, there were things about your own life that you hadn’t shared with him. You understood that he needed time to overcome his insecurities and issues regarding his own identity.
And in the times that Joshua slipped into his self-deprecating ways when talking about himself, you would just gently remind him that he was doing well before tactfully steering the conversation in a different direction. Spending time with you hearing all those little words from you that reaffirmed his importance and successes slowly mended the wounds and scars that were left on his soul.
Although he was a naiad, Joshua began to think that you were the one who had mystical abilities. It was as if you were a god of love. You embodied love, care, and beauty. You treated him so gently, with so much care that Joshua began to feel normal again. You indulged his silly little antics, his quirks, his flaws. You made him feel loved. For once, he felt like he mattered.
Joshua was convinced he did want to be near you. He wanted to be with you. In fact, instead of having his initial curiosity satiated, his desire to learn more about you had only magnified in the last few weeks. You exuded an air of self-confidence, and your unconditional acceptance of him, flaws and all, were qualities that Joshua was completely baffled by. How could you be so lovely, humble, and kind? Yea, he had really started to fall completely, and hopelessly in love with you. Luckily for him, you felt the same way towards him.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Humming to yourself, you checked your basket one last time to make sure that you had all the materials needed for the day’s crafting session. The crafts Joshua made usually consisted of beaded jewelry. He was fascinated by your ability to weave baskets in a variety of styles and had asked if you could teach him today.
With one last huff, you pushed past the last of the foliage from the dense forest, brightening up immediately at the sight of Joshua. Or more specifically, Joshua’s broad back. He was crouched over the creek with his back turned to you. For someone that tall, he looked so small and cute. That was when the most amazing idea came to your mind.
You placed your basket down as quietly as you could. Snickering, you launched yourself at Joshua’s back, hoping to give him a surprise back hug. Sadly, today was not your lucky day. Just as you were about to wrap your arms around Joshua’s shoulders, he shuffled to the right and stood up. You let out a loud squeal, your arms flailing around wildly in the air. You thought you heard Joshua’s distant, worried scream of your name when your body came into contact with the cold creek water.
Almost instantly, you felt Joshua’s hands grab onto you, heaving you out of the water.
You shot him a glare, squirming in his arms, “you weren’t supposed to move.”
Joshua scoffed, “that’s the first thing you say to me? Maybe I should have left you in the water. How was I supposed to know my gorgeous Y/n decided to be an idiot and launch themself at my back?”
At Joshua’s words, you stilled. You felt the heat rising to your cheeks. Joshua thought you were gorgeous? He called you his? This might be a good time for you to combust on the spot. Coughing to cover up your embarrassment, you let a cheeky grin spread across your face, “You think I’m gorgeous? And I’m yours? Since when? I don’t remember agreeing…”
Joshua flushed, sputtering, “No… I… I didn’t say any of that… I said sly… yea… sly ridiculous Y/n. Yea… that’s it…”
You brought your face dangerously close to his, enjoying the view of his eyes darting around from beneath his long lashes, looking anywhere but your eyes. You teased, “Reaaalllllyyyy? Because I could have sworn that you said my gorgeous Y/n….”
Joshua sulked, whining that he didn’t under his breath. You chuckled at his adorable expression.
Sneezing lightly as a gust of wind passed by, you shivered. Noticing this, Joshua sighed, “What am I going to do with you? Come here. I can only dry you off slightly, but it will be enough to prevent you from catching a cold.”
You scooted closer to Joshua. He raised his palms, letting them glow the soft, warm blue light that was always emitted when he used his naiad abilities. As he started to pull some of the water out of your soaked clothing, the strong scent of petrichor invaded your nose, causing you to sigh in contentment.
“Why are you always doing that?” Joshua asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You always sigh when I use my powers. I’m sorry, is it uncomfortable for you?”
Whipping your head around, you raised your hand to squish Joshua’s cheeks together, “NO! It’s nothing like that. Don’t ever think that. Your powers are amazing. It’s just that when you use your powers, there’s a really sweet, pleasant smell that I really like.”
“Imndnmmdonenee.”
“What?” You tilted your head, wondering what Joshua was saying.
Annoyed, he pointed to his squished cheeks.
“Oh, sorry.” You said, letting go of his face.
Joshua repeated himself, “I said, I’m done. Drying you off I mean. Here, you can have my coat first. Shall we begin basket weaving then? We really don’t have all day.” Joshua feigned an indifferent look, but you could tell he was secretly happy that you actually liked it when he used his abilities.
You wrapped Joshua’s coat around your shoulders. Wow, you thought to yourself, he really did smell like petrichor. Plopping yourself down on your picnic mat, you snuggled into his coat further, inhaling his comforting scent.
For a while, you both just sat there, with you teaching Joshua how to weave the different basket styles. You watched, amused by Joshua’s concentration. It was endearing to see how much he loved crafts. It wasn’t exactly an easy task, but it was nice to see that Joshua was able to find joy in engaging in his favourite hobbies.
When he finished weaving a small basket, you cheered loudly, praising his amazing handiwork, “Wow!! It was your first attempt but you did so well? I think I’m going to need you to do all my basket weaving from now on.”
Joshua smiled shyly, still unsure how to feel about being praised, “That’s because I had a good teacher.”
You clicked your tongue, “Flattery will not get you out of helping me. Now, let’s eat!! It’s already two in the afternoon.”
You both cleared the picnic mat, laying out the bread, butter, and fruits that you packed for your lunch. You eagerly dug into your food, savouring the taste of a nice meal after working hard all morning.
Oh how Joshua adored you. You looked like a little bunny shoving the food in your mouth. You really knew how to enjoy all these simple pleasures in life. He really should watch his mouth better. He already slipped up earlier, calling you his gorgeous y/n. Now that you were both closer to each other, he didn’t want to do anything that might push you away.
Swallowing another mouthful of food, you could feel Joshua’s eyes on you. Teasing him, you said, “Aren’t you going to eat? Or are you just going to stare at me, your gorgeous Y/n?”
Joshua scratched his cheek sheepishly, trying to cover up the fact that he was staring at you, “I wasn’t staring. I was… thinking. Yea, thinking. Actually, I was thinking, why do you always make so many crafts anyway?”
You looked at him, questioning his weird behaviour. Shrugging it off as another one of Joshua’s awkward episodes, you replied, “On the weekdays, I work at the Athenian agora. You know, the central market? I thought I mentioned this before at some point. Anyway, I sell these baskets and crafts to make a living.”
Your words floated through the wind, along with Joshua’s hum of understanding. You both fell back into a comfortable silence as you finished the remains of your meal. Shortly after, you saw that it was already time to go. You reluctantly pulled Joshua’s coat off your shoulders, though not before you took one last whiff of his comforting scent. Passing Joshua his coat, you began to repack your basket, “Same time and place next week?”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
The following week, you were sitting on your picnic mat working on a beaded bracelet waiting for Joshua to show up. He was late today, but you weren’t worried. Joshua did tell you that sometimes his daily naiad duties took longer than expected.
Hearing a twig snap in the distance, you lifted your head from your basket, frowning slightly out of concern as Joshua approached you. You took in his disheveled appearance. He usually swept his bangs to the side, but today, he let his bangs cascade down his face, covering his eyes. Speaking of which, his eyes were downcast. Instead of the brightness that you saw in his eyes during your weekly meetings, he eyes just looked empty.
“Shua?” You asked tentatively, unconsciously using a more affectionate nickname.
Joshua let out a frustrated growl, ruffling his hair further. Beaded bracelet long forgotten, you shot up, rushing to grab Joshua’s hands, yelling, “Shua!! Shua! Stop it! You’ll hurt yourself!”
When he didn’t respond, with your hands still on his, you wordlessly guided him to sit down onto the picnic mat. Joshua was normally really good at controlling himself around you, but his emotions were heightened and all he wanted right now was to be wrapped in your embrace. He wriggled his hands free from your grip, diving towards you. You both landed on the picnic mat with a thud.
As your brain rushed to process what just happened, you felt Joshua turn to bury his head against your stomach, and wrap his arm around your waist. You were taken aback by his actions. Sure, you both had gotten close enough that physical contact wasn’t uncommon. However, besides the occasional heat pat (or the few times Joshua would have to grab your hands/ arms to save you from injuring yourself), Joshua never initiated the physical contact. He must really be feeling bad today if he was initiating physical contact this intimate.
Sighing, you twisted your body, shifting yourself slightly. Joshua let out a whine at your movement. You hushed him, “I’m moving to make us more comfortable.”
Finally, when you both were in a more comfortable position, you began to run your fingers through his hair, untangling all the knots that formed during his little tantrum.
“Bad day?” You probed lightly.
“Yes.” Joshua replied, his voice muffled by the fabric of your chiton.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. Let’s just say… I saw some old acquaintances… they… weren’t very nice to me in the past. They didn’t see me though.” Joshua mumbled.
You felt your heart break at the hurt that laced his voice. Seeing them must have brought up bad memories for him. You couldn’t understand how anyone could be mean to Joshua. He didn’t deserve any of that. Respecting that he didn’t want to talk anymore, you simply hummed in response.
You continued running your fingers through his hair. Joshua tightened his grip on your waist, “Y/n? Do you think we could just stay like this for a while?”
“Of course, we’ll stay like this as long as you need,” you cooed.
At some point, Joshua’s grip had slackened, and his breathing became more rhythmic. You stared at his figure adoringly. He fell asleep. You weren’t pleased that Joshua had to relive his painful memories, but your heart fluttered with the knowledge that Joshua felt safe enough to be vulnerable with you. He didn’t have to be afraid to let his guard down when he felt himself breaking, because he knew that you were there to pick up all the broken pieces and hold him until he felt whole again.
You soon lost track of how much time had passed. You were sure you both missed lunch, though you didn’t care. Joshua was resting so comfortably. His figure looked so peaceful that you didn’t want to wake him. Fortunately, you both landed pretty near your basket. With as little movement as possible, you grabbed your leather bound book and began to read.
A long, long while later, Joshua’s eyes fluttered open. Where was he? Why did he feel so protected, like he was being shielded from the world? Why did this pillow he was hugging smell so nice? Content, he buried his head further into the pillow. As the fog in his brain began to clear, one thought came to his mind. Since when did he cuddle a pillow to sleep? His eyes shot open, pulling away from the pillow only to see that his ‘pillow’ was you.
He blushed furiously, hiding his head in his hands. You giggled at his reaction, “good morning sleeping beauty. Or, well, good evening? You slept for quite a long time. It’s already four in the afternoon.”
Joshua groaned. It warmed his heart to know that you had stayed by his side for so long. Still, he was so embarrassed. Silently berating his heart that was still pounding, Joshua looked up at you. You were now sitting up cross legged, gazing at him fondly while holding your book in your hands.
It was that book again. The one he always saw you reading. Joshua craned his neck trying to read the title of the book, bending in such an awkward position he almost tipped over. You let out a haughty laugh. Joshua pouted, sulking that he had once again embarrassed himself in front of you.
Regaining your composure, you extended the book towards Joshua, “Shua? You wanted to see this?”
Joshua gingerly took the book from you, “A compilation of popular quotes. Compiled by Y/n? You wrote this?”
You shook your head, “No, I just copied out some of my favourite quotes from all the books I read.”
Joshua flipped through the pages in awe, your elegant handwriting making the quotes stand out to him even more. You really had taken the effort to copy all your favourite quotes, many of which he had never seen before.
“You can borrow the book if you want. I don’t exactly need it.” You offered.
“Really? But this is a one of a kind copy. It’s your prized possession. I couldn’t. What if something happened to it?”
“I’m sure you’ll take good care of it. Besides, I always see you staring at this book. Since you’re so interested in it, I might as well lend it to you.”
“Are you sure?” Joshua hesitated.
You shrugged your shoulders, “Sure. I trust you, just like you’ve shown you trust me.”
And just like that, when Joshua thought he could not fall for you any harder, those three words, “I trust you” proved him wrong.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
“Y/N! I’m just saying. This quote doesn’t make sense to me. What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others? You can’t weave anything into the lives of others. That’s the Moirai’s job? They literally weave the fate of humans? Clotho will not be happy to know that her spinning job has been overtaken by this Pericles guy.”
“Shua. Seriously. It’s just a quotation, you don’t need to take it seriously.”
“But it doesn’t make sense.”
“Shua. Again. Don’t worry about it.”
Today, the peace of your little oasis was broken by the banter between you and Joshua. Ever since you lent him your book a few weeks ago, Joshua has been pestering you about how some of the quotations don’t make any sense to him. You were both amused and exasperated at how smart and just how dumb Joshua could be. Sometimes, you were able to carry out intelligent conversations about some of the quotes. Other times… they looked more like this.
Joshua grumbled, “It makes no sense. You know what else makes no sense? This one.”
You looked at the quote which Joshua was pointing at written by Heraclitus - No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.
“What is it about this one then?” You ask.
“One, it's going to be the same idiot who decided that it would be a good idea to get into the river. Two, the river doesn’t change. It’s the same damn river.”
“Okay, so maybe it’s the same guy. But you of all people should know that the river is not the same. The water passes through it, just like what happens at this creek.” You retort.
“No, it’s the water that is not the same. The river is the same. The name of the river is not going to change, and it’s the same river bank. Like this creek. The creek is always going to be called the Iremia creek. Only the water is different. Your human philosophers are trying too hard to write something profound in the simplest of things,” Joshua remarked rather smugly, seeing that he was able to poke holes at one of the quotations in your book.
You rolled your eyes and stuck out your tongue playfully at him, “Fine, fine. You win this time. Some friend you are though. We’ve been meeting here for what? Three months now? You never told me that this creek was named Iremia. Next thing I know, you’re going to tell me this is the creek you preside over and that as a human, I should be giving you offerings or worshiping you.”
Joshua raised his eyebrows at your playful remark, “actually, this is my domain… Just because those other narcissistic deities like their domains to be named after them doesn’t mean I do. I’m not naming my creek Joshua’s creek…”
“WHAT? SERIOUSLY? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?” you shrieked, cutting him off abruptly.
“I mean, it’s not like I go around advertising it. And no, I don’t expect humans to bow down to worship me. Honestly, it’s a stupid practice. Others engage in it just so they can dangle their power over you humans. Although… if you wanted to, I’m not opposed to it,” Joshua smirked.
You lightly punched Joshua’s arm, “Hell no. Not even if Hades dragged me into hell.”
You began tapping your index finger against your cheek, another quirk of yours that Joshua noticed, one that you did when you were lost in thought.
You mused, “I think Joshua’s creek or Shua’s creek would be pretty names. Your name means to save or to deliver. It makes sense because of your job directing fresh water to nearby towns. But I agree with your choice of name for this creek. Iremia is the perfect name. For such a breathtaking place, it lives up to what its name means. Serenity.”
Then, you suddenly turned to jab your finger accusingly at Joshua’s chest. You whined, “Still. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”
“To be fair, you never asked.”
“Shua. I hate you.”
“No you don’t. You adore me.”
As soon as those words escaped his lips, you stared at Joshua, wide-eyed. You felt the heat rising to your head, you were sure your jaw dropped, and your heart began to beat wildly in your chest.
With your head spinning, you sputtered indignantly, “So… so… so what if I do? Adore you… I mean.”
Now, it was Joshua’s turn to become a blushing, sputtering mess. His hands flew to cover his reddening face. He had mindlessly uttered those words in response to your remark, not expecting you to actually respond to it.
Joshua bashfully averted his eyes from yours, murmuring, “Do you really mean that?”
Your heart melted at his tentativeness. Slowly, you brought your index finger under his chin, lifting his head so you could look him in the eyes. When your eyes finally met his, you affirmed seriously, “I do. I adore you. So so so much.”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Squealing, you slid down against your front door, curling up into a ball on the floor. You rubbed your palms against your cheeks, hoping that the coldness from your palms would calm the hot flush that hadn’t disappeared. Your mind was racing. Your heart was pounding. Adrenaline pumped through your veins. Did you really say that to Joshua? No, actually more specifically did you really say “I adore you” to Joshua while tilting his chin towards you just now?
You let out a giddy shriek. YOU DID! That was practically your indirect, direct confession to Joshua. Gods, you liked Joshua. He was just so handsome, so sweet, so quirky, so unpredictable, so delicate, so gentle, so shy, so bold, so reserved, so mysterious. You liked all of his qualities, as contradictory as they might seem.
You swooned thinking about the changes in his personality between the time when you first met and your meeting this afternoon. He opened up to you, he joked around with you, he was comfortable enough to initiate physical contact (or affection?) with you. Best of all, he was growing to become more and more confident in himself. Those walls that he built, the same ones you had been chipping at slowly? They crumbled enough for you to squeeze your way in. And those scars and wounds that Joshua bore? You patched them up with as much love and care as you could. Perhaps you were giving yourself too much credit, but you couldn’t help it. At the end of the day, you were the reason why Joshua looked happier, why there was more life in his eyes than ever before, why he walked with a spring in his step, why he no longer averted his eyes when talking about himself (most of the time anyway). Joshua was breaking out of his shell, and you couldn’t be more proud of him.
Honestly? Romance had been the last thing on your mind. Since you were in your teens, your primary goal was to earn a living. Sure, your parents left you with enough for you to live comfortably, but you didn’t want to rely on their money. Between work and educating yourself, socialising and by extension being in a romantic relationship was not what you prioritised. Then you met Joshua. Initially, you thought that you simply wanted to help his injured soul heal. You were wrong. As you grew closer, Joshua intrigued you, he captivated you. You liked him in his entirety, he had pulled you in until he was all you could think about.
Joshua believed Pericles’ quote made no sense, though you had a different perspective. Like it or not, people were able to weave themselves into the lives of others. Joshua is a great example of that. Your lives were now intertwined, tightly you might add. Everywhere you looked, in unexpected actions, you saw traces of Joshua, and the times you spent together. The baskets and jewelry you sold, the freshly baked bread from the market, quotes that you came across. Crystals. The vastness of the sky. Gold arm bands. Bunnies. The colour blue. Feathery blades of grass. Black hair. The stars littered across the sky. Water. Puddles. Morning dew. Rain. The scent of petrichor that wafted through your nose after heavy rainfall. Everything reminded you of Joshua.
Ah. Maybe the word like was putting it lightly. You loved Joshua.
When that realisation set in, you screeched, loudly pounding your fists against your floor boards.
“Y/N?? ARE YOU OKAY? I HEARD THE SCREAMS OF A DYING ANIMAL!!” Minghao burst into your house, literally taking your front door off its hinges. He flung the door away, which meant that since you were crouched in front of the door, you were flung along with your poor door to the side.
You yelped at the force of being thrown. Regaining your bearings, you scowled at Minghao, who at least had the decency to pretend to cower under the intensity of your gaze, “There was no animal you moron. It’s just me. This is the fourth time this month that you’ve come running in here, taking my door out in the process. Gods, and do I have to remind you to be gentle? I get you’re a super powered spirit but I’m only a human! I’m too cute and delicate to be thrown around like that.”
Minghao snorted, “Cute and delicate are not words I would use to describe you. Not after those animalistic screeches you let out. Please, if you are cute and delicate, then I am beauty personified, Aphrodite herself.”
You huffed, rubbing your butt to soothe the ache of landing on it.
“You’re late by the way. You’ve been arriving home later and later on the weekends. I’m not going to lie, it’s worrying. Don’t forget that there are wild animals in those forests you have to trek through,” Minghao notes, his tone much softer this time.
You chuckled sheepishly, “Uh, right. Sorry about that. I’ve been… distracted? Yea, that’s the word, I lose track of time when I’m by the Iremia creek.”
Minghao gawks at you.
“What? Oh yea, I just learned the name of the creek today! Iremia. Pretty right?” You chirped, unaware of the feeling of terror that rushes over Minghao.
Minghao lunges forward, grasping your arms a little too tightly, horror and worry etched on his face, “Why would you go there? Are you okay? You’re okay? Please please please tell me you’re okay.”
Stunned by Minghao’s outburst, all you could manage was a small squeak and a nod of your head.
Although relieved, Minghao’s grip only tightens, “Out of all the creeks in Athens, why would you choose to go to that one? I can’t believe it. What am I going to do with you?”
“Is something wrong with it? It’s been nice…” you stammer, your voice trailing off. In all the years you’ve known Minghao, he has never reacted like this before.
Minghao sighs, finally letting go of your arms, “For one. You have to push through the dense forest just to get there. Which again, has dangerous wild animals.”
“Pshh that’s nothing,” you boast, cutting Minghao off.
Minghao glares at you, irritated that he was being interrupted, “Fine. But how about the fact that it backs up onto the Nomia mountains.”
“What is a Nomia?” you ask.
“Shhhhhh. I’m getting to that. You are an impatient, ditzy human.”
You make a face at him, but Minghao ignores you, continuing his story, “I actually can’t believe you don’t know who she is. Nomia is the most infamous, wretched, selfish, downright wicked nymph there is. She’s an extremely powerful Oread, a mountain nymph. You’ve seen how expansive the mountains are. It’s a reflection of her power. She likes to toy with humans who don’t worship her. If you aren’t licking her feet, she will put a curse on you. I heard a story where she turned a man into stone because he refused to be her lover. She’s dangerous y/n. Why would you go there? I thought I told you NEVER to walk on the path leading to the left.”
You pouted, apologetically admitting, “Heh? Hao, you always say left and right this, left and right that. Blah blah blah. I’m not the best with instructions or directions if you haven’t noticed. How was I supposed to know. I guess I got confused. That does explain why people always give me weird looks when I venture into that part of the forest. BUT! You can’t blame me for going back. That creek is perfect. A real gem. Besides, I’ve never run into this Nomia. It’s not her creek.”
“Still. She’s dangerous. You shouldn’t go back. It’s not worth the pain that comes should you have to face her fury.”
“You? Minghao, the spirit of opportunity has reservations about me going to this place? You’re telling me I should not grasp the opportunity I have to enjoy that place to the fullest? I can’t believe the day has finally come for you to dissuade me from doing something.”
“Y/n. I want to protect you. Believe me please. It’s not worth it.” Minghao seethes.
You look down, tracing patterns on the floor boards that seem to be more interesting at this moment. You think back to all the good times you spent near the Iremia creek. You loved it even before you met Joshua. Joshua… he was there. The fact that he was there was enough for you to throw Minghao’s warnings out the window completely. You would go to the ends of the earth to meet Joshua. The risks didn’t matter. You would take the risk. Joshua was worth it.
“But it is,” you whisper dreamily.
Minghao groans, finding himself unable to scold you further when he sees a contented, dreamy look spread across your face. You looked happy.
“Fine. At least do me a favour? Promise me you’ll be careful. And whatever you do. Do not. I repeat. Do not talk to any nymphs or naiads in that area. You don’t know if any of them are affiliated to Nomia, or if they are Nomia.” Minghao sighs, accepting that you weren’t going to stop visiting the Iremia creek.
You gave him a dopey smile and saluted him, agreeing to his terms outwardly. You would heed his advice and not talk to any other nymphs. Joshua on the other hand? You knew him. He was more of a lone wolf amongst the nymphs. He was definitely male which meant he was not Nomia. You were one hundred percent going to continue talking to Joshua. You trusted him. Plus, Joshua never mentioned anything about being affiliated to Nomia. So yes, you were safe with him. Right?
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
At that moment, as you gleefully daydreamed about what your future meetings with Joshua would bring, back near the creek, Joshua was storming into his own house with hot angry tears streaming down his face.
Joshua had returned home in high spirits, his head in the clouds. The moment you flustered him by saying you did adore him was replaying in his head on a loop. However, when he approached his house, a shrill voice rang out, “Joshua Hong Jisoo? Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you here.”
Annoyed that his good mood was about to be ruined again, Joshua gritted his teeth, “Nowhere… I’ve been out. Doing chores. Some of us nymphs have to exert extra energy to carry out our tasks.”
The owner of the voice laughed haughtily, emerging from the shadows, “You see. You say that, but I can practically smell the human on you. You reek. So I’ll ask again. Where have you been?”
“Nowhere. I told you. I was doing chores. I have to go into town for that. Obviously I would be surrounded by humans,” Joshua spat.
“Giving me attitude are you? Don’t you dare speak to me this way!”
After the day Joshua had, all he wanted to do was to go home, and dream of you. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen now. Joshua rolled his eyes, refusing to entertain this nonsense. He brushed past the figure roughly.
Joshua stormed into his house, the figure’s grating voice still following him. She barked, “YOU BELONG TO ME JOSHUA HONG JISOO. I. OWN. YOU. I swear I will find out why you’re acting this way and who you’re hanging out with. You’ll regret pushing me away. Whoever you were with will pay for getting in my way. They are turning you away from me. No one. And I mean no one. Messes with what belongs to me. Nomia.”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
“As I was saying, the Panathenaea festival is coming up. It’s going to be so fun! I can’t believe it’s already nearing the end of summer! We spent the whole summer together. Can you believe that Shua? This festival is held once every four years to celebrate Athena and some other Gods. There’s sports and music performances. I don’t really care for all that, but I really want to try all the sweets that are made of honey. It’s a special delicacy…”
You continued to drone on and on, waving your arms about animatedly. You weren’t particularly fond of other festivals. Those were too hedonistic for your liking. The Panathenaea festival was different. It was more of a communal celebration rather than just a ritual for the Gods. It was a time when the Athenian community would gather to partake in the games together. In this festival, humans were supposed to enjoy it as much as the Gods it was held for.
However, in your excitement, you didn’t notice that Joshua wasn’t listening to you at all. He was still incredibly shaken after encountering Nomia the previous week. While he nodded along to your babbles, the words weren’t registering in his brain. His mind was distant, yet still extremely alert. He wasn’t going to deny that he was extra jumpy today. His senses were in overdrive. The buzzing of the bee, the water rushing down the creek, the water droplets from the morning mist, the distant howl of a wolf in the forest, Joshua heard, and felt it all. He was on edge. He felt like a sitting duck, waiting for something, someone, to interrupt your peaceful time together.
Truthfully, Joshua was terrified of meeting you today. He was worried that Nomia would follow him, or send someone to follow him. He didn’t want to put you at risk. You were in enough danger as it was if Nomia found out you were the human he was spending his weekends with. The logical plan would have been to avoid you, to break all contact with you. Alas, the heart wants what it wants. You were his escape, the only one he had and could rely on in this cruel world. With that, Joshua found himself unable to stay away from you.
“Shua? Shua!! Hello? I’ve been calling your name for the past thirty seconds. Are you okay? You’re looking kind of, uhm, how do I put this lightly… Your face is all twisted, like you're disturbed by something. Is it something I said?”
Your voice startled Joshua, causing him to jump from his sitting position into a defensive position. Instantly, he pushed you behind him, standing in front of you protectively. His eyes darted around frantically. He was looking out for danger. It was strange, he didn’t feel any ominous presence around the two of you. Nevertheless, whisps of pale blue light danced around his finger tips. Regardless of how overpowered the others might be compared to him, Joshua was ready to unleash all his powers to defend you. He would defend you to his dying breath.
Confused and a little freaked out at Joshua’s actions, you grabbed onto the fabric of Joshua’s chiton, ducking behind him and squeezed your eyes shut. After a couple of seconds, you lifted your head, peaking at your surroundings from behind Joshua. There was nothing wrong? No danger at all?
Calming yourself down, you rubbed circles around Joshua’s back in an attempt to soothe him, “Shua. Calm down. There’s no danger around us.”
You felt him stiffen at the contact. You continued your actions, reassuring him by repeating the words, “It’s okay. We’re okay. You’re okay. I’m okay.” until his form relaxed a little.
Hesitantly, you asked, “Shua? Is everything okay?”
Joshua let out a shaky breath, murmuring, “No no, nothing is wrong.”
Liar. You wanted to say. No one has that kind of reaction if nothing is wrong. You looked at him doubtfully. You opened your mouth, wanting to comment about his reaction, but you didn’t have the heart to. Joshua’s appearance was haggard. He was inhaling and exhaling deeply, trying to calm himself down. You could still see a sliver of the pale blue light around his fingers. He was still on edge. He was trying to convince you as much as he was trying to convince himself that you were both okay, that there was no danger around you.
Deciding to let him go this time so as to not rattle Joshua further, you brushed over his reaction, opting to return to what you had been talking to him about previously, “Uhm. So as I was saying. Are you going to the Panathenaea festival? I don’t know how you naiads celebrate it. Do you gather with the others? Meet distant relatives or something?”
Unfortunately, though you were trying to lighten the mood, your words had the opposite effect on Joshua as he tensed up. His mood souring even further. He scoffed, “No I don’t plan on partaking in that stupid festival. I don’t have anyone to celebrate it with anyway.”
“Oh… uhm… that’s fine. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea I guess. I don’t really have anyone to celebrate it with either. I just go for the vibes you know? It’s the one day of the year people are more accepting of everyone in the community.” You stammer.
An awkward silence fell upon you both. Seeing your dejected expression, Joshua grimaced. You were so excited about the festival and his bad mood only served to make you feel bad as well. Joshua wrecked his brain, trying to think of something, anything to say to make you feel better. But the more he thought about the festival, the more infuriated he became. All his brain seemed to be able to fixate on was the fact that he would be alone. Then he thought back to all the times he saw you alone near the creek, that content look on your face when you were by yourself. He was green with envy. How did you do it? It wasn’t fair.
The anger and jealousy bubbling in his chest, Joshua spitefully blurts, “I don’t know how you can be so okay with being alone. It never seems to bother you at all. I’m all alone and I hate it. I’m not powerful. All I can do is manipulate water a little, maybe heal small cuts. It’s enough to direct fresh water towards the neighbouring cities. But for me it takes so much effort. I don’t possess any of the other famed healing powers, or prophetic powers naiads are supposed to have. In addition to being a failure of a naiad, I’m a freak of nature. Male naiads are extremely rare, they aren’t supposed to exist. Right now I believe I’m the only one in existence. Everyone either ridicules me or wants to use me for their political gain. No one truly cares for me in that community.”
Clenching his fists, Joshua continues bitterly, “I have no family. I’m all alone.”
After Joshua’s tirade, he looks at you expectantly. Your heart went out to him. Under the anger, jealousy, and bitterness that laced his voice, under his accusatory gaze, you could hear and see his plea for answers. He was exhausted, drained. He wanted to know, no, he needed to know how you coped.
You contemplated on what to say for a while. Breathing in deeply, you say softly, “I wouldn’t say that being alone doesn’t bother me at all. I do get lonely. It’s not like I don’t talk to people. I try my best to be outgoing when I’m working in the marketplace. But that’s how I make a living. Other than that… Shua, I get it you know. What it’s like being an outsider within the community that you live in. Everyone either shames you or wants to be friends with you. I get it, I understand how you feel. Aside from you and Minghao, I don’t have any friends. I’m not actually an Athenian citizen. I’m a Metic, a foreigner who lives in Athens.”
You pause, looking at Joshua to gauge his reaction. You were slightly afraid that Joshua would see you differently once you revealed your identity to him. Metics weren’t usually treated kindly or seen positively by most Athenians and deities.
Relieved when the only reaction you received was an emotionless blink, you continued, “My heritage and identity guarantees that regardless of how long I live in Athens, I lie outside of Athenian society. They don’t accept me because of where I come from, who I am. Metics, our wealth is usually passed onto us from our families. For those who know, they don’t see me as a genuine friend. They see me as someone to leech off given the change, someone to try and manipulate. I don’t have any family here so like you, I’m alone. I have to stand up for myself. It’s just, after so much time of being alone, I’ve come to terms with it? I’m at peace with it. I’m different from others, and that’s okay. I am who I am, I can’t control or change that. What I can control is who I surround myself with. I rather be alone than be manipulated or treated like dirt.”
Taking in your words, hearing that in a way, you were an outcast like him, the last of Joshua’s walls crumbled. He knew you were one of the most accepting people he would ever meet. Since the first time he met you, you accepted him for who he was. You never judged him for being different from other naiads. You never judged him for being weaker, for making self-deprecating comments. In fact, you took his words and turned them around, finding beauty in his abilities. You constantly affirmed him, made him feel appreciated, loved. You wanted him to see how beautiful, and perfect he was, flaws and all. You always longed for him not only to see himself how you saw him, but to believe in himself, just as you believe in him. Honestly, Joshua thought that it was weird that you thought so highly of him. He wondered why you were so accepting. Now, he knew. You were different too.
“Also Shua? We’re not always born into the family we want, nor are we always blessed to live within a community we want. It’s also easier said than done for us to uproot our whole lives to get a fresh start. Sometimes that’s just not possible. But the good thing is, like I said, we can try to control who we want to surround ourselves with. We can make our own family.”
Joshua’s head snaps up, his eyes meeting yours, you flush, shyly offering, “Since we’re two familyless outcasts, if you want, I’ll be your family.”
Joshua stares at you in disbelief, “Really?”
His question, though seemingly simple, reflected all the emotions that flashed through his eyes. There was the shock that you would even offer. Hesitation, doubt, and caution, which were instinctual given years of alienation and his experiences of being manipulated, perhaps you wanted something more from him. He was also afraid of being let down. But Joshua knew you had no malice in your words, you were sincere. He trusted you as much as you trusted him. So finally, his eyes shone with hope and gratitude.
You scrunch your nose, stating in a matter of fact tone, “Not to be that annoying person, but I should point out that Euripides once said that love is all we have, the only way we can help the other.”
You nodded your head seriously after, though the seriousness was broken by the upturned corners of your lips, and the crinkles at the corners of your eyes. Since Joshua’s eyes were so bright, you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling, having already (accurately) predicted what Joshua’s answer would be. As sincerely as you could, you said, “I would be honoured to be your family.”
A deep blush spreads across Joshua’s face, and he whispers, content and happy, “Okay. We’ll be our own little family. Just you and me.”
Joshua thought no one would understand him, the loneliness, emptiness, alienation, discrimination that he felt. Then you came along, revealing the most personal aspects of yourself to him. Your words brought him an immense amount of relief. It was as if you extended your hand to him, pulling him up from drowning in his loneliness. For so long, he punished himself, blaming himself for not fitting on, for not having a family, for being an outcast. But the thing is, he didn’t need to. All Joshua needed to do was to find his own family, one that accepted him for who he was, and one that didn’t condemn him for who he wasn’t.
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Since that fateful day when you both swore to be each other’s family, you and Joshua became closer than ever. All the walls Joshua built to protect himself now lay in ruins, making way for you to deliver as much love, affirmation, and affection as possible into his heart. As Joshua thought about all this and what you have done for him, his heart fluttered. He felt eternally grateful and indebted to you.
Before, he was broken. Going through the motions of life was tedious, and regardless of how much effort he put into his duties, it was never enough. But you certainly healed him. You taught him that titles and labels didn’t define who he was and how he should be living his life. Spending time with you, you helped him to learn that life wasn’t so bad. In fact, life was palatable. He learned to find joy in all the little things like taking in the ethereal scenery, listening to the light trickles of the water, sharing a meal with someone you loved, even weaving baskets in comfortable silence. Life was worth living.
At the same time, you were also relieved and grateful that Joshua didn’t make a fuss about your foreign heritage and identity. It was hard for you to open up about these things. In the past, every time you had, it backfired. However, Joshua was different. He wasn’t a hypocrite, he wouldn’t have cast you aside just for that. You were ashamed of yourself for even thinking that he would. You really should have given Joshua more credit. Afterall, you were both two misfits in the same pod.
When you were both together, labels were mostly irrelevant. The creek had been a space you carved out for yourself, an escape and a place of refuge from life in the Athenian capital. Now, you saw the creek as a space that you and Joshua carved out for yourselves, a space you both could be yourselves. “Misfits”. “Outcasts”. “Joshua the male naiad”. “Y/n the metic”. Who you were in your respective communities didn’t matter here. When it was just the two of you, within that little oasis next to the Iremia creek, you both were simply Joshua, and Y/n.
The only time labels were still a tiny bit important for you both, was when you were trying to describe your relationship with each other. You were certainly best friends, and each other’s confidants. And above all else, you could describe your relationship as a found family.
However, neither of you could deny that you definitely wanted something more to happen between you. The gentle, feathery touches between you that left the butterflies in your stomach fluttering in a frenzy. The tender, fond, love-filled gazes that you exchanged with Joshua. All the playful banter that bordered on flirting, all the times you both actually flirted with each other. These were just some of the pieces of evidence that proved there was a romantic attraction and connection between you and Joshua.
Honestly? It was obvious to the two of you that you loved each other. But neither of you wanted to openly acknowledge those feelings. More than anything, because you were certain that you did love each other, the explicit acknowledgement of those feelings would make things real. It would mean that you would have to discuss it, things might change. Perhaps it would be the more light-hearted, playful dynamics? The way you go about your meetings? The future? (And of course, Joshua was afraid of what Nomia would do if she found out). So, you had an unspoken mutual agreement that you wouldn’t ever venture a step into that direction.
For the sake of maintaining the status quo, you and Joshua would just continue to feign ignorance, pretending that your budding romance wasn’t anything more than a light drizzle rather than what it really was - a heavy downpour.
The only thing was, this downpour wasn’t one that would eventually fade away. It was one that would continue to build, roaring and howling away until it was a torrential rainstorm that threatened to wreck havoc at some point in the near future.
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Annoyance. That was all you felt. Exhaling sharply, you turned away from Joshua, refusing to look into those adorable, large, doe eyes. If you did, you knew you would crumble straight away. But right now, you wanted to stand your ground firmly. Joshua had crossed a delicate line. He should never have said it. He knew he shouldn’t, and he said it anyway. There was absolutely no way you were going to forgive him for what he said.
“Y/nnnn,” Joshua whined, poking at your sides. He still didn’t understand the severity of what he said, and you weren’t going to let him go that easily. He needed to learn that his words had consequences.
Casting a quick glare at Joshua, you crossed your arms, harrumphing and looking away. You wouldn’t give in to him today, no matter how hard he pleaded.
“Y/nnn…” Joshua tried again. When he saw that you had no reaction, he moved in front of you. He kneeled down, rubbing his hands together. He pouted, widening his doe eyes wider than normal, knowing that that always wore down your defenses. Alas, his move had no effect on you because you squeezed your eyes shut tightly.
Pursing his lips together, Joshua decided that he would make one last attempt to get your attention. He was going to bring out the big guns. If this didn’t work, then he would give up, admit defeat, and walk away until you were ready to speak to him again.
Opening his mouth, Joshua cooed tenderly, “Darling…”
Damn. He was really giving it his all. This was the first time he called you by this affectionate nickname. You felt the heat rising to your cheeks. Your heart fluttered at his voice, begging you to open your eyes so you could look at him. You tried as hard as you could to fight off the smile that was starting to spread across your face, your defenses cracking.
Seeing your demeanor falter, Joshua tried once again, cooing, “Darling… My darling y/nnnn…”
Cursing your huge soft spot for Joshua and his use of that nickname, your defenses were completely defeated. You cracked your eyes open, seeing Joshua giving you an adorable eye smile. He was beaming at you, happy that he managed to win you over.
You scrunched your nose, still unwilling to completely give in to him, “I’m still angry with what you said. Don’t think you calling me darling is going to make this go away.”
“Really? Because I think it was really effective,” Joshua teased.
“Shua! You called that basket I made ridiculous!” You exclaimed, picking up the tiny little basket you weaved, cradling it to your chest.
“But it is!”
“Is not!”
“Is too!”
“Shua! Is not!”
“Is too! Darling, what can you even put in that? It’s two centimeters in diameter.” Joshua retorted.
You gave Joshua a deadpan expression, raising your finger to tell him to wait as you fished around your larger basket for something. Once you found it, you looked smugly at Joshua, dropping it into the tiny mini basket.
“Darling. That’s a walnut.” Joshua stated.
“So?”
“It’s one singular walnut.”
“Yea.” You nodded proudly.
“I stand by my original statement. It’s ridiculous.”
You clicked your tongue at him, “No, it’s practical and cute. You don’t appreciate art.”
Joshua rolled his eyes at you, but nodded along, half-heartedly agreeing with what you said to get you off his back.
Needing to get in the last word, you blurted, “It’s cute. That’s final. Unlike someone when he first stumbled out of the bushes over there. You looked like a fawn trying to walk for the first time.”
Joshua reeled back in horror, “You promised never to talk about that! It’s embarrassing.”
You shrugged, “All’s fair in love and war.”
Puffing his cheeks, Joshua muttered some curses under his breath that even Hades would blush at. You laughed. It was always fun to get Joshua riled up because he would never openly curse at you. He had too much patience and was too much of a gentleman.
Actually, speaking of your first meeting, there was something you were always curious about but never brought up.
“Shua? I’ve always wondered, what were you doing behind those bushes anyway?”
Joshua stiffened. After speaking to you and getting closer to you, he forgot that he had spied for weeks. You never brought it up before, and he pushed that memory to the back of his mind. Perhaps it was time to come clean with you. What’s the worst that could happen? Oh right, you might be extremely put off by him. You could potentially call him a creep and storm off…
Joshua gulped, “Honestly? I was watching you. The first time I saw you, you completely captivated me. Then you kept returning, and it made me curious… so you know… I decided just to watch you until I could figure out why I was so attracted to you.”
Putting his hands up in surrender, Joshua was quick to try and explain his actions. “It was Jeonghan! He told me that the only way for me to figure out why you were so alluring was to just watch you! I swear I wasn’t trying to be a creep. Well… I was being a creep… No. What I meant to say was… I didn’t mean any harm… Uh… Nevermind that. I’m sorry???” Joshua squeaked, completely flustered.
You gawked at Joshua, shocked that one, he had practically been stalking you, and two, he basically just confessed that he was attracted to you.
Joshua swallowed thickly. You were just gawking at him. And yea, he deserved it, but he felt himself shrinking and shifting uncomfortably.
Finally, electing to conveniently ignore Joshua’s confession. You fixated on his stalker-esque behaviour, asking, “Uhm.. well, was I at least fun to watch?”
“What…” Joshua was stumped, “Wait… that’s your response? No yelling, no screaming, no shouting pervert! Or creep! What happened to having normal reactions!”
You looked at Joshua expectantly, replying smoothly, “Who said I was normal? Besides, I think if you meant to harm me, you would have done it a long long time ago. You mentioned once that naiads are naturally curious. I guess I can’t exactly fault you for that. But I would like to know. Was it fun to watch me?”
Joshua nodded, still speechless.
Satisfied, you snickered at him, “Who knew huh? Mr. Gentleman has a naughty side.”
Joshua laughed, getting up from his sitting position. He inched closer to you, reaching out to wriggle his fingers at you, “Naughty? I’ll show you.”
You screeched, springing up from your seat. You nervously inched away from Joshua before running off in the opposite direction, yelling, “You’ll have to catch me first!”
Immediately, Joshua sprinted after you, laughing maniacally along the way. Every time he neared you, he reached out, trying to grab onto your arm. But you were faster, managing to evade his grip.
Your laughter floated through the air melodically. You looked so happy, so carefree, just running around across the big open field as the wind brushed past your face. Joshua instinctually slowed down, staring at you in awe.
Noticing Joshua was some distance away from you, you stuck out your tongue at him, teasing him lightly, “Shua, for a big strong naiad, you’re kind of slow.”
Snapping out of his daze, Joshua lunged forward suddenly. He caught you off guard and was able to wrap his hands around your arms. Bringing you closer to him so your body was flush against his, he breathed in a low voice, “Who’s slow now?”
Your brain stopped working. Joshua was close enough that you could feel his breath against your face. You could feel his firm muscles against your body. You knew he was sculpted like a Greek god, but you didn’t know he was this muscular. And did he always smell this strongly of petrichor? Your senses were buzzing. Blood rushed to your face. You flushed under his half-lidded, alluring gaze, and his teasing. Your heart was running a thousand miles per minute. You felt your lungs constrict. You held your breath, not daring to breathe or move, afraid that if you did, Joshua would realise the hold he had on you.
That said, you were sure that your proximity meant he could feel the rapid thumping of your heart. And you weren’t sure if your senses were playing tricks on you, because for a moment, you swore you could feel Joshua’s heart doing the exact same thing.
Just as you thought you were going to overheat and combust, your moment with Joshua was interrupted by a sudden flash of lightning followed by the jarring rumbling of thunder in the distance. You felt a few water droplets fall on your head. Looking around, you were a little disoriented that there might be an incoming storm despite the seemingly clear, sunny skies. Looks like Zeus was in one of his moods again.
Breathing a sigh of relief at the escape the incoming storm provided you from that nerve wracking moment with Joshua, you wriggled around in Joshua’s grip, whining, “Shua, we really should get out of here. There’s going to be rain.”
Your wriggling proved to be futile. Joshua kept a firm grip on you, “there’s no rush darling.”
“Shua! Seriously, we’re going to get wet!”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head darling. We’ll be fine even with the rain coming.”
You scoffed, “easy for you to say. You can’t get sick, but I will. Human. Remember?”
Joshua shook his head at your protests, “In case you hadn’t noticed darling, it’s already pouring.”
Loosening his grip on you slightly, Joshua nodded upwards, gesturing for you to take a closer look at your surroundings. Confused, you let your eyes trail upwards, following Joshua.
Gasping, you were utterly in awe at the sight you were met with. There was something like a barrier sheltering you from the downpour, something transparent. It was almost like a bubble, but one that only enveloped you and Joshua. Beyond that, the heavy downpour continued.
Upon closer inspection, the rain droplets around you appeared as though they were suspended in the air. It wasn’t that there was a dome around you. Rather, the rain droplets were being directed around you in a dome-like shape. This made the droplets look akin to a gorgeous, extravagant, crystal chandelier. Similar to the sparkles that you loved so much when you observed the water on the creek’s surface, each of the rain droplets sparkled under the light. Together, they emitted a pale blue shimmer. The colour was familiar to you, reminiscent of the colour that you always saw when Joshua used his powers.
Looking at Joshua’s hands that were still gripping your sides, a similar faint glow could be seen around his fingers. Putting two and two together, you realised that Joshua was using his abilities to keep the two of you dry. That was why the scent of petrichor was so strong. In a way, you were right to note that the scent came from Joshua, though it was due to him using his powers and not the proximity of your bodies. Seems like it had been raining for a while, you were just too preoccupied going crazy over more important things (Joshua’s body against yours) that you were completely unaware of your surroundings.
Noticing that you understood what was going on, Joshua hushed you, “Hush now darling. Now you see why there’s no rush? We’re perfectly dry here.”
You nodded, still speechless. The little dome you were in with Joshua was beautiful. Enthralled by the sight, you raised a finger out, gingerly trying to touch a suspended water droplet. You giggled when the droplet still splashed against your finger. Out of curiosity, you stuck a hand outwards, wondering what would happen if your hand went out of the little dome Joshua created. You squealed when you felt the cold rain water hit your hand. Obviously, outside the dome, the rain water continued to fall as per normal.
You snickered when you heard Joshua sigh in loving exasperation. You wiped your wet hand on Joshua’s chiton, ignoring his protests. Then, you continued to observe your surroundings with child-like awe and glee, commenting, “It’s beautiful.”
“You are.” Joshua murmurs mindlessly, his eyes never leaving your form.
As always, Joshua had been watching you from the background as you went about exploring and observing the space around you. This reminded him of the reasons why he was so inexplicably drawn to you in the first place. Your bright eyes. The ones that were so clear, so filled with life, curiosity and wonder. Your eyes sparkled under the glow of the crystal-like water droplets. The corners of your eyes crinkled more and more as you became increasingly captivated by the rain droplets.
He continued to watch you silently, feeling his heart melt and the butterflies in his stomach stir as you shot him appreciative, joyful glances. He remembered seeing you have that expression when you took in the scenery of the little oasis you were currently in. Now, you had that same expression while enjoying something with him, something that he created. More than that, Joshua recognised that your eyes reflected something more than appreciation and gratitude. Love. That was it.
You looked at him like he created the whole world. That look, it was so full of love. It was directed at him. It was for him.
Of course he would recognise that look… It was the exact same look that he had, one that only appeared on his face when he looked at you.
Not completely aware of what you had said, Joshua only picked up on the word “beautiful”. Beautiful. He didn’t think that that word could encapsulate how attractive he found you. But in his daze, while he was completely captivated by you, the word “beautiful” continued to be repeated in his head. It was the only word he could think of as he thought of you, and “you are” just slipped out before his brain registered what he should say in response to your remark.
Stunned, your head snapped to look at Joshua.
“Shua?” You asked, noticing his dreamy, dazed expression.
Beautiful, Joshua thought, his eyes trailing down to stare at your lips which looked so inviting.
Unable to control himself, Joshua removed his hand from your side, reaching upwards for your face. His touch as light as a feather, Joshua brushed his thumb against your face tenderly. While the feeling of his touch against your skin still lingered on, you felt him shift once again, only this time, he was gently pulling your head closer to his as he leaned towards your face slowly. Although his eyes were glazed over, you could see them flickering between your eyes, your face, and your lips.
As you processed Joshua’s actions, time came to a stand still. You stood stiffly. Was this happening now? Was he going to kiss you? It’s not like you didn’t want to kiss him. Your heart yearned for Joshua’s touch, you yearned to be able to kiss him, to mold your lips to his. It was just a shock that Joshua was initiating it.
Unconsciously, you closed your eyes, leaning into Joshua further until you could feel the outline of his face near yours, and until you could feel his warm breath. You both lingered in that position, each too hesitant to make the final move to connect your lips.
Then, you felt your head being jerked forward. Joshua pushed your head towards his, just as he lunged forward. Before your brain registered the movement, Joshua’s lips were on yours.
Just as Joshua’s lips reached yours in that electrifying kiss, all of Joshua’s feelings crashed down on him like a wave all at once. Your lips were so soft that Joshua wanted to melt into you, and he could taste the aftertaste of the honey filled desserts you liked on your lips. His heart fluttered, wanting more of you. He waited so long for this moment.
But as he hungrily pressed his lips on your harder, he was immediately reminded of the fact that you couldn’t happen. The relationship between you and Joshua could not, and should not happen. It was dangerous. He already broke his own vow not to get close to you, not to fall for you. He wasn’t supposed to. Not falling for you, not interacting with you should have been the way. It was the best course of action to protect you. Fear filled his veins of what could happen to you if Nomia found out about you. The fear chilled him to the bone. You could be hurt, or worse.
So, as fast as Joshua’s lips were on yours, as you felt the pressure of his lips on yours, they weren’t anymore. Your mind still hazy from the kiss, you opened your eyes when you felt Joshua pull away hastily. Dazed, you could only stare in confusion and hurt when you saw Joshua’s back turned towards you, his figure getting smaller and smaller as he ran through the rain away from you.
Your head reeled from the lingering feeling of Joshua’s lips on yours, and the cracks on your heart began to form. However, the moment you felt the world crashing down on you was when you vaguely heard his whisper of “sorry” floating through the wind. His voice crashing into you just as his hold over the water droplets broke, causing the harsh downpour to hit you all at once.
Somehow, the pain and cold of the sudden rush of the howling wind, and the angry rain droplets pelting down on your skin didn’t matter to you. All you could feel at that moment was the unfathomable pain of your heart being shattered by Joshua as he left you there soaked in the rain, all alone.
You didn’t know how long you stood there, alone under the pouring rain. You were numb to everything around you. Whether it was from the cold wind and rain pelting down on you, or the shock of Joshua kissing you and running away, you had no idea. At some point, everything went black.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Ugh, everything hurt and it was cold. Your arms, your back, your legs, your head. Why was everything so painful?
You shifted, trying to make yourself more comfortable and to soothe your aching body and the pounding in your head. Snuggling closer underneath the sheets that lay on top of your body, you inhaled their familiar scent, trying to get as much warmth as possible so you could slip back into your slumber.
Wait… sheets? The last thing you remembered was being out in the field next to the creek. Your eyes shot open. Immediately, you groaned, shutting your eyes again, regretting your decision as the light from the room burned your eyes and made the pounding in your head worse. You clutched your head in your hands, moaning in pain.
“I see you’re up. You’re at home by the way. You’re welcome. And you have a high fever. That serves you right for standing out there in the rain.”
You cracked an eye open slowly, hissing at the light and at the person that the voice belonged to, “Shut up Hao. I’m in too much pain for your snarky comments.”
Minghao walked over, setting a cup of water and a steaming bowl of soup on your nightstand. He sat down next to you on your bed, your bed dipping under his weight. He placed a hand against your forehead, muttering, “your temperature is still high, but at least you’re awake.”
You slapped his hand away weakly, “yea i got that from the excruciating ache in my body.”
Shaking his head, Minghao scolded, “Y/n. This is serious. You were unconscious for almost 24 hours. I had to keep sponging your body to bring your temperature down. Even then, it’s still there.”
You sulked at Minghao’s scolding, but allowed him to help you sit up so you could take your medication and eat some soup.
Shivering when your body left the warmth of the blankets, Minghao scooted onto the bed, wrapping his arm around you, providing you with as much body heat as you needed. Spirits and Greek deities usually had a higher body temperature than humans. You refused to eat the soup, your stomach still feeling funny after waking up. Minghao sighed, knowing how fickle and fragile humans were when they were sick. Instead, he shoved the cup of water in your hands, asking you to sip on that.
Snuggling closer to Minghao, you rested your head on his shoulders and closed your eyes. You had only been awake for a few minutes and you were already exhausted.
Just as you were dozing off once again, Minghao’s voice startled you, “You know, when you didn’t return home last night, I got worried and went to find you. Mind telling me about why you were lying unconscious by the Iremia creek running a high fever when I found you?”
You shook your head. You were tired and you didn’t want to go into the whole story with Minghao. He would be mad at you.
“Does it have anything to do with someone named Joshua?”
You stiffened, peeling your head away from Minghao’s shoulder. You said firmly, “I don’t know anyone named Joshua.”
Minghao exhaled sharply, trying to contain his anger, “Y/n, don’t bother trying to hide it from me. You were unconscious for 24 hours, or rather for most of it. The times you were awake, you were delirious. You kept crying for this guy, Joshua, asking why he was leaving you.”
With that, the dam broke. Your emotions, already heightened from what happened with Joshua, and from being sick, all bubbled up to the surface at once. You wailed, tears flowing uncontrollably as you spilled everything to Minghao. You told him everything that happened from the time you met Joshua to that moment when he left you in the rain. You told Minghao about all your feelings for Joshua, how much you loved Joshua, how much you adored him, and how much it hurt when he left you.
During your little venting session, Minghao simply sat there with you in his arms, rubbing your back comfortingly. He might not approve of your actions or the fact that you hid all this from him, but what was done is done. He couldn’t change any of that. All he could do now was to be there for you.
When you were done, you sniffled, wiping your snot with the back of your hand. Minghao gave you a disapproving glance, handing you a tissue before speaking, “I think when you’re well and only when you’re ready to, you should go back and talk to Joshua.”
Hearing that, you opened your mouth to protest. Minghao shushed you, “Despite what he did, from the way you talk about him, how he acts around you, how he treats you, I believe he does truly love you. There has to be a logical explanation as to why he acted in that manner, and I think you should go and talk to him to find out what it is. One, it is a way for you to confront him. Two, if nothing else, trying to talk to him, whatever the outcome, be it good or bad, it will give you closure.”
Letting Minghao’s words sink in, you murmured, “I don’t think I can face the pain of being rejected again.”
At that, Minghao squeezed you reassuringly, “Only do it when you’re ready. On top of that, the way that things played out, you weren’t exactly rejected. It’s just my personal advice, and call me biased for being a spirit of opportunity, but I really think you take this opportunity to hash out your feelings for each other. You should go back and talk to him.”
“What about that creek being dangerous?”
Minghao hummed thoughtfully, “Well the risk is always going to be there. And you still went back after I warned you. Just be careful and let me know when you go back.”
“Hao… I really don’t know…” you hesitated.
“Do you love him?”
Minghao’s question threw you off guard, but you answered instantly, “Yes.”
“I won’t force you, but if that is your answer, I think you should trust me on this. For now though, rest. I’ll be here if you need me.”
Minghao slipped out of your bed, laying you back down gently. He pressed a kiss to your forehead, closed the blinds, and left you alone to your thoughts.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
You mused over Minghao’s advice for the next four weeks. The first week after, Minghao refused to let you out of the house, telling you that you really needed to rest. You didn’t try to fight him. You were too weak to venture too far from home, and you didn’t feel ready to try and confront Joshua yet. The wound he inflicted on your heart still felt too raw.
Then came the second week, the following week, and the week after that. Although you completely recovered by then, you didn’t feel ready to face Joshua. You pushed down your intrusive thoughts of all the possibilities of what might happen if you confronted Joshua. All the positive outcomes, negative outcomes, and everything in between were forced to the back of your mind. You really did try your best to go about your life, returning to your normal routines, selling crafts in the market, and having tea with Minghao.
But the ache and pain of what happened remained. For all the times that you tried not to think about Joshua, memories of him forced themselves back into your mind two times stronger. It was funny. In the past, you used to relish in the giddy feeling of thinking about Joshua whenever any little thing you saw reminded you of him. The crafts, the water puddles, picnic baskets. Now, they acted as swords impaling in your side, painful memories that you just couldn’t shake no matter how hard you tried.
The weekends were especially hard. The days that used to be full of chatter with Joshua by the Iremia creek in your little oasis were now full of you just trying to fill the time by distracting yourself. You missed that field, the scenery, the calming sounds of the water, the serenity of it all. Most of all, you missed Joshua. Yes, he hurt you, but you loved him. Minghao was right. By not doing anything to confront Joshua, you were only prolonging your own pain. You wanted to see him. You wanted to cry and yell, asking him why he did what he did. You needed to.
Finally, after four weeks of wallowing in your own self-pity, you steeled your nerves. You grabbed your things, left a note for Minghao, and ventured back to the field.
Pushing through the last of the heavy foliage from the forest, you emerged back into the field. Unlike the other times when you felt emotional reprieve coming here, you still felt nervous and jumpy.
Honestly? You weren’t even sure that you would find Joshua here. You knew Joshua would always be nearby, this being the creek he presided over. But would he want to see you? Would he be willing to talk to you? What if he never wanted to see you again? You shook your head. There was no point in entertaining those worries right now. What mattered was that you were here, trying to reach out to Joshua.
Looking around and still not finding Joshua anywhere, you lay out your blue picnic mat and made yourself comfortable. There was no reason for you not to enjoy the clear skies today though that wasn’t the primary reason why you came. Opening a book, you decided to immerse yourself in an alternative universe to distract yourself while you waited for any signs of Joshua.
Simultaneously, Joshua was tiredly making his way back from his duties. These past few weeks have been trying. The moment when his lips touched yours kept replaying in his head, as did the moment that he ran off. He was frustrated. He couldn’t believe he did that. The least he could have done was to talk to you, leaving you with some kind of parting words before he ran off. But no. He tucked his tail and ran. That was all he was good at anyway, being a coward. He chastised himself. His whole life, all he did was run away from his problems and fears instead of facing them head on. And now he hurt you deeply because of his cowardice.
Despite knowing that you needed time, and that you probably didn’t want to see him, Joshua continued to make his way back to the creek after his duties to see if you were there. To his disappointment, for the past few weeks, you were not. However, today, as he approached the creek, he saw a figure sitting quietly in the field. Fearful that his eyes were deceiving him, he rubbed them to check if it was really you.
His heart almost leapt into his throat when he confirmed that it was you. He shuffled around behind the foliage awkwardly. It was almost as if he was back at square one again, hiding behind the bushes, too scared to approach you. Part of him wanted to run to you. He missed you terribly. But the other part of him was too afraid to. He was worried you would reject him. Lingering around, Joshua continued to battle his thoughts.
Rolling your eyes, you looked up from your book in the direction of the bushes. You knew Joshua was there as soon as he approached. He wasn’t especially quiet, and since you knew that he always came from direction, you were specially keeping an eye out for any movement. You were hoping that he would come out and make the first move. Well, it looks like you were going to have to do all the heavy lifting today.
You stormed over to the bushes, brushing them aside harshly. Joshua yelped, surprised at your sudden appearance. He shrank backwards under your glare. Nodding towards the field, you put your hands on your hips, waiting for Joshua to walk out from the bushes. This time, Joshua tried not to trip as he obediently walked towards your picnic mat. He didn’t want to embarrass himself even further.
Once you both settled down on the mat, there was an awkward silence between you. You twiddled your thumbs, wondering how to broach the subject. You hadn’t thought about what to say to Joshua before this. You didn’t actually think you would get this far.
“Shua…”
“Y/n…”
You both started at the same time. Joshua clamped a hand over his mouth, shutting up to let you speak first.
You began, “Shua… I… I just…”
You cleared your throat. Unable to get the words out, you settled for asking him a direct question, “Why?”
Joshua hesitated. You were really just ripping the bandaid off. Not meeting your eyes, Joshua said softly, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“No. What you shouldn’t have done was kiss me and then run away. Right now, I don’t care about the kiss. I want to know why… why did you run?” you stated, hurt lacing your voice.
Joshua grimaced at your tone, “I… we… we can’t be together. It’s wrong. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t even have gotten close to you. It’s my fault.”
“I think that doesn’t matter right now. It’s obvious we both like each other. So if you say that, then explain it to me. What’s so wrong about it?”
“I can’t. Please Y/n, you wouldn’t understand. I don’t want to hurt you.”
You glared at Joshua, “Don’t assume I wouldn’t understand anything. How would you know that if you won’t even give me a chance by explaining things to me?”
You were furious. How could he? After everything, he still didn’t think you would understand?
You knew it would be a low blow, but you said it anyway to drive your point home, “Well I suppose it’s too late now if you didn’t want to hurt me. I did get hurt. I got sick because of you. I collapsed because of you. Because you left me there. I think I deserve an explanation. Whether you like it or not, I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”
Joshua felt another wave of shame wash over him. In his attempt to spare you from the pain, he ended up hurting you more.
Repeating his earlier words, Joshua said, “We can’t be together.”
Fed up, you spat, “Yes. I’ve got that part. But explain it to me. I’ve never heard of any rules that forbid humans from being with naiads.”
Joshua shook his head, muttering, “You’re right. There are no rules against that. If that was the case, it actually wouldn’t be as complicated. It’s not that. It’s just… I really can’t be with you. You’re in enough danger as it is right now for having spent time with me.”
You rolled your eyes, “So I’ve been told. What about it?”
“You’re aware of who Nomia is?”
You nodded.
“I’m bound to Nomia, and not just in the way that weaker nymphs are bound to stronger nymphs. Right when I came into existence, as a male naiad, she claimed me as hers. Y/n, I’m promised to her. I’m supposed to marry her some years in the future. I can’t leave her, ever. The only way is for her to break the engagement, which would never happen. Don’t you see? You’re in danger. She’s possessive. She will hurt whoever dares come between me and her. Right now, that’s… you. That’s why… we can’t be together.” Joshua revealed, his voice getting louder with each word before faltering near the end.
Your mind reeled. You took a minute to process all that information. He was engaged? No. It wasn’t a consensual engagement. He was promised to Nomia, probably as some power play. That was the wicked, infamous nymph that Minghao warned you about. You were beginning to see why Minghao warned you not to interact with any naiads in the area.
Seeing that you were speechless, Joshua began to rise from his seat, “Y/n… darling… I love you. I really do. With all my heart. But we really cannot be together. We shouldn’t keep meeting either… You’re always welcome here. We just shouldn’t meet again. Ever.”
As he turned his back to you, you hand shot out. You grabbed his wrist, preventing him from walking away from you once again.
In a low voice devoid of emotion, you said, “Who says I’m letting you go that easy?”
“Darling…” Joshua begged, gently trying to remove your hand from your wrist.
You growled, “I wasn’t finished. What I meant to say was, if you think Nomia is going to scare me off, then you’re mistaken.”
Joshua’s eyes widened in fear, “Darling. Please. She’s very dangerous.”
“Then why don’t we run away? You’ve mentioned that some naiads can travel across all bodies of water. Let’s run. We can be together then? Isn’t that simpler?”
Shaking his head, Joshua explained brokenly, “Darling, I really can’t. I’m not that kind of naiad… I’m not powerful enough. If I leave this area for too long, I’ll die…”
Gripping onto Joshua’s wrist tighter, you pulled him back down to sit next to you. You sighed, “Well then, we’ll just have to keep meeting up here.”
“Darling…”
“I love you. My love for you is not going to change. And I’m certainly not letting some spoiled nymph ruin the love and the relationship that we have.”
Joshua’s eyes widened. He protested violently, “As much as I would love that, I can’t! We can’t! It’s dangerous. Y/n, I don’t have the power to protect you. I never have, and I never will. I’m weak…”
“You’ve told me this a thousand times before. You think I care? If I did, I wouldn’t be sitting here. So what if you’re weak? Powerful or not. I love you in your entirety, flaws and all. You’re imperfectly perfect. Shua. I’m not saying that we enter a romantic relationship, nor am I completely ruling that option out for the future. All I’m saying right now, is that we should continue to meet here.”
Smiling sincerely at Joshua, you noted, “Besides, being able to spend time with you. I think that’s worth the risk. You’re worth the risk.”
Then, more sadly, you added, “However, if you still think that you never want to see me again. If you think that is best, then I will respect your decision.”
Joshua lowered his head. He was terrified of what would happen if Nomia found out. But at the same time, he really loved you. The words that you spoke today, the reassurances that you did want to be with him, your firm conviction that he was worth risking your safety for, and your confession that you did love him too.
Musing over your words for a while longer to weigh each option, eventually, his heart’s desires won out once again. He could never say no to you.
Finally, after keeping you in suspense long enough, he whispered, “okay.”
With that, you broke out into a wide grin, launching yourself at Joshua and wrapping your arms around him. Nuzzling into his neck, letting yourself take in his comforting scent, you exclaimed, “Okay!”
Joshua melted into your embrace, leaning further into you. He really missed you.
Speaking into your ear, he said, “Promise me this though. At any time that you’re not comfortable, tell me, and we’ll stop these meetings at once.”
Although you were about to protest, knowing that you could never be uncomfortable with Joshua, you agreed to put his mind at ease.
At once, Joshua placed a kiss onto your temple, murmuring with love and happiness, “Darling, I love you. So so much.”
Content, you replied, “And I, you.”
Deep down, you knew that there was another storm brewing, though you would try to weather that storm together with Joshua. You would fight for Joshua to the last moment, until you couldn’t anymore. There was no way in hell that you were going to let Joshua go now that you had him back. Together, you would be able to face whatever, and whoever came your way, come what may.
Or at least, that was what you hoped, and perhaps you were a little too idealistic in your thinking…
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔
Slowly but surely, you and Joshua fell back into your routine of meeting up by the Iremia creek on the weekends. Initially, after your emotional confrontation, things were a little awkward. You weren’t dating, already having decided that you both weren’t ready for that at this moment. On the other hand, now that the information that you both loved each other was thrown out in the open, it was impossible to revert back to your previous dynamic.
Hence, you and Joshua eventually settled on being in this weird, transitory stage between friends to lovers. You acknowledged that you both weren’t platonic friends. With the kiss, you both crossed that boundary a long time ago. But you weren’t at the stage of being romantically involved lovers yet.
Currently, you and Joshua were just content being with each other. There was no better feeling than being able to spend time with the person you loved. You both treasured each second of it, knowing that there was always a possibility that you both would be ripped away from each other by the circumstances that Joshua was bound by.
You sulked at the thought. Stupid Nomia and her stupid need for power and prestige. If it weren’t for her, you would have been happily dating the love of your life. Nevertheless, you tried to swallow the feelings of annoyance and anger.
Instead, you chose to focus on the day that you just had with Joshua as you skipped along in the forest on your way home. You let out an embarrassed squeak thinking about it. It all began after lunch when Joshua presented you with a delicious smelling brown paper bag, mumbling something about how it was a fried doughnut made with honey…
Opening the bag, your eyes brightened and your mouth watered at the sight of the delicious looking doughnut. You squealed, thanking Joshua. You reached for one immediately, biting into it. As soon as you bit into the soft dough, the sweetness of the honey spread through your mouth, causing you to moan in happiness. These sweets were expensive and you only splurged on them during festival season so for Joshua to buy them for you, it was such a welcome surprise. While you did offer to share with Joshua, he said it was all for you. With that knowledge, you reached into the bag to pull out another doughnut.
Joshua stared at you adoringly as you stuffed your face. Although you looked like a mess with honey smeared all over your face and fingers, Joshua still thought you were the prettiest person in the world. The trek to find the doughnuts and the price of them was worth seeing you enjoy the sweets with sheer joy plastered on your face.
Joshua choked back a laugh. You were chewing on your doughnut with your cheeks all full, making you look like a bunny. He didn’t understand how every single one of your actions could be so adorable.
Swallowing a bite of the doughnut, you asked, amused, “Why are you laughing? Is it because I have honey all over me?”
Nodding his head, Joshua began to chortle with laughter, “You look like a messy bunny.”
You scoffed, “You try eating these doughnuts. Just you wait, I’m sure you will look like a chubby deer.”
Joshua shook his head, leaning towards you, “Bunny, I highly doubt it. I would still look good. You on the other hand…”
His voice trailed off as he extended a hand towards your face, bringing you closer to his face. You felt the heat rising to your cheeks. Cupping your face, he wiped a smudge of honey that was on your lips before bringing it to his lips. He smirked, “Sweet… just like you… my sweet darling bunny.”
Remembering Joshua’s actions, you harshly rubbed your hot cheeks. This man… this naiad would be your cause of death. He was just too attractive for his own good, and ever since you told him you loved him, he’s been so flirty. One day, you were going to combust or blow a fuse.
You exhaled, calming your rapidly beating heart. Continuing your journey home, you shivered slightly when a cold breeze rushed past you. Startled, your head snapped up. You looked around, alarmed. Taking note of your surroundings and finding absolutely nothing aside from the rows and rows of trees, you wrapped your arms around yourself, hastening your pace. Getting home wasn’t your top priority. Your priority was to get out of the forest and back to the main trails leading back to Athens. You hoped you would feel better once you reached an area where there were more people walking around.
You shuddered. You were feeling horribly unsettled. Something about that breeze didn’t feel right. It was hard to explain, but somehow, that breeze didn’t feel natural. It was almost as if something swooped past you, as if someone was watching you.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
On the other side of the forest, there lay an expansive, extravagant looking palace built right into the side of the Nomia mountains. Going further into the palace, within the central atrium on a raised platform Nomia was sitting on a gold plated throne covered in crushed dark green velvet.
Although she was lounging around lazily, playing with a mountain lion cub on her lap, there was no mistaking the powerful, ominous aura that she exuded. The double doors to the central atrium creaked open, and a small tortoise crawled in. The tortoise was trembling, its eyes trained to the ground as it approached the area before the platform.
When the tortoise came to a stop, Nomia looked up to see who was the one that disturbed her downtime. Her face was devoid of any emotions. Her eyes narrowed, her gaze cold and calculating as she sized up the tortoise. Affirming the identity of the tortoise, a sinister grin spread across her face.
With a wave of her hand, the tortoise was shrouded in a dark green mist. Opening its mouth, the tortoise spoke, “My lady, I have collected the information that you ordered me to find… should this information prove to be what you wanted, I trust you will hold up your end of our arrangement to return me to my original form?”
“Chelone, I don’t have all day. Tell me what you know before I lose my patience,” Nomia ordered.
“Like you suspected, your betrothed, Joshua, has been in the company of a mortal. According to the ravens I sent out, the mortal would visit Joshua every weekend. From their intimate behaviour, it seems that they have known each other for a while, and that they are in love.”
Her suspicions confirmed, through gritted teeth, Nomia seethed, “The nerve of that ungrateful naiad. He could have been with me, getting all the prestige, respect, and riches he could ever want. Yet he chose a pathetic mortal?”
In fury, Nomia crushed the glass of wine she had been holding, the wine splattering everywhere. The mountain lion cub on her lap let out a howl, scampering off in fear.
Raising from her throne, Nomia brushed off the wine from her gown, “Well then. Where does this mortal reside?”
Slightly taken aback, Chelone stuttered, “Uhm… I believe the mortal resides at the edge of the Athenian capital…”
“Very well then,” Nomia said, turning to leave.
“My lady… your promise? You promised to return me to my human form if I collected the information for you,” Chelone interrupted.
Snapping her fingers, Nomia turned so she was facing the tortoise. Nomia chuckled evilly, “about that, I’m afraid I can’t make good on that promise.”
“BUT YOU PROMISED!” Chelone yelled, enraged.
“What. Did. You. Say.” Nomia asked. The tone of her voice sent an overwhelming feeling of dread over Chelone.
Nomia strutted down from the raised platform over to Chelone. With each click of Nomia’s heels, Chelone’s eyes darted all over the atrium. Retracting her head into her shell, Chelone’s whole body cowered in fear.
Nomia picked up the shell of the shivering tortoise with one hand. Raising it so Chelone was just below eye level, Nomia mocked, “Dear Chelone. I said I’m afraid I can’t make good on that promise. You were the idiot who refused to appear at Zeus and Hera’s wedding despite being summoned. It’s no wonder that Hermes turned you into this pitiful form. Really, I’m flattered that you came to me, thinking that I could reverse the spell. Unfortunately, even I can’t go against the will of a God. You understand, don’t you dear? You should be thankful that I was able to give you your speech back. That’s as close to your Oread form as you can get. Now, you really should leave before I lose my patience further. I hate to see what would happen if I squeezed your shell a little too hard.”
Dropping Chelone’s body, Nomia smirked as the tortoise scampered off hurriedly, “Now… what to do about that pesky mortal…”
Retreating to the darkness of her personal suite, Nomia shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, “What’s there to think about? It’s simple. Retribution. That’s all there is to it.”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Rubbing a smudge of flour off your brows, you smiled proudly at the variety of freshly baked bread that you just pulled out of the oven. Since you were busy on weekdays, you usually elected to purchase bread from the agora where you worked instead. However, you closed your stall early today so you could bake something for Joshua.
You clicked your tongue disapprovingly, thinking back to how Joshua recently sheepishly admitted that he didn’t really eat properly whenever he was alone. You had fussed and fretted over his confession. Despite his reassurances that he was fine, you promised to bake something for him. He deserved to be pampered a little, and at least with this spread, he would be well fed for the next week or so. You bounced on your heels excitedly. You couldn't wait to share the bread with Joshua when you saw him next.
Fishing around your kitchen for some cloth to wrap the bread in, you were interrupted when you heard a harsh knock on your front door. Pausing to glance at the sundial that sat on your kitchen window, you saw that it was almost time for supper. You mentally smacked your forehead. You forgot that you had plans with Minghao for supper today. You were supposed to be at his house half an hour ago.
Thinking it was Minghao at the door, you called out, “Hao? Just a minute. Let me get something and I’ll be right there.”
The harsh knocking continued. Irritated, you shouted, “Minghao! I said I’ll be right there.”
Your words proved to have no effect, and the knocks only intensified. You grumbled, setting down the pieces of cloth. You strolled over to the door, intent on scolding Minghao for being impatient when you saw him.
When your hand gripped the door handle, you suddenly felt yourself being hurtled to the side roughly along with your door. You howled in pain as your back hit the wall. That was going to leave a mark. Your eyes snapped up in fury. What was Minghao thinking? He should know better.
You opened your mouth, about to yell at Minghao, but faltered when you saw who was standing in your doorway. Instead of Minghao, you saw a tall beautiful woman. There was no mistaking that she wasn’t human with the way that she carried herself. She had a fiery, menacing aura around her.
Seeing you pathetically splayed out on the floor and in pain, she smirked, “Oh good, it looks like you’re already bowing down to me.”
You didn’t know who this woman was, but she was definitely dangerous. You needed to call Minghao. You gritted your teeth. The pain from your back was killing you. Slowly pulling yourself up, you steadied yourself using the wall. You seethed, “You know, I just had that door fixed. And go to hell. There’s no way I’m bowing down to anyone.”
The woman laughed haughtily, “You’ll be singing a different tune very soon my dear.”
You rolled your eyes, even her voice was grating. With your back against the wall, you inched closer to the coat rack in your foyer. There was an enchanted raven feather in the coat pocket. Minghao left it with you when you insisted on returning to the Iremia creek the last time, explaining that the feather had two functions. The first was so he could track you down if necessary. The second and the more important function, was that if you found yourself in any danger, you could brush your fingers against the feather and it would alert him that you needed immediate assistance.
You regretted not listening to Minghao when he told you to keep it on your person at all times, though that didn’t matter right now. You just needed to focus on getting to it without alerting the woman. What you needed to do was to keep her busy.
“If you say so,” you mocked.
“Why you pathetic little….” the woman started, shaking her fist at you.
Cutting her off before she could finish her statement, you said, “Don’t you think I should know who you are? You did break into my house and throw me into a wall.”
“You don’t know who I am?” The woman asks, incredulous that there is someone who wasn’t aware of her identity.
You raise a brow at her, “no? Am I supposed to?”
“ENOUGH!” The woman roars. She’s in front of you in a flash. She grips your collar, flinging you away from the wall.
You land in the middle of your foyer, sputtering and coughing, trying to get as much air into your lungs as possible.
Straightening her posture, the woman turns. Her condescending eyes laced with hatred trained on you. She stalks over to you, like a lioness hunting its prey.
“You pathetic, ignorant mortal. I shall just have to educate you. My name is Nomia.”
She observes as your eyes flash with recognition, “So you have heard of me.”
You recoil slightly. This was Nomia? Joshua and Minghao were right. She was terrifying.
Concealing your fear as best as you could, you fiddled with the feather that you had managed to grab before Nomia flung you. You could only hope that Minghao would receive the alert. For now, you would have to stall her. You stared right into her eyes, saying sarcastically, “Of course I have. I’ve heard you’re a notorious annoying, wicked, selfish, conceited, power hungry bitch who has no regard for anyone else but herself.”
Nomia chuckled darkly, “You forgot to mention. I’m also beautiful and powerful.”
“You just proved my point.”
“You also forgot one other important thing. I’m Joshua’s betrothed. And as his betrothed, I order you to leave him alone for the rest of your life. I also order you to apologise to me, for trying to steal what belongs to me. He’s mine, and I don’t want him to be burdened with the likes of you.”
At her mention of Joshua, the memories of all the pain she caused him flashed through your mind. All the suffering Joshua went through because of her, and the suffering he would go through in the future because of her. He didn’t deserve to go through any of that. Your blood was boiling by now, and you snapped.
You weren’t sure where the courage came from, but you were on your feet in an instant. You raised your hand, swiftly delivering a slap to Nomia’s face, your palm making contact with her cheek with a satisfying crack.
“YOU DON’T EVEN DESERVE TO SAY HIS NAME. Joshua doesn’t deserve any of this. He doesn’t deserve to have to be bound to someone who doesn’t even love him. He doesn’t deserve to be with someone who only wants to use him for your own gain. You see him as someone who you can control and manipulate. You want to strut him around, showing off that you own the only male naiad in existence. He just wants to be free and happy. He deserves to be free and happy, with someone who loves him. And that’s certainly not you.” You growled.
Nomia’s eyes darkened further, “His desires and wants are of no consequence to me.”
Livid, you raised your hand to slap Nomia again. Just as your hand was about to make contact, she caught your wrist. She squeezed your wrist tightly, making you cry out in pain, “You know, for a pathetic mortal, you’re even dumber than I thought. Don’t you know that nymphs are vengeful creatures? You stepped between me and Joshua. You turned him against me, you tainted him with your mortal desires. You raise your voice to me, and then you dare to lay a hand on me? You will bow before me.”
Tears pricked the side of your eyes. You were aching and bruised everywhere. Your wrist was on fire. If Nomia squeezed any harder, she would break your wrist. You wanted to scream, to cry and yell. But, you refused to show any form of weakness to Nomia. You would not submit to her. You said, “I did nothing of that sort. It was your pursuit for power that turned him against you.”
Nomia twisted your wrist, looking pleased when she heard your scream. She leered, “Very well then. Since you still can’t get it into your brain that you should be wallowing at my feet for forgiveness right now. Just know that it was your own stubbornness that led us to this point. I shall have to punish you and Joshua for your actions against me.”
Your blood ran cold at the threat she issued next, “Perhaps I should strip him of his powers, or shall I mutilate him? He doesn’t need all his limbs to carry out his duties, nor his manhood for that matter since I am not marrying him for love or physical pleasure…”
“Stop! Don’t hurt him!” You cried desperately.
Nomia sneered at your reaction, “I wasn’t finished. I could do all those things… Or… you could take the punishment. You would let me punish you in whatever way pleases me most won’t you? After, you’ll never return to the creek, and you won’t interact with Joshua ever again. Agree to those terms and I promise I won’t hurt Joshua.”
Without hesitation, you made your choice. Resolutely, you said, “I agree.”
Within you, your heart was breaking. You failed to keep Nomia at bay. You failed Joshua. You had allowed your delusions that you and Joshua would be safe, happy, and in love for years to come overtake your senses. And you had convinced Joshua of that too. But ultimately, your delusions of grandeur were just that, delusions. You should have been more realistic. You whimpered, knowing that you were going to be forcefully ripped apart from each other.
Your mind was reeling. While you were terrified of what suffering would befall upon you, you couldn’t let her hurt Joshua. He was too precious to you. You adored all of him from his mannerisms, his cheeky personality, and especially the love-struck behaviour that he only showed to you. He was finally happy…
Nomia was right. You were just a mortal, a human. You couldn’t stand up to a powerful nymph. You were completely helpless in this situation. You couldn’t even guarantee that Nomia would keep her promise not to harm Joshua. You also knew that Joshua would continue to suffer at her hands in the future but you had to protect him as best as you could right now. You would do anything for him. Stilling your heart, you resigned yourself to your fate, muttering an apology to Joshua hoping that he would find it in his heart to forgive you one day for the choice you made. Even if you had to give up everything, you would protect him.
Pleased with you choice, Nomia gaffawed, a wicked smile spread across her face, “so be it.”
She dropped your wrist, causing you to fall to the ground in a heap, cradling your broken wrist to your chest. Nomia waved her hand lightly around you.
She nodded in satisfaction, turning to leave, only to find that her exit had been blocked by Minghao.
His eyes travelled to you all hunched over and whimpering in pain on the ground.
Flying into a fury, Minghao rushed to your side protectively. He boomed, “What did you do?”
Completely unphased, Nomia said, “Nothing much. I just put that mortal in their place. It’s as simple as that.”
“Leave. Leave before I call Seungcheol.” Minghao ordered, moving to usher Nomia out the door.
Making her way out of your house, Nomia laughed deviously, “Despite being the God of time, even Seungcheol would not be able to reverse what I’ve done. Just try and reverse it, the spell will only hurt the mortal more. Enjoy the consequences of your poor choices. Ta ta!”
As she said that, you began to be shrouded in a dark green mist. The mist stung your eyes and burned your lungs, causing the tears you had been holding in now to run freely down your face. The mist continued to swirl and travel around you. The room began to spin. Your eyelids felt heavy. You fell onto the ground, unable to move. The last thing you saw before the mist completely consumed you was Minghao crying your name and running to you with an alarmed expression painted across his face.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Something was wrong, Joshua thought. You were supposed to meet him 2 hours ago. You were never late. And with the exception of those few weeks when you were mad at him, you never missed a meeting with him by the creek.
Pacing around nervously, Joshua continued to take frequent glances towards the forest that he always saw you disappear into when you left for home. For some reason, the forest looked even denser and darker than the last time he saw it.
Joshua debated as to whether he should try to go into the forest to look for you. The forest was full of dangerous wild animals that would gladly devour a human if given the chance to. Or, he could be wrong. You could just be late. There was a first time for everything. Scoffing that he even entertained that thought, he made up his mind. He was going to go look for you.
After stepping into the forest, Joshua’s quest to look for you was interrupted by the rustling of the foliage next to the creek. He turned, scurrying out to see who it was. He skidded to a halt, the blood draining from his face instantly as he laid eyes on Nomia. It would appear that you and Joshua were out of time.
“What are you doing here?” Joshua demanded, glaring at Nomia.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Nomia countered.
Strolling leisurely over to Joshua, Nomia looked around, nodding approvingly of how beautiful the place was.
Joshua burned with anger seeing Nomia stroll all over the place like she owned it. This was supposed to be your oasis, your refuge. How dare she sanctity of the place.
“You have no right to be here,” Joshua hisses.
Nomia strolls over to him, saying casually, “As your betrothed I do. The person who had no right to be here was that pathetic mortal. Y/n, was it?”
Joshua’s heart leapt into his throat. She knew about you?
Enjoying the sight of Joshua’s terror, Nomia grinned, “Oh? So I was right. Don’t worry now my pet. I’ve taken care of business. We’ll be left alone now. No one will come between us.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Joshua roared.
Placing her hand on Joshua’s face, Nomia smirks, “Don’t worry about it pet. Mere mortals shouldn’t come between superior beings like us. I’ve taken care of it. Now, just be a good little pet and obey me, hmm?”
Joshua slapped Nomia’s hand away, “don’t touch me. I’ll only ask you once more. What. Did. You. Do.”
Nomia’s eyes darkened, she smiled sinisterly, “They laid eyes on what’s mine. In return, I simply made sure your beloved would never see you again. They were oh so obedient as well, agreeing to my terms as long as I agreed not to hurt you.”
Joshua stilled at her revelation. What did you agree to? He wasn’t worth whatever sacrifice you made…
Letting out a gut-wrenching scream, Joshua lunged at Nomia, sending a powerful wave of water towards her. Deflecting the water with a small flick of her wrists, Nomia grabbed Joshua by his neck. Applying just enough pressure so he would feel her strength, but not enough to cut off his airways, Nomia sneered, “You’re certainly more powerful than before. But still not strong enough. I guess you already know that by now since you weren’t able to save your mortal. You should have heeded my advice not to engage with others. Really, it’s your own fault that your mortal is in such a state. Allow me to enlighten you on what transpired. Your mortal was on the floor, writhing in pain when I was through with them.”
Joshua scowls at her, trying to pull himself away from her, only to feel her grip tighten slightly. Nomia clicked her tongue, “I really wish you would all stop struggling. It’s beginning to bore me. Listen closely pet. Know your place. You’re my pet. I own you. You’re just a play thing to me, something I can use to gain more power and notoriety. Nothing more and nothing less. Still, you are somewhat useful so your safety is secured. Your mortal on the other hand… I wonder how much pain they can withstand?”
Squinting at Joshua, Nomia continues, “It’s your turn to make a choice. Stay by my side obediently, and I will leave your mortal alone. Refuse me and your mortal shall suffer a pain worse than death.”
Joshua glared at Nomia, clawing at her hands until she let him go. Gasping for breath, Joshua growls, “I will never love you.”
Nomia looked at Joshua with disdain, “I’m not demanding your love. That’s worthless to me. I’m demanding your submission and obedience.”
Joshua clenched his fist. He was exhausted from being pushed around by Nomia. Sadly, his hands were tied, he had no choice. Nomia played you both. She used you both as blackmail for the other. But why was it that only you seemed to be suffering? He cursed himself. He really was cursed. Instead of bringing you the love and life you deserved, all he brought you was pain.
Shaking in anger, Joshua countered, “How would I know that you won’t harm them? I can’t take your word for it. I would need hard proof.”
“You’re in no position to demand anything. But if it will appease you so you do not keep struggling against me, I’ll allow you to visit your mortal every full moon just to see for yourself that they remain unharmed until the day they pass. Mortals live such short lives… Of course, that is on the condition that you’re a good, obedient pet. You will take a guard with you, and you’ll agree not to interact with your mortal.”
Her conditions were more generous than Joshua expected. While he would never be able to interact with you or feel the comfort and love of your embraces ever again, at least he would be able to see you. As long as he had the knowledge that you were safe, he would grit his teeth and live through whatever Nomia demanded of him.
Musing over Nomia’s terms, Joshua relented, “Fine. However, should there be a moment where you break your promise, our agreement is off.”
Nomia nodded, “Fine.”
Thinking back to the state she left you in, Nomia grinned, “Actually, as a gesture of good faith, I shall allow you to interact with your mortal one last time. You may visit them right now. No guard, no strings attached. You just have to report to my palace tomorrow morning. I have an important meeting with the other Oreads and I require an escort.”
Joshua perked up at that. Her offer seemed too good to be true, but he wasn’t going to turn down the last chance he would ever have to talk to you, to listen to your melodic voice. He just wanted to hold you in his arms one last time. He also wanted nothing more than to break down and apologise to you for his inability to protect you. He hurriedly took the slip of paper containing your address from Nomia and took off in the direction of your house.
Watching Joshua run off, Nomia licked her lips sadistically, muttering to herself, “Of course, you will come to realise that both of my offers are a double edged sword once you lay eyes on your beloved mortal. Let this serve as both a threat and a reminder of what might happen should you break our agreement.”
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
Coming to a stop in front of your door, Joshua raised a hand to knock, only to find himself unable to. It was as if an invisible force was stopping him. Joshua brought his fist down, leaning his head against your door. He could hear voices inside. You were obviously home, and you had company over.
Then it dawned on him. He was terrified and ashamed at the prospect of facing you. He had run all the way here because he wanted to see you, but never stopped to think about whether you wanted to see him. He had put you through so much, and he didn’t even know what Nomia did to you. He failed to protect you. He failed you. Perhaps this was not a good idea after all. Joshua began to pace around your front door, fretting over what your reaction would be to seeing him.
Meanwhile, inside your house, Minghao was taking frequent, sneaky glances at the door. He felt the presence of a naiad outside, concluding that it was probably Joshua. Honestly, Minghao wanted to storm out and give Joshua a piece of his mind. But he didn’t want to alarm you. You were still recuperating from your encounter with Nomia the other day. He had brought Seungcheol to see if the spell could be undone. Alas, it was as Nomia said, if Seungcheol tried to reverse time on you, the spell would only come back and harm you more.
Minghao was furious at this turn of events. He hated that you had to experience this much pain. He was furious with Joshua for being the reason why you were suffering, Nomia for being the cause of your suffering, Seungcheol for not being able to help. Most of all, he was furious with himself. He was the one who encouraged you to take the opportunity to go to the creek in the first place. If he never did that, if he never continued to encourage you to make amends with Joshua, none of this would have happened. Filled with regret, Minghao swore that he would protect you, and that he would nurse you back to health.
Minghao breathed in deeply, there was no point in losing his temper now. He should be focusing on you. Turning his attention back to the tea he was brewing, Minghao concentrated on stirring the tea leaves in the teapot.
“Joshua’s here isn’t he?”
Your voice startled Minghao, causing him to drop the spoon he was holding. It fell against the tea pot, the sound resonating through your house. There was a pregnant pause before Minghao sighed, “Yes. He’s outside.” There was no point in lying to you or sheltering you from that knowledge now.
“Hao please…” You pleaded, hesitant to continue with your request. Even if it was only for a moment, you needed to speak to Joshua.
Minghao walked over to you, squeezing your shoulder reassuringly, “Yea. I’ll get him. I’ll be outside keeping watch. Take as long as you need.”
You swallowed the lump in your throat, nodding appreciatively at Minghao.
Minghao threw the door open, catching Joshua off guard. Joshua stared at Minghao in shock. Minghao walked out, leaving the door open behind him.
Minghao spoke softly, “I take it you’re Joshua. Y/n has spoken about you a lot. Look. I don’t know how much you know, probably almost everything, judging from your reaction. Whatever it is, just know that they have been through a lot because of you.”
Glancing in the direction of the living room to indicate where you were, Minghao ushered Joshua inside before shutting the door and standing in front of it protectively.
Gulping, Joshua took a few steps into your house, pausing in front of the entry to your living room. He saw you sitting on your couch, leaning against the headboards with your eyes closed. Your breathing was steady, as if you were sleeping. He took in your appearance, the dark circles under your eyes, the bandage around your wrist, and the bruises that littered your body. He felt himself shaking again. Nomia really hurt you.
He gingerly approached you. He called softly, “Darling? It’s me…” only to gasp and recoil in horror at what he saw when you opened your eyes.
Joshua had tried to brace himself for what he might see. He thought your tender, love filled gaze would be replaced by one that was burning in hatred for him. But nothing, nothing, could prepare him for this.
Your bright eyes, the ones that he loved gazing into for hours, the ones that captured his attention all those months ago, the ones that twinkled under the sunlight, sparkled under the reflection of the water from the creek’s surface, the ones that always looked at him like he created the entire universe. Your eyes he loved so much, they were gone, replaced by dull, lifeless, cloudy irises. He recognised the thin dark green shimmer around your irises. There was no doubt that you were under a permanent curse by Nomia.
Reality started to sink in, and Joshua cradled his head in his hands helplessly, his heart shattering.
You had been blinded. You were now blind. And it was because you were trying to protect him.
Joshua dove to your side, crumbling onto the ground in a heap in front of you. He wailed into your lap, repeating the words, “I’M SORRY” over and over. His body shook as sobs racked his body. Tears fell down his cheeks uncontrollably, soaking your clothes. Completely distraught and on the verge of hyperventilating, Joshua grasped at your clothes desperately, as if fearful that you were about to disappear and slip through his fingers.
Feeling around, you rested your hand on top of Joshua’s head, running your fingers through his hair to soothe him. His hair was getting long. If he wanted to keep his undercut, he would need to get a haircut soon. It was odd. Despite the room being filled with the sounds of Joshua’s sobs and your clothes being soaked with his tears, you felt oddly empty. Perhaps it was because you had no more tears left to cry, having spent the last few days in Minghao’s embrace as you cried from the traumatic experience.
Finally, Joshua’s sobs died down, though his body was still trembling. Tracing the outline of Joshua’s face until you could cup his face in your hands, you tilted his head upwards so he was now looking at you from his position on the floor. Softly, you began, “Shua…”
Cutting you off, Joshua blubbered, “Darling... I’m sorry. I failed to protect you… I failed you…”
Gently, you wiped the stray tears that rolled down his face, “Shua… it’s okay. As long as you’re safe, I… I’m at peace with my decision.”
“It’s not fair! Why did you do it? WHY? I could have… I would take any punishment if it meant you were safe,” Joshua whimpered.
“That’s exactly why I did it. I love you. I couldn’t let you get hurt. You have so much more of your life to live. You shouldn’t have to be burdened with this curse. It’s okay love.”
“NO! It’s not. It should have been me,” Joshua cried.
You sighed, there was no way you could console him now. Joshua was too consumed by grief and regret. Shifting yourself so you were on the floor next to him, you wrapped your arms around him. However, your actions only made him begin to sob again.
Your heart cried out, aching at the sounds of his sobs. With tears beginning to prick your eyes, you tried hushing him gently, “Shhh… It’s okay… Shua…”
“I couldn’t save you,” Joshua whispers brokenly.
You swallowed a sob, your voice breaking at how broken and exhausted he sounded, “But you already did. You’re my Joshua. My Shua. You’ve lived up to your name. You’ve provided me with so much salvation and solace during whatever time we spent together. I was really, really happy when I was with you and I’ll treasure those memories forever.”
“It’s not fair. The world is too cruel…” Joshua managed to choke out.
You fought back your tears. You had to remain strong for him, to ease his guilt and pain. You replied, “The world is indeed cruel, but I’m so glad that even in this cruel world, I managed to meet you. I love you. I always have and I always will.”
Joshua shook in your arms, “I love you too. Only you. You have my heart and soul, now and forevermore.”
Sniffling, Joshua pulled away from you, affirming resolutely, “I’ll still visit you. I promise.”
“And I’ll know when you do.”
“How?” Joshua asks, wiping his tears to stare at you wide eyed.
You chew the insides of your cheek for a moment. You point at your nose, “You smell like petrichor, the smell of the earth after it rains. It’s always stronger whenever you’re near.”
Smiling reassuringly at Joshua, the corners of your eyes still crinkling as you teased, “I might have lost my sight, but my other senses are stronger than ever now.”
Through his tears, Joshua smiles back at you adoringly, “I think it’s a little too soon for that joke darling…”
With that, Joshua’s lips quivered once more, “I love you.”
Whispering in response, you replied, “I love you too.”
Guiding your hands up to his shoulders, you brought him into your embrace again. This time, you both squeezed each other tightly, afraid of letting go. Feeling the sobs wreck through Joshua’s body, your resolve broke. You allowed your tears to fall down your cheeks freely. You both knew this would be the last time you would ever be able to embrace each other like this. So, you both held each other as you wept on the floor of your living room, mourning for the loss of your sight and for the loss of each other.
At some point, you and Joshua fell asleep in each other’s embrace, completely exhausted and out of tears. When you woke again early the next morning, you shivered, not feeling Joshua’s warmth next to you. The only thing your senses could identify was the strong, lingering scent of petrichor and a familiar leather bound book on the floor right next to your bandaged hand. You touched the engraving on the cover, recognising it as the book of quotes you had lent Joshua all those weeks ago. As you continued to run your fingers over the cover, you felt something pillowy and soft. You recognised the flower immediately. How could you not? This flower grew by the Iremia creek, and you spent plenty of time making flower crowns out of this with Joshua.
You gripped the flower gently, clutching it to your heart. You hunched over, covering your mouth to muffle your wails. Joshua had left you with a forget me not flower.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
And so, your relationship with Joshua came to a close. But for years to come after, until the end of your days, Joshua took advantage of his agreement with Nomia and made good on his promise. Every full moon, he would visit you, watching you lovingly from a distance. It soothed his heart a little to know that you had eventually recovered and that you were safe, though nothing could ever fix the jagged hole in his heart and soul made by the choice he was forced to make, the one which forced him to walk away from the person he loved more than anything in the world.
On your end, you tried to return to live your life as normally as you could. However, you knew whenever Joshua visited you. The strong scent of petrichor that wafted and lingered through the air was indicative of that. Inhaling the scent was comforting. You were comforted with the knowledge that Joshua was still watching over you, and that he still loved you. Yet, the scent of petrichor also made your heart ache. It served as a painful reminder of your time with Joshua, and how your love was real, but how life’s circumstances tore you both apart, forbidding you from being together.
𓇼 ༄ ᨒ .𖥔 ݁
ᨒ Petrichor (noun): the scent of the earth after rain. Some would describe the scent as distinctively earthy, pleasant, and sweet. But to you and Joshua, the scent would remain as a constant reminder of where your hearts were, where your home and family was, where you could take refuge, who you could take refuge with, the love that you had shared, and the love that could not be.
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petrichor taglist: @amoryeonjun @hipsdofangirl @valenhui @yoonzinoooo @fantasies-of-a-bookworm @shuasdraftsalt
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Hi I am begging on my knees for more of your steddie x reader it’s so good I’m crying
BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE | baby fever
summary: steve's got a bad case of baby fever. it's not so bad until you start getting sick with it too. eddie has to come up with a solution before all of you fall ill.
pairing: steve harrington / f!reader / eddie munson
a/n: i just realized i haven't posted anything steddie related in almost three months. i am so sorry. this is a total travesty. please enjoy this 3k blurb and find it in your heart to forgive me <3
You squint at the grocery list scribbled on a bright blue sticky note. It’s a mish-mash of all your different handwritings. Some are certainly neater than others. “This just says crabs… I think...”
“It doesn’t say crabs, you loon,” Eddie laughs from where he mans the shopping cart beside you. He’s steering the thing about as well as his van. “It says cereals.”
“No, it says a bunch of gibberish that no one can read but you,” you retort with a giggle of your own as you follow him down the breakfast aisle. “And we just need one box of cereal, alright? Singular.”
He turns to you with a cartoonish pout on his lips. “But why?”
“Because you’re like a kid, Eds. You eat the entire thing in one sitting, and then you’re absolutely haywire for the rest of the day.”
And, just like a child, the boy stands in front of the vibrantly colored boxes of cereal with a wide grin on his face.
The local grocery store was smaller compared to the others in town, but they had every brand of the breakfast food known to man, stacked in neat rows from the floor to ceiling.
Eddie’s got a twinkle in his eye as his gaze runs over them all. And even though you think it’s all boyish and hilarious, you let him have his fun.
He grew up unable to enjoy all the goodness of overly sweet cereal because bills and food with actual sustenance were always more important. Now, he’s got a halfway stable job with Wayne at the car shop, and he’s living at his own place with his boyfriend and girlfriend, and he can buy whatever the hell kind of cereal he wants.
So, as far as he’s concerned, everyone who said he’d never amount to much can suck it.
And you know you’ll let him buy the whole damn grocery store out of their cereal if that’s what he wants. It’s the least you can do for the world’s best boyfriend — a title he begrudgingly shares with Steve The Hair Harrington.
You’d give him the world if you could, but for now you’ll have to settle for a couple of boxes of Lucky Charms.
“Okay, so the OJ’s we got last time tasted like absolute shit,” Eddie mutters, mostly to himself as he crouches to peer at the lower shelves. “I saw a commercial for Waffle-O’s this morning, and they looked pretty good. But I know you like Breakfast With Barbie and Steve ate a bowl of C3PO’s every day for, like, two weeks, so…”
You stand by the cart and laugh at his rambling. You turn to look behind you with a lighthearted joke sitting on the edge of your tongue. It dissipates when you realize Steve isn’t next to you.
Instead, he’s still standing at the end of the aisle with his back to you and Eddie — like his feet forgot how to work when he caught sight of the family across the store. It’s a mother and a father, dressed in their mid-weekday finest, with a baby swaddled at their chest and a toddler bouncing in the seat of the shopping cart.
And you know it’s got the boy totally lost in his own head. You know he's picturing you and him and Eddie as that happy family — the one fills every store you walk into with baby babbles and bubbly laughter.
Steve told you his senior year of high school he wanted a baby, that he wanted six of them, and that he wanted them all with you. And you were just a stupid seventeen-year-old girl who would’ve done anything he asked you to, though you definitely drew the line at babies.
But you’re older now, and far more settled than you had been all that time ago. Steve’s ready for a family, but you don’t think you’re anywhere close.
“How about we just compromise and get all three?” Eddie finally concludes with the boxes already in his arms. He dumps them into the cart and notices that your attention is elsewhere. He realizes then that Steve’s gone too because his attention is stuck on a nice family minding their own business.
“Not again…” he murmurs to himself while you go rescue the boy.
“I’ve never seen someone so sick with baby fever in my life,” you laugh as you drag Steve back to the cart by his wrist.
“I can’t help it!” he defends weakly. “They were so cute! They were all matching and I couldn’t stop thinking about how I can’t wait to coordinate outfits with our baby. Doesn’t that sound like the cutest fucking thing ever?”
“It sounds very adorable, Stevie,” you nod understandingly and try to ignore the way your stomach twists at the thought of him and his baby girl wearing matching pastels every time they step out of the house. “And we can be just like them in five years—”
“Five years?” he gapes.
“Maybe even ten,” Eddie shrugs and nonchalantly tosses a box of Count Chocula into the cart.
“Ten years— You guys are insane if you think I’m waiting ten years to have a kid!” Steve protests with a pair of buff arms crossed boyishly over his chest. “I’m not getting any younger over here, you know that, right?”
“You’re twenty-five, Steve, stop being so dramatic. We’re just now trying to get settled. I’m still in school, you’re still working at Family Video, Eddie’s still… Eddie. Don’t you think we should have actual careers before we have a kid?”
Steve huffs and rolls his eyes, feigning annoyance even though he knows you’re right.
It’s not like he wants to keep working at the stupid store on Main Street. He keeps putting off the conversation with his dad about another job, because he puts off every conversation with his dad. He’s scared of what asking for a position at his firm will do to his pride.
“She’s right, and you know it, Steven,” Eddie tells him, then scoffs. “I mean, can you really imagine me with a baby strapped to my chest on tour?”
You and Steve both pause and tilt your heads to the side as you picture the sight, terribly in sync as always. You can imagine it, quite perfectly actually, tangible enough to touch.
“Well—”
“That’s the cutest thing I think I’ve ever heard,” Steve finishes your thought for you.
Eddie cowers at the sudden attention. “Okay, stop looking at me like I’m a piece of meat, alright? We are not having a kid right now. There’s no fucking way.”
Steve all but deflates at the rejection as Eddie pushes the cart down the aisle, desperate to escape the bubble of tension the conversation had created in the cereal section.
You smile sheepishly over at Steve and wrap your arms through the crook of his elbow, standing on the tips of your toes to press a kiss to his cheek. “He’s being grumpy about it, but he’s right… It’s just not a good idea right now— but it will be, okay? One day. Just not… to-day.”
┄
The day, for you, comes exactly seven of them later.
You accompany Steve on his morning run and his routine stop for coffee. You’re not quite sure how he’s still mobile because your muscles are screaming, even after the warm shower you took to soothe them.
You left him alone for all of half a second to use the bathroom while he ordered drinks for him and you, and something extra for Eddie for when the boy decides to roll out of bed.
When you return, you find him bouncing a baby on his hip — a young thing, maybe three if you had to guess, with two buns in her hair like bunny ears and a sparkly pink dress to match the bows she wears in them.
Steve smiles down at her, talking to her in a baby voice and saying something you can’t hear because you’re frozen in place. You resemble him at the grocery store a week ago, when he was thrown into a daydream so suddenly that his body all but shut down.
You look at him now, tickling the baby’s sides just to hear her giggle, and you see him with your firstborn — sleep deprived, covered in spit-up, and still the most beautiful human you’d ever seen.
You have to shake your head to remove the thought before it ruins you entirely.
Freshly jostled from your stupor, you walk over to him. “Steve… Please tell me you didn’t steal someone’s baby.”
He laughs. “What? No! She was just a little fussy, and I offered to take her while her mom looked for something,” the boy explains. You look just behind him to see the woman bent over at one of the smaller tables, sifting vigorously through a large baby bag.
“She doesn’t seem very fussy now,” you observe, eyes flitting between his and the child's and noticing they’ve both got matching grins.
“She doesn’t, does she?” he smiles, softly scratching at her sides again to make her laugh. And she does, most enthusiastically so, tilting her head back and letting the giggles spill from an open mouth.
He turns back to you, with wide eyes and raised brows and a bemused grin. “I like she likes me.”
“Of course, she does,” you scoff. “Babies always like you.”
The mom returns with a snack in hand and a relieved smile. Steve passes the baby back to her with little effort. She whines at the loss of him, though the brightly packaged treat is quick to quell her sorrow.
“Thanks for taking her,” the mother's grateful smile falters with exhaustion. “If I don’t give her the same snack at exactly the same time every day, she tends to go a little nuts.”
Steve tells her that it’s no problem, that he was a part-time babysitter at one point in his life, and that her kid was better than those little shits combined. He censors himself before the swear slips out, though.
You go your separate ways when the barista calls out your drink orders and walk hand in hand back to your place.
“Did you get their names?” you ask him before taking a sip of your latte.
“The mom’s name was Maeve and the kid’s name was Harper—”
“Holy shit,” you mutter.
Steve snaps his head over to you because he thinks you’ve burnt your mouth. Instead, he finds you with a distant smile on your face.
“Those are the cutest names I’ve ever heard. It sounds like something out of a fucking cartoon or something.”
“Yeah…” is all he can say because his mind is preoccupied with a million other thoughts. He doesn’t tell you them, obviously, but you know they’re there. The sly smile pulling at his lips makes it obvious.
“…Why are you looking at me like that.”
“Because I’m totally gonna wear you down,” he grins and brings his coffee to his mouth, sipping through his smirk.
You only scoff in response. “Never.”
┄
It doesn’t take you very long to realize that Steve was right.
You spend the rest of the day thinking about it — about him with a baby and how perfect he'd be as a dad. The thoughts plague you far more than they usually do. They take up the entire frontal cortex of your brain and make it nearly impossible to think about anything else.
You’re self-aware enough to beat yourself up about it.
You were just telling him that it wasn’t time yet, and you knew you were right. As far as you’re concerned, you still have another few good years before you’re ready to even start seriously considering it.
But here you are, having to calm yourself down every time the thought of Steve Harrington with a baby, your baby, crosses your mind.
You wait until the boy heads to bed to talk to Eddie about it. You find him in the kitchen, eating handfuls of Breakfast with Barbie like a maniac. You’re too preoccupied to make a snarky comment about it.
“Steve wasn’t lying,” you warn him.
“..About what?” he wonders through the mouthful.
“About him not waiting ten years to have a baby! He wants one now!” you explain through a yell-whisper hybrid. “And he told me he was going to wear me down, and he was right.”
Eddie’s eyes go wide too, like he’s just learned you caught some sort of plague. You have. It’s called baby fever, and it’s only a matter of time before the entire house is afflicted. “Shit…”
“So you have to be the strong one, Eddie.”
“Oh, god,” he whines with pinched brows. “Why does it have to be me?”
“Because I saw him hold a baby today.”
“…And this is a bad thing?”
“Of course, it’s a bad thing! My hormones went crazy, okay? It’s like my brain stopped functioning, and I started thinking with my ovaries or something! All human instinct told me to lay down and procreate the second we got home!”
Eddie laughs to himself. “Are you sure it was human instinct, or was it just you on a normal Wednesday?”
“I’m being serious, Eddie,” you tell him, a sudden solemnity to your features. “You have to put your foot down whenever Steve talks about it because I will cave.”
“Alright, alright, have some Barbie cereal and settle down,” he tells you with a playful grin.
He offers you the box and you pout for a moment before sticking your hand into it and pulling out several red and purple butterfly pieces.
The boy wraps an arm around you with his free hand. He pulls you closer and noses at the crown of your head. You sigh as you relax into him.
“I’ll take care of it, okay? I actually have the perfect idea.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” you waver through a mouthful of cereal.
“Don’t worry about it,” he lilts with a grin, smacking a kiss to your forehead. “Let me take care of it.”
┄
You and Steve are tangled in bedsheets, both slowly rousing but trying desperately to go back to sleep.
You’re laying on your stomach, face smushed into the pillow you clutch to your head. Steve lays halfway on top of you — his legs knotted with yours, arm splayed over your back, and softly snoring in your ear.
Both of you noticed the lack of Eddie’s presence, but chose not to linger on it too much, figuring he must’ve gone for a breakfast run.
He returns hardly a moment after the thought of him crosses your mind. You hear the door open and shut again, then the shouts of your names entwined with a muffled barking.
You groan at the intrusion on your sleep.
Steve huffs and shifts against you, voice gruff with fatigue as he wonders: “Why do I hear a dog?”
The mixture of confusion and subtle knowing has you both shuffling out of the bedroom and trudging into the living room.
You round the corner and find Eddie standing by the door with a rowdy goldendoodle bouncing at his feet. He’s trying hopelessly to undo its leash when the thing starts to squirm at the sight of you and Steve.
Eddie’s eyes flit to the both of you when he notices you standing across the room. A smile bursts like early morning sunshine on his face. “Surprise!” he beams.
The metal of the leash clicks when he finally gets it unbuckled. The dog dashes your way, all but jumping into Steve and then spinning in circles with excitement as it tries to figure out who to accept attention from.
“You got us a dog?” the boy wonders, head cocked back to dodge the thing as it licks at his chin.
“You said you wanted a baby,” Eddie shrugs. “So, I got you a baby.”
“This is so not what a meant,” the boy grouses in response, though he’s got his arms wrapped around the dog like he’s hugging it. “I mean, it’s not even a baby— it’s huge.”
“The woman at the shelter said he was eight months old. And he is a he, so stop calling him it.”
You crouch beside Steve, scratching the dog behind his ear. He pants with his tongue sticking out, almost looking like he’s smiling. It makes you smile too.
“We don’t even have dog food. Or toys. Or a bed,” you stress. “What are we even gonna name it?”
“Well, I took care of exactly one of those things,” Eddie lilts with a grin. “They only had that gross artificial shit at the grocery store, but they did have some badass collars and an engraving machine, so…”
You and Steve peek through the dog’s golden curls and find a black band with silver spikes dotted around the neck. “Super metal, huh?” you hear himEdiejoke as you reach for the dangled heart pendant handing around the collar.
“…Ozzy?” you recite.
“See what I mean?” he beams. “Metal.”
#published by bug#steve harrington x reader#eddie munson x reader#steddie x reader#stranger things x reader#steve harrington imagine#eddie munson imagine#steve harrington fic#eddie munson fic#steve harrington x y/n#steve harrington x you#eddie munson x y/n#eddie munson x you#st drabbles#stevie drabble#eddie spaghetti drabble
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CANT HOLD IT IN ANY LONGER!!! i’m utterly obsessed with the curtis brothers.
idk if u do this, but if u can, the curtis brothers with a reader who’s super down bad for them? they make it so clear, too. constantly doing everything for them, making food, buying snacks, just utterly everything. compliments, holding their hand religiously … yk.
୧ ׅ𖥔 ۫ you know i’m a fool for you. ⋄ 𓍯
…IN WHICH! you think the curtis brothers are the only men on the planet.
tags/warnings: swearing(on my end/once during dialogue.) reader being slightly overprotective or insane, mentions of reader getting hit on, mentions of reader leaving lip stick stains, me not knowing what to write for darry.
ೃauthor notes⁀➷ i’m using ny other accounts layout bc i can’t be bothered rn. also i’m here to feed y’all i’ve noticed the outsiders x reader tag is lowkey dry asl.
Ponyboy Curtis:
WOAH HE CAN’T HANDLE ALLAT😭
like actually. he is TWEAKING AT ALL TIMES! when you first like started complimenting him, showering him in kisses, giggling n’ shit—he thought it was a one time thing.
ponyboy just thought he’d have to thug that shit out once a week or something. he was, in-fact, pleasantly surprised when you continued to do it.
“you’re so-mwah-cute! i wish-mwah-i could-mwah-hold you forever!”
“y/n…😣”
he’s so flustered omfg like actually he’s beet red LMFAOOO. if you were to put your fingers to his forehead it’d be so hot. like ponyboy’s avoiding eye contact, his lips are tightened, etc.
if he were to stay the night at your place—you make him all types of food. like, food he’d never heard of. or food he’d dream about after eating bologna for a week,
“for me? …really?”
“mhm! c’mon, don’t let it get cold now.”
ponyboy is DIGGING RIGHT THE FUCK IN. okay he is SCARFING THAT DOWN. after he’d be a little embarrassed of how quickly he ate but like you just took it as a good thing.
thinks you’re the best cook ever tbh. gordan ramsey has nothing on you type levels.
going on a walk with him to go grocery shopping for the curtis house with your hands intertwined and letting ponyboy ramble about this annoying substitute he had!!! IT’S REAL!!! ALL OF IT!!!
“n’ then he tried to tell me my answer was wrong when i studied last night—I EVEN ASKED MY FRIENDS. so, i know it was right. i just think mr. johnson had a personal vendetta against me.”
“smh…i could do slash his tires if you’d like♡!”
“what”
“nothing.”
AWHHH PONYBOY FOLLOWING YOU AROUND THE STORE LIKE A LOST PUPPY BECAUSE HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO BUY LMFAO
he’d like holding your sleeve or the hem of your shirt as you walk around, looking more awkward above all else.
uwahh showering ponyboy in compliments late at night when it’s just the two of you, twirling his hair as you hold him closer!!!
“you’re hair is so pretty. it’s so soft…i dunno why you put grease in it. if i was you—i’d never let anyone touch it.”
“i don’t. i only let you.”
“…REALLY??🥰🥰😚😚”
ur friends are soooo sick of you talking about ponyboy LMFAOOOO like actually. every time you go, ‘omfg did i tell you guys, he-‘ they know to just let you mindlessly ramble.
“and then ponyboy read to me ‘til i fell asleep! he’s so sweet—i dunno how he’s real!”
“i dunno how you’re so whipped.”
“he must be the funniest motherfucker on the planet if y/n’s this obsessed.”
Sodapop Curtis
OHHH Y’ALL ARE AT A CONSTANT WAR TO SEE WHO’S GONNA BEAT THE OTHER AT BEING THE BETTER PARTNER LMFAOOO
HE’S usually the whipped one in the relationship…he felt both extremely lucky and threatened when you started attacking him with kisses…
“you’re so handsome. i’m just the luckiest person on earth—ain’t i?”
“…yeah…🤨”
“why’d you say it like that?😞”
“cause I’M the luckiest person on the earth…I’M supposed to be tellin’ you this…”
but as time goes on—he does take the loss and accepts you’re better at him. for now. it’s only a matter of seconds until sodapop thinks of something insane to show his love for you.
anyways! IMAGINE COOKING WITH HIM OHHHH NY GODDDDD /?:&$:&: he just mainly stands there and looks pretty as he asks what you’re doing but SHHH. HE’S MORAL SUPPORT.
“…what?”
“i’m chopping onions for the flavour, honey.”
“you don’t like onions, though?”
“i don’t like the crunch rather than the flavou—YOU REMEMBERED I DON’T LIKE ONIONS??☹️☹️”
“of course i would!”
gladly holds ur hand 24/7. i’m not kidding. you two are like super magnets. HEHEHE IMAGINE HIM DRIVING WITH ONE HAND ON THE WHEEL AND HIS OTHER HAND HOLDING YOURS!!/!2!
you do take him grocery shopping. only sometimes, though. he only buys junk food rather than actual food.
“can i get these? please?”
“you already have two bags of chips in the cart, soda.”
“okay..😣”
“SIGH…get them.”
“HURRAY!”
knows you can’t say no to him and that’s like the only time he uses it to his advantage.
soc’s do hit on you under the premise of ‘showing you how a real man is supposed to spoil a lady like you.’ HOWEVER, you look at them like they���re aliens.
“hey, baby. what’re you doin’ around here?”
“…EW.”
“???”
they’re shocked above all else as they see you turn away from them and quickly walk away without looking back. AND WOOO SODA IS SO PROUD.
Darry Curtis
the gang acts like you two are constantly fighting whenever you start to look at darry with that sparkle in your eyes.
“guys, PLEASE! YOU’RE BREAKING UP THE FAMILY! STOP ARGUING!”
“what the hell are you on about, soda?”
“you’re scaring pony!” “don’t bring me into this.”
“mind you’re own business, soda.”
AJDIEHJR DARRY HAVING A HAND AROUND YOUR WAIST AS YOU MUTTER SWEET NOTHINGS BETWEEN KISSINGS>>>
you two are a POWER COUPLE IN THE GROCERY STORE! EVEN IF YOU REFUSE TO LET HIM PAY AND HE GETS POUTTY! EVEN IF HE DOESN’T TAKE COMPLIMENTS WELL!
“y/n, please. these are for my house.”
“so?? my wallet was out first.”
“that doesn’t mean anything. baby, i’m telling you, i’m paying.”
“too late, i already handed the cashier the money.”
you cook and clean for the curtis’ to take something off of darry’s back out of the kindness in your heart and totally not because you want him to pay more attention to you!! NEVER!!
but you do enjoy the fact that darry has more time to sit down and pay attention to you! and darry really likes the extra time he has!!
“you didn’t have to.”
“yes i did! you’ve been so stressed out, it’s the least i could do for you.”
“you’re such a treat, y’know.”
“mh. only f’you.”
you FORCE him to hold your hand. sometimes he forgets that he’s supposed to hold your hand in public so do NOT BE AFRAID TO GRAB IT YOURSELF.
but once you do, darry is the last person to let go. maybe to wrap an arm around your hip—BUT THAT’S IT.
teehee leaving lipstick stains on his white t-shirt accidentally🫶🫶!! it’s all so real to me!! sure, darry’s a little annoyed but it’s okay! he can never be mad at you!
#2knightt#the outsiders#the outsiders x reader#ponyboy curtis x reader#ponyboy x reader#ponyboy curtis blurb#ponyboy curtis imagine#sodapop x reader#sodapop curtis x reader#sodapop curtis blurb#sodapop curtis imagine#darry curtis x reader#darry curtis blurb#darry curtis imagine
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~Mid to West~
Eddie Munson x Henderson reader road trip AU
Pairing:Eddie Munson x Henderson reader
Warnings:none
Words: 1,800
A/N: Had this idea a while ago finally decided to write it down.
Dustin wanted something; you knew it. He’d been doing your chores, letting you use the bathroom to get ready in the mornings without complaining, letting you take the first shower, folding your laundry, which he knew you hated doing.
You hadn’t said anything, not one to look at a gift horse in the mouth. However, it finally came to a head when Dustin came into your room with this morning tray in hand (the one your mom always used to bring you breakfast in bed on your birthdays or when you were sick). a bowl of honey nut Cheerios, a glass of orange juice, and a bowl of mixed fruit sit on top of it.
“I made you breakfast,” he said as he walked to you.
You gave him a strange look as he sat it on your nightstand. It was the weekend, so you had just been lounging around reading your new book since you woke up. “Why?” You finally asked, sitting up against your headboard, taking the food and starting to eat, still looking at him quizzically.
“What can’t a little brother just do something nice for his older sister, whom he loves so much?” Dustin defended unconvincingly.
"Yeah, they can, but you don’t,” you said, rolling your eyes. “Come on out with it, shitbird, you wait much longer. I’ll have finished my food, and you’ll have to wait till you can make a whole other meal,” you joked, popping a grape into your mouth.
"Alright, fine,” Dustin sighed, sitting on the edge of your bed. “I do want something, and I want you to really think about it before you say no.” He trailed off, avoiding your gaze.
“Okay?” You egged, kicking his shoulder lightly, ready for him to get on with it.
"Well, you know how summer break starts next week, and I’ve outgrown science camp, and there’s no way mom would let me fly. You know how much planes scare her, and Susie’s parents wouldn’t let her either, but Mom would probably let me if you went to and drove me." Dustin paused, seeing the confusion on your face. “Would you take me on a road trip to Utah to visit Susie over the summer? Well, not the whole summer, but while it’s happening." Dustin finished rambling, looking at you hopefully with his best puppy dog eyes.
"Ugh,” you groaned. "Really, Utah, come on, it’s like the asscrack of America.”
“No, I’m pretty sure that’s Florida.”
“I don’t even have a car; how are we going to get there?” You asked, both loving and hating, the way your little brother's eyes lit up.
“Don’t even worry about that; I’ve got it covered. Is that a yes?” He asked far too excited at 8:30 in the morning.
“It’s a yes if you can find us a car and somehow convince Mom to let us go,” you told him, condescendingly.
“Yes! Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you; you're the best sister ever!” Dustin exclaimed, hugging you tightly.
"Yeah, yeah,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes as you tussled his hair. “I know, and don’t you forget it.”
***
That’s how Dustin found himself here, cleaning up after hellfire, about to ask Eddie if he’d be willing to drop his summer plans to drive him and his sister to Utah so he could see his girlfriend.
By some miracle, Dustin had convinced his overprotective mother to let him go, and Eddie was the last piece of the puzzle. Well, at least his van was deciding that even if it wasn’t the most reliable, it was the most spacious, meaning you’d have to spend less money on motels along the way, and you could fit more people, Lucas and Steve, on the top of his list to invite once he got the older boy to agree to this somewhat questionable plan.
“You’re oddly quiet, Henderson. What’s going on in the ginormous head of yours?” Eddie asked teasingly as he packed up his dice and began sliding his books into the book bag he’d had since his freshman year.
“What are your plans for the summer?” Dustin blurted it out, unable to keep it in any longer.
"Umm, I don’t know. Maybe plan a new campaign. I'm going to try to deal at some of the parties and make some extra cash. You know, I really enjoyed my last summer before I’m hurdled into a life of adulthood,” Eddie said, shrugging and throwing his bag over his shoulder. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic about finally graduating, but now I have to actually grow up. It's a bummer." Eddie sighed jokingly, getting ready to lock up. They had one more hellfire meeting before school was over; it was all oddly emotional for him.
“Well, how fun does a road trip to Utah with your favorite little buddy sound for summer plans?” Dustin propositioned himself, smiling hopefully at him.
“Like actual hell,” the older boy deadpanned, walking out of the old drama room.
"Oh, come on, please, it’ll be fun, I promise, and me and Y/N really need your van,” Dustin pleaded, following after him.
“Y/N will be there?” Eddie asked, stopping in his tracks and smiling brightly when Dustin nodded. "Well, why didn’t you say so sooner? Utah sounds great!” Eddie exclaimed.
"Really, you only want to go for my sister?” Dustin asked with mock sadness in his voice.
“No Dustin I only want to go for your hot sister,” Eddie paused, laughing at the way Dustin’s nose wrinkled in disgust at his words. "Besides, you only want me to go for my van,” Eddie pointed out as they began walking to the parking lot.
“Fair enough,” Dustin shrugged, walking beside him.
“So where’s Utah, like Canada or something?”
“Oh my god,” Dustin mumbled, shaking his head, already regretting asking him to come.
***
After a week of anticipation a graduation ceremony where you, Robin, Eddie, and Nancy walked the stage and a lot of time spent making Eddie look at a map, it was finally time for your trip to begin. Dustin had been practically bouncing off the walls all morning, and he was excited to spend what you had calculated to be almost 23 hours in a car, not including stops.
Somehow, you ended up with six people coming on your little road trip: Eddie, Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Lucas.
Lucky for you, the Wheelers already had plans to visit the Byers, so you didn’t have to shove two more in there, and Max was going to summer camp.
You could practically hear when Eddie pulled into your street loud vehicle blasting music and erratic driving, doing nothing to keep him stealthy.
“Are you sure you guys really want to go?” Your mother asked you for the hundredth time. “Maybe you should stay.”
Dustin threw his head back, dramatically letting out a groan. “Come on, Mom, we talked about this. We’re going to be fine. You’ve got to give Dusty Buns a little freedom, plus I’ll be with him the whole time.” You paused walking over to Dustin, who was giving your mom puppy dog eyes, pinching his chin in between your fingers. “Besides, who could say no to this face?” you coed, knowing that as overprotective as she was, she had a hard time telling him no.
"Okay, okay, just be careful and call me,” she conceited, pulling you both in for a hug that you gladly returned as Eddie stopped his van. “I love you both; be careful,” your mom said, finally heading inside after one more hug for the both of you.
"Alright, come on guys, we’ve still got two more stops,” Eddie yelled from the van.
“Come on, DustyBuns, your damsel awaits,” you said, ruffling his hair and walking to the van.
***
After a few hiccups, I.E. Steve packing everything he owned you were finally on your way out of Hawkins Eddie driving you sitting shotgun with Dustin Steve Robin and Lucas in the back.
“I can’t believe this was the best way to spend my summer,” Robin groaned.
"Oh, come on, you guys, stop acting like we’re not going to have a blast,” Dustin said. "Besides, we’re already out of Hawkins, so you’re stuck,” he told you guys, mockingly pointing at the leaving Hawkins/Hell sign.
“Oh yeah, I guess we are,” Eddie said, distractedly casually flipping the bird to the sign as you passed it. “I guess you can probably come out now, red,” Eddie said, making everyone look at him in confusion.
“Finally!” You heard making all of you jump and shriek as you saw a figure jump out of the pile of blankets sitting in the corner of the van.
“Maxine Mayfield, what the fuck are you doing here?!” Steve yelled, clutching a hand to his chest.
"Yeah, she’s supposed to be at summer camp,” you scolded, seeing the smirk grow on Eddie’s face.
"Oh, come on, sweetheart, I couldn’t let one of my sheepies rot while we had all the fun,” he said, wiping the smirk off his face to pout at you comically.
"Yeah, Eddie was just helping me,” Max said, working her way to the front of the van and joining Eddie in looking at you pitifully. “Please don’t tell my mom I want to spend the summer with you guys.”
"Yeah, come on, doll, can we keep her?” Eddie asked hopefully.
"Yeah, let her stay,” Dustin and Lucas said, joining the side of Eddie and Max.
"Yeah, come on, we could use another girl." Robin joined in, leaving only you and Steve.
“Aww, what the hell, yeah, let’s let her stay,” and now you’ve lost Steve too.
“Please?” Max said one last time you looked at the whole van teaming up on you, eyes wide and sad as they waited for your answer.
And you almost held your ground until you looked at Eddie, his big brown eyes peering into your soul. His bottom lip jutted out.
"Fine,” you sighed, making the whole van erupt in cheers.
“Thank you, thank you,” Max said, hugging you.
“You’re really the best!” Dustin Lucas Robin and Steve all cheered one after the other as they went to talk amongst themselves, happy to have added a member to the group.
“Thank you, you’re my hero, princess." Eddie’s words caught your attention, finding his eyes already on you and smiling brightly.
"Oh, shut up,” you laughed, rolling your eyes as your face flushed at the nickname “And look at the road before you kill us all.” You finished pushing his chin to make him look at the road as you both laughed.
“Alright, road trip, baby, let’s go!” Eddie yelled, making the van erupt in cheers once more. You joined them this time, happy to be spending the summer with people you cared about.
Boy, were you guys in for it…
#eddie x fem!reader#eddie munson imagines#eddie st4#eddie x you#eddie x reader#eddie stranger things#eddie imagine#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson#eddie munson fics#eddie munson x you#eddie munson imagine#steve harrington#dustin henderson#lucas sinclair#max mayfield#robin buckley#stranger things x you#stranger things x reader#stranger things imagine#eleven stranger things#stranger things imagines#stranger things fanfiction#stranger things
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I already liked the Haitanis because of their dynamic, and their history with each of the gangs is so interesting to me too, but this was the moment that catapulted Ran Haitani even further up my list of Tokyo Revengers faves.
To start, the Tenjiku arc made me see the Haitanis differently, and it started during their fight with Angry and Hakkai as Ran and Rindou’s dynamic really started to shine. We got a taste of Rindou’s resentment at being in his brother’s shadow during the start of the arc when they fought Mitsuya, but it really came out in the Angry/Hakkai fight with Rindou understanding them because of his role as the youngest but also fighting hard because he’s sick of being underestimated as the youngest.
It’s also in that battle that Ran’s role as the older bro comes out and we see how he is with Rindou when they’re not on top as the strongest and when shit gets serious. (It’s also when my appreciation of him as a character really solidified but I digress). Ran could tell Angry was dangerous and tried to stop Rindou to protect him but it was too late, his brother charged and got knocked out and he followed shortly after. Before that, even as they were fighting together, Ran’s role as the level-headed older bro showed in his fight style, taking control so Rindou can fight without trouble as headstrong as he wants because he will be there to cover his six.
Later, Ran tries to stop Rindou twice, Rindou goes down, and he screams for his brother and rushes into defense mode before he’s knocked out too. We already knew, but it’s reinforced in this arc that Ran’s highest priority is Rindou and he will take care of his brother above all else.
(Side note: I love how Wakui gives us duos who as intense and dangerous as they are, have that loyalty and heart, and I love how we see that in Ran’s concern for Rindou.)
Speaking of heart, this brings me back to the end of the Tenjiku battle when Ran closes Izana and Kakucho’s eyes.
Rindou watched as Ran crouched over their bodies, pays his respects, and closes their eyes, and a few things struck me about this moment. It’s already a heartbreaking moment and to have this follow and to have someone like Ran pay his respects this way, it’s so poignant it made me tear up when I read it.
I also immediately had the thought that Ran’s likely done this before, and Rindou’s likely witnessed him do this before. Rindou watched him go and didn’t even question what he was about to do, which (given their status in as delinquents and their ascent as the brothers who have control of Roppongi) reinforced the thought that the two are sadly not strangers to the death of their fellow members.
Perhaps this is a ritual Rindou’s familiar with Ran doing when it comes to losing their members, perhaps Ran did this back when they lost one or both of their parents or whoever raised them before they were on their own—either way, this moment of heart and respect is something Ran felt compelled to say a few words and close their eyes and I love that he did. It helped give closure to the fight and offered a moment for all of us to take a moment too and say goodbye to Izana and Kakucho (at the time, at least we thought!)
idk I’m rambling but I love this moment in the Tenjiku arc, and appreciate that it was Ran who did it and how it highlighted how heavy this moment was for everyone involved and how these characters care about each other whether they’re brothers by blood, Tenjiku, or Toman in this delinquent life they live.
#tokrev#tokyo revengers#ran haitani#rindou haitani#haitani brothers#tenjiku arc#tr manga spoilers#kakucho#izana kurokawa#tokrev spoilers#idk im rambling#tokrev thoughts#tr thoughts#tr#haitani ran#haitani rindou#tokrev ran#tokrev rindou#tokrev meta#tokyo rev meta#kakucho hitto#hitto kakucho#tr spoilers
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It had been years since he had last seen you, his girl. You weren’t his girl, but you were his girl. He had only been Jason again for maybe a year or so, leaving the Arkham Knight in the past, and bringing the Red Hood into the light. He was still brining himself back, still having days where he feels nothing but rage. Days where he feels disgust, sadness, trauma. He has to be able to feel those things before he is able to love anyone else, not that he wants anyone else, you are it for him. You loved him for the little Jason that would show up on your doorstep with bruised and scraped knees, a belly needing to be filled. Instead of telling him to find help elsewhere, that you can’t let him in because your father would absolutely flip, you quietly let him in.
As he sits on your little twin bed, he takes in your room and pays attention to the small things. The pretty little pink flowers on your sheets, the Justin Bieber poster beside your desk. He scoffs at that. He notices the little finger paintings your younger sister made you, the well loved stuffed animals, and the little tea cup set you had at your play table. The last thing he payed attention to, while you gathered as many band-aids aid alcohol pads as your little 9 year old hands could hold, was all the knitted scarves and hats you had around your room. One was pink, another blue with a white rim, many rainbow colored ones, but the one that looked the warmest, was the red one. It had a white Pom-pom on top with little red laces on the bottom to tie it tight around your squishy little face. He imagined you in it, with your puffy cheeks. You scurry back into the room.
“Okay so these kinda sting,’’ you say ripping open an alcohol wipe, “I can hold your hand if you want.” You were half teasing. You did want to hold his hand but you knew he was like a scared rabbit, if you moved too fast he would scamper back into the darkness.
“I think I will manage, barely.” he smirks. He wanted to hold your hand too.
You payed attention to him as well. You payed attention to how his knees weren’t just bruised, but scarred. How his teeth were only a bit crooked. His hair was curly in the most perfect way, with a little curl falling right in front of his face. His freckles and blue eyes. You loved everything about him. You also noticed those pretty little blue eyes looking at your red hat.
“My nana makes those y’know,” you chirp, “she can make you one if you want.”
“I’m all set.” He says, looking away.
“Alright. Well guess what happened the other day! I went to the store and I found…” You rambled on, getting back to doctoring his knees.
He spent the remaining time of the night listening to insignificant stories about your little life. About the silly man you saw wearing a bright yellow suit and pink polka dot shoes. About the stray cat with one eye. He started looking at you again, looking at your funny little bed head, cowlick sticking straight up. Your blue striped pajama set. Bunny slippers. Everything about you was cute, you were only a year or so younger than him.
You met him at the Gotham Public library. You were both looking for books on mythology, he was looking for Greek while you were looking for Norse, different but alike, just like the pair of you. Ever since then, you were always around one another. He walked you home from school, made sure you got into your apartment okay. He would go to the park with you, push you on the swings. He even read you stories when you were sick and your mother let him in to see you. I mean, how could you deny him, he looked like a kicked puppy when he found out you couldn’t play.
You weren’t like the other city kids, you were kind. That’s why he liked you so much. All the obstacles you overcame, and you were still forgiving and patient. He envied that. Everything he went through made him angry and unforgiving. He would tell you about that, but you would just tell him that there’s two sides to every coin, and he didn’t know what the hell that meant. Sometimes you just said stuff.
You finished up with a quick kiss to his knees and exclaimed that you were all done. You turned on your heel and walked right over to the little red hat. You walked right back over to him and put in on his head.
“It’s a little too big for me, but it fits you just right!”
“I can’t take this.” He says, without taking it off.
“Yes, you can.” You quip.
“No I can’t.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Jason Peter Todd I will win the fight and you know it.” You giggle.
His response is nonverbal, just a huff. You smile.
He moves toward the window in your room, opens it and climbs onto the fire escape. He takes one last look into your lovely room and one last look at your lovely face. He waves his hand at you, beckoning you to come to him. He presses one little kiss to your cheek and quickly, but quietly he shuts the window. Then he’s gone, probably going home, leaving you with a red hot face and a goofy smile.
#jason todd#jason todd fanfiction#jason todd fluff#jason todd imagine#jason todd x fem!reader#jason todd x reader#jason todd x you#jason todd headcanon#mygirl!verse
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(The secret history spoiler warning)
unironically the thing I love most about the secret history is that it’s messed up by all means. Each character from the Greek class is messed up one way or another, and their faults, their fatal flaws—they’re not just any flaws no, they’re flaws that make these characters horrid. Yes they had cute interactions, yes I always think about their time in the countryhouse, when they were by the lake and Camilla injured her foot, Francis in his robe and Henry in his suit with the trousers rolled up to the knees, looking like a banker in an old impressionist painting, as he wades into the water, Charles saving Richard a sandwich and almost getting in trouble for it, bunny being kind to Richard at the start of the book and trusting him to the very end, the way bunny and Marion were so old married couple coded, Judy Poovey talking Richard’s ears off and being a girl 🎀, Henry beating up that jock for Camilla
Despite all this, Charles remains an incestuous drunkard and an abuser, Francis remains a melodramatic man who’d ask just about anyone he thinks attractive to bed on the first meeting, he’s also an anxious mess and refuses to believe there are consequences to his chain smoking, Camilla is manipulative and we know little of her bc of Richard’s idolisation, Richard morbidly longing for the picturesque at the expense of others’ lives and viewing the Greek class through rose tinted glasses, bunny was a homophobe and racist and leeched off everyone’s money—he literally put Richard on the spot during one of their first interactions in the book when he took him to the Brasserie and had Henry pay for everything—and looking through his sick friend’s diary and he was so darn annoying I couldn’t stand him at all in the first read, and even that might as well be exaggerated because it’s only Richard’s perspective on him, and bunny seemed to be well liked in the university by those outside the Greek class. I don’t even know where to start with Henry, I’m gonna have to make a separate post for him alone at this point. And even Judy, remember when Richard met her in the bathroom and she was talking about her slamming into Camilla when Camilla JUST entered the place, and when Camilla called her out Judy just dunked her beer on her because being drunk is a perfect excuse to see that as the right thing to do? And then when Henry and Charles went up to defend Camilla Judy called them abusers for defending her? 😭 though Henry breaking Spike’s bones is another thing to be honest.
and don’t get me started on the bacchanal—the four of them killing an innocent man in their frenzy and getting away with it and brushing it under the rug later on. They’re literal murderers, and that’s before the plan of murdering Bunny was introduced
and ALL of them are chainsmokers and alcoholics to a dangerous point, can you even imagine the smell?????
anyhow, the main point of this ramble, is that to get a good sense of what this book is really about, I’d suggest rereading it at least once. Donna is a master of her craft, and this work of hers is anything but shallow, even the flaws are so perfectly placed and shadowed by our unreliable narrator to the point where there’s a big bunch of readers who completely ignore them (think of how there’s critics and readers who assume that Lolita is a romance novel) , but if you look from a more rational angle you’ll understand what Donna was trying to communicate
and I love love love how she did all of this
#thank you for coming to my ted talk#tsh#the secret history#the secret history Donna tartt#henry winter#richard papen#bunny corcoran#francis abernathy#camilla macaulay#charles macaulay#The Greek class#tw spoilers#tsh spoilers
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A Great Mentor: Only If You Like It
A One Shot
Summary: You sit down with Andy to settle on a first and middle name for your daughter.
Pairing: Andy Barber x fem!Reader
Warnings: None 🥰
Word count: ~800
a/n: Even though this is part of a series, it can def be read alone. I MISS THIS SERIES SO MUCH.
All you want to do is say hi and let him know you’re home, but he doesn’t give you the chance, pouting when you walk into his home office.
“No,” he groans–almost whines as if you ruined something–gently closing his laptop as he drags the word out. “You’re home already?”
You open your mouth to retort, but you just scoff, “Yeah.” And you raise a skeptical eyebrow at him. “Don’t sound so happy about it.”
“No, that’s not–” He shakes his head, laughing a little. He holds his arm out and waves you in to come closer to him and you roll your eyes as you push off the door frame to let him draw you in. “I’m just finishing up, sweetheart. But I wanted to have dinner ready before you got home for once.”
“Well, that’s okay,” you chuckle. “Don’t worry about it.”
He takes your hand once you get within reach of him, and you know where he wants you, but you just lean against his desk instead.
It’s his turn to give you a questioning look. He’s used to you sitting on his lap.
“C’mere…”
“I’m getting too heavy for that,” you mumble, resisting his gentle tug.
“No you’re not,” he laughs quietly, giving one more reassuring try. “I’m strong, I promise.”
You give in, letting him pull you down to sit with him. With one arm around your back and his other hand on your growing belly, he gets you to relax.
“See, you’re fine,” he winks.
You ignore his told you so, wanting to get back to the cooking thing.
“I’d rather cook anyway.” You never let an opportunity to tease him slip away. “Remember that time I got sick after eating your parmesan chicken?”
“Hey now,” he chuckles. “That was before we were even together.”
“I know, I had to lie to my parents and say I was hungover the next morning when I was lying on their bathroom floor,” you laugh, giving him a playful shove. “Because telling them I was wasted was safer than telling them I was sneaking around with you the night before!”
“That was so long ago.” He shakes his head thinking back. “I’m sorry my cooking is subpar and maybe known for getting you sick once… or twice. Okay?”
“Okay,” you nod, giving him a quick consolation kiss.
“How was your day?”
“Good,” you sigh, leaning against him a little more. “Really long.”
“Mm,” he hums, just holding you a moment, enjoying the quiet after all day. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thanks,” you smile. He reminds you every chance he gets, especially during the past few months. “I–We,” you correct yourself, placing your hand on top of his over your stomach. “–Want to talk about something.”
“Yeah?”
“About her name…” Your voice trails off as you wait for his reaction.
“Honey–” He chimes in immediately. “I’ve been thinking about it. I like Evren. I think it’s a beautiful name.”
You try to interrupt him. You don’t need to settle on her first name yet. But he doesn’t let you stop him.
“I can tell you really love it. And it’s growing on me… I think.”
You laugh a little at his rambling, running your fingers through his hair.
“You really like it?”
“Yeah, angel.”
“That was easy,” you tease, sitting up proudly as if you just won something. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about middle names…”
He gives you a look, clearly confused. He doesn’t see the need for that yet without having agreed on a first name thus far.
“I was just going to say that whatever we choose for her first name has to go with her middle name,” you explain. “And I have one that I want to run by you.”
“Oh, this’ll be good,” he scoffs, rolling his eyes jokingly.
“Stop,” you laugh, swatting at his arm before getting more serious. “How do you feel about Marianne?”
“Mari–” He softly begins to repeat it, processing what you said. “Like my mom? Marianne?”
“Yeah,” you nod slowly.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really,” you let out a small laugh. “It’s a beautiful name. But only if you like it.”
“I love it,” he quickly assures you. “Evren Marianne…”
It’s your turn to repeat him, mirroring his smile as you listen to how the names sound together out loud.
“I love you,” he whispers, resting his head on your shoulder. “You’re sure?”
“I’m so sure,” you promise. He lifts his head to look at you when you gently nudge him. “I love when you talk about your mom. I want Evren to know her.”
He nods, leaning to give you a soft kiss. “Me too.”
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#andy barber#andy barber x reader#andy barber fanfic#chris evans x reader#chris evans fanfic#andy barber fanfiction#andy barber imagine#a great mentor series
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Taken
Summary: It was just meant to be a quick trip into the waking world, just to locate a certain nightmare for your husband. But instead of going home when you found the nightmare, you were trapped in a mortals basement. - Dream x Reader
Warnings: Brief description of Jessamy dying, some swearing, and general sadness for the first lil chunk. I believe that’s it?? Don’t come at me for the lame title I’m bad at making those up I’ll get better I promise. Rip to the possible grammar and spacing errors I missed.
A/N: I’ve had this in my drafts for a hot minute, and i’ve re-read it so much it’s annoying. This was not meant to be over 2k but here we are. I really need to find cute little dividers to put in my fics lmao II Gif not mine credit to the creator - I do not consent to my work being reposted to other sites, I only post my writing here, but likes and reblogs are appreciated!
~
“He is my creation, I insist-”
“You have better things to do than chase around a rogue nightmare my love.”
Morpheus sighed, you could see he was having an internal conflict. You knew the dangers of the waking world just as well as he did. But you liked to think you could handle said dangers without your husband lurking behind you. You climbed up the steps to his throne stopping just before you bumped into his knees.
“Let me go track Corinthian down, then I’ll pop back here and fill you in. Might even be able to sweet talk him into coming back, I’ve been told I have quite the charm.” ending your plea with a smile.
You could see the slight eye roll you were given, didn’t change the fact Morpheus smirked the tiniest bit. “Please don’t try to confront him, I like to keep him far from you.” he mumbled, standing up from his throne.
You leaned forward and wrapped your arms around Morpheus, he copied your actions immediately. Moving his head down to speak into your ear, “Promise me you’ll be safe my love.”
You leaned back just enough to meet his eyes, “I promise, if it makes you feel better send Jessamy to keep an eye on me.”
That was the last time you saw Morpheus, and that moment played over and over in your head.
~ ~ ~ ~
“So which one have I got then?”
“You my friend have the King of Dreams wife locked up in your basement”
“What will she get me?”
“Not much I’m afraid, but do yourself a favor and make sure the sigils on the floor keep her powerless. The last thing you want is for her to zap back home and send her husband rampaging into your home.” Corinthian stopped pacing the room. Adjusting his glasses before continuing, “Do yourself a favor and take that wedding ring of hers, that’s the closest you’ll get to any of Dreams power.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Soon your captor was stalking around you like a lion watching his prey. You felt sick, exposed, whatever other word fits that bill, you felt it. Listening to this man, who introduced himself as Roderick, rambles about how if you give him what he wants you can go free. Your eyes simply follow him around the room not saying a single word. As he left he thanked you for the gift, holding out your beloved wedding ring that now hung from a chain.
And so the rather uncomfortable days went on, as you sat contorted into a position that protected a bit of your modesty, feeling the anguish settle in your chest. Only being able to imagine what Morpheus was feeling. You did find a bit of solace when you had the women guards watching you. Their eyes stayed on their books, and when they looked at you the looks were filled with confusion.. and occasionally sadness.
Roderick came back to visit you again, but this time he got a reaction from you. Not that it mattered much to him, he just wanted you to cooperate.
“All you have to do is summon your Morpheus-”
“Don’t you dare speak his name,” you snapped startling him. The first words you’d spoken to him dripped with venom.
Tears welled in your eyes at the thought of Morpheus. Eventually left alone again you let the tears flow, choking back sobs. You could have wept forever if you wanted, but you collected yourself and returned to the stoic state you had adopted since being captured.
~ ~ ~ ~
Hearing the flap of bird wings had your head snapping up towards the door, you watched Jessamy slip between the bars and flutter about your prison. You shifted to sit up more as she pecked at the glass, you smiled for the first time in years. Hope ignited in your chest, because if she sees you, Dream sees you.
“Jessamy, oh sweet bird look at you.” your voice broke, from being overwhelmed and not being used for years. Her pecking became more frantic as your hand reached up to touch the glass.
Then a loud boom had you staring at blood, your eyes slowly moving down to the corpse of you and your husband's beloved raven. The anger in your eyes was enough to send a brief look of terror across Alex’s, while Roderick stood by the door with no reaction. As they left you be, you would have given anything to be able to grieve without people watching you. To scream, cry, wail, anything would have done. Instead you just wept silently, making yourself as small as you possibly could inside your cage.
~ ~ ~ ~
You had seen Roderick die, and his son grow old. Yet he still begged for what he had no business, trying to bargain with you. He sat in his wheelchair damning you to hell when you glared and uttered a soft, “I owe you nothing.”
Maybe you would decay here. Eventually turn to dust and be forgotten by time, any fate is better than sitting in silence for the rest of this universe's existence. Your eyes closed, even if you slept you never dreamed, thanks to whatever chalk markings kept you here and hidden from The Dreaming. You made peace with the silence long ago, it was more comforting than suffocating now.
Your ongoing silence was disrupted by someone approaching the basement, not having the energy to deal with another berating you kept your eyes closed. As you listened to the guards approach the door and utter sounds of confusion you were intrigued. Opening your eyes as you heard two loud thuds, and for a moment you didn't believe your eyes. Morpheus was standing right in front of you, looking down at the chalk markings before wiping them away with his foot. He stepped forward putting his hand on the glass separating you. The sob that slipped out sounded like it should’ve come from a wounded animal, not the queen of The Dreaming.
Soon the glass was shattered and you were collapsing into his arms, broken sobs leaving your lips as you clung to him. The first thing out of your mouth nearly broke Morpheus, “I-I’m so sorry oh I’m an idiot, it’s all my fault. They shot her right in front of me and I knew you were watching it too and- oh god-.”
He hugged you impossibly close, shushing you gently, “Let me take you home my love.”
Sand whipped around you and when you opened your eyes you were back in your shared bedroom. You were home. Silently thanking Morpheus for ensuring you were clothed when you both appeared. So many things you wanted to say but nothing but choked sobs were coming out of your mouth. But it seemed like Morpheus understood everything you were trying to say as he held onto you.
Your sobs seemed never ending, their severity had gone down and now you just held onto Morpheus as if he himself would turn into sand and blow away. He made no effort to try and stop your tears, as he silently wept on his own. You pulled away gently, moving to cup his face in your hands, which he welcomed. Wiping his tears and taking a shaky breath, “I’m so sorry,” you whispered.
This time it was Morpheus’s turn to move his hands to your face, his face holding a look of disbelief. “You are apologizing for being taken against your will? When it is I who should be sorry, begging on my knees for your forgiveness.” You attempted to shake your head, but he continued before you could protest.
“I should have found you sooner, it never occurred to me that someone could steal you away from me. I will never let that happen again.”
You leaned forward into him, hiding your head in the crook of his neck. He held onto you in silence for as long as you wanted. Your tears had stopped and when you leaned back, just enough to look around your shared bedroom, head turning in all directions. Not a single thing had changed in over a century, it was just as the day you left it.
“I could not bear the thought of changing much throughout the palace,” Morpheus murmured as if he read your mind, “To change anything would have been erasing your presence here.. That and I knew you would scold me the day you came back had anything been changed without your consent.” At that you let a soft laugh out accompanied by a smile. A smile Morpheus had missed so much, his fingers gently tilted your head towards him as he leaned towards you. Stopping only inches from your lips, giving you a moment to say no should you not want to go any further.
You closed the small gap connecting your lips to his, a pathetic whimper escaping into his mouth. Had you not been so enamored by feeling his lips for the first time in over a century, you’d have felt embarrassed by that sound. Even with all that time apart your bodies still knew each other just the same. Mouths moving slowly and gently against one another, as if one of you would shatter with too rough of movement. Your hands had made their way up the back of Morpheus’s neck, ever so gently winding your fingers through his hair. As gentle as that motion was, it was still enough to pull a soft moan from the back of his throat. The kiss became more intense, pulling yourself impossibly closer to your lover, as if trying to fuse your bodies together for the rest of eternity.
It was Morpheus who pulled away first, a slight smile gracing his lips as you both caught your breath. “As much as I would love to spend the next several hours with you in this room, you have a realm that has missed you so.” Knowing he was right you copied his small smile planting a final soft kiss on his lips before asking, “Do I look presentable? Minus the dark circles around my eyes.”
To which he responded, “You look perfect my love.”
His hand slid down and laced his fingers with yours, “Before I forget,” he mumbled as something slipped onto your finger, “I believe this belongs to you, my queen.”
Looking down at your hand you saw your wedding ring back where it’s meant to be. A feeling of contentment washed over you being reunited with it.
~ ~ ~ ~
Morpheus held out his arm as you both descended down the stairs, you took it gladly needing all the support you could get. Turns out being sat in a glass prison for a century makes you feel like a baby deer in terms of walking. “Shall we stop by the library first?” he proposed, to which you agreed immediately. The thought of seeing Lucienne and Mervyn made your heart soar, which was clear in your footsteps as they sped up. Taking in the palace, still the exact same as Morpheus said, although it seemed a bit unwelcoming.
“I will be the first to admit,” your husband began hesitantly, “When it was evident you were missing… the palace grew colder. Which may have been the result of my demeanor.”
Your heart ached for him then, simply squeezing his arm as you rounded the corner and got into the library. As you both walked through some shelves you heard the loud booming of laughter, clearly from Mervyn. Finally making it into the main area, you saw the table he was sitting at, with a raven you’d never seen before.
“Perfect timing my lord, there’s a few books I’d-” Lucienne’s voice died in her throat as she emerged from a corner of the library. Dropping the book in her hand, speaking in a whisper, “My Lady?”
You nodded and darted towards her, yanking her into a hug, which she welcomed. Occupied by the reunion with her you missed Mervyn’s head snapping in your direction with a gasp. You separated and it was apparent you were both fighting back tears.
“I-It’s been-”
“Too long?”
“Too long indeed my lady, oh how we’ve missed you” sniffling as she spoke, you could feel the urge to ask questions radiate off her. But she knew you’d explain everything to her in time.
Soon you were being pulled into another hug by the beloved pumpkin head, to which you let out a giggle. “Good to have you back ma’am, I missed my gossip buddy.” This was the most you had smiled in a long time. “I’m sure we have a lot to catch up on.” “Boy do we! The minute you’re free I'll start the catch up!”
Finally your eyes landed on the raven who was awkwardly hopping from foot to foot on the table beside you. You bent down slightly, just enough to not absolutely tower over the poor bird. “And who is this little bird?” You queried softly, feeling the apprehension in the room. Morpheus didn’t intend for you to meet him right away. After what you witnessed with Jessamy, he was going to put this off for as long as possible.
The raven cleared his throat before speaking, “M-My name is um, Matthew, caw! It’s Matthew ma’am.” he avoided eye contact like it would anger you. Hearing Lucienne validate his existence for your husband's safety made you you smile, holding out your hand for Matthew. He hesitantly hopped into your palm as you stood up, gently running a finger over his head.
“Welcome to the family Matthew, I owe you a lot for keeping my husband in one piece for part of my absence,” your tone warm and soft, causing a visible relaxation in the raven and the room, “After all, I know how stubborn he can be.” Laughter echoed through the library as you finished that sentence. He dipped his head as you let him hop back onto the table, and soon you were on Morpheus’s arm again walking around the realm, feeling the joy slip back into every crevice in your presence.
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This is so wrong. Part iii.
Pairing: Steve x Eddie x reader / Steddie x reader
Summary: You and Eddie haven’t talked to Steve in two weeks since you’d both found him in a compromising position. Steve has been having trouble in many aspects of his life since then and decided one night that enough is enough, he has to see you both.
Part 1 & Part 2 here but could probably be read by itself. Part 4
Warnings: Smut (18+), jerking off, voyeurism, language, perv! Steve, p in v sex, cream pie sorta.
Word count: 1.6k
a/n: Part 3 of “This is so wrong”! I can’t believe people actually enjoyed the first two parts, thank you everyone so much. This part is a little shorter as I’m pretty slammed with work and stuff but I’m definitely going to make a 4th part to wrap it all up! Hope you enjoy and as always, any feedback or thoughts are greatly appreciated!
It had been two weeks since you and Eddie caught Steve jerking off to the thought of you two. Two weeks since he’s seen you both. Two weeks of feeling sorry for himself… Two weeks since he’s gotten off.
Steve has been filled with shame and thoroughly embarrassed since the whole ordeal two weeks ago. He’s also upset that neither of you have contacted him since - but that’s not entirely your or Eddie’s fault. Steve hasn’t really left the house since… and he’s been avoiding picking up the phone… and has been turning down plans with all your mutual friends… but still, he misses you both so much.
He’s also been having trouble in other areas… He hasn’t been able to make himself cum since. Every time he thinks of that afternoon (which is a lot) he gets so turned on. The memories of the sounds you and Eddie made, the scent of you and the feeling of you chasing your release against his face, the feeling of Eddie’s hands and rings finally on him, the feeling of his dick stuffing the back of your throat, how easily he had settled into being submissive for Eddie and how much he’d liked it - It has him getting hard over and over again.
But, every time he goes to jerk off he just can’t seem to finish. His hand just isn’t you or Eddie. The memories only seeming to remind him of how much he misses you both.
It’s now 8pm on Friday night. He’s already turned down plans with Robin, much to her dismay, as she whined about hardly seeing him outside of work recently and even at work, he’s been distant. He just gave her some excuse about thinking he’s getting sick, which just started a whole new line of rambling. Saying something about how there’s no way she’d see him until he’s gone to the doctor and is fully over whatever it is he’s fighting.
To be honest, he’d kind of zoned out after that, just wishing the call would end so he could go back to wallowing in his own self-pity.
And so here he was, tightly tugging his raw cock as it starts to go soft for what seems like the thousandth time already since he started an hour and a half ago. He groans out a broken sob in anger, stopping his motions all together. He brings his other hand up to rub at his face, growing ever frustrated.
He’s about to call it quits and find something else, like a movie, to distract him when he decides enough is enough. He calls Robin back, hoping she decided to have a quiet night in if he wasn’t available. He’s in luck when she answers.
“Robin, hey, It’s Steve. I had kind of a weird questi-“ Steve starts to say but is cut off.
“Steve!” Robin interrupts. “I was just thinking of you actually and was maybe going to give you a call. I was thinking about the symptoms you’ve been having lately, and I have a couple of theories of what might be wrong with you. I already know you’ve been practically, constantly tired but what other specific symptoms have you had?”
Steve rolls his eyes at her ramblings, secretly loving that she’s obviously concerned.
“Robin, I don’t have time for this,” Steve tries to not sound desperate, “I’m kind of in a rush, I just need you to tell me: Do you know what y/n and Eddie are doing tonight?”
“What? y/n and Eddie?” Robin asks, “Um, I think they’re just hanging out at Eddie’s trailer, I asked them if they wanted to hang out before, but they said they were busy, and I didn’t really want to ask for any more details. Anyway, as I was saying, I really think you could have a mix of- “
“Awesome, thanks robin!” Steve says hanging up the phone. He feels bad, he really does, and he knows that Robin was just being nice, but he can’t find it in himself to wait another second. If you and Eddie weren’t going to come and see him, he would just go and see both of you.
*****
Steve gets to Eddie’s trailer in record time. He hardly focused the whole drive over; all he knew is he had to see you. Now pulling up at Eddie’s trailer, however, he wished he’d thought up some sort of a plan. He can see Eddie’s van parked out front, so he knows at least one of you are here.
He hesitates for a second before hopping out of the car. Fuck it, he thinks. He can’t embarrass himself more than he already has. He can hear Eddie’s music blaring from outside the trailer. He decides to try the front door as he’s pretty sure Eddie wouldn’t be able to hear him knocking over the music anyway. He’s delighted to find it unlocked.
However, as soon as he steps inside, he can hear it. The sounds of moans filling the trailer, coming from the only room down the hall. He quickly closes the door behind him, wanting to make sure the whole trailer park doesn’t hear you two.
He slowly makes his way down the hall. He was about to knock and call out to you both, he really was but through the crack in Eddie’s bedroom door he sees the obscene image of you both.
Eddie was behind you, one hand gripping the plush of your ass, the other tangled in your hair, holding your head down into the mattress as he roughly pounded into you. You had your ass in the air, moving to meet each of his thrust, both hands gripping the fabric to steady yourself as Eddie set a harsh pace.
Steve could hear your muffled moans and random string of obscenities that left your mouth, sounding thoroughly blissed out and cock drunk. Eddie sounded just as gone as you, grunting and moaning with each thrust as he fucked you into a puddle beneath him.
Luckily for Steve your head was down the end of the bed angled to the right, away from the door. The door to the room was also covering the view that Eddie would’ve had of Steve in the mirror.
Steve can feel the tent forming in his pants at the sight, already almost rock hard. Steve can’t help himself, its like his brain shuts off completely, all rational thoughts leave him until the only thoughts he’s having are about you and all he can think about is touching himself.
I mean, it has been two weeks since he’s come.
God, apparently, I can embarrass myself further, the thinks as he slowly unzips his pants, trying to make as little noise as possible to not disturb you two. As soon as his zipper is down far enough, he quickly pushes his pants and boxers down enough for his cock to spring free.
He sucks in a breath as the cool air hits his hard, oversensitive cock. He tightly grasps the base of it as you and Eddie let out particularly loud moans and grunts. Steve thinks Eddie must’ve hit that particularly sensitive spot inside you.
Steve licks a long stripe up his palm, wetting it before smearing it along his length. He grips himself, thrusting in time with Eddie’s thrusts.
Eddie then picks up his pace, pulling out slow and slamming into you. You practically scream each time Eddie’s dick meets deep inside of you.
Steve stuffs his left fist in his mouth, biting down to stop from moaning. This is the closest he’s been in two weeks, just from watching you both.
Eddie reaches around to your clit, rubbing tight circles on the swollen bud. “Oh, yes sweetheart, you’re clenchin’ me so good.” You scream out and jerk your hips in response.
“God, I’m gonna cum from your vice grip on my cock babe, this pretty pussy gonna cum all over me? Fuckin’ soak my dick?”
“Yes Eddie!” you practically scream, “’m so close, want you to cum Eddie please.”
Steve loved seeing you both like this. Just completely relaxed and lost in pleasure with each other, maybe even more than he loved seeing you both pleasuring him. He was so close, hand faltering as he tried to hold of his impending orgasm. It was hard though as he was so desperate to just finally cum.
“aw fuck,” Eddie blurted out suddenly, “I’m gonna cum sweetheart, gonna fill up this little pussy.”
“yes, Eddie. Wanna feel you- wanna feel you fill me up. ‘m gonna cum soon Eddie please don’t stop.”
Eddie came from your words with a grunt, Steve following shortly after with a whimper he tried his best to hide. Eddie kept up his movements, groaning at the overstimulation but determined to make you cum.
“That’s it baby,” he encouraged as he came shortly after, gushing around him as you screamed his name. “Cum around me, soak this fucking dick… Make sure you put on a good show for Stevie.”
All the blood left Steve’s face at the mention of his name. He quickly stuffed himself back in his pants and did up his zipper as you collapsed on the bed, still coming down from your high and turning your head to the left, meeting his eyes.
Eddie smoothed his hand over your hair, thumb rubbing your cheek before he hopped up, making his way over to Steve. He opened the door slightly, leaning on the frame. Steve looked down at the floor playing with his fingers, too ashamed to meet his eyes.
No way this was happening again. Steve knew now you’d both never forgive him.
Eddie reached out his hand and tilted Steve’s chin up to meet his gaze, eyes soft. “Was wondering how long it’d take you to come join us Harrington” he said mischievously, grabbing Steve’s hand and dragging him inside.
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Ok, this is my first time requesting anything but I've been reading your works for a long time and I am a complete sucker for platonic fics so here it is: Headcanons for being Jeremiah and Conrad's younger sister. If you don't wanna do this it's totally fine. Thank you
Hi, thank you so much for all your support and reading my fics!
Obviously they’re brothers so you can’t be the sister of one without the other, but I’m breaking it up a bit to organize my rambling Headcanons about your relationship with each of them individually too.
Younger-Sister!/Fisher!Reader x Sibling!/Platonic!Conrad & Sibling!/Platonic!Jeremiah Fisher Headcanons
Jeremiah As An Older Brother:
He would indulge in every hobby, interest, sport or activity, etc. that you ever found yourself enjoying or wanting to try. He’d do it to not only support you but to spend time with you as well; even if he didn’t enjoy the particular activity you’d be doing.
He’d be both supportive and protective when it came to you dating. He’d worry for you and your wellbeing but also encourage you to not be shy or insecure.
Jeremiah would make tons of jokes in front of your crush. Sometimes he could accidentally go too far; as such, he’d apologize for it and probably fumble over himself in his attempt to undo it.
Jeremiah would offer tons of advice (although it might not always be the best or most helpful).
He would attend all of your extracurricular activities to cheer you on.
He’d be the one to teach you how to drive, making playful jokes throughout your progress.
He’d be more relaxed about you aging and trying more adult things like drinking. That’s not to say he wouldn’t be watching you closely to ensure you were safe. He just wouldn’t be as direct or restrictive about it.
Conrad As An Older Brother:
Whenever you were sick, you could count on Conrad to be there to take care of you. He’d be probably a bit over-the-top at first with it, but he means well.
Conrad would be very protective when it comes to you dating. He’d be overly cautious about your love interest hurting you in some way. He’d warn you of any red flags he saw. That’s not to say he wouldn’t be there when things went wrong. Instead….
Conrad would be there to help you get through any heartbreak or breakup. He’d likely rely on the adult women in his life (such as past lessons from or experiences he’d seen Susannah handle, or from talking with Laurel) to know what to do. But, you can count on him come to your defense and aid and to have your fav ice-cream (or other comfort food of your choosing) ready, your favorite movie pulled up on the screen, and face masks/etc ready for you and he’d never truly say “I told you so”, even if he did; he’d only say it if you pushed him to and even then it would be in a joking lighthearted manner.
He wouldn’t be the best when it came to handling you dating, but you could count on him to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.
That being said, he’d try to keep Jeremiah’s jokes in front of you crush from truly crossing any lines or hurting your feelings. He’d laugh along with the ones that caused you to blush, etc. but wouldn’t let them go too far.
Conrad would be the best for advice. He would frustratingly always seem to have the answers. Conrad would even look into topics in which he wasn’t very familiar with or informed about before offering his advice to you.
He would attend your sports and extracurriculars. If he knew enough about them, he’d be able to offer tips or tricks on how to improve; if you were okay with that.
Unlike Jeremiah, Conrad would struggle a lot with you growing up. He’d have to work on not being so controlling and restrictive. It wouldn’t be easy for him to let go and not see you as someone he needs to constantly look after/over. He’d be proud of all your accomplishments and milestones, but he’d also feel somewhat distraught about the changes.
Overall, Conrad and Jeremiah would really do everything they could to be good older brothers. It would honestly at times almost be competitive in nature between the two of them. But, at the end of the day they would both love you and do their best to care for you and help you become a great person.
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#jeremiah fisher x reader#jeremiah fisher fluff#Jeremiah fisher x sister!reader#platonic Jeremiah fisher#Jeremiah fisher sister#Conrad fisher#Conrad fisher x Reader#conrad fisher fluff#Conrad fisher x sister!reader#platonic Conrad fisher#Conrad fisher sister#tsitp#the summer I turned pretty#original post#jahayla’s 1k follower celebration
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Danyal, Danny, Phantom.
Part 1 (Where the idea came from, very bare bones)
Okay wow, wasn’t expecting so many people wanting a part 2 tbh, also thank you for the follows as well (although IDK why you’d want to follow me, I’m random and rarely post sometimes.)
So before I get into this part 2, I just wanna make a few things clear.
I’m still new to DC/Batman most I know if from the animated series and I haven't seen it in ages, I have been able to get bits and pieces here and there though.
ANYONE is welcomed to use these ideas/concepts, just let me know, send me it, allow me to read it please. If anyone wants to draw some the ideas too that’ll be amazing, just let me know! I wanna see!
Also, I might, keyword MIGHT, actually write this idea into a story too, idk yet maybe. its been years since I wrote an actual fic tbh so I’m a little rusty. (You can actually see I used more of my writing style on this one compared to the last one tbh)
Also the reason I split these idea/concept into parts is the fact I tend to ramble and I knew if I wrote it on part 1 it would had gotten so long so here’s a fresh page with the rest of the ideas...
So the reason why I had this idea is because I read some fics where Ra’s always knows about Danny being either the Ghost King or a Halfa, or can fight him cause he has knowledge, I wanted a story where even Ra’s can be surprised and realizes there will ALWAYS be a ‘bigger’ fish even for that old ‘immortal’ (especially if Danny is Ra’s “failure of a heir.”)
Sorry this took a while, I wrote Part 1 at the end of me being sick by Covid, had to catch up on a few RL things, and legit a few days later my AC unit upstairs broke during a CA heatwave and it was pure HECK being in my room.
Danny is a little out of character but this is how I feel he'll be like with a year of being the Ghost King could be, along with the fact he has help from his friends and ghost friends as well. He's learned how to rule and has grown.
Oh be prepared, this is what happens when I’m allowed to ramble on ideas. This... This got rambly. (You should had seen this and part 3 together, it was so rambly)
So, a few things to note about Danny before we begin.
His name was is Danyal al Ghul (Wayne) Daniel “Danny” Fenton.
He was also known as (Ghost Boy, Ghost Child, Ghost Punk, Halfa) Danny Phantom
He also had other names as well such as The Great One, or Savoir of the Ghost Zone
But... for the last year he has been known as...
Ruler of the Infinite Realm, His Royal Highness King Phantom. Or as he would rather be simply referred to as (when he’s forced to have/use a title)...
The Ghost King.
...King Phantom also worked.
Simple yes, but Danny preferred it. (Again only when he’s forced to use a title, which sadly since being crowned the new King is most of the time now and only those close to him still call him Danny or at the very least Daniel (coughClockworkcough).
SO.... Its had been a year since Danny had been crowned the new Ghost King, sure he was still a teen and it was honestly very hard in the beginning. Learning the ins and outs of the royal courts, setting up his inner court (aka those he trusted), dealing with entitled nobles, and how to handle the the weight of the crown he now wore but he knew he didn't have to face it by himself. Well not all of it, there was a few things he did on his own in order to prove he's a fair King, but Danny honestly loved it when he could get together with his inner circle (more like family) and discuss the recent news of the Infinite Realm (which Danny learned was the actual name of the Ghost Zone, he long since switched to using that name over the one his parents coined), problems needing to be addressed, and upcoming important festivals or days (Danny knew of the Holiday Truce but he didn't know of any other Ghost holidays/festivals until his ghost friends explained them to him) along with a number of his Kingly duties. This was just barely touching the surface of what Danny had to do nearly daily and again it took a while but he eventually was getting the hang of being a King.
Funny enough one of those duties turned out to be healing the oozing scars the old Ghost King left on the Mortal Realm during his reign... because those scars eventually became the Lazarus Pits and had they been causing harm in the Mortal Realm.
By the Ancients, the Lazarus Pits.
That was something Danny hadn't been expecting to hear so soon after regaining his memories from before living with the Fenton’s. And when Clockwork explained it to him, a small smirk on the always age changing beings face, that all the Pits would eventually dry up thus they would no longer be able to revive the dead once Danny started healing them...
Danny had laughed when he had been told this information.
He laughed until he had started to cry. He had even laughed so hard he changed back from his ghost form to his living one and then back again because he lost breath from his laughter. (It actually concerned his friends, Dani and Jazz when this happened tbh) It took a while but when Danny’s laughter finally trailed into hiccups, light coughs, and deep breaths, Clockwork merely floated over and asked with all-knowing smirk on his face “Quite done Daniel?”
You see the reason why this was funny to Danny was the fact that he was finally getting revenge on his ex-grandfather for... well for everything. And he was going to enjoy ruining Ra’s al Ghul treasured little Lazarus Pits with pure glee. The amount of pure joy he felt knowing this even surpassed his feelings for when he’s able to mess up Vlad’s evil plans for the month.
As mentioned before, Danny had no memories upon waking up in a hospital after nearly losing his life from wounds no child should ever have on their bodies. It wasn’t until the night after his crowning that as he dreamed of his past, it was in these dreams he had finally remembered everything. When he had woken up he had instantly went flying to Clockwork’s lair to speak with the time keeper, especially when he had remembered the last thing he had saw before waking up in the hospital.
[“Why?” that was all Danny would ask when seeing the ageless ghost, not bothering to say hello or even small talk like they normally would do, if he had been his living form he would had been breathing heavily from the speed he flown to get there.
“It hadn’t been your time, your Highness.” was the only reply before the ticking of clocks in the room filled the silence between them.]
He had been Danyal al Ghul, the second heir to the Demon Head Ra’s al Ghul, the League of Assassins leader and his grandfather, son of Talia al Ghul, and twin brother to first heir Damian al Ghul.
Talia, his mother, was a stoic woman. A true Assassin. Beautiful yet deadly. Someone Danyal could see now who would do anything to stay in power if he was to be honest with himself. But she did love him and Damian in her own way, only showing them this parental love when they were alone, away from servants and other assassin’s eyes. Some of his fondest memories of the woman had been her cupping his face and speaking softly of how much he looked like her “Beloved”, their father. His eyes, and hair (and his 'soft' heart) were the only things he knew about his father, the only thing he has been allowed to know.
Damian, his twin brother, both of them mostly sharing the same face with small differences and build at the time, his other half, the one that he had came into this world together had, was, is the one Danyal would die for. And he did. His brother was the prefect heir, the prefect budding assassin in the eyes of the others in Nanda Parbat. Much like their mother he tended to try to hide his emotions behind an emotionless mask, he always carried himself stronger than Danyal would, despite them both being five years old they had been born into this life and learned very quickly how to survive that place. But behind closed doors the two would often talk in whispers, of the what ifs of their lives, how their day was, etc etc. Danyal’s fondest memories of his brother was them sneaking out to watch the stars late at night and making a promise to always face any problem together as they held hands and lightly tapped each with their fingers.
His grandfather, Ra’s however was a ruthless and cold man. An ‘immortal’ due to the Lazarus Pits that always brought him back to life, and he had always hated Danyal. No matter what Danyal would do it was always a failure to his grandfather, it didn’t matter if he tried his hardest to be a ‘perfect’ little assassin like his brother, everything he did in the older man’s eyes was a mistake. Any mistakes Danyal did was often met with punishment and pain. He had no fond memories of the man, only a deep seeded mutual dislike if anything.
And it was with this hatred for Danyal, that had caused Ra’s to summon both his grandchildren one night to the combat room and demanded for them both to fight for heir ship. A fight that would end in one of them dying, something all of them in room knew it would lead to. A fight two five years did not want to do but had no choice. Not even Talia’s disbelieving single protest to the fight could not stop Ra’s command.
As the Demon Head, his word was law.
In the end, Danyal couldn’t wouldn’t harm his brother (his grandfather always hated how ‘soft’ his heart was, "to much like his father" was often said with a tsk). They were both only five years old, they were brought into the world together, they told secrets behind closed doors and whispered dreams under the endless sea of stars they would sneak out to see, they would lightly tap messages with their fingers when the other would have bad days and didn’t wish to speak about it but wanted some sort of comfort.
He wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t harm his brother but Damian... Danyal knew Damian would follow the order to fight despite not wanting to as well, Damian always followed orders with little to no fuss unlike Danyal who always second guessed with whys and questions, Danyal also knew Damian would believe he would fight back in defense at least...
But he didn’t.
Some of the few things he remembered was Damian’s eyes widen in horror, his mother’s uncaring mask and body twitch for a moment, and his grandfather ‘tsking’ at him before he fell onto the cold stone floor. After that his memory became hard to remember, foggy but he knew of this.The pain he felt hurt and he tried so hard to stay alive for a few moments more, he could barely hear anything over his own harsh and deep breathing, his body felt heavy and his hands felt wet from the blood seeping out around him. Danyal could barely hear his grandfather’s voice, and could barely make out Ra’s leaving while his mother guided Damian out of the room, she did not look back and Damian moved like a puppet on a string being pulled away. Danyal barely registered hands lifting him up and carrying him out of the room, his vision slowly fading as he was carried in the dimly lit halls of his ‘home’. His memory became very spotty after that, barely noticing he had been left outside the compound to die and as he took in a harsh breath in an attempt to get air, he could hear two words as clear as day.
“Time Out.” and the only sound following those two words was the ticking of clocks while the last thing he saw was the always changing form of a ageless being.
After that Danyal would be found outside of a random hospital in America, far from his place of birth, far from his mother and brother, barely hanging as doctors rushed to save this five year olds life. He would awake weeks later, with no memories of his own to speak of, and then one night a strange star plush/pillow would be gifted to him with the name Daniel on it. He would be bounced around foster home to foster home after he was cleared to leave the hospital and the cops had no leads on who or where he came from.
Daniel would eventually meet Jazz at the park and later her parents and worm his way into their hearts, he would later be adopted by them and live a somewhat normal life (as one can be with ghost hunting parents but at least he got Jazz as an older sister, even with Jack and Maddie’s rather unhealthy... obsession with ghosts he knew they loved him)
Ra’s failed second heir was no more, his name and life no longer mentioned in Nanda Parbat, Danyal al Ghul (Wayne) was by all intents and purpose dead to the man and to the League.
Now Daniel “Danny” Fenton lived in his place...
Up until that fateful day when he was fourteen, after that he was only half alive and once again became someone kind of new. A halfa this time. Danny Phantom.
And who would had guessed (not Ra’s that's for sure), he later would become The Ghost King, the Ruler of the Infinite Realm.
So imagine Danny’s surprise when as he had left his house for school one morning, he may be a King but hey he still needed his education according to Jazz (and Clockwork), when he had been ambushed and attacked by some assassins from the League and knocked out... (Shush his own assassin training was rusty and he hadn’t had time to practice them too much, his last major battle had been that all out brawl a week before his coronation with him vs his enemies, fun times. He also rarely got kidnapped since his crowning, half awake due to his Kingly duties and studying for Mr. Lancer’s 70% final grade test (Fun fact I had an actual teacher who did this) that Friday and honestly Danny wasn’t expecting assassins from the League to show up since the whole being pretty much declared dead to them thing)
Only to later slowly wake up on the familiar rough stone ground in Nanda Parbat (the smell, the sounds, the stonework. He often saw them in his dreams and memories but knew it was real this time) his hands bound and his body aching from laying motionless on the hard ground for a while. He put on a confused look on his face as he slowly rose and groaned in pain as he subtly took a moment to look around.
Thank the Ancients Danny still knew how to fake an injury, and play dumb/confused from his time tricking some of the his more annoying ex-enemies? (Skulker, Walker, etc.) even though it had been a year since he last had to do so with them (besides Vlad, he’s still his enemy no matter what and still seemed really salty Danny was a King now and was treated like an outcast by most ghosts, none wanting to be the opposite side of their King so hey perks). It had been a good way to make them drop their guards if they thought Danny was still at his ‘weakest’ when they caught him by surprise. It still pretty funny when Vlad tries though, this act always catches that fruitloop off-guard no matter how many times.
It was a Lazarus Pit room judging by the smell/feel of it at first and later confirmed when he noticed the green toxic ooze nearby. Ugh just being on this side of the Realm and sensing that stuff was disgusting, it wasn’t as bad in the Infinite Realm due to the fresh and clean ectoplasm around it masking most of the bad smell but boy did it reek on this side.
Danny blinked a few times to sell his acting, whispering a confused “Where am I?” under his breath, and looked around before his eyes landed on someone in front of him and flinched back a bit, no acting needed this time.
Ra’s was in the room sitting on a throne chair staring at him with that ever burning hateful glare yet Danny could see another emotion, an emotion he was very used to Vlad having on his fruitloop face. His ex-grandfather had a plan and it was gonna be painful or annoying for Danny to deal with, he knew it...
And...AND was that knocked out Batman and Robin also tied up in chains and guarded by few assassins in the room as well?! WHY IS THAT A THING?!
-x-x-
Heyyyyy so... umm I decided to split it into another part cause it was getting mega long again when all together and I was like roughly halfway done with it and just... I wanted to write out so much, also Tumblr almost made me loose the WIP of this many many times so I’m being careful. Good news almost done with it (and it won’t take as long as this part did promise)
This is basically Danny’s side of things of being King, his inner thoughts, his past relationships with the al Ghul’s, and snippets how he had grown into his King self tbh. Probably didn't need to do this but as an old school writer I wanted to make a base so to speak. The best and fun part is up next. and to prove it, here’s the title and a sneak peek for it.
Summoning a King (Or alternatively: It was at this moment, Ra’s knew he F’d up.)
Yeah as said before it took ALL of Danny’s training not laugh in hysterics. Oh the irony. Sacrificing the Ghost King... to summon the Ghost King.... Danny honestly wanted to say something, the words on his lips being a sarcastic “You sure that's gonna work out for you, you moldy old fruitloop?” but Danny bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from doing so.
TAGLIST:
Also I’m starting a tag list so if anyone wants on it for the next part please let me know asap so I can add you.
[EDIT: Taglist now closed until next update! Sorry!]
@sxnkisses @thenerdycupcake @sealover89 @remydumb @moonscat @fuck-you-too-world @hecate-hollow @ae-vixrose
#Danny Phantom#batman#dp x dc#dp#dc#danyel#damian#Damian al Ghul#danny fenton#ghost king danny#twins au#Talia al Ghul#Ra's al Ghul#clockwork#jazz fenton#robin#mentions mostly#this is the groundwork for the next part#i'm sorry its not too exciting#the summoning is up next#promise#I was given permission to ramble#and I did#and it ran off#and became a lot#danyal al ghul
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Hi Lee! Hope you’re well! ☺️
Sooo….seeing your moodboard got me thinking about the lovely new John x Solomons!sister pairing and I was thinking………
I love their friendship and the bond that they’ve built off of banter but I wonder if there was ever a moment where things slipped into something more?? Like they were on a tough mission, or things got a little too close for comfort where one was almost hurt and they acted on the more promiscuous feelings that they’ve been otherwise teasingly (maybe they’re not teasing in nature, who knows) throwing around — like there’s so much emotion circulating between them because they’re so close with each other that they just slip … ??
And it could be a one off thing that they then dance around because they were caught in the heat of them moment, or it could be what tilts them into that realm — I’d be intrigued to read either way because I just love them.
Anyways…sorry for rambling…I hope what I’ve said makes sense! 😊
Shots Fired (Partners in Crime AU)
John Shelby x Y/n Solomons
Author's Note: Read previous parts Afternoon Tea and Co-Workers.
“Barney, wait!” you shouted, stumbling from the pub where you’d been celebrating Tommy’s win at the races. John had disappeared some time ago and you’d been looking for him ever since, hoping to win more of his money at darts.
“Y/n, is that you screeching like a bloody alley cat?” John asked, turning toward the sound of your voice.
Only the glowing end of his cigar was visible through the evening fog as you pawed for him to hold yourself upright.
Grasping his coat sleeve you nearly toppled over as you giggled, “Would you look at that, I went lookin’ for trouble and I found him!”
“You’re drunk,” John observed, pulling you to your feet.
“Your ma’s drunk!” you retorted with a snort.
“Alright, I’m taking you home,” John said, steering you toward his car by your elbow. God only knew what you’d get up to if he left you by yourself in Sabini’s territory and he’d be the one Alfie blamed if something happened.
“Not if I escape,” you whispered loudly, and quite obnoxiously, into his ear. Then you broke free of his grasp and ran in the opposite direction as quickly as your wobbly legs would allow.
“Y/n! M not chasing you,” John warned, clenching his cigar in his teeth and shoving his hands in his pockets. As he lost sight of you he growled in frustration, kicking the pavement. “Fuckin hell,” he cursed under his breath as he tossed his cigar aside, knowing he would have to break his promise.
He set out in long strides, looking out from under his cap with a scowl at the thought of playing hide and seek. Occasionally he heard the click of your heels or a peel of laughter echoing down an alley and he knew he was getting close. As he was about to call to you for the second time, gunshots rang out and his heart clenched in his chest.
Pulling his revolver from under his jacket, he pressed himself against the side of the building where he stood and cautiously made his way toward the noise. Tires squealed as a coupe raced away into the night and John broke into a run, a sick feeling of dread washing over him.
His suspicions were confirmed as he approached you, lying in a pool of blood under a street lamp. “Shit! Y/n!” He called out, sliding next to you to see where you’d been hurt. When you didn’t respond, he began removing your coat, hands roaming over your body for the source of your injury.
When his eyes came to rest at the crimson stain blooming over your chest he began to panic, clawing at your beaded dress to assess the damage. He pressed his ear to your mouth to listen for your breath, but only heard his own frantic heartbeat jumping into his throat at the thought of losing you.
At that moment your eyes fluttered opened and you gasped for air, sputtering, “You grabbin’ my tit?”
John fell backward from shock, landing on his ass. “What the fuck, Y/n? I thought you were dead!” he gulped, running a shaky hand through his hair.
You let out a strangled laugh, followed by a groan of pain as you attempted to roll over. “Jesus Christ!” you yelled.
John winced as he exclaimed, “Do you know you’ve got the loudest voice of any human being I’ve ever met?”
“Happy to know my lungs work though, ain’t ya?” you asked with a weak smile.
“What are callin’ him for anyway?” he mumbled, placing pressure on your shoulder as soon as he realized that’s where the bullet had entered.
You wanted to say something clever in return, but the loss of blood was making you woozy, giving the world around you a dreamlike quality. The lamplight made a halo above John’s head and you blinked to right your blurry vision. “You’re an angel,” you remarked at your delusion, focusing on the fading glow surrounding him.
“Now I know we’re fucked,” he joked. “That’s the only nice thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Watching the edges of John’s face darken forebodingly, fear gnawed at you and you briefly wondered if you might die. Your fingers reached for him, needing comfort, but your arm stubbornly refused to move. “Might be the last,” you warned him before you passed out in his arms.
——————————————————-
When you came to you were in a hospital bed, John’s profile staring ahead as his hands twisted his cap nervously. Your arm throbbed with pain as you rolled toward him and he startled, offering hushed apologies. “I’m sorry, Y/n. I shouldn’t have let you go off alone like that. If anyone should’ve taken a bullet, it’s me,” he said, looking at you with red, watery eyes. The guilt had been eating at him as he sat waiting for you to wake, hoping you’d forgive him for not protecting you.
“No, I’m glad it was me,” you choked out.
“Hey, hey, don’t say that,” John hushed you, pushing the hair from your face. “You didn’t deserve any of this.”
You tried to sit up, looking at him incredulously. “I didn’t mean I deserved it!” you exclaimed, scrunching your nose in disapproval. “I meant cos you’re a fucking candy ass,” you chuckled at him.
Irritated by the suggestion, John’s voice rose defensively, “You think you took a bullet better than me?”
“I know I did and I won’t be whinging about how it looks either.” Lowering your voice to imitate his low timber you continued, “Oh, me face! If it hadn’t been for that shrapnel in France…”
Your chat was interrupted when the door to your room opened with a quick push and a nurse peeked in to check on you, her bright smile widening at the sight of John.
“You should fuck her,” you said a bit too loudly, the after effects of the morphine still clouding your judgment. “I ain’t his trouble, love! You fancy him?” you called to her, oblivious to the fact that the poor woman was now turning a deep shade of red.
“Alright, that’s enough,” John said, pushing you back against the pillows.
“He doesn’t have the clap….anymore,” you shouted as the nurse scurried away. John dragged a hand down his face.
“That’s how you thank me for saving your life?” he asked wearily, raising his eyebrows at you.
“Pffft, can’t kill me,” you said dismissively. “You’re such a dramatic little cunt, Shelby” you added with a roll of your eyes.
John huffed out a laugh. “Good to see you're feeling like yourself again. Last night I was your angel, remember?”
“Well I was dying, weren’t I?” you said innocently, pulling your blankets to your chin.
“For fuck sake,” John muttered.
Read Part 4-The Runaway
#Peaky Blinders fanfic#Peaky Blinders imagine#John Shelby#John Shelby x Solomons sister#John Shelby x you#John Shelby x reader#John Shelby x y/n
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A message from your future lover
Pick a card reading
Don't second guess yourself when choosing a card. Trust your intuition.
Take what resonates, leave what doesn't
Masterlist
Moodboard. Dividers.
Pile 1:
Hello Pumpkin! 🎃,
Today I finally got into the university I wanted. Right now I am working on finishing my masters, I’ve been focusing on engineering. I really wanna get my PhD in engineering so I can have a better career in the near future and of course to spoil you when we meet. I hope you don’t mind cookies, I love baking and I do it as a hobby. When I bake I feel as the world is slowly sinking away and my fingers are creating a masterpiece, oh! That reminds me, I am also an artist so I hope you’re aware that you will become my muse as well. It’s a big thing for me because I don’t actually do things like this but lately every time I look at you…well, I just want to draw you into a renaissance painting or something of Mozart. Yes yes I know he’s a musician but I’m talking about the beauty of his classical music and that’s what I see with you. Anyways, I have a lot to say but I’ll keep them for the future and for me to speak about it to you that is if you don’t mind. Anyways, take care my lovely dove. I’ll see you then. ❤️
Your one and only future prince/princess
ʚɞ
If you want to give tips, click this link. Thank you in advanced. -sef.
Pile 2:
Heyyyy prince/princess,
Hiiii, okay so guess what?!!! I finally and I mean finally graduated from college!!! Whooo!!! 🥳🎉🎊🎁🎈🍾. I’m so happy right now because now I finally get the opportunity to have my dream career EEEEKK. Anyways, well actually not anyways, I mean I’m always so excited with everything actually I’m sorry for rambling on I can’t even think properly where were we? OH right!!
Okay, I’m sorry—I just wanted to say that I love you very much and I’m sorry this is a short message and I’m sorry that I’m so hyperactive but that’s because I suffer with ADHD/ADD. You gotta forgive me baby, I’m sorry. Oh crap, shit shit, I’m sorry I’m rambling on again. UGH. Sigh, I’m really sorry.
Okay I finally calmed myself down. I was getting very anxious about this but anyways, I just wanted to let you know if your feel down in any shape or form to always know that I am here for you even though we don’t know each other yet. I just wanted to let you know that your loved because I’m madly in love with you—hey did you know that? I’m literally and I mean literally in love with you. Actually it’s kind of crazy. I just can’t get enough of you. OH CRAP I FORGOT TO FINISH MY MESSAGE—right! And if you feel alone know that I’m by your side because we both can feel the connection and I feel it very strongly so you need to stop doubting your intuition because its pushing me away and I don’t want that to happen because i really do love you and I need you because i just-yeah I just really love you. Kind of crazy about you but not obsessive like those weirdos. I mean seriously those weirdos are creepy you know? How can you be so possessive and controlling over someone like that? Geez Louise anyways uh I rambled on once again. Man I’m so sorry. I just want to keep going but i shouldn’t. Till we meet again. 🤪Angel, stars, galaxy. That’s your nickname by the way and you will understand in the near future.
Cya, don’t wanna be ya, I’m sorry I’m joking. Peace.
ʚɞ
If you want to give tips, click this link. Thank you in advanced. -sef.
Pile 3:
Hey, hi, hello, what’s up baby girl/baby boy, captain,
So today I got a new sick apartment, I mean it’s all that jazz you know? The cool comfortable movie theater chairs with a nice tv. My bedroom comfortable as hell. The kitchen lookin’ fancy and shit. The whole shabang. Anyways, enough to talkin’ about my apartment, I was kind of curious about where you would be staying when you get here you know? I was thinking you could just sleep on my chest or lap wink wink. Both meanings if you catch my drift. And no I’m not sorry for bringing it up. But yeah, I’m an affectionate person with a poker face you know it’s kind of hard to find girls/guys who like me n shit. People think I’m fucking weird and crap but I swear baby girl/baby boy I’m not. Promise it. I promise and hope to die if I’m lyin’. Now now that’s a big step you know what I mean? Like I’m putting my life on the line for this promise n shit and I’ll do it again just for you baby. Just for you, my devilish and handsome prince/ beautiful princess.
ciao (goodbye), bunny
ʚɞ
If you want to give tips, click this link. Thank you in advanced. -sef.
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Hello, I hope you don't mind if I share a weird headcanon of mine 👉👈
I normally see people talking about Kakyoin make drawing about you but what if Jotaro does that too? The reason I have this headcanon because I remember the scene when Jotaro using Star Platinum drawing the fly he saw in the picture, and he draw it so well. It makes me think that maybe Jotaro has talent in art too. Jotaro's style will be realistic style while Kakyoin will be more like cartoon/anime style.
Imagine their sketchbook filling with so many drawing of you 💕 Jotaro will watching you from afar, sketching you with your cute smile, your beautiful eyes, he captured it all. For Kakyoin, I think he will even make up characters (oc) that look like you and him and ship them together lol (this headcanon inspried by my friend, she actually do that with her crush).
Thank you for reading my ramble, glad to talk with you :D I would love to hear your thoughts about my weird headcanon
P/s: Love you writing so muchhhh 💝
This is fun stuff, I could eat it up all day. Thanks for sending it in, so I can blabber my mouth about it
This always internally bugged me so I’m very thrilled that someone brought up how well Star Platinum drew that fly. I suppose it’s kind of easy to gloss over for a lot of people compared to Kakyoin’s scene of painting on that canvas. (Then again that fly was kind of important to identify to figure out where Dio was so then again it’s “???” for an explanation)
Anywho, I’d say signs point to Jotaro being able to draw, and I think it’s a hobby he prefers keeping to himself. Like you said of him having a sketchbook, almost no one sees what he draws in it and he doesn’t want anyone else to see it especially if it’s various sketches of you. So more than likely when he does do so, he’s somewhere where he won’t be pestered by school girls, or whatever punk tries to start a fight with him.
I’d also like to think he goes back and lingers on prior stuff, just staring at it for a little while. This applies usually when you’re out of school sick (which he’ll probably stop by later anyway with or without your knowledge). But there’s something comforting about seeing every piece of your visage in his sketchbook. Literally no one else knows about this sketchbook aside from maybe Kakyoin (Holly has her suspicions he takes a sketchbook around but she smiles not pestering her son on his hobbies as she thinks it’s adorable).
For the most part art wise I think Jotaro sticks to traditional art, maybe a dabble of charcoal but he prefers pencils. Maybe watercolor if he ever went beyond, but traditional with pencil/pen is the easiest way for him to pull something out at his leisure. Would he let you see? Maybe eventually when he gets you where he wants you, or if the cat is out of the bag early and you see it and you’re not quite with him yet. Let’s just say seeing that may speed up him taking you.
Kakyoin I could definitely see diving into the oc type of thing, he’d certainly reference an artstyle of a manga you like. (Don’t ask how he figured that out so quickly). Though he definitely loves putting some passion into his artwork and occasionally shamelessly make sultry artwork of you and himself. He loves painting the most as he spreads colors, mixing them into the wondrous hues that is your skin tone. Or splashing watercolors in a notebook, that looks something out of a fairytale. Soft and warm lighting….oops he’s getting a tad bit excited.
He definitely presents pieces that are obviously meant to be stand ins for the two of you. That no one else would ever be wiser too, yeah you might have this odd feeling something’s not quite right, but there’s nothing there you could really prove other than observe just how pretty the composition is. If you compliment it, that just fuels this man’s desire further.
Biggest takeaway here is Jotaro and Kakyoin very blatantly have their own styles whether sticking with black/white/grey, or full on color. Both would be pretty in their own right, and their style choices speak of their personalities without saying a single word.
#yandere imagines#yandere jjba#yandere jjba imagines#chitchatwithcrazyyandere#yandere headcanons#yandere kakyoin#yandere jotaro
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