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kquil · 9 months

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JAMES POTTER | JOINT SCHEDULE

request. : Hey can you do some more ice hockey player James imagines? I love them sm! —@prongsbandit

sum. : you booked the university's ice rink to practice your routine for an upcoming competition but so did the university's ice hockey team, whose captain screwed up the timings

g. : fluff ; modern au ; ice hockey player james ; figure skater reader ; shy reader ; university au ; jock james potter ; supportive figure skating coach ; supportive hockey team

length : 1.6k

In preparation for an upcoming figure skating competition, you were dedicated to getting in as much practice as possible. Thankfully, you were able to book the university ice rink for two months in the lead up to the competition. Your regular practice sessions were every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for five in the late afternoon until seven. It was a bit excessive but you wanted to win. Many of your friends view you as someone sweet and docile but also hard working and quite the perfectionist. What they don’t realise is how competitive you can be behind the scenes. Everytime you cancel plans, you usually excuse yourself with the ‘I’m busy’ reasoning that your close friends readily accept, believing that you were working through papers and research articles for uni classes when, in actuality, you were spending time in the rink.

Today, you had brought with you your portable stereo to go through the routine with the music over and over again, gradually perfecting the appearance of your more grandiose moves as well as the sequence of your steps on the ice. It felt good being at this stage of your development, the entirety of your routine has been choreographed already and had been revised by your coach, who suggested some minor changes but approved it overall — you knew what you were doing, it was just the case of perfecting things now, something you were talented at and even enjoyed.

The main focus for today’s session was the polishing of the big jumps and ambitious spins of your routine. It was a little tiresome and you don’t believe you’d be able to cover all of them for this session but you never really expected to in the first place. Your only saving grace was that you had some time to apply light makeup earlier in celebration for the new figure skating set you were gifted by your parents. It was an all black set that paired a sleek skort with a long sleeved turtle neck top that had lacing to decorate the open back and thumb holes in the sleeves as the hem reached half way up your palms. You liked feeling pretty in practices, it always helped to encourage your self-confidence so there was always a little spike in your performance. The praises of your supervising coach was all you needed to confirm this fact.

“Brilliant, my girl! Again!” Vera sang her high praises from the stands and helped you control the music whenever you wanted to repeat a particular part of the choreo. For this routine, you had settled for something more elegant and based the choreography around the ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ by Tchaikovsky. The soundtrack made you miss the time you did ballet until you were fifteen before eventually falling in love with figure skating. A lot of your routines tend to be based around the elegance of ballet in addition to the complicated turns, spins and jumps that encompassed figure skating; your coach, Vera, loved how you were able to combine both sports in such a seamless way.

The music kept playing even after you had repeated the skid spiral so you naturally flowed into rehearsing more of your choreo, allowing muscle memory and the music to guide you over the ice as you subconsciously waited for Vera to pause the music and ask you to repeat something that didn’t look quite right. Polishing up the routine was filled with more critiques than any stage of creating your final performance so your anticipation for Vera to pause the music, repeat a move and provide additional tips lingered in the back of your mind as you flawlessly spiralled into one of your most difficult spins — a one-handed beillman.

“Beautiful Beautiful!” Vera praised, clapping as you gradually spun out of the position before abandoning the routine and grinning widely to yourself, proud and giddy for finally nailing the transition and spin.

“Vera!” you shout across the ice and over the music, cheering with your fists raised to the air in victory, “I did it!” It was then when you realised that Vera’s clapping was accompanied with an entire audience of applause and your panicked eyes fell upon a grinning hockey player standing beside your coach, behind them was a team of hockey players, some whistling and whooping in between their applause.

As you tried to catch your breath and suppress your bashfulness, you gathered that Vera had neglected to reply to the soundtrack to discuss something with the hockey player, and so, it seems that the entire hockey team just saw a glimpse of your routine. Eventually, Vera paused the music and motioned you over, looking to discuss something.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” you ask upon reaching the sidelines, fiddling with the hem of your sleeves as you avoided the hockey player’s eyes. He was dressed in most of his equipment, only missing his headgear, and was sporting the dopiest grin on his face. “It appears as though the university hockey team had booked the rink to practise for a match happening early next week, however, there was some miscommunication over the timings and schedules,” you furrow your brows as Vera explains the situation before shyly glancing up at the hockey player beside her, who had unruly dark curls and glimmering hazel eyes behind a pair of cute glasses. It seems your simple acknowledgement of him was enough to prompt his self introduction.

“I’m James,” he reaches out his gloved hand for you to shake, quickly taking it back to rip of his glove off before reaching to shake your hand once again, “James Potter, Captain of the Hockey team,” behind him the rest of the hockey players wave at you, some with friendly grins and others sporting a mischievous smirk as they regard their captain’s behaviour around you, “Vera explained that you were practising for a competition and also booked the rink in advance but since you got here early, we’ll put the decision to you,”

You raised a brow and tilted your head slightly, prompting him to continue, “make a decision on what?”

“On whether to kick us out and continue your practice or finish your practice early and allow us to have the rink for drills exercises and plays,” James finished, grinning at you with no malice and insinuating that he wouldn’t hold any ill-will over either outcome.

“Oh!” your cheeks heat up under his warm voice, amiable manner, pretty eyes and charming dimples and you couldn’t help but stare for a moment before eventually shaking your head and giving him your resolve, “I’d be happy to give you the rink, I’ve covered a lot of ground already so I don’t mind,” James’s smile reaches his eyes once more and he nods.

“You heard the lady boys, what do we say?” he shouts back to his team, his voice commanding attention and is as firm as his build, encouraging an ensemble of ‘thank you’s to sound from behind him, “Thank you very much,” James finishes and nods to his boys, signalling them to set up the rink and get ready for practice while you also take the time to shake off your nerves and walk off the ice, where James greets you once more.

“I hope you have a good and productive practice,” you wish him and offer a warm smile, your heart finally settled down to a semi-heightened beat. He’s really quite handsome…you think to yourself but quickly look away to, again, keep from staring too long.

“Thank you and thanks again for letting us have the rink,” James takes your hand and lifts your knuckles to his lips — an act of gratitude that has a dangerous heat creeping up your neck to occupy your cheeks once more, “you’re very beautiful on the ice, by the way. I’m sure you’ll smash it at the competition, your competitors don’t stand a chance,” the two of you share pleasantries and more smiles before you finally make your way to the locker rooms to change with a straighter back and a lighter heart.

What an encounter.

“She practises every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 7pm,” Vera says out of nowhere as she approaches James, who stares off to where you had disappeared.

“I’m sorry?”

A stone cold look crosses over Vera’s face, “avoid those times at all costs,” she warns, her russian accent suddenly thick and intimidating, “my student doesn’t need any distractions,” the statement makes James raise a brow in question, “her competition is on the 14th November, held in the city community rink, and it starts at noon, don’t be late,”

Suffice to say, James wasn’t late to your competition, in fact, he was early and he brought the entire hockey team with him to support you. You won second place but felt like a gold medalist when the hockey team hollered the loudest for you at the awarding ceremony and lifted you onto their shoulders with the congratulatory flowers James brought you in your arms and your silver medal around your neck. To return the favour, you attended their next hockey game and made sure to shout the loudest whenever their team scored and eventually when their team won the match.

“When do you think our captain’s finally gonna grow some balls and ask out his ice skating ballerina?” Sirius whispers to his taller brunette friend.

“Let them take their time,” Remus replies, the two staring as James throws his arm over your shoulders and you wrap your own around the back of his waist, “everyone already thinks their dating anyway so they’ll get it eventually,”

“Wait! So they’re not actually dating yet?” Peter asks with a surprised face as the other two laugh, “But I swear I saw them kissing by the locker rooms before the game earlier!”

a/n : i know nothing about ice skating or ice hockey but i tried my best! i'm sorry if this is not very realistic. i also hope that the request was fulfilled to a satisfactory standard despite the long wait, i'm really sorry for that by the way (┳Д┳) nevertheless, i tried my best and i hope this made you happy, darling, thank you for the cute request (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc)

navi.

taglist : @ghostgardn @fredweasleysjumper @rosalyn-s @melinajenkins @astonishment @until-i-found-you @corp0real @sageskisses444 @celestcies @lovelydoveval @inlovewithremusjohnlupin @calums-betch @futurecorps3 @hihihi1112 @simpingforthe80s @yrluvjane @neeezza101 @chaosofmanyfandoms

#james potter x reader #james potter x you #james potter x y/n #james potter #james potter fluff #ice hockey player james potter #hockey player james potter #james potter fanfiction #𐂂 : timestamp #james potter imagine #james potter fic #marauders #📝 : request

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stevelieber · 11 months

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Thoughts on giving critiques to comics artists.

Seeing lots of discussion from students about sour experiences with an unhelpful art teacher, so here's a long, long post about giving critiques.

NB: I have no formal training as a teacher, but I was a student, and I've spent decades giving artists feedback on their work.

When someone brings me a portfolio, I like to establish my limitations & clarify my perspective. My work is firmly rooted in traditional US comics storytelling (i.e., not manga or art-comics.) I can give feedback on other approaches but they should know where I’m coming from.

“We've only got a little time for this, so I'm going to spend that time focusing on things to correct. That doesn't mean you're doing everything wrong, or that there’s nothing good here, but it’ll be more helpful if I identify some problems and show you how to fix them.”

Why? Because for many young artists their entire sense of self worth is wrapped up in being good at what they do. (It was for me!) In school they were probably the best artist in their peer group. But now if they're hoping to turn pro, they’re at the bottom.

Sometimes you know what’s up when you see page 1, but try to keep an open mind. Some build their portfolios by sticking new pages at the back & don’t weed out the old stuff up front, so the work gets better as you go. When it’s like that I ask: “Show me your best 8 pages.”

I ask questions: "What's the goal? Do you want to be hired to work on someone else's project, or to get the story you're showing me here published?"

If 1, I steer towards a portfolio that'll showcase hirable skills. If 2, I look for what tweaks will make that particular story more effective.

"Do you have teachers giving you regular feedback? What are they telling you?" Sometimes a student is getting bad advice. In cases like that, I'll do my best to be extra clear WHY I'm giving them advice that's 180 degrees from what they've been hearing.

“What artists are you looking at? Is there someone you admire or try to emulate?” This often helps me understand choices they're making, and I can sometimes incorporate things those artists do into my suggestions.

I ask myself questions about what I’m seeing. First: Is there a narrative? If not, I make it 100% clear I'm not speaking as any sort of expert. I'm good at critiquing storytelling, but don't have anywhere near as much to offer illustrators or designers.

Can I follow the story? Or am I confused about what's going on? Are the characters and settings drawn consistently? If not, is the artist at least making use of tags (distinctive clothing, hair etc.) to keep the characters recognizable?

Does the artist demonstrate a good command of basic academic drawing? If not, Do I think they need it? Do I focus on "how to draw" or on "what to do when you can't draw?" Is the artist putting the viewer’s eye where it needs to be to tell the story effectively?

(At this point I’m usually doing little doodles to go with my instructions. I scribble out ugly little 5 second diagrams that I hope will clarify what I’m talking about. Or they might make me seem demented. Hard to say!)

Is the artist making choices that are creating more work than necessary? Is there a particular weakness? I once spoke to an artist with a portfolio full of great work when he was drawing animals and monsters, but his humans were amateurish in comparison. I spent that critique talking about drawing people.

A crit can be a grab bag. In addition to big-picture advice, I'll point out tangencies, violations of the 180-degree rule, wonky anatomy, weird perspective, places where the artist neglected to do important research, odd choices in how they spotted black, whatever catches my eye.

I also try to make a point of defining the terms, so that jargon like “tangency,” “180-degree rule,” and “spotting black” don't go over their heads. Find simple, concrete ways to talk about these things, & clarify why it's a problem when they aren't done correctly. Draw diagrams!

Recognize that even a perfectly phrased explanation might not sink in. Some lessons can only be learned when a student is ready, and it might take a year or two of work before they can understand what you were saying. It's good to plant seeds.

Are there other artists who are particularly good at solving the problems the student is trying to solve? I steer them towards that artist's work. And I always recommend life drawing & the use of reference to give work variety and authority.

Despite what I said earlier about focusing on what's wrong, I try at the end to find something encouraging to say. And if I’ve really piled on the criticism, I emphasize that I only spent the time and energy to do so because I take their efforts seriously.

If I've done my job right, they'll leave my table with tools to make their work better. And maybe in a few years they'll be looking at some younger artist's work, surprised to discover just how much you can learn when you're asked to teach.

#comics #protips #my work #comic book art #essays #teaching

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justmeinadaze · 1 year

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Good Neighbors Part 1 (Steddie X Reader)

A/N: I did it :). Ok as previously stated I have never written this dynamic before so I open to all critiques and suggestions! I also set this in todays timeframe. I hope y'all enjoy.

Warnings: Reader is a soon to be divorcee and a single mom. Cute Steddie going on here with her kiddo. Definitely smut of the threesome variety and all that that implies (I regret nothing!) Steve is slightly rougher during sex but I decided to go against the Daddy Steve/Master Eddie dynamic. I don't think I'm there yet! Lol.

Word Count: 4583

“Wow!” Your son’s eyes light up as he takes a look at the outside of the apartment complex you’re moving into. “It’s so big.”

“Yeah, it is.” To a six-year-old child you image it would seem that way but for you, coming from an actual home, this would be a substantial downgrade. As long as he was happy though, you were happy.

“Here, weirdo. Take this.” You hand him his little suitcase so he feels useful. While you were packing his things, he would throw a tantrum if you wouldn’t let him help.

“Mooooom! I’m strong. I can help!”

You slung a few bags over your shoulder and you both headed up the stairs to your new place. The apartment across the way was blaring loud heavy metal music causing you to huff under your breath. Your son marched in front of you and banged on your new neighbor’s door.

“Dylan! No! You know better than to knock on a stranger’s door.”

The door flung open and a tall young man about your age stood in the doorframe. He was extremely good looking with even better-looking hair. He was either about to head to work or just got back. He had on some jeans and a polo shirt with a green vest covering it. You squinted as you read the name tag; “Family Video- Steve”.

“Excuse me, Mister. Can you turn your music down? It’s a little loud.” Dylan shook his small index finger at the man.

He stared at him for a few seconds before a beautiful smile stretched across his face. “You know what, little man? You are absolutely right. It is loud. I tell my friend that all the time but he never listens.”

“Who the hell are you…oh.” Another boy comes into the doorway about the same age if not a little older. He had a guitar slung across his bare chest and torn up jeans that were sagging around his waist so you could slightly see the blue boxers underneath. “Who’s this?”

Dylan looks at you for approval and you nod your head, smiling down at him. “I’m Dylan and this is my mommy. We live here now.” He points at the apartment and you give them a tiny wave.

“Well, Dylan, I’m Steve.” He points to his name tag. “And this is my friend Eddie.”

Your son grabs your hand and pulls you forward. “You have to say hi.”, he whispers.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot.” You whisper back to him, giving him a little wink. “Hi. I’m Y/N. I’m really sorry. Normally he doesn’t initiate conversations with people he doesn’t know but…”

“It’s not a problem at all. Sorry about the music. It’s his day off so when he relaxes--“

“Is the music too loud? Shit. I’m sorry.” Eddie interrupts Steve and runs back into the apartment. Steve rolls his eyes after him as Dylan covers his mouth, giggling at the curse word.

“Can we help you guys move?”

“Oh, no it’s ok. The movers are on their way but I appreciate you asking.”

“Hey anything to help a beautiful woman and her little gentleman.” Steve flashes you a confident smile that makes you blush. “Well, if you change your mind or if you need anything, we’re here.”

“Bye Steve!” Dylan waves at him as you pick him up, enter the apartment, and close the door.

After the movers dropped everything off, the unpacking was under way. You wanted things to feel as homey as possible so Dylan would be comfortable. After his father left, you didn’t want more things to change for him. Something like that is already traumatic enough for a child. It only got worse when your soon to be ex-husband decided he no longer wanted to help you make payments on the house you guys had shared.

“Where are we going to go, Charlie? He needs a roof. He needs normalcy.”

“Maybe he should come live with me then.”

“Why? So he can sit at home alone? You barely saw him when we were married but at least he had me there.”

“Oh, get off your high horse, Y/N. You better find something or I’ll be seeing you in court to take him. I’m not going to spend any extra money I do have for you to live in my house!”

###############

The sound of the bass thumping against the walls made your eyes roll as you scrunched your nose in annoyance. Your son giggled and you responded by sticking out your tongue.

“What are you laughing at?” Dylan mimics your face causing him to erupt in a fit of laughter again. Your phone on the counter vibrates. “Go grab that for me, you little butthead.”

Without telling you who it is he immediately puts the phone to his ear. “Hi daddy!”

“Hey, buddy! How are you doing?”

You watch him cautiously as they talk. “I’m good. I like it here.”

“You do? You’ve been there a couple of weeks now. Met any kids your age yet?”

“Not yet but Mommy and I met Steve and Eddie. They like music really loud!”

“Oh? Well, that’s interesting. Listen, Dil, can you give the phone to mommy?”

“Ok. I love you, Daddy!” Dylan passes the phone and you stand up to take it outside.

“Hey, Butthead. Why don’t you go get ready for bed and after I talk with your dad, I’ll read you book?” He claps his hands excited as he runs into his room. You reluctantly put the phone to your ear as you exit the front door. “How can I help you, Charlie?”

“Who’s Steve and Eddie?” He asks sternly.

“Neighbors—”

“Jesus, Y/N. I can hear the music through the phone!”

You walk halfway down the stairs and sit on the middle step, your fingers pinching the bridge of your nose. “Again, something you NEED, Charles?”

“Look, I may not be able to take him this weekend.”

The smell of cigarette smoke fills the air and you wish you had one between your fingers right now. “Why didn’t you tell him that?”

“Because I didn’t want to hurt him. I know how much he was looking forward to—”

“Oh? But it’s ok for me to break his heart?”

“I didn’t say that. You’re twisting my words again.” He responds to your accusation through gritted teeth.

“So, what is it this time, huh? Work? A date? Flying to the moon to save the planet?”

“See, this why I left. Why do you have to be a bitch all the time? I’m just trying to have a conversation!”

“No, you left because of the whore I found you fucking in our bed. Good night, Charlie.” You press End and slam your phone on the step next to you.

“He seems like an asshole.” The sound of a male voice behind you makes you jump. Turning around, you see Eddie sitting a couple of stair steps above you, a half-finished cigarette dangling from his fingers. “Sorry, Sweetheart! I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you heard me come out.”

You slide up the couple of steps to sit closer to him. His long wavy hair is nestled behind a black bandana. He’s wearing his usual jeans with a black hole riddled Metallica shirt. Eddie’s fingers reach in your direction offering you a puff from his cigarette which you eagerly accept. You can taste him on the end of it causing butterflies to flutter in your stomach.

“How much of that did you hear?” You ask passing it back to him.

He makes an adorable thinking face. “Um, I came out around ‘Why didn’t you tell him?’ but stayed for the sarcasm after.”

You smile up at him as you let out a soft sigh. “I just hate seeing that look on Dylan’s face when I have to tell him his dad can’t see him.”

Eddie nods to himself as he squishes out the cigarette on the concrete and leans back on his elbows. “Yeah, Steve and I know that feeling. From the kid’s perspective I mean. I don’t think either of our mother’s really cared about us like you do with your son.”

You reach out placing your hand gently on his knee. “I’m sorry you guys had to go through that.” His substantially bigger, calloused palm comes down to cover yours as his thumb rubs against your skin. You bring your legs up to your chest trying to hide the movement of you rubbing your thighs together. It had been such a long time since anyone had touched you let alone in a tender manner like this and the fact that the man doing the touching was incredibly good looking didn’t hurt either.

“Eddie, oh my god, again with the music?” Steve’s voice radiated exhaustion as he climbed the stairs and leaned against the railing across from you.

“Yeah, sorry Stevie. That was my bad. I have a couple of people from work over tonight.” He leans toward the outside wall of their apartment and bangs his fist loudly against it. His chest is inches from your face and you close your eyes and inhale the scent of him. He smells like cigarettes, of course, but there’s also touches of gasoline and an undertone of cologne he most likely sprayed on himself before work that morning.

The door to their apartment opened and the sound of girl made your eyes fly open. Your look was met with Steve’s watchful one. Eddie swiveled his neck to face his friend. “Hey, can you turn the music down? There’s a little one trying to sleep.” He gestures towards your door.

She nods her head and closes the door again. Suddenly, you feel extremely stupid. Of course, there were girls in their apartment. Why wouldn’t there be? They were two single, attractive men. You had no reason to be jealous of the beautiful young lady who poked her head out.

It takes you a while to notice that they are both staring at you intently.

“Um, I should go back inside.” You quickly rise, avoiding their gaze, and climb the stairs. “Thank you for the cigarette and turning down the sound.”

After you close the front door, you lean against it, peaking out of the peephole. Steve stomps up the stairs.

“Really, Eddie? Good job, man.”

“What did I do? Some friends wanted to buy and they stayed over for a bit.”

Steve gives him an annoyed look. “Oh yeah, because girls in tight skirts and loud blaring metal just scream ‘Hey beautiful girl, we like you. Come spend time with us.’”

You jump and let out a little shriek as your son pulls on the back of your shirt. “Dylan! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

He giggles, shaking a book at you. “You said you would read to me.”

“I did, didn’t I? Ok, get back in bed. I’ll be right there.”

Before you turn to follow him, you take one last look out into the entrance way. Steve and Eddie were smiling at your apartment door. Eddie made an “I told you so” face at his roommate as they both entered their domain and closed the door.

####################

Saturday night you and Dylan are lying on the couch watching a movie when there’s a subtle knock at your door. You open it to see your two handsome neighbors standing there with enormous grins plastered on their face.

“Why, hello ma’am.” Eddie says in comical announcer style voice. Steve follows his lead.

“We heard there might be a little boy who got stood up so we brought pizza and video games.” They each hold up the items in their hands. Eddie had the more adult beverages and some ice cream. You smile at them as you turn your head towards the inside of your apartment.

“Dylan! It’s for you.” You feel small hands hug your leg as he cautiously looks around you.

“Hey, little man.” Steve beams down at him and Dylan gasps with excitement.

You reach over and take the pizza from his hands. “Now this here. This is for mommy.”

“No! That’s not fair!” You son chases after you into the kitchen as the boys come in and close the door. Eddie heads for the tv and starts hooking up his gaming system. Dylan sits next to him, asking him questions. Steve joins you and helps pull plates from cabinets, serving food. He turns to look at you as you reach out and gently touch his arm.

“Thank you, guys. For this.”, you whisper. “He was really upset when I told him his dad couldn’t see him.”

“Well, I know what it feels like to have your dad bail on you.” He leans against the counter and folds his arms across his chest.

“Yeah, Eddie told me you guys didn’t have…great parents.” You try and tread the topic carefully not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

Steve shrugs. “It is what it is, right?” He scoots over till his side grazes your stomach, his arms dropping to hold the structure behind him. “How are you doing?”

You look up and meet his eyes, your breath catching in your throat. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” His index finger rises from its place and lifts the lower part of your tank top, tracing the pad of his digit against your skin. You exhale shakily as his eyes never leave yours.

“My pleasure.”

“Mom!” Dylan shouts as he rounds the corner. You jump back from Steve quickly and face your child. “Eddie and I hungry!”

“Starving.” You glance over the banister into the living room, catching Eddies smirk. There was something knowing behind it. You clear your throat, regaining your composure.

“I’m sorry! Blame Steve, here. He moves too slow.”

“Oh, I can move as fast as you want, you just have to let me know.” He winks in your direction as Eddie lets out a chuckle.

You grab a beer from the table where Eddie left them and handed a plate to your son. He thanks you as he runs back towards the floor. Steve hands you a plate and you playfully punch his chest. On your way to the couch, you make sure to kick Eddie lightly in the back.

“Ow. Aggressive!” He shouts before stuffing a whole slice into his mouth making Dylan laugh.

################

After many rounds of battling and button mashing on Tekken, Dylan passes out on the floor. You gently pick him up and carry him to his room, tucking him into bed.

“That kid is so much fun.” Eddie says as you close the door and head back into the living room.

“Thank you. Yeah, he’s a good kid. Good heart.”, you smile.

Steve rises to his feet, extending his hand out to Eddie to help him off the ground. “So, we were thinking… would you like to come across to our place and relax for a bit? We could smoke some weed, listen to music, not at full volume of course.”

“Uh…” You take a cursory glance towards Dylan’s room.

“He’ll be ok. I mean you’re right there.” Eddie points in the direction of their apartment.

You finally nod your head as you follow behind them through their front door. It was definitely a man’s place. It smelled musky with a mixture of their own separate scents. There were posters for bands and action movies all over the wall. The living room was a mess with a combination of take-out containers, clothes, and a couple of overflowing ashtrays spread about.

“Sorry for the way it looks. We’ve been kind of busy.” Steve runs around grabbing trash and throwing it in a nearby bin as Eddie disappears and reappears with a little black tin box.

“Don’t even worry about it. I have a six-year-old, remember?” Eddie chuckles as he starts rolling a joint on the coffee table in front of him. “What have you guys been busy with?”

“Work mostly.” Steve answers as comes back from the kitchen with a beer in his hand. “I’m at Family Video and Eddie works at a mechanic shop a few blocks down the way.”

You throw your body down next to Eddie’s on the couch. “Ah. That explains the gasoline smell.”

He looks at you, smirking. “You sniffing me, Princess?” You giggle as you rub your hand on his back.

“It’s kind of hard not to. It’s strong.” He gives you an apologetic glance. “No, it’s ok. I like it. Reminds me of my dad. He used to fix up cars when I was growing up.”

Steve takes a seat next to you. “Does he not anymore?”

“No. He passed away before Dylan was born.”

Eddie lights the joint, taking a hit before passing it to you. “I’m sorry. That must have been rough.”

The three of you sit there, casually making conversation, while you smoked. They told you about work, certain relationships, and how they came to live where they are now. You told them about your ex-husband and how he basically kicked you guys out of the house. You were extremely comfortable just sitting there talking with them. Something about them made you feel safe which is something you hadn’t felt in a very long time. Their dynamic was also something that completely fascinated you. They talked to and about each other like they weren’t just friends but like they were an old married couple. Sometimes they would exchange glances like they both had a secret you weren’t allowed to be privy to. Not yet anyway.

“So, what do you do again?” Eddie offers you the joint but this time you decline.

“I’m a guidance counselor at Hawkins High school. I help kids apply for college, figure out what they want to do, things like that.”

Steve chokes as he inhales. “Are you serious? That’s where we went to school!”

“For real. It took me like 30 years to graduate. Probably could have used some guidance from someone like you.” Eddie laughs as he pats your bare thigh. You notice his hand lingers before it slides up finding a home just below your shorts. Steve lifts his arm, resting it behind your head on the back of the couch.

“Ok, what’s up with you guys?” You’re not sure if it’s the drugs or the alcohol that makes you ask the question but you feel suddenly desperate to get an answer.

Eddie and Steve exchange a look. “You’ll have to be more specific.” Eddie leans in tossing the burned out joint in the nearest ashtray. He adjusts his body so it’s facing more toward you.

Your eyes narrow in on his before you let out a frustrated sigh. “Whatever. Nevermind.” As you start to lean forward, Steve’s fingers grab your shoulder pulling you back.

“Let me rephrase. We WANT you to be more specific.” Steve’s tone was gentle but commanding. With his other hand, he reaches out caress your cheek.

“Steve, she did just get out of a shitty relationship. Maybe we should go a little easy on her.”

Your breathing stutters when you feel Eddie’s palm rub the inside of your thigh, just barely hovering near your core. Your eyes have yet to break from Steve’s slightly intimidating stare.

“Yeah? Do you think we should go easier on you?”

Your head tilts up, aggressively pressing your lips to his. You hummed at the taste of him as he slid his tongue in to meet yours. His arm came off the couch to wrap around the back of your neck, pulling you tighter to him. On instinct, your hips pivot towards him but Eddie’s strong hand held them in place.

You turn to look in his direction as Steve continues to kiss your jawline down to your neck. You watch with lust filled eyes as Eddie reaches for the waistband of your shorts and slides them down your legs. As you lift your hips off the couch to help, Steve’s hand comes to rest behind your back trying to pull you closer.

“Steve!” Eddie laughs in amusement. “Come on, man.” Instantly his hands drop from your body and without hesitation you flip over towards the other man planting your mouth on his. Eddie tasted different but still delicious. His lips moved differently than Steves as well. Steve’s kisses felt more determined whereas Eddie’s felt more passionate. It was almost euphoric to feel the contrast at once.

Steve reached down and lifted your legs so you were laying horizontally on the sofa. You disconnected from Eddie’s mouth long enough to turn your body so your back was against his chest; his hand immediately grabbing your face to turn your lips back to his.

You whimpered against him when you felt Steve move the piece of cotton blocking your center as his nose grazed your clit. He slowly ran his tongue along the inside of your folds, a moan vibrating from his throat.

“Fuck, Munson. She tastes so good.” He dives his head further into your cunt, his tongue flicking in and out of your entrance. As you turn away from Eddie to watch him, the boy behind you whispers devilishly in your ear.

“Yeah? You like watching him eat your pussy. He says you taste fucking amazing.” Eddie’s arm reaches over you as his long fingers slide across your swollen nub. You head falls back on his shoulders as you listen to the sound of Eddie lick and suck them clean before placing them back between your legs. “He’s right. Fucking hell. Your ex-husband was a fucking moron for letting you go.”

You grind your hips against them, turning to suck on Eddie’s neck. Your left-hand clings to Steve’s hair while you right loops around Eddie’s forearm. You feel that feeling in your belly as your pussy starts to clench around his tongue. He pumps into you fast as Eddie matches his pace. You cry out a moan as the rubber band snaps and you cum against them. Both boys help ride you through it as your body twitches with pleasure.

Eddie feels your tiny hand reaching behind you fumbling his belt. He helps you and when he lifts his hips to slide his pants below his knees you feel his hard cock slid against the outside of your puffy lips. “Fuck.”, youmoan as your glide yourself against him, your leaking juices wetting him.

He pumps himself a few times before slowly sliding into your entrance. You continue grinding your hips as you ride him. “Fuck, Eddie. So big…so deep.”, groan out as he grunts behind you. A hand softly touches your face and you open your eyes to Steve on his knees in front you, pants pushed to his ankles, pumping his own cock with his hand.

“Does he feel good, baby?” You nod but Steve’s other hand grips your chin making you face him. “Tell me how good he feels.”

The overwhelming feeling of Eddie stretching you out makes it hard to form words and it doesn’t help when he grips your waist, thrusting up into you roughly. You lean your forehead on Steves. “He feels…so good. I’m…fuuuck…” Steve nods his head encouraging you to continue. “I’m going to cum.”

“Did you hear that, Eds?”

Eddie swallows a moan. “Yeah, I heard her. Fucking Christ, I can feel her to. Harrington, she’s so fucking tight. Y/N, can I cum inside you?” Steve’s pupils dilate as he to waits for your answer.

Your eyes don’t leave his. “Yes. Yes, I’m on the pill.” Steve licks his lips hungrily as he pulls you by the back of the neck to kiss him. You hand grips his wrists as you breathe out silent moans. You cum around Eddie’s cock as he thrusts into you sharply before you feel his arms wrap around your front and his sweaty forehead lean down on your back as releases deep inside on you.

You three sit there silently as you and Eddie try to catch your breath. Eddie’s soft lips run along your spine and Steve delicately pushes some hair out of your face. “You did so well, baby. Taking Eddie’s dick like that. Such an amazing, beautiful woman.” He grabs your hand and wraps your fingers around his now seemingly aching hard cock. “Do you think you can take me to?”

Eddie groans behind you as your pussy flutters at Steve’s request. You lift yourself off of him and cry at the empty feeling as you straddle Steve’s waist. He lifts you up with him as makes himself more comfortable sitting back against the couch with his feet on the floor. Steve watches you with blown out eyes as a line of spit drips from your mouth onto the tip of length. He growls as you spread it around him with your hand before guiding his cock to your center.

Both yours and Steve’s head lean back in ecstasy. You clung to his shoulders as you bounce on his dick feeling him hit that spongey spot deep inside of you making you whine.

“Just like that, Steve. Please.” His large hands grab your neck pulling you towards him.

“Please what? I want to hear you.”

“Please. Don’t stop. Fuck.”

He pushes your head roughly to his shoulder as he locks his arms behind your back pounding into you at a rapid pace. Another hand comes up to pet your hair and you open your eyes to see Eddie sitting back on the sofa, shoulder to shoulder with Steve.

“You look so beautiful like this, Sweetheart.” He places a soft kiss on your lips, sliding his finger between you and Steve as he reaches for your sensitive clit, trying to match the other boy’s rhythm.

Steve releases his hold to bring you to his face. His hands firmly grip the sides of your face holding you in place. “Cum again, Y/N. I can feel it. Your close. Cum for me. I want to feel your pussy fuckin’ gripping me, babe.” As he whispered his filthy words, you panted against his lips.

As the coil snaps for the third time, Steve brings your head back to his shoulder, holding you to him as thrusts his warm seed into your quivering body. They both murmur praises to you that you can barely hear. Eddie lifts your hair and touches your face, asking if you’re alright.

With hooded eyes you nod, curling up closer into Steve’s neck. He picks you up slightly, sliding himself out of your entrance and turns you so both your legs are over his. Eddie gets up, grabbing your shorts from the floor, and Steve lifts you so he can get them up your waist.

The feeling of you being moved around brings you back to reality for a moment. “Hey, it’s ok. We’re just taking you home.” Eddie slings your arm around his neck as he carries you across to your apartment. Once he enters your room, he gently places you down on the bed, pulling the covers over your frame. “Good night, Sweetheart.” Eddie kisses your forehead before moving out of the way for Steve.

“Hey, I know you’re half asleep but I just wanted you to know that I checked on Dylan and he’s completely knocked out.”

You lazily smile as you fully closed your eyes again. You felt him kiss your cheek and shuffle out of the room, following Eddie back to their apartment.

#steddie fanfiction #steddie smut #steddie fluff #steddie x reader #steddie x you #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson smut #joseph quinn #joseph quinn smut #steve harrington smut #joe kerry #joe keery smut #fan fiction

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peterparkersnose · 2 years

Text

Secret

Din Djarin x reader

Din Djarin x fem!reader

Mandalorian x reader

word count: 1.1k

warnings: pregnancy, pregnant reader, mentions of periods, hiding a pregnancy, violence, din’s horrible baby name suggestions, reader and din are married, grogu is in the story

a/n I know many people don’t like pregnancy stories, but this is so cute. I love Din Djarin. look how cute pedro looks in that gif

summary Y/N tries her best to hide her pregnancy from Din.

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read time: 4 mins 2 seconds

Three months. You think. That was the last time you had gotten your period. You also had been gaining a bit of weight. Not enough to be noticeable, but you were so critical of everything about yourself. Your pants were not as flexible as they used to be, which pissed you off. You needed to be flexible to fight. But you knew in your gut that your fighting days were coming to an end.

The first thing that alarmed you was Grogu. About three months ago he started sticking to your side. Constantly. He would cry if you went into town without him. He would follow you to the bathroom. He insisted to be at your side always, no matter what. Showering, cooking, going out and helping Din bounty hunt. Grogu always had to be there or he would throw the worst temper tantrums Din said he’s ever seen. You had to even make a makeshift baby sling so he could be as close to you as possible. Ironically, it would make great use to you in a few months.

You accepted you were pregnant when you weren’t getting the usual symptoms you would usually get for your fourth period. You have denied it for the past three months, but when your tiny bump started to grow bigger, you had to face the truth.

Din of course had noticed a change in your behavior. You were more tired. He attributed that to the kid’s new obsession with you though. You were eating more. He didn’t mind it, but he would notice it when the food stock ran out earlier than usual. And when he was due to pick up sanitary items for you, you refused them.

“I have some left over, they were lighter these past few months.” you lied.

And the clothing. It was always cold on the ship, but wearing two sweatshirts was a bit obsessive. He wasn’t going to comment though, you were allowed to live. He wasn’t going to critique his wife over some small changes.

You heard rustling around the bedroom. Grogu was snoring at your hip. You then felt the coldness of your husbands spot next to you and went to investigate.

Taking Grogu with you, you checked the whole ship. The fresher, the pit, everywhere. The last place you were to check was where he kept the bounties. You were banned from entering when there was one un frozen. The guy you two picked up at the last planet seemed pretty docile though. He was only wanted for a taxing issue with an imperial general, and was pretty willing to go. You two made small talk on the way back. Seemed like a nice enough guy.

What bounty can really be that nice though?

You tapped in the code. When the doors whooshed open, you found your husband with the prisoner. Maskless, Din was trying to get the man off the top of him. He had stolen Din’s knife, and he was struggling to get him off.

You gasped and rolled Grogu on the floor, jumping into action to save him. As the man twisted his torso to face you, he got a good swipe on your hip. You swore in pain, but your distraction was enough for Din to hit him in the head with his helmet and knock the guy out cold.

He fell on top of Din, and you struggled to stand and help. “Dont!” he yelled, using all his force to push the heavy man off of himself and tend to you.

“Where did he get you- where are you hurt?” Din scrambled, searching your body with his hands. This sent you into a panic.

He can’t know yet. He can’t know yet. I’m not ready.

“I’m fine, please.” you protested, but hissed when Din found the spot on your hip. “Take your sweatshirt off, I’m going to go find some bacta” he demanded, leaving your side for only a moment.

You had to face the sad reality when you realized you had to tell him. Bacta wasn’t to be used on pregnant people.

“Din- wait.” you sighed, holding the cut through your shorts. “Y-you cant,”

“What? You need this,” he questioned, grabbing the container from the cabinet. “Don’t be difficult Y/N, I’m really not in the mood for one of your martyr moments.” “Din, no, it’s unsafe.” you whispered. “You gotta speak up Y/N,” he said, shaking the can to spray in your face. You panicked and slapped the can out of his hand across the room.

Din looked at you, pissed. “The hell was that for?”

“You can’t use that on me.” you finally said.

“Why?”

You took a deep sigh.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

His eyebrows rose as his face went soft. His mouth opened a bit, looking at you with a haze. A slight smile came to the corner of his lips as he knelt down beside you.

“Your joking,”

You pulled off your sweatshirt to reveal your cropped shirt under it. Din saw the small formation of a bump and gasped. “No,” he said in astonishment, reaching out for it. “C-can I touch it?” he asked. You smiled and nodded. His hand touched your stomach and he let out a tiny whimper. “I’m going to be a dad?” he asked, breaking his gaze from your stomach to your eyes. His eyes were glossy with a tear threatening to fall.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, remembering the unconscious man behind the two of you. He began to drag his body to the freezer. “I didn’t know you’d react like this,” you chuckled, rubbing the area around your wound.

“Grogu!” Din yelled, catching the attention of the small creature. He had found the can of bacta and was playing with the safety seel on it. “Heal your mother,” he asked. Grogu waddled over to you. He let out an excited giggle when he finally saw your stomach out in the open. You had finally revealed the secret he had known for months. He placed one hand on the cut and one on the stomach, healing your wound. You scooped him off the floor and followed Din into the freezer. You heard the satisfying whirr and your husband throwing his body into storage.

Din then ran up behind you, scooping you up bridal style. “I am over the moons happy Y/N.” he said, looking down at Grogu in your lap.

He placed you in your bed and tucked you in.

In the middle of the night silence, Din broke it.

“Should we name it Greef?”

“Over my dead body,”

“What about Grogu 2?”

“Go to bed Din.”

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die-pink-maus · 4 months

Text

A Weekend In Vienna 🇦🇹: Part II

This is part two to A Weekend In Vienna. I am soooo incredibly grateful for all the love the first part of this series received, especially with it being my first time writing a fanfic, and honestly my first time putting my writing out there for everyone to see in general 🙈 Part One can be found here if you just stumbled upon this randomly lol 👇🏽

♡ PART I: A WEEKEND IN VIENNA 🇦🇹

@lettaniko ‘s interpretation of König is used as inspo for this series. Let’s convince her to make some new drawings in this style. It’s awesome! 💕

For reference, here is a link to the outfit our OC is wearing in this scene 👉🏽 https://www.fashionnova.com/products/dont-call-me-up-jumpsuit-white

TW: 18+, NSFW, MDNI, Suggestions of mild Asphyxiation, but overall mostly fluff, we haven’t gotten too spicy YET, but things are most certainly heating up 🤭

Word Count: 2182

Once again, Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are greatly appreciated! Please do any of the above if you like this series! It would really mean a lot! 🫶🏼

Enjoy! 💋

The doorbell rang around 8pm. I was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on my outfit for the night. I slipped into a skintight white jumpsuit with a pair of black Christian Louboutin pumps, accessorizing with a pair of medium sized silver hoop earrings, a silver watch, and a small black clutch. I touched up my makeup before straightening my hair and pulling it back into a nice high, sleek ponytail, and took one last good look at myself in the mirror. Breathe, you look fine. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dressing to impress. I know it’s just a bar, and I may be slightly over done, which isn’t really out of the ordinary — not for me anyway, but…I wanna make his head spin. Adrian comes up behind me as I’m silently critiquing myself in the mirror. “Jesus…” she gasps. “Sometimes you make me wonder if I’m genuinely straight or not.”

“So this looks okay?” I blushed.

“You look incredible, if he doesn’t make a move, I know someone else will.” She giggled. But I want him. I took a deep breath before we headed downstairs, his large robust frame coming into view almost immediately. He looks quite nice as well. He’s wearing dark blue denim jeans, and a long sleeved light grey v-neck shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his tatted, vascular forearms on full display. Fuck. He was in the middle of what looked to be an interesting conversation with Adrian’s uncle — that was, until he saw me. I could’ve sworn I’d seen his jaw fall slightly open as he watched me parade down the lengthy flight of stairs. I held his gaze as I walked closer. His hooded blue orbs remained glued to mine, seemingly entranced by my every step as I made my way to the door where he stood. I tried as hard as I could to fight the impending smirk tugging at the corner of my lips as we came face to face. This time I’m the one reading him like a book, and it appears I did exactly what I set out to do with this outfit tonight. The look in his eyes is provocative and dark. He looks like he would take me right here and now if he could, if no one were around to watch or hear me scream his name as he has his way with me. I can’t help but revel in the way his eyes caress and undress me from head to toe, a soft but tense sigh escaping his lips as his eyes meet mine again. “Guten Abend,“ I smirked as I leaned forward and up to greet him with a hug. “Siehst du etwas, das dir gefällt?” I whispered before pulling away, a look of both surprise and arousal beaming from his face. It’s clear he’s impressed and maybe even a little taken back by 1. My sudden confident and flirtatious demeanour, and 2. The fact that I speak German. The shy woman he’d met a few hours prior was long gone, and she’d been replaced with a seductress. His lips quirk up into a smile as he gently rubs the back of his neck, probably thinking of his next move, but Arian interrupts before he has a chance to speak. “Let’s get going, I need some vodka.” She sighed as she brushed passed us both and walked out the front door. König and I said goodbye to Adrian’s uncle as we followed her outside. I was about to open the back door of his car to get in when I felt his large hand gently wrap around my arm from behind. He leaned down close to my ear, “Natürlich gefällt mir, was ich sehe, Prinzessin...” he whispered. “But I’d like it a lot more if it were on my bedroom floor.” He breathed as he let go of my arm and walked around me. I stood frozen as he grinned at me over his shoulder before shifting into the driver’s seat of the car and closing the door.

The bar is packed. Pretty sure the only reason we were able to get in is because König knows the owner, and his military buds have already secured us a nice table near the bar. Since arriving we’ve had about 4 rounds of vodka shots, and it didn’t look like any of us intended to stop any time soon. König and I have been exchanging flirtatious looks all night at every possible chance we get. I forgot how exhilarating sexual tension was. I haven’t had relations in quite a while, and I was afraid I may have lost my edge when it comes to flirting, but apparently not. I do still find that I am quite nervous around him, but I never really expected that to go away completely just yet. At least I’m doing a much better job at hiding it this time around, but I suppose I may have liquid courage to thank for that. I decided to take it easy with this next drink. I wouldn’t say I’m a light weight, but the buzz is definitely buzzing. I decided to go with my usual — a double vodka cranberry with a little bit of soda. Given it was quite busy, the bartender was occupied with a few other guests by the time I’d reached the rail. As a bartender myself, this is a situation I’m all too familiar with. I waited patiently, trying to grab their attention whenever I could. I could see König pushing his way through the crowd of people from the corner of my eye, inserting himself at the bar rail beside me. “Hey!” He called out to the bartender, capturing their attention almost instantly. It’s hard to ignore a man like König. Aside from the obvious fact that he’s just all around massive, he’s got such an undeniably commanding presence. He has an effect on everyone he’s around, and what kind of effect he has clearly depends on who you are and what you’re doing. “Ein Bier, bitte, und…” he trailed off as he looked down at me. “A double vodka cranberry with a splash of soda.” I blushed. “Ein doppelter Wodka-Cranberry mit Soda für die Dame.” He said as he slid money across the rail to the bartender, before reverting his attention back to me. “I hope you are having a good time so far.” He said.

“Absolutely,” I said. “This is a great spot, and I really like your friends.”

“I’m glad I am able to help make your first time in Wien an enjoyable one.” He smiled as the bartender placed our drinks in front of us.

“Danke.”

“Prost.” He winked as we clinked glasses. Ugh, he’s trouble.

We were on our second drink at the bar rail when we both glanced in the direction of our table, observing as everyone watched Adrian tell some sort of elaborate story. We couldn’t really hear what was being said, but a lot of arm movements and gestures were going on. I laughed, “looks like your friends are enjoying Adrian’s performance.”

“It doesn’t surprise me really, we appreciate a good story, not much else to do between missions other than share past experiences.” He laughed.

“So what’s that like? Being in the military, I mean.”

“It’s definitely not easy, it takes a toll on you in a lot of ways, but you get accustomed to everything. I know nothing else, it’s been my life since I was 17. Adrian’s uncle was my lieutenant actually.”

“That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Do you ever wish things were different?”

“Not really…I’m good at what I do.” He sighed as he took a swig of his beer. “The only thing I wish I had is a woman as beautiful as you to come home to.” He said, shifting his gaze in my direction. “I think I might be a little dangerous for your health though.” He smirked.

My brow raised. “How so?” I asked. He paused for a moment before moving closer, gently placing my chin between his thumb and index fingers, tilting upward as he gazed into my eyes intensely. “I don’t know if your body would be able to handle how hard I’d make you cum…all day and night like it’s the only thing I’ve been made to do.” He said lowly, my breath hitching in my throat as I digested his words. “You’d cum so hard, the only thing you’d be able to remember is my name.“ Fuck..In this moment it almost felt like I forgot how to breathe. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to experience that. I can only imagine all the many things a man like this could make me feel. I know it would probably be the most passionately intense sex I’ve ever had, and considering I live in Canada and wouldn’t be able to have that whenever I wanted, it may be best if I never discover what I’d be missing out on. But I want to so badly. I watch as he slowly smiles, his tongue gently grazing his bottom lip as he indulges in the arousal seeping from my expression. “But you’re curious, aren’t you Maus?” He asks as he begins leaning in even closer, his lips merely inches away from mine. “Yes.” I breathed, his palm cupping my cheek before he closed the gap between our lips. He tastes of craft beer and peppermint. I moan softly as his tongue sensually enters my mouth, his hand departing my cheek and sliding down to the base of my neck and upward, gently clasping around my throat as his other arm pulled me into him. My thighs clenched together as wetness pooled beneath my lacy black panties, my thoughts running absolutely wild with imagination. He lightly tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth as he pulled away, I look up at him, sheer adoration beaming from my face. I’m looking at him like he’s practically God and it’s embarrassing as fuck but I can’t help it. I’m yearning for more. I want him to take me out to the car and fuck me till I can’t see straight. After that kiss, it’s obvious he’s capable of this, but I resist the urge to reveal my desperation. “I suppose I could go easy on you to start.” He grins as he takes his beer and walks off back towards our table. I remain at the bar, absolutely stunned by the chain of events that too place only moments prior. What have I gotten myself into?

By the time we all decided to leave, it was nearly 3am. Adrian was drunk as fuck and dancing incoherently with one of König’s friends, Horangi. I was quite intoxicated as well, day dreaming of all the things I wanted König to do to me as we both tried to converse normally, and pretend as if that breathtakingly steamy kiss by the bar rail never happened. Though, it was clear we were both still thinking about it. Both still silently undressing one another with our eyes as the coquettish banter roamed freely under the guise of polite conversation. “How much longer are you here for?” He asked.

“I leave in the next 3 days.” I said as he walked Adrian and I to the door of her aunt’s house. “Let me take you out for dinner tomorrow night. I would love to spend an evening alone together.” He smiled.

“Dinner huh? Wasn’t really expecting you to be a ‘Wine and Dine’ kinda guy.” I giggled.

“Normally, I wouldn’t say that I am…but something about you intrigues me.” He said. “I’d love to get to know more about you as a person before we go any further.” Wow. Not really what I was expecting in all honesty. Not necessarily saying he intended to take me home with him tonight, but I wasn’t sure he’d be interested in me either. “I don’t mind taking things slower than usual for you. I want to court you, Maus, if you’d allow me to.” I couldn’t help but blush, the way he calls me Maus always stirs up butterflies in the pit of my stomach. “I think I’d like that, a lot actually.” I smiled nervously.

“Good, how does 7pm sound?” He asked as Adrian unlocked the front door and stumbled inside. “It’s a date.” I smiled.

“I look forward to it, Maus.” He said as he leaned forward, softly snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me close before pressing his lips to mine. My legs practically turned to jello as we kissed passionately in front of the door. “Goodnight, Prinzessin. See you tomorrow, Ja?” He said as he pulled away. “Goodnight, König.” I said as he walked down the stairs back towards his car. I opened the front door, letting out a deep exhale as I tried to process the night. Well, fuck.

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phading · 1 month

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Hi, it's me!

Okay, so there’s probably a lot you don’t know about me. So just in case you’re in the least bit interested:

I try very, very hard never to read incomplete fics. Purely selfish, and the result of reading far too many heart-grabbing stories that never got finished. If you need kudos or encouragement or anything else to continue, I’m here and over the moon excited to read anything you’d like to throw at me. Just let me know what you want in return - comments, critique, suggestions, hugs, encouragement, emojis, whatever ...

I posted one fic a chapter at a time, and I doubt I’ll ever do it again.

Characterization is everything.

If you’ve noticed an absence of Brains, Grandma, Lady P, Havoc, etc… in my fics it’s because I don’t give a twit. Perhaps one day I will evolve beyond this simplistic state.

I suck at prompts, challenges and deadlines. My muse is never in the right headspace at the right time.

I have a ridiculous need to keep it believable when really, the stuff that goes on in the show – no matter how much I adore it – is often somewhat miraculous.

It’s the future, people, I’m allowed to invent things.

In real life, I write kids’ books.

To the best of my knowledge, I’m the oldest member of the Thunderfam. Challenge me if you think you can claim the title.

The first thing of importance I ever wrote was a full length Star Trek Next Gen novel which I submitted to a few select New York publishers (oh, the innocence of youth) . Surprise, surprise, many of them actually read it and sent back comments written on famous restaurant napkins.

So, in light of all of the above, I’m once again doing my own thing. Inspired by the recent “10 opening lines from 10 recent fics” post I’m changing it up to “10 opening lines from 10 WIPs”. I mean, seriously, I’m a newbie here and have far more WIPs than I do finished fics. So here’s what’s – pray to the anti-depression, anti-chronic pain gods – coming up …

A WHOLE LOT OF SUPERFICIAL The uniform discarded in a heap on the floor outside the showers was expected – the purple neoprene wasn’t. (Virgil, Scott, shaping up to be humour)

THE LAST ZOO ON EARTH “Say again, John. I thought you said we have a situation at a zoo.” (All brothers, major rescue, major whump, pissed off Gordon)

THERE ARE NO CANNIBALS ANYMORE “Sir! I need you to calm down!” (Hurt Virgil, this one could go graphic in a hurry)

IT DOESN’T HURT Virgil glanced up from the piano keys, searching for inspiration but instead witnessing his fish brother's spectacular dive off the board – a dive that would leave his re-built back in shambles. (Fishtank, chronic pain)

TIGHT ROPE “I’m sorry, John, but if she’s dumb enough to try and pull off this ridiculous stunt, I see no reason why we should save her from her own stupidity.” (rescue gone sideways)

STARSTUCK Alan Tracy had been looking forward to this moment for a very long time. (Hurt Virgil, guilty Alan, Thunderbird 3 whump)

STELLAR “Hey, John, what’s this?” “It’s personal, that’s what it is!” (Guilty John, comatose Gordon, poetry, John has a secret)

CASPIAN John Tracy blinked open his eyes, breath catching when he discovered the most beautiful thing in his universe mere centimetres from his face. (John, OC-John’s lover, angst, Marks and Wings, John is not only a telepathic Ave but he’s bi!)

PSYCHOTIC MEDIUMS The probe entered Earth’s solar system broadcasting a symphony of alien sound that instantaneously drove the half-a-million or so humans who were listening insane. (Virgil centric, angst, sci-fi)

THE JOHN-CODE “Hey, Eos, you wanna help me test this new game?” (Alan, John, Eos, virtual games gone wrong.)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderfam #thunderbirds fanfiction #phading

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iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia · 4 months

Note

Hello again Brainrot !! I hope you’re doing well! :] (apologies in advance for the long ask !!)

This is may be a little out of left field, but I thought it might make for an interesting discussion, so !! Here I am again, hehe

I’ve been working on a (purely self-indulgent, not-yet public) project over the past year or so, literally called The Arcana Rewritten (it’s primarily a poly route/combination of Julian & Nadia’s routes, with a heavy emphasis on the world-building, character-building, a hell of a lot of magic shenanigans, & bits and pieces from the other routes since I find them interesting & fun to work with in the context of each other’s routes!) (additional sidenote, your headcanons have actually inspired a hell of a lot of the project & helped me get a better understanding of the cast, so I can’t thank you enough !!)— and to help me figure out/keep in mind the foundations of each of the main cast, I’ve been jotting down various character rankings both based on canon information (such as the official character rankings) *and* headcanons (including my own MC, because of course I would)

All of this to say !! I wanted to share the rankings I have so far & ask for your feedback/suggestions/critique (plus the feedback of whoever else sees this, should they choose), if it’s not too much trouble for me to ask! (Plus I just like hearing people’s personal thoughts on the cast, hehe)

Anyhow !! Don’t feel pressured to respond to this any time soon—! I’m just tossing it out here for fun :P

Take care, Brainrot!

- Cadaver

@lurkingposting hi Cadaver! It's great to meet you!

I genuinely don't know what to do with such high praise, but thank you so much for the credit!! (I don't deserve it but I truly appreciate it :'))

I love these rankings - and to help out where I can, I have this post saved from forever ago where someone went through all the rankings/character stuff with the M6 and compiled them in one post. Here it is!!

I look forward to seeing what other people think, but reading through it I think these are awesome! I'd love to talk about them with you in depth if you're ever interested - my DMs are always open, and if you want a whole group of arcana fans analyzing your AU you can make a channel for it in the discord server (no pressure, of course) ^.^

#ask arcana brainrot #the arcana #the arcana headcanons #the arcana hc #the arcana game

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maislovebot · 4 months

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Taking advantage of the fact that your requests are open, if you accept, would you write something about Sigma with a reader who is a little insecure about her weight since she is chubby? like she's insecure about wearing certain items of clothing she loves, she can't look in the mirror or she doesn't feel like she's good enough for Sigma, things like that if it's not too uncomfortable for you.

Beautiful

Ofc I can write this, anon!! Here’s a little psa,,

You are beautiful!! Don’t you dare think for a second that you’re not, these insecurities are unwarranted. You’re gorgeous!!

With that said, this fic contains: gn reader, hurt/comfort, body comfort & insecurity, fluff and slight angst, the reader is naked but not in a sexual way, ig it could be seen as suggestive but I prefer for it to not be, it’s implied you guys have a bath together at the end but again it’s not sexual

You stare at yourself in the mirror, the hot water from the shower warming you up from a distance. All you were trying to do was take a nice shower before bed, then go and lay down with Sigma. But per usual, you couldn’t help but critique yourself in the mirror.

You stared at your naked body, pinching and pulling at the skin you felt shouldn’t be there. You groaned, tearing up. You didn’t deserve Sigma, he was so beautiful, ethereal, even. And you felt, for lack of a better word, horrible. You looked down at your legs, tearing up pathetically.

Your thoughts were eating you alive, taking over all your thoughts. You were unable to think of anything else besides your body, and how..unattractive it is. You hated how you were chubby. Your thoughts swarmed your mind until you heard a knock on the bathroom door, and you quickly grabbed a towel before opening it to see Sigma. As to be expected considering you two live together.

“What’re you doing?” Sigma asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just..getting into the shower.”

“And crying over it?”

You stood still, looking at Sigma with confusion. How’d he know?

“How did you find out?” You questioned.

“I walked past to get a drink of water and heard you sniffling.”

Considering how you had the water pressure on quite low, it wasn’t a shock that Sigma could hear you from in front of the door.

“What’s the matter?”

You tightened your grip on the towel.

Sigma gave a confused look at your silence, walking behind you to hold you close. He wrapped his arms around your bare shoulders, holding you close to his chest.

“I don’t feel..good.”

“‘Good’ in what way?”

“..attractive.”

Sigma looked taken aback, leaning his head forward to look directly at your face.

“Why don’t you feel attractive?”

“I don’t know, it’s not as easy to explain as that,” you said. “I don’t have a nice body like you do.”

Sigma looked confused, moving his hand to caress your upper chest that wasn’t hidden by the towel.

“I think you have a beautiful body.”

You teared up more, looking down.

“But do I really? You’re so..pretty, and I’m—well, not.”

“What is it you don’t like about your body though?”

You got a little irritated, unable to put it into words.

“To explain it simply, I’m chubby. It’s ugly.”

Sigma looked shocked at your words (which were blatantly untrue, he couldn’t think of a single more attractive person than you), letting you keep talking. He wanted to fully hear you out. He gave you a ‘keep going’ look, waiting for more detail.

The words flooded out of you like a water bank.

Within about twenty-five minutes, you had your chest against Sigma, crying, sobbing, over all your built up emotions.

“Like..I can’t wear any of the clothes I like..! Or, or..go out in public and not be self conscious. It feels like everyone’s looking at me! And..”

“And?”

“I feel like I’m not good enough for you.”

By this point, the water had run cold, and you were shivering at the cold air in the room from, and from sobbing your eyes out.

“That’s..untrue. I don’t think there’s anyone that could ever be better for me,”

Sigma turned you back around, kissing along your shoulders that were on display and not hidden by the towel. He slowly trailed down, leaving chaste kisses along your body. It was nice to get this comfort and have it not be sexual, it almost felt more real. As Sigma trailed down, intertwining his fingers with yours and reaching your hand up to kiss your knuckles, the lack of pressure against the towel from your lifted arm made it fall, and you squealed a little, leaning down to grab it, before Sigma gripped your shoulder.

“No, don’t..if you’re fine with that.”

You nodded, leaning back up and looking away, favoring the floor instead of straight ahead at the mirror or Sigma’s face. Sigma didn’t make you look at him, not wanting to force you. Instead, he trailed along your stomach, and arms, trailing down to your thighs, gently squeezing them. The tender movements made you look up at the mirror, looking at him.

His face didn’t disappoint you.

He had a look of fondness, a small smile on his face as he looked at you in the mirror. There was no judgment, only adoration and love. He was holding you close, swaying you at this point. And despite the cold shower, you felt warm inside. As much as you were crying earlier, you couldn’t help a fond smile from creeping across your face.

“How about we wait for the shower to warm up again, clean up, and then we can go to bed. Maybe we can go shopping tomorrow. I think we should buy some of those clothes you’re hesitant to wear, prove how good they look on you.

You smiled at the idea.

“Sounds nice.”

Wc - 0.8k

#pixie’s asks:3 #bungou stray dogs #bsd x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd #sigma x you #sigma bsd #sigma bungou stray dogs #bsd sigma #sigma x reader #sigma

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shadyruinskryptonite · 5 months

Text

Titan Bending Chapter 6

Warning: Violence consistent with cannon, NSFW so MDNI, language, major character death (both consistent with canon of both AOT and ATLA as well as diverging from canon), so much trauma literally everyone is so traumatized, very much slow burn, a little enemies to lovers, SO MUCH ANGST, hurt/comfort, hurt and delayed comfort, AFAB reader

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of death, injury, sparring, fighting, hand-to-hand combat, weapons

WC: 3660

Previous Chapter, Next Chapter

Masterlist

Tags: @mochminnie @sseleniaa

Walking down the hallway after breakfast, I see the kids that I’ve started to get to know, my squad if you will, on the training field. I stop to watch for a second and see that Armin is just sitting off to the side.

Walking onto the field and up to him, I ask, “Whatcha doin all by yourself?”

I seem to have caught him by surprise because he pauses for a moment with wide eyes before responding, “Oh, there’s an uneven number of people so I have to wait for a sparring partner.”

“Sparring, eh?” I say with a gleam in my eyes. “How about I be your partner then?”

“Oh, um, you don’t have to do that.”

“I know,” I say reaching out my hand to help him off the ground. He picks up a wooden sword and I snort at him, “What’s the toy for?”

“Oh,” he looks at the sword in his hand, “it’s because our actual swords are so sharp that we don’t use those during practice.”

I nod and take a fighting stance. Armin gets into one as well and I have to be careful not to make a face.

Ooh, hand-to-hand is NOT this kid’s specialty.

It’s not until he takes a swing that I can’t contain myself anymore. “Okay, I don’t want to be rude but…can I give you a few pointers?” He nods enthusiastically at me.

“Okay, well first let’s talk about your stance. Your feet are a bit too close together and it would be very easy for someone to push you off balance if not completely over.” I push him lightly on the shoulder and watch him stumble a little in order to demonstrate my point. “In the same vein, you need to be a little lower. Bend more at the knees. That way, your center of gravity is lower which also makes it harder to knock you off balance.” Once he gets into position, I push his shoulder again and show him that he’s already much more solid.

“There, doesn’t that feel better?” He nods again in response.

“Alright, now let’s work on your motions. You used more of a stabbing motion, but that should probably be reserved for a finishing move because if you use it to open,” I take one hand underneath his wrist and push up while I use my other on the sword and pull down, knocking the weapon out of his hand in one move. I grab the glorified two-by-four before it hits the ground and continue, “it’s really easy to disarm. We haven’t been fighting continuously so I’m not tired enough yet. My suggestion is to use more side to side movements, at least early in a fight. They move faster so they’re harder to catch. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah! Like this?” Armin says as he implements my critiques.

“That’s perfect Armin! You’re a quick learner!” I say as I beam at him and I could swear I see him blush.

We keep practicing like this for a few minutes before Levi approaches. “Y/N, it’s nice to see you at practice. Arlert, I’ve been trying to say this to you for so long, what changed?” Armin stammers for a minute before Levi cuts him off, “well whatever it is, keep it up.” I smile at the kid and he blushes again.

Just as we’re about to work without the swords, Hange smacks her hands on my shoulders making me jump.

“Sorry to break up such a successful little practice, but I need you my dear,” she says, only barely containing her excitement.

“It’s just about lunchtime Hange, how about we eat quickly and then we get to work?” She visibly deflates but ultimately agrees. The entire squad makes our way to the mess hall where we’re met with Erwin for the first time. Unlike the last time I saw him, he’s clean shaven and his hair is neatly styled. He doesn’t immediately see me amongst the kids, but when we do make eye contact he smiles politely and I grin at him saying, “it’s nice to see you out and about Erwin.”

“Thank you Y/N. It’s good to see that you seem to be getting along with everyone-” he’s cut off by Hange’s maniacal laughter. Everyone turns to look at her and I cringe knowing exactly what she’s about to say.

“Yeah, except for the wild suckerpunch she hit Levi with yesterday! It was truly a sight to be seen, no one has ever stood up to him quite like that!”

As Erwin turns to look at me with surprise and a hint of amusement on his face, I grimace and rub my neck as I see Levi look at the ground out of the corner of my eye. “Yeah, I apologized to Levi last night about that, I was definitely out of line and made the entire situation much more personal than it needed to be. My friends back home are all roughly the same age as Levi’s squad so…” I trail off.

Going through the line, I decide to copy Erwin this time as he asks, “tell us a bit more about your friends, from what you’ve said so far it sounds like they could provide some more information.”

I sit down between Hange and Armin, with Levi and Erwin across the table and the rest of the kids huddled closely..

“Well, when I left Zuko was 17, Sokka and Suki were 16, Katara was 14, and Aang and Toph were 13. There’s a lot that could be said about all of them, but Aang is probably the one you’ll find the most interesting. I’ve mentioned the concept of the Avatar before as the only person that can bend all of the elements and that’s what Aang is. Part of what makes the Avatar who they are is the spirit they have. 10,000 years ago a human spirit fused with the spirit of light, Raava. So basically that’s what’s been passed down from person to person. Since it’s one spirit that all of the Avatars through history have shared, all of the knowledge of bending comes with it, so in addition to being able to bend all of the elements the person that is the Avatar is also the strongest bender in the world. After having lived with you all a little while, I know this is going to sound utterly unbelievable but Aang is actually, technically, 113 years old. He was an Air Nomad and when he found out he was the Avatar he ran away. Basically, he crashed his flying bison into the ocean during a storm and the Avatar spirit saved him in, essentially, a big iceberg-”

“What’s an iceberg?” Levi enquires.

“Oh, sorry. An iceberg is a massive hunk of ice. They can be as big as entire islands or countries. They float in the sea in super cold areas - specifically near the Southern Watertribe and the Northern Watertribe where I’m from. Anyway, Aang stayed frozen in that iceberg for 100 years until Sokka and Katara freed him accidentally. Sokka and Katara are brother and sister from the Southern Watertribe, and Katara is a waterbender like me but Sokka isn’t. Somewhat unrelated because we didn’t find this out for a while, but they’re actually my cousins. Anyway, they basically went on the journey with Aang then to master all of the elements. The thing about the Avatar cycle is that you have to go in order, and that goes both for learning the elements and for which element the next Avatar is reincarnated into. So first was water, then they traveled to the Earth Kingdom where they met Toph. Despite being just a kid herself, Toph is Aang’s earthbending master. She’s a blind girl from a noble family and uses her earthbending as a form of sight. Suki is a non-bender from a place called Kyoshi Island in the Earth Kingdom. She’s the captain of their elite fighting force and is crazy talented. The last person then is Zuko. He eventually became Aang’s firebending master. Zuko is from the Fire Nation and is now Fire Lord, which is basically king of the Fire Nation. At the time I met him though he was just the banished, exiled crown prince. That’s…that’s basically the overview. Is there anything in particular you want to know?”

Before anyone can say anything, Eren chimes in “how did you meet these people?”

I smile at him. “Well, I met Zuko first. I was living in the woods of the Earth Kingdom when he tried to steal food from me. I basically taught him how to hunt and fend for himself and then began traveling with him and his uncle Iroh. At the time they were on the run. We ended up in the capital of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se. Actually, that’s the city I thought I was in when I landed here. But it was here that I got hurt in a fight between people from the Fire Nation and Aang and Katara. When I came to, I was in the Fire Nation and still very injured so I escaped and found Aang and the rest of the group and they rescued me pretty much with open arms.”

“Will you shut up and finish eating so we can get to work?” Hange hisses in my ear.

I chuckle at her and keep eating as Erwin asks, “so if Aang’s spirit goes back 10,000 years, do you think he knows anything about this part of the world?” A hush falls across the table and everyone looks at me with baited breath. I think for a moment before saying, “No, I don’t think he currently knows anything about the world being larger than the four nations. But he might be our best bet to figure out more. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s possible he can enter the spirit world and speak with one of his past lives about it.”

“But that would require us finding him,” Levi states bluntly. Hange slumps a little at this but realization dawns on me. No one other than Levi seems to notice my change in demeanor. “You have an idea?” he asks me directly.

I pause, mulling it over before simply saying, “Possibly.” I stop while everyone waits for me to continue. “Again, it’s not a guarantee but…I’ve actually been able to travel to the spirit world myself before. Only during full moons, but it is something I can do. I don’t have the same past lives, so it’s not a direct connection or anything, but it could be something.” The table falls silent again as everyone processes my words.

“Well,” Hange breaks the silence, “I think it’s time for us to get to work!”

As we stand up and place our trays on the return, I realize everyone is coming with us.

“We’re going to have an audience for our first real experiment?” I ask her.

“Of course! You’re an anomaly and they have time before they have to start cleaning so everyone wants to watch,” Hange responds matter-of-factly.

I nod in understanding before asking, “So what's our first test?”

I can practically feel Hange start to vibrate with excitement as she starts in, “I think we can get through a few today! I want to see how close you have to be to a source of water in order to use it, and if that distance changes if the source is different-”

“-like if I’m pulling from something direct like a river or indirect like a tree,” I interject.

“Exactly! That shouldn’t take very long though so I also want to see how precise you can be at different distances. Oh! And maybe we can see how much water you can bend at once today too! And I’m working on ways to measure how much force you can hit a target with and we can also work with how you localize ice and-”

“Hange! We don’t have to do ALL of the experiments we discussed today!” I cut her off with a giggle.

Her excitement is adorable. It reminds me a bit of Sokka.

At this point, we’ve reached the field where she runs tests with Eren. With a clap of her hands, Hange announces, “Okay! So Moblit has set up markers every 10 meters for 50 meters. I have just a cup of water at zero. Start as far away as you feel you can.”

“Easy enough but I will say,” I begin to explain, “a small source like this is more difficult to bend from far away. If it were a bigger source, like a pond, I think I could pretty easily bend it from 50 meters.”

Her eyes fill with wonder and she scribbles down some notes without saying another word. I smile at her again before walking to the 10 meter mark. Before I can bend she looks up and her voice is tinged with a little disappointment, “Oh, you don’t think you can bend that from farther back?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m not a super strong bender or anything so I think I can probably do farther back, but I’m not sure so I don’t want to start too optimistic if that makes sense.”

Her enthusiasm returns, assuaged by my explanation. Without another word, I return to my stance and bend the water out of the cup, bringing it to myself and realizing we can kill two birds with one stone. “Hange, I don’t know what you have planned to test precision but putting this water back in this cup might be a decent test of that.”

“Oh y/n! I love how you think! I’ll want to do other tests too but that is a brilliant idea!”

I smile again before returning the water and carefully lower it down into the cup without spilling a drop.

Haha! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

A bit smug with myself, I walk to the next marker at 20 meters and repeat the steps, doing the same at 30 meters without a mistake at either. It’s at the 40 meter mark that I begin to struggle, unable to accurately sense the water in the cup. Ultimately, I can still bend it but when it comes to returning the water to the cup I lose about half. Moblit refills the cup and we proceed to test the increments between 30 and 40 to see exactly where I lose precision, and then we go past 40 to see where I lose the ability to bend it at all.

These steps are repeated on a few poor trees, and it turns out I can bend a tree from 67 meters away while I can only reach 44 meters with a small source. After completing this series of tests, I reproach Hange and the group inquiring about the next test.

“Okay, so I don’t think we can test how much water I can bend right now. There’s nowhere near a large enough body of water and I’ve already killed too many of your trees.”

Erwin snorts and Hange seems dismissive as she says, “Oh, that’s no problem. It’s for a greater good!” I crinkle my nose up with disgust at her suggestion, but no one seems to pay me any mind as Hange continues. “I do think that bending the water in trees is not the most scientific approach to measuring the amount. I guess that just means that we’ll have to take a field trip soon!”

As Hange gets lost in her excitement, I see Levi turn to the kids out of the corner of my eye.

“Alright brats, that’s enough watching the circus,” I roll my eyes at his insinuation, “you all have your assigned posts for cleaning, disperse now.” He’s met with groans but ultimately they all salute and head in their own directions.

I turn to Hange and say, “Well, until you figure out exactly how you want to run some of the other experiments, I don’t think there’s anything else we can do today. Am I dismissed?”

She looks at me incredulously and I can feel Levi and Erwin’s eyes on me as well, so I continue, “Levi’s squad is cleaning so I wanted to assist them. I know I’ve made it clear that I’m not a soldier, but I am living here too so I figure it’s the least I can do.” She softens slightly and while she’s still disappointed, she does agree that I should help with cleaning and decides that she can go synthesize what we’ve worked on today. As she and Erwin walk away deep in discussion, I walk with Levi.

“So where do you need me, cap’?” I say with mischief in my voice.

Levi gives me a bombastic side eye but doesn’t comment on my playful title. “Connie and Mikasa are cleaning the mess hall. Eren, Sasha, Armin, Krista, and Jean are on stable duty. The choice is yours.”

“Stables sounds like shit…no pun intended,” I say amused with my own joke. To my surprise, Levi lets out a snort which I think for him is the equivalent of crying with laughter. “So, I guess I’ll help Connie and Mikasa.”

Once inside, I split off from Levi and head towards the mess hall where I see the bald boy and the girl with the black hair.

So her name is Mikasa and that’s Connie. That must mean the other two girls are Sasha and Krista. Once I figure out the difference between the two of them, I think I’ll finally be able to put together everyone’s names.

As I approach, they both stop and just stare at me. Suddenly feeling like an outsider, I stop awkwardly and say “Hi, uh, I’m going to help y’all clean today.”

“I thought you weren’t a soldier?” Connie says with a hint of amusement in his voice, clearly referring to my little outburst yesterday.

I sigh and explain to them the same thing I just did to Hange about wanting to pull my weight and this seems to satisfy Mikasa, so with the ghost of a smile she hands me a bucket and a rag. I take it from her, returning a warm grin that seems to make her even more comfortable with my presence.

Looking into the bucket, I’m struck with an idea. “I think I have a way that we can do this really quickly. Pour your buckets onto the tables,” I instruct the kids. They’re completely confused so I realize I’m going to have to demonstrate.

I pour some of the soapy water on the table closest to me before bending it to spread it out. Once the entire table is covered, I turn back to the wide eyed Mikasa and Connie and explain, “I can cover each table quickly, we let it sit for a moment so that it disinfects better, and then I bend it off and out the window. Then I can take plain, clean water and rinse the tables off. While I do that you can dust, then we do the floors the same way and we’re done in maybe 15 minutes!”

As we get to work, I catch them watching me. Their curiosity is cute and honestly not dissimilar from my own. We finish up in about 15 minutes just like I predicted. As we’re finishing the floor, Levi enters the mess hall to check in and is visibly surprised that we’re done already, although he shakes the emotion quickly from his face.

His eyes narrow and I hear him mumble to himself, “we’ll see about that.”

His cloth runs across every surface and not a speck of dirt sullies the white fabric. He glances at the three of us before walking up to a random table to inspect it more thoroughly. When his back is turned, I wink at Mikasa and Connie and they both give me hesitant smiles. Levi swipes underneath the table, clearly thinking this will get us but much to his surprise, this surface is also pristine. He huffs and almost inaudibly tells us we did a good job. I was expecting him to tell us to go assist the others, but instead he gives us the rest of the afternoon free so I decide to make tea for the kids and we can sit somewhere and just relax.

Mikasa smiles a genuine smile this time and says, “that would be nice.”

I’m taken aback by the pitch of her voice and then I chuckle. “You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you talk.” The girl seems almost embarrassed but they both come to the kitchen with me as I start to prepare some tea.

“So, why did you guys join the military?”

They both pause but it’s Connie that breaks the silence. “I originally wanted to be a hero and bring honor to my village,” he laughs without humor, “nothing really honorable about this though, and it’s not like there’s a Ragako Village anymore.” The look in his eyes is distant, and I want to inquire more but decide it’s not the time. I hand him his tea first.

Turning to Mikasa, she sort of just shrugs her shoulders and says “I wanted to make sure I could keep Eren safe,” she pauses before quickly adding, “and Armin too! It was always their dream to join the Survey Corps. Armin was the one that told Eren there’s an outside world and they’ve both wanted to go outside the walls ever since.”

“So that’s why they’re so interested in my stories,” I say as I pass her the tea and she nods.

“Armin is obsessed with the sea,” Connie adds.

I smile at this before getting lost in my own thoughts for a moment. I then simply say, “the ocean is pretty cool. I miss it.”

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ashknife · 6 months

Text

Blossom

This is for the @inklings-challenge. I didn't have the benefit of running this through my writing group for critique and editing, so it is exceptionally rough. It's done, but it needs work. Something to do when I graduate in May. :) If you have suggestions or criticism to make, I would greatly appreciate it.

>/-u:bl0$$0m >/-p:*************** User authenticated. Welcome, bl0$$0m. TaurOS 7.2.9 rev.2 update available. See UPDATE -README for details. bl0$$0m>/-jack a2.82.71.89.82.fe -in/quiet Initializing peripherals. VineTech Helm Visor XG51 detected. VineTech Glide Gloves XG51 detected. VineTech Chest Mount Expansion XG51 detected. Please wait...... 9.8 PB allocated. Entering TaurNet...... Welcome, user bl0$$0m.

Visuals initializing.

A small room appears in her sight. It is covered in vines and foliage. A square fountain in the middle, covered in lily pads, provides water to this lush little garden.

Audio initializing.

The sound of trickling water gently pelts her ears. A breeze whooshes above, rustling the plants and calling attention to the windchimes above.

Sensories initializing.

She feels the cool breath of the wind caress her skin. The sun filtering in from above counters with its warmth. The dichotomy is pleasing. The scent of the plants fills her nostrils. She almost sneezes; she is thankful she doesn’t. The mess would have been a pain to clean up.

Controls initialized. Happy exploring.

She moves her body around the garden. Walking around is almost like walking around the dark room she is really seated in. It’s close enough to be disconcerting. No matter how many times she’s done this, she has to take a few minutes to reorient herself to the virtual environment. She performs a few stretches and exercises while she’s at it. There will be a lot of activity today.

“Hey, get your bearings yet?” Spencer’s disembodied voice crackled slightly.

“Almost. You’re breaking up a little,” Blossom replied.

“Can’t help it. There’s a massive storm outside. Let me know when you’re ready. Red is on standby,” Spencer said.

“Yo,” Redjack said. “I see you’re in one of the VineTech gardens.”

“It came with the gear,” she said.

“Did you get the XG51 set? Nice!” Spencer said.

“That’s right, boys. Only quality goods for this girl,” she said.

“That pocket garden is nice. If we weren’t already linked, I’d never know it was there. Is it true? Can you link that room anywhere?” Redjack said. Blossom smiled a little. Even she enjoyed the new car smell.

“I tried putting it just outside the library subbasement. I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Blossom said.

“Which door?”

“A-51.”

“Ok, I’m watching. On your mark, Blossom.”

“Security is light down there, but be on your guard,” Spencer said.

“Got it,” she replied. “3…2…1…”

She opened the door out into a large, dusty lobby. Dust kicked up from the floor in a visible wave emanating from the opening portal.

“Oh, wow. I think you’re the first to disturb the air here in a long time,” Redjack commented.

“You said light security, Spence. Do you think it’s still around?” Blossom asked.

“Sensors don’t need to physically patrol an area to scan it. Some gremlins can remain inert for decades before being activated,” Spencer replied.

“Don’t let my guard down,” she said.

“Exactly. People have died from less,” Spencer said.

Blossom carefully stepped into the lobby. To her left was a large set of stairs leading up to the ground floor. A couple of dim rays from the cyberworld above pierced through, illuminating parts of a utilitarian directory in front of a big desk. Circulation, Preservation, and Housekeeping were to the right.

“This desk looks like a reception area for the basement offices,” Blossom said. “I can see some of the directory. Preservation is to my right. Is that where the archives are?”

“Not necessarily, but it’s a good place to start,” Spencer said.

“Not to alarm, but going off of Spence’s point earlier, there are a couple of inert gremlins under the desk. I’m prepping some weapon data just in case. What would you like?” Redjack said.

“The usual,” she said.

“On it,” he replied.

“Any sentries close by?” Spencer said.

“Three blocks down,” Redjack said.

“I’ll look. You’re clear to walk to that point,” Spencer said.

“Got it,” Blossom said. She advanced down the dark hallway with short, purposeful steps. She looked side-to-side with as much caution. Though the hallways were mostly bare, that did not mean they were empty. More than once, she was ambushed by cleverly camouflaged data gremlins, dangerous anomalies residing in the depths of cyberspace. They are pockets of corrupted data left down here for months, decades, or even centuries. Having been overlooked for so long and thus no programs to handle garbage collection, the corruptions evolved into some sort of animalistic state with a monstrous appearance. The depths of cyberspace are home to dangers such as this. It takes professional hackers like Blossom and her crew to brave and survive those depths to retrieve lost data. Hacker is one of the most respected professions on Taurus Rho.

Blossom crept to the end of the hall, where a pair of steel doors painted the same cream as the walls blocked her path. If Spencer was right, the sentries would be on the other side of the doors, so she relaxed a bit and took in her surroundings. She had seen the upper floors of this library before with rows of heavy wooden shelves with numerous imaginative posters begging patrons to read, read, read. There was colorful carpet to complement the colorful walls and numerous streamers hanging from the ceiling. It felt open, lively, and inviting. It was hard to believe that these lower levels were part of the same building. The offices, technical processing, and archives lived down here, so the design was far more utilitarian. Perhaps if she had a chance, she would peek into an office. Surely the librarians who worked here had lively desks.

“Hard to believe that this was a lively place twenty years ago, huh?” Redjack said.

“The first digital library,” she said.

“It had a good run, but now there are five bigger ones above and plans for even more. It didn’t take long for people to forget it,” he said.

“Red, how deep do you think cyberspace is?”

“Well, Nighthawk claimed to have been ten kilometers below, and that was when this library was in its final days. That makes that now, what, twelve?”

“How deep was that depot? The deepest we made?”

“Five.”

“I remember the cliffside there. I could see down a long ways.”

“I imagine it could be twenty, thirty, or more deep. Humanity has been on Taurus Rho for several centuries, and technology keeps expanding.”

“We can make it deeper, I bet. Deeper than even the great Nighthawk.”

“Yeah. One step at a time, anyway. What’s the word, Spencer? You’ve been quiet for a while.”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m confused. These scanners are VineTech,” Spencer said.

“VineTech? But, they’re a startup. They haven’t been around for even five years,” Blossom said.

“Weapon inbound,” Redjack interrupted.

A somewhat ornate spear materialized in front of Blossom, who took it, twirled around, and struck at a pair of gremlins in one fluid motion. The spearhead connected to the skull of the vaguely humanoid anomaly. It hissed and quivered violently before collapsing to the ground. Its buddy lunged at Blossom. She sidestepped the attack and jabbed the spear into its side, where it collapsed in a strange pile.

“Executing garbage collection,” Spencer said.

A dim light briefly engulfed the gremlin corpses. The corrupted data dispersed, leaving behind a couple of scraps of paper. Blossom picked them up and looked at them.

“This scrap is part of an old newspaper,” she said, crumpling it and tossing it behind her. “But this one, it appears to be an encrypted note. I’m uploading it to you, Spence.”

The other scrap disappeared from her hand in a small shower of white sparkles.

“Got it. So, those sentries are recent products from VineTech. Stealth Series 1 Beta. They’re supposed to be hard to detect.”

“Someone doesn’t want us down here,” Blossom said.

“It’s a good bet that someone knows we’re here. Should we abort?” Spencer said.

“Can you move that room?” Redjack asked.

“Yes, I can,” Blossom said. “Tried it the other day around my space.”

“The client gave us a detailed description of the record they want from the archives. If she hurried, she can get to it and then hop through a side door back into her safe space,” Redjack said.

“That’s risky,” Spencer said.

“I get the feeling there won’t be another chance,” Blossom said.

“If someone laid that trap for us, then there’s little use for stealth. I’ll scan the area for the target. You should see it on your HUD soon, Blossom,” Spencer said.

“Activating systems. Let’s make some noise,” Redjacked yelled.

The dark hallways lit up almost brighter than day. Blossom grunted as she brought her arm over her eyes. As her eyes adjusted, she saw a red targeting reticle appear down behind the doors.

“Archives are next to preservation, as you guessed. Run!” Spencer said.

Menus darted across Blossom’s vision as she selected a slew of commands to augment her abilities. Her destination was only a couple hundred meters down; she would be fine expending a large amount of data to get there quickly, especially if she had to run for her life. As if to confirm that, the sounds of machinery and crashing echoed from above the lobby stairs.

Blossom cursed as her spear glowed an eerie green color. With a practiced slash, she cut down the doors in front of her. She jumped past them and sprinted down the hall. Within seconds, she reached a set of doors leading into Preservation. She kicked the doors in to see a large room with shelves of boxes, chemicals, and plastic sleeving. Down the hall where she came from, she could see an Enforcer, a humanoid-shaped program designed by the military to help police the public areas of cyberspace.

“Blossom…” Spencer started.

“I know!” Weaving her spear around, she burst through Preservation, cutting through the tables and shelves before slicing down another set of doors. This led to a small warehouse with mostly empty shelves. There were several gremlins, all of whom were agitated by the sudden change in environment. In the middle of that was the target record. Hearing the crashing behind her, Blossom leaped forward, over the gremlins and shelves, and landed two aisles away from the record. The Enforcer exploded through what was left of those doors and charged forward, but the gremlins found it more interesting than Blossom.

“Precious seconds bought. There’s a door down the aisle where the record is found. Grab it and go!” Spencer said.

More menu options floated in front of Blossom as she ran to the correct aisle and rushed to the record. It appeared to be an old journal of some kind. She pocketed it and ran for the door. Light flickered behind it, and it opened to her private garden. The sound of struggle between the Enforcer and the gremlins quieted down. She was out of time. With a final burst of speed, she leaped for the door and slammed it behind her. The door bulged with a fist-like shape. Furiously, she entered commands. Soon, the bulge returned to normal as her garden transported her to somewhere safe. She pulled the journal out.

“The memoirs of Jackson A. Miller is ours,” she said.

Both men exhaled.

“Good job, Blossom,” Redjack said.

“Another narrow escape, thanks to your upgrades,” Spencer said. “Guess I should do the same, yeah? I’ll meet you at the normal place.”

“Sure thing.”

A pair of wired, sleek gloves pulled a similarly styled helmet off. The young woman gasped for fresh air and then sat there while her pulse and breathing slowly returned to normal. Every close call unnerved her. If the Enforcer had gotten a hold of her like it did those gremlins…well, this room would have been quite the mess for someone to clean up.

She stood up, slid the chest mount off, and hung the pieces of the XG51 into their sanitation station. She ambled to the bathroom and looked at the mirror. Her undershirt was drenched with sweat, and her black hair was also drenched and matted. She ran her fingers down her dried face and stared at her brown eyes for a few moments. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose.

“This is going to be the death of you, Laura,” she told her reflection.

A shower and some fresh clothes later, Laura stepped out of her apartment into the city streets. As much as she didn’t care for the inner parts of Prime City, she was glad for the opportunity to get out and distance herself from the virtual reality suit. The storm Spencer complained about had just passed over this part of the city, so there was a little freshness in the air. Her dark grey beanie, scarf, coat, slacks, and boots blended with the overcast sky, the city buildings, and many of her fellow pedestrians. She trotted to keep pace with the crowd, warily watching while keeping her face down. A pair of earbuds quietly played music from children’s show Duck the Rabbit; they were also a type of hearing aid. They saved her more than a few times from nosy reporters and angry strangers.

A quarter-hour stroll through the city streets brought her to a little cafe, La Fleur Petit. An eccentric old lady crazy about fungus ran the place, which was enough to scare off most people who weren’t regulars. It was a cozy spot that served a delicious cup of coffee and a large, warm waffle. Laura could smell the waffles the entire walk down. She opened the door and stepped in.

A wrinkled raisin of a woman sat at the register hunched over in a somewhat comatose pose. It wasn’t clear if she was contemplating the mysteries of the universe or was asleep. An eye peeked to see who it was, and then she burst into life.

“Oh, you can’t hide from me, sweetie! I know which blossom those eyes belong to,” she said.

“Good evening, Madame Sophie,” Laura said. Sophie grabbed Laura’s cool hand and stared seriously into her eyes.

“Still so formal after all these years. One day, young lady. One day, you will call me Grandma or Toots or something.” She cackled. Laura couldn’t help but smile as the old lady dragged her to her normal table. There was a guest waiting for her, as expected.

“Waffle and coffee?” Sophie asked.

“Yes, please.”

“I’ll return shortly.”

Laura sat at the table and faced her guest, who was dressed similarly. They sat in silence until Sophie returned with fresh coffee in mushroom-shaped mugs. She sat a mug in front of Laura and another in front of the guest.

“Your orders will be ready in a few. Relax and enjoy!” She bowed and walked back to the counter, singing an old tune using mushroom names as lyrics. Laura’s guest lifted his mug.

“The fields are white unto harvest,” he said.

“But the laborers are few,” she said, lifting her mug. They loosened their scarves and savored a sip.

“Sophie makes good coffee. I wonder where she sources it,” the man said.

“See? Like that, dearie!” Sophie called from the counter. Laura laughed.

“I don’t know, but she’s earned a few secrets,” she said.

“Do you have the journal?” he said.

“Here.” Laura produced a small drive and handed it over. He looked it over and placed it in a pouch.

“That was a close call. Did that punch get in your garden?”

“About two feet, I think. It…I…do you know something, Spence? I think we were targeted.” Spencer nodded.

“Here’s a copy of that note.” He pulled out a folded scrap of paper. “Decrypted,” he added.

Laura took and unfolded it.

Flowers wither. -M

She looked up.

“I don’t know who we angered, but somehow we did,” Spencer said.

“Any ideas? Past clients? Jobs?” she asked.

“I think it might actually have been this job. Jackson A. Miller was an old general, someone the deposed General Blackheart looked up to. Our client was really good at hiding his information, but I still managed to dig up some info. A librarian who was personal friends with the same Mason Blackheart, Apollo DeGreen. Seems he might be doing a favor for his old buddy.”

“General Blackheart was deposed seven years ago and disappeared soon after. Wouldn’t this be someone acting on an old grudge?”

“Maybe, but then they seemed to know who you are. That they sent an Enforcer after you meant they were someone high up. Very few people get to command those. I just don’t know who M is.”

He stared intently at her. She stared back. Sophie arrived with plates of waffles and sausage.

“Oh, Sophie, I could eat this every day,” Spencer said.

“How nice of you to say, but you already get my best discount,” Sophie replied as she placed the food down for her guests. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Laura stared for a bit longer, and then she looked at the scrap again. Something caught her eye. There was a tiny bit of writing underneath the note.

“Hey, there’s an address here,” she said, handing the note back.

“You’re right,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “You know something.”

“Yeah, but I can’t crack. Not yet. Trust me a little longer,” she said, taking in a bite of waffle. If only she could hold that warm, fluffy moment forever.

“You were almost killed,” he said, holding his first bite in.

“I…yeah. That unnerved me, but I have to face the danger. We need to go to that address.”

“This is clearly a trap.”

“I know.”

“But you want to go?”

“I have to. It’s…important.”

“The ever-nebulous quest of yours?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think I could take it if you were silenced.”

“You say that every time.”

“And I mean it every time. You’re a person, too. Red and I care about you. We’re a great team. We could keep this going for years to come.”

“Spence…”

“I know better than to try to talk you out of this, but if this goes south, we’re gonna have to lay low for a while.” Laura sighed.

“Thank you, Spence. Just trust me a little longer, and then you’ll learn all you want.”

“You’re a hard nut to crack, Blossom.”

“I have to be. Look, she made these look like shiitake.”

They ate and chatted for a while longer before leaving.

The door to Laura’s apartment opened quietly. She stepped in and closed the door just as carefully. She stepped into the kitchen and stripped the gear off of her head, placing them on the table. She inhaled sharply and brought her fist down on the table, jolting everything on it. She screamed in frustration.

She knew who M was. M was the Matriarch, the name her aunt used in cyberspace. Her real name was Anastasia Plumer. She was the governing regent of Sector Prime, one of the most populous sectors on the planet. She obtained the position by exposing the corruption of the previous regent and that of his advisors. Evidence of that corruption extended to her father, General Mason Blackheart. The general embezzled funds for his family and used his position to cover for a number of Laura’s missteps, including a failed attempt to sexually assault her own cousin, Lance Plumer. In an act of goodwill, Anastasia pardoned their crimes when General Blackheart stepped down in the face of his charges.

Charges that Laura knew were completely fabricated. Anastasia and Lance had powerful and skilled friends. All it took was a little sample of Laura’s DNA that she unwittingly provided. From that, they could recreate nearly every detail about her, including her voice and mannerisms. It was groundbreaking technology, the kind that Taurus Rho was known for. The people behind this brought that technology to market under the name VineTech.

Anastasia was calling Laura out, and Laura had no choice but to follow along. It was the only way she could get close enough to find something, anything, to exonerate herself and her father. She was right: this might really be the death of her.

“Let me get this straight: we’re infiltrating an address left behind by someone who tried to kill you?” Redjack asked.

“Yes,” Spencer and Blossom answered.

“You know, I need to find my way to Prime City so I can smack you both upside the head,” Redjack said.

“It’s been a while since the last time,” Blossom said.

“It has, and if this mission goes to pot, it won’t be happening ever again,” Redjack said.

“Don’t be all glum, Red. If this mission goes well, Blossom said she would spill the beans,” Spencer said.

“Wait, really? Like, we can finally know your name and all that?” Redjack said.

“Yeah. I have a feeling we’ll find something big here,” Blossom said.

“If you make it. I mean, given what we know, they could be going after me and Spence when this is over.”

“If this is our end, then let it be something noteworthy. I mean, we are trying to be greater than Nighthawk, right?” Spencer said.

“Now or never,” Blossom said.

“Right,” Redjack said. “I see you attached your garden to that address. I can have a weapon placed right outside for you. You’ll need it: the place is crawling with gremlins.”

“The place looks like an abandoned vacation home that sunk into the depths. Records of who it once belonged to seem to have been corrupted. Maybe one of those gremlins has them,” Spencer said.

“I can block some doors and funnel the gremlins down a corridor. That should help you dispatch them,” Redjack said.

“Alright. Reserve some data for a hasty retreat,” Blossom said. “I’d rather this not be the end if I can help it.”

“Already on it,” Redjack said.

“Okay, on my mark,” Blossom said. “3…2…1…”

Blossom burst through the door, grabbing the spear dropped next to it. One thrust, two, and then three inflicted fatal wounds on as many gremlins.

“Starting garbage collection,” Spencer said.

“Funneling enemies. They should be coming out of the door to the left,” Redjack said.

“How many?” Blossom asked.

“About thirty.”

Blossom sighed, inhaled deeply, and slammed the butt of the spear on the ground.

“Bring it!” she said, readying the spear for the first to come out.

Come out they did. As the door burst open, two gremlins popped out. Meanwhile, the doorway appeared to shrink down to a third of its size, forcing further gremlins to have to squeeze through.

“That should hold for a while. Take them out,” Redjack said.

Blossom stabbed the two in front of her, and then she charged at the doorway, running through another. She stood in front of it, stabbing at each one trying to get through to her. With Spencer clearing the corrupted data, there was plenty of room for the remaining gremlins to make their way to Blossom. By the time the last fell, she yawned with boredom.

“I expected more,” she said.

“Don’t let your guard down, lady,” Spencer said. He grunted. “Nothing useful. They were all made of bits and bobs. I think they were all made recently.”

“What are we looking for, anyway?” Redjack asked.

“I don’t know, exactly. Evidence of some kind,” Blossom said.

“You’re risking your life for something vague?”

“This time, yes. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I’ll know what it is when I find it.”

“Okaaay…” Redjack said. “Well, you are in the den of a mansion. Your garden is attached to a door that goes outside. The door to the left of that, where you just killed gremlins, leads further into the mansion. On the opposite side, you should see some double doors that lead out into a courtyard. There is a bridge that goes over a pond to an island that houses a small tower. I don’t know about you, but I think I would have fun at this place. You, aside from the monster infestation.”

Blossom gasped. She knew this place.

“The tower. It’s got to be in the tower.”

“How do you know?” Spencer said.

“I just…I just do. Are there any enemies out there?”

“None that I see,” Redjack said. There just seem to be a couple of spotlights. How odd.”

“Huh…yeah, they’re just spotlights. Nothing out of the ordinary there,” Spencer said.

The ground shook. A guttural scream echoed through the mansion.

“That…oh, that one is huge. And he’s above you,” Redjack said.

“I don’t like this, Blossom. You’re being pushed there. You know there is trap of some kind somewhere,” Spencer said.

“I’ll deal,” she said, approaching the courtyard doors. They were large enough to allow a small vehicle in. A plank of wood resting on metal braces barred the door from opening. Blossom lifted the plank and set it aside. She then twisted the second brace from the right, revealing a small hole inside the door. She retrieved a key, which she inserted into the keyhole. There was a loud click, and then the doors swung open.

“Huh…” Spencer said.

“I couldn’t see that. Where exactly are we?” Redjack said.

“It’s–” Blossom started. Another heavy scream cut her off.

“Tell us later. Go!” Redjack said.

Blossom ran out into the courtyard. It was a simple grassy yard with a large pond in the middle. In the middle of the pond stood a small tower rising about three stories. A rough path of large stones connected the door to a wooden bridge that crossed the pond. The stone path continued on the island to the tower.

Blossom made it halfway to the bridge when a large, dark mass poured itself out of the courtyard door like a thick oil. Once out, it wriggled violently until it could form a pair of arms, a pair of eyes, and a pair of eyes. The gremlin was easily the size of an elephant, and its core was darker than any night sky Blossom had ever seen.

Blossom bolted to the bridge just as the gremlin chased after her. The ground under the gremlin suddenly gave way as if it was as viscous as the creature.

“Thanks, Red,” Blossom said as she stepped on the bridge. Just a few more steps, and she would be on the island, and then the tower, and then whatever was held in it.

Then the spotlights lit up.

Blossom cried out as she did her best to shield her eyes from their glare.

“Don’t tell me…” Spencer said.

“Oh. Oh, no!” Redjack said. “There’s no way!”

Blossom was not the only one who cried out. The gremlin screeched in pain. It scrambled like a panicked bug back to the mansion.

“We’re too high up to see any of these,” Spencer said. “How is this possible?”

There were four spotlights, each attached to the fence around the courtyard. Their intense light focused on Blossom. Wherever she blindly stumbled, they followed her. The large beams grew brighter and more focused. A thin beam of the whitest light shot from each spotlight and hit Blossom’s head. She seized up, held up only by her twitching muscles and the lights which bore into her.

“I’m going in,” Spencer said.

“Are you nuts?! We’ve never dealt with the Lights of Truth!” Redjack said.

“If I know my lore, they’ll only be focused on her. If I don’t, well, it was worth a shot. We can’t jack her out until she’s free of them, which means one of us has to pull her out.”

Redjack cursed.

“I knew you’d understand,” Spencer said.

The lights intensified, drilling into Blossom’s mind. Her body contorted in awful angles, and her cries sounded inhuman. Streams of silver poured out of her head. There were hundreds of them, and they threatened to corrupt the space around them and form gremlins. However, in the light, they instead stabilized and turned into windows showing pictures, objects, scenes, and even ideas and feelings.

“There’s a ton of data coming through. You’ll have to jack in on my mark,” Redjack said.

“Got it,” Spencer replied. “What’s going on?”

“It’s…her. Everything about her. Everything.”

“What? That’s it?”

“I don’t think you understand, Spence. You should see this.”

“Okay.”

“Opportunity’s coming. 3…2…1…”

A shower of light by the courtyard door heralded Spencer’s entrance. The lights around him were nearly too much to take in, but they were not nearly as intense as they were on the bridge. Silver streams continued to wrest themselves out of Blossom’s mind, turning in to data streams. Scenes of school, trips, military parades, family, especially…

“General Mason Blackheart?” Spencer said. The deposed general factored into several memories.

“Blossom is…Laura Blackheart? Have we been working with the general’s daughter this whole time?” Redjack said.

“This was the regent’s vacation home! Red, where is all this data going?”

Redjack gasped and cursed. “It’s going somewhere in downtown Prime. I can’t contain any of this! Get her out!”

Spencer approached the bridge. The heat of the lights was unbearable, but that was nothing compared to Laura’s writhing body. It contorted just the right way for him to reach his arms in and hook them around her shoulders. He pulled her as close as her body and the attached lights would allow.

“Got a boost for me?” Spencer said.

“I’ll try, buddy,” Redjack said. “Here goes…”

Spencer yanked. Redjack’s boost was more than he expected, for he flew back into the mansion with Laura in tow. It was enough to disconnect her from the lights, which immediately powered down. She quivered in exhaustion and gasped for breath.

“Throw her in the garden. I'll jack her out,” Redjack said.

Spencer dragged Laura to the door hosting her private garden. He was unable to enter it, so he gathered her into his arms like he was carrying a large sack.

“I’m sorry, but I hope this will be less painful than what you just went through,” he said.

He swung her twice before letting go a third time. She flew a few feet into the garden, landing hard on the ivy-covered ground. Spencer winced.

“I’m so sorry, Blossom,” he said, closing the door.

Laura screamed as she yanked the XG51 off. She clawed at her head, which felt like it had been drilled into hundreds of times. She stumbled out of her chair, choking out sobs, clutching her chest, and using the wall to hold herself up. Eventually, she made it to the bathroom, where she allowed herself to trip down to the toilet. She vomited into it. When nothing more could come out, she collapsed on the floor. She tried to wrap the rug around her. She pulled the towels off the drying rack to wrap around her, and then she tried to reach for the clean ones shelved above the rack. Eventually, she stopped reaching and cried herself to sleep.

“Welcome! Oh! Oh…” Sophie hurried around the counter and grabbed Laura’s hands. It had been two days since her mind was invaded. She existed on the bathroom floor for most of that, but something within willed her to get up, clean up, and take the stroll to La Fleur Petit. She wore two layers of clothing under her coat and wrapped her scarf extra tight. The wet, red rings around her eyes made her look threatening. She tried to say something to Sophie.

“Shh, hush now. Come, your friends are waiting. I will make something special for you.”

Waiting? She didn’t tell anyone she would be there. Yet, there were two men dressed like her. Of course. Who else could it have been? They were already enjoying their coffee in mushroom-shaped mugs. A fresh mug was waiting for her. Sophie helped her sit, and she was off into the kitchen.

“The fields are ripe to harvest,” Spencer said.

“But…the laborers…” Laura answered, choking up. She breathed in slowly and collected herself.

“Are few,” she finished. She loosened her scarf a little, trying to have just enough room to drink her coffee and nothing more. The two men removed their scarves completely, loosened their coats, took off their caps, and relaxed. Spencer leaned forward.

“So, we, uh, saw everything,” he said. Laura nodded cautiously.

“To be honest, I thought all this effort to be secretive and hidden was a novel schtick, You know, an edgy kind of roleplay that was sort of our trademark thing. I mean, why do we need to hide? We’re hackers. We do the dangerous work of finding things in the deep so that nobody else has to, right? But, now I understand. I know why we needed to be secretive. Why you were always so hidden. You had to be,” Spencer said.

“The regent was after you,” Redjack continued. “She tried to mine, well, you. She learned about Spence and I.”

‘I put you danger. We have to lay low. I shouldn’t have…” Laura said.

“Yeah, we’re in danger. Or would have been,” Redjack said. He pushed a folded piece of paper to her. Laura took and unfolded it. She looked up. On the note was an image of a hawk’s head.

“Apparently Nighthawk is still in business, and he took enough shine to us to divert most of the data heading to the lady regent,” Spencer said.

Tears fell as a great weight lifted from Laura’s shoulders.

“I…I’m so grateful!” she blurted. Spencer stood up.

“For better or for worse, the time for secrets is behind us. My name is James Smith. My grandfather, Spencer O’Toole, was a hacker and someone I admired greatly.” He held out his hand. Redjack stood and offered his hand, as well.

“I, well, there’s nothing meaningful to Redjack. My name is Jack Redman. I just thought it sounded cool. Computers are sort of my dig, you know?”

Laura stood and took her scarf off.

“Laura Blackheart. I’m pleased to meet you both.” She shook each of their hands, and they sat back down.

“Oh, finally! You’re practically family now!” Sophie snuck up to the table with three steaming bowls, placing them before each person.

“Sophie, we didn’t order any soup,” Spencer said.

“Don’t worry! Today’s meal is on the house. The soup is my special recipe: a broth made from several different mushrooms! It’s the perfect remedy for cold, troubling days. I’ll be back later with your meals.” Sophie scooted off.

“That was generous of her,” Redjack said, lifting the bowl to his face. Spencer and Laura did the same.

“Cheers,” they said, and drank. The soup filled Laura with an otherworldly warmth, a feeling of calm in the midst of a raging storm. The earthy, peppery mushrooms felt oddly of home. There was joy, and longing, and peace.

Laura opened her eyes, suddenly aware she had almost drifted asleep. Spencer and Redjack, by the look on their faces, had similar reactions.

“What a masterpiece,” Spencer finally said. Silently, they sipped their soups until their bowls were empty. As if on cue, Sophie returned to collect their bowls and place out their entrees: a massive feast of eggs, bacon, and sausage piled on top of her mushroom-shaped waffles.

“I don’t know what you’ve suffered, but I’ll be dead before I let anyone walk over my children like that. Next time it happens, you point ol’ Sophie at ‘em. I’ll tan their hides so hard, they’ll wish I actually knocked them into next month.” Sophie walked back to the kitchen muttering other unsavory things she wanted to do. The three sat there for a moment, and then they erupted in laughter before digging in.

“We need to go back,” Laura said.

“I know you just got drilled in the head, but seriously?” Spencer said.

“Yes. Seriously. Aunt Anastasia baited a trap, but I never found the bait,” Laura said.

“The Lights of Truth are ancient traps. I can see how a rich and powerful person like the regent managed to get some moved to her old vacation home without destroying half of cyberspace, but there isn’t much known about them. I don’t know any way to disable them,” Redjack said.

“But Nighthawk does,” Laura said.

“Oh, right. He did claim to have a way to get through them. But we have no way to contact him,” Spencer said.

“If we caught his attention before, maybe we can catch it again,” Laura said.

“What if we don’t?” Redjack asked.

“Then we look for a way around. They activated when I got part way across the bridge. What if we went under it, or over the island, or through the ground? The tower, it’s important. She had that built for her kids and us cousins. It’s a big playhouse,” she answered.

“Well, those are possibilities,” Redjack conceded.

“What if the bait turns out to be a ruse?” Spencer asked.

“Well, I guess we lay low and learn from our mistakes,” Laura said.

“I think I heard something about Omega Phi looking for something like us hackers. Ever thought about moving off-world?” Redjack said.

“Let’s consider that after we deal with the task at hand,” Spencer said.

Laura stared at an empty mug.

“Grandma, can I have some more coffee?” she called out.

Sophie burst through the kitchen door with a full carafe of coffee and the widest grin.

“You make this old woman so happy, dear!”

A few days had passed before Blossom stepped back into the mansion’s den. It seemed whatever damage occurred during his last visit was repaired.

“Auntie is pretty diligent at maintaining her abandoned property,” she observed.

“That’s a bad sign,” Spencer said.

“Let’s go through with it, anyway. We may get lucky,” she said.

“Just in case, I have a program ready to jack you out in case the lights target you again. It’s going to hurt, but not like what you endured,” Redjack said.

“Okay. Let’s do this,” she said, stepping towards the courtyard doors. She immediately stopped and drew a sharp breath.

“Whoa! Who is that?” Redjack said. Although difficult to see in the dim lighting, there was a man standing in front of the courtyard doors. His dark raiment melded well with the shadows, but the helmet on his head was shaped like a hawk.

“Is that…?” Spencer started.

“Laura,” the man said sternly. Her knees gave out, and she fell on them. Her lips quivered and tears formed.

“That was reckless, the other day. I taught you better,” the man continued.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I had to…”

“How can you possibly surpass the great Nighthawk with such rookie mistakes?” he demanded.

“I never thought I would get to meet Nighthawk, and now he’s scolding us. I don’t think anything can surprise me anymore,” Redjack said.

“Anastasia isn’t satisfied. She wants us gone. I didn’t think I would have another opportunity!” Blossom pleaded to Nighthawk.

“Sometimes patience requires decades. You can’t expose anything if you lose control and get yourself killed for it,” Nighthawk countered. “And your teammates! Did you not think of them? Didn’t you ignore their warnings?”

Blossom punched the ground in frustration. Nighthawk walked to her.

“Get up,” he said. “Get up. Eyes up and forward. Face me.”

Blossom obeyed, standing to her feet and facing Nighthawk with eyes filled with defiance. Nighthawk grabbed her chin and chuckled softly.

“You’re as stubborn as ever. I’ve missed you, daughter.”

“Nighthawk is…” Spencer said. The sound of his headset hitting a wall replaced the rest of his statement.

“Tell me this is the last surprise we have to deal with. We can’t handle anymore,” Redjack said. Blossom could almost hear his facepalm.

“Where have you been?” Laura said.

“I’m sorry. I had to disappear, like you,” Nighthawk said. He cupped his hands around her head, and then he pulled her into an embrace.

“I missed you,” she said, hugging him back.

She could feel him pull his mask off. There was a shake, and then she felt something like a warm, fuzzy blanket cover her. She pulled back to see a cloak covering her. Her father fastened the clasp at her neck and pulled the hood over her head. He waved a hand, revealing a mirror. In the reflection stood an older version of the father she knew. He leaned on a cane, and his hair and beard were grayer, but age could not erase the pride and intention in which he carried himself. Laura then noticed the ears on the hood and the little duck bill. She laughed, facepalmed, and sang.

“Duck, Duck the Bunny is his name

Helping the children is his game!”

General Blackheart walked around his daughter and tidied the wrinkles and debris off of the cloak. He joined in the song with his gruff, baritone voice.

“When evil rears its ugly head,

Duck will fly in and make it dead.

He saves the world as you can see

Duck is right here for you and me!”

“That was an awful show,” General Blackheart said.

“Yeah, but it kind of stuck,” Laura said.

General Blackheart looked Laura over once more, and then he sighed.

“I’m old and harsh. You suffered greatly from those lights. I hope you can forgive an old man for fearing for his little girl,” he said.

“I’m twenty-seven, Dad.”

“I’m almost 70. You will always be little to me. Now, we have some business to take care of, don’t we?”

Ruffled noises come from Spencer’s headset, followed by a long breath.

“General, do you plan on funding a long vacation for all of us when this is done?” he asked.

“I’ll do that and more if you succeed. How would you folks like to work with the great Nighthawk? I’ll teach you things you never thought possible,” General Blackheart replied.

“I’m ears,” Redjack said.

“You’re really helping us?” Laura said.

“Of course. I can’t have Anastasia harming my little blossom again,”

“What’s the plan?” Spencer said.

“Blossom is going to walk across the bridge and take whatever artifact is in the tower,” Nighthawk said as he pulled on a new hood.

“We tried that last time, and it didn’t work,” Redjack said.

“True, but last time you didn’t have all the necessary tools,” Nighthawk said.

“This cloak,” Blossom said.

“Right. I devised cloaks like this specifically to get past the Lights of Truth. They were a government experiment designed to mine the thoughts of the populace. As you’ve seen, they have painful results, and they were the refined, production versions,” Nighthawk said.

“So, you learned about them while you were actually General,” Spencer said.

“Right. That sort of clearance turned around and made me a legend, though you are the only ones outside my team to know this. Having the archived schematics of old, powerful weapons helped us to devise countermeasures,” Nighthawk said.

“Not to alarm anyone, but that giant gremlin is still there. How has he not seen us yet?” Redjack said.

“Let’s just say I know a few ways to obtain control of my space. I will upload some of those to you,” Nighthawk said. “The rest I cannot give you without causing you trouble.”

“What will the cloak do?” Spencer asked.

“It will reflect the light back to the source, causing it to mine itself. It won’t be destroyed, but it will be kept busy in a recursive loop for several minutes. Unfortunately, they will not be available to keep our friend upstairs at bay. That’s where I come in. I need you gentlemen to back me up while I keep him busy. With a little luck, we can take it out and recover a bit of treasure for ourselves,” Nighthawk said.

“What’s in the tower?” Blossom asked.

“I don’t know, but it will be on you to recover whatever is up there. I imagine Anastasia will have something else planned for you,” Nighthawk said. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I saw some of the memories drilled out of you. There was one in particular that caught my attention,” he said. A window appeared, showing a garden in Prime City.

“Wait a minute. Isn’t this where Laura supposedly assaults the regent’s son?” Spencer said.

“Look,” Nighthawk said.

A younger Laura walked down the starlit garden path. She wore a simple dress with golden feathers adorning her shoulders. Walking next to her was her cousin, Lance Plumer, who wore the ceremonial uniform of a colonel of the Prime Sector army. Earlier that day, new officers graduated from officer school, and Lance was one of the top graduates. The party that night was in their honor. Laura naturally attended the party, being the daughter of General Mason. It had been years since she and Lance saw each other, so this party was an excellent opportunity to catch up.

They ambled through the spacious garden for what seemed like hours before they stopped in a secluded corner. The journey was well-remembered. The words and sounds, however, were muffled. Laura barely remembered them. That is, until a certain point. Lance brought his hand up to Laura’s face.

“You really blossomed into a beautiful woman, Laura,” he said.

“Oh, stop it,” she laughed. “I’m still the same kid you ran around with.”

“Maybe we can do something more,” he said. His hand lowered, but before he got anywhere, she grabbed a hold of it. He thrust his other arm at her face, which she dodged and then bit. He yanked that arm back while she held on to the other, spinning under it and using the momentum to flip him onto the ground. She spat in his face and stormed off.

Nighthawk brought up a different window. “This is footage from the security camera,” he said.

The same scene played out, but from a perspective about ten feet away. When Laura stormed off, Lance produced a couple of vials from his coat and collected Laura’s spittle.

“That was much easier than I thought,” he said as he got up. He dusted himself off, looked around, and walked away.

“That…that…” Blossom started.

“It’s hard to know what was and wasn’t fabricated,” Nighthawk said. “So, I just wanted you to know, if this doesn’t work out, and we get separated again, know that I know the truth and have always believed it to be, even when we were being played.”

“If I hadn’t spat on him!” Blossom stormed to the courtyard door.

“Operation start, boys,” Nighthawk said.

Soon, the door swung open, and Blossom stomped her way to the bridge and over it. The spotlights lit up, again blinding her. However, she hid under her cloak while her sight recovered. The cloak lit up, producing a reflective barrier in the shape of Duck the Bunny. With a loud quack, the lights were reflected back to the spotlights. The spotlights shook violently and flickered as they tried to mine the minds that weren’t there.

“You know, she’s going to kill you for that,” Spencer said.

“Won’t be the first time. It’s a father’s job to embarrass his children,” Nighthawk said.

“Bogey is active. Look alive!” Redjack said.

Blossom huddled under her cloak while the sting dissipated from her eyes. When her vision recovered, she resumed her tirade to the island, and then up the path. She planted her foot squarely on the tower door, knocking it over. She climbed the steps as Nighthawk evaded the gremlin outside. The second floor contained four beds. Beside each was a bedstand equipped with a lamp, a few books, and a small shelf of toys. She crossed the room and ascended the next set of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a final door. She stopped for a moment, took a few deep breaths, and composed herself. And then, she knocked.

“Come in,” Anastasia answered.

Blossom stepped in. The room inside was much larger than it should have been. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace across from the door. A tea kettle sat over it. A rug lay in front of the fireplace. To either side of the rug were a pair of comfy chairs. A table with teacups and cookies sat in between them. Anastasia Plumer sat in the one on the right.

“Have a seat,” the regent said.

Blossom sat in the other chair. Anastasia pulled the teapot from the fire, filled the teacups, and placed the pot back on the fire. Blossom took her cup and sipped on it. Chamomile.

“Snickerdoodles?” she asked.

“Yes,” her aunt replied. Blossom took one and nibbled on it silently for a few moments.

“Why haven’t you killed me?”

“I still can.”

“But you haven’t.”

“I can’t.”

The fire crackled loudly.

“Regent DeSpain was a crooked man. I don’t regret exposing him. Removing him from power, and those who profited with him, was necessary for the health of the sector,” Anastasia said.

“What did that have to do with me and father?”

“As his daughter, you should understand how much he values loyalty and duty. If his leader was in danger, no matter how much he actually despised the man, Mason would still take bullets for him.”

“This all was a form of protection?”

“Would you prefer prison and execution?”

“Why did you have Lance…do…argh!”

“Laura, I could never apologize enough for what he did. I instructed him to recover some form of DNA from you. He chose how to do it. The smear campaign was badly handled.”

“You don’t say!” Blossom shot up, ready to throw a punch.

“The Lance on TV is also fabricated. Did you know that?”

“What?”

“The real Lance is doing time in Barghest. That is the penalty for sexual assault, isn’t it?”

“I…didn’t…” She deflated back into her chair. They sat in silence for a while longer.

“You have to expose my crimes,” Anastasia finally said.

“I don’t understand,” Blossom said.

“Mason is fully discredited, but he can live on as Nighthawk. In fact, I think in some ways he prefers it.” At that moment, the large gremlin crawled passed their windows. Shortly after, Nighthawk flew past with some kind of energy weapon in hand, cackling like madman.

“Point.”

“You also have an interest in bringing me down, and it is easy to disprove the false evidence implicating your ‘crimes.’ I brought down Regent DeSpain in the name of justice, and I still believe in that enough to know that I need to step down and leave the regency to someone capable of ruling with clean hands.”

Laura sighed.

“I just wanted my life back,” she said.

“I’m sorry. The old flower has long since withered, but you have already blossomed into a new one. Do this, and you can at least be free to pursue it with your team.”

“What will happen to you?” Laura asked.

“I will probably end up in a cell next to Lance. Either that or I can make my escape to Omega Phi. I hear they need hackers.”

An ear-piercing squeal came from outside.

“Ha ha! We have vanquished the beast!” Nightwing cried out.

“Well, there’s the key to unlock the evidence. Here’s the rest,” Anastasia said. She produced a small lockbox and handed it to Blossom.

“You are not merely the daughter of Mason Blackheart. You are Laura Blackheart, the Blossom of the Depths. My traps have harmed you, but you have lived and learned from them. Now, let us finish staining our family name so that we can reconcile and find peace.”

Anastasia got up, curtsied, and exited in a shower of sparkles. The room phased out and was replaced with a smaller, empty room covered in dust.

“Blossom! Blossom! Are you there?” Spencer called out. Redjack and Nightwing were busy chanting cheers and victory fanfares.

“I’m here. I have it. I have what we came for,” she said.

Over the next few years, the Prime Sector underwent several rounds of political upheaval until the government reformed around a new regent. Careful checks and balances were installed to ensure the validity of the government. Although Laura Blackheart was exonerated of her crimes in the public eye, she remained below the radar. Some believe they can see her entering a hole-in-the-wall cafe, but they are never sure if it’s actually her. Even her clients are not quite sure. The Blossom of the Depths guards her secrets well.

#inklingschallenge #team lewis #clothe the naked

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emerulynn · 3 months

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hi!! i saw a post where u mentioned u go to wdka, im also applying for illustration and im super nervous. whats the worst thing about the school? or do you have any tips for the portfolio?

oh shit sorry I haven’t been checking my asks, but I think yesterday or Friday was the Open Day, idk if you could’ve gone bc that would also help but I hope my rlly late answers help as well 😭

Hmmm the worst thing about the school and I’m gonna be honest here is how it sometimes feels like some of the assignments aren’t helping me all that much?? Like wdka’s concept of illustration is broad, it’s less than just drawing and more of visual storytelling through any medium. So sometimes I find myself struggling with an assignment that doesn’t involve drawing and pushed way out of my comfort zone.

I think it gets better now that I’m in my second year tho because I know how to navigate things better and also learn how to put a bit more balance on personal work and assignments. You just have to get through the Practices and Second big assignment in first year Illustration tbh, that’s the point where most people dropped out 😭 The most useful thing in the school is the facilities, teachers (ask for suggestions or networking opportunities from teachers you think have the same career path/vision as you) and ofc your peers, sometimes classes. Also if you don’t feel like you align with illustration that much you can always switch majors after the first term without having to repeat the year.

Note that I might also be harsh about the academy bc I’m paying international fees which is like 10x the tuition EU students have to pay.

As for the portfolio, they love to see you explore and experiment with different mediums and methods of art-making, so include photography, clay, mixed media work if you have them. If you don’t, don’t worry because my portfolio barely has any range, that was their critique for me after receiving my portfolio too since I mostly drew digitally and only included some analog drawings and photos. but i got in heyy

Another thing is make your portfolio easy to navigate ofc, you don’t have to go over the top with the design, just write concise texts of your work and make it not look confusing. Number your works and number the pages.

That’s it I think they love versatility that’s the main takeaway. Good luck and hope this helped!!

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buddiesholly · 11 months

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3:17

Pairing: Evan Buckley x Eddie Diaz

Description: Eddie shows up at Buck’s apartment unannounced. It’s almost midnight. It’s pouring outside. And things will never be the same between them again. Basically a lot of yearning.

Word Count: 1106 words

Notes: Hi everyone! This is my first ever imagine so please excuse me if it’s cringe or awkward or bad LMAO. I just really wanted to try it out and I’m kinda proud of this but I also really want to learn and improve so any critiques or suggestions are very welcomed and accepted! please!

(also I’ve never dated someone, I don’t know what it’s like to want to fuck someone, so sorry if this is so unrealistic and not how it works!)

(I’ve also never written like a make out scene)

(Overall I don’t know why this is where I decided to go to for my first imagine but it happened and I just wrote)

Three minutes and seventeen seconds.

That’s how long Buck was dead. Three minutes and seventeen seconds.

That’s also how long it took for him to respond to Eddie standing at his doorway.

“So, can I come in?”

Eddie was soaking wet - and not in the way Buck would have liked. It was pouring outside, and it was definitely too dangerous to drive. Yet here he was, standing at the entrance of Buck’s apartment, looking as beautiful as ever.

“Yeah, uh, sorry. Come in.”

Eddie took his shoes off and placed his coat on the kitchen counter. He opened the cabinet and filled two glasses of water: one for himself and one for Buck. It was a routine at this point; he claimed he had to do it because Buck was like a child and never drank enough, especially since him and Natalia broke things off.

Secretly, Eddie just liked taking care of him.

“What are you doing here?” Buck was confused. As much as he always welcomed Eddie’s presence wholeheartedly, he didn’t expect a visitor at this hour. It was almost midnight.

Eddie opened his mouth before realizing he didn’t know. He didn’t know why he was at Buck’s place this late. He didn’t know why his mind drove himself here without a single thought. He didn’t know what he could say- there was no emergency, Chris was fine with Carla, and Eddie was well over his breakup with Marisol. So why was he here?

Through Eddie’s silence, his face spoke volumes.

Buck analyzed him, every piece of his stubble and how it would feel against his skin. How his shirt clung to his chest due to the weight of the rain and how it defined every inch of his body so willingly, so openly in Buck’s kitchen. The fluorescents shined over him but even they couldn’t take away from the everlasting glow of Eddie Diaz and how he could always make Buck’s knees buckle, all puns intended.

Three minutes and seventeen seconds.

That’s how long it took for Buck to take a chance. That’s how long it took Buck to slowly walk towards Eddie and call his name. That’s how long it took Buck to second guess himself, but it was too late now and he knew he had to go for it.

“Do you know why Natalia and I broke up?”

Eddie’s head snapped up, only to immediately look down at the intensity of Buck’s eyes. That name was long forgotten in his head, yet still somehow permanently burned there along with all of Buck’s exes.

A reminder that he would never be Buck’s type.

Yet as Buck stared at him - or at what Eddie assumed was him as he still hadn’t looked back up - he couldn’t stop himself from being snarky at the idea of the woman.

“I don’t know, because she helped you pick out a couch.”

What Eddie really wanted to do was ask why Buck had even asked her in the first place, why Buck wouldn’t ask him after taking shelter at his home every week. All Eddie wanted to do was ask why his couch wasn’t good enough.

Buck sighed, his gaze from Eddie unwavering.

“No, Eddie. Because she knew I didn’t feel the same, that I couldn’t feel the same.”

They were now exactly 5 inches away from each other, both of their eyes trained on a pair they’ve seen a million times. They both knew that this time was different.

It felt like forever, blue against brown. Blue eyes moved closer, now 3 inches apart from the brown ones it so desperately craved.

Buck touched the bottom of Eddie’s shirt, playing with it and ignoring the fact that he heard Eddie take a sharp breath. Eddie felt lightheaded with the way Buck’s hands were dangerously close to the hem of his pants.

“Why couldn’t you feel the same?” Eddie whispered, the urge to look at Buck’s lips overwhelming him. Buck kept his eyes on Eddie’s lips but continued playing with his shirt, twisting and moving it as much as he could without touching skin.

They were both breathing heavily now. Eddie’s hands were so close to Buck’s hips he swore he could almost feel heat. His fingers were tingling, wanting to reach out.

Buck didn’t answer the question. He only whispered back, “Why did you come here tonight?”

Eddie almost let out a groan as Buck’s hands brushed against his stomach. Even the lightest touch made him go insane. Eddie closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of his best friend.

And suddenly, he was gone.

Eddie opened his eyes in shock, a sudden cold coming over him at the absence of Buck’s touch.

Buck stood a foot away now, gulping down the water Eddie had previously poured for him. His mind was racing a million miles a minute and the itch in his pants was only intensified by the look Eddie was giving him.

“Eddie,” Buck winced at the sound of his own whine. In an instant, Eddie was next to him, holding his hand and guiding the glass to Buck’s mouth. As soon as Buck had swallowed it all, he barely had a second to breathe before plump lips met his own and he felt a hand run through his hair. Eddie groaned against Buck’s lips as Buck took the lead and turned them around so now Eddie was against the kitchen counter instead. Buck put his hands on Eddie’s hips and lifted him up so that he was sitting on the counter, his legs surrounding Buck’s aching body.

Eddie started kissing his birthmark and Buck swore he had died when he got struck by lightning and that this was heaven.

Eddie pulled away and looked at Buck’s still closed eyes as Buck chased his lips. Eddie pushed him back slightly, enough to get down from the counter despite the excitement running through his body.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Buck was growing antsy and he waited too long for this moment to get ruined by something out of his control.

Eddie smiled at the messy hair adorning his best friend’s head and let out a short laugh before he hit the first step.

“Upstairs, you coming?”

That was all it took for Buck to snap out of whatever trance Eddie Diaz always had him in and follow the man to Buck’s bed.

And later that night, Buck swore that the three minutes and seventeen seconds that he was dead were the worst moments of his life and that he would gladly jump over the gates of heaven, and into Eddie Diaz’s arms, any day.

#I CAN’T BELIEVE I WROTE SOMETHING #ALSO I AM SORRY I WROTE SOMETHING #911 fanfic #911 fic #911 fox #buddie #911fic #buddie fic #buddie 911 #Evan Buckley #eddie x buck #911 #buck x eddie #eddie diaz #911 abc #911 on fox #buddie fanfic #did you know poe writes!#I’m gonna start that (I say maybe never writing an imagine again who knows!)

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imaginedreamwrite · 1 year

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Moody Monday with HFY Steve. Person who is close to Reader texted her during time of Steve's royal meetings a SOS message - apparently some stupid minister or advisor thought it was a good idea to suggest stupid things, and now Steve's mood is spoiled and he brutally critiques every initiative, even a good one. Person pleads Reader to come because at this point every person in the world knows that mere sight of Reader makes Steve's mind go blank and then 🥰😍. Also she is the Queen, so technically she should attend the meetings too (but Steve fucked her so good in the morning, she didn't have an ability to stand up, let alone talk).

“You can’t blame me, you can’t possibly think it’s my fault.” Steve is cocky, almost smug when he steals your breath in a soft kiss that makes your whole body jolt from the lingering effects of pleasure that still course through you. “You make me insatiable, I love to feel you taking me, especially in the morning.”

“I was supposed to go with you this morning,” you can’t be more overjoyed to miss the meetings with his council but you also find a little detriment in the fact that you are quite exhaustingly fucked out, “I don’t think I could move if I wanted to.”

Steve had smirked, you saw the look in his eyes and knew what he was thinking of yet he had let it die on his tongue. Instead heard approached the bed and hovered above you, kissing you softly once then twice. It was a tender and possessive goodbye, a kiss that was intimate as it was heated and you had whined when he started to pull away.

“Can you still feel the stretch of my cock?” Steve stepped away from the bed and called over his shoulder, his eyes brimming with hunger and deepening lust that was for you and you alone. “I think after this meeting I’ll have to come back and take care of you, wife.”

You responded by rolling over in bed and ducking back under the covers, barely enough energy to open your eyes again after your body protested the work it took to kiss him goodbye in the first place. You had tucked the blankets under your chin and nuzzled your cheek against the pillow, expecting him to leave but getting a kiss on your forehead and the lingering warmth of his voice.

“When I’m done, we’ll spend time together. You can rest and recover.” He whispered to you and then he was gone again, the door closing softly.

You didn't know how long you had been asleep but you were woken to the sound of your phone ringing and vibrating on your nightstand, the two sounds pulling you from slumber. You had rolled onto your side and reached for the phone, yanking it off the charger to bring it to your vision. As the screen lit up, you saw the blaring messages from one of the hired assistants.

SOS

He’s going to kill someone!

SOS NEED HELP

You flipped the covers back and stood to from the bed while your legs were still feeling a little like jelly, and walked toward the dresser. You had pulled a pair of his sweats from the drawer and stepped into them, followed by one of his shirts, tying the end in a knot and tucking it into the sweats.

You had slipped the phone into your pocket and left the room, shuffling and moving languidly toward the staircase and then down, taking each step without any sense of panic or worry. His assistant may have thought that Steve would kill so one, but you knew that he wouldn’t kill anyone of any real importance.

Still, as you approached the room she scurried out with wide eyes and parted lips as if she had just heard something truly terrifying. You tilted your head and studied her then looked past her toward the door. There were raised voices, most of them coming from his council and not Steve himself however you knew full well how terrifying Steve could be when he spoke calmly and low.

Steve Rogers didn’t need to raise his voice to send fear through a person.

“Please-“

“Steve?” You entered the room, tiptoeing as all eyes were directed toward you, and your husband who was standing with his fists clenched and his eyes ice cold. “Steve…”

He looked toward you and all the ice from his eyes, from his entire body, had dissipated until he was lax and less agitated. He had stood straight, his lips starting to for a small smile as you approached. He had sat back down in the chair and pulled you into his lap, your right shoulder pressed against his chest, your legs pulled up against your chest while your feet were settled between his legs.

“Beautiful,” he hummed into your ear, far more content than he had been before, “you pulled yourself out of bed.”

“Your assistant thought you were going to kill someone.” You relaxed against him, your head tucked under his chin. “Were you going to commit murder?”

“Justifiable,” Steve slipped his arms around your waist, “justifiable murder.”

Silence had fallen over the room, momentarily, before he snapped and bared his teeth. “You called this meeting, don’t stop now.”

#soft!dark!Steve Rogers #soft!dark!Steve Rogers x reader #moody Monday: Heaven for you #moody mondays #moody Monday

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ronearoundblindly · 2 years

Text

Autumn Is Healing (Oct 3rd)

Flufftober Day Three--Thick as Thieves

drabble for steve rogers x super soldier!reader (see previous or series)

Summary: Having the same Hydra training has its perks. You and Bucky take on a challenge from the team. No warnings just fluff and humor. WC ~1k

“You are not psychic,” Sam scoffs. “No. No way.”

Bucky leans back on the couch in the common room. “Not psychic, but we could do it. I know we'd get every one of them right.”

“You’ll cheat. You know all the cards.”

“Make them,” you say casually. “Yeah, Sam, how about you make them? That way they aren’t predictable.”

“Seems fair,” Nat mutters, pointed and loud to make sure Sam is outnumbered.

“I’m not betting on that,” Sam grunts.

Clint raises his hand, Natasha, too. “We will.”

You glance at Bucky. You’re not excited about being bet on, but it is a kind of fun party trick and one of the only non-harmful uses for intense Hydra training. “For or against us?”

“If Sam’s against, then I’m all for it,” Clint waggles his eyebrows.

Sam tightens his arms across his chest, lips pursed. “They’re gonna cheat. Probably use morse code.”

“Agreed.”

The whole room turns to see Steve leaning in the doorway.

“I’ll be on Sam’s side.”

Your shoulders drop. Against you? Steve doesn’t think you can do it? That hurts until you see a wicked little smirk tip the corner of his mouth.

“Ok, Rogers. Thank you.” Sam relaxes. “What’s the prize?”

Nat stands to get paper and pens. “I say we make the cards first. We can figure out the wager when we see the difficulty.”

“How about each of you makes a card, traditional or a shape, and we’ll both guess two?” You’re nervous to suggest it, but it would be enough to prove Bucky’s point. Steve watches you carefully, taking the offered pen from Nat. “What? We don’t wanna be here all day.”

“Ok, but you have to get all of them right. No winning on a fluke.” Sam points to the kitchen. “Go over there, cheaters, no peeking!”

Bucky and you sigh, leaving the quartet to start their cards.

You and Bucky keep your hands behind your back. It’s all about body language and eye contact.

Sam insists that Bucky turn away when you are shown your first card, so there’s no chance Bucky could see its reflection in your eyes or something. He’s clearly skeptical but nervous about losing.

Nine of spades.

Ok. That’s pretty straightforward. First, you glance down to indicate darker. Black not red. Shift your eyes to the left for an odd number but keep your gaze slightly higher than horizontal. Not the highest but close to a royal. Finally, you blink slowly, smoothly, to match the smooth shape of the suit.

“Nine of spades,” Bucky blurts, “easy.”

You can’t help but laugh as Sam can’t find anything to critique as disqualifying.

Next, Bucky gets shown his first card.

He snorts immediately then gets serious and stares right at Steve.

“Square,” you yell.

“WHAT,” Steve shouts, “oh come on!”

Nat and Clint and Sam are in stitches.

“He’s not even the one who wrote the card,” Clint howls, “but they got you, Cap.”

It’s Steve’s turn to look at you a little disappointed, cheeks tinged pink above a forced frown. “I’m not a—“

“Next,” Bucky calls.

Sam shows you a neat, near-perfect circle that’s been meticulously shaded.

Ok, slightly harder, but you’ve got this. With an open stance, you relax first your neck, then your shoulders, then your diaphragm, softening your expression till your lips are slack. Round. You’re going around your body with manipulations. You sway back and forth gently, making the gesture three-dimensional.

“Sphere,” Bucky says with slight hesitation, but he’s still right.

Everyone seems fairly impressed, but you just look over at Steve and grin at his sly use of depth to make that difficult. You don’t break away from watching him (as he watches you, too) until Buck’s been shown his second card.

The room goes quiet although you and Bucky can’t speak or make noise to help each other.

He squints his eyes without blinking.

Fuck, it’s not a number or a shape, but he does then blink quickly. It has points, so none of the letters with a curve. That narrows it down significantly. A tick-up with his head means it’s a capital. Uh boy. This is gonna be tricky. That’s fifteen options. He looks to his left so it's not a vowel, and his gaze is not quite to the floor degrees so it's early on in the alphabet.

“Sam," you gripe, "did you write the letter ‘F’ for Falcon?”

Nat and Clint erupt in belly laughs on the couch.

Sam fumes. “The hell, you two?! That’s freaky.”

Steve covers his mouth with his hand, but from the look of his tight cheeks, he’s smiling under there.

Sam kicks at the back of the couch. “Man, I’m gonna go broke on this.”

“Wait, no,” you rush forward, panicking that this might actually make Sam dislike you a little bit. “That’s not necessary. What was the amount?”

“Losers have to take you two out to dinner at the most expensive place in the city,” Clint announces proudly, “and since you super soldiers have appetites like hippos, that’s bound to cost a pretty penny.”

Bucky strides over and tries to lean into Sam. “Aww, Sammy, if you wanted to go on a date so bad—“

Sam pushes Bucky off, but he’s failing to hide amusement. “I still say you cheated.”

“You put your own initial on a card,” you interject lovingly. “I’d say you made it easy, but no, you just made it obvious.”

“One more round,” Sam says with a finger up in Bucky’s chuckling face.

“No,” Nat and Clint jump simultaneously.

“Fair is fair, Sam.” Steve shrugs, licking his bottom lip before glancing up at you through his lashes. “I owe this lady a dinner.”

“I’m going to eat so much steak, man,” Bucky cracks as he swings an arm over Sam’s shoulders. “If I go on a run right before, I could easily eat a stack of filets.”

As the others all gather back on the couches, lounging to figure out their next distraction, you touch and smooth over your hair, blocking Steve’s unrelenting stare for a second.

“Nice job,” he whispers before heading to his seat again.

You stifle a shit-eating grin. “Thanks, loser.”

dividers by @silkholland; banner by @flufftober

[Day Two; Day Four]

[Chronological Next Part]

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

#flufftober2022 #day 3 #marvel #steve roger x reader #bucky barnes #sam wilson #natasha romanoff #clint barton #steve rogers fanfiction #fluff and feels #fluff and humor #supersoldier!reader #autumn is healing #cap and autumn #series #drabble

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dumbbitchenergy17 · 1 year

Text

Mimic Chapter 32

The School Festival is here and your class is ready to bring spirit back into your fellow students.

Words- 3323

Reader x Izuku Midoriya, Reader x MHA (Platonic)

Warnings: Fluff, some spiciness, just all over cuteness, some nightmare themes.

Returning back into the swing of U.A. right at the height of the School Festival, with the class doing live music and dancing everyone was rushing around it have everything done. You felt pretty useless at first, still healing to be involved you helped around where you could, having water set up for the dancers and the band or if the stage crew needed some help you would pitch in. Your visits with your doctor were going well you were healing nicely though it wasn’t uncommon to have an off day, overworking yourself or the side effects of the painkillers would completely wreck your day. You took every day a step at a time glad to have your friend by your side and you weren’t complaining about your relationship with a certain green-haired boy progressing. With glances during class and lunch, hands brushing against one another when passing by, to moments when the two of you would sneak off basking in each other and the occasional makeout in which neither of you was opposed.

It was the night before the festival and you were all in the gym doing one final run-through. “Okay and then Aoyama exits center stage via Midoriya,” Mina calls out before giving critiques to some of the dancers, you sat beside Kirishima and Sero. Your eyes naturally drift to Midoriya as he speaks to Mina you see his gaze drift past her and meet yours a smile growing on his face and one instantly grows on yours.

“Soo…what’s going on between you and Midoriya?” Sero leans against you and your jaw drops and the cheeky smirk on his face makes you push him away.

“Nothing is happening between us Sero.” You defend looking away and seeing the rest of your classmates going over a specific move.

“What’s going on between who?” Kirishima says leans in to join the conversation, “Midoriya and L/n.” Sero responds and Kirishima nods before a grin grows on his own face.

“Oh yeah…them~” “Nothing is going on between us!”

“Sure cause the longing glances during classes and everything is just normal,” Sero says and Kirishima nods,

“Yeah, and you two have been hanging out a lot more since you came back,” Kirishima adds poking your shoulder and you swat his hand away.

“Hanging out is just another saying for how you got those,” Sero says pulling the collar of your gym jacket down showing the purple bruises decorating your neck and collar. Your face grows bright red and you shove him and he falls back laughing while Kirishima laughs as well and you zip up your jacket all the way.

“Damn I didn’t think Midoriya would be that vicious.” Kirishima whistles and you shove the redhead to his back as well.

“Fuck off you two.” You grumble and the two laugh at your flustered expression.

The door behind you slams open, “It’s already grrrr….9 p.m.!!! Students gotta leave by nine!!” Hound Dog growls and you all scramble to head back to the dorms.

Returning to the dorms most of your classmates had gone to bed to get a good amount of sleep. While you weren’t performing with the class Aizawa suggest it would be good for you to still be out there, he let you know that Eri was going to be coming with Mirio, and it would let you meet the girl. So you wanted to make sure you had as much energy as possible for the next day.

“Come on just stay up for a little bit pleaseeee.” Mina says holding your wrist trying to not let you leave the common area.

“Mina it’s been a long day and I’m gonna need all my energy for tomorrow.” You give her a playful grin slipping free from her grasp saying your goodnights to your few awake classmates and head to the elevators. As you press the button to wait for the elevator to come to your level you feel arms wrap around your waist pulling you into their back.

“You sure you can’t stay up for a little bit..” He whispers his head resting right in the crook of where your neck meets your shoulder.

You smile at the tickling sensation when he speaks into your skin, “Nooo…not you too. I need my sleep and if I gotta handle all of Mirio’s jokes I need sleep.” You say turning around to face him smiling at the small pout on his face.

“Finnnneee but after the festival, I want to see you.” He says and you hear the elevator reach the ground floor and the doors open.

Looking around quickly to make sure no one is around you lean forward pressing a quick peck to his lips. You pull back entering the elevator as he tries to lean in to continue. Clicking the button for your floor you smile at his face.

“Goodnight Izuku~” You grin seeing his eyes widen at his first name right as the door close. You move back leaning against the wall a light airy feeling in your chest. You could definitely get used to this.

The school festival had finally arrived and while the class got ready in their selected area you were waiting by the main entrance of the festival waiting for Aizawa, Mirio, and Eri to arrive.

“L/n!” Aizawa’s voice rings out and you look seeing the three of them heading toward you. Both you and Mirio were out of your school uniforms and you see a young girl trailing beside the two her hands clutching one of Mirio’s fingers.

“Mr. Aizawa…Togata it’s good to see you again.” You say nodding to the blonde who smiles throwing a thumbs up.

“Glad to see you alright L/n!” He says before he looks down, “Eri..this is Y/n L/n or Mimic.” You see Eri look at you almost in curiosity.

“You’re the girl I saved…” She says softly and you feel your heart melt slightly as you kneel down to her level.

“Yes and I’m very thankful for what you did. It was very brave of you.” You say and she plays with her fingers looking down at the ground.

“But my quirk is dangerous I always end up hurting someone….” You look at the two others and they each have almost pitiful looks on their faces.

“You know I was told my quirk is dangerous too…It took some time but I was able to learn how to use it safely. What you did help all of us..you helped Midoriya and me as well. You’re my hero, Eri…” You say a small smile on your face and you see the tiniest smile on her face. “Come on they should be performing soon and maybe afterward we can get apples I heard those are your favorite.” You say standing up and she nods moving from Mirio her hand grabbing your own and you look surprised at her. Looking back at the two males, Mirio gives a thumbs up and Aizawa just nods. The two of you were very similar, but you were gonna make sure she never had to be fearful again.

You arrived at the gym at 9:25 to see your classmates before they went on and that’s when you learned new information.

“Midoriya isn’t here?” You say and Kirishima shakes his head,

“He said he needed to get more rope but he’s been gone since like this morning.” Kirishima says and you can’t help but think of all the worst scenarios. Aizawa was on the phone yelling to whoever when you felt a tug on your arm.

“Deku’s not gonna dance?” Eri says a disappointed look on her face. Shaking your head you push back a strand on her from her face.

“He’s going to be here, he’s probably just backed up by the crowds.” You say looking around as the nerves start hitting your classmates and even yours. Please be alright Midoriya… The stage quickly filled up and Aizawa had moved towards the back needing to watch over while you, Mirio, and Eri stood close to the front but not right against the stage. The curtains opened and many people clapped and cheered.

“Look Eri! See him?!” Mirio says, and you sigh in relief seeing Midoriya on the stage.

“LET’S DO THIS DAMMIT!” You hear Bakugo yell from the drumset as a literal explosion comes from the blonde and an explosion of music and lights quickly filled the concert. You let out a scream of excitement and Eri presses her hands against her head shocked by the loudness of the music. The dancing and music were incredible. Your classmates showing off their quirks adding more excitement to the performance your gaze stays on the stage watching your classmates perform their hearts off but you look over a smile growing on your face seeing Eri with a huge grin on her face.

Following the performance, you quickly joined your classmates giving your congrats.

“Y/NNNNNNN!” Mina quickly finds you pulling you into a hug practically holding you up in the air as you laugh.

“Mina it was so good! You did amazing coming up with the dance!” You praise their girl and her already pink skin flushes darker. Mina grabs your arms,

“Thanks come on let’s clean up then after we can check out the rest of the festival!” She says pulling you towards an area to clean while being pulled away you catch a brief glimpse of Midoriya as he speaks to Eri but it also looked like he was looking for someone as well. The rest of the day was action-packed by checking out the different vendors and stands and the other performances that the courses planned. Cheering on your classmates during the obstacle courses trying to hold in your laughter being with your classmates in the haunted house the General Education planned. You weren’t saying you didn’t jump but having both Mina and Kaminiari clutching onto your arms was hilarious. As the two quickly ran out when Shinso appeared from the ceiling you were left grabbing the bags of treats they dropped in their state of fright.

“Funny seeing you around it’s been a while..” Shinso says a smirk on his face even while upside down.

“Yeah, how’s getting into the Hero Course?” You say slinging their bags over your shoulder.

“Not bad working on it. Mr. Aizawa has started training me. Maybe I’ll be able to take you in a fight.” He says and you laugh.

“I’m sure you could beat me in a fight right now.” You knew you were still weak you had slowly started training your body again but it felt as if a piece of you was still missing, “I should get going, those two would think this place is truly haunted.” You point towards the exit and he nods.

“Don’t be a stranger L/n.” Shinso grins before he disappears again into the ceiling.

The festival had been a success in bringing people together and your class’ plan brought back morale with everything going on with villains. The sunset had settled over and most of your classmates had headed back to the dorms you found yourself by the entrance where you see Midoriya talking to Eri and Mirio.

“Look, Surprise!” Midoriya pulls out a candy apple and Eri’s eyes widen in surprise.

“A candy apple! Someone was selling them?! I looked everywhere!!” Mirio says and Midoriya hands out another one to the blonde while you linger on the side watching everything and the boy hasn’t seen you yet.

“It didn’t look like there’d be any, based on the program, so..I picked up the ingredients when I went shopping they’re easier to make than I thought! The convenience store didn’t have red food dye, but Sato lent me some.” Midoriya explains as Eri takes a bite from it.

“You’ll be able to see them again soon, I expect,” Aizawa says, and a grin appears on Eri’s face.

“Extra sweet!”

“Come on Eri we need to be getting back,” Aizawa says and Mirio waves goodbye to Midoriya, and Eri smiles.

“Bye Deku…bye Mimic!” She says giving a small wave to the two of you and you see Midoriya look surprised hearing the other name turning a smile appearing on his face seeing you.

“You were really good at the concert.” You say pushing yourself off the lamp post and moving closer to him, “Though I heard you were missing for a bit everything okay.”

“Yeah just lost track of time is all,” Midoriya says as his hand slides in yours and he pulls you closer to him. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, everything was amazing the music, the dancing, everything even the other vendors it was perfect, and Eri. She’s such a sweetheart.” You gush over the girl she was a literal angel. Midoriya smiles watching you rant using your hands to speak while still holding his.

“You’re amazing.” He says and you stop your rant to look at him.

“What?” Tilting your head like a dog would in confusion,

“You’re amazing. I can say it again. Y/N SHIMURA IS THE MOST FUNNIEST, SMART, CREATIVE, STRONG-” Midoriya starts yelling at the top of his lungs while you try quieting him.

“Midoriya stop it!” You laugh trying to muffle his yelling and he wraps his arms around yours as he keeps yelling.

“AND KIND, BEAUTIFUL, AND A THOUSAND OTHER THINGS ABOUT Y/-” He goes to keep yelling when your lips press against his silencing him and he quickly reciprocates his arms tightening around your waist pulling you closer. You would never get tired of this feeling of the calmness of being with him but the electricity that runs through you as if Kaminari shocked you with a million volts. Pulling away leaning back in his arms your hand moving to push the hair away from his face his eyes are still closed and they slowly flutter open.

“You done?” Your lips quirk up and he smiles his own hands moving to push your hair behind your ears.

“Nope but I’ll be sure to remind you more later.” He grins and you smile looking up at the sky, the hints of stars peeking through the sky as it grows darker.

“We should be heading back to the dorm,” Midoriya says and you nod.

“You two should,” A voice says and the two of you jump back looking over and you see All Might standing there, “It’s late for students to be out.”

“A-All Might!” Midoriya squeaks out his face bright red while you’re silent. While your time at the hospital was with All Might you were too drugged up and tired to react to him being there but now it was just awkward.

“Young Midoriya…Young Shimura you two should head back to your dorms before you get in trouble.” He says Midoriya nods and you’re still quiet.

“Okay..Goodnight All Might.” Midoriya says turning to look at you and pauses seeing an almost uncomfortable look on your face. It’s quiet as his hand slips into yours and the two of you start making your way back to the dorm. Your gaze was glued to the ground and you could feel All Might’s gaze following you. The walk to the dorm was silent and as you guys entered the elevator he moves to press the button for his floor your hand shoots out stopping him.

“Can you…can you stay with me?” Your voice is just above a whisper and he looks down at you before nodding.

“Yeah let’s just stop at my room to grab some clothes.” He says and the two of you head to his room. You smile at the boyish charm of his room the action figures and posters decorating his room though they were of All Might. Once Midoriya had grabbed his clothes the two of you reentered the elevator heading to your room. Entering your dorm you move to your drawer grabbing a t-shirt and shorts to change your back to Midoriya when you turn and pause. There was Midoriya with his shirt off and changing into his pants. Your gaze trails up his back not realizing how defined it was as he stands straight throwing his shirt on and turning to look at you a bit surprised to see you staring at him. He smiles and you feel your face grow flush before you turn moving towards your bed and climbing in. He chuckle moving towards your bed sliding in and the two of you were staring at each other just a breath away from each other.

“goodnight..” You whisper and he smiles his lips pecks yours and a spark runs through you and you bury your face in his chest it rumbles with a laugh.

“night…” He says and his arms wrap around your body pulling you closer and the warmth he radiates it was easy to fall asleep. Right as you slipped into unconscious you hear Midoriya mumble something but you couldn’t hear it.

Your footsteps were light the grass beneath your feet the sound of children flittering through the air the crisp air fills your lungs. You can see a group of children playing as someone stands watching them. It was two girls and one boy. The older girl her hair in pigtails tosses a ball and a small dog chases after it. The younger girl giggles clapping her hands in delight while the boy sits beside her watching a small smile on his face. Your gaze move from the children to the man standing watching them. It doesn’t seem like they notice the man there he was dressed in a hoodie it covering his head until he turns and you see his face.

“Tenko…” You whisper and he seems to look past you and that’s when someone walks past you standing next to him. Your blood runs cold seeing your copy standing next to him. The deep scars running across their face one of them going through her red eyes. You watch as Tenko holds out his hand and she takes it with the one arm she has left the stump covered by the clothes she wears. Tenko looks down at her and you feel distress at the way he looks at her. It was the same way he looked at you. A sharp pain fills you and you look down seeing the injuries from the raid covering your body. Coughing out blood you hit the ground trying to stop the bleeding.

“Tenko!” You choke out trying to reach out for him but it was as if you were invisible and he still stared at your copy. Trying to pull yourself towards him a hand grips your hair pulling you back as you cry out in pain.

“He doesn’t need you anymore…” All For One’s voice rings out as he holds you up by your hair as you watch this ruined copy of yourself and Tenko start to walk away.

“Tenko! It’s me! Please come back!” You cry out gasping for air as you seem to drown in your own blood. Your words have no effect on him as he keeps walking but your copy pauses looking back and the look she gives you sends chills through you. Had you really lost him?

“TENKO!”

You gasp sitting up in bed trying to calm your rapid-beating heart. Everything seemed so real...was this a warning? You two weren’t connected anymore. It was because of your quirk..would you ever be the same without it. A rustle on your bed and you look down seeing Midoriya still asleep and you feel a slight grin cross your face. He was drooling a little but it was sort of cute and his hair was all over the place. A tug on your waist from his arm still wrapped around it pulls you back down to lay beside him. You don’t know how long you stayed up, but you soon drifted back to a dreamless sleep.

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