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cobaltperun · 3 months

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Lost (14) - Collide

Tara Carpenter x female Reader

Summary: To anyone on the outside, and to Tara’s friends, you were Tara’s fierce protector, the MMA fighter who’d take anyone on for Tara. The Guard Dog, as Amber called you. You had no idea you’d have to protect her from people who claimed they loved her. It didn’t matter. As long as you and Tara had one another there was nothing you wouldn’t be able to survive.

Story warnings: Scream violence, family issues, trauma, angst, certain sensitive topics

Word count: 5.1k

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

-Where do we go from here when they're tearing down our lives?-

The steaming mug of hot chocolate, a warm blanket, and another night all alone. If only there weren't so many memories tied to this house she would have moved somewhere, at least to an apartment or something. It was just too hard to think of anywhere else as her home. Even now that she had a second chance in you.

In a way, at the very least.

You've said it once, you're not Zack. You're still the only family he had beside her. At least as far as the family that accepted him goes. So, in a way, you were the only living reminder of him. You made her so happy when you visited her. And you brought the most wonderful, loving girl, with you.

Her phone suddenly rang. Maybe it was you, she rarely got calls from anyone else, but you made sure to call every now and then. Then she'd get to talk to you, Tara, and sometimes even Sam. Now that she thought about it, she had an unread message from you, she got it while she was at work and then it slipped her mind to read it later. That was probably why you were calling. So, Susan picked up her phone.

"Hello, Susan," she didn't recognize the voice. Maybe it was one of the patients from the hospital, or a doctor or a nurse she rarely talked to.

"Hello, I'm sorry, but who is this?" she took a sip from her mug, waiting for the answer.

"Oh, no one important. I was actually calling because of Y/N, she told me you are her half-brother's mother and that if anything happened, I could call you," Susan immediately sat up straight at that.

"Did something happen to her?" she wanted to hang up and call you right away.

"Not yet, no, but it could. So, what's your favorite scary movie?" Susan, having read the books after what happened to you, recognized the line. She remembered the state you and Tara were in when you came to her house.

If what she heard was true she was done for. The killer was with her. So, she hung up, quickly opening the messages. She didn't even get to type a single letter before a knife stabbed her back. She cried out, dropping her phone. The piercing of her flesh continued as the figure of a masked monster in black robes came into her line of sight. The stabs would have been enough, but the killer made two deep cuts on the crooks of her arms. She'd bleed out slow enough for it to hurt, but quickly enough so that no one could help her.

And then the monster left her, lying on the floor.

She could barely move her arms, but the adrenaline still pumping through her veins helped her reach the phone. She managed to type exactly three letters as her vision became blurry and hit send. She wouldn't be found until two days later when a neighbor noticed her doors were left wide open.

Thousands of miles away, all the way in New York you were woken up by your phone. You groaned, reaching over to your nightstand, and seeing the message. You smiled. Leave it to Susan to respond with only one word.

"Mhmm, Y/N," Tara hid her face from the light coming from your screen.

"Sorry, Love. It's Susan. I'm guessing she's down to spend Thanksgiving with us," you kissed the top of Tara's head when you felt her smile against your neck. It was Tara's idea, really. So, you went and invited Susan to spend a week in New York, since you hadn't seen each other ever since you came to New York.

Her response? Fun. You figured that was a 'yes' and sent her a thumbs up, which she immediately read. No response came, but you expected that. You'd just call her after you figure out a proper plan for that week. Which would have to wait, because you had another exhausting week ahead of you.

~X~

Nine, god damn, hours. You felt like you were just about ready to kick Thomas' ass for just dropping a two-week-long vacation on you out of the blue. If only it was your vacation.

So, instead of canceling his classes you were replacing him. Instead of doing the morning sessions and the second afternoon training session, which would mean 4 and a half hours at the gym, you were stuck with Thomas' sessions as well. Which basically meant you were at the gym from 6:45 am to 10:15 a.m., then again from 11:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., and finally from 4:45 to 8:15 p.m. So, nine hours of training people and an hour and a half to keep the gym running. By the time you came home after the third training session, you were too exhausted to do anything.

Tara hated it even more than you did. You tried, you really did, you'd go back home after each double training session, and you'd buy flowers, things like that, but it didn't help much. You loved how needy Tara was, how she wanted to spend time with you, to be held by you. Right now, her neediness proved to be a double-edged sword.

You tried to watch a movie with her, but you fell asleep. Tara understood that. She did not understand how you fell asleep last night while she kissed your neck. She wouldn't even look at you, or speak to you when you dropped by after morning sessions.

That's how you ended up right where you were now. Waiting for Sam, because you had a feeling it would be better if Sam was with you when you came home. You couldn't be more thankful when she came out of the therapy much sooner than she was supposed to.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," you greeted the moment Sam got into the passenger seat. Then you noticed the look on her face, that defeated look that told you she opened up a bit and it didn't go well. "Rough therapy?"

Sam looked at you, her eyes softening as she noticed just how tired you looked. "Rough day?"

You turned the engine on, loving the way the car came to life. "You have no idea," you sighed, just ready to get home, take the coldest shower possible to keep yourself awake, and hopefully make up for the last night's inability to stay awake. At least driving wasn't an issue. You never bothered to seek an explanation, but whenever you were driving you were completely awake, no matter how little sleep you had, or how tired you were. Step out of the car, sleepy, behind the wheel, completely awake.

"Tara?" Sam guessed, though that probably wasn't difficult, you saw how cranky Tara was this morning. Sam must have seen it as well.

"Uh... let's just say I fell asleep when I shouldn't have," you blushed, hoping that Sam wouldn't question it further.

"You've been exhausted ever since Thomas left, I'm sure Tara understands that," Sam did not avoid further questioning.

"Yeah, not when you fall asleep while your girlfriend is kissing your neck," you grumbled through clenched teeth. You didn't need to turn to look at Sam, you could feel the incredulous look on her face. In your defense, Tara was warm, and lying on top of you, and you were tired, and the kisses felt really comforting and good. Comfy and sleepy was a combination not even you could beat.

Sam suddenly began stifling a laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just funny," well, you'd probably laugh about it once Tara gets over it. "You two will be fine, Tara just misses you, you know?"

You nodded, not taking your eyes off the road. "I know, Sam, I miss her too," you couldn't help but smile, it was just a small lover quarrel, not even that, really, since you didn't have the capacity to participate.

"I have an idea," you were vaguely aware of Sam pulling out her phone. Was she calling Tara? Probably.

No one answered though and you were suddenly reminded of what happened roughly four months ago.

"You know you're supposed to pick up when I call," Sam's concerned voice made you even more worried. "I got out of therapy early and Y/N is driving me back home. I was thinking we could cook dinner tonight. I mean, if that's what you'd like," she left the message and sighed.

"She probably, ah, I don't even know, maybe her phone is charging?" you were grasping at straws, but you weren't ready to think of the other options just yet.

"Or she's at a party, Omega something," Sam buried her face in her hands, trying her best to not get frustrated right away.

"What party?" shit, you were starting to think falling asleep last night was the worst possible timing, ever.

"There's a frat party tonight, she really wanted to go, but I begged her not to," the arrangement you and Sam managed to get Tara to agree to, remained unspoken.

After Tara first disappeared and went to a party the three of you came to an agreement. She could have her parties, as long as you or Sam were with her. Mindy or Chad wouldn’t do, Tara refused to listen to them, she refused to stop unless you or Sam made her stop, and as worried about Tara as they were, they didn’t exactly want to go to parties to babysit her. You wouldn't stop her from having fun or drinking until she reached a very specific point between drunk and no longer aware of what was happening.

You hated just watching over her, but you tried to step in sooner exactly one time before she got drunk. The next time there was a party Tara went and disappeared again, so you just figured it was better to stay by her side and make sure she was fine than to drive around the whole damn city looking for her.

"I don't know how to reach her, Sam," the mental toll of watching Tara cope in one of the worst ways possible was slowly getting to you. You'd do anything to get her to stop drinking like that, but she just wouldn't listen to you. "Should I just drive straight to that party?"

Sam thought it over. "Let's check if she's home first."

You both knew it was extremely unlikely, but you still hoped.

You hoped even as Sam unlocked the apartment, but you couldn't hope once it was clear Tara wasn't there. You leaned against the wall, completely awake now. "She didn't even bring her taser," you pointed out, huffing as you began pacing the apartment. You knew you should already be heading out to find Tara, but you just needed a moment.

"I'll go get her, rest for a bit," you wanted to argue when Sam said that, but honestly, you just felt relief. "I'll call you if she's not at that party."

"Thanks," you just let her, not sure how drunk Tara would be, or if you were ready for another hunt all over New York, so if you could delay it even for ten or fifteen minutes, you'd accept that opportunity.

"How the fuck am I supposed to help you, Tara?" you leaned back against the sofa, letting your eyes close just for a moment. The next time you opened your eyes it was because of your phone ringing. "Did you find her?" you immediately got up, ready to get the car keys if Sam didn't find Tara.

"I did. She's pissed though, she should be at the apartment in a minute or two," Sam warned you.

"She's pissed? Brilliant! Just perfect!" you hung up just as you yanked the doors open and saw Tara climbing up the stairs.

"Don't you even start!" she yelled the moment she saw your mouth opening.

You felt really close to snapping as you stepped outside the apartment to meet Tara. "Oh, I'm sorry, did your party get interrupted?"

You could see she was going to walk by you and get inside, but the mocking in your tone made her halt right next to you. "It did! And you know what? I was about to hook up with a guy!" if you were any less tired, any more attentive to the way her eyes immediately filled with regret when she said that, then maybe you would have been able to control your temper.

Not tonight though. "Well, it certainly wouldn't be the first time you were with someone while loving me, now, would it?!"

Tara recoiled as if you slapped her. "Do not bring Amber into this, Y/N!"

"Hey, come on, this isn't like you," Chad tried to get between you two.

"Stay out of this," you warned, but Tara was already heading inside.

"No need! We're done talking!" she yelled while marching to your room.

"Oh, no, not this time, Tara!" you went after her, catching the doors just as she was about to slam them shut.

"What do you want, Y/N?! I'm living my life, you hear me?! it's mine, not ours!" she screamed, pushing her finger into your chest. "You're possessive, you won't let me go to any party alone; you've become even more controlling than Amber!"

You threw your hands up in the air, just for a moment looking anywhere but at Tara. "Maybe I wouldn't have to be if you had an ounce of self-control! Or do I need to remind you how I found you the two times you were at a party on your own?!"

"What of it? I ended up in a bad place twice, and? Surely, I've run out of all the awful things that can happen to me by now!" she was having difficulty breathing and the red haze that had overcome you faded away.

"And if you haven't? If someone takes advantage of how drunk you are?" you stopped shouting, even though some of the anger was still there.

Tara just shrugged. "Add it to the list, I guess," you stepped away from her and went outside the room. "Y/N!" she gasped your name but didn't come after you, a coughing fit kept her in place.

You came back to the room, unpacking the inhaler you got a few days ago. "Your current one ran out, right?" you pulled her down to sit next to you and brought the inhaler to her mouth. "I can't, Tara, I can't take it if something happens to you again," you could only hope she would finally hear you. Judging by the way she clung to you, gripping your shirt like it was the only thing keeping her grounded, a tiny bit of you hoped she would hear you.

"You're not angry with me?" she asked, tired of shouting as well, tired of being angry, of not having you around since you started covering Thomas’ part of the training.

You almost told a lie. "I am, but I'm more worried about you than I'm angry at you," especially when her asthma gets triggered. At that point, any argument can wait and you guessed those pauses also made both of you calm down.

"I wasn't really going to hook up with anyone. I just wanted, I don't even know what I wanted. To make you angry, or to hurt you, I guess? I regretted it the moment I said it," she confessed, tentatively climbing into your lap for comfort.

You took a deep breath, feeling the tension between you two dissipating with every moment.

"I'm not messed up," she whispered into your ear, the desire to continue what she started last night evident in her eyes, but you shook your head.

"No, you are. You are still drunk," you weren't about to do anything with Tara while she was even slightly drunk.

Tara responded with a huff and pulled back from you as much as she could while still sitting on your lap. "Fine, fine," she knew better than to argue with you on that.

A knock on the doors caught your attention and Tara got off your lap so you could go and open the doors.

"Oh, thank God you're not fighting anymore," Anika said as soon as she noticed neither one of you was frowning.

"Told you love birds would be fine," Mindy patted her on the back.

Chad coughed. "More important things people," he reminded the two and you tilted your head to the side. "You need to see this," he pointed toward the TV and you felt a shiver run down your spine due to the worried look on his face.

You couldn't believe the nightmare was starting again. Someone was brutally stabbed and a Ghostface mask was found at the scene of the crime. Even worse than that Mindy recognized the names and from the look on Tara's face so did she.

"You know them?" you asked as you sat down next to her.

"Barely, not that it matters, this isn't about us," you could see the worry in her eyes, the fear that it actually was about all of you.

That's when Sam came in, followed by a guy you came across every now and then. Danny? Tara thought something was going on between Sam and him, but she didn't have proof and you weren't about to ask Sam if she wasn't going to talk.

The moment Sam figured out what was going on it was like someone flipped a switch. "Pack a bag, we leave in ten," you and Tara just looked at each other.

"Sam! Wait, Sam!" Tara went after her into the kitchen.

"We're leaving town," Sam ordered, not even for a moment considering Tara's objection.

You walked in, hugging Tara around her waist from behind to calm her down, she just had an asthma attack and you wanted her to feel safe. "Sam, you know running away didn't work last time," sure, you came back to Woodsboro willingly, but Amber and Richie were going to use Chad, Mindy, and Liv as bait anyway.

"It'll work this time," Sam picked up the biggest knife you had and went back to the living room.

Tara got out of your hug but began holding your hand. "Hold on, let's talk for a second. 'Cause this might not have anything to do with us," Tara followed after Sam, trying to reason with her.

"Are you serious?" Sam demanded, finally turning to look at Tara.

"It's a big city! It's Halloween. Everybody's wearing masks! You don't know-"

"Tara! Tara, this isn't a coincidence! You knew him!" Sam interrupted.

"Barely," Tara leaned back into you, prompting you to once again place your arms around her waist.

"Chad, Mindy, back me up," Sam turned to the twins.

"I mean it is a bit..." the expression on Chad's face showed he agreed with Sam.

"Too close to home," Mindy basically finished for him.

"Sam, we finally got our lives together here," you took Tara’s side, yes there were issues, yes, Tara wasn't handling things properly, but you were building something here.

"We'll do that again, somewhere safer," Sam assured you, not even wasting a second to push back against any arguments in favor of staying.

"So, you're just making the unilateral decision to abandon my and Y/N's college education and flee the fucking state!" Tara clenched her fingers around your hands. The weaker grip in her left hand nearly made you reconsider.

"Y/N," Sam turned to you, looking for support. "Please don't take Tara's side just because it's Tara."

You shook your head. "Sam, I'm not going to run every time there's a hint of danger. If we do that we'll always be on the run, I won't live like that and if Tara doesn't want that-"

"Which I don't," Tara quickly chimed in.

"Then I won't let you force her to live like that," you could feel Tara's anxiety rising as Sam remained silent.

And then the phone rang, and Tara nearly jumped in your arms. She wasn't the only one affected, everyone was put on edge by Sam's phone ringing.

Sam went over to the phone and rejected the call. "It was Gale," she said, which wasn't a good sign. Especially since Gale's book didn't exactly make any of you the fans of the reporter.

"Why did everyone freak out when her phone rang?" you almost forgot Ethan was there.

"You gotta keep up, my dude," Anika just told him.

Sam's phone rang again, this time from an unknown caller, and though anxiously she still picked up. "Yes?"

There was a pause for a few moments. "Yes, it's me," Sam replied to whoever was on the other side of the line. "Okay, okay, I'll come," she hung up. "It's the police, they want me to come down to the station," she didn't waste a moment and picked her jacket up to leave.

Tara just looked at you. There was no need to talk, you grabbed your jackets and you turned to Chad. "You guys be careful," you went after Tara, grabbing the keys on the way. You considered driving, but the police station wasn't that far and it was late, it was Halloween and people were partying, so maybe walking was a better option.

You caught up with Tara at the bottom of the stairs and she gave you a quick, though a bit uncertain, smile. "We'll be fine, Love," you quickly leaned down to kiss the top of her head and then she led you outside, after Sam.

"Sam, slow down," Tara called after her sister.

"Tara, no, get back inside, lock the doors," Sam immediately rejected the idea of Tara coming with her.

"Are you serious? Now you don't want to stick together? Besides, I have Y/N," and both you and Sam knew Tara would feel better if you were there for both her and Sam.

"You heard the boss, Sam, don't fight this," you offered Sam a cheeky smile and she just shook her head.

"Fine, let's go."

~X~

You were about ten minutes away from the station when Sam's phone rang again and you saw that the caller was... Richie?

"The fuck?" Tara said exactly what you thought.

"I never deleted his contact," you raised an eyebrow at that. Really, Sam? "This is coming from his number."

"Don't pick that up," Tara told her, but you were already tuning the conversation out, instead looking around the three of you.

Whoever was behind this now couldn't appear out of nowhere. You couldn't see anything suspicious behind you, but you felt Tara quickly grabbing onto your forearm. You turned around and saw a man approaching, holding a phone, so you stepped in front of Tara and Sam, ready to act the moment he made any move.

There was no need for that, the man just walked by the three of you.

The police sirens put you on edge as you made sure Tara was close to you.

"You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet, asshole," just as Sam said it you noticed a movement to your right.

And there it was. The familiar robe and mask coming almost out of nowhere, hidden by the darkness. You pushed Tara toward Sam and stepped between the two and the reoccurring nightmare. You did a quick jab followed by a hook, sending the figure into the bicycles behind him.

Something felt wrong. He fell too easily. As if he decided to fall. "Run!" you ushered Tara and Sam, not that you needed to as Sam was already getting Tara away from the could-have-been fight.

You turned back when you caught up to them, to see the Ghostface chasing after you.

"Y/N?!" you saw fear in Tara's eyes, the confusion caused by you of all people running.

"Something's different! I don't know what, but it just feels wrong!" you liked to think years of fighting gave you a good sense of what someone can and can't do in a fight and you didn't like one bit what happened right there.

Your words only increased Tara's fear. "Help! Please!" She cried out, hoping maybe someone would hear her.

"In there!" Sam pointed at a bodega just around the corner.

The three of you ran in, with Tara and Sam cutting the line and pleading for the clerk to call the police. You just stood with your back behind them, waiting for Ghostface. You saw him at the door, looking much bigger than you. Tara, probably still thinking about what you just told her, grabbed onto your forearm, and tried to pull you back. "Please, Y/N," you glanced back, seeing the fear in her eyes. That one moment was enough for everything to go wrong. Ghostface quickly killed two men, tossing them aside and advancing toward the three of you.

"Sam! Don't!" judging by Tara's screams you figured Sam was pulling her back.

You relaxed, easily shifting into a fighting stance. As wrong as it felt, you knew there wasn't a way out without a fight. Besides, if you could end this now, you'd have only one more Ghostface to worry about.

"Hey!" the man working at the bodega shouted and raised a shotgun, firing it at Ghostface. As the Ghostface vanished behind the shelves you couldn't help but wonder why the man didn't just shoot first. You know, without warning the clearly armed and dangerous masked individual.

"Go out the back!" he told the three of you.

Well, you weren't about to waste that.

"Thank you!" Tara said, but as the three of you got to the back doors you realized it was locked. "Shit! Keys! We need your keys!"

The man turned to give them to her and Ghostface took his chance. Stabbing the man and taking the shotgun, shooting the man that tried to help you.

The three of you ducked behind shelves and you glanced at Tara. You've fought Ghostface before. You were afraid before. But back then you were afraid for Tara. Now you were afraid of the killer. There was nothing you could do against a shotgun. There was no way you could get shot and survive, let alone continue fighting. There was no way Tara or Sam would survive and just for a moment, between fight, flight, or freeze, your body chose to freeze.

Ghostface shot the freezers behind you, shattering the glass. Sam began moving again, trying to crawl to safety, trying desperately to keep Tara alive. Tara, however, wouldn't move an inch without you.

Another shot knocked a bunch of cans down, halting your escape and making Tara squeeze your hand. That snapped you out of it and you pulled the two of them back toward freezers. From the looks of it, you did that just in time as Ghostface came to the side you were on mere moments ago. You looked at Tara and moved, staying crouched as you moved toward Ghostface. You'd go around the shelves and try to take him down from behind.

Your heart hammered in your chest when you turned around the corner and saw a shotgun right in front of your face. You weren't fast enough to get it out of the way, no, you were allowed to grab it and lift it up. "Run!" the last time you screamed as loud as you just did Amber was holding Tara at gunpoint.

"Y/N!" Tara screamed your name, but you didn't look at her, you looked at Sam.

"Take Tara and run, damn it!" you yelled, pushing the shotgun up to make sure Ghotface couldn't shoot any of you. You couldn't focus on anything else, not on the screaming or Sam's frantic attempts to get Tara out of bodega, you could only focus on the fight. You felt a small sense of relief, knowing that as long as you kept holding the shotgun Ghostface wouldn't be able to let go of it either.

The moment you vaguely heard the doors opening you yanked the shotgun down and kneed the man in his stomach. There wasn't even a grunt, but he tossed the shotgun away so that neither of you could use it. You let him, using the small opening to land an uppercut to the jaw, followed by several hard and fast punches to the face. You pushed him into the counter, continuing the assault. It felt wrong. It felt like your punches barely affected him. He was moving, reacting to your punches, but it was too much, it was as if he was moving on his own, and not due to your hits.

A hard hit to the side knocked all the air from your lungs and he easily pushed you back. He slammed his shoulder into you, taking you to the ground. You gasped for air, barely having time to put up a guard before a fist could connect with your face. You recognized this feeling all too well. You were in this exact position plenty of times. You raised your elbow, hitting his jaw and getting up just enough to put him in a chokehold.

Another hit to the side nearly made you let him go, but you squeezed harder, trying to find a way to snap his neck despite the mask. The third hit to the side loosened your hold enough for him to get on his feet and slam you back down on the ground. You felt like everything was spinning as he repeated the same motion again. Lifting your entire body up and slamming it back down on the hard floor. By now you were too shaken to even hold onto him.

And then you went flying, right through the glass and onto the pavement.

"Y/N!" that was Tara's voice. Shit. She didn't get far enough.

"Run, you idiot," you wheezed as you rolled over, trying to get on your hands and knees. The police arriving saved your life.

Tara was immediately with you, yet you barely heard her saying your name, you barely felt her worried touch. A single thought went through your mind as the police officers scattered around the perimeter and all you could see was a mask on the store's floor. 'I can't beat him.'

A/N: Scream 6 starts! Nothing to say here. Thank you for reading! Updated on: 30.03.2024.

#tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x female reader #tara carpenter #tara carpenter x you #scream #sam carpenter #jenna ortega x reader

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tears-of-taelia · 3 months

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re: melia & emma

I've been thinking about this for awhile now. The way that the newest version of the Blacksteeple Castle chapter has presented Emma is interesting. There will be spoilers ahead, so don't read if you're still working your way through version 13.5!

My ramblings begin below. Here are some official pics (by the amazing Zumi) for reference.

As we know, during the events of Blacksteeple Castle, Melia wore a disguise to hide her true identity. This disguise is removed when Madame X slashes it with her sword. There is a small animation that follows, where a dark magical aura envelopes “Emma” before she is revealed to be Melia.

After the subsequent chaos, the disguise is not brought up again. However, the character of Emma is revealed to still reside in Melia’s cognition, apparently unbeknownst to Melia, as she says, “I thought I left you behind at Blacksteeple”. How odd.

Then, (a long time) later, while exploring the 3rd Layer, Melia stumbles across a deathbed journal entry written by a Garufa Inc. volunteer named Emma. It reads as follows.

My name is Emma. I undertook the Archetype's power today, and it failed miserably. I was unable to manifest its power and was mortally wounded during a test. I thought I actually had potential... but I guess not. The doctors say I don't have long left. It's cruel, isn't it? Life is just so cruel. But this is the path me and all the other volunteers chose. Humanity has nothing left but us. ...Is it all worth it in the end, though? What do we want to survive for? ...Anyway. I'm losing energy fast. Garufa Incorporated is our last hope. Please, save us.

Melia expresses to Nim that she finds it odd that this person and her Blacksteeple cover share a name. Nim passes this off as a coincidence, and understandably so. Emma isn’t exactly a rare name (though perhaps things are different in the world of rejuvenation?). The coincidence still seems to bother Melia for some reason.

Now, there are a LOT of theories about Melia out there. Despite hours and hours of gameplay, her true identity has yet to be revealed.

People have theorized for years that she is Maria, and the game seems to heavily imply that that is the case. If Anathea had four children, Erin, Maria, Alice, and Allen, and Erin, Melia, Alice, and Allen know that they share a mother, Anathea, then it would logically follow that Melia is Maria. In addition, Melia and Maria physically resemble each other, Melia is unsure of her origins prior to meeting Jenner, and Maria has not otherwise made an appearance in the current timeline (besides the whole Marianette ordeal in Gearen Sewers). So, it’s not exactly a dramatic leap.

It is eventually even addressed by the characters themselves. When Erin directly asks for her opinion on this matter, Melia balks, and seemingly contradicts herself.

MELIA: Hahah... I guess I've known for a long time that I was Maria. Ever since our interaction with Angie, that name has been going through my head in my dreams. But I have to disagree, Erin. I am not Maria. ERIN: But out of the process of elimination, you must be. MELIA: Sorry, but it's true. That's what my mind is telling me, desperately. I am not Maria. I am not Maria. That's what echoes in my head.

If Melia is and is not Maria, then… how…? In what way? Who is she? Why would she share a connection with Erin? Why is she the only one with Genesis Syndrome? And what does Emma have to do with all of this? I don’t really have an answer. But there is something I want to muse on.

Let’s circle back to Melia’s “disguise”, if we can even call it that. Her cover as Emma made her look like an entirely different person, unrecognizable to the Player character. She has a different outfit, hair color, and eye color. If we are to believe that this is an ordinary disguise, we would need to believe that, with one slash, Madame X was able to tear through a wig, two color contacts, and an entire outfit, including thigh high boots. We would need to believe that Melia conveniently decided to wear a different outfit underneath this disguise, and that Madame X was able to slash off her exterior outfit without marring the one underneath. We would also need to believe that the special, dark, magical animation the occurs at this moment was purely aesthetic and meaningless.

So, yeah, I don’t really believe it this disguise is your regular, run-of-the-mill costume.

We learn that Melia was sent to Blacksteeple through the powers of Spacea and Tiempa. She was on a mission as a Storm Chaser, to save the Player character and gather information. As we know (all too well) from V13.5, Spacea and Tiempa are powerful. Specifically, they have powers over space and time akin to Palkia and Dialga. They use these powers pretty recklessly to manipulate many characters throughout the story. However, every instance of power they exhibit is strictly tied to their dimensions, space and time. Spacea does magic related to space. Tiempa does magic related to time. So, how, then, would they be able to create such a magical disguise for Melia? Through Garufan dress-up magic? Creating an illusion? Maybe. I wouldn’t be shocked. But I think it’s more than that. I think that Spacea and Tiempa used their magic to revive a version of Melia from the past, a different dimension, or a different “layer” (past world?). Perhaps… the third layer. A different appearance. A different life. Emma.

I think of it sort of like what happened with Narcissa during the Dufaux sidequest. But, instead of S+T directly swapping Melia with Emma, they just projected the appearance of Emma onto Melia.

There isn’t much to support or detract from this speculation. What we do know? We know that Melia is and is not Maria. We know that both Melia and Emma struggle to manifest the Archetype's power. We know that Emma resides in Melia’s cognition, like Melanie. We know Melia was deeply bothered by Emma’s journal entry in the Third Layer. We know that the outfit Melia dons when using her powers is very reminiscent of Emma’s.

We also know that Emma is dead.

Or, at least, presumed dead.

Just like Aevis, Aevia, Aria, Axel, Aero, and Alain.

You see where I’m going with this?

We know Emma dies disappointed, having believed she had “potential”, according to her journal entry. Did someone else think she had potential too? Perhaps, her “majesty” herself?

I know I’m not the only one to theorize that Melia is another Interceptor. I mean, it is heavily implied throughout the story. Melia is one of two characters for which we have seen Variya appear. The other, of course, being the player character. Melia is able to enter Zeight. In fact, she enters her own Zeight a couple of points during the game. She is shown with the triangular core motif a couple of times as well. She has led a lot of the research about the Interceptor phenomenon, in the Blakeory Athenaeum, for example.

How this all ties in with Maria, though? I don’t know. In the case of the Player character, we know that A-team didn’t want to live, and agreed to let Variya choose a different soul to take control over their body. Presumably, that soul is us, literally, the player, the person playing the game. Could Maria be the soul taking over Emma? Could Emma be the soul taking over Maria?

Who knows.

I do know there are holes in these theories. I know the events of the Renegade Route may complicate everything. (truthfully, I am too much of a wuss to complete the renegade route myself. I watched a youtube video of someone else's playthrough, so I know the broad strokes of what happens, but I definitely don't know the renegade lore in the same way I know paragon. maybe I should rewatch it at some point and take notes)

But this has been bouncing around my brain for too long and I wanted to put it in writing to help organize my thoughts. If you made it this far, wow, you rock! Thanks for reading. I’m interested if anyone has thoughts about this, if anyone can potentially disprove it, or if anyone has their own version or counter version of this idea! I live for this shit.

#pokemon rejuvenation #13.5 #theory #melia #emma #maria #just wanted to dump this somewhere

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kny-agere · 5 months

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Hello! It's been a while since I saw this account and I read the Little Space stories from here and i love it!, You could make a Little space scenario of Little Zenitsu and Caregiver Uzui? They two are cute together and I really wanted to see that (no pressure btw :3)

“No! I don’t wanna go to bed. I’m not tired, I’m not, I’m not, I’m NOT!” Zenitsu howls like he’s dying. In reality Uzui stands a few feet away from him and simply softly suggested that he look tired.

In his fit he’s tossed accessories all over the room, subsequently ending their game off dress up. The fine robe hangs off of Zenitsu’s shoulder, partially exposing him. His face is an awful splotchy red. It looks like he’s had an allergic reaction.

Uzui wishes one of his wives were here. Not Makio actually, who’d get fed up with the screaming too quickly, but one of the others would know how to softly reassure the boy. Hinatsuru especially would know how yo approach him.

Instead Zenitsu is stuck with Tengen. He seemed happy with the man’s company mostly, which came as a surprise. Half the time Agatsuma still insisted that he hated the hashira, taunts eagerly swapped between them.

Regressed however he was much quieter and willing to follow instructions. Rarely did Zenitsu ever talk back or disobey, too happy to soak up any scrap of positive praise. Uzui tried to dole it out often. He felt bad to see how disappointed the boy got at the smallest amount of scolding. His tears weren’t of the crocodile variety, actually genuine in their sadness.

Now he felt like he had a completely different person in front of him. Zenitsu hadn’t kept on howling for too long, but still had a twisted look on his face.

“I didn’t say you had to take a nap. I just asked if you were ready to start winding down.”

“Well I’m NOT! I’m keeping playing.” To prove his point Agatsuma grabbed a handful of costume jewelry and began donning it.

“Great, but you’ll have to play on your own. I don’t like playing with boys who shout.” It was a childish move.

Zenitsu’s little face scrunched up. He let out a large wail before falling into Tengen’s lap. Clutching onto the man’s robe he proceeded to use the fabric as a sort of tissue. “Nooo! Please play wif me!” He let out another strangled noise and feel back into a fit of sobs.

It wasn’t exactly uncommon for the boy to cry, regardless of what age he felt. Tengen wasn’t swayed by the tears.

“We can play if you stop yelling.” He wasn’t too cruel, putting a reassuring hand on Zenitsu’s head. “I not making you go to bed yet so we’re not gonna cry over that.”

“O-oh, okay.” He can’t stop his crying immediately, but the noises taper off into little sobs. “and I dun’ wanna go to bed. ever.”

“Sure thing.” The kid will be asleep within an hour at most. “Can we go clean up the mess?” Beads have scattered over the floor. A necklace or two have broken.

He tries to widen his eyes. All his emotions are so plain in his features. “Will you help me?” Sticking his bottom lip out he wiggles it.

Tengen prepares himself for another possible fit. “Did I make the mess? I’m sure you’ll do fine on your own.” He waits for another scream to shatter his eardrums.

Zenitsu lets out another whimper, but surprisingly does not throw another fit. His displeasure is still clear however as he drags his feet back toward the clothes scattered on the ground. Lying down he picks up each fallen bead one at a time. Every few minutes he’ll let out an angry little noise.

“C’mon, let’s clean up properly.” Tengen moves closer, crouching beside the sullen boy. While he continues to just watch instead of helping, he does affectionately ruffle Zenitsu’s hair.

When Agatsuma just turns away the man is forced to pull out his secret weapon. “I’ll time you.”

That draws up curious eyes.

“I think the ladies will be home soon.” A lie. “I’m sure they’ll be very impressed to hear how fast you are.”

It puts an actual smile on his face. “And I get a treat?”

“Well, maybe if you’re good for the rest of the day.” Another lie, all the women adore the boy to much. They’d probably give him a treat even if he murdered Uzui.

“Ok! Start now.” Quickly Zenitsu grabs handfuls of beads and shoves them into the jewelry box. In between movements he removes some of the play necklaces. Tengen has to remind him to be careful.

“If you break another I’ll add 30 seconds to your total.” A scandalized squeal pops from the child. He moves with more caution than is necessary, though it’s better than reckless abandon. Some of them are tangled together, still dumped into the box all the sane. It’ll be a nightmare to sort through them later. Uzui might just buy new ones instead.

“How long has it been?”

“Almost a minute! You better hurry.” It was another… another lie but a useful one. The first time Zenitsu heard a number bigger than five he had cried and refused to do anything more.

“All done!” He pointed to the box which was not organized, necklaces spilling out over the sides, but all the items were technically there. “Was I fastest?”

Uzui stops his imaginary timer. “Oh wow, 48 seconds! I think that’s a new record.” He’s not as good at putting on a cheerful tone as his wives are, but it satisfies Zenitsu.

“Yay! I win I win.” He clapped his hands together. “And now we play more?”

“Oh buddy I’m kinda tired. Maybe we can do something quiet.”

“Can we color?”

Uzui was surprised at the suggestion. Though maybe he was more surprised that Zenitsu hadn’t reacted with immediate tears. “Sure. You wanna help me find the paper?”

The boy leaped up and reached for Uzui’s hand. “I already know where it is,” he declared proudly.

Tengen grunted as he brought himself off the floor. “Alright, you lead the way.” He grabbed the boy’s hand and followed him down the hall.

★彡☆彡★彡

#srry im sleepy #so no little notes #but ty for the request #age regression #age regressor #fandom agere #sfw agere #demon slayer #kny #agere requests #cglre #cg!uzui #little!zenitsu #zenitsu agatsuma #uzui tengen

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avengerscompound · 2 years

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Small Gods: Little Traditions - 4

Little Traditions: A Sam Wilson Fanfic

Little Traditions Masterlist | More Small Gods PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Sam Wilson x F!Reader

Rating: E

Word Count: 2371

Warnings: nothing really

Synopsis: Since the blip and Steve Rogers giving up the mantle of Captain America, Sam’s life has been chaotic. It’s not enough that the world has moved on in the five years he’d gone, and that he’d missed so much, now he has to live with everything it means to be Captain America. He feels like he’s losing all the things that make him him. A venture to the supermarket to recreate one of his parents famous recipes brings him to you.

Chapter 4

Sam was quite excited about his date with you. He had always been good at reading people. He trusted his instincts and it was rare that he was wrong. It was why he’d formed such a strong bond with Riley. It was why he immediately formed a connection with Steve. He was good at reading people - he’d been trained to read people. He knew when people were hiding things from him and when they were just nervous or shy. He knew when he was being manipulated. He could tell when someone was annoying but ultimately good, and when someone was charming and ultimately bad. He could even tell very early on if someone would never become closer to him than acquaintances and when they would be actual friends. He trusted his feelings when he liked someone and he really liked you.

There had been a lot of talk about tradition, and so Sam decided to go with a traditional date, only with his own Wilson spin on it.

“So where are you taking me?” you asked as you sat beside him in his truck. He’d picked you up. He’d realized it was a risky move - he was taking you into New Orleans after all, and it wasn’t a short drive. If things didn’t go well, then there was no way for either of you to escape the forty-five-minute trip back together. He had faith though, and what kind of date would he be, if he expected you to drive an hour and a half each way just to see him?

“We’re heading to a jazz club for dinner and then if you feel like a change of venue there’s an outdoor movie festival on. They’re playing different vampire movies every night. Tonight it’s Vampires in Brooklyn followed by Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

“That sounds like a nice twist on dinner and a movie,” you said, shifting in your seat so you were looking at him more.

He smiled, happy that you didn’t think it was cliché. “Yeah, well you seemed to like the idea of tradition, but I wanted to make it ours.”

“It’s a perfect idea,” you said. “And who knows, maybe we can even do some dancing.”

“Another classic,” Sam said. “I do have some sweet moves.”

“I hope I get to see them,” you said.

“Well, if not tonight, another night,” he said. “We definitely can’t go too long before tearing it up.”

You laughed and smiled softly at him. “Not to jump into labelling us yet, but I do like the idea of finding the thing that is ours. I think every couple needs that.”

“I agree,” he said. “The special little things that you share with the people who are important to you are the best.”

Your smile grew and you nodded enthusiastically. “I totally agree.”

“So,” Sam said, as he pulled up at a set of traffic lights. “We have forty-five minutes to kill. Maybe we should get to know each other better. Are you a Louisiana native?”

“No. I’m a transplant,” you said. “But I have been here for a while.”

“So what brought you here? Work?” he asked.

You seemed to think about the question for a moment. There was a soft expression on your face as you considered it. “I guess in a way you could say that. I have always been attracted to places that have developed their own pockets of culture that are separate from everything around them. There is nothing like Louisiana for that. Yes, in Italy you will have one town telling you to use white wine in a pasta sauce and the next town will say it has to be red, but here, it’s like everyone just came here and blended their foods and culture and beliefs and it’s just its own thing now. There are so many factors that made it, you know?”

Sam nodded in understanding. “It’s a special place,” he said.

“You grew up here, right?” you asked.

“That’s right,” he said. “My parents had a fishing boat. I mean - we still have the fishing boat. The crawfish boil was a little tradition my parents started back in the day to celebrate the first good haul of them for the season. It was something I loved doing as a kid and I wanted to bring it back again.”

“Yes!” you said. “You see this is what I mean. Look at that dish from the start. The crawfish are from here. They’re easy to come by, so people would fish for them, but they didn’t have the perfect way to cook them. They tried the traditional rich French ways of cooking lobster because a lot of French immigrated here early on. But it didn’t go with the small crustacean. So they modified the recipes and cooking techniques and added their own Creole touch - which is a blend of so many cultures. Then people took that dish, and make it an event. You don’t just cook a few bugs. You have your friends around. You do your version of the recipes. More cultures come and do their takes on it. It’s a living organism that changes from family to family and yet it’s so important to the people involved. It’s an event like going to church but just about sharing with your chosen people. And here in New Orleans, there’s so much of that. The music, the parties, the food, the burial practices, the people. It makes this place so special.”

Sam couldn’t help but smile as you spoke. He got caught up in your enthusiasm and passion for the topic. Something he’d never really taken the time to fully appreciate. He knew most of the things you’d said, and he was proud of his heritage. These were his people and he was who he was today because of them. It was different hearing it from you. Almost like the things he knew deep down in his core were being named, and being named by someone who seemed to be an expert on the topic.

“It is special,�� he agreed. “My heart has always been here.” He looked at you out of the corner of his eye, taking you in for a moment as he cruised down the highway. “You seem so passionate about it. Are you an anthropologist?”

You laughed and shook your head. “No. Though I do love Anthropos.” You paused and chewed your bottom lip like you were considering telling him something more. Sam glanced over at you again. He could tell you had something on your mind that was troubling you, but he also knew he was way too early into the relationship to try and pry secrets out of you. He still felt good about you and the potential for an actual relationship growing out of this. Whatever it was that was troubling you, he didn't think it would be a deal breaker.

“So what is it you do?” he said. “You sound like an expert.”

You took a deep breath and looked up at the roof of the car. “You know Thor, don't you?”

The sudden change of topic was almost enough to give Sam whiplash. He choked on surprised laughter and shook his head as his thoughts tried to catch up to the abrupt topic change. “Yeah. I know him. He's a good guy. He was more Steve’s friend than mine though so I wouldn't say that we’re close. I wasn't officially an Avenger when he was on the team, and by the time I joined he'd gone back to Asgard or whatever. Then I got blipped. So you probably know as much as I do about the rest of it. But yeah, we've met. Partied together, fought in a few fights on the same side.”

“So, you know a god, and your friends or at least friendly acquaintances. You accept that as a normal thing, his divinity and immortality, and his love for mortals both as friends and even romantically. I mean he was pretty publically dating doctor Jane Foster.”

If Sam hadn't been on the highway, he would have pulled the car over. As it was his eyebrows shot up and he looked at you out of the corner of his eye as he tried to figure out where this conversation was heading.

“Uhhh… yes. That's accurate,” he said. “I mean, some people debate the god thing and just say he's a guy who lives longer than us and has a superpower and humans just saw him as a god. But yeah, I mean we grew up learning Norse mythology. And he is here. But at the same time, even with the flowery prose and powers, he's a guy. It's hard to think ‘god’ when you're just sharing a beer with a guy. Why? What's all this about?”

“Well,” you said, wrinkling your nose. “You asked what I did. And the answer is godly things?”

Sam nearly slammed on the breaks. It took every ounce of self-control to keep the car driving straight. “I’m sorry - what?”

“I’m a god. Well, goddess if you’re hung up on gendered language, though I’ve never been a fan of it. Sure there are gods of differing power levels, but their gender expression is irrelevant to that,” you explained.

Sam couldn’t quite process what was happening, and he couldn’t quite figure out why. There was nothing about the way you were speaking that made him think you were lying. Going off every piece of body language he understood, he could tell at the very least you believed you were telling the truth. If this little bomb had been dropped before Loki had destroyed half of New York, he’d have just assumed you were delusional and tried to talk you into getting some mental health care.

This was not that world, and while the idea that you were some kind of god still sounded ludicrous, it wasn’t impossible.

“You don’t believe me,” you said. “That’s okay, even in a world where half the population disappeared and then reappeared five years later people still don’t expect to meet the divine. What’s funny is, you probably do it way more regularly than you think. There are a lot of us.”

“You mean all the gods are real?” Sam asked, not even sure if the question came from skepticism or shock.

“Yeah, and some,” you answered. “Some are beings that came here and humans worshiped because they saw an immortal being who can control the tides must be a god. But the world is full of magic and when a lot of energy is placed into one thing, it creates a focal point, and sometimes - what pops out is what you’d call a god.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “I don’t quite follow.”

“Well,” she said. “Say, you have a society that’s terrified of losing their things when they die. So they create a whole story about how a hippo will come and weigh your heart and if you’re good, you can go spend eternity with all your stuff in paradise? And so the whole society starts worshiping that hippo. Well - if they really believe it and pray to it, their focus creates that being.”

“So you’re saying that humans have created gods by simply believing they exist,” Sam asked.

“That’s right,” you said. “But it’s even more than that, have you ever gotten stuck in traffic and just prayed for it to get moving? Or have you ever lost your keys and wandered around looking for them praying to find them because you had an appointment to get to only to find them in the pocket you’d already checked five times? Those are things that millions and millions of people pray for every day, and from those prayers, a god is born.”

Sam blinked and shook his head. “This sounds both completely crazy and completely plausible,” he said. “I don’t know how to process it. So you’re a god? What god are you? Persephone?”

“No, she’s one of the ones that visited. That’s why there’s a Roman version and a Greek version of her name,” you answered. “I’m just me. I haven’t lied to you.”

“I’ve never heard of you before,” he said. “What do you do?”

You laughed. “You wouldn’t have,” you said. “I’ve come from gaps between magic and religion. Where people gather to celebrate things just for the joy of celebration and sharing with their family and friends. I come from the traditions people have that aren’t attached to anything.”

Sam was more confused than ever. “But what do you do?”

“Not all gods go around answering prayers. Loki doesn’t go around answering people’s prayers for mischief. He just causes mischief,” you said. “But I do have some magic in me. You saw it. I didn’t suggest lime by coincidence.”

“You knew?” Sam asked.

“I knew,” you said. “I do live around here. I was in the supermarket coincidentally, but I could feel how badly you wanted your old family traditions back, and I knew what it was you needed. But imagine how crazed I’d come off if I said; oh what you’re looking for is the finger limes off the tree in your yard.”

Sam shook his head in disbelief. “So how old are you?”

“I’ve lost count,” you said. “Younger than civilization. Older than Thor. I existed before there were named gods and we were all just nexus points of desire and celebration. We do come and go. What people want now isn’t always the same as what they wanted thousands of years ago.”

“Damn,” Sam said. “And you said yes to going on a date with me.”

“Well, you love so much of what I love, Sam,” you said. “Plus - you are kind of amazing. Amazing in ways gods wish they could be. How could I say no? The question is, knowing all this, do you still want to go out with me?”

He smiled and laughed. “I like to think I can read people, and I like you. So yeah, if you want to have a shot at a mundane life for a little while, I’d love to take you out.”

“Oh, Sam,” you said. “You are anything but mundane.”

// NEXT

#marvel #avengers #sam wilson #sam wilson x reader #falcon #falcon fanfic #captain america fanfic #marvel fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #small gods #little traditions

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rhyueienwrites · 2 years

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"As long as you're with me..."

Raiden Shogun/Ei x GN! Reader ~

Birthday One-shot! ~

No proofreads ~

Happy Birthday Ei! (≧▽≦)

"You're not going home?"

The Shogun asked with a puzzled expression. It's late at night after the both of you stroll at the city a while ago.

"Yes, actually I need to take care of something before."

You reasoned out. You don't want to ruin the surprise of course. You've been preparing this for quite some time now.

"Hmm... Shall I accompany you?"

"No, no, no. There's no need. Either ways, you must've been tired so I don't want to take too much of your time."

"If that's what you want then... I'll see you then."

The Shogun turned around and went on her way. The moment she turned her back on you, you saw her a glimpse of a worried expression.

"Maybe,, I'm thinking it way too much."

You make sure that she gone back to the Tenshukaku before going to the "secret place". After making sure the area is clear, you decided to head out.

Unbeknownst to you, someone's keep eyeing out to you.

....

You went to the Grand Narukami Shrine to meet up with Yae. Only the two of you left there.

"Oh my, you still not yet done little one?"

"No, not yet..."

"Make sure you aren't followed by anyone late at this night. The more you do it the more you'll be suspicious around anyone."

You looked at Yae, her eyes told you everything. You smiled, you now wondered if Yae's correct. If "she" has taken the bait.

"I made sure no one followed me Miko."

"Then shall we? Little one?"

She held out her hand to yours in which you happily accepted it before you left the place.

"(Name)... Miko? Since when...?"

Ei were hiding behind the shrine hall. She felt heavy in her heart. She thought she and you have a chance to fulfill the promise both of you made after those centuries.

"It's my fault... I'm the one who broke it and here I am thinking I still have a chance."

The lonesome environment she had created for herself made her lonely as she gazed into the night sky as the wind swayed the Sakura leaves.

After a while, she finally left.

...

Raiden Ei believed that she would have to face the future alone after all of her mistakes.

Not until she meets you once again. Your usual smiling face helps her calm herself and she could watch it for whole eternity. She thought you already forgave her after all she's done, abandoning those who cares for her.

Tonight she learned the hard truth. Seeing you happy with Miko makes her heart shatters to pieces. If she's fragile, she wouldn't been broken by now.

Even so, it hurts and she cannot deny that feeling.

After that night, she rarely sees you visiting her in Tenshukaku. She asked Sara and the guards if you went by, but sadly they didn't.

She decides to stay at Tenshukaku for now, trying to pass time for herself at the garden.

"So this is what it feels like..."

Ei said finally understood what you and Miko felt when she left to her Plane of Euthymia.

She clutches her chest, tears slowly tries to fall from her eyes.

"Shogun..."

"Understood."

Ei went back to her realm as she and the Shogun switches place.

...

Days passed by, you never get to see Ei. You now doubt the plan you and Miko have for Ei.

"Miko, are you sure it's okay to leave her be?"

You asked as if you cannot take it anymore. You wear a worried face enough to make Miko laugh.

"Ah, don't you worry about her. I know after all she's done, she won't reject us, especially you.

That woman, here I thought a goddess could do anything for her love, and here she was returning to her old self."

Miko sighed.

"Well that's not a reassuring words to hear Miko."

"If she really loves you, she should be storming here and fights for your love."

Miko complains while reading a light novel.

"You don't want to see her angry do you?"

"Of course not. I just want to see her jealous face so that I could describe it more clearly to the writers of this novel."

You could only left a small laugh at her remarks as you continue to sip your tea.

Both of you and Miko were hanging out at her Yae publishing house. You accompanied Miko to the place to see books that Ei would like.

"By the way, are done with the present little one?"

"Yes, I'm it's ready. We just need to wait for tomorrow to come."

Miko nods as you smiled. You hoped she'll love the gift you made for her.

After a while, you decide to head out and decided to walk through the city at night.

While walking to the streets and watching the stalls, you reminded the memory you first go out with Ei after she left her realm.

At first you couldn't believe that she'll be there with you, the Ei you knew from the last time.

You now started to wondered if Ei still likes you. To be honest, you were quite saddened she didn't interrupt you or tried to find the truth from both of you and Yae.

It's been a while since you were with Ei and you deeply missed it. You went to a cliff to see the Tenshukaku.

"If things didn't go well tomorrow, I should apologize to her and accept whatever outcomes it may bring."

You quietly said.

...

You remembered you fought with the Shogun by letting you face Ei about what's she's planning to do with her life and tried to make a realization to her that what's she was doing was wrong.

However, you're facing an entity made by herself in which rivals your strength and ultimately defeated you at the end.

You were planning to give up the Electro Vision that was entrusted to you, however the Shogun let's you off.

After years of trying to pursue Ei, Miko stopped you before you exhaust yourself and die trying.

"I'm so useless."

You clenched your fist, all those times you fought with her, you couldn't even win. You also felt that way, when a traveler, not only did they aren't Ei's close friend, manages to break her free from her endless pain.

You indeed helped them on their way to save Ei but you wished it was you who save her.

However you were thankful for them and both of you and their companions become close friends.

...

"Am I really worthy for her being as a partner?"

You unconsciously said.

"To whom as a partner?"

You widened your eyes, that voice. You turned around to see the Shogun, or rather Ei with her arms crossed.

"Ei...?"

"You were standing there for hours. It's almost midnight. So I decided to check up on you."

"You should've sent a guard-"

"Why should I? It's you after all so I don't really mind."

You closed your distance.

"Are you mad at me?"

"W-why should I be mad at you?"

You gently smiled as you lean closely to her face in which Ei madly blushed.

"You hear my thoughts don't you? Your Eternal Excellency ~"

You grinned playfully. You feel embarrassed doing this, but since Ei felt worse than you, you muster up the confidence to tease her a little.

"(N-name!)"

You looked straight to her eyes. You lean closely to her face. You watched her close her eyes, you grinned and kissed her in which she returned.

The both of you soon breaks the kiss and stared in awe at each other.

"Happy Birthday... Ei."

Ei widened her eyes. She almost forgot that's it's her birthday because of her worrying about you.

She soon happily smiled and held your hands.

"Thank you, (Name)"

You almost saw her tears in the corners of her eyes.

"E-Ei are you alright!?"

You tried to wiped her tears but she stopped you.

The two of you hugged each other as you kissed her forehead.

"Hmm... I'm okay... As long as you're with me... I'm already the happiest I can be."

After that you both sincerely apologize to each other's mistakes and exchanged lovers banter and laughter.

This time with the two of you held each other's hand, no one will let go to prove each other that they were not alone anymore.

...

The sun rises as you and Ei made to the Grand Narukami Shrine looking at Miko whose clearly showing her disappointed face.

"Ah, I know there's a chance it'll happened but seriously, I didn't got the chance to see you both with your embarrassed faces."

Miko sighed as if the plan she went through with you failed in which you apologize.

"That doesn't matter... Happy Birthday Ei."

"Thank you, Miko."

The three of you smiled at each other and celebrated Ei's birthday with the sweets and novels you and Miko prepared for this special day.

After that, you two went to your home to give the present you've been working on these past few days.

"Ei, are you ready?"

Ei nods as you uncover the sheets and revealed a huge painting.

It's the two of you and Ei, all smiling and holding hands with each other, along with you and her old and new friends.

"..."

Ei widened her eyes.

"I originally planned to gift you a sculpture only the both of us back then. But then I realized I won't be able to give it to you for a long time...

So I added the others. Everyone whose closest to us gave us their blessings."

Ei smiled.

"it's so beautiful... and everyone's here..."

She held your hand and laid her head against your shoulder as you lay on top of her.

"Thank you, (Name)"

You grinned.

"You're welcome, Ei"

You both shared a smiled as you stare at the painting in which everyone's happy...

終わり ~

..........

Author's note:

Someone didn't sleep- anyways I hope you guys like it! Happy Birthday once again Ei! (≧▽≦)

- rhyueienwrites

#genshin impact #raiden shogun #raiden ei #raiden shogun x reader #ei x reader #baal x reader #genshin raiden #genshin ei

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ambraambrose · 1 year

Text

Dolores - Part 1: Mission frogpossible

~Ethan, you’ll float too~

Book: Open Heart

Pairing: Ethan x F!MC

Rate: fluff (only the f-word)

Song: Closer (Lyrics) from Nine Inch Nails

Summary: Casey and Ethan go on a mission to find the stuffed frog for Dolores and her baby.

Soon, Casey and Ethan are in the staff lot, sliding into Ethan's luxury sedan. "Woa, this is a great car!" She says in awe, taking in the interior. "What did you expect, a rusted-out jalopy?" He asks sarcastic while putting his seatbelt on. "Well, it would kinda fit." She smiles. Damn that gorgeous smile plus her heavenly scent make him bolt. "What’s that supposed to mean?" Glad, he took the bait, she answers: "Like you, it would scare people off, just like you want it." He looks at her. "Do you say I look shabby or scary?" Is he offended? "No Dr. Ramsey, you don’t, but you are doing everything to push people away from you." "Is that though? Then why would I take you with me." "Not even you can resist my unique charm." If she knows how true that is. He smiles and shakes his head.

Both fall silent, but when it becomes to awkward, Casey asks: "So what's up with you and Dr. Emery?" He gives her a sharp look. Why? Why of people must she be the one to recognize it? Apart from not wanting anyone to know about his personal life, he feels the urge to tell her that there is no one in his life. When he doesn’t answer, she continues. "I saw you together earlier. It looked... intimate." His grip around the steering wheel tightens. "I don’t like advertising my private life at work." She is disappointed: does that mean there is a private life with Dr. Emery? "I'm just trying to figure out the politics of this place if i want to survive here." He side-eyes her. Touché, you clever girl. "In that case... we were an item. And then only on again, off again." "And now?" "Off. As of last year, she's my boss. Not that my personal life is any of your business." "My lips are sealed." "Good." They smile at each other a moment too long. They turn their gazes to the street again.

"So did Dr. Banerji really quit?" "I was wondering when you'd get around to asking that." "And? Did he?" "Yes." 'You stubborn little thing.' "But that’s huge! Did he say why he was leaving?" "That's between him and the chief." She rolls her eyes mentally. 'Boooh, how boring.' "So you are in charge of the diagnostics team now. That's gotta be a lot of pressure." 'You have no idea, Rookie.' "More than you can imagine. Naveen built that team from his own blood, sweat, and tears. I can’t let him down now that he's moved on" "Are you okay without him?" "I'm thirty-six years old. Yes, i will be fine without Dr. Banerji." "I just meant... he was your friend, right?... Your lifelong mentor." Before she eventually goes on, he speaks up. "And now he wants to go paint and play golf. I salute him. We're doctors, Rookie. We can only take so much. When the time comes to hang up the coat, we can’t turn that into another tragedy. We have enough of that already." By the time he ends his sentence, he turns his face to her, just to see her watching him with an intense gaze, he can’t read, of her emerald eyes. A few minutes of silence pass, when she says: "You know, I'm actually surprised you were up for this rescue mission." "You don’t think I want to spend my time searching for stuffed animals." He smiles and even if it is a teasing and sarcastic smile, it is so rare and infectious that she blushes. She turns her gaze to her hands in her lap. It makes him smile even more to see that he can have such an effect on her. "I thought you'd think it was pointless. I mean... it's just a stuffed frog, right?" She looks up at him again. He holds her gaze. "You think I'm some emotionless machine, don’t you?" Normally he would be happy to make this impression on any intern, but with her, it kind of hurts him and somehow he doesn’t want her to think like that about him. He looks at her and her breath hitches, his gaze is unreadable but yet she can’t shake the thought that he is not happy about the picture she might has of him. But why does he act so cold all the time, she thought that's what he wanted people to think of him. "Not entirely machine. Cyborg, maybe? Dr. Terminator?" "In that case, even a cyborg would cite the studies showing how emotional attachment can play significant roles in patients recovery."... he pauses to look at her again with a smile. "So not even I, 'Dr. Terminator', think it's just a toy." A breathless nervous chuckle escapes her under his piercing gaze, her traitorous heart jumps in her chest as if it wants to show the obvious. She thinks fast of her next words. "And Dolores is a friend." "She's a patient first, while she's in our care. But yes, she's also a friend. If a stuffed frog will help her get through this, then I'll find her that damn thing." He smiles again. 'Okay so not helpful', Casey thinks, when her heart almost jumps out of her chest at how engaged he is for his patients and friends. "I think you might be a softie at heart, Dr. Ramsey." 'Damn, what is it with her smile? And who turned the heater on?' "Far from it. I'm practical. And that's enough prying for now."

He turns on the music with a smile, but regrets it the moment the first notes hit him. ~help me, I’m broken from the inside...~ Fuck, he had forgotten that his nine inch nails playlist was still on. Her eyes widened, he moves to stop the music. "No! I love nine inch nails!" His heart beats hard in his chest. She does? She turns the volume up, singing along with the radio. God this is torture, why does it have to be this song? The lyrics form to a not so professional image of him and Dr. Valentine doing exactly that. ~I wanna fuck you like an animal. I wanna feel you from the inside~ His fantasy is interrupted by her question. "Have you ever seen them live?" Her smile is infectious. "No, i haven’t." "What? Oh you have to, you'll love it! Ok, when they do their next tour, i'll take you to one of their shows." He narrows his eyes at her, an amused and seductive sparkle in his eyes. "You'll do?" Her enthusiasm doesn’t crumble. "Yes, it will be amazing and I’m looking forward to see your eyes when you first see and hear them live." Her gaze finds his and he smiles gently at her, his heart doing strange things in his chest.

The busy noises of a fire and the people who try to stop the flames bring them back to reality. Both get out of the car watching the flames holding the building in a dangerous embrace.

"Do you think, we can help somehow?" On instinct she takes a few steps, but Ethan holds her arm. "No, Rookie, almost all paramedics are gone with the victims. There is nothing we can do other than trying to find the frog." He looks around. "We can search the perimeter, but if it fell out of her purse in there..." "Let's hope it didn't." They search for a while, when Ethan calls for her triumphantly. "Look, there in the storm drain!" He points at it, but it is out of reach. "Oh, hell no. I am not going down there. Haven’t you seen 'It'?" "Seen what?" He asks confused. 'Aaaawww, he is so clueless in these things, it’s cute.' She shakes her head slightly. "Never mind. We'll fish it out." "Good thinking." Ethan searches in his trunk for the first-aid-kit, where he finds a hook from a bent needle and ties it to a spool of stitching thread. "Cool, let's get this thing." She clutches to his arm on instinct. God, he can’t disappoint her, he have to get this damn frog. With knitted eyebrows he tries to catch it. "A little bit more to your left." "I know... I know." And it doesn't take him long to fish it out. "You got it." She squeaks happy, taking the frog and showing it to him, jumping a little in excitement. "You can give the good news to Dolores, when we get back." "After we sterilize this, of course."

When they are back in the car, he catches her as she smiles at the little frog, she clutches it in her hands, holding it so tight as if she was scared to lose it. Only that beautiful smile on her face was worth the trip.

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @wanderingamongthewildflowers @dr-colossal-pita

#casey valentine #choices stories you play #open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan jonah ramsey #fanfic #edenbrook #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc

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homosociallyyours · 1 year

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Hi!!

I'd love to know more about:

Filth (Canadian Cabin rare 3some)

And any other wip you really want to talk about.

THANK YOU MY FRIEND!!!

That's the one I was shocked nobody asked for, and one that I really love and very much plan on finishing. It's a special favorite of @jlf23tumble but I think you'll like it too! For a while I thought I might publish it on anon unicorns, but the problem is that there's nothing about it I wouldn't wanna claim? ANYWAYYYY

It's. Rande Gerber/Harry Hamlin/Harry Styles having a threesome that Louis actually took part in planning (which Harry finds extra hot) in Rande's remote Canadian cabin. It's the middle of the night and a little dark and fumbly, but it's got a flow. Enjoy:

The sounds were quiet, but distinct; familiar, certainly. There was the swallowed hum that Harry associated with taking a cock in his mouth, aroused beyond belief and yet somehow soothed by the rightness of how it filled him. It was followed by a choked sound, and he found himself pressing down on his own hardening cock, thinking about gagging on Louis’ only a few nights ago, tears in his eyes as he forced himself to open his throat up and take it.

He didn’t think he was dreaming until he heard the rough whisper of his name. “Harry-- fuck, yeah. Missed this.”

It was Rande’s voice, and Harry bit back a gasp as he slid one hand into his pants, fingers trailing over the hairs that led down to his cock. They’d never done anything together, but of course Harry had thought about it. It was a fantasy that he indulged in with Louis regularly, playing the innocent younger man being taught how to be used by a rough, rich daddy who took exactly what he wanted and left Harry wanting more.

The cabin was fully dark, the moon not even a sliver in the sky, the Canadian woods swallowing up any light that might try to sneak in with thick branches and clouds that had threatened rain for at least a day of the camping trip. Still, Harry lifted up on his elbow, turning toward where he knew Rande’s bed was on the opposite side of the cabin. He slid his thumb across his slit, spreading the bit of precome over his cock as he gave it the slightest tug, trying to hold back from jerking himself off fully in case this really was just a dream.

BRIEF, UNDETAILED SEXUAL ASSAULT MENTION BELOW

THIS IS A CONTENT WARNING

I'll also talk about the BDSM fic I had a nice little start on, because I fully DID NOT remember actually getting anything down for it (I signed up for the fest but also had my first BB fic to work on, so I had to drop). The plot is that Harry and Louis are roommates. They're both queer and kinky but not sure they'd be compatible and not willing to test it when they like the relationship they already have with each other.

Then Louis comes home and finds Harry after a date that went really badly (boundary pushing and no aftercare) and is immediately worried/jumps into caretaking mode. The experience shifts Harry's perspective and eventually HL's relationship into something different. Here's a little bit

CONTENT WARNING OVER YOU ARE SAFE TO READ

DON'T WORRY IT IS 100% FLUFFY:

“I have a date Friday,” Harry says casually on Wednesday morning as he and Louis navigate their shared kitchen. Harry has already been up for a bit doing his usual morning routines and Louis is trying desperately to leave for work. It barely registers for him, but he nods anyway and asks who it’s with.

“Matt from that party last week, Boy Pile.”

Louis has a vague memory of someone tall and chiseled, built a bit like Chris Evans. “The Dorito?” he asks, filling his travel mug with coffee. “Thought you weren’t that into him.”

Harry laughs and slides Louis’ phone toward him, making sure he won’t forget it. “He found me on Grindr a few days later and we started texting. Turns out we have some common interests.” He’s got a sly smile on his face and Louis just shakes his head, laughing it off.

“You’re such a slut for mean daddies. I’ll never understand.” “Because you’re a nice daddy, Lou.” It’s the kind of gentle teasing that they’ve engaged in since they first met, and Louis can’t help but enjoy it. He pinches Harry’s side, making him giggle, and grabs a piece of toast off Harry’s plate before heading toward the door.

(isn't that a nice little start?? I literally got to the end and was like damn why didn't the bitch who wrote this FINISH IT???)

#1d #my wips #wip game #summary of 2nd fic under the cut has a brief mention of SA #there is a content warning and end of cw if you wanna just read the cute fluffly bit #also tho the filth/canadian cabin fic is really not the kind of smut i usually write but ooh boy

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astralbooks · 2 years

Text

If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So

Read: 27/07/2022 - 02/09/2022

Rating: 5/5

Rep: British Chinese bisexual main character, British Chinese lesbian love interest, British Indian sapphic side character, biracial Black sapphic side character, achillean aspec side character, Vietnamese bisexual non-binary minor character, Chinese side & minor characters, queer side & minor characters

CW: homophobia, disowning (in backstory, not of main character), past toxic relationship, death of a family member

Review:

I’m not an easy crier. When something makes me cry it’s a Notable Event because it happens so rarely. This book made me cry tears of joy. Twice.

Something I think is a near universal experience is having lost contact with someone who was once hugely important to you. Maybe one of you moved away, or maybe you had a falling out, or maybe you just drifted apart as time moved on. I’ve certainly got my fair share of former friends who I’m probably always still going to love a little even if we haven’t spoken in years and even if it’s no longer possible for us to contact each other. A huge running theme in this book is people reconnecting with someone they used to love and finding that the relationship between them isn’t as broken as they feared it was. Sometimes, even finding that the relationship between them has the potential to develop in directions they’d never let themselves consider before.

Which feeds into another theme, which is being truly understood and seen by someone. Something this book highlights is how meaningful it is when someone gets you and simultaneously encourages you to be the best version of yourself you can be while also loving you for who you are. When you know you can be entirely yourself around someone without hiding anything away, you know that’s someone you want to keep around, and this book shows that with both platonic and romantic relationships.

I really loved the emphasis on queer friendships this had! The core relationship is a romantic one, but even before the main couple get together Elsie finds herself increasingly surrounded by other queer people, and it’s incredibly healing for her. Elsie at the end of the book is miles and miles away from Elsie at the start, and her friendships have a lot to do with this. Talking with queer people who she shares experiences with and talking with queer people who have different experiences from her, either by having different queer identities than her or by living somewhere else in the world from her, adds so much richness to Elsie’s life and, as a result, to the book’s narrative as well. I also liked that some characters didn’t have everything concretely figured out yet, and how there wasn’t any condemnation of this. One of these characters showed no sign of getting any closer to figuring themself out by the end of the book and that’s okay! Nobody is under any obligation to use a label if they aren’t ready to or plain don’t want to. I really appreciated that being reflected here.

As someone who’s been in online fandoms for nearly half my life at this point, yes. A hundred percent yes. Yes to the enthusiasm, yes to the formation of serious friendships through it, and yes to the frustration that comes when the fandom at large fixates on the (sometimes villainous) white guy when there are other non-white and/or non-man characters Right There, who are sometimes more important to the series’ actual narrative, who are getting ignored. It’s deeply annoying and unfortunately happens all the time. Just look at what happened with the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Elsie’s a fun main character! She’s sweet, a little shy, and just the right amount of oblivious to make reading her thought process entertaining without crossing over into irritation. A believable amount of obliviousness coming from a high school leaver who’s due to go to Cambridge. Also, her growing up in Oxford and then choosing to go to Cambridge is very entertaining to me as someone who also went to the university that has a rivalry with the university closest to their hometown. Not Oxbridge, but still.

Despite all this, and despite the fact that it made me happy cry twice, this book isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In fact I’d argue that a lot of it isn’t. A lot of it is slow paced, character driven, and dealing with Elsie’s family problems. The book begins with the death of her grandfather who lives in Hong Kong, and her mother bringing her grandmother to live with them for a while in the aftermath, despite none of her immediate family having had any contact with their family in Hong Kong for nearly a decade. In addition to this, Elsie’s still emotionally recovering from a toxic relationship that’s still affecting her over a year after its end. These are heavy topics, and I think So dealt with them excellently, and blended them seamlessly with the lighter aspects of the story.

Plus, the title drop was one of the best ones I’ve ever seen. That was when I started crying.

Thank you to Little Tiger and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book, even if I did ultimately end up reading a published copy.

#review #book review #if you still recognise me #cynthia so #books #booklr

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randowwriter · 2 years

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I'm not sure what you've answered yet but for the writers ask game can I get 3, 8, 9, 20, and 28 😁

3. Yes, I do! XD Not super often, most of the time it's just when I'm proofreading ones (like for giftfics, requests, or anything I have to type up and edit, or when I'm proofreading a fic I wrote on a different day, or if I'm preparing to write a companionpiece or sequel). Outside of the editing or writing sphere, I will sometimes, but nothing before 2020 now is my current estimate. Because my writing style developed Summer 2020, so if I read anything older than that, it's very monotone and grammar-rigid, I guess I'd say. Not fun is more accurate. XD I tend to reread fics with a purpose when I do, though there are exceptions to that rule. Rereading my own original poems happens way more frequently, because I love my poems, especially the ones that feel like prayers, but also the ones with really fun metaphors. And some of that is out loud and some of it is quiet, but poetry kind of derived from oral traditions of storytelling, and so is somewhat meant to be read out loud (with the exception of particular poems).

8. More reviews make me laugh than make me cry, and some reviews do make me tear up honestly from being so sweet. A lot of the funny reviews are usually ones that a particular friend of mine leaves on my stories, because he and I joke around a lot, and it's just sort of what we do. (Or he'll review a fic for a pairing he doesn't even like, because of the AU or something, and I guess I'm evil, because I laugh. It makes me happy though that he'll brave through reading fics that he doesn't care for the romance of that I've written.) <3 <3 <3 9. Yes! Not very often, because I'm not the best at writing humor, but more recently, within this past year or so, I've laughed while writing stuff. Usually stuff with somewhat wacky events or plots, or in the case of at least one of my fics, where my friend reviewed the fic, made me laugh, and I reread it, to try to find the humor he saw and laughed when I reread it. :) 20. I prefer to edit as I go, if I spot a little typo or something like that here or there. I'm not a big fan of editing, and I haven't edited all of my fics. XD If a fic was written on something other than the computer (notebook or other device), I have to type it up, and when I do, I edit it then. On a story or poem that takes more than one sitting (rare for a poem unless something calls me away), I'll come back and reread what I wrote (even if it's just wrote) and edit then. Other than that, I'll edit it if I'm proofreading after. So, I guess it's sort of a both thing in terms of what happens, but I'd rather edit as I go. (Since I got myself into the habit of writing with pens lately, I've been crossing stuff out or writing words over top a line as I go, when I realize what I wrote needs help.) (Beforehand, since when I handwrite I typically use pencils, I'd just erase most of the time.) 28. Ooh! I haven't been actively working on the oneshots on my computer, but I might share a line from either a published work in progress multichapter fic or something I haven't typed up yet. I'll go with something I haven't typed up yet. (The other way feels like cheating.) XD Actually, now that I'm thinking I did start a new My Roommate Is A Cat oneshot recently (like a week or two ago), I'll share a bit of that if you don't mind. :) It's from the opening paragraph, and I guess, my writing isn't all that exciting here. XD "Home is a hard to define place, and yet Tora and Kuro make it possible, even though they have to fight to survive. Their home is a life of hardship, and yet they are friendly, opening up doors to others' hearts when those that come in really need it." On a different note, you did really good! The only repeat question was number eight, so you did really, really good! <3 <3 <3 Also, I'm a bit excited, because it's my first time getting a repeat question ever in an ask, so I feel honored. Thank you! <3 <3 <3

#sctwilightvampwolfgal #writer's ask game #My Roommate Is A Cat #Tora X Kuro #Tora #Kuro #cats #work in progress

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trustlo · 2 years

Text

Bobok summary

In old days, once a year at any rate a fool would recognize that he was a fool, but nowadays not a bit of it.” ”The wisest of all, in my opinion, is he who can, if only once a month, call himself a fool - a faculty unheard of nowadays. Of people taking themselves too seriously. There’s a constant theme of the changing times, of a cruder and crueller society emerging. The last memory of the young man that was buried was a German (Schultz) doctor telling him that there was a complication. He sees different from your average Dostoevsky character. Spend some time over at r/PoliticalHumor for endless examples. This seems especially true today, especially in ideological spheres. “ Nowadays humor and fine style have disappeared, and abuse is accepted as wit.” Ok, I'm only a few pages in but I really like the story so far.Īlready on the first page there is a line that stood out to me His two warts on the forehead looking almost like horns sets him apart, it's a metaphor too on the nose perhaps but effective. I think the protagonist is haunted by the fact that we can explain things, but do we really understand them? He says "we can't separate the fools from the wise". We've seen a resurgence of that ourselves in our time. He also speaks to the tearing down of values with the line "abuse accepted as wit". When areas of study become politicized we really are in serious trouble. It reads almost like a critique of scientism that are now plaguing the social sciences and humanities in general. This man is concerned, and rightfully so, that bureaucrats are more interested in military matters and engineers that are more interested in political science and philosophy. It takes the guise of the opposite of what the man in notes from the underground is saying. What does matter, at least to me, is that we have a sort of downtrodden soldier figure here that is having a spout of misanthropy. Is he really an alcoholic? Does it matter? This is often the case with philosophy where we remember and celebrate the question but very rarely the answer. He starts off with a version of 'when did you stop beating your wife?' Sometimes the question is more important than the answer. What is this secret?Īnyway, as always this story was better now when I read it a second time. The narrator sarcastically notes that they were not ashamed. But when they realised a man was there they were suddenly silent. They resolved to be unashamed and said even more vile stuff. Similarly these people will never understand. It reminds me of Jesus saying "Even if someone rises from the grave they will not believe". And yet they consider his advice "mystical". They had a chance, as the Philosopher noted, to look back and consider their lives. Lewis's book, The Great Divorce, where the dead similarly don't realise they are in Purgatory and continue living their spiteful lives. What kind of bored man goes to a funeral? What does that say about what he considers other events are like? "I went in search of diversion and ended up at a funeral". It took my years for this type of Russian humour to grow on me. The first thing I notice is that it is actually funny. Then I read something like Bobok and I'm reassured. Sometimes when I've not read Dostoevsky in a while I begin to wonder why I like him.

#Bobok summary

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frogtanii · 3 years

Text

your palms were sweaty as you adjusted your slacks, making sure the pleats were where they should be with not a wrinkle in sight. you wanted to look professional and put together, at least on the outside, because you knew you were actually about .2 seconds away from falling apart.

a quick glance to the boys at your sides notified you that they weren’t faring much better. atsumu kept fidgeting with his cufflinks, sakusa was so stiff you could knock him over with your pinky, kenma looked like he was about to pass out, bokuto was debating on squeezing under the table in front of you, kuroo was tapping a pattern on his pants (akeelah and the bee style), and akaashi kept reciting ominous poems under his breath.

the only people in the room who looked even remotely fine were osamu, oikawa, sugawara, daichi, and, surprisingly, yachi. osamu was munching on some peanuts that he pulled from... somewhere, while oikawa and sugawara were holding their own conversation by the window. daichi seemed to be minding his own business but you could never really get a proper read on him anyway.

well, you supposed yachi was okay because she knew what to expect. i mean, you were meeting her boss.

after you and kenma had posted your “exposing the hype(r) house” youtube video, an email had come to the both of you, inviting you to visit the “big boss” along with the rest of the crew.

you weren’t necessarily afraid of losing your job; the hype(r) house was already being dissolved and you were (finally!!!) getting to move in with makki and mattsun until you found your own place. you were genuinely excited to put the drama and literal hell behind you and begin to live your life again but...

that didn’t mean meeting the Man™ wasn’t terrifying. it was like being called into the principal’s office, complete with the existential dread and occasional bouts of gassiness.

the door opening made you flinch as you quickly moved out of the way to let the newcomers enter. while they walked past you, you couldn’t contain the shock that overtook your face, your jaw practically on the floor.

the man was massive.

built like a brick wall, the man who you assumed to be the “big boss,” had a chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, and massive fucking pecs, his white button up barely closing around them.

beside him stood a tall, lanky man who was dressed suspiciously un-office-like with a red buzz cut and wild eyes that seemed to cut into you as he took his place at the table.

the final man seemed a bit awkward in comparison to the other two, but he was trying to seem unaffected, his purple bowlcut, despite being rather juvenile, fitting perfectly with his slim but toned build and bright complexion.

yachi hurried to greet them, giving all three a blinding smile before motioning for everyone else to take a seat. you ended up between the redhead and atsumu, the former being way too entertained by just your general being. his eyes rarely, if ever, left your face sending shivers down your spine. the remaining members all hesitantly took their seats and “big boss” began.

“it is an honor to meet you all. i am ushijima wakatoshi but you can call me ushijima or wakatoshi or ushiwaka or toshijima or just ushi or just jima or just waka or just toshi.” for a moment you thought he was joking but his face never moved, not even with the awkward silence that followed. redhead seemed rather amused by the whole display and bowl cut looked like he was on the verge of spontaneously combusting.

it took an uncomfortably long moment for ushijima to proceed but he did as though nothing had happened. “these are my associates, satori—” redhead gave you a mischievous grin “—and tsutomu.”

“goshiki,” bowl cut interrupted, his voice wavering but his eyes gleaming with righteous indignation as though he was challenging wakatoshi to say something in defiance. instead, ushijima just gave him a nod and he visibly deflated back into his seat.

“goshiki is the social media manager for imla and satori is... satori,” big boss continued, not a hint of emotion on his face. the rest of the table perked up at his comment but atsumu was the only one who apparently had the balls to say anything.

“so yer the one who wrote that shitty among us tweet?” goshiki flushed horribly and sunk further into his plush leather chair, his body language showing he must’ve already gotten an earful about it. “thought it was a good idea,” he muttered while averting his eyes, completely ignoring satori’s cackle from across the wood.

ushijima put up a (massive???) hand to calm the both of them and it instantly worked. satori quieted down though he never lost the mirth in his expression and goshiki straightened up, a new wave of determination crossing his features.

you sat up as well, feeling the shift of energy in the room but you were startled to realize the boss had decided to focus his energy on you, his deep baritone voice calling your full name. “i am extremely sorry. we have failed you as a management team and as men. i have failed you.”

he sounded remarkably remorseful, his brown irises conveying heavy emotion and guilt. you had no idea what to say but he wasn’t done.

“although i do not have full control of the decisions that have been made here, i should have fought harder for what i believed was right and for that, i will forever be sorry.” you shifted uncomfortably under his weighty gaze, not that he noticed because his attention was swiftly taken by kenma at the opposite end of the room.

“who is in charge then? aren’t you like the ceo or whatever?” he asked. ushijima took a moment before nodding very slowly, his attention clearly on something in his head.

thankfully, satori rapidly took over the thread of conversation before the room could fall in tense silence yet again. “there’s a board of old, stuffy guys who basically kicked miracle boy wakatoshi to the curb and make all their decisions without him.”

...miracle boy? what did he have to do to earn that kind of nickname? you shook your head and tuned back in, just as the ceo spoke up once again.

“because i have not succeeded in doing my job properly, i have something to give to you,” ushijima deadpanned, sliding a thick envelope towards you. you carefully grabbed it and opened it up to reveal a thick, thick, wad of cash.

a gasp caught in your throat, words not coming to you as you thumbed through the money. there had to be at least $60k in there, your eyes filling with tears while you took in his generosity. “thank you,” you whispered, not trusting your voice to speak any louder.

wakatoshi nodded at you before addressing the rest of the table about something but you weren’t even listening.

you were so overwhelmed. for the longest time, you’d hated whoever management was for ignoring your pleas for help and trying to placate you with nice dresses and fancy dinners so meeting ushijima was quite the welcomed surprise.

despite everything that occurred, you could tell he felt horrible for letting things slide even though it was technically out of his hands and you couldn’t even articulate how much that meant to you.

the fact that he had gone out of his way to pay you extra, assumingly without the permission of the board, was heartwarming, confusing, shocking, and staggering all at once.

i mean, you could probably describe the past few months as exactly that. so much had happened, so much had changed, and while you could do without some of the life adjustments (the nightmares, spare trauma, and fear of public bathrooms to start), you felt blessed with new friends and the experiences that helped shape you to the person you were now.

the boys didn’t hate you anymore (well, not all of them at least and none were actively antagonizing you), you were seeing dr yamada again, you were getting to move in with your two best friends, you were just given enough money to expand your channel drastically, and you were finally feeling good. better than good.

meiko was behind you and though you missed the person she once was, you were so glad she was out of your life in a way where she couldn’t harm you or the boys any longer.

a grin spread across your face, your cheeks nearly burning from the intensity of it. things were definitely looking up.

a soft call of your name jolted you from your thoughts, your eyes landing on all the boys already standing as they got ready to leave the room. you could sense their worry and you shot them a genuine, reassuring smile before standing yourself.

you waved goodbye to the three men at the table, thanking ushijima profusely for his kindness but he shook you off, insisting that he had just been doing what he should’ve done a long time ago.

what a nice guy.

as you followed the boys out of the building, you took a moment to observe them together with fondness written all over your expression. they were laughing and joking around, the happiest and most carefree you had ever seen any of them. bokuto was begging yachi to get them ice cream, the rest of them piling on until she gave in with a playful roll of her eyes, giggling at the cheer that went up from the group.

atsumu seemed to notice you lagging behind, falling back to join you. “ya okay angel?” he asked, eyes focused on your feet as he slowed down to match your pace.

you didn’t answer for a while, instead focusing on the sun warming your cheeks, the cool breeze messing up your hair, and the sounds of pure joy swirling above you.

“i’m absolutely perfect.” you replied and you actually meant it. “race you to the van?” you sent him an impish grin before taking off, his yells of indignation making you laugh freely as the rest of the boys joined in, right on your heels.

this is it, you thought. no matter what, i’ll have this moment and i’ll be okay.

you’d been through hell and back and you’d survived. you’d been cursed at, choked out, hospitalized, and been beaten at mario kart more times than you could count and you had still made it through. you were resilient and strong and you’d never given up, despite how badly you’d wanted to, multiple times over.

things weren’t perfect, they rarely are, but you knew that if you could make it through all that, you could get through practically anything, especially with the boys by your side.

yeah. i’ll be just fine.

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

bonus!!

“told you it sounded stupid as hell.”

“gah, stop talking about it!!”

“you sounded sooooo old ‘shiki, what are you, 92?”

“AAAAAAAAAA!!!”

“satori...”

“what’s up miracle boy?”

“...what is ‘sus’?”

℗ poker face

i’ll be just fine

series masterlist

(●’◡’●)ﾉ

an - AND THATS A WRAP FOLKS 🥳 wowowow did the ending give me trouble but that’s ok SISJSK the endings will be coming shortly but they might not be daily just cs they may take more time, who knows lmfao i’ll let y’all know :3 AAAA ANYWAYS ILY I HOPE U GUYS LIKED KITH KITH don’t forget to feed me <3

taglist - if your name is in bold, i cannot tag you

@boosyboo9206 • @geektastic84 • @elianetsantana • @trashy-simp • @infinitebells • @6mattsun9 • @suhkusa • @katsulovee • @kotarosbabygirl • @fucktheworlddude • @insomniacwreck • @calumsfringe • @saltylettuce • @chai-blu • @al3x1ss • @hawksyoongi • @jooleuuh • @loubells • @kissungjae • @liberhoe • @tetsurocore • @animeoverdosee • @duhsies • @saiKishaircLip • @afire24 • @premiyagi • @kit-kat428 • @doctorspencereid • @daphnxy • @kyomihann • @maer-333 • @sinoflust19 • @peteunderoos • @peachiikichu • @iidanotlida • @yongboxerrr • @kac-chowsballs • @tanakaslastbraincell • @memorableminds • @risjime • @starry-magicshop • @sugavwara • @smuttyanimeslut • @kiwibirbs-library • @haijkk • @airybnb • @crybabygumi • @iwaisa • @decaffinatedtealover • @notameera • @kawaii-angelanne • @rintarovibes • @urlocalsimp • @keiarma • @shrimpypenis

the rest of the tags will be in the replies!!

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beyondspaceandstars · 2 years

Text

Treacherous (3)

Relationship: Druig x Reader Warnings: light angst Summary: Soulmate!AU - Soulmate tattoos are incredibly rare but you’ve never felt really proud to have one. Everyone else around you gushed over it while you found the whole thing ominous and a little inconvenient. Truthfully, you were never really convinced you’d find your other half… That is until a random camping trip leads you to a quaint village run by a dark and brooding man who just so happens to be your soulmate. Stuck in the forest with nothing else to lose, you agree to join his world, his little village, and see if there’s actually love behind the markings.

‘Treacherous’ Masterlist | Masterlist

Druig returned to your place hours later to let you know preparations were in progress for your stay in the village.

He also informed you he was requiring you to attend lunch with the other villagers. He said it so casually like it was a given like you wouldn’t have a problem.

"What?" You said. "Lunch? Out there? With everyone?"

Druig nodded. He was leaning on the doorframe of the home’s entrance. You were on the couch, where you had decided was the safest spot for you to hunker down.

"Can’t I just eat here?" You pleaded. "There’s a kitchen—,"

"Oh?" Druig’s brow raised in surprise. "And did you go hunting for food to cook in that kitchen? How about harvesting crops, did you do that?" He mocked you.

You were on the verge of rage. "Why must I attend lunch?"

"Because we never have visitors and your presence is raising questions," Druig explained calmly. "We owe the people an explanation for who you are and why I have allowed you to stay." He paused. "We must also discuss your role here."

"My role?"

Druig chuckled. "No one gets to sit around idle in my village, my dear."

You shifted in your seat, uncertain. "Well, did you have a role in mind?"

Now that you thought about it, this whole thing could go very bad, very quickly. You hardly knew this guy still — your "role" could be being his personal…assistant. What the hell have you done—

"Can you teach?"

Oh, that wasn’t where you thought any of this was going. It was so normal.

"Teach?" You said. "Like, you want me to be a teacher?"

Druig shrugged. "We have quite a few little ones. It’d give our current teacher a break."

You contemplated the idea. It didn’t sound horrible really. You weren’t a teacher by trade, but had some experience with tutoring. You also had a brief but lucrative babysitting stunt under your belt. You could…manage.

"What would I be teaching?" You asked.

"General education," Druig said. "Reading, writing, math, science… We have packets made up that outline everything."

Pockets? A whole school agenda? This place really was a whole society just dropped in the Amazon. A hidden treasure.

And you of course had to give some props to your soulmate. A man who has led, what you presume to be, generations in this secluded beauty. There was a tinge of pride in your heart and you hoped Druig felt it.

"Fine," you said. "For as long as I am here, I’ll take on the role of teacher."

"You say this like you plan to leave," Druig said with a teasing smirk.

You rolled your eyes. "I said we’d test it out for now. Plans to stay forever are not on the table."

"Maybe not on your table."

You sighed. "You really want me here."

Druig pushed himself off the doorframe and crossed the living room to where you sat. He got close, frankly closer than he had ever, and placed a gentle hand on your cheek, forcing you to look up at him. Warmth came over you as your eyes met.

"I told you, I’ve waited seven thousand years for you, my lady. I can’t lose you so quickly."

You felt tears in your eyes but you weren’t sure where they came from. As Druig pulled his hand away, you caught sight of his moon tattoo and your heart skipped a beat.

The conversation was over after Druig’s declaration. He said lunch would be served soon and you didn’t even want to ask how he knew the time of day — you were yet to find a clock that wasn’t the sky — and allowed him to lead you to what you assumed was the dining hall.

As you entered the building, you saw a sea of people all sitting around an elongated table. There were two empty seats at the head, presumably reserved for you and Druig. Overwhelmed by the people and what was to come, you instinctively grabbed Druig’s hand. He looked down at you, a little twinkle in his eyes, and squeezed your hand. There was no denying his touch was electronic, no matter the context in which you were feeling it.

"Good afternoon," Druig greeted the crowd…in Portuguese. You cringed mentally In your parent, you apparently hadn’t realized the villagers' main language was not English. You took some semesters of Spanish in school but you didn’t think that was going to help you a ton. You were lucky you could make out ‘good morning’ because then Druig flew into a speech you couldn’t follow. The only thing you picked up on was your name and Druig occasionally pointing to you.

At one point in the speech, he lifted your wrists together, showing off the soulmate tattoos. There was a loud cheer from the villagers that made you blush. Druig only gripped your hand tighter.

He ended the speech by, what sounded like, thanking the villagers for their time and telling them to enjoy their lunch. The crowd of people nodded in thank you and dug in.

You looked out at the sea of bread and stew and fruits as Druig led you to your seats. He pulled your chair close to his. The villager on your other side began filling your bowl before you even realized what was going on.

Once your dishes were stacked with food, you mumbled an awkward thank you and turned to Druig. He was in the process of accepting what seemed to be congratulations from an elderly villager. You waited until she was done before saying to Druig, "I don’t speak their language well."

Your soulmate patted your knee with his free hand. Who would’ve guessed him to be the touchy kind?

"That’s fine," Druig said. "You will be accompanied by me and I can translate. For times I am not around you will have a translator — that is, until you learn the language."

"Learn it?" You gaped.

Druig nodded once again like you should know all this. "You live here, my lady. You will know the language."

You looked down at your food shamefully and disconnected your joining hands. You could tell Druig didn’t like that but you ignored the bond and dug into the stew. The stew was lovely and warm. The bread was just as pleasant… But as you cautiously ate and savored every bite, you realized it would all have been better if half the village wasn’t looking at you with such wonder.

You shifted uncomfortable as you tried not to meet anyone’s gaze, your eyes were solely focused on pushing a carrot through stock.

Druig must’ve felt your discomfort because he pushed aside any earlier reserves he had and asked what was wrong. He borderline demanded to know why you were feeling as you felt.

You looked at him, surprised. "Oh," you coughed, "it’s just, um, they’re all staring at me."

Druig’s eyes briefly scanned the villagers at the table before turning back to you. "And you don’t like that?"

You nodded slowly and the next thing you knew, Druig was flicking his hand beneath the table and all the villagers’ eyes turned that shocking gold again. Under his control, you don’t know exactly what he did, but in total sync, the villagers’ heads turned towards their food. They began eating robotically.

You gasped and pulled on Druigs arm, trying to get him to stop.

"What the hell are you doing?" You snapped.

Druig looked at you shocked. "I’m getting them to stop looking at you. Is that not what you wanted?" He asked, dumbfounded.

You rubbed your forehead, overwhelmed. "Yes, but that doesn’t mean you should do…that!"

Looking a bit reluctant, Druig flicked his wrist again and the trance over the villagers ended. They looked around briefly confused before Druig began speaking. Seconds later, the people were clearing the table and exiting in an orderly fashion, leaving you and Druig alone in the dining hall.

"Is that—" you motioned to the empty table "—a common occurrence around here?" You thought back to the scene he had made when you first arrived.

"When necessary," Druig said.

The next question hung in the air like a bomb ready to go off. "Will you ever do that to me?"

The silence that followed was heavier than expected. Druig fiddled with a loose nail in the wood of the table.

"No," he eventually said. For a moment you were relieved, until he added, "Not unless I have to."

You turned to him in surprise. "What does that mean?"

Druig faced you slowly. You felt a shiver come up over you as your gazes met. Whatever he was feeling was undistinguishable to you but you just knew it was…off.

"I will do anything to assure your safety, are we clear?"

His tone left no room to argue but you were tempted to. Who did he think… You felt your tattoo begin to itch. You placed your hand over the outlined sun in an attempt to silence it.

"Just make sure it’s your last resort," you pleaded. "Please." While the villagers never looked in pain when under Druig’s spell, the thought of being fully under his control, completely submitting to him, made your stomach uneasy.

"Of course," he agreed. "I’d take no pleasure in the action."

You scoffed. "You don’t seem to have any trouble bending the minds of your villagers."

Druig shook his head. "I have to with them. They need to be led, guided, so they can prosper and evolve. So they can live in peace. With you… You’re different. You feel different. I have faith, I have trust in you."

You held back a laugh. "You don’t even know me."

"Don’t I?" He challenged, lifting his wrist, the soulmate tattoo shining like a pure diamond.

It was hard to argue given that over the course of just a few hours the bond had allowed you to feel like you knew him, but you were still skeptical.

"I don’t know," you admitted. "Who knows what this all means?" Subconsciously, you began rubbing your wrist.

"What it means," Druig began, "is that we mean something to one another. Whether we figure it out now or decades down the line, we were meant to be sitting here. You were meant to be sitting here."

His words calmed you slightly, but you still held some concerns.

"What if you were meant to find me in New York?" You asked with a little laugh.

Druig chuckled, shaking his head. "From my understanding, that city is…too much. The people, the noise, the chaos… How could it compete with this?"

That sense of pride show through you again, even if your soulmate’s motivation for the village was a little jarring.

"It is impressive," you said. "You created your own metropolis."

A faint blush crept upon Druig’s cheeks which made you smile.

"You should be proud as well, my lady," he said. "You too will be helping this community thrive in no time."

"It’s just a teaching role," you said with a shrug.

"Shaping young minds is admirable."

"You assigned it to me—,"

"For a reason," Druig said with a smirk.

You cocked your head, confused.

"I told you I had a feeling about you, my dear," Druig continued. "I have many, many feelings."

A shocking, burning heat came over you. You didn’t have to dig deep to understand what he was feeling. Now, you were the one blushing.

You look away to avoid embarrassment over your reaction to him.

"May I go back to me — err — the guest house now?"

"I am going to pretend I didn’t hear that slip-up." Druig stood from his seat. "And, no, my place should be ready by now." He grabbed your hand and pulled you to stand beside him. "Soon, we’ll call it our place."

You weren’t sure how to respond to such a thing so you just nodded. Druig looked pleased as he led you out of the dining hall.

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wakaoujisenhime · 3 years

Note

Hello! Lots of love to you. 😘 can I request GoM+ Takao thinks reader is going to breakup with them but is actually not. It can be funny misunderstanding or angst anything really. Happy ending.

A/N: Lots of kisses for you my dear anon! 💋 I tried to keep them all the same length, but guess what?? I failed (✌︎ ՞ਊ ՞)✌︎ Hope you’ll enjoy these nonetheless!! <33

Tags: GoM and Takao x reader ✅ SFW ✅ fluff ✅ angst ✅ jealousy ✅

image/art source: Takao -> Pixiv (by もいさま)

━━━━☆ ━━━━☆ ━━━━☆

Kuroko:

Being in a relationship with Kuroko was filled with nothing but tranquility and love. The two of you rarely had any type of conflict with each other, but one very urgent problem you’d always had in mind was the lack of communication. Because your boyfriend was so silent and barely complained whenever something was amiss, you tended to misunderstand each other…

One morning after you’d entered Seirin’s school building, you immediately caught a glimpse of your blue-haired boyfriend, and just as you were about to go up to him and greet him with your usual hug, he wordlessly turned his back to you and disappeared in the crowd. His behavior was quite unusual, but you figured that he just didn’t see you and went on with your day.

Unfortunately, the young man kept showing you the cold shoulder on that day, and by the end of his team’s basketball training, he’d even gone back home before you.

“Did something between you two happen?” asked Kagami as soon as he saw your dejected reaction to the unexpected news. Your grip on your school bag’s rims tightened and you simply shook your head.

“Not that I’m aware of anything…”

“Then why don’t you just ask him?”

His teammates stared daggers at the tall young man who had once again said something insensitive, but to you, it was a simple summary of the constant problem between your lover and yourself, so you couldn’t help but giggle at his question and nod.

——

Just where have you hidden yourself Tetsu?!

Annoyance had distorted your usually calm facial features and was chasing away any of your classmates that hoped to approach you for whatever reasons. After Kagami had given you the necessary push you needed, you made it your mission to find your lover and confront him once and for all, but he was nowhere to be found. No matter who you asked, where you went, what you did, it was as if he never came to school. At times such as these, his low presence proved to be pretty useful and a damn nightmare for you, but you stayed vigilant and even decided to make use of some…unexpected tactics.

During the second break, you sprinted to your lover’s classroom, knowing fully well that he was already gone, and called for his partner, who only very reluctantly agreed to accompany you during your search. The plan you’d forged relied entirely on Kagami’s strong presence that - according to his teammates - was so strong that even the people who saw him daily couldn’t help but stare at him. You knew that Kuroko was more or less immune to this and preferred to look down at his book, so you were positive that with this plan you’d find the odd one out of the crowd pretty easily.

Luckily for you, the plan was a success and after just a couple of minutes you’d caught sight of the familiar blue hair, but when you locked eyes with your loved one, a sharp pain ran through your chest. Kuroko looked heartbroken and had to bite his lip to hide his anger and tears.

“(Y/N), this is your chance! Go! Run!”

The unexpected encouragement from the man next to you managed to wake you up from your trance and not even a second later you were running after your lover. Fortunately for you, he wasn’t that quick and on top of that, you were convinced that he ran extra slower than usual because somewhere deep inside of him he wanted to talk to you as well.

“(Y/N)…I-”

“We can’t continue like this Tetsu,” you began and intended to take a small breather before you continued, but the anxious face of your counterpart made you reconsider, “what I mean to say is, that we can’t ignore our constant misunderstandings due to miscommunication. I love you Tetsuya and whenever I am with you everything is nearly perfect, but we need to do something about your aversion of expressing your opinion and my reluctance to speak up about it.”

You couldn’t blame him for being so surprised that he couldn’t answer instantly since you surprised even yourself with how direct you were. Just as you were about to break the uncomfortable silence between you two, Kuroko unexpectedly wrapped his arms around you in a hug.

“Thank god…I thought you wanted to leave me for Kagami-kun.”

“Excuse me, what? Why would I-” you stopped for a moment and remembered the scene he saw just a couple of minutes ago before you corrected him, “…I needed his help to find you, since all of my earlier attempts were futile against the legendary Phantom Sixth man, you know?”

And with that small joke, you both chuckled, kissed each other, and decided to spent the rest of the break hand-in-hand, while you resolved the small thorn in your relationship.

Kise:

Being Kise’s lover was pretty tiresome and restricting. Since he was a famous model a lot of rules had to be followed by not only him but you as well.

Any selfies you took are not to be shared with anyone and not to be published. Bragging about him as your boyfriend was out of the question. Public dates? I think not.

When his manager had first thrown all of these at you, you were pretty stomped and ready to burst with anger, but he stopped you and after your talk, Kise reassured you that you would still do the majority of the things “normal” couples do, but you’d simply have to be more careful and aware of your surroundings than others. You trusted him of course and he didn’t lie, in fact, he made an enormous effort to provide you with a proper love life, one that you deserved. Much to your surprise, everything was working out just fine and you got used to the abnormalities of some situations pretty quickly, but as we all know life can rarely be filled with nothing but sunshine and rainbows…

-` EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MODEL №1 KISE RYOUTA ´-

That was the headline of one of the many magazines your boyfriend was featured in. You always made sure to show your support for his career by buying almost every issue that had a section dedicated to your blond lover, that and the fact that the photographers and designers always made him look hotter than he already was. With a big grin on your face, you browsed the magazine until you found the corresponding pages and began reading yet another interview.

At first, the questions were pretty standard and tame, asking the young model what his future plans were, how he manages school, basketball club, and modeling without being stressed out at all, and many more similar questions such as these. Being his significant other, you caught a few lies of his that he had to make up in order to keep your relationship a secret and even though it didn’t sit entirely right with you, you brushed it off since you knew that he couldn’t help it. With mixed feelings, you read on until one particular question and answer caught your eye.

-` Q: A lot of your female fans have been constantly speculating about what type of boyfriend you’d make, what’s your take on that subject?

-` A: (laughs) Well you see, I hate to break it to everyone, but I like the type of women that don’t tie me down. I just can’t imagine myself being with the same person every single day, it’d be quite suffocating, you know?

You stared at that answer for a while, hoping that the words would just merge into something that didn’t sound so…ruthless, but to no avail. Just as you were about to continue your lecture, the front door to your apartment opened and the familiar voice of your lover echoed, filling your home with more life than before. While the blond removed his shoes and jacket you quickly hid away the magazine and forced yourself to smile, hoping that he wouldn’t notice…

——

“You damn idiot, what were you thinking?!”

“Oh (Y/N)…what do you even see in him?”

“I have never been more pissed off to be in the same team as you…”

The moment Kise had entered the gym to participate in today’s training all of his teammates had surrounded him and had begun reprimanding him for something he couldn’t quite understand because of how chaotic everyone was. It took a while, but when they became more or less calm he used to chance to find out just what’s got them so pissed off.

“Isn’t it obvious you imbecile?! That over the top answer of yours is what we’re so mad about”

“Kasamatsu-senpai I can’t quite follow…what answer are you referring to?”

After being kicked down by the shorter man and lectured yet another time, Kise finally understood just what this fuss was about. You’d been quite out of it since his latest interview got published, so the guys decided to find out what had you so bothered and the answer was, of course, Kise…who else?

“B-But I didn’t mean it! It was just for show an–”

“Does (Y/N) know?” interrupted Moriyama with an unusually serious tone. Your lover intended to answer fully confident that you were aware, but a small voice inside of his mind stopped him in his tracks. How were you supposed to know that he didn’t mean it when he never explained himself? What if the reason you’d been so absentminded these past few days was that you were planning on leaving him?

N-No…I can’t let that happen…i-if we break up then what am I–

“Excuse me, is Kise here?”

At the unexpected sound of your voice all of the members instantly shut up, turning to you, but before anyone could answer you, the blond took off sprinting right towards you and wrapping his muscular arms around your body.

“Please forgive me (Y/N)-cchi, I…I figured we’d been over this and that you know that no matter what I say to the press, I never really mean it. It’s all supposed to be a façade to make me more attractive to the public, b-but you know me, right? The real, insecure, weak, and ambitious me…the one that’s no good without you…”

Even if he’d taken you by surprise with his sudden hug, his words rendered you pretty much immobile and left you with no choice but to listen to his desperate apology. He held you tighter and buried his face in the crack of your neck. The moment you felt something wet drip down on your clothing, you wrapped your arms around him protectively, gently caressing his head, and kissing his temple all the while he whispered one apology after the other, begging you to never leave his side.

“I won’t ever leave you, Kise…I promise”

Midorima:

“…and with that, we’re coming to today’s last and unfortunately most unluckiest signs of all…Cancer!”

At the sudden announcement, Midorima flinched, grip tightening on his iPod, as he continued listening to his daily horoscope. His sign being the unluckiest out of all was quite the rarity and that alone was worrisome, but the fact that today’s misfortune was predicted to be in his love life made the man the more afraid. Usually, he’d ignore any prognosis that went beyond his career, but the moment you had become his girlfriend, Midorima couldn’t help but lend an ear every time the presenter of his favorite show mentioned the word love.

Your lover’s flame for you has been near extinction, I suggest breaking up with them before they do, or else this pain will haunt you for eternity…

With heavy steps, the green-haired man made his way to his school, lucky item in hand and a never before experienced fear deeply rooted in his heart. If possible he’d try to avoid you as much as possible today, so that you couldn’t break things off with him. He was aware that his behavior was quite over the top, but that was his way to cope with the anxiety of losing you - his most important person. In Midorima’s eyes this was a solid plan, but putting it into action was harder than expected.

Every time you jogged up to him with your angelic smile, your big and beautiful eyes that sparkled the moment you saw him, the energetic way you waved to your boyfriend when you spotted him across the hallway were so adorable and heart-warming that whenever he had to act extra cold towards you, it felt like his heart was being torn apart anew every single time. While he was beating himself up over his behavior, you simply shrugged it off and figured that he was on his usual tsundere trip for some reason and decided to ask him about it after basketball practice.

“Shin-chan sure is acting weird today, huh?” asked Takao with a hint of amusement in his voice as he sat down next to you on a bench in the courtyard. You simply looked up at him and nod with resigned smile on your face as you answered: “I’m somehow used to his antics, but something must’ve happened for him to act so…distant.”

The boy next to you studied your expression and despite his usual enjoyment of watching a misunderstanding between the two of you unfold, he could see how much the green-haired man’s behavior was weighing on you, so he broke his silence and told you about Midormia’s plan that he’d schemed following today’s horoscope.

——

“Midorima Shintarou, we need to talk…now!”

Your loud and sudden order startled the young man in gym clothes, who was mere movements away from throwing his umpteenth three-pointer, as well as his teammates. If it weren’t for the serious tone in your voice, he would’ve come up with some kind of excuse to dodge the upcoming conversation.

Now that the two of you were outside of the gym you didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point: “Are you seriously avoiding me all day because of Oha Asa’s words? Is that how little you believe in me and my feelings for you?” Your boyfriend never quite knew how to deal with such straightforwardness and seeing how with each question you uttered, the tears in the corners of your eyes grew, pushed him even further into a corner until he couldn’t handle it anymore and just needed to shut you up. Out of nowhere Midorima took a tight hold of your shoulders, seizing your frantic movements, and pressed his lips firmly to yours, kissing you in the process.

“…now that I finally have your attention, allow me to explain myself, will you?” he asked and waited for your nod before he continued “Look…I know I overreacted and to be honest, my behavior bothered me more than you think. I was just…j-just so afraid to lose you. Up until now everything Oha Asa said came true, s-so–”

Before he could finish his sentence, it was your turn to kiss him on the lips and use his moment of confusion to stop the train of negative thoughts that were about to overwhelm him. “I love you Shintarou…more than any horoscope could ever hope to calculate and sure, every time you listen to this show it all comes true, but did you forget that my sign is on that show as well?”

Your sudden question caught him a little of guard, but the moment you pulled something small out of your pocket he couldn’t help but smile to himself as a light blush spread across his cheeks.

“Unfortunately for you, today is my lucky day and your beloved presenter advised me to be more assertive than what I’m used to, and show my lover just how much he means to me.”

Aomine:

With quick steps, you neared the basketball club’s gym while frantically looking around for your boyfriend, who’d once again decided to ditch today’s training and laze around somewhere.

“Captain, we might have a problem!” you shouted out the moment you entered the building, ready to break the unpleasant news to the young man in glasses, who looked surprisingly relaxed, even though one of his best players was missing yet again. But before you could even say anything he simply put his hand up, motioning you to look behind him with his head, and there you saw the wanted man, crouched down while reading something.

With a heavy sigh, you joined Imayoshi and Wakamatsu, who was looking at the power forward with hopeless and annoyed expressions. After explaining to them that you couldn’t find him at his usual spots, you asked how they got him to join practice that quick.

“Oh you know…the usual” the blond said as he tapped a few times on his mobile phone, searching for something, and the moment he found it, he showed you the typical photo with which they always managed to catch Aomine: one of his favorite gravure magazines being held above a candle’s flame. You eyed the image a tad longer than what the men next to you were used to and then replied drily: “I see.”

The two players you were standing next to, were quite surprised by your reaction and couldn’t tear their eyes from your back as you walked towards the bench where their coach and manager were seated. They wanted to brush it off at first but the moment you had sat yourself down, your sad expression managed to guilt-trip them to such an extent that they immediately walked to the dark-skinned young man to lecture him.

“Aomine, you idiot, stop reading these things already!”

Said man didn’t even flinch at the sudden scream from the blond and continued looking through his magazine. Wakamatsu was already agitated enough and ready to throw punches at his sitting teammate, but the captain stopped him with an unobtrusive head-shake and took his chance not short after: “Ya see…your cute girlfriend’s over ‘ere and she looks mighty disappointed at the fact that ‘er boyfriend gives some random women more love ‘n attention than ya give ‘er. If ya keep that up, then who knows what could happen.”

It didn’t take much to annoy or upset your boyfriend and if you were as tactful as Imayoshi, you could do it whenever you felt like it, but this time he intended to make the man before him aware of what seemed to be a minor problem.

The two of them watched as Aomine finally closed his magazine and stood up, a terrifying glare fixated on the wall before him, and hissed out: “My relationship with (Y/N) has nothing to do with you, so don’t even butt your noses where they don’t belong.” He turned and just as he was about to leave and enter the practice match, he stood beside the man with glasses and stared at him with the same amount of bloodlust he had whenever he faced a strong opponent, and whispered: “Call her cute one more time and see what happens, captain”

——

What the hell is going on?

With a furious expression and gritted teeth, Aomine’s eyes followed your frantic movements in annoyance. He watched how you held Sakurai’s hands and whispered something to him to calm him down, how Wakamatsu ruffled your hair as thanks for bringing him a bottle of his favorite drink and a towel, and how Susa and Imayoshi patted your back while praising you. Today was the first time he actually noticed this, but now everything was making sense.

Since the beginning of this week, Momoi told him that she’d be away for two weeks and couldn’t manage the team in that timeframe. Her childhood friend wasn’t interested, so he didn’t ask any further details such as why she going away or who’d take her place for the time being, but now he wished he would’ve.

During her absence, he didn’t receive any of those dreadful SMS and for the first few days, he was living his life, skipping every single practice day. He did ask you a couple of times whether you wanted to ditch your class and come hang out with him, but he got rejected pretty quickly. Additionally, he rarely asked you out himself so the lack of messages from you wasn’t surprising to him, of course until he heard some of the substitute players comment something about how well you were doing your job as temporary manager.

“So that’s why you were so busy, huh?” he asked in his typical monotone voice the moment you had come back to the bench where he and the coach had taken place. Without sparing him even a single glance you took your clipboard and began explaining something to the older man. Seeing how you ignored him, paired with your cold attitude made Aomine involuntarily remember his captain’s words.

If ya keep that up, then who knows what could happen.

Your conversation with the coach was quickly wrapped up and not soon after just the two of you were left sitting on the bench. Your boyfriend’s deep blue eyes glanced briefly at you and observed how you were writing something in a small pink notebook that most likely belonged to Momoi. He never considered the fact that you would actually lose interest in him or perhaps even break up with him, but your recent behavior change matched exactly that and it scared him more than he let on.

The moment you finished writing and intended to pack everything up, a big hand took a gentle hold of your wrist. Slightly startled and taken aback you looked at the man beside you, who was covering his lower face area as he murmured something that only you managed to hear and understand.

Please don’t go…d-don’t leave me

A small smile slowly adorned your lips as you took his hand in yours, intertwining your fingers, and squeezing it ever so slightly. You figured that the reason he was hiding his face was because of the blush that had painted his cheeks in a shade of dark red. An unusual but very welcome sight as well as a great reward for the plan the entire team had come up with alongside you. The goal? Teaching your lover a small lesson that he’s surely not forgetting that quick.

Mission accomplished…

Murasakibara:

“Hey Atsushi, my friend told me they’d be opening a new store in–“

“Mmm…I don’t wanna go (Y/N)-chin”

You were stunned at the sudden refusal of your boyfriend even before you’d finished your sentence and couldn’t help but giggle to yourself as you looked at his slightly annoyed face.

Of course, he’d say that…

And with that prompt rejection, the conversation between you two died down and you wordlessly continued watching the movie you’d put on for tonight, while gently caressing the purple head of the large man who was using your thighs as a pillow.

——

“Eh? You rejected (Y/N)’s invitation again?” asked the black-haired young man while he handed his gigantic friend a tissue for his sticky fingers. With a slightly annoyed glare, Murasakibara snatched the handkerchief from him and hurriedly removed the honey residuals from the snacks he had finished a couple of minutes ago, before answering: “Of course I would…I’m not in the mood to go shopping for hours in this heat.”

The man’s laziness never failed to surprise Himuro everyone who has ever talked to him was aware of his quirks and despite it all, no one has ever left his side. The same goes for you as well. Since the first time you’d seen him, your heart already belonged to him. It was easier to pursue him than you’d expected since his team liked you very much and always helped you out by telling you about his schedule or when he’d come to practice. He was pretty cute once you got to know him better and unbeknownst to you, he had also fallen in love with everything about you. Your smile, the adorable way you tried to follow his basketball practice, the way you panicked when he told you that he didn’t like the type of candy you’d picked out, and everything else about you made his heart thump hard against his chest.

“You know Atsushi…if you keep your indifferent attitude up, your relationship might end pretty soon.”

“W-What do you mean…?”

With a perplexed expression on his face, Himuro took a glance at his friend who had panic written all over him, and reluctantly explained how you could feel neglected by him, or even think of leaving him because he seemingly doesn’t want to spend time with you. The purple-haired young man opened his mouth, wanting to protest but anything he said was immediately rebutted by his friend who told him that he was the wrong person to tell this to, and with that, Murasakibara sprinted out of the room. His destination: your home.

——

You were just out of the shower and preparing yourself to go to bed, when suddenly the doorbell starts ringing furiously, scaring you in the process. With a thumping heart and silent steps, you made your way to your door and took a glance at your peephole, needing less than a second to recognize just who had decided to spontaneously visit you this late at night.

“Atsushi, what are–”

“I’m sorry (Y/N)-chin, please don’t leave me! I-I promise I will go to that store reopening with you a-and to any other event you’d like, I’ll even do it without you having to buy me over with sweets, just–”

Thrown aback as you were, you took a tight hold of Murasakibara’s arms, squeezing them while you screamed at him to hold on and stop talking. Despite your reassuring words it took him a good while to calm down, so you made use of it and prepared some soft drinks, and put a couple of his favorite snacks in a rotating multi bowl set. After putting everything down on the small table in your living room, you got your boyfriend his favorite blanket, covering him with it, and finally sat down next to him.

“Now then, I’m almost afraid to ask you this, but…why are you pleading with me to not leave you?”

With his big and almost puppy-like eyes, he looked at you and asked with a slightly trembling voice: “S-So you really w-want to l-leave me?”

“Heavens no! Who even gave you that idea?”

The moment these few words left your lips, the tension finally left the young man’s body and he slumped back on your couch with a relieved sigh, whispering a silent thank god before massaging his closed eyes. You had never seen your lover being as worried as tonight and you figured that whatever has been bothering him must’ve been quite serious, and that made you in fact even more curious than before. Despite that, you figured you’d wait for him to start his explanation, or at least that was what you’d planned, but after a couple of minutes of nothing but silence, you decided to speak up and reassure him first.

“I’m not quite sure what happened, but it seems like you’re feeling bad for refusing my invite from some days ago, and well…I was kinda disappointed about not being able to go with you there, but I’ve known you for so long now and truth be told, I was prepared for such an answer so I’m not pissed off or anything, you know? You’re just the type of person to prefer staying indoors while lazing around…that’s just how you are and how I love you, so…”

You got embarrassed after a while and the young man’s missing reactions didn’t make it any better, so you eventually stopped mid-sentence and called out to him.

Silence.

“Atsushi…?”

You put your hand on his shoulder and gently shook him, causing his arm with which he was covering his eyes to fall to the side, revealing his slightly puffy eyes and sleeping face.

D-Did he…fall asleep…?

Who would’ve thought that your reassurance alone would have such an impact on him and cause him to fall asleep?

You giggled to yourself and gently caressed some strands of his hair away from his face, giving him a soft kiss on his cheek as you silently wished him a pleasant nap. A few seconds passed during which you contemplated whether you should go to your room or snuggle up to him, you picked the latter and as carefully as possible, leaned your head on his shoulder, closed your eyes, and missed the small smile that adorned Murasakibara’s lips.

Akashi:

Akashi usually isn’t one to get jealous of other people, since he is quite confident that there is no one better suited for you but him. And yet whenever he sees how you talk to Mayuzumi he can’t help but feel a tight pain in his chest and notice how his mood instantly drops. He’d immediately turn away from the sight of the two of you and go somewhere else, preferably the gym where he can either let his frustrations out on the ball or on some of the unmotivated basketball club members. When you were close to him during one of his bad days he was prone to behaving rather rude and harsh and even though he regrets it seconds after opening his mouth he just can’t stop himself. One day though, he truly lost it.

Everything was seemingly going well and then he saw both Mayuzumi and you come in the gym together, hand in hand, laughing, and worst of it all: you were blushing. The red-haired young man watched how his upperclassman helped you sit down on the bench and the way you two looked at each other made the captain feel sick. That’s when a certain thought entered his mind.

What if (Y/N) is planning on breaking up with me for….

While you laughed alongside the older member of the basketball club, you noticed out of the corner of your eyes the way Akashi approached you two and immediately sprung up to calm him down. “S-Sei, please calm yourself down!” you pleaded as you held onto his wrists, but no matter what you said he wasn’t listening, he only had eyes for the man behind you.

Out of desperation you wrapped your arms around the slightly trembling body of your boyfriend and began whispering how nothing was going on between the two of you, how Mayuzumi had only helped you reach the gym since you had sprained your ankle on the way, and how he had teased you for loving the captain too much. As if released from some sort of spell, the young man came back to his senses and returned your embrace in slight confusion. While you were quick to forgive and forget the sudden snap of your boyfriend, the grey-haired man behind you wasn’t in the mood to just forget how the first-year would’ve stabbed him with a ballpen if it weren’t for you. Luckily the other main team members came to calm their teammate down, while you excused yourself, took Akashi by the hand, and went out for a walk to help him calm down.

——

Holding tightly onto your boyfriend’s hand you dragged him off to a more remote area where you could properly talk to each other and resolve any type of doubts that seemed to sprout inside of his already restless mind as a sudden and unexpected whisper caught you off guard. You halted mid-step, turning to the young man behind you, and asked him to repeat what he’d just said.

After a short moment of reluctance, he nodded and did as asked. “I’m sorry for losing myself back there.” His sudden apology caught you quite off guard and made you forget your initial plan. The Akashi you knew rarely showed such enormous remorse for his actions, he might have finally found inner peace with himself and his insecurities, but that didn’t mean that he was now a completely changed man who’d thrown his entire pride away. Not being able to hold back your curiosity, you asked why he felt the need to apologize.

“The way I was ready to lash out at someone older than me, in the same way, I did with Kagami back then was uncalled for…not only that but your expression,” he paused, softly caressing your cheek and continued with a silent voice “that fearful expression you had when you saw me…I-I don’t want to see it ever again.”

Now I get it…

A sad smile adorned your lips as you squeezed his hand tighter. You were secretly thankful for his small outburst right now because it showed you not only that he indeed loved you as much as he usually told you, but also that despite his perfectionism he was very much flawed. He was afraid of losing you and equally afraid of you hating him for expressing these worries. Without saying anything you wrapped your arms around him in a hug and held him tightly as soon as he’d returned your embrace.

“Seijuro…please don’t try to tackle every worry you have on your own. That’s why we are a couple, right? Anything that bothers you, no matter how trivial or serious it is, please share it with me instead of tackling that burden on your own, ok..?”

His sharp yet beautiful eyes looked directly into your own before he leaned his forehead on your shoulder and murmured: “I know, it’s just…I’m still not used to having someone so dependable as you by my side, offering me so much support that I don’t know what to do with it.”

You giggled at his statement and kissed his head, thankful that you had more or less resolved one part of his issues, but more than anything you were happy that from now on he’d involve you more in his worries and problems.

Takao:

Everyone from Shuutoku warned you multiple times that being lovers with Takao would cause you to have severe trust issues and you didn’t believe them at first, but after a couple of weeks, you finally understood their warnings. The lively young man was surprisingly a jokester and tended to take certain things not serious enough for your preference, but since it was a part of his personality, that you’d fallen in love with, you decided to overlook it for the majority of the time.

Usually, his jokes were kinda misplaced and sometimes even more sympathy-inducing than fun, but they never failed to make you crack even the smallest of smiles. But lately, though his jokes started focusing on love and were constantly dealing with the topic of breakup or cheating and it made you quite anxious and hurt that he took these two so lightly without considering your feelings.

Day after day you put up with them until you just couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted him, saying that he should just stop talking for a moment. You were so agitated that you failed to notice his taken aback expression.

“Hey (Y/N)-chan, you do know that I’m just joking, right? There’s no need for you to take it seriously!”

There he goes again with the same excuse…

The young man attempted to take your hand in his, an usual gesture he made every time he upset you, but right now this was the last thing you needed. When his slender fingers brushed yours, you slapped his hand away.

“Not this time Kazu-chan…I’m sorry” you whispered and hurried off, leaving your boyfriend behind who was blown away by your reaction.

——

A few days passed since your little outburst and you’d been avoiding Takao ever since, afraid of being confronted with what you’d told him. You felt bad of course for treating him like that, but you were just not ready to talk to him yet and needed some time to come to terms with your thoughts first.

“What’s with you two always gluing yourselves on me whenever you have some kind of problem?” asked the green-haired young man who you’d forced to stay by your side since then. You responded with a giggle and told him that thanks to his confident behavior and direct words you felt placid and could sort your thoughts in peace. He simply sighed and looked at his lucky item for today, a silver ring with a small green jewel, which he’d once again gotten from his captain, who told him that it was yet another merch of his favorite idol.

“You shouldn’t avoid Takao so much. We both know that he makes jokes to hide away his insecurities and weaknesses and what do you think might happen if he sees us right now?”

He’s…right

You bit your lower lip and slumped forward, leaning your elbows on your thighs as you nodded a couple of times. Nothing good would come out of you brooding over this on your own and having Midorima with you wouldn’t make your little “fight” with Takao just disappear. Seeing you so lost in thought, the young man behind you had an idea, one that he didn’t entirely like, but right now all he wanted was to make you feel better, so he swallowed his pride and handed you the ring.

“Take it…i-it’s not like I’m giving it to you forever s-since it’s not mine and all…b-but Oha Asa said t-that Scorpio might need some k-kind of symbol o-of…love so” he stuttered as he held out his hand, the fragile ring between his bandaged fingers. You were at a loss for words at his gesture and all you could do was whisper out his name in surprise.

“Shin-chan! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Suddenly someone took a hold of your slightly outstretched arm and tugged on it, causing you to stand up and fall against their chest. You looked at the face of the person and it was none other than Takao who was glaring at his friend through glassy eyes. As if bitten by a bug Midorima jumped up and began protecting himself, but all you could focus on was the man who had his arms wrapped tightly around your body. While the two men insulted each other and bickered you realized just how stupid this entire situation was and couldn’t help but smile.

You placed your hand on your boyfriend’s cheek and turned his head, so that he was now facing you, and kissed him, shutting both of them up almost instantly. It took the young man a shot while to return your kiss, but when he did he also took the opportunity to properly embrace you.

“I’m sorry for overreacting Kazu-chan, it’s just that I-”

“No, don’t apologize (Y/N), I know I went too far this time. You know I love you more than anything else in this world and that I’ll never think about leaving you.”

The smile that adorned your lips widened as you nodded energetically and reassured him that your love for him is also one that will most likely last forever.

While you two made up, smiling at each other, the green-haired young man looked at the ring and grinned to himself.

I knew it…Oha Asa is never wrong

#knb imagines #knb scenarios #knb fluff #knb angst #knb x reader #gom and takao x reader #gom x reader #takao x reader #━𝙺𝙽𝙱 #━𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽'𝚂 𝙴𝙲𝙷𝙾

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lovelybarnes · 3 years

Text

stood up- b. barnes

pairings: bucky barnes x reader, anderson x reader (?) warnings: angst, getting stood up, language, unrequited feelings about: prompts (DA29) “i got stood up.” + (DF30) “i think you’re my soulmate.” +(DF41) “are you going to cry? please don’t cry. a/n: i love to hurt but dw it’s a happy ending, i actually like this fjsk, a the time i finished this, i just posted another imagine, so i can’t wait for you guys to read this one in a couple days

every passing second makes you hyperaware of all the sympathetic stares that are currently directed at you. the feeling of pity is enveloping you whole, wrapping you in a thin layer of shame that you think must be related to the careful makeup you caked on your face for this date. your recently manicured nails scratch at the tablecloth, trying to avoid your new expensive dress, deep midnight color clinging to your nervous self. teeth stress your dark wine bottom lip, anxious eyes darting across the restaurant.

with each face that enters the place, none of them being his, the presumption that he isn’t coming solidifies. with it, comes the embarrassment. you can feel the warnings of tears, already threatening to ruin the mascara you had applied so carefully, not bothering to choose the waterproof one because why would you be crying on your date?

you suppose it’s your own fault- how dare you attempt to get over bucky? how dare you trust the words of a shield agent? you pick at your nails, gathering up the courage to stand up and leave. your waitress, however, beats you to it, a faux apologetic look on her face. “oh, so you’ve been here for, like, half an hour and it seems no one is coming, and we kind of need the table, so…”

you hold back an uncomfortable cringe, nodding stiffly as you stand. “right. i’m sorry. i don’t need to… pay for the water, right?” you ask dumbly, ducking your head when she shakes her head condescendingly.

pushing the door open, you step into the brisk air of the night, clouded over with an uneasy disappointment that you’re sure is because of you. you stand for a second to look at the stars, realizing how pretty of a night this would be if you weren’t so damn frustrated. the upset hasn’t passed yet, although the beginnings of anger are peeking up in your stomach.

while you stare up at the moon, the universe decides your getting stood up wasn’t enough, choosing to gift you with cold droplets of water that make your mascara run. it’s unbelievable, you nearly scoff tearily.

you walk to your car then, the moonlight that should have been romantic when you walked out of the restaurant now only making you feel lonely. you don’t let the tears come yet, having enough pride to not let the smitten couples appreciating the romance of the rain see you cry, deciding to put that off until you’re in the quietness of your room.

you drive in the sound of the pattering rain, concentrated on keeping your breathing even so as to push back the tears, not wanting to have an accident on the way back home because your vision was clouded over with sadness.

the relief you feel when you arrive at the compound is immeasurable; the knowledge that all you have to do is walk quietly to your room, and you can release the pent up emotions that eat you whole is unbelievably satisfying. the horrible itching feeling that comes with the tears arrives again when you notice your reflection in the impressively clean windows of the stark compound. through the stains of your ruined makeup, you can see the remnants of how dolled up you were, how much time was spent with the intricate details that made you smile when you looked at yourself in the mirror.

you swallow back the painful lump in your throat, opening the doors and sniffling at the dimly-lit room. your heels click tiredly on the floor, precious bracelet lightly jangling when you move. you can’t find it in yourself to care when you realize you’re dragging water inside, resigning to letting stark lecture you in the morning.

as you stand in the elevator, waiting for it to reach your floor, the emotions you’ve pushed so far down decide to spring back up in the form of an overwhelming dejected exhaustion that makes you physically slump. you lean against the cool of the metal railing, shutting your eyes hard to avoid looking at yourself. you only pry your eyes open when you hear the soft ding of the elevator, surprised and once again embarrassed to see bucky standing between the open doors.

“y/n?” he asks quietly. his demeanor immediately changes when he takes you in, body softer in the way it always is when you’re with him. his reaction makes you fall deeper, which reminds you exactly why you were going on your failed date. you straighten, clearing your throat, “um- i have to get to my room.”

your voice is thin, heightening his worries and stopping you with a gentle hand to your arm before you step off the elevator, “what’s wrong? what happened? are you okay?” he asks, and you nod blindly at all of his questions, realizing that the longer you stay with him- with his warm hand that you can’t help but lean into pressed against your cold arm- the more you really want to cry and scream because it’s not fair that he’s been given to you, yet you can’t have him, even if he has you.

“i’m fine,” you lie obviously, forcing your eyes again from his. “y/n, what happened? you’re clearly not fine,” bucky pushes, the hand on your arm beginning to rub stressed circles into your skin. you give up then, looking back at him. “i got stood up,” you say finally, words cracked. you shake your head, “and i just spent so much time on everything and-”

“that’s stupid. who would stand you up?” bucky interrupts, eyes genuinely confused while you scoff. “apparently anderson from security,” you respond bitterly, looking away. “he’s stupid, y/n. he has to be to not go to a date with you.”

you exhale frustratedly, “maybe not. maybe there’s something wrong with me and i’m the stupid one for even thinking someone would want to go out with me,” you countered. “hey, no, you are- you are amazing, y/n. amazing and stunning and intelligent and he missed his chance to be the luckiest guy in the world,” he insisted, gently pulling your attention back to him with a gentle hand on your cheek. you give him a watery laugh through the loud, unfair questions in your head: why don’t you love me like i love you, then?

you don’t realize the tears that run down the streaks of already ruined mascara until bucky points them out, wiping them away with his fingers, “no, no, don’t cry, please don’t cry,” he begs. you can’t help it, though, biting your lip to hold back your unrequited confessions of love.

“nobody wants me. i don’t even think i want me anymore,” you weep, oblivious to the breaking of bucky’s heart when he hears your words, pulling you flush against his chest. “don’t say that, doll. that’s not true-”

“it is. what other reasons can you think of that explain why i’m the only one that’s shown up to the rare dates i’ve been on? why have i had to go on those stupid dates just to forget how pathetic i am that i can’t get over you?”

you’re too deep in the ocean of your thoughts to realize what you’ve said, too little light available in the dark to let you realize the hints you have and will undoubtedly let out if you continue blubbering into bucky’s shoulder like the mess you are. your feelings are scattered, words so disorganized that any way you piece them together will be a mistake. “why else does the one person who i actually want to love me back not want me?”

bucky can make sense of the words you’re saying, the heavy weight they carry when he realizes exactly what they mean, and what you imply. he’s frozen, heart simultaneously fluttering at the mere thought of his feelings being returned and breaking at the cries you’re letting out because of him.

he’s refused to ever be the source of your pain, restricting his own poems of confessions because he didn’t want to hurt you, never wanting to be the reason you cried. he supposes now it was the wrong choice, one he needs to fix.

the bead of insecurity buried stubbornly in his mind shrieks, however, because he’s as clueless as you are and can’t possibly imagine someone like you- so kind and pure and good- loving him back. so he needs to make sure, needs to hear you say it in your voice.

“what?” you let out a watery scoff, full of embarrassment rather than annoyance at him, “don’t make me say it, bucky, please-”

“please say it- i- i need you to say it.”

a beat of silence passes before you sniffle, pulling away from the man you’ve called your best friend and wanted nothing but to be able to call him more. “i love you, bucky. in a way that makes me pretty sure you’re my soulmate because i don’t even believe in that but you make me feel like i should.”

bucky’s storm clouds lighten, doubts dissolving when he listens to what you said, tasting your words and examining each one just to remember it. he pulls your lips to his when they’ve barely processed. “you should,” he says when he pulls away for a second, only to make you lose your breath again when he aches for you immediately, kissing you again, “believe in soulmates.”

“why is that?” you ask breathlessly, letting him pull you back in because you both have been waiting- dreaming about this for so damn long, and he isn’t sure he’ll ever be able to keep away from you now that he has you. he presses a sloppy kiss to your lips, so perfectly imperfect when your teeth clash and you both laugh gently, noses nudging each other when he leans his forehead on yours, “because we’re meant to be, y/n. in that way that soulmates are.”

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