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lonesome-witching · 9 months

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D&D Night

@allnewtpir gave me another prompt and this might have just been the hardest for me to write. I do apologize to anyone who actually knows D&D because my knowledge was limited to some internet pages and whatever they showed in Stranger Things but hey, I tried my best. Sorry for any typos in this one because I'm typing with a new keyboard I'm not used to. Also I do promise it has ronance elements in it.

You can read my old prompts or send me new ones.

“Miss Wheeler.” Eddie leaned forward in his chair.

“Yes?” Nancy responded, not looking up from her plate.

“A little birdie told me you used to DM for the kids.”

That caught her attention, her head snapping up. There was a smirk on Eddie’s face as he pushed his fork into his pancakes.

“You used to play D&D?” Robin asked, her smile audible in her question.

“I— Who— Mike! I’m gonna kill him.” Nancy was already getting up from her seat as if her brother might already be on the run.

Robin quickly grabbed Nancy’s wrist, pulling her back down, as Eddie held up his hand.

“The boy told it only to defend your honor, Miss Wheeler.”

Nancy cocked her eyebrows. “How so?”

“I may have suggested you wouldn’t dare be caught dead at a D&D night and well, your brother said you used to play, that you even DM’ed for them. Although I’m still having trouble imagining it, no offense, of course.”

“She’s full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin quipped in with that bright smile that Nancy came to know and love. There was almost something magical about the way Robin smiled when she talked about Nancy.

“Yes, she is,” Eddie agreed, that smirk still in place.

“So, what is this? Your way of inviting me to your next game?”

“Not exactly… I was thinking more like, uhm, maybe you could DM again. Just for old times sake.”

“What? No.”

“I knew you wouldn’t dare,” Eddie laughed, falling back in his chair.

“You know what, fine. I’ll DM.” Nancy stabbed her pancakes viciously.

She had to admit she felt somewhat embarrassed as she pulled on the hellfire club. Eddie had made her an honorary member on the spot and it felt wrong. The only comfort she found was in Robin’s eyes as they took her in.

“How do I look?” Nancy asked, twirling around as if she was showing off a new dress.

“You look incredible.”

Nancy chuckled softly. She was still at awe of how her girlfriend could make her feel at peace. Like she wasn’t about to embarrass herself entirely in front of her brother and his friends. At least Robin would be sitting there and rooting for her. The girl had even come up with her own character. Anjelica Longshot, a level 1 cleric. Because Robin was set on playing if Nancy was going to DM.

A heavy knock disturbed the pleasant quiet in Nancy’s room. “Are you coming?” Mike yelled from the other side.

Nancy exhaled slowly. “Time to shine.”

“Hey, just remember it’s just a bunch of kids that you’ve known since they were in diapers. If any of them make fun of you, you just bring up their most embarrassing stories. And I’ll be there the entire time.” Robin stood up and put her arms around Nancy’s waist.

Nancy quickly leaned in to peck Robin’s lips. “Let’s go.”

They walked down the stairs in silence, holding hands, only to come face to face with a hoard of teenagers slamming the tabletop of Karen Wheeler’s dinner table, which was overcrowded with mismatched chairs from the basement. Eddie sat at one end, Mike and Dustin on either side of him, followed by Will and Lucas, respectively. Max had decided to join in, probably to watch the train wreck that was about to go down and across from her El was sitting waiting expectantly with her hands clasped around the table. Steve had dragged the chair next to El at a distance from the table and sat reading a magazine. He had refused to play, despite how often Robin had asked him over the past week. Robin squeezed Nancy’s hand one last time before letting go and walking to the seat next to Max. That only left the seat across from Eddie, at the other end of the table.

Nancy sat down, her paperwork falling to the table. “Max?” It was easier to direct herself toward one person at the table. “Did you prepare a character for tonight?”

“Lucas made me one, is that alright?”

Nancy nodded. “Of course. What about you, El? Do you have a character?”

El nodded excitedly.

“Great.”

“Oh, before I forget, Wheeler. You got lucky. Erica sends her regards, she had a sleepover she really couldn’t miss,” Eddie said. Nancy began to wonder what she had ever done to him to deserve this humiliation.

“Good, thank you for letting me know, Munson.” Nancy sported that tightlipped smile she couldn’t keep off her face when she was annoyed. “Should we start with some introductions?”

“I’ll start,” Robin chimed in, explaining the details of her character as she had scribbled them on the page in front of her. They went around the table. Max stayed brief while Mike and Dustin rambled about their own creations.

It was only after El had finished her speech that Nancy spoke up again. “So, are we ready to start this adventure?”

“More than ready,” Eddie replied.

“Our story begins in the city of Aranna, a once bright metropolis of life. When the sun was shining the people would be crowding the streets and market squares, when the night fell it was the brightest city you’d ever see. Lights would pop up everywhere making it stand out all the more against the dark desert nights that surrounded it. But as you enter the city there are no lights to welcome you, no sound to make you feel safe, no people to ask for directions. You reach The Nightfall, a tavern at the edge of the city and enter. But inside there is no one. All you notice are empty seats and tables in front of a bar. Behind the bar there is a small wooden door.”

They had been playing for nearly three hours. Each of the characters had met their troubles and won their fights. The teenagers around the table grew more and more excited at every new monster that Nancy threw their way. Even Eddie who had been pouting at first was drawn into the story, despite Nancy making it hardest for him specifically.

“You step onto the city square. The buildings surrounding it are covered in black dust. Yet you don’t see anything. No monsters await you. Or so you think.”

“Oh shit,” Dustin yelled. He had trouble sitting still.

Robin appeared to be just as energetic as she stared at her girlfriend with a bright smile. Perhaps there was a hint of pride hidden beneath it.

“A dragon screeches as he flies down, landing in front of your party.”

“Can I ask his name?” Robin interrupted quickly.

Nancy frowned with a smile on her face. A soft giggle escaped as she hid her face behind her hands. “Yes, you can?” she replied in a half question, “Roll for charisma.”

Robin pumped her fist in the air before throwing the dice even if Mike was already complaining.

“Why the hell would the dragon’s name be important?” he muttered under his breath.

The dice fell on the table and turned a few times before landing on the number 17. Robin once again celebrated, and Nancy couldn’t help but laugh. Robin had been doing similar things all game long to set Nancy at ease and it really worked.

“Anjelica takes a step forward and politely asks for the dragon’s name,” Nancy started, “The dragon huffs loudly. I am the great Loranau and these are my lands.” Nancy shifted her voice into something slightly deeper and definitely odd for the dragon’s voice.

“Foxine, what do you do?” Nancy asked, turning toward Max who groaned every time her character’s name was used.

“Can I attack the dragon?” Max asked in return.

“You do know you only have a strength of 6, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m aware.”

“Alright then.”

Max threw the dice and only received a 3 in return. After Max’s failed attack, Lucas and Dustin followed her example. Eddie’s character was the first to perish in his own attack. Mike and Will both did some damage. El threw a 16 and damaged the dragon heavily.

“Anjelica, how do you proceed?”

“Can I ask why the dragon is here?”

Mike groaned. “Robin, do you even know how to play this game?”

“Go ahead,” Nancy replied, talking over her brother.

Robin threw a 14 and celebrated accordingly.

“The knights of this city have stolen my younglings.”

Despite this new reveal, the rest of the party continued their vicious attacks. Max lost her characters in battle.

“I will retrieve the eggs from the city hall and give them to Loranau,” Robin said quickly.

Nancy motioned for the dice. Robin once again threw a high number and proceeded in her action.

“Loranau thanks you,” Nancy said before continuing in her dragon voice, “If I can repay you, dear girl, you must only call my name.”

“Wait, did I just become friends with the dragon? I totally just became friends with the dragon.”

“Kids, it’s getting late. You can continue your game tomorrow,” Karen shouted from the top of the stairs.

“To be continued,” Nancy whispered ominously.

“Wait, the dragon wasn’t the end?” Dustin asked, excitedly.

“Not everyone you meet is an enemy,” Nancy replied, cleaning up her stuff.

“You killed me and it’s not even the end?” Eddie exclaimed.

“You don’t know what’s still going happen, assuming you guys want to know the rest of the story.”

“Yes!” Will and El responded.

“Then I’ll see you guys next week.”

Robin got up from her spot and leaned over Nancy. “You were absolutely amazing, Nance.”

Nancy bit on her bottom lip to hide her smile.

#prompts #ronance #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #my work #stranger things #fanfic #robin x nancy #nancy x robin #ronance fic #ficlet #eddie munson #d&d #I tried #probably should have had more ronance

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luvrsux · 9 months

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𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒙

❝ 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒌 & 𝒋𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔 ❞

other chapters

➠┊word count: 7.7k

➠┊characters: trafalgar law, shachi, penguin, ikkaku, roronoa zoro, portgas d. ace, sabo, nami, monkey d. luffy {mentioned}

➠┊cw: mentions of alcohol use, mentions of marijuana use, arguing, minor swearing, angst

➠┊modern au !!

𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒑

❛ after you two finally sealed the deal in laws car, you and law have been dating for quite some time. you two built a strong connection and strong love for eachother for a few months, but relationships aren’t perfect… ❜

{colors for dialogue may switch when other characters are introduced}

»•» song choice: whats up - malcom todd «•«

・❥・

Girl I wanna play the game

Baby you know what's up It's always been the same

Cause you just need my love

And I need you to stay

Baby you know it's hard I'll make it go away

You hummed the song playing before you in a chair. You had a loving smile plastered on your face while gazing at the person in front of you playing music beautifully. You were caught in a complete trance, and nothing could rip you away from it. The Earthy scent of marijuana flooding the room, the people sitting around you, nothing could rip you away from giving your new boyfriend the attention his voice deserved.

Law performed his small band in front of you and his other friends in his basement. You and the raven boy have been in a relationship for roughly a few months or so, and each day has been better than the last. Law, surprisingly, took you on frequent dates and surprised you in your window at night whenever he pleased. You couldn’t have asked for a better partner, and here he was. You’d been attending his little performances every weekend to show your appreciation, sometimes even after school during the week. Not only did you fall in love with the man himself, but his music was nearly impossible to not get hypnotized to.

You sat next to one of Law’s band members, who would be in the performance in front if Law hadn’t taken the spotlight in singing, Ikkaku. She pulled the rolled-up drug out of her lips and exhaled.

“So you and Law have been dating for a little now, huh?” She asked with a sluggish smile and rose eyes. You finally disconnected your trance from him and paid attention to the intoxicated vocalist, the music playing in the background.

“Oh, yeah we have” You smiled proudly. Ikkaku nodded slowly and nudged your shoulder.

“Aren’t you one of a kind then. I’ve been trying so hard to get that loser a girlfriend since freshman year” She giggled. You reciprocated and turned your head back to the singing boy.

“I guess I am. I’m honestly surprised” You gushed. You never would’ve thought out of all people, Law would pick you as a partner in crime.

“I remember the day he told us he got a girlfriend, it was hilarious” Ikkaku smiled. You raised an eyebrow, remembering that Law never told you how his friends reacted to the rather big news.

According to the girl, everyone was baffled. Especially since it was you, of all people. They’d assume you were popular and well known considering the jock you were latched onto throughout the halls of Grand Ocean. Upon hearing the news, they treated it as of Law survived a terminal illness or a train wreck. You couldn’t help but giggle at Ikkaku’s explanation, that could’ve been fabricated to her own amusement.

I thought that you would want my hand but now

I love you can't be sad

Go be free I'll get on with no dread

I'll find a new focus to free me

I thought that you would go away but we would always feel the same

More dummy more money you think the things you show me are so funny it's not funny

Law began the song's iconic guitar solo. The way his hands fluently plucked the strings with complete ease made your cheeks flare up. The music made goosebumps trail up your spine and body. Law had his eyes shut and a prideful grin on his face as his solo filled the entire room with his sheer talent. You slowly grew a beaming smile, all the way to the very end.

You clapped your hands and gave a small cheer at his talent. You caught a glimpse, even through the colorful LED lights and slight clouds of transparent smoke, of his happy smile with your loving support—which he appreciated more than anything. Law pressed his lips close to the mic and performed the last verse.

I thought that you would want my hand but now

I love you can't be sad

Go be free I'll get on with no dread

I'll find a new focus to free me

I thought that you would go away but we would always feel the same

More dummy more money you think the things you show me are so funny it's not funny

Shachi hit the last note on the drum and Penguin let go of his guitar that was supported by a strap once the song concluded. Law ran his fingers through his damp locks that were caused by his own sweat. He had a smile as soon as you lifted your relaxed body to jump on his own. His chest was slightly moist but you didn’t care. You absolutely adored his performance like any other.

“You liked it?” He chuckled, supporting your body with his arm and holding your cheek with his palm. You looked up at his steel eyes with excitement.

“Duh, of course! You always do amazing” You giggled. Law planted a chaste kiss on your lips in front of everyone. Law loved one main thing about you, and that was how you weren’t afraid to publicly display your affection towards him—in a moderate manner, of course. You heard Shachi playfully gag from behind.

“You two are gross…” Penguin sighed, leaning over to another person in the basement to grab ahold of the rolled, smoking drug.

“Get a room!” Shachi said, cupping his mouth with his hands to project his voice louder.

Obviously, you two both heard the teasing boys loud and perfectly clear. Law had a smile on his face as he continued to leave kisses on your happy lips, all while pulling up a loving middle finger to both Penguin and Shachi.

“Alright, lover boy” You cooed, pulling your body away from your boyfriend. He took your separation as a chance to finally pull off the instrument on his body and place it gently on its designated stand.

“Have somewhere to be?” Law asked as he watched you step down from the mini, hand-made stage and to grab your jacket you immediately tore off from the high temperature of the room.

“I do, yeah” You responded. Law stood closely next to you while you situated your belongings in your palms.

“I’m throwing Ace’s birthday party at my place. Nami and Sabo are helping me set it up” You explained. You finally turned your body to the raven boy that had his hands on his hips.

“I see, I can give you a ride and help out if you’d like” Law offered. Your face grew a happy smile knowing you’d be able to spend more time with your lover like you always yearn for.

“Of course, baby” You sang, kissing his cheek in the process. Law chuckled and ruffled your hair, turning his body to Ikkaku who was in the middle of rolling a new round.

“Meet me outside in a few, just need to grab my things” Law informed, snagging the freshly rolled drug from Ikkaku and receiving an angry punch in his thigh in the process.

You hummed and waved the room goodbye, to which you were quite fond of by your frequent visits. You thought Law’s friends were a pleasure to be around, despite the fact they were barely sober half the time. You always reeked of the iconic smell back at home and prayed your mother didn’t catch on. She loved Law and she’d hate to find out he actually did a few things here and there that people wouldn’t take too kindly. You didn’t want to be the one to jeopardize that.

Luckily, you wouldn’t have to deal with that. On this current weekend that dwelled upon you, your mother was out on a business trip that would pay her more money than usual. You thought it’d be perfect to celebrate your dear friend’s birthday on the day you had zero supervision.

There you stood outside of Law’s car, dowsing your body in your handy perfume to dull the pungent smell of weed. As soon as your body smelled more like strong chemicals than the infamous drug, you stood there satisfied and waited for your tall, tatted boyfriend to arrive.

“Sorry, that idiot Shachi moved my keys and we spent ages trying to find them” Your boyfriend huffed after he bolted to the car. You had been standing beside the vehicle for a few minutes and figured Law had been so high, he'd forget about your newfound plans. You giggled.

“I thought you passed out. I was ready to hijack your car” You watched him walk to the driver's side to finally unlock the doors.

“Just because your car is bad doesn’t mean you have to steal mine, sweetheart” He laughed. He placed a hand on the headrest to turn his body towards the back window. You watched him pull out of the driveway, and this position was oddly attractive to you.

“Hey, my car isn’t that bad! Respect your elders!” You crossed your arms. Law just replied with a chuckle and turned his body to proceed down the road.

Now, in contrast to the first few visits you had in Law’s car, he had a tender hand squeeze your thigh each drive you had with him. Each time you felt his printed hand on your thigh, you formed a sheepish smile with tinted cheeks. You’d gaze at it like it was painting in a museum each car ride. Sometimes, Law would rub your thigh as a silent way of saying ‘I love you, and I got you’, and you’d feel a fuzzy blanket form around your body each time. Sure, Law displayed a stone-cold, nonchalant attitude in front of anyone, including you, but he did the subtle things that made you feel loved.

“How many people are going to be at the party?” Law asked. You were locked on your phone that you were mindlessly scrolling onto to pass the time. You hum and click your tongue at Law’s question.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of the school came. I invited everyone” You replied. Law blew a raspberry with widened eyes, seemingly not expecting an answer like that.

“Good luck cleaning that up, (F/N)-ya” He reminded. You shrugged, fully aware of what the aftermath may look like but your mother wouldn’t be home until after the weekend came to a close so you had plenty of time to tidy up the reckless mess.

“You’re coming, right?” You asked, turning your head to the focused driver beside you.

“Yeah, I will. Just for a little, I don’t do parties” Law sighed. Law didn’t want to go at all but considering his partner was going to be there, probably intoxicated, he had no other choice but to go.

“Party pooper…” You muttered.

“Don’t make me cry, (F/N)-ya”

Law finally pulled up to your home only to see two other cars in front you were familiar with, unlike your boyfriend beside you. His overprotectiveness completely washed over, making the grip on your thigh get firmer. You giggled, admiring his protectiveness.

“Relax, it’s just Nami and Sabo. I gave them keys to my place just in case I was late” Those words eased up Law’s tension.

You both exited out of the car and into the house. Law was right behind your tail, keeping a comfortable distance. Although he had his hands in his pockets and his head turned away, you knew he always had his guard up to protect you. You secretly gave a sweet smile before entering the building.

“(F/N)! You’re here!” Nami, who was standing straight up on your kitchen island hanging decorations, gleams at your entrance. You gave the orange-haired girl a happy wave.

Sabo comes cautiously down the stairs with a box of what seemed to be more party supplies. He placed the box down beside the couch, wiping off his forehead and exhaling.

“Good to see you, (F/N). Oh, and you too Law” Sabo greeted. Law only hummed nonchalantly at Sabo’s greeting. Your eyes trailed to a tall, bulky, green-haired man sprouting from the same steps Sabo was once on.

“Zoro?” You asked. He cluelessly looked in your direction and just waved his hand.

“Oh, yeah I brought him along to help with the heavy lifting and stuff” Nami finished hanging the decorations up top and plopped on her bottom on the island.

“Awesome! Now we have two tall guys helping out” You giggled, turning up to your tiresome boyfriend behind. Law placed a hand on your head before he strutted passed you.

“Let’s get to work. Party’s in a few hours” He says, lifting the party box on the counter to lift the lid off.

Everyone agrees and proceeds to finish decorating the house from top to bottom in decorations. Each piece of decor was a shade of red or orange for Ace’s typical color pallet. On the very front, big shiny lettering displayed ‘Happy Birthday, Fire Fist Ace!’ and under displayed an ‘18’ at the bottom. All that was left was food, drinks, and, of course, the guests.

“Sanji should be coming with the food soon. Zoro is getting the booze” Nami stated. You happily clapped your hands together in excitement, knowing that your dearest friend would be through the roof of happiness by this party.

“Why do I have to get the booze!?"

“Because you’re always drinking, moron! Be useful!”

“I have been, you witch! I might as well have skipped gym day today with all this heavy lifting I’ve been doing!”

“Oh, shut up! You’re lucky I’m not even compensating you that much for the drink run”

“You what!?”

You giggled at the big brother, little sister troupe Zoro and Nami displayed. You felt a hand turn your body to meet a bigger, taller one. You looked up to see your exhausted boyfriend standing in front.

“I’m gonna head out and study for my medical exam. I’ll see you at the party, okay?” He held your hands from below. You exhaled, the sight of those dark circles was concerning to you.

“Are you sure you won’t overwork yourself? You’ve been studying for this exam forever. You’ve barely gotten sleep!” You trailed your thumb to his dark eyes. Law carved a side smile.

“Relax, I’ll be fine. I wanna pass this, that’s all” He grabbed your hand that lingered on his face to give it a quick peck.

“I’ll miss you…” You murmur. Law plants a soft kiss on your forehead and ruffles your hair once more.

“I’ll be here soon, don’t worry. Be safe” He gave you one tender embrace before pulling away to leave the house. You gave him a small wave, slightly pained to see him go so soon.

“You two must be really happy with each other,” Nami says from behind. You hum and turn your body. Nami was far from wrong. You smiled proudly.

“Of course, he’s the sweetest if he’s not a sarcastic prick” You giggle. Nami smiles, sliding her body off of the marbled island.

“I honestly thought you and Ace would be together, not ever Law” Nami giggled, stretching her body.

You couldn’t help but exhale a nervous laugh, not really sure of what to think by that statement. You were sure you strictly displayed your and Ace’s relationship as sibling-like. On top of the fact, you took pride in your relationship with Trafalgar.

“I’d rather die than be in a relationship with that idiot” Is all you could muster up. Sabo and Nami exchanged laughter at your comment. You decided to brush off the discomfort for now.

Law, not even a few feet off the steps, heard the conversation from beyond the door. Nami’s comment made his heart sting just a bit, already slightly on edge of your inseparable relationship with the fire fist. He just exhaled and proceeded to his own car to make his merry way back home.

・❥・

Law found himself staring at a blank notebook page with a cracked open textbook that’s been sitting on the same anatomy page for over a half an hour. He had his clouded head resting on his palm, tapping his mechanical pencil on that same blank page. Law barely studied for his upcoming exam, mainly because it wasn’t necessary, but also because his brain was preoccupied from you.

The boy found himself wondering why of all people you chose him to be with and not Ace. Law wasn’t the insecure type, but based off of Nami’s judgment and assumption, it left him a pit of despair. He loved you, dearly, but he couldn’t help but wonder why he got to have this type of relationship with you. He internally began to make a venn diagram of him and Ace with their talents and attributes. So far, Ace slowly exceeded. To prevent his mind from going further into the trenches, he drew a quick sketch of your own side profile—knowing it from the back of his hand. He smiled, seeing how it progressively began to look more like you. His heart was truly full of nothing but you, aside from music and art of course.

Law’s phone finally buzzed.

(F/N) - 8:46 P.M

[Attachment: 2 Images] how does this outfit look???

There you sent two images to Law of yourself. One of which was, what he thought, your adorable face, and the second was the single weakness Law had upon seeing it. You wore a dress that wrapped around your body beautifully and Law felt his cheeks burn up several degrees. He felt his thumbs tremble before beginning to type a response.

Law - 8:48 P.M

thank god i’m going or else everyone would be gawking over you

(F/N) - 8:49 P.M

never saw you as the jealous type <;33 i’ll see you soon, luv i love you

Law smiled at your message, completely at ease by your simple notification. All his negative thoughts began to wash away knowing you loved him just as much as he loved you. Finally, Law began to scribble down words that were relevant to the medical field.

Meanwhile, you were welcoming guests inside. You wanted everyone to arrive before Ace did, and you had the perfect plan for it. No one spoke a word to the jock about his surprise birthday party just as you asked. Sanji was cooking in your kitchen, despite him already bringing platters upon platters of food. He insisted, all while rather flirtatiously, to you that’d he cook a bit more considering Luffy would be running around. Zoro already helped himself to some alcohol but that was no shocker to anyone. The last few stragglers came in until nine o’clock finally struck; the official time of the party.

“Alright everyone hide!” Nami instructed with her powerful voice. Everyone scrambled behind tables and the couch while you dialed the number of the birthday boy.

“Hello-“

“Ace Ace! Please come over now! I think a wolf broke in and I need your help!” You shrieked. Your tone made the party guests believe you for a moment before they realized it was fake. There might as well be an actual wolf.

“Wha-!? Seriously!? I'm on my way, just stay locked in your room or somethin’” Ace said frantically. You held in every bit of laughter in your system to avoid giving away your award-winning act.

“Hurry! I hear it coming up the stairs!” You say, finally hanging up the phone.

“Was that actually necessary?” Zoro said, sitting on a still on your kitchen island sipping on a glass bottle of beer. You glared at him.

“Yes, now go hide. He’s speeding down here as we speak” You pointed your finger. Zoro groaned and sluggishly leaned against a wall that was a fairly long distance from your door.

You peeked through the window that perfectly displayed your front yard. You could see familiar headlights in the long, night distance and scrambled to shut off the lights.

“He’s coming! Everyone be quiet!” You whispered.

Your hands yanked the party popper off a nearby table and held it in your hands. Your body hugged the wall right beside the door, intentionally avoiding where the door would slam against from Ace’s hands.

He burst the door. The sudden shockwave made your body flinch, you thought you almost gave yourself away for a moment. Ace was met with complete darkness, not to mention an intact house despite your cries for help. He expected the place to be in shambles.

“(F/N)!? Are you okay!?” He yelled out. At the sound of his worrisome voice, lights beamed at his freckled face as well as pieces of colorful paper from the party popper you carried.

"Surprise!"

The crowd cheered off in different pitches and volumes. The “audience” clapped and cheered, some even latching onto the man himself who was baffled, to say the least.

“What is this…?” Is all the brunette could say.

You giggled and wrapped your arms around his body. Your giggles, as well as your safe body, made Ace holler in laughter. Ace finally adjusted to the sudden shock and realized it was nothing but a false alarm.

“I was wondering how a wolf would come in if the door was closed” Ace spun your body around in circles before placing you back on your feet.

“You did all this?” He asked. You nodded, picking off bits of colorful paper off of his shaggy hair.

“Yep! All afternoon! Happy Birthday, idiot” You nudge his toned arm. Ace gave you a ruffle of your hair, similar to your boyfriend, and filled the room with more laughter.

The music was now blasting its way down your entire neighborhood, letting all the peaceful sleeping households know the party only just started. You raised a drink in the air with Ace and cheered, but little did you know that wouldn’t be your only drink of the night.

About an hour into the celebration, you were growing slightly tipsy, but you could still speak coherently and control your thoughts. The door opened, revealing a familiar presence you have been missing for hours.

“Laaaaaaw~” You sang, latching your entire body on the raven boy. He chuckled, supporting your loopy body with an arm. He was met with chaste, sloppy kisses on his cheek and lips.

“Hey, hey…” He pulled you off by your shoulders to get a better look at your slightly intoxicated face. He planted a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Missed me that much?” He smiled. You nodded profusely.

“Always” You giggle.

You pull Law into a larger crowd. Seeing the immense crowd was a one-way ticket for his social anxiety to flood his insides, already wanting to bolt out that very door he walked into. Law signed up for this the moment his hand turned that same doorknob, though. Besides, he did this for you and only you. He promised to only stay for about an hour or so.

But Law felt himself wanting to leave earlier. Your clinginess only lasted so long until your body became glued to the man of the Party; Portgas D. Ace. Law drank bottles of beer to fit in, but realistically only had a drink or two. He watched from afar to your friendliness to the birthday boy. He felt himself wanting to smash the bottle in hand and swing it over someone’s head from his pent-up anger.

“I can’t believe (F/N) isn’t dating Ace! I thought they were together until she posted that she’s going out with that Trafalgar guy!”

“I know, right? They’re still cute though”

“But I thought Ace and her would’ve been the cutest!”

“You’re not wrong!”

Those words would be jumbled around over the course of the night Law stayed. He had to faintly hear almost every conversation about it on the sidelines. All his insecurities came flooding back from a small cooldown, but this time you weren’t there to help it relax. In fact, Law felt like you only made it worse.

As soon as he caught a glimpse of you with your arm around Ace’s broad shoulders sharing the same bottle, he felt like he lost it. He threw his bottle somewhere on the table, completely soiling whatever was in its radius.

To be frank, you were drunk out of your mind. What started as a slight buzz turned into a complete blackout. You weren’t thinking. If you were sober, you’d hate to be this close to Ace but nothing stopped either of you. Ace was just as, if not more, intoxicated as you were. Although, neither of you did anything with each other besides drink and obnoxiously sing the lyrics of the songs loudly playing around you.

You felt your arm have a sudden, firm grip around it and detach your arm away from the drunken jock. You yelped. Ready to start throwing punches at whoever grabbed you, you realized it was none other than Law himself. He dragged you upstairs where no one stayed, and the music was beginning to muffle out. The hallway was dark and mellow. You had a loopy, dumbfounded face while Law had eyes ready to murder. He held a strong grip on your shoulders.

“(F/N)-ya I-“

“Babyyyyyy~ I missed youuuu~ Where have you been?” You slurred, swaying your body left and right before you leaned your face against his. Law quickly jolted his head away, which was completely new to you. You raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, what gives? You don’t like my kisses anymore?” You puffed out your bottom lip dramatically before coughing out a fit of giggles.

“Stop, you’re so drunk I can smell it off of you,” Law said, completely unamused. You rolled your eyes and pressed your back against the wall.

“Whatever, whatever. What’s upppp~? In the mood to make out or somethin’?” You winked. Law scoffed, his patience wearing dangerously thin.

“Stop it, (F/N). Please” He said sternly. The fact he didn’t use the iconic nickname he gave you made you pause, but still wobble on your own balance.

“Look, you’ve been glued to Ace all night and… I need you to cut it out. Get some rest while you’re at it” Law said with a pained sigh. You burst into a fit of laughter. The jealous boy couldn’t help but lift an eyebrow.

“You’re funny, babe! C’mon, it’s his birthdayyyy~” You said, your body almost collapsing on itself the more you tried to stand still.

“(F/N), people are starting to think you’re cheating on me with that guy. Relax a bit, would ya? Please, I know your room is this way-“

Law tried extending a hand to escort you to your room, but a sloppy hand slapped it away. Law stared at you with hurt, yet angry, silver eyes. You couldn’t even make out his own face from the immense alcohol intake, but you could make out his words. You glared at him.

“Stop being such a party pooper, Law. I’m trying to have fun!” You scolded.

“Excuse me? So you dancing and being with him all night long is having fun? I’m right here!”

“And? It’s his birthday! Can I have fun just this one day, jeez!” You began to sound like a pre-teen yelling at their parents. Law felt like he was about to burst a blood vessel.

“I get that, (F/N)-ya but you're being ridiculous”

“Well, if you’re so bothered by it then just leave! You don’t even like parties so just leave me alone and let me have my fun! I set up this party, y’know!”

Your words might as well be a harpoon the way it plunged into Law’s heart. He stared at you with widened eyes, not saying a single word. Law couldn’t even give you the benefit of the doubt of the fact you were drunk off your mind so whatever you were saying was deemed fabricated and false because of how distraught he was by your words. The words didn’t hurt him as bad, though. What made everything a hundred times worse for the boy was your angry, careless expression to go along with it like it didn’t phase you a second that you shattered his heart.

“So can I go now?”

After those words, Law pushed passed you with zero remorse left. You were left there in the hallway, whose atmosphere was now filled with despair and animosity, all by yourself. You glared at Law with each step he took downstairs.

The crowd made its way for Law. His steps could bash someone’s skull in and his demeanor gave off the vibe he was about to murder anyone that dared spoke a word to him. Everyone grew quiet once the loud, slamming sound of the door echoed in the room. You stood up top on the steps with a careless smile.

“C’mon! Who said this party was over!?” You shouted, raising a fist. Everyone cheered to your voice as if nothing happened. As if you didn’t unknowingly ruin your relationship.

The rest of the lively night was a blur. The more you took, the more you began to lose control of your body and became blackout drunk. The last thing you remembered was screaming Happy Birthday over cake and everything went dark. To your surprise, you woke up in your bed the following morning.

You never thought sun rays could burn your eyes so bright in the morning but here you were. Wincing like a vampire as soon as you realized the bright morning sun flooded up in your windows to peek through your curtains. Your head was on the verge of exploding from the grueling headache. You winced as you sat up from your bed to realize you were still in your party attire, minus the absence of your heels.

“Fuck, what happened…” You murmured.

You didn’t hesitate to slip your body into more comfortable clothing compared to the tight dress causing more discomfort in your distressed state. Your legs were wobbly and weak but you still managed to make your way down the steps. The living room was not only several times brighter than your room but also looked like a hurricane went through it. A happy, morning Sabo was slowly cleaning up the place while the birthday boy was snoring on the couch with drool.

“Sabo?” You said groggily. Sabo flinched at your voice and quickly exhaled.

“You scared me, (F/N). Slept okay?” He asks with a smile, carrying a full black trash bag. You nod slowly, making your way to the messy kitchen.

“Last night was pretty crazy, huh?” Sabo hummed. He made sure his voice was quiet for you and Ace.

“I barely remember it…” You murmur. The main thing you focused on was grabbing a crisp bottle of water to soothe your body at least a little.

“I don’t doubt it. You were pretty crazy” Sabo gently placed the bag by the door with the rest of them. He began to continue cleaning the place little by little.

“I’ll help out,” You say, grabbing the wooden stick of the broom to sweep the floor from the party.

You two silently cleaned the place from top to bottom. The party aftermath left about five full bags of nothing but trash. You dusted your hands together and shared a high five with Sabo now that the place was clean.

“Free of any evidence” Sabo chuckled. You nodded.

Nothing prevented you from slapping your hand against the slumped boy's cheek to wake him up. Ace didn’t budge until your force grew harder and harder. He groaned and flailed his arms around to push you away.

“Okay, okay I’m up!” His eyes still closed, he sat up from the couch and palmed his eyes. You gave one last light smack beside Ace’s head.

“Morning”

You sat in the seat across from him, yawning. Ace finally fluttered his eyes open with a scrunched-up face.

“What even happened last night?” Ace said groggily. Sabo sighed, ready to explain the chaos he caused.

“You were off the rails with (F/N)” Sabo replied. He turned his body to a growling coffee maker.

“Why are you two here, anyway?” You asked curiously. Ace just replied with a dumbfounded shrug. His response didn't surprise you a drop.

“You two were the drunkest people here, so I stayed to put you both to bed after I forced everyone out. The police were almost called by your neighbors” Sabo chuckled, pouring a steaming hot cup of coffee in a mug.

“Jeez, I guess I threw one hell of a party” You giggled. You flickered your eyes around to see a tall, raven-haired, tattooed boy but nothing. You thought Law would’ve stayed to nurse your hangover but to your surprise, he wasn’t there.

“Where’s Law?” You abruptly asked.

Both of the brothers exchanged eye contact like they knew the answer. Ace said he wasn’t going to be the one to say it through Sabo’s eyes, and he sighed in complete defeat.

“He… left long before the party ended. He seemed pretty upset”

You raised an eyebrow, completely dumbfounded. You traced back the entire night but could only see your moments with the hungover boy in front of you.

“Upset? Why would he be-“

The air in your lungs is suddenly squeezed out by your terrified gasp. Sabo jolted and Ace just looked completely concerned. It finally clicked. The angsty conversation you had with your boyfriend flickered in your brain enough for you to piece it together. You rose up from your seat so quickly, that you grew slightly lightheaded. Your head whipped around your surroundings.

“Wha-? What’s wrong, (F/N)?” Sabo shifted his body away from the kitchen and immediately to you, looking like you’d been attacked by a ghost.

“My phone! I need my phone!” You shrieked. Ace groaned, your voice piercing through his brain.

“I’ll help look. Ace! You too!” Sabo said sternly as if he was a mother of ten kids.

You, as well as the two brothers, scurried around to find your missing cellular device that could’ve been absolutely anywhere. Thanks to your foggy memory and reckless drinking habits, your phone was tucked away in an absurd hiding place that Ace ironically found. You gleamed at the mere sight of it, snatching it off his tired hands.

“What’s wrong anyway? Never seen you so passionate about your phone” Ace said, scratching the back of his head.

“I think I just ruined my relationship while I was drunk out of my mind…”

You frantically turned on your phone and saw that Law hadn’t messaged or called you once all night. That simple sight made your hopes plummet and your heart shatter. You realized this was entirely your fault and looking back at the argument made your heart sink even further.

“Sabo,” You said sternly. He felt a shiver run alongside his body. “Please tell me I didn’t do anything with Ace. Y’know, like…?” You said, insinuating anything that wasn’t platonic. Sabo frantically shook his head.

“No, no! Of course not! All you did was share drinks and be annoyingly loud” Sabo reassured. You exhaled in complete relief knowing you had the control to prevent anything from happening.

“If I so much as kissed that moron I would’ve jumped off a bridge”

“Same here, asshole!”

You quickly opened Law’s contact and didn’t hesitate to call his number. You realized it was rather early in the morning for him to be awake but it didn’t hurt to try. You felt like crying as soon as you heard his voicemail instead of the loving voice you desperately longed for in this current situation. You tried again, but the same fate occurred. You collapsed on the couch once again, sluggishly sitting there in complete defeat.

“No use?” Sabo asked. All you could do was give him a slow nod while you typed out a message to him for him to see when he awoke.

(F/N) - 6:56 A.M

hey law we need to talk. i remember what happened and i really need to talk to you. call me as soon as you can i love you..

The last message was something Law read over and over. Truth be told, Law didn’t sleep since he left your place full of anger and frustration. As soon as he got home, he let out a few tears that not even his guitar could dry. He sat on the corner of his bed in quiet sobs, not really wanting to throw you away by your drunken words. Despite that, your words still pained his already shambled heart past its extent. He couldn’t sleep. He knew the moment he’d shut his eyes, your words would only replay through his eyes.

So Law broke nightfall to now stare at your two messages. He read the ‘I love you’ and reconsidered your relationship with him. He figured that if that were true, you wouldn’t have said what you said back at the party. He didn’t want to talk to you—not yet. Law watched your caller I.D buzz until the line disconnected. Even if he did answer, he wouldn’t know what to say to you, let alone your physical face. He desperately wanted to grab the phone and cry to you about his feelings, but that sense of vulnerability petrified him more than anything as well as the fact that talking to you wouldn’t help his wounds. Law silently told you he wanted space.

Sabo and Ace ended up spending the entire day at your place to comfort your current lovers quarrel. They kept you good company in playing games with you and spending brotherly time together but that didn’t erase Law from your overthinking brain.

5:34 P.M. - You sat on the couch with a fuzzy blanket wrapped around your body. You stared blankly at a movie displaying in front of you on the big screen TV. Sabo was on the other end of the couch mimicking your demeanor, the only difference was he was actually intrigued with the movie.

“Ace, while you’re there can you pour me somethin’ to drink” Sabo called out from the living room. You could hear Ace sigh.

The room began to flood in with the buttery aroma of freshly made popcorn. Granted, it was made from the microwave but it was still delicious. You let out an audible sigh. Sabo noticed your distressed state never vanished all day since the morning. He’d catch you checking your messages to see if Law messaged you under your nose, but nothing. Your inbox was filled with notifications that didn’t matter to you. You only worried about your boyfriend.

“What am I gonna do at school tomorrow?” You asked. Sabo hummed while he averted his attention from the TV to you.

“With Law?” His question made you hum and nod. You couldn’t maintain eye contact with the blonde, but you could tell he was concerned. The aroma grew stronger when Ace plopped in the middle of you two with a steaming bowl of popcorn. Ace shoved a fist full into his mouth.

“Talk to him, duh” He muffled out. You rolled your eyes at the oblivious jock.

“Not as easy as it sounds, Ace” Sabo added. Ace pointed the bowl towards his brother while chewing on his mouthful of popcorn. “If he’s ignoring her online, what makes you think he’ll welcome her with open arms in person”

“I guess, but think of it like this” Ace grabbed the remote that lingered on the glass coffee table innocently. Ace paused the movie that was playing, which you weren’t even paying attention to, panning his attention between you and his brother.

“If he’s ignoring you online, he can’t ignore you in person? Hm?” Ace felt like he was the smartest person to ever walk the planet while you and Sabo gave him eyes that said otherwise.

“Ace, I’m sure he’ll just ignore me in person. Plus, I don’t want to embarrass myself” Sabo hummed in agreement.

“Besides, I think (F/N) must’ve hurt him so bad that he needs time to recover” Sabo hit you where it hurt and you flickered your eyes away in embarrassment. Sabo cringed. “Sorry, (F/N)… Didn’t mean it that way-“

“I get it. No reason to sugarcoat it…”

The two sat in silence for a moment. They equally felt bad for your current situation and seeing you hurt only pained them more. Sure, Ace was an oblivious, one-track-minded guy but he still cared for the people around him—especially you. Sabo was in the same boat.

“I think you should give him some space until Tuesday or so…” Sabo recommended and you couldn’t object.

“What did you even say to him anyway?” Ace abruptly asked. He leaned back against the couch with his arms spread. He rolled his head towards you.

Ace’s question made you realize you kept whatever you told Law a secret. This entire time they’ve been clueless of the actual situation and assumed it was pretty bad for Law’s ghosting absence. You felt cold and bare, despite being wrapped in warmth, when you opened your mouth to explain.

“I barely remember, but he said he was uncomfortable with how I was with Ace last night and I told him to just leave…” Is all you can manage to describe the quarrel. You saw Ace cringe at your explanation, knowing that he was a major part of it. Sabo was left somewhat speechless.

“To be honest, I figured that was the case” Sabo spoke. You shrugged in defeat.

“Yeah, that’s sort of embarrassing…” Ace exhaled, rubbing his back as a nervous stim. “Does he know about our relationship?”

“I’ve told him numerous times but I guess I was just too clingy because I was drunk and it was your birthday”

“Well, take this as a learning experience to never drink like that again” Sabo laughed. His slight sprinkle of humor to the painful situation made a soft giggle escape your lips.

“First and last time…”

Suddenly, the doorknob from behind began to jiggle and rumble. A shiver went down your spine, wondering whoever this was trying to break into your home. Your delusions began to take over and the only person you could think of popped out of your mouth as the door swung open. Your legs moved on their own to an abrupt rise from your seat, the blanket pouring onto the floor.

“Law…?”

The door revealed an exhausted, tall woman sighing in complete relief to be in the comfort of her home. She tossed her keys by the steel bowl beside the door where the rest of the keys lingered. Your body relaxed at the sight of someone you didn’t expect to see, while the two brothers smiled in delight.

“Hey mom…”

You say lowly. Your mother smiled, seeing the surprise of both brothers in front of her. She hugged them both ever so lovingly, leaving a tighter embrace around your disappointed body. You were happy to see your mother, of course, but you oddly expected the raven-haired boy instead to come out and spin you in his toned arms.

“What are you boys doing here while I’m gone?” She said, her voice spewing a bit of animosity towards you. You remembered she strictly told you to not have anyone over unless it was an emergency.

“(F/N) was helping us study for a really important exam before Christmas Break. Sorry if you didn’t want anyone over” Sabo saved your skin to your mother, who had eyes ready to pull you by your ear to lecture you. You silently thanked him.

“Well, I expected nothing less from my little scholar” She giggled.

“Why don’t you two stay for dinner and I’ll drop you rodents back home. Sounds good?” She gleamed, her hands placed on her hips.

You hear the two agree with excitement. You sighed, hoping your lovingly warm mother's cooking would warm your tainted heart. You decided to cover the lover's quarrel with your mother to keep that perfect picture in her head. That is until the dreading thought of you two breaking up occurred. It was all you thought about. It’d make your stomach turn and your throat tighten at the mere thought. It’s only been a couple months or so, but you loved Law more than anything. Knowing that you were the very cause of your perfect relationship only made you want to crumble before everyone.

That night you lay in the comfort of your bed, imagining what would happen in the familiar hallways of the building you were scheduled to arrive to the following morning. It’d be exactly like how it was the very first time you met the boy. You didn’t expect him to hold you in that tight, warm embrace he’d usually do whenever you were stressed or overwhelmed. He wouldn’t kiss you with those lovingly soft lips with an arm on your back that silently spoke; ‘I’ve got you’. He’d push passed you like you were a stranger with those mysterious, steel eyes. Only this time, those eyes had more sadness and sorrow buried within them than before.

The imagery flashed before your eyes, and in your, what you thought would be, peaceful slumber. You didn’t have high hopes of getting good enough sleep that night. With your body coiled in a fetal position and your arms tucked in your chest, you can only think of saying one thing.

“We’ll be okay, Law…”

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𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔

✎ ❝ idc law smokes weed because just LOOK at the people hes surrounded with. anyway ive been slacking so much so im sososososos sorry but YAYYYY ITS OUTTT since im more than halfway, im thinking of making a new novel long after this one is over so if you have any suggestions id love to hear it!! thank you so much for the massive recent support, i genuinely love everyone that enjoys my work YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!! ❞

All licensing and ownership belong to Eiichiro Oda

#fanfic #op x reader #one piece #x reader #law x reader #one piece x reader #trafalgar one piece #law fanfic #trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #op law #angst

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lost-decade · 18 days

Note

For the trope fic, 79. anger born of worry, brocedes (if you still write them ) or any ships to your liking ❤️

Hi anon, apologies for how long it took me to do this! The trope prompt was to write a mash up of two different tropes so as you only gave me one I picked another to go with it (after much deliberation). So, this is 'anger born of worry' + 'war AU'.

I'm pretty sure you weren't after a 1930s set brocedes ficlet with crossdressing and the looming but unspoken threat of WWII, but that's sort of what this is.

Nico contests Monaco in '36, the rain pelting down and the chaos rising lap by lap. There are so many wrecks at the exit of the tunnel, impossible to identify which cars have met their demise. Even the radio doesn’t quite have it right. Lewis can’t watch, nursing a beer in a bar near Tabac as the race unfolds. The information is garbled and he tells himself he doesn't care, what does it matter, if Nico wants to kill himself out there. It's not really his problem.

“You're still angry. Really?”

Lewis glances at him, he's sweaty and dirty and beautiful, soaked to the skin. Lewis says nothing when Nico takes the flower garland from around his neck and drapes it over Lewis’, he just removes it straight away, handing it back.

“Am I expected to congratulate you on third place? The Nico I know wouldn't be satisfied with that.”

“The Nico you know wants to race.”

The what are you doing this year goes unspoken. Lewis will race, will be racing. Fucking soon. He’s just in between drives, trying to sort out his funds. There are opportunities, plenty of them. Despite the shadow that seems to be creeping over all of this, darkening their world.

“You would have raced,” Nico protests, trying to fix his hair. “Don't pretend you wouldn't.”

“In those conditions, I'm not sure I would. Or maybe only in a car I thought I'd win in.”

“It was anyone's.”

“Not yours, though. Not against the regenmeister.”

“Fuck Caracciola.” Nico laughs. But it's easy for him to laugh. Lewis reads the newspapers. Nico prefers not to. He lowers his voice. “But I would rather fuck you. Obviously.”

“Obviously.” Lewis says. He would have raced today. Of course. But Nico doesn't need to know that.

When they get back home to Berlin it's the same but different, just like it is each time now. The clubs are all boarded up, there's another friend who's no longer around.

They get drunk in a basement flat, a party held by one of Nico’s friends, jazz on the radio and boys dressed as girls, an imitation of the Eldorado or the other places they used to go to.

Nico is beautiful in his cocktail dress, smoking cigarettes through a delicate holder, his eye makeup is perfect. Lewis loves him like this. He wants this. Wants racing, too. He suspects they won't get to have any of it. Even though Nico thinks they will.

“You look like Marlene Dietrich,” Lewis says as he jerks Nico off in the garden outside.

“There's this girl, Vivian,” Nico says later on, but Lewis doesn't want to hear.

“Do you ever think about the future?” Lewis asks, three years later. He finished ahead of Nico in the Finnish Grand Prix in Eläintarhan a few days ago, but it already feels long ago now. An accomplishment though, given how the crowd had cheered for Nico.

It's just the two of them out back of Nico's family home just outside Wiesbaden, passing back and forth a bottle. The land is sprawling, idyllic. Late May, the cusp of summer. It feels as if the rest of the world doesn't exist.

“I think about us,” Nico replies, but there's a ring on his finger now, a child waiting to be born.

“I was thinking I might go back to England.” Lewis raises the champagne bottle to his lips, takes a swig.

Nico makes a face. “Vivi's father will make sure we're safe you know. He has some friends. If…”

“If?” Lewis pokes.

“You're a great driver, Lewis. Fight you for the championship, next year.”

“Or America, maybe.”

“What's in America?” Nico asks, taking the bottle, fitting his mouth where Lewis’ had just been.

“I don't know man.” The wedding ring glints on Nico's finger. He doesn't dress up anymore. Even the underground parties have dwindled. “What's here?”

#brocedes #my fic #this was an idea i had years ago but never ended up writing #it just kind of lives in my head now #obviously channeling christopher isherwood

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not7wu · 7 months

Text

Chapter Four: A Crappy Day

Recap: You survive dinner with the boys and even manage to have a conversation with Jin that doesn't go to shit. Even though you are starting to understand the affection these boys have for you, you are beset with worries and anxieties in the cover of night. All is quieted though when you end up in Jin's arms and you can finally sleep.

This office building isn’t very big and you need a place to hide. The basement is not an option because Tae might be in one of the practice rooms. He’ll immediately know something is wrong and you don’t want to distract him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This morning, you spilled coffee on important documents, accidentally sent an old draft of a contract instead of the updated version to be signed, and just now, you deleted an entire employee file from the computer system. Jieun, your cubicle buddy, told you it wasn’t that big of a deal. They were all fixable mistakes. You reprinted the documents, emailed the very patient vendor to switch out the contracts, and thankfully, there was a hardcopy of the employee file that you scanned back into the system. Regardless, you’ve been at Big Hit for three months, so you shouldn’t be making such clumsy mistakes.

You’re taking a late lunch because it took some time to rebuild the employee computer file. You wanted to avoid the sympathetic looks of the other employees anyway, so this works in your favor since the staff break room should be empty by now. Your relief is pulled up short when you spot a figure napping in the corner. Someone is slumped over one of the back tables. This person’s white hoodie and jeans is a far cry from business casual, so they aren’t an employee, but now you don’t know what to do.

Nervously tugging on the hem of your blouse, you remind yourself that the basement is off limits and debate if you should hole up in the bathroom, but there’s only one bathroom for the entire office. Resigned, you position yourself as far away from the stranger as you can and tuck into your sad three day old kimbap. You’re gonna give yourself until the end of your lunch to wallow and then pull yourself together. You have to. If you don’t, you’ll continue slipping up and get fired. You almost wanna quit out of shame and embarrassment, but can't because of Tae. Tae’s sad puppy eyes come to mind, radiating with disappointed understanding, none of which you can handle. The guilt would eat at you. The guilt is eating at you now.

The stranger is rousing. There’s movement under their hoodie. You pretend to occupy yourself on your phone, hiding your face behind a curtain of hair, but there’s no scraping back of a chair, or further rustling of clothes. Peeking at the stranger, a rodent pokes its head out from under the hoodie. Is that a mouse? Is this building so overrun with mice that they’re crawling around in people’s clothes? You shudder. It sniffs the air and takes tentative steps away from its cotton-blend sanctuary. It’s less mouse-like and more chipmunk.

The chipmunk thing scurries across the table and jumps, gliding to the ground. Oh, it’s a flying squirrel! With that, you’re able to deduce who the sleeping figure is. Making sure not to make any sudden movements, you carefully shuffle towards the slumped figure, making a wide circle around the flying squirrel who is cautiously keeping an eye on you.

Tae had introduced you to Jimin, but hadn’t introduced you to any of his other members yet. Honestly, there just hasn’t been any time. When Tae isn’t working, he’s practicing. And when you’re not working here, you volunteer at a youth center. Tae says he’ll introduce you to the rest eventually. You can tell he loves them and that they take care of him by the stories he tells. If they didn’t, you’d definitely do something about it. You may be a shy, anxious wreck 99% of the time, but no one messes with your Tae.

So, without Tae or a reason for a false sense of bravado, you’re not ready for this particular introduction. You shift your weight from foot to foot as you waffle on whether you should just pretend you didn’t see anything and leave. Don’t be a coward. You brace yourself and poke the sleeping idol.

Kim Seokjin jerks up, hood sliding off to reveal hair sticking out in different directions. Except for the hair, the stylist unnies obviously don’t need to do much. Seokjin’s face is perfection even with red sleep lines pressed to his cheek. His sculpted cheekbones and the upturn of his nose provide him with a regal air as he turns his pouty lips and narrowed, sleepy eyes at you, You’re taken aback when he scowls at you, voice dripping with irritation.

“Do you work here, or did you wander in?”

You’re immediately on your guard. You can understand his wariness, but you haven’t even done anything. In fact, you’re trying to help him out. Your own irritation flares to life. “I work here.”

“Really? Well, I’m exhausted and even if you are an employee, you have no business waking me. You should also know asking for autographs or pictures will get you fired, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

His tone is icy and condescending and you SNAP. “Well, my day has been crap, my lunch has been crap, and even if you are tired, you have no business being crappy to me. You should also know that your pet has escaped.” You point at the flying squirrel, who has made careful progress towards the open door. Kim Seokjin shoots up, knocking his chair to the floor, which startles both you and the rodent, making you stumble back and the rodent to make a mad scramble out the door.

“Fuck! Odeng! Stop!” Seokjin shouts, running after it. Rolling your eyes, you right the chair, stuff the rest of your gimbap into your mouth, and march out of the room. You are Y/N, Seoul graduate, and employee of Big Hit. You worked hard to get to where you are and no one is allowed to make you feel crappy, except yourself!

You spend the rest of the day fielding calls, finishing your assignments with precision, and getting started on tomorrow’s deadlines. You’re so fired up, you even find time to help your coworkers with their tasks. You don’t even realize it’s the end of the day until Jieun pulls you away from your computer.

Your desk partner, Lee Jieun-ssi, is a nice girl who’s been showing you the ropes. She’s older, but shorter than you, a petite, sweet girl who is playful, but no-nonsense. Her friendly and concise mentorship made you like her immediately, grateful to have her as your cubicle buddy. She hands you your jacket.

“Don’t work too hard or you’ll make the rest of us look bad,” she teases. “Let’s go out for drinks. Jin gave us some money for the first two rounds.”

“Kim Seokjin-ssi?”

“Yeah. It was weird. Sometimes the boys will chip in to buy us coffee or bring us snacks for employee appreciation, but they can barely afford that since they’re still just up and coming. It’s the first time one of the guys has treated us to drinks.”

You feel a bit leery, your chest tight. “He didn’t say why he was giving us the money?”

Jieun shrugs. “He said to turn a crappy day into a good night.”

—

You wake up face swollen and feeling crusty, next to a sprawled out, drooling Jin. The indignity of his sleeping form is endearing and you may watch him for a bit like a creep before rousing him for dance practice. Half awake, he trudges around the room to get ready for his day as you continue to lay there, studying him and reflecting.

In the dark of night, you and Jin had lain intertwined. There was no sexual charge, no fluttering, pounding of the heart. Simply an ease and contentedness of trust. But the light of day dilutes it with the reminder of your first morning, because Jin did lie to you. He lied about you passing out from drunkenness, which went against Rule Two. You don’t know why you’re so fixated on this lie. Maybe it isn’t as big of a deal as you think it is, but then why lie at all? When you’re next to Jin, you feel settled, so why is this one point so unsettling?

Your dream last night was also unsettling because it was so vivid you can still feel your irritation and leeriness. It was a memory. Are these the beginning steps to regaining your memories? What was the trigger? Was it Jin’s offhand remark on how you met? Was it Jin’s presence? Was it the mention of Odeng? Or was it coincidental and simply the passing of time? And Jin said he had bedazzled you at your first meeting, but if the dream really was a memory of your meet-cute, it was just shy of disastrous. How did you two ever even become friends?

You school your face into a smile when Jin waves his farewell to you. Jin is busy and you decide you’ll ask him about it when he isn't in a rush to get to the dance studio. Tuning into the distant sound of the boys horsing around, you drag yourself out of bed as soon as you hear the front door close behind them when they leave. All is silent, which is bad for you. You are gonna need something to occupy yourself with before you spiral into overthinking.

Wandering into the main living area, you discover Hobi cutting up fruit.

“Hobi-oppa. What are you doing here?” you blurt in surprise.

“I’m spending the day with my lil sis,” he grins, holding up an orange wedge over his smile. Despite your reassurances that you’ll be fine on your own, he whips out a spool of elastic and boxes of beads saying the only way to renew your friendship is with friendship bracelets. You give in because Hobi is adorable and there’s a part of you that is relieved, so you both spend the whole day making bracelets and watching Running Man.

The next day, Jimin stays behind claiming his ankle is hurt. This is quickly refuted when he destroys you in the ensuing rounds of Just Dance, the twinkle in his eyes daring you to comment on it. The following day, Jungkook and Taehyung tackle you awake, dragging you to a PC room to play Gang Beasts and Fall Guys. The next couple of days are much the same, one or two of the boys each taking turns to hang back to keep you company in the condo, occasionally interrupted and shooed out by the cleaning ajumma so she can work.

It’s such a whirlwind of fun and peace that you can’t find the right time to bring up your dream memory. You’re worried that this development will change how they interact with you. Hobi is ecstatically chipper, no stern Hoseok in sight. Yoongi is less wary and watchful and participates with you more. Jungkook finally feels safe enough to be boldly bratty with you. Namjoon is less embarrassed around you. Jin is much more relaxed and silly. And Jimin and Tae…well, you’re sure they’ll always be the same teasing silly duo, treating you the same no matter what version of you is present, which makes you happy. The point being, you feel like you’ve finally found your stride with them and you don’t want them to go back to being so careful around you. And you really are so thankful, heart full of soft fondness and cute aggression in the face of their increasingly obvious excuses to make sure you are never alone, but by the next week, the guilt is eating you up because you are definitely getting in the way of their schedules.

Yoongi bookmarks his page, as you throw down the romance novel you’ve been reading. You are both lying under a blanket fort that the both of you constructed in the living room. He lifts an eyebrow at you, silently questioning.

“Did the love triangle implode?” he asks wryly.

“This can’t continue,” you groan.

“They might still become a polyamorous couple. I heard that the author is very progressive.”

“Yoongi-oppa! I’m not talking about the book. You guys can’t keep staying home with me.”

He sits himself up, rubbing his shoulder. “But it’s a nice break.”

“And I know you boys deserve it.”

“Plus, we love spending time with you.”

The sincerity in his tone almost has you dismissing this whole conversation so you can crawl back into the safe space they have created for you, but you muscle through knowing its for the good of everyone.

“This isn’t sustainable. We can’t go on like this. Why don’t I just follow you guys around so you can keep your schedule? You’re always surrounded by an entourage anyway. What’s one more face masked employee?”

Yoongi sets his book down and pulls you up to a sitting position so he can look you in the eye. “We’re not worried about people seeing you. We just don’t wanna overwhelm you.”

Would you be overwhelmed? Probably. But the panic of the first day has subsided to a manageable level. With the boys’ help, you’ve fallen into an easy pattern, opening up and becoming more comfortable with being yourself around them. You are confident you can cope with any anxious hiccups that could potentially arise. Judgment made, you throw yourself at Yoongi, bowling him over. He hugs you securely as you mumble into his shirt.

“I swear I’ll be fine, Yoongi-oppa.”

He silently strokes your back for a contemplative minute and then sighs in mild disappointment, “This really was a nice break.”

—

“One, two, three, four! Five, six, seven, eight! Bah, Bah! Bada, bah!” Hoseok counts out the beats as he prowls around the studio, scrutinizing the boys as they go through their formations. They’ve been going at it for hours, covered in sweat, but diligently run the choreography again and again.

After the boys came home yesterday, you sat the boys down and insisted on accompanying them to work so they don’t fall behind schedule, pointing out that it’d also be a good way to acclimate you to reality. They argued passionately that you should take your time and rest, but you’ve been feeling antsy and useless. You even started cleaning the condo just to feel productive, but stopped when the cleaning ajumma started giving you death glares for doing her job.

Before the boys had arrived, Yoongi had told you that if you really wanted something, you had to stay persistent because none of them really had the heart to say no to you, and he was right. You stubbornly held your ground and eventually you all came to a compromise. You had to promise that if you felt even slightly overwhelmed, you would speak up–no hiding your anxiety, or panic–and then one of them would accompany you home.

You almost regretted your decision because dinner was a little tense after that, the boys worriedly going over company protocols, safety procedures and checking in, making sure you memorized everything. The checking in part didn’t make sense to you because they said they’ll swipe you in, but if you’re an employee, why can’t they give you an employee card to swipe in yourself? You suspect they’re trying to make sure you don’t wander off.

That’s how you find yourself sitting at a table in the corner of the dance studio with Jin’s manager, Hobum, a bear of a man who gives off fatherly vibes, and his hoobae, Jungkook’s manager, Jiwon. They deal you cards for another round of godori. This is the tenth time today they’ve gone over winning hands, but you’re still having trouble picking up on the mechanics of the game. Their endless patience is impressive, but being managers of the boys, patience must be a survival skill.

You blame your distraction on the boys of course. The whiplash from their precise, seductive moves to their goofy hijinks makes it hard to stay focused and invested in the game. For example, take this very moment. The seasoned managers are once again explaining how to count points among the four subcategories of cards, but your eyes keep sliding to Yoongi’s stilted movements.

He just cannot get the body roll down to the beat. It’s much too sharp, an almost violent hip thrust. You purse your lips, but you’re pretty sure the managers already know your attention is split. They quirk their eyebrows at the squeak that escapes from your throat, despite your best efforts to hold in a guffaw. Hoseok tells the boys to take a break and pulls Yoongi aside to demonstrate the body roll to a syncopated count. Yoongi tries again. Hip thrust. Hoseok repeats his body roll and Yoongi…thrusts harder. The maknaes have no qualms about mocking and copying Yoongi’s air hump, giggling and collapsing in a pile of limbs on the hardwood floor.

“Ya! Why is this so difficult?!” Yoongi huffs. His hips deliberately jackrabbit and even dance leader Hobi can’t stop himself from laughing when the rest of us deteriorate into a mess of chortles. The managers lean back, lips quirked in amusement.

Hobi runs through the body roll again, but this time slowly. Each part of his body isolates as he rolls from top to bottom. Yoongi’s eyes widen. “How did you make it look harder than before?!”

Namjoon doubles over, wheezing at Yoongi’s despair, which makes him easy prey to the maknaes who absorb him into their pile on the ground. Finally giving up on all pretenses of playing godori, you propose, “You could just change the body roll to hip thrusts permanently. Army would be agreeable to that, I bet.”

“You don’t think it’ll take away from the meaning of the song?” Jiwon inquires, distractedly collecting all the cards.

Jin snorts. “Cuz’ a body roll does a much better job to emphasize how corporate capitalism is the glass ceiling that perpetuates classism.” He manages to pull Namjoon out from the maknae trap and they retreat to a different side of the room.

“Don’t discount the power of a hip thrust,” Jimin crows, thrusting his own hips from where he lays on the floor. “They’ll find the meaning. We’re leading Army to water, and hip thrusts will make them drink it.”

Namjoon grimaces. “You make us sound like a cult,” he says, pained, at the same time you say, “Then why are Army still thirsty after?”

You grin at the snickers elicited from Hobum and Jiwon. Hoseok rolls his eyes, but his exasperation is belied by his reluctant grin trying not to encourage us. He shakes his head. “No. Hip. Thrusts. We’ve already got enough in Baepsae, and Army are insatiable. Yoongi, I know you know how to body roll. Was Black Swan a fever dream to you???”

Hoseok flicks Yoongi’s forehead and personally instructs him again. Jimin and Tae are starfished on the ground goading Jungkook who is now playing hopscotch around their limbs. Namjoon and Jin, in murmured conversation, are sharing a water bottle between them. And the managers begin discussing the day’s schedule. You lean back in your chair and soak in the room’s thrumming energy.

Not long after, everyone gets ready to leave in different directions, Jin and the maknaes to a costume fitting and the rapline to record adlibs to a remixed version of Ugh.

“Who do you wanna shadow?” Jin asks, shrugging on his previously abandoned hoodie.

“Actually, I was thinking of heading to the HR Department? I wanna get a feel for where I’ll be working.” You’re not sure they’ll go along with your request, but you’ve been thinking that visiting your office would be a good way to mentally prepare yourself for a job you don’t remember how to do. You’re honestly surprised you still have a job considering it seems like you’re gone most of the time. “I promise not to leave the building.”

The boys hesitate, glancing at each other in silent conversation. You can already tell they’re trying to figure out who to leave behind with you. “Guys. I’ll be fine,” you insist.

This does nothing to reassure them. Their silent conversation becomes not so silent anymore as they start playing rock, paper, scissors to see who gets to stay with you. Desperate, you turn your biggest puppy eyes on the managers. Jiwon looks to Hobum, his senior, who unlocks his phone and types something out. Hobum returns his phone to his pocket and then winks a very Jin-like wink at you. He presses a finger to his lips to indicate silence and then gestures to shoo you towards one of the doors while the boys are distracted. Grinning and blowing a kiss to Hobum and Jiwon, you escape, the boys still playing best out of three.

—

You stand out as you wander around the building. You probably should have asked Hobum where your department is located. You’re a little out of place amongst the professionally dress employees. The boys had picked out your outfit, an all black ensemble of hoodie, jeans, baseball cap and a face mask, discretion being their goal. You pass by several individuals or groups who are dressed almost the same as you, and it’s not until you recognize Hoshi that you realize the casually dressed people must be trainees or idols.

You don’t have an employee card, which again doesn’t make sense to you, but you politely ask passing security personnel for help and they swipe you access to the elevator, directing you to the HR Department. You can’t tell if they recognize you as an employee, know you personally, or if security is just lax, but you decide not to push your luck with questions.

The HR Department is on the Ninth Floor and takes up an entire corner of the building, a huge open space with partitionless desks scattered around and a lounging area for where employees can take a small break. Since it’s on a corner, two of the walls are floor to ceiling windows that let in all the daylight. You absolutely love it. Everyone is working hard, keyboards clacking, a multitude of different conversations going on, but the atmosphere is relaxed and not as intimidating and stuffy as you thought it’d be.

As you wander around trying to locate your desk, all the employees greet you familiarly, smiles and relief that you’ve returned. It’s almost a overwhelming, but you’re able to casually return their distracted greetings, grateful no one tries to lock you into conversation. You don’t want to disappoint them by not recognizing them. You spot your familiar scrawl at one of the desks and sit yourself down. Your desk is neat, but your monitor is littered with sticky notes, reminders, memos, and even a copy of the infamous Bang PD-nim doodle. You laugh quietly to yourself and pick it off, wondering if Jungkook made it for you. Another sticky note is attached to the doodle, as if someone had peeled both of them together.

“Kim Cho-Hee is still at large. That’s why the boys are afraid to leave you alone.”

You don’t expect the visceral reaction at seeing the name. You feel lancing pain where you know the scars are on your body and it’s all you can do not to start hyperventilating next to all these strangers. You huddle your head in your arms against the desk, hoping to discreetly pull yourself together.

So, the sasaeng’s name is Kim Cho-hee. She apparently beat you into a coma and somehow she’s not in jail. How could this be? And it now makes sense why the boys are constantly hovering. You thought it was only about the memory thing, but their vigilance is to make sure Kim Cho-hee doesn’t get to you again. Why wouldn’t they tell you? Wouldn’t it be safer for you to know? Does this have to do with Rule Five?

A hand gently rubs your back in a soothing motion. Oh, crap. Someone is witnessing your breakdown. You carefully look up. The black hair of the woman standing over you is shorter than you remember, a shoulder length bob, but you immediately recognize this petite, sweet person.

“Jieun-ssi?”

Jieun grins, but you spy a flash of sadness. “I’ll always be your unnie and work-wife, Y/N. Leave the ssi for when we wanna annoy Yoongi, okay?”

“Okay, unnie,” you say hesitantly. It tastes foreign, yet familiar in your mouth. Jieun’s smile deepens, her cheeks bunching up so high, her eyes almost disappear. She’s so adorable, you can’t help but smile too, some of the tension sliding off you.

“Guess what?” she asks, suddenly, eyes wide in glee.

“What?” You can’t help getting drawn into her conspiratorial brightness.

Your eyes follow the direction to where she gestures towards a young woman across the room. “I think you won the bet. I thought Daeyon was just gaining weight, but you thought she was pregnant. She’s definitely gotten bigger and her roundness is more defined. Even if she hasn’t said anything, it definitely looks like a pregnancy.”

You observe the red headed woman as she carefully squats to sit in her chair. You can tell she chose to wear the peplum top and fashionably baggy blazer to hide her belly, but it really doesn’t help much. Something about her makes you sad and you don’t know why.

“We should respect her privacy,” you say more firmly than you intend. “Um, I mean. She might not be in a good situation, you know?”

Jieun laughs at your stumbling words. “No worries. You’re probably right. I picked a bad piece of office gossip to distract you with, huh? Oh, look, it’s Ji-Hoon. He works in maintenance.”

She points out Ji-Hoon who empties a wastebasket into his cart.

“You’re trying to distract me?”

“Yes, now hush. That’s Ji-Hoon. He’s very shy and skittish. He’s worked here for a couple years, but he’s the one regular maintenance guy who doesn’t socialize with us, or anyone. He just comes in, does his job, and then leaves without a peep.”

You’re about to look away, when you catch him slowly opening someone’s desk drawer and stealing a chocolate bar. You and Jieun look at each other and then break out into giggles.

Jieun says, “You and I have a bet going on when Jaebom is going to catch on that Ji-Hoon is the one stealing his snacks. He thinks it’s Daeyon because of pregnancy cravings, but he hasn’t said anything to her because she hasn’t said anything about her pregnancy.”

Ji-Hoon returns to his cart and Jieun calls out, “Hi, Ji-Hoon-ssi!”

A couple of the employees look up and Ji-Hoon’s eyes widen like a deer in headlights. He does a weird half bow and then shoves his cart out of the room, stumbling to the sound of Jieun’s giggles.

“See, what’d I tell you? Skittish.”

You stare at her. “You are evil.”

“I’m brilliant.” Jieun pretentiously flips her hair and you both break into giggles again.

Something drops from your hand, which sobers you instantly, seeing the name Kim Cho-hee staring back at you ominously on the floor. Jieun picks up the crumpled sticky note and reads it, her brows furrowed, muttering about men being annoyingly impossible. Sighing, she pulls back your rolling desk chair. “Come on. Let’s go have lunch and talk.”

—

The cafeteria is huge and the buffet is seemingly endless. Again, you’re both surprised and appreciative that despite the modern architecture of steel beams and glass, the building feels serene and inviting, like you’re standing in a greenhouse. Your tray is piled with jjajangmyeon, kimchi and a fried egg. You dig in as Jieun folds the note into some sort of origami.

“Have the boys been unbearable?” she asks, concentrating on smoothing the crumpled edges.

“Unbearable?”

“Being all overly protective, I mean.”

“Oh, well, I thought they were just a normal level of protective. I don’t have anything to compare this experience with, so I thought they were always like that.”

“To a degree, I suppose that’s true,” Jieun acknowledges.

“Are you friends with them too?”

“Well, they kind of came as a package deal with you, so I had no choice,” she teases.

“What a sacrifice on your part. Mother Theresa’s got nothing on you.”

“And you should remind those ungrateful brats for me.”

“Why don’t you remind them yourself?”

Jieun’s origami folding pauses almost imperceptibly, but there’s a thread of hurt in her voice when she says, “You’re kind of their whole world, so it’s hard to get a word in sometimes.”

“Oh.” You don’t really know what to say to that. The boys have treated you like family and taken care of you, but to be told you’re their whole world? Hearing it from a third party feels surreal. You feel awful though, your gut twinging. You don’t want your injury, or whatever this memory thing is, to monopolize their time. And you feel bad that in doing so, they’ve been neglecting Jieun. “I’m sorry I’ve kept the boys from you.”

“What?” Jieun drops the frog she folded from the note. “Don’t apologize about that.”

“But–”

“I’m actually more mad that they keep me from seeing you. I’m just glad Hobum-oppa texted me a heads up that you were coming in today.”

“Wait, what? They won’t let you see me?”

“They hole you up in their condo like dragons with a princess in a tower. Safe? Yes. But I don’t like how it isolates you. I’ve told them so many times that it isn’t healthy, AND it’s not healthy to keep secrets.”

Jieun makes the functioning frog jump into your half finished noodles.

“Can you tell me about–?” You can’t even say Kim Cho-hee out loud. The breath in your lungs grows stale as your heart pounds painfully against your sternum.

Jieun reaches across the table and gently holds your hand. “Kim Cho-hee is an American. She originally came to Seoul to teach English and then became a maintenance worker for the company. Now knowing she’s a saesang, we know she did it to get closer to the boys. You caught her going through trash to retrieve the boys’ sweaty tissues and used water bottles in one of the dance studios.”

None of what she says stirs any memory or recollection. You do want to remember, but you also don’t. There’s a fog along the edges of your mind, and the closer you get to it, the louder your entire being blares a warning to stay back while a whispering of phantom pain echoes all over your body, your muscles seizing as if anticipating the next blow. Shaking your head, you ask, “Did I fire her? Was she fired?”

“Not then and there. She covered up and said she lost an earring and thought it might have fallen into the bin. You shared your misgivings with the higher ups though and an investigation was commenced. Nothing concrete came of it though and she stayed on. You were not happy.” She hesitates. “The dust settled for a while, and then, we don’t know what happened after that. We found you in bad shape in the office. She had bashed your head with a keyboard, or at least we assumed she did. The cameras were going through maintenance, so nothing was captured of the incident, but the last note you had on your calendar was that you were going to talk with her. There wasn’t enough evidence to press charges, so we had to let her go. The guys were pissed and angry, but all we could do was blacklist her from the industry. She disappeared after that. No one has seen her since.”

Blacklisted by Big Hit and Hybe means she’d have trouble finding a job anywhere in Seoul, not just the music industry. It seems like Hybe and the boys did the best they could, but the cameras going through maintenance seems like too much of a coincidence. “Do you have a picture of her?”

“No. Her file was marked confidential and we aren’t allowed access to it by Bang PD-nim himself. You’ve tried digging into her in the past to an almost obsessive degree and they didn’t think it was good for your health.”

“They? You mean, the boys?”

“And Bang PD-nim.”

This entire time, you’ve been going with the flow, blindly following whatever the boys tell you, but you’re not so sure that’s the right thing to do anymore, especially now that you have this information. You can’t live the rest of your life coddled by them. And you can’t live with letting other people make decisions for you. Kim Cho-hee was still out there just living her life while you’re stuck on an endless loop. You silently despair at the injustice of it all.

Jieun removes the origami from your tray. She curls into herself, looking small and unsure, which doesn’t suit her. Softly, she says, “I think..I mean, I know the guys are just trying to protect you. They don’t want this to weigh on you, but what do boys know? It’s going to weigh on you no matter what, so I just tell you every time because I know I would want to know. Although, I’m not always sure I’m doing the right thing.”

“Isn’t it against the rules? You telling me all this?”

Hearing this, Jieun's whole body language changes, headstrong and vexed. “Aish, the rules. The rules can rot! I don’t know why everyone keeps sticking to the rules. I worry that the rules are harming you more than helping.”

A sentiment you agree with. You’re sure you had good reasons to make and keep the rules originally, but the rules are beginning to feel suffocating more than liberating. The rules aren't meant to liberate you though. They're meant to keep you safe behind walls. Walls you're beginning to resent.

You are grateful to have Jieun. You can tell she cares for you, but it’s different than the care the boys give you. She’s brisk and blunt, and you hadn’t realized you needed that. “Thank you. I did want to know. About Cho-hee,” you tell her. “It’s good that I know. Thank you, unnie.”

Jieun defrosts, a relieved smile gracing her elf-like features. “Well, then. We can always talk about that witch a different time, if you want. How about after work, we go look at some baby gifts for the baby shower that is inevitably going to happen.” Your cubicle buddy waggles her eyebrows at you and you laugh in agreement.

Previous Chapter <- - -> Next Chapter

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#bts #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #not7wu #not7wu masterlist #not7wu fanfic #not7wu fanfiction #tonight #tonight by Jin #tonight by not7wu #jin fanfic #seokjin fanfic #seokjin x reader #seokjin x y/n

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feathers-of-fluff · 5 months

Text

blake non-tk and tk headcanons i keep in my basement!!

headcanons under the cut

all of this is sfw, NSFW DNI!!

> non-tk headcanons <

• extremely unintelligent and absentminded at many times. blake was somewhat born with only possibly 0.1 braincells which is… pretty confusing, but red does get used to this information. he does rarely become smart though

• due to huge lack of braincells, blake sometimes acts like a cat/dog. it doesn’t happen alot, however it sort of might when his friends least expect it

• very hyperactive and has ADHD. blake goes around stealing hats from red and such others except for glitchy most of the time

• blake has a blank look on his face every time he gets lost in thought or is thinking about grilled cheese

• blake sometimes wears his blue scarf he got for his birthday when turning 13 (currently, he’s 18). you’ll pretty much see him wearing it all the time during winter!!

• best friends with gold, frenemies with freakachu. blake used to be afraid of him since he was aggressive from when he and red survived, but this time he no longer does now that freakachu became pretty friendly. still kinda hates him because he’d keep biting him just to be annoying and stuff

• heavy sleeper because i said so!! so yeah, he snores alot when asleep

• has never went to school back in his younger ages for some reason… odd, right? also terrible at singing, so voice cracks and him going off-tune are noticeable. but he tries to hide it to avoid embarrassing himself

• has a shiny cyndaquil he got from an egg named taffy and he loves him,,,

• rarely ever sleepwalks, but bad things may possibly happen anytime soon so his friends try to wake him up

• scatters away often, so gray keeps an eye on him to prevent him from causing anymore unintentional chaos

> tk headcanons <

LEE

• extremely ticklish boi,,

• cannot stand being teased, making everything else all worse (better) for him

• stomach area, 10/10 worst spot. he’ll start snorting once you go there and it’s just adorable

• if you want some giggles here and there, go for either his ears or the palm of his hand. complete melt spots

• blake’s neck is basically the best spot for raspberries, and sometimes he squeals when you even get the back of his knees

• unable to say the t-word and will deny the fact that he’s ticklish

• squirms a bit whenever the ler wrecks his sides or ribs while cackling

• CERTIFIED LEE….

LER

• very rarely a ler. but whenever blake gets this mood out of nowhere, he simply gets the chance to tickle back the others as revenge

• will poke the lee all over to simply mess with or annoy them

• but if they really want tickles, then he’ll gladly accept their request before doing his thing

• can’t really tease but will say to the lee this: “you sure are liking this, huh? i knew you would!”

• usually gives the lee raspberries but not all the time

• will make sure to give the lee some breaks if they need one, but they have to remind him sometimes because he’s pretty forgetful

————————

see you later, guys!!

#sfw tickling #headcanons #a ticklish lullaby #lee!blake #ler!blake #fnf tickling #fnf tickles #sfw tickling community #idk what else to tag…. wah

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raggyanni · 2 years

Text

{~The hospital room~}

Fictober 2

Prompt: Someone is hurt and the other is asleep in the hospital room

PENNYS POV:

It happened too fast. He just collapsed.

Ricky's aunt had passed away and his parents were out of town to go to the funeral. He was staying with the Blackwood's for the week.

We were all hanging out in Mischa's basement, playing Little Nightmares. Having fun.

I noticed Ricky was very pale. His cheeks looked green and his usual expressive faces looked bored, distracted.

"I'm going to the toilet." He signed as she wobbled to balance. I watched her get up and go to the bathroom in the back of the basement.

I should have seen the signs something was wrong. They took ten minutes in the bathroom. Unless there was something in the pizza we were eating, there was something up.

She opened the bathroom door and stumbled out. His lips were drained of colour and he looked disoriented.

"Ricky? Are you okay?" I asked.

He opened his mouth to speak, but as if on cue, he collapsed to the ground.

"RICKY OH MY GOD!" I yelled as I ran towards him. Ocean ran down beside me. I tried shaking him awake but there was no response.

"OH MY GOD WHAT DO WE DO?" Noel asked, very loudly. His voice rang in my ears. "I tell my parents. They may hate me, but they won't leave unconscious boy without help." Mischa said, darting up the stairs.

Constance pulled out her phone and called her parents, because currently, they were Ricky's guardians.

Mischa's parents ran down the stairs, Mischa directly behind him. His mother, Lilian kneeled down beside me and started using different techniques to try and wake him up. But nothing worked.

They were breathing, thank god, but unresponsive. Mischa's father called an ambulance, explaining to the person on the other line. "Erm yes, he's nonverbal and is incapable of walking." he said.

Myself and the choir were panicked out of our minds. Yesterday, he was explaining the storyline of the dream smp. What had happened?

The ambulance showed up, the Blackwood's car behind them. They brought her into the ambulance, myself and Mischa went with him. Ocean, Noel and Constance went with Mr and Mrs Blackwood.

We were in the waiting room for a LONG time. I pulled out my phone and listened to music, trying to take my mind off of the current situation. Mischa's leg was bouncing up and down every second. Noel was picking at his nail polish, and Constance and Ocean were huddled next to each other.

Ocean looked to be falling asleep, which reminded me, it was almost one in the morning and I was quite tired myself.

After about an hour and a bit, we were let in. The nurse was talking to Mr and Mrs Blackwood, telling them what happened. I didn't hear them, so I couldn't tell you what happened that night.

Noel had called Ricky's mother, who said they were on their way home.

Ricky lay in the bed, despite his height, he looked tiny. Still unconscious, but alive.

All of us were sat on this small couch in the back of the room. Ocean fell asleep first, wrecked after the past few days. Noel fell second, his head leaning on Mischa's shoulders. Mischa lay his head back and passed out. Constance slept on my shoulder and soon enough I fell asleep too.

RICKYS POV:

I woke up with a pain digging in the back of my head. The hospital? What had happened? The last thing I remembered was Penny walking towards me.

I looked across the room to see the rest of the choir, sound asleep on the pale purple couch. I laughed at the sight, only for my chest to feel like I was being stabbed.

"Those idiots." I thought. "Those sleepy idiots."

Thanks for reading :))

#ride the cyclone #ricky potts #penny lamb #ocean o'connell rosenberg #constance blackwood #noel gruber #mischa bachinski #fanfic #hospital #hurt/comfort?#though i doubt ricky was in much comfort in the end

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inkandpen22 · 3 years

Text

Always a Ploy

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.3k

Summary: Y/N is often used as a ploy to catch the perpetrators and it drives Spencer crazy

A/N: I’m always adding new one shots for Reid so if you’d like to be tagged lmk!

Masterlist

Y/N

I sway my head from side to side, playing music in my head to distract myself from the fact that I'm freezing. 'Stand and wait on the side of the house' Hotch ordered. 'I'll give you the go-ahead soon' he promised. Ten minutes later, Reid and I are still waiting for the said go-ahead. At least Reid gets to be in normal clothes for the desert at night. I'm yet again being offered up as a ploy and in Morgan's mind, a door-to-door saleswoman would wear a dress when the weather is supposed to be low sixties, the wind not included.

"Honey, you're killing me. Are you sure you don't want my jacket?" Reid offers again for the third time in the last five minutes.

"Yes." My breath escapes between my teeth. "I'm fine. Plus, we won't have much time once Hotch gives the signal." I shake my limbs to remain warm.

“Wait for my command," Hotch announces into our earpieces. "We lost sight of him in the window. We suspect he’s headed to the basement.”

I shake my head. “Screw this. I’m going in.”

“No, you’re not!”

“They’re children! One more minute with that monster is another minute of trauma!” I move to step around the house and toward the front door.

Reid slips his gun back onto his belt and grabs my wrist to stop me. He yanks me back and pins me against the cool wooden panels of the house. I open my mouth to argue and he covers my mouth. He whispers frantically, “Baby, baby, listen to me. I can’t let you in there!" I wiggle in his hold. “Stop fighting me.”

“Y/N, you may proceed," Hotch announces, giving me the go-ahead.

Reluctantly, Reid has no choice but to let me go. His hand falls from my mouth slowly, but he keeps me pinned and stares into my eyes warningly. “Don’t do anything reckless!"

I smirk and slip out from under him. “You should know me better than assume I’d listen.”

“Y/N, I’m serious!” He whispers, aggravated.

“So am I." I send him a wink as I step out from beside the house.

The lights from the living room pour out of the window onto the dry dirt yard. I take a minute a toss my hair to one side and yank the dress down to reveal more of my chest.

Spencer

I watch from the shadows as Y/N adjusts herself to speak with the suspect. I hate it when she does this. I understand that Hotchner and everyone agrees that it works, but their opinions don't make any less uncomfortable. My own girlfriend is being used as a ploy, expected to flont herself to earn the trust of serial killers or rapists.

Morgan appears beside me and squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t get hostile, Boy Genius.”

“She’s doing it on purpose,” I grumble, gesturing to Y/N.

“I know, I know.” He sighs. "But she's just doing her job. It's all pretending to her too," he assures me. "She's into you, man."

Y/N

I ring the doorbell and rock on my heels, making the panels of the porch creak. Suddenly, the door swings open to reveal a worn-down middle-aged man in dirty overalls.

“I don’t want to join any religion," he grumbles. He goes to slam the door shut, but I block it with my hand.

“Neither do I,” I voice softly with a smirk. I step forward to stand on the threshold. “But maybe you’d like to sit down and talk about your finances? Have you been keeping track of where you’ve been putting your... assets?” I scan the man up and down with my eyes until I meet his gaze.

Spencer

As we listen to Y/N flirt with the suspect, Morgan chuckles quietly next to me.

I elbow him in the stomach. “It’s not funny.”

“She sounds like Jessica Rabbit,” he jokes, only irritating me more.

There's creaking on the porch, followed by the front door squeaking shut. He's let her in.

Y/N

The place is an utter wreck. There have to be at least a dozen cats, hundreds of old newspapers scattered everyone, and it smells of feces. I sit down on the worn and ripped plaid couch next to the old man. I wear my best smile, though inside I'm screaming.

“Now, let’s begin. What bank do you currently use?” I ask, gripping my fake leather finance binder.

The man shifts closer to me. “Chase.”

I note now that he's missing at least five teeth. I nod. “They are great to their members, but we something broader... larger in size," I chose my words intentionally.

Abruptly, there's a high-pitch scream from within the house, making both of us freeze.

“What was that?” I ask, searching the surrounding area.

“My daughter is upstairs playing!" He rushes out and scoots closer to me. Boldly, he places his hand on my bare knee. "What was that you said about size?” He grins and begins to glide his hand up slowly.

I swallow hard, my eyes on his hand. I try to ease it off. “Sir, please-“

He lifts his hand off my knee and brings it to my shoulder. He tries to urge me to lay down. “Come on, sugar. I’ll pay you for your time. Your supervisor won’t have to know.”

I reach underneath my dress and whip out my gun, pointing it directly between his eyes. “FBI, down on the ground!”

His eyes grow wide and his jaw nearly hits the floor. “What!”

The S.W.A.T. team barges into the house, all yelling over each other. They march deeper into the house and into the basement where we know the children are. Hotchner appears in the foyer with Reid and Morgan. Soon, Prentiss and JJ are close behind.

Reid yanks the man off of me and tosses him onto the ground on his knees. He handcuffs him and pulls him to his feet. “No means no, asshole!”

“She was asking for it," the suspect huffs as he's dragged off toward the foyer.

Reid laughs mockingly. “Doubtful consider she just has to go to me for that."

Morgan kneels in front of me. “You okay?”

I nod weakly. “After every time I just feel gross.” I shake out my arms with a shiver.

“He’s a disgusting man. I’m sorry he touched you.”

“Part of the job.” I shrug. “At least I know how to defend myself. There are so many women who don't."

Morgan nods. "Maybe you can take your experiences and help those women."

Now there's an idea.

__________________________________________________

I lean against the car with JJ and Prentiss as the S.W.A.T. team and members of C.P.S carry the little girls out of the basement and into ambulances. It's a bittersweet sight. Morgan and Reid step out of the house once the last child is removed. Morgan pats Reid on the back with a chuckle as they approach us.

As soon as they reach us, Reid takes my hand and leads me to a tree a few feet away from the car. When we have some privacy, he starts to apologize. “Look, I’m sorry for what I did. I shouldn’t have grabbed you and covered your mouth. I didn’t know-“

I cut him off, reaching up and bringing my lips to meet his with a quick peck. His hands rest on my waist and I break from him.

He blinks rapidly, taken aback. “I thought you’d be mad.”

“Oh I was pissed in the moment. Now, it’s just hot," I grin, wrapping my arms around his waist.

He smirks. “Noted.”

“I didn’t know you could move so quickly, Reid,” I giggle. “And what you said to the perpetrator when you arrested him!”

He chuckles, “yeah I may have been a little heated in the moment. In my defense, he did touch you! Okay, that was not a part of the plan!”

“I appreciate the protectiveness,” I assure him with a laugh.

He glances down at the small space between us and the smile on his lips fades slowly.

I can tell there's something on his mind.

“About your performance...” He mumbles.

“Didn’t like it?” I ask, knowing how he hates it when I have to be a ploy.

He nods frantically. “Yeah, never again," he orders.

“Deal.” I nod, giving his lips a quick peck again.

He smiles into the kiss. “Well, never again for anyone else," he adds against my lips, making me grin. He breaks from me to ask, "Do you think maybe tonight you and I could talk about my assets?”

I swat him on the arm. “Reid!”

He chuckles, "you're right. We'll talk about this when we get home."

I roll my eyes and they land on our teammates by the car as they watch us go back and forth, smiling brightly.

_____________________________________

Masterlist

Tags: @mrsobrien888 @hufflepufftruffle @gillybear17 @thatsonezesty13 @smol-flowerkiddo @reesespieces10123 @madds-m @az3r0o @wafflebacon23 @spencerreid-mgg @alfonsais @justlivinginadaydream @kaitlynpcallmebeepme @farah3012 @doveygirlkay-blog @dreatine @imhappybutimalsosad @parahmur @tremendousdinosaurhideout @destiny-dream67 @ashwarren32 @yeahjustcallmer-n @bluehydrangea-cherry @izzysecrets

#criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds #spencer x reader #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #derek morgan #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid

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valkyrieofsmut · 2 years

Note

What if all the boys were yandere?

WARNING! In case it's not clear! This is about yandere stuff! So there's talk of killing and death.

Classic- Classic as a yandere is the quiet one that watches everything happen, and then takes care of things in private later. He's hanging around, just being friendly in the background. And then out of nowhere, MC finds him killing someone, and once it's revealed, well, he'd have to kidnap them.

Creampuff- He's jealous anyway, he'd hate if they were monopolized by someone else! People start disappearing, and no one suspects this adorable boy! Until he has to explain to you that he's trying to help. Please stop wrecking his attempts to help and just let him take care of it.

Red- he's the friend you can't get to stop hitting on you. Honestly! Can't he cut it back a little bit? Others are going to think you're dating! Because he's telling them that. And warning them to stay away or else. Well, might as well date him, right? Not may other options hanging around. If they know what's good for them, anyway.

Edge- he's a good friend! ... He just has no patience for anyone else... That's why whenever you do things he asks for it to just be the two of you; the others are so annoying. Not to mention that he's heard rumors that they're supposedly spreading about you- you understand that he's not one to believe gossip, so he wouldn't know if it was really them, but they are such mean, horrible rumors... At least you have him to be your friend, right? He'd never say anything bad about you, and won't let anyone else.

Blue- he's so polite and sweet! No one would ever suspect him. It's probably his creepy brother... Which is why you're so surprised to see his face when you open your eyes. YOU THOUGHT IT WAS MY BROTHER? DON'T BE SILLY! EVEN HE COULDN'T LOVE YOU AS MUCH I DO!!!

Stretch- he's the one that everyone things is a weird creep. It's not surprising to anyone that he's the one who's been killing people when it's revealed. The only question is, why? You'll know... When he "rescues" you and sets you up in his basement. ... Why are you trying to leave? Don't you understand everything he's done for you?

Black- he's the one that just takes up all your time and slowly pushes your friends and family out of the picture. Any time you start talking about hanging out with them, he's... He's so sorry he has to be the one to tell you, but they don't deserve your presence. All of the terrible things they've said about you... Just stay with him, he'd never say anything unkind about you.

Mutt- didn't... You used to have friends? He's scared them all away. You are HIS. No one else may bask in your presence.

Axe- he's the one that would kill you. On accident. He wants to help you and keep you safe! And you're fighting back! He's just trying to make you hold still and listen- what was that cracking sound? ... You'll be found months later when you start to stink up the house from under the bed or in the closet. He couldn't bear to let you go...

Crooks/Bun- he wants to help you! The only way you'll be safe is if you stay with him! So he'll try to keep you safe- even if he has to use chains on you to keep you safe...

Dusty- he's the one that is so crazy he can't remember if he killed you or not... But he talks to you the whole time, still killing people who disrespect your name.

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fairytalesofthewind · 3 years

Note

Can I request The Avengers with winged!male!reader, who is a new member of their team? Reader is a ball of joy and love, he's like everyone's kid, until he gets snatched by Hydra agents and later is found with one of his wings cut off, leaving a permanent and ugly scar on his back. After that he shuts down completely, lays in his bed all day long and doesn't talk to anyone : he became a wreck of the person he used to be.

I really would like to see The Avengers helping him cope and Tony coming up with some crazy idea, which lead to Reader receiving a prosthetic wing and once again becoming an official member of The Avengers.

Anon, you are a true genius!

warnings: hydra (so also torture, a bit of gore, and kidnapping)

+ implied Stucky

I called the male reader Icarus, you’ll find out why ;) I may be a little bit too obsessed by mythology. Sorry that I didn’t write with ‘you’.

wordcount: 2424

Requests are open!

Icarus was found by shield at age 15. He had been an experiment of hydra for 3 years. He remembered the day the Avengers had infiltrated the facility where the majority of hydra worked. He remembered hearing the explosions and screams while he was trapped in the many cells of the building’s basement. The only occupied cell what that of his.

He had felt his surroundings shaking, had felt the dust falling on him as the building was ready to collapse. And then the bombs stopped getting fired. The screams had stopped. Icarus had thought the fight had completely stopped and that the people were either dead or that the people had fled. Icarus had thought no one was coming for him, and that he was trapped in his cell, no way to escape.

But then he had heard a single loud bang. It came from the door leading to the basement. He saw that the metal door had an imprint of a fist in it. Then he heard another loud bang, and saw how the imprint expanded. After a few more hits, the door gave away and fell to the floor.

A man with a metal came walking up to him. Icarus knew who he was, emphasis on was. Because the man ushering towards him wasn’t the Winter Soldier anymore. That was what the agents had told him.

“Hey kid. Hang on in there, we’ll get you out as soon as possible.” He said and came closer and inspected the outside of his cell. More specifically, the keypad in front of it. “Hey Stark, I’m gonna need your help here with some tech.” Bucky came even closer to his cell and Icarus’ eyes widen as his hands neared the glass.

“Stop!” Icarus yelled. Bucky froze at the command, and dragged his eyes up slowly to the panicked boy in front of him. “You can’t touch the glass.” Icarus warned him, his tone a bit softer. “It’ll trigger the alarms and then gas will come out of the ceiling.” Bucky frowned looked up at the top of the cell. In each corner was a camera, along with a small metal tube coming out of the walls. He supposed that the gas would come out of there.

“Is the gas deadly?” He asked the boy, there were probably going to trigger the alarms trying to get him out. But they would have to find another way if the gas is really dangerous.

“No,” Icarus started, “it just makes me go to sleep.” Bucky nodded as stepped away from the glass container. They would have to wait for a few minutes until help – the help being Tony- arrived.

“So…” The boy drawled out, “Are you really a 100 years old?” He wanted to look at Icarus with a ‘are you serious’- look but as he saw the curiosity written on his face, he responded a soft smile.

“I’m 106 years old.” He felt a pang of amusement as he watched Icarus’ eyes widen.

“Isn’t that a bit weird?” Bucky tilted his head, silently asked the boy what he meant by that. “You know…with friends, and lovers. You’re much older than them.”

Suddenly Stark entered the basement and said: “Well, Bucky doesn’t have any problem with that seeing as his boyfriend is also a super soldier and also very old.” He strutted over to the keypad on his cell. Icarus stared at him with wide eyes because – oh my God this is The Tony Stark.

“Friday baby, tell me how to get the angel out.” He said. Icarus blushed a bit, most of the agents didn’t call him an angel because of his wings. But rather demon. He didn’t which one fit the best seeing as he had neither white wings, nor black, but brown wings.

Tony was quiet for a few long seconds. He looked concentrated, not that they could see his face through the helmet, but his head was tilted just a bit. He let out a loud drawn-out sigh and said: “Yeah, no can do, that’s going to take hours. I’m just gonna blast it.”

Icarus straightened up immediately, if he were to do that he would just trigger the alarms. It wouldn’t do much to the glass either, because it was made of something special. Before Icarus could let out a warning, he heard the zooming of Iron Man’s blasters and then he heard a small explosion.

The boy made eye contact with Bucky after he saw gas coming out of the metal tubes. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he picked up the curse words both of the men let out.

Only a few hours later did Icarus wake up. It was very quiet around him, but there was also an unfamiliar sound that he didn’t recognise that made him realise that he wasn’t in his cell anymore. Did the agents change their mind on waiting a few more months to send him on a mission? Did they suddenly decide to get rid of him? Did they-

“Ah, you’re waking up.” The voice was so much more gentle than he was used hearing. It reminded him of how his family used to talk to him.

They were dead now, by the way, with courtesy of hydra.

Icarus opened his eyes and looked to his right where the voice had come from. He recognised the man, he was the Falcon. Sam was still wearing his suit, with his metal wings. Icarus eyes fell to the said wings and frowned.

“You know, you guys are in big trouble.” The people around him straightened up. Already thinking of the possible things the boy could say. There was something you didn’t think about, this was just a distraction and now the shield base has been taken care of properly. You lost-

“These are copyrighted.” Icarus pointed to his own wings. “I could sue you for plagiarism.” Sam lowered his head in relief as he let out a little chuckle.

“I’ll pass it on to the boss.” He said as he looked to the other side of Icarus. The boy followed the line of sight and saw Tony sitting on the other side of him. He was immediately attacked with concerned questions about how he was feeling. Tony told him that they were going to bring Icarus somewhere safe, there were going to give him a home. But all Icarus could think about was, oh my God, this is The Tony Stark.

Icarus was 16 when he started his training. He was done basically living in the hospital wing of the tower. Apparently hydra had really taken a toll on him. Physically and mentally.

He had begged the captain to train him. But Steve had refused time and time again claiming that Icarus wasn’t ready yet.

Between recovery and asking for training, he became friends with Sam. Well, he became friends with everyone. You could even say that he became their family. But it happened with Sam the fastest. Sam took care of him from the start. He visited Icarus every day to check up on him. He helped the boy get comfortable. Icarus saw Sam as a…dad?

They would fly together almost every night. They would soar over countless buildings in New-York. They would stop on skyscrapers and talk about everything and nothing. Sam became his best friend, he became his family.

Icarus was 17 when he realised how much the Avengers truly cared about him. It was his first mission, and the Avengers were acting like overbearing mother hens. It wasn’t even a big mission, it was just to pick something up and bring it from place A to B. But due an unexpected rainstorm Icarus couldn’t fly back. He arrived hours later than he should’ve had at the meeting point.

And to say he had received an ear full about it was an understatement. For the next few days after that mission, he had heard one rant to the other. It was all the same: about how he was precious, about how bad it would be to lose him because he was their family. He was their ray of sun- no scratch that- he was their sun. He was their kid.

Icarus was 18 years and 2 months old when one of his mission went seriously wrong. Sam wasn’t there to support him in the sky. And Tony was needed on the ground. But as multiple planes left to escape, he had to go after them. There weren’t only hydra agents on those plane, but also innocent hostages. Hostages that would probably get used for the same purpose Icarus had been used for.

So he couldn’t just let the planes go. He went after the plane of which he thought was filled with hostages, but was only filled with agents. He had entered the plane just before it’s backdoor had closed. He realised his mistake as he was suddenly surrounded by a dozen men with guns.

One of the men closest to him raised his gun towards him and shot. Icarus felt a sharp prick on his neck and he already knew what was going to happen. Just before he slipped into unconsciousness, he picked up the curse words his family let out on the comms.

Icarus was 18 when he was recaptured by hydra.

Hydra had claimed they had no use for him. They already had a better reproduction of him.

But that didn’t mean that we are just going to get rid of you, no stupid demon boy. We are going to have a bit of fun with you.

Icarus was 18 years and 5 months when he lost one of the most important things of his life.

He lost of one his wings. That means that he not only lost one of his limbs, but he also lost being able to fly.

He wouldn’t be able to do the thing he loved the most, he wouldn’t be able to fly anymore.

Icarus was 18 years and 8 months old when the Avengers had to save him again from hydra. But the boy they saved wasn’t the Icarus that had been captured. He was missing something –besides from the obvious; his wing.

From the moment Icarus had returned home, everything went just a bit worse day by day. He was unhappy, of course he was. Not only had he lost his wing, but he also had a very large scar where it used to be.

He felt terrible. He would spend almost every hour buried under the safety of his blankets in his bed. He didn’t leave his room, no matter how much his family tried to get him out.

One day Bucky entered his room, he brought some tea and breakfast with him. “Good morning, little angel…” The rest he said fell on deaf ears. Icarus had buried himself under his blankets himself.

A few seconds later felt the cold rushing over him. The bed dipped beside him, Bucky sat on the blanket so that Icarus couldn’t use them to hide anymore. But it didn’t really help much as the boy just turned his back to him, his one wing currently hiding himself.

Bucky cleared his throat. “Look, I know how much this sucks. I lost my arm, I know how it feels.” Suddenly Icarus had sat up, and was now looking at him with an angry face.

“You think you know how I feel?!” Icarus pushed him off the bed. They were now both standing with Icarus pointing a furious finger at him. “You just lost your fucking arm! I didn’t just lose my wing, no I lost the thing I loved the most! I can’t fly anymore, and you know whose fault is that?” Icarus kept walking closer and Bucky kept stepping further away from the boy.

“It’s my fault! I was overtaken by my giddiness of the mission and I got distracted, I was too overconfident.” Bucky was almost in the hallway with the way he kept backing up.

“And besides, James. You got a metal arm in return. You can still do everything!” Unlike Bucky, Icarus didn’t have another wing.

And that, had given Bucky an idea.

Icarus was 18 years and 11 months when Tony had dragged him out of his wing towards his lab. He didn’t give him any choice to struggle back, he was coming whether he wanted to or not.

Tony had covered his eyes just before they entered the lab. He had made him sit on a stool. He heard a few nervous coughs, so he knew that the other were there as well.

Tony granted his sight back after a few seconds of rambling something that Icarus was too tired to listen to.

“-and we hope you will like this…”

In front of him, on a stand, was a metal wing. It was a similar size of his own. He had thought: what is the point of a monument? But then Icarus realised that what he was seeing wasn’t just a metal wing, it was also a suit. He felt a few tears roll down his cheek and immediately afterwards felt someone’s arms going around him.

“Oh, it’s alright, angel. It’s going to be alright.” They let him cry his heart out, patiently being there for him.

It was a few days later that Icarus sat in the craftsman’s lab again. Tony was securing the many straps on his new suit. He explained him the rules of the new suit, of what it could and couldn’t do. “Now, Sam will help you fly again. He knows how the metal wing work. My advice for now is to not fly too low, or too high. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

Icarus was 19 when he was given back the thing he loved most; being able to fly. He was able to be happy again. He picked up the nightly flights with Sam again. Sometimes staying away from the Tower until 5AM. He was almost back to his normal self; he was already back to being the most energetic member of the team, and he showed how grateful he was almost every second of the day.

This night he was sitting on a building with Sam eating his pepperoni pizza.

“You know, you’re in trouble, right?” Icarus looked up at Sam with raised eyebrows.

“These are copyrighted, and you know, I could sue you.” Sam pointed at his metal wings with a small smirk.

“Copyrighted my ass, you can’t beat the original.”

#marvel #marvel x male reader #stucky #angst with a happy ending #greek mythology #the avengers #avengers x reader #male headcanons #male reader #tony stark #bucky barnes

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ashintheairlikesnow · 3 years

Text

Misread Details: Robert

CW: Dehumanizing language, BBU blanket warning, serial killer/death talk, descriptions of death/abduction/murder, blood, whumper death, some real vague implied noncon references, creepy whumper, sadistic whumper

Part One: Nanda | Part Two: Brute | Part Three: Robert

The Dark Discovery in Robert Weber’s Basement: Box Boy Killer, Part 3

r/LetsTalkTrueCrime

•Posted by u/oshaycanyousee

3 days ago

After Part One, where we learned about the mysterious, but possibly entirely natural, death of Nathaniel “Nanda” Benson, and Part Two, where we saw Henry “Brute” Hanlon’s double life lead to his untimely gruesome murder, you see the single thread that connects these two men who otherwise never met, interacted, or even shared a single person in common… a nameless Box Boy, present at the death of Nanda even if he isn’t responsible for it, and the proven killer of Brute.

It’s my theory that this Box Boy may have accidentally killed his legal owner, Nanda, and then picked up a taste for the act and moved on to taking shelter with those he turns into his victims.

With Brute, he simply didn’t know the man had a wife and children and entire other life, and may have assumed no one would come looking for him or recognize his death. With our third individual, Robert Weber, it seems like our Box Boy Serial Killer got in over his head.

I give you… the Accidental Vigilante death of Robert Weber.

You decide if our unknown killer is simply the unluckiest guy in the world or a killer who even now may be somewhere living with - and earning the trust of - his next victim.

One bright and sunny day in the quaint, old-fashioned California town of Rancher’s Rest, Robert Weber was late for work.

Weber worked in a vehicle repair business owned by lifelong “RR” resident Randy Niles, who had known Weber since his childhood and had been his boss since Weber was eighteen years old and fresh out of high school.

Niles, who is now nearly seventy-five and still spends his days in the shop with an Australian Shepherd named Cody and a blind pit bull named Sue keeping him company everywhere he goes, stated that Weber had no living family he knew of beyond his sister in Vermont, and he was just about the closest thing Weber had to a relative just from having known him so long.

“He didn’t have too much to do with his sister,” Randy said in an interview with Unsolved Mysteries. (You can see the interview on the new Netflix reboot of the show! It’s a really good episode, definitely recommend. It’s how I got into this case in the first place.) “Or nobody, really. Just us at work, the guys at the bar, that kinda thing. He was quiet, kept to himself really. You’d never just strike up a chat around town or anything. But he got on just fine with the boys here in the shop. He was a bit of an egghead, too, always going on about this thing or that he’d seen on the news. Little… odd. Little bit off, you might say. But really, who isn’t? In any case, you know, I’d known him since he was a little boy, so he was just Bobby Weber to me.”

Then, of course, one day Robert Weber didn’t show up to work. Randy Niles immediately felt that something was very wrong.

“When nine, nine-thirty came and went and he wasn’t there,” Niles said, “I knew someone needed to go check on him. Bobby showed up for work right on time or ten minutes early, rain or shine, for twenty years. My first thought was maybe he’d had an accident at home, or some kind of, you know, health thing. Almost never called in sick, took one vacation a year, that kinda thing. So I drove right on over there. This would’ve been, oh, probably ten or ten-fifteen when I got to the house. Had my dogs with me, and they never did like Bobby much, but as soon as I opened my door and got out of my truck they just lost their damn minds. Barking, growling, Cody’s hackles were up like you wouldn’t believe. I know it sounds damn crazy, but I’m sure those dogs could smell that evil had been done in that house.”

On camera, Niles goes quiet, here, his gaze slipping away from the interviewer as he scratches at the side of his nose. When he looks back, the hint of good humor that seems to be an eternal part of his expression is gone.

“I didn’t know what Bobby had been up to all this time. None of us knew. I’ve known Bobby Weber his whole life, and I… I had no idea.”

Randy Niles was unable to convince his two dogs to exit the truck, and eventually rolled down the windows to give them some air and a way out if they chose (he is insistent on this point in the Unsolved Mysteries episode - “don’t you dare say I left my dogs locked up in a truck on a sunny day, I sure didn’t - Cody even knows how to pull a door handle if it’s the right kind”) and got out to knock on Robert Weber’s front door.

No one answered.

Niles knocked again. Still no response.

The front door was locked, but Niles was able to locate an unlocked back door into the garage, where he found Weber’s car neatly parked and nothing out of place. However, once he used an interior door in the garage to enter Weber’s home, what he found was so shocking he still struggles to describe it today.

“The, uh. The first thing I saw,” Niles says in the Unsolved Mysteries episode, wiping at his mouth with a handkerchief, “was a cage. Big old cage in the living room. Like a kennel for a big dog, Great Dane or something, except… except, you know, kennels’re usually mostly wire, not that heavy. You can fold ‘em up, put ‘em away. This was… geez. This was pure metal. Bunch of blankets all piled at the bottom, too. Here’s the-... you know, my mind just didn’t want to even make the thought, but I just, I looked at it and-”

In the episode, Niles has to take another moment, here. His eyes grow wet, and his voice is hoarse when he speaks again. “People cage. Bobby had a damn man-sized cage in his living room. That’s when my stomach just fell out. Even then, though, I couldn’t-... I just thought, oh, well, what people get up to in their own homes is their business. But still, I just. I just decided, find Bobby, figure the rest out later. So I kept walking around looking for him.”

Randy Niles continued to call out, hoping to hear Weber’s response, but received none… at first. The radio in the kitchen was playing a local public radio station (“Bobby always hated the country western and classic rock we played at work, he was a big news man, big into classical, jazz, you know.”)

Niles noticed, he says, that the cage next to the couch had a wooden top, as though it were meant to act as a side table, and on that table was a small woven basket. Inside the basket appeared to be several State IDs and Driver’s licenses. Niles took note of this but his first assumption was maybe that Robert Weber had stolen some IDs or something.

Which was technically true, just… not quite the way he thought.

The kitchen, hallway, and all three bedrooms were equally empty of life. Every room was clean, everything neatly in place. Empty bottles of Jameson whiskey, Weber’s favorite brand, were lined up like décor along the mantel, and one half-full bottle was next to two clean, empty glasses on the kitchen table.

Even the beds were perfectly made.

The only thing missing was any sign of Robert Weber himself.

The question of Weber’s whereabouts was answered when Randy Niles heard a sound coming from the open door to Weber’s unfinished dirt basement.

“Like a ghost,” Niles said in his interview. “Just this low moaning sound. Hardly even thought of it as human, you know. But I just-... I called out, ‘Bobby? That you?’ and the moaning got a little louder, like whoever it was was tryin’ to answer. I could still hear my girls in the truck just going nuts, probably worried about me knowing what they maybe could smell even out there. I figured… I figured I’d best call the cops and get them out here. Seemed like a plan. So I picked up my phone and dialed, and then I headed down those basement steps.”

What Randy Niles discovered in Robert Weber’s basement was a dying man, battered and stabbed eight times, lying in a half-dug grave.

Robert Weber had been beaten with the very shovel that had done the digging. The shovel lay off to the side, caked in dirt and blood. Police would find some of Robert Weber’s hair on it, too. Then, the individual who had beaten him had gone back upstairs - blood smears were found on the railing to the stairs - and taken a kitchen knife out of the knife block on the countertop. A bloody fingerprint was found on the side of the knife block. They had then returned to the basement where Weber was stabbed, almost entirely through the stomach and chest, twenty-six times, until the cheap knife simply broke from the force.

Randy Niles admitted in his interview that he became very ill at this time. “From the shock,” He elaborated. “I haven’t been able to smell much since I was in a car wreck when I was young, so I didn’t smell what-... what my girls prob’ly smelled from outside, and what the cops smelled. To me, it was just… just a little off, is all. It was the sight of it that got to me, not the smell. The sight of the-... the hand.”

Behind Robert Weber’s body, the hand of another person was sticking up out of the loose dirt, as though someone was trying to dig their way out.

“I remember… I remember her nail polish was pink. That’s when I got sick, actually, was when I saw that hand with the painted nails. That’s when it just hit me all at once what Bobby had done.”

Randy Niles went back up the stairs and waited for the cops to arrive. Rancher’s Rest is a small town where everybody knows just about everybody else, and Niles was on a first-name basis with every single police officer he spoke to that day and in the days after. He would learn alongside the investigation that Robert Weber was not simply the quiet, intellectual car mechanic he had always seemed.

Instead, Robert Weber was a serial killer whose potential final victim had managed a miraculous, deadly escape.

Robert Weber never answered a single question about his own murder - he never fully regained consciousness and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. His injuries were simply too severe. His autopsy showed that the cause of death was a stab wound that went deep into his chest and that he was first stabbed only after the beating with the shovel had taken place. Like Brute, most of his stab wounds were applied post-mortem in a rage rather than as part of the killing itself.

Medical examiners also found scratches on Weber’s face and arms, indicating that he had attempted to defend himself - or someone else had attempted to defend themself from him.

So why was Robert Weber killed, and why was there already a body in his basement? Investigators would piece together the story over the following days and weeks from a crime scene that only seemed to become darker and more baffling as time went on.

Excavating the basement was originally thought to be something that would be brief, but after the first body was removed, another one was found beneath it. Then another off to the side of that. And another, although this was simply bones.

Every time the forensics team thought they’d found the last human bone, they dug a little deeper or in a new spot and found more.

Eventually, the remains of twenty-two individuals would be removed from the basement of Robert Weber’s home, not including Weber himself. The oldest located victim was identified as Melinda Traxson, an Iowa woman reported missing by her family after she ran away in March of 1996… more than two decades before Robert Weber didn’t come to work one day.

Investigators are still working to match up every body with a missing persons’ case. For nearly all of them, the cause of death could not be easily ascertained due to the deterioration of the remains, but some showed signs of skull fractures. Identified individuals so far include:

Melinda Traxson, 19, from Iowa, ran away from home in 1996.

Billie Mortimer, 21, disappeared from a day out with friends at Lake Tahoe one year later in the summer of 1997. Her friends went to get lunch from the car after a swim and when they returned, she was gone.

Matthew Ranger, 22, went missing during a road trip to Yellowstone National Park in 1997 (only five months after Billie). His car was found abandoned by the side of the road with a flat tire.

Karl Janssen, 24, a tourist from the Netherlands who was also visiting Yellowstone, disappeared a month after Matthew. Last seen by an employee of the park who witnessed him speaking with another young man and getting into the man’s car. The employee said that the two seemed to be friendly with one another and did not seem like strangers.

Hannah Pointer, 26. She was reported missing in 1999 by her mother after failing to return home from work in Reno, Nevada. This disappearance occurred more than a year after Karl Janssen’s. Investigators would later discover that during this time period, Robert Weber dated a young woman from his hometown and he may not have wanted to risk her finding out what he was doing.

Isaac Jackson, 26, a Rancher’s Rest resident who disappeared after going out to a local bar to see his friend’s band play in 2000. His car was found submerged in a small pond two years later. This is the first time Weber apparently killed anyone close to home. He was actually briefly suspected in Jackson’s death, as he was the last person noted to see Jackson alive, but was cleared of suspicion at the time.

Dustin Swill, 21, who was driving from Colorado to California to visit his sister who had moved to Berras to work for WRU in 2001. He was last seen in a gas station near Yellowstone, where employees noted he spoke to a man who was smoking outside, who gave him a cigarette. When Swill left, employees saw the man put out his cigarette and leave shortly after. They did not find this unusual or noteworthy at the time.

Maria Vargas, 25, a Rancher’s Rest resident who was reported missing in 2002. Her family is intensely private and have shared few details about her, but it is known that her boyfriend at the time suspected Weber, who had attempted to convince her to leave the boyfriend for him and had apparently threatened her. He remained a suspect but there was never enough evidence to charge him.

Jennifer Striker, 28, from who never arrived for an appointment with a realtor in 2011. The long pause between Maria Vargas’s murder and Jennifer’s appeared to be due to Weber keeping a man named Finn Schneider within his home for more than a year after abducting him, as well as Weber serving five years in prison for a violent assault on a man he believed had sold him a defective vehicle. (Schneider was no longer in the home before the assault and prison time.)

Riley Nievelt, 25, was staying at the Big Meadow Campground with six friends during a weeklong vacation in 2012. She vanished while on a trip to purchase supplies. Her cell phone was found on the ground in the parking lot of the Food Lion in Rancher’s Rest, a short and easy drive away. At this time, with multiple individuals vanishing after being seen in Rancher’s Rest or being residents of the town, police begin to suspect and start hunting for a possible serial killer.

Alexander Peterson, 29, was a long-haul driver who vanished while working. He was last seen at a rest stop in 2014 on the California/Nevada state line, and would likely have passed right through Rancher’s Rest on his journey. He was reported missing by his ex-wife in South Dakota when he did not return as scheduled for a custodial visit.

The most recent victim, and owner of the hand that Randy Niles saw sticking up out of the dirt, was Yolanda Pierce, 26. She was a Rancher’s Rest resident with a troubled relationship with her husband, who had stormed out after an argument and was never seen again. She is believed to have died the same day as Robert Weber.

More remains exist but have not yet been identified. If you or anyone you know has a friend or family member who went missing during this time period in or near Rancher’s Rest, Yellowstone National Park, or Death Valley, it may be worth looking into, as those appear to be Robert Weber’s “hunting grounds”.

Disappearances in Yellowstone and Death Valley almost always matched up with Robert taking one of his rare weeklong vacations from work.

When investigators located three large diaries hidden inside a locked box in Weber’s closet, the first two fully filled up and the third nearly two-thirds finished, they found an exhaustively detailed record of Robert Weber’s crimes.

In these records, they discovered Weber’s first three victims were killed within 24 hours of abduction, with the rest being kept alive for longer and longer time periods. It is believed all of them met their end in Robert Weber’s basement.

Diary entries included records of two victims who were not a part of the bodies buried in Weber’s basement, both of whom may still be alive:

Finn Schneider, 19, a German tourist who disappeared in 2003 during a visit to Death Valley. Until Weber’s journals were found, it was believed he had perished in the park and had simply never been found. Robert Weber also visited Death Valley during this time. No one linked the two together. Evidence found in Weber’s home after his death, including the aforementioned diary entries and photographs, shows that Schneider was alive in Weber’s home for nearly sixteen months. It is believed Weber purchased the “human cage” that Randy Niles noticed around this time. The last diary entry that mentions Schneider states that he was “traded” on June 16th, 2005, to an individual only referred to as “Mouse.” What Weber received in exchange is unclear, but he was seen driving a new, custom-painted truck around this time, which he said he bought “from a personal ad” when asked by Niles about it. Schneider has never been found. However, his mother did receive a phone call in 2013 from an individual she believes to be her son, telling her that “Finn” was okay and to stop looking for him.

Our Box Boy, 334235, purchased by Nathaniel Benson years prior, whose whereabouts had been unknown since he murdered Brute Hanlon. Weber believed the Box Boy to be in his early twenties, according to his diary entries, and mentioned that he had picked the Boxie up hitchhiking and had intended to kill him before seeing the barcode on the inside of his left wrist and changing his mind. His diary suggests the Box Boy remained in his possession for roughly a fourteen months prior to Weber’s murder. Police have not released the details of what the Boxie was subjected to during this time, stating only that it is not the public’s interest for this information to be known, and they would like to locate the missing Boxie and interview him about certain details.

Four murders occurred during the time the Boxie was kept by Robert Weber. Weber noted that “the dog helped” with either murder or burial, suggesting that he may have worked as Weber’s accomplice in his terrible crimes.

Is it possible that they bonded over a shared urge to kill? Did the Boxie start a captive and become a companion?

Weber’s diary contained other disturbing facts, as well:

Weber also noted three failed abduction attempts in detail, in 1998, 2004, and 2017. In each he described with incredible precision of memory the appearances and descriptions of each person he failed to capture. He also appeared to do intensive research using their license plates and other information to find out where they lived and who they were. The names of these individuals have been kept quiet for privacy reasons.

Other failed abductions were noted, about one per year, without much detail. Or at least not enough for police officers to know who they were. Nearly all these failures were in one of three locations: Yellowstone National Park, Stanislaus National Forest and nearby campgrounds, and in or near Death Valley.

The last entry in Robert Weber’s diary was penned the day of his death.

NOTE: Weber referred to the Boxie as “the dog” in nearly all his journal entries. His last entry went:

May 6th, 20XX: The dog is pissed about something again. He’s always pissed about something. I think the thing in the basement probably kept him up all night with her caterwauling. He never gets used to the noises they make. God knows I can’t sleep either, at least not well. I’ll handle her tonight, have a drink with the dog after, see if that shuts up his nonsense for a while. Note: missed NPR interview with Senator Carlotta Grant on new leg. about the bb prohibition act. Find that on website later.

Found in Weber’s home, in boxes under his bed, were a series of restraints made of leather, high-quality items that appear to be custom-ordered to specific measurements. These included “gloves” intended to keep someone from being able to claw or scratch in their own defense, five sets of cuffs, a body harness, a leather half-face-mask that police referred to as a “muzzle”, several gags, some of which were deemed to be “designed to cause injury to the inside of the mouth”, and “other assorted items for use in torture and torment”.

You can find some leaked police docs online that go into more detail, but suffice to say they pretty much match the kinds of “toys” found in Nathaniel Benson and Brute Hanlon’s homes, too. And apparently, if you really know where to look, you can find some blurry low-quality photos Weber took, too.

While the items are a bit salacious, they aren’t entirely uncommon in consensual relationships, too, so it’s really not clear if they’re evidence of the Boxie being held against his will or not.

The investigation of the crime scene suggests that at some point after writing his final diary entry, Robert Weber made himself a pizza, which he ate half of and put the rest away in the fridge. His shaving cream and razor were found out on his sink, and Weber’s body was clean-shaven, suggesting he shaved shortly before his death.

He then watched three episodes of Law & Order: SVU. We know this because he texted during this time with his only living relative, the sister in Vermont. Little is known about Weber’s family and childhood, beyond his sister’s recounting of a quiet, strained home life with an overbearing mother and her mention that Robert endured several head injuries as a child and adolescent, including one that hospitalized him for days.

After he finished watching TV, Weber entered the basement and murdered Yolanda Pierce. It is believed he took the Box Boy downstairs with him, either as accomplice or witness. At some point while he was disposing of Yolanda Pierce’s remains, the Boxie became enraged for one reason or another, beat him with a shovel, got the kitchen knife from upstairs and stabbed him to death, and then left the house.

A neighbor remembers hearing odd noises around 3:30 AM and looking out their window to see a shadowy figure walking quickly down the road, but they weren’t able to see well enough to say whether or not the individual matches the description and WRU-provided photos of the Boxie. It does seem reasonable, though, to assume that the neighbor witnessed the Boxie fleeing the scene of the crime.

The Box Boy has never been seen again.

Police are pretty mum about the active investigation into the Box Boy’s whereabouts. I was able to get ahold of one source closely related to a member of the investigative team who said that there’s just not a lot of urgency. “Weber killed nearly two dozen people, just that we know of,” The source said. “The cops are a little bit ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’ about the situation. Unless the Boxie comes back to RR, they’re just inclined to let sleeping dogs lie.”

The sense of “let it be someone else’s problem” would be understandable… if this Box Boy weren’t responsible for one other direct murder, possibly two.

Police believe the Boxie has not left California, and is likely to be continuing to survive by engaging in prostitution or perhaps panhandling or some other hidden way of making money. Unconfirmed sightings have been located in three cities in central California, but all of these are unverified and should be taken with a grain of salt.

It’s also possible he hooked up with a pet liberation movement group, in which case he may be hiding out in a safehouse, protected from the consequences of his actions by the pet lib movement’s understandable insistence on total secrecy and anonymity for the Boxies they take in.

If he’s an innocent victim of circumstance, that’s fair.

If he’s a burgeoning serial killer with three victims under his belt and a taste for inflicting terrible violence on those who take him in… well… anyone who gives him shelter may be next.

Is our Boxie a purposeful killer or just supremely, almost incomprehensibly unlucky? Will he kill again? Was he Robert Weber’s accomplice or his victim?

Will he strike again?

Should there be an audit of WRU’s psychological testing on potential sign-ups to see if, perhaps, a Box Boy-wannabe with an urge to kill slipped through the cracks?

What do you think?

@astrobly @finder-of-rings @burtlederp @whump-tr0pes @raigash @eatyourdamnpears @orchidscript @doveotions @pretty-face-breaker @boxboysandotherwhump @outofangband @whumptywhumpdump @whumpfigure @thehopelessopus @downriver914 @justabitofwhump @butwhatifyouwrite @newandfiguringitout @yet-another-heathen @nonsensical-whump @oops-its-whump @endless-whump @cubeswhump @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @whumpiary

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lilyofthesword-writes · 3 years

Text

Make or Break (Loki Oneshot)

Summary: Loki and the reader are paired up for a mission to sneak into a newly discovered Hydra facility. If they are successful, S.H.I.E.L.D. may promote the reader to allow them on a larger variety of missions.

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 6,831

Warnings/Disclaimers: Some cursing, violence, mentions of blood and injury

A/N: I lied on the word count when I posted the excerpt. I touched the text again trying to review for the millionth time.

Masterlist

Leaning back in your seat, you perused the tablet holding the mission information for the fourteenth time. It was supposed to be quick and simple, but it didn’t mean you should be any less prepared. Sneak into the newly discovered HYDRA base, download the data, extract the target and get back to headquarters in one piece. You’re only worry was who S.H.I.E.L.D. paired you with to complete this mission, the god who neglected to attend the briefing. You had worked with Black Widow and Hawkeye before, but that was it. You were a lower-level field agent whose clearance did not allow for you to go on the bigger missions with the other Avengers. No teaming up with super humans, gods or tech wizards for you. Or so you thought.

Your superiors thought it was a great idea for you to tag along with Loki this time. He had been a tentative Avenger for about five years now and was trusted enough to go on solo missions. Even though he could do this mission perfectly well on his own, you knew exactly why you were there. It was a test. You had worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. for a few years and were due for a promotion soon, but one you had to prove you were ready for. If everything went well, your ranking would be elevated and you’d be going on the higher priority missions. Loki had unwittingly become the key to success. The rumors were he was notoriously hard to work with, and if a person could successfully complete a mission with him, they were ready to be promoted. However, that rarely happened. Most of the agents Loki had been teamed with wound up either leaving for good or asking for a desk job, regardless of how successful they were.

You lowered the tablet as Loki strode with the grace and confidence of a panther onto the Quinjet. Instead of picking a seat, he came to a halt in front of you. Straining your neck, you kept your gaze up and locked with his. You may have been sitting but the man had no right being so tall. He was absolutely trying to intimidate you, to break you in that moment. You wondered if all the talk about him being difficult were true. Despite both of you working at S.H.I.E.L.D., you had only met in passing. You can’t exactly get a good read on someone’s personality when the only time you see them is at the other end of the hall. The most you two had ever done was a quick nod of acknowledgment before going back to work.

“Agent,” he finally spoke, pulling you from your thoughts.

“Loki,” you nodded like usual.

He took the seat across from you without breaking eye contact. You desperately wanted to return to your tablet. He was turning you into a nervous wreck, but you would not let him know that. Letting your stubbornness win, you kept up the staring contest that could have lasted an eternity. It was only when the Quinjet lifted off that he nodded back, a book appearing with a green shimmer in his hand to steal his attention away from you. Quietly letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, you returned to the mission information.

The Quinjet touched down a ways from the HYDRA base in a forest clearing. For the sake of stealth, you had to go on foot for the rest. Reaching the edge of the forest, you and Loki scoped out the area containing what looked like an abandoned building. You knew better though. Your intel suggested there were a handful of basement levels where the HYDRA operatives were working. It also didn’t help that they had tiny, mostly well-concealed cameras around the building. That was the first hurdle.

Crouching in the grass behind the trees, you pulled open one of the pouches on your utility belt for the device you were going to need. Connecting it to the main wiring for the outside cameras would allow you to fake the feed so it would playback only recent footage, preventing their security from seeing you enter. All they could possibly notice is a slight flicker on their screens when the connection was made. With the device in hand and powered up, you looked to Loki. Surely he had seen these before working with the other agents. With a tilt of his head, motioned for you to keep quiet and close. He waved his hands over to two of you, a green mist shrouding you and tingling your face momentarily, and was on the move, stepping out into the clearing.

You tailed Loki as closely as possible without stepping on his heels. He had used some sort of invisibility charm to conceal you both, but you had no idea what kind of distance from him was allowed to keep it working. Reaching the building, you followed Loki around the perimeter until you found the mounted box that acted as the juncture for camera wirings. Running from the bottom of the box into the ground was the main wiring casing. You placed your device on the PVC casing and held it in place as it cut through the tube. When it finished, you pressed the button to lock it in place and waited for it to attach to the right wires, the device flashing green briefly when it finished. Thank the gods for Stark and his technology making things easier.

Locating a side door, Loki opened it a sliver to peer inside before ushering you to slide inside. Once you two were in, he gently pulled the door shut. Unsurprisingly, the area was like an empty warehouse and yet oddly clean. Had the building truly been abandoned, dust and cobwebs would have adorned the tall, industrial shelving and its contents. Slinking through the aisles, you managed to find the elevator with stairs nearby leading to the lower levels. You both silently agreed on the stairs.

Basement floor one was fairly sparse, but still held a few HYDRA agents on patrol. What you needed was probably down a couple of levels for security reasons. It was on the third basement level where things were getting more interesting. There still weren’t many people on this floor, but there was more variety. Men in officer uniforms and lab coats occupied these halls. Loki led the way under the subpar lighting for the next phase. You needed to find a terminal where you could plug in the flash-drive you were assigned and run the program for data extraction.

Spotting one near a large set of imposing doors, you tapped Loki’s arm to point him in the right direction. His reaction was somehow both predictable and surprising. He snapped his head around with an incredulous look on his face like how dare you touch him. Arching an eyebrow, you challenged him and pointed to the terminal console. A touch of tension rippled away from his shoulders as he huffed softly, leading you in the new direction. At the terminal, you inserted the drive and typed in the commands to run the program. As you waited for it to finish, you searched for information on the target’s location. All you had received in briefing and the mission files was the person’s name was Timothy Lawrence. Hopefully, that would be enough to find him in the database.

As you were scanning through anything that could be relevant, you were suddenly snatched away, shoved against the unforgiving metal wall and chest-to-chest with Loki. You were about to protest when you heard footsteps clopping in your direction. Making yourself as small as possible, you flattened yourself against the wall which allowed for Loki to bring himself closer. Although you were still invisible, it was only a visual trick. Sound or touch would shatter the illusion. A scientist and guard rounded the corner, not paying heed to the console, and passed through the doors next to it.

Relaxing slightly when the doors swished shut, you ducked under Loki’s arm to return to the console. You found a list of test subjects, and sifted through the test subject numbers until you stumbled on the one that was close.

Subject: 604

Initials: T.H.L.

Sex: Male

Age: 6

Location: 409

None of the other initials had fully matched the name you were given, so the chances this was the target were slightly more favorable. You closed out your search and the data extraction finished about thirty seconds later. Swiping and tucking the flash drive away safely, you nodded to Loki who immediately headed back to the stairs and brought you down to the fourth basement floor.

While creeping around the lower level to locate the correct room, dread gurgled in your stomach. You had heard of HYDRA’s child experiments, but actually being in its presence was entirely different. The kid was only six. What the hell were they doing to him and why? And did S.H.I.E.L.D. know how old the target was and not divulge that information to you? Wouldn’t that be important? You had to shake your head to bring yourself out of your self-made rabbit hole. Those questions could be answered later. You needed to focus on finding the kid and getting him out.

Loki stopped suddenly, you almost running into him. He gave you a pointed look and rolled his eyes. You had reached your destination. You pressed the button to the side of the door, allowing it to slide open. The room was filled with computers, some life monitoring systems. Those were alongside a table where an unconscious, small boy was strapped down. Loki closed the door and with a snap of his fingers, cancelled the invisibility charm as you made your way to check on the kid. His little eyes shot open upon hearing Loki, pupils dilating with fear and panic.

“Shhh... It’s alright,” you cooed softly, holding your palms out in front of you. “We’re getting you out of here.”

The little boy stilled, confusion transitioning to tentative understanding. That was until he saw Loki. A strangled squeak barely breached his throat. He struggled against his restraints, looking like he wanted to phase through the table to get away. You turned to Loki who held his hands up and backed away, the hurt clearly evident on his face.

“Hey, look at me.” You reached for the boy slowly, but his eyes were still focused on Loki. You cupped his face between your hands. “He’s with me.”

His eyes darted back to you, still scared out of his mind.

“Timothy, right?”

He nodded with tears threatening to soak his face.

“He’s working with the Avengers now. He’s here to help.” You brushed his matted hair away from his sweat slicked forehead. “We are getting you out of here. You’ll be safe, okay?”

He nodded again with a sniffle. You looked back at Loki and waved him over. Making himself as non threatening as he could manage, he stepped to the other side of the table. You two worked on undoing the padded restraints. Once free, you helped Timothy sit up, his arms shaking like a leaf in the wind. How long had he been kept like this? He could barely support the upper half of his body. If if arms were this bad, you didn’t even want to know how badly his legs atrophied.

“Here.” You spun around so your back was facing the table. “I’ll carry you.”

Loki strode over to help Timothy drape his arms over your shoulders and kept him in position as you hooked your arms under his legs to hold him up. Ready to be back on the move, Loki placed his invisibility charm over the three of you. He led you back through the compound only stopping to keep you all from running into HYDRA agents. It wasn’t until you had reached the stairs on the third floor when the alarms went off. You and Loki looked at each other momentarily before booking it. Between the sirens and pounding feet, it’s not like you needed to worry about being quiet anymore.

Dodging various agents sprinting up and down the stairs, you made it to the ground floor which was now filled with armed guards to prevent your escape. Thankfully, they still could not see you, but you needed to get past them to reach any of the doors. Loki pulled you to the side behind some shelving, cloning himself in the process. His now visible clone teleported near the guards who proceeded to fire at it. The distraction allowed you to sneak back out the side door, but the door slamming shut did not go unnoticed. You were almost into the forest when the agents funneled out of the building, showering you with bullets.

With the illusion broken, Loki slowed to place himself in between you and the agents, raising a barrier to stop the bullets. Timothy clung to your suit as tightly as his little hands could, his whimpers barely audible over the gunfire and shouting. The Quinjet was just becoming visible through the trees and brush.

Stumbling once or twice, you glanced back to try to catch his attention. “We’re almost there, Buddy,” you huffed. “Just keep holding on.”

He nodded as he shoved his face in your shoulder. The ramp to the Quinjet lowered as you reached the clearing. Not waiting for it to lock in place, you hopped onto the ledge with Loki hot on your heels. While you settled Timothy into a seat, Loki closed the ramp and informed the pilot to lift off. The cacophony of bullets pinging the jet like clanging pots and pans grew quieter as you took off for home.

You let out a sigh of relief and slumped in your seat, an arm wrapped around Timothy who had curled into your side. The older sibling in you, a roll that had been ripped from you all too early in life, took over as you gingerly carding your fingers through his hair until he fell asleep. Being so focused on the kid, you almost missed Loki giving you an appraising look. He was standing near the cockpit, watching you two curiously. With a sudden furrow of his brow, he strode over and knelt next to you.

“You’re injured,” he stated before you could get a word out about his strange behavior.

“What’re you talking about?” You looked down to find a small trail of blood originating from your left calf. That was when you finally felt it. The adrenaline-fueled chase must have fogged up your brain enough for you to not notice you had been shot.

Loki lifted your leg to get a better look, you hissing in pain as he did. You did your best not to squirm so you wouldn’t wake Timothy from his well-deserved rest. Your free hand gripped the edge of the seat. Had you not been wearing gloves, Loki would have seen your knuckles turn white.

Materializing one of his knives, he carefully cut and removed the offending pants leg that blocked his attempt to tend to your wound. “I will need to remove the bullet,” he said, returning to his feet to grab the first-aid supplies.

Grimacing at the thought, you shook your head. “Let’s just throw some antiseptic on it and wrap it. The bullet can wait until we get back.”

“Tch. Stubborn mortal,” he scoffed. “It will only be worse for you if we do that.”

He returned to your side with the supplies. He paused to look up at you and then Timothy. Placing a glowing green palm on the boy’s forehead, he muttered something in an unrecognizable language.

“There. Now he won’t be disturbed for the next few hours.”

Without giving you a chance to protest further, he cleaned your wound before starting on the bullet. Luckily, for both of you, it was not too deep. You still tore off a glove to bite down on in an attempt to not focus on the pain, but it could have been worse. Loki was surprisingly gentle throughout the whole ordeal. Although, you couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t just use his magic. Had he exhausted his abilities having used them for most of the mission?

A light squeeze to your knee brought you back to reality. Loki had finished wrapping your leg and proceeded to sit himself on the other side of Timothy. You tried to stay awake to keep an eye on the peaceful boy in case he woke up. After several times of you catching Loki watching you and Timothy, you gave up and allowed sleep to overtake you.

Timothy stirred when the Quinjet touched down, your arm still around his tiny frame. Moving to stand and prepare to leave, you felt his fingers dig into your suit, not ready to part from you just yet. Instead, you pulled him into your lap and stood to carry him out, ignoring the leg that caused a slight limp in your gait. As if on cue, his limbs wrapped around you like a spider monkey. Meeting you as you exited the jet was a medical team. A nurse swept in to take Timothy with them to the med bay, but Loki placed himself in front of you. The nurse stepped back fearfully bumping into one of her teammates. The crew looked at a loss of what to do until Agent Hill stepped through the doors.

Sighing, she motioned you inside. “Let’s get him to the medical wing.”

What an odd locomotive you all made moving down the halls. Hill was in lead with you following directly behind her. Loki stayed close to you, a hand ghosting your back between your shoulder blades. The medics were in last as they tried to keep up without getting too close to Loki. Timothy shifted in your arms like he was trying to get more comfortable. Rubbing his back, you pressed forward. What you weren’t able to see was that he kept peering up at Loki with the smallest, shyest possible smile.

Finally reaching the room the medical team was going to perform a checkup on the kid, you set him down on the bed, but he still wasn’t ready to let go. You were able to pull away just enough to see his face. He didn’t seem quite as scared but it was clear he was not fond of the medics. While some wore scrubs, the rest had lab coats that were too similar to the HYDRA scientists.

“They aren’t here to hurt you,” you smiled softly. “They just want to make sure you’re not hurt or sick, okay?”

He released his grip on you and folded his hands in his lap, allowing you to take a step back.

“Would you feel better if we stayed in the room?”

Looking between you and Loki who was currently behind you, he nodded vigorously. You smiled back and moved to lean against the far wall, close enough to see you but not enough to crowd the medics. Loki looked thoughtfully at Timothy who stared back at him with hopeful eyes before joining you.

A couple weeks later, you were at your station, rummaging through emails. You found one about Timmy, as he preferred to be called, being transferred at the end of the month to another facility where other children rescued from HYDRA were residing. At least he would be with kids his own age. Through the tests the medical team had run, it turns out Timmy was enhanced. HYDRA had taken him and his family, but left only him alive when they learned the rest of his family held no mutations. S.H.I.E.L.D. would not divulge to you what his abilities were, but considering how quickly he bonded with you and Loki, you were at least allowed to contact and visit him every so often, something you planned to work into your schedule.

You closed out your emails upon hearing approaching footsteps. Agent Hill was speed walking towards you with a folder in hand.

“Good morning, Agent,” she greeted you with an infectious smirk, holding the folder out to you.

“Good morning, Agent Hill.” You took the folder and checked the paperwork inside. Holding back a squeal, you hugged the folder to your chest. “Really?!”

“Congratulations!”

You bit your lip to contain your excitement. “I wasn’t really expecting this, especially so soon.”

“Well, I shouldn’t be telling you this but...” She sidled up next to you, lowering her voice. “I did read Loki’s report. The partner review section is usually filled with snarky comments and insults. Your’s was different. It was glowing compared to past reports.”

You tilted your head at her in confusion. There was plenty for him to complain about. You were not perfect. Your skills as a field agent were slightly above average, nothing to write home about. There was a lot you could do better.

“There was only one word.”

Arching an eyebrow, you nodded for her to continue.

“Tolerable.”

That was a glowing review?! You had to stop yourself from laughing. You really did not want to know what he wrote about the others.

After the mini-gossip session, Agent Hill left you to continue her other tasks. With a slight bounce in your step, you headed to the break room for some coffee. You were later than usual, but everyone on this floor was usually pretty good about making sure the coffee pot was never left empty. Opening an overhead cupboard, you groaned to yourself. All the mugs were on the higher shelving. Where were the ones that were normally lower? You weren’t sure you could reach even if you stood on your toes, but damned if you weren’t going to try anyways.

“Having trouble, Agent?” a low voice queried from behind startling you.

About to lose your balance, you tried to put yourself back fully on your feet but overcompensated and fell backwards instead. A pair of hands grabbed your shoulders, preventing you from hitting the ground. You righted yourself and spun on your heel to face the trickster.

“Thanks, Loki...”

“You’re quite welcome, Agent.” The way he emphasized “agent” made you nervous. You weren’t sure if it was in a good or bad way.

He reached past you into the cupboard. Grabbing a couple of mugs, he offered you one with a sly smile. “Is this what you needed?”

Of course he could reach with no problems. You cleared your throat as you took one from him. “Y-yes. Thank you.”

Turning back around to face the counter, you started to pour coffee into your mug. Loki slid in next to you and turned on the electric kettle. You caught him watching you from your peripheral vision as you moved to the fridge for creamer. Having added just the right amount, you leaned your back on the counter. You take a sip, the mug a barrier to hide part of your face.

“So... What brings you here?”

He motioned to the tea bag he had pulled from the container on the counter.

You rolled your eyes. “Is that all?” This floor wasn’t even the normal floor he visited. What was he up to?

“Yes, Little Agent,” he smirked. “This break room is much quieter than the one normally inhabited by the beloved Avengers.”

Snickering, you took another sip. “Right, right.”

Knowing he had been caught, he shifted his focus on the water just starting to boil.

You pushed yourself away from the counter. “Well, I need to get back to work. See you around?”

“Indeed, Agent.”

Timmy flew into your arms as you knelt near the ramp of the Quinjet. “You’re going to come visit, right?”

“Promise,” you reassured him with a grin. How this kid managed to bounce back so quickly was beyond you, but seeing him this happy brought a spark of warmth to your chest. This was one of the reasons you joined S.H.I.E.L.D.

He let go and peered around you sheepishly. “Mr. Loki?”

Looking over your shoulder, the mischievous god was leaning back near the door preferring to watch from a distance. He ducked his head to hide the light smile on his face. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Turning away so Loki couldn’t see, you smiled at their interaction. Who knew Loki could be a softie.

An agent appeared at the top of the ramp, ready to bring Timmy onboard.

“Be good for them, okay?” You ruffled his hair and stood up.

He nodded and hugged you one more time before running off to the agent. He turned back before the ramp closed, giving you and Loki a wave goodbye. With the Quinjet taking off, you spun on your heel and made your way to the door.

“You are much too kind.”

You hand paused on the door handle. “I’m sorry?”

Loki faced you, a scrutinizing look in his eyes. “You are too kind for this line of work.”

“I can handle it, Loki. I have my reasons for being here,” you scoffed, arms folded across your chest.

“I never said it was a bad thing.” He smirked at you and opened the door for you to enter first. “It’s rather refreshing.”

This god really knew how to flip an emotional switch. You just shook your head and proceeded inside, deciding it was better to not stand around argue with him. There was a new mission briefing for the two of you to attend, and you were not about to let him make you late.

Fury kept pairing you and Loki for missions. Sometimes another field agent or Avenger would tag along for support, but for the most part it was just you two. Most of the missions involved as much stealth as possible, but combat was inevitable in some cases. Loki might as well have glued himself to you during those moments. He never left you when a fight broke out, going so far as to stand between you and the shots fired in your direction. Guess he found a little more than “tolerable”.

Even outside of the missions you wound up spending time together. With the promotion, your work station had been moved to the same floor as the Avengers which meant you also shared the break room and training facilities. While Loki never showed up at your workstation, he did “happen” to come across you everywhere else, usually sticking to the background when others were around.

“You know, Loki, stalking someone generally involves the stalker not being in plain sight,” you teased, using a towel to wipe the sweat from your face. Training with Nat, as she nearly demanded you to call her, was intense but absolutely worth it. You attributed the recent mission successes to her as you may not have survived with out her guidance.

“Tch. I would not consider it ‘stalking,’ merely watching your back,” he scowled, clearly not amused.

“Calm down, Mischief. I’m only joking,” you grinned, nudging past him out the door. “But seriously, you don’t need to constantly ‘watch my back’. We’re at S.H.I.E.L.D., not on a mission.”

Following you, he taunted, “Then, I suppose you would prefer to be left alone. I see how it is.” He feigned being hurt by your words.

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” you deadpanned.

His pace quickened until he spun in front of you, forcing you to a halt. “Then, my little agent, what do you mean?”

You quirked an eyebrow at him in a moment of silence. For whatever reason, he had taken to calling you that a few months ago. You were oddly okay with it, possibly even liked it though you were not ready to admit that just yet.

“What I mean is...” You took a step closer, now mere inches away, heart thundering in your chest. “You are allowed to talk to me when there are other people nearby.”

He leaned in, pushing how far this little standoff was going to go. “So I have your permission now? Thank you so much.”

“You never needed it.” Gods, you were so close now. You could have just gotten it over with and kissed him, but the thought of his reaction stopped you. Loki could be so hard to read. You couldn’t take anything at face value. It would not surprise you if he were messing with you now. But you could always try to catch him off guard...

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” you smirked and stepped around him. “I would like to get cleaned up for my date tonight.”

With that, you darted into the locker room, leaving the trickster frozen in the hall, mouth agape.

“He does like you,” Timmy said sporadically yet nonchalantly as he kicked the ball to you.

“‘He’ who?” You kicked the ball in the air towards him.

“Mr. Loki.”

You rolled your eyes at his “no duh” tone. “Maybe as a coworker.”

“Nooo!” He bounced the ball off his head, letting it then hit the ground to be forgotten. “I mean ‘like like’.”

You were about to scoff but thought back to earlier in the day. Loki’s reaction to your comment could lead someone to believe that, but that certainly was not enough proof. And, no. You were not on an actual date, but a date is a kind of planned event, and you had planned to visit Timmy. Loki would probably see through your partial lie eventually, but you at least had him in that moment.

“Now what makes you say that?”

“He always talks about you when he’s here.”

So Mischief does visit him... Imagining Loki running around this playground with Timmy was kind of cute.

“I’ll bet it’s nothing good,” you joked.

Timmy shook his head, not understanding your jest. “It’s how nice you are. He said that you’re one of the only people here who isn’t mean to him.”

Well, that was kind of true. Just because he had been with the Avengers for so long did not mean everyone was going to be friendly with him. New York was a factor but his current demeanor towards “Midgardians” was enough to turn most people away.

“That doesn’t mean he... ‘like like’s me,” you grimaced. Speaking like this made you feel like you were in high school again.

“But he told me-” He clapped his hands over his mouth.

“Told you what?”

He shook his head, his hair slinging wildly.

“Timmy...” you warned.

“But I promised him I wouldn’t tell,” he admitted through his hands.

Knowing how important promises can be for children, you sighed, “Okay, okay. I won’t push it anymore.”

Relief flooded his tiny face as he relaxed. Looking up at the pinks and oranges seeping into the sky like paint with too much water, you pouted. “Alright, Buddy. Looks like we need to head inside.”

Timmy mirrored your pout, but ran to you and clutched your hand as you led him into the building.

Well, this was going to be a boring mission. You were going solo this time. Loki was with his brother off-world, so that meant you had no one but the pilot to chat with. Admittedly, Loki was quite the conversationalist when he wanted to be. It kept the trips to and from locations from growing stagnant, something you very much appreciated. Plus, you just liked hearing his alluring voice, even when he teased you just to see how flustered you would get. You were a little surprised with how much you missed him being around.

At least this was supposed to be quick. The newly-found HYDRA facility was about three hours away. Get in. Snag data. Go home. Intel showed it was small without many people there. Should be easy enough. But... Nothing is ever goes as smoothly as it should.

Glancing out the window as the Quinjet was landing, you noticed how close you were to the facility. In fact, you were a lot closer than you should have been.

“Sir?” You left your seat to confront the pilot. “What’s this about? This is a stealth mission. You’re going to give away-”

You had to jump back to avoid a punch. The pilot had left the controls to take care of you, gun in hand. Is this guy serious right now?! There was no way you were going to give this guy a chance to shoot you. You ducked low, charging him and rammed yourself at his stomach, elbow aimed for his solar plexus. With the wind knocked out of him, he stumbled backwards, grasping at anything that would keep him upright. Taking the opening, you used a seat near you as leverage to jump high enough to wrap your legs around his neck, using the momentum and gravity to swing yourself around to slam him into the ground (a nice little trick Nat so graciously taught you). The force to the metal flooring was enough to leave him unconscious.

Scrambling up, you formulated a quick plan in your head: Take off, secure this asshole and comm headquarters. You made the executive decision to end the mission early. If this guy was a double agent, then whoever was in the facility knew you were coming. You were making your way to the cockpit when you felt something sharp pierce your neck. Immediately, you yanked out what you found to be a dart, spinning around to see where it came from. At some point in your fight, the Quinjet had touched down and the ramp lowered. With your vision growing alarmingly blurry, you could barely make out the armed guards before everything faded black.

Your head was throbbing when you opened your eyes again. The room was dark with a cold, uninviting floor and thick metal bars in front. You tried to sit up, hoping the small change would alleviate your headache but failed. Your captors had secured your hands behind your back, rather tightly to be honest. The restraints were harshly cutting into your wrists while making it as awkward as possible to do anything from your position. Trying again, the muscles in your side seized up and your ribs screamed in agony, a groan falling from your throat.

“Oh look, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is awake.”

You flinched not having heard the footsteps leading to your cell. You kept your head on the concrete floor as you looked up at the dark figure leaning on the opposite side of the bars.

“Now,” he started as he unlocked the door and let himself in. “I am going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them.” He nudged you with his foot. “Understand?”

Clenching your jaw, you pointedly looked away from him. Like hell. He just chuckled. The gritty sound reverberated off the walls.

“How cute. Your stubbornness won’t last long here.” The man began circling you slowly. “I know you are one of the agents who stole Subject 604.”

“You mean one of the agents who rescued a boy named Timmy,” you spat, earning you a hard blow to your back.

Hissing through your teeth, you rolled onto your stomach to relieve the pain of your bruising backside, but a foot pulled you back onto your side.

“Quite rude of you to interrupt,” he growled, moving to stand in front of you. “Now, all I want to know is where you have taken my test subject.”

“Hah,” you barked. “Like I’ll help some monster running experiments on children.”

A kick to your ribs and you curled in on yourself, coughing up the blood trying to take refuge in your lungs. He ripped you from the floor by your hair when a deafening alarm suddenly blared in the facility.

“You want a monster? Then, a monster you will have,” his hissed in your face before throwing you back down and leaving you in your cell to rot. You knew he’d be back later to finish what he started.

Biting back a pained moan, you pushed your head into the concrete floor, but the cold did little to soothe your pain. The alarm made sure of that, the tone causing your ears to faintly ring. You scooted yourself backwards against the wall and used it to help sit yourself upright. With that little bit of success, you rewarded yourself by closing your eyes and leaning against the wall. Now maybe you could think a little better so you could figure out a plan to get the hell out of there.

A low, familiar voice called your name, startling you to open your eyes. Had you blacked out again?

“By the Norns, you’re are alive,” a second booming voiced sounded off.

Maybe you were hallucinating. They weren’t supposed to be here. “Wha- Loki? Thor?”

Loki picked the lock open with his seiðr and rushed to you to release your bonds. “Let us leave this place, my little agent.” He spoke just loud enough for you to hear him over the alarms that were still roaring.

Gingerly scooping you into his arms, he strode back to Thor who was holding back the HYDRA agents who found you all there. He looked back at you and Loki over his shoulder. “Let’s go!” He threw his hammer down the hall, hitting the agents and forming a path.

Between Thor’s hammer and Loki’s seiðr, it didn’t take long for you all to convene with Captain America and Nat and make it to their Quinjet. The one you had taken for your mission was probably long gone. With everyone onboard, the pilot took off and navigated for headquarters.

Loki sat you down in a seat, giving you a once over to see where you were hurt with Nat giving her input. You probably had a concussion, cracked ribs and definitely a plethora of bruises. The best they could do at the moment was keep you comfortable without agitating the damage.

In one swift move, Loki picked you back up and placed you in his lap as he sat, holding you to his chest. Leaning into the embrace, you nuzzled up to him, too tired to notice the knowing looks earned from the rest of the team.

“I thought you were off-world,” you struggled to say, your voice barely breaking a whisper. Exhaustion was creeping up your limbs.

He rested a cheek on top of your head. “We were. We came back as soon as we learned you were missing. I thought I had lost you.”

Your mind grew foggy, slurring your words. “Nope... Not gettin’ rid of me so eas’ly...”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Now sleep, my little agent.”

Traipsing through the jungle gym, you followed Timmy who was making his way to the monkey bars. He boldly hopped off the platform and latched onto one of the bars. As he swung himself forward, catching the next bar, you reached out for the closest one.

“Should you really be doing that, Dove?”

Loki was suddenly on the ground next to you.

“What? It’s just monkey bars.”

“You’ve only been out of the Med Bay for a week,” he deadpanned.

Huffing, you sat down on the platform, knowing you would not win this argument. “Fine. But you’re helping me down.”

He was already in front of you, ready to pull you into his arms. “With pleasure,” he smirked with a playful glint in his eyes.

You slid into his embrace and wrapped your arms around his neck. He just held you like that, staring into your eyes. You smiled and pressed your forehead to his. Although he thought it was cute, Loki had a better idea. He tilted his head and captured your lips instead which you all too willingly encouraged.

“Come on, you guys! It’s gonna get dark soon,” Timmy yelled to you, wanting you to follow him to the next jungle gym section.

With the moment shattered, Loki set you down and placed a chaste kiss to your forehead. You intertwined your fingers with his, pulling him along in Timmy’s direction. Both of you walked alongside the jungle gym and watched the ecstatic boy as he navigated the various obstacles.

“You know,” you began teasingly, leaning on Loki who hummed in response. “I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for rescuing me.”

“No... No, I don’t think you did,” he smirked mischievously.

You squeezed the hand you were holding. “What can I do to show my appreciation for your valiant efforts?”

“Hmm...” He looked at you with mock contemplation. “How about... You, my little agent, join me for dinner tonight?”

You nodded in agreement. “I’d love that.”

#loki x reader #loki marvel #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki x you #marvel #marvel avengers #the avengers #s.h.i.e.l.d.#loki imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki friggason #loki oneshot

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lifeexperience · 3 years

Text

MariBat March 2021 - New Start

Masterlist - Previous

Bruce was nervous.

It was clear to his sons. To Selina. To Bilal.

More precisely, he was a nervous wreck.

“Can you sit down or I can break your legs for you?” Jason pushed him into one of the chairs in front of the computer with a rude move.

“Hood, please…” Dick began standing up but was stopped by Damian.

“No!” the youngest said with a smug glee. “He is right. It’s not the first time when Father is meeting a blood child not knowing about him beforehand.”

“Yes.” Jason nodded in agreement. “He already has practice, so I don’t understand why he is so pissy about it. Like some teen girl in front of her first jock crush.” He adjusted his straps again. A nervous habit. “Babyba…”

“Kitten.” Selina cut in sternly. “He is a kitten.”

His second son rolled his eyes. “The kitten is already a superhero with an established badass partner. He has good emotional control, not like us. And he inherited more from your fiancé than you.” he listed more calmly as he glanced at the glaring Damian. Bruce sighed. Jason always loved to annoy his brothers, but here it could be really dangerous.

“Master Jason, I hope you don't want to be left out of the next month's babysitting routine.” they heard Alfred wise voice from the speakers.

Jason immediately started backing up in his words and trying to sooth out any ruffles in Robin’s uniform. They also heard Tim’s sniggering through the static noise. So he also was there. And if Tim was stalking on them then it was sure this evening’s record would end up with Barbara and the girls.

Bruce didn’t know it was a good or a bad thing. The girls could be more ruthless than the boys. And there were Damian and Jason.

And a new son.

A son.

He didn’t even know if they would learn his identity today. Like Ladybug already found out about them, but it could be dangerous at any time if they akumatized. And if he remembered correctly Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t even know each other under the mask.

Here comes a headache.

Again.

He stood up to go for a pill. Fortunately Bilal had a really equipped health aid section in his basement. There were a lot of different painkillers. Even some charm from the lady luck herself for magical indicated problems. Those children were indeed badasses.

As the silent minute was broken with a quiet click, every one of them focused on the door.

They were here.

The entrance was pushed open slowly. Bruce heard fast murmuring from the Parisian heroes as they walked in. Ladybug was holding something in her hands while Chat Noir - his son - carefully closed the door.

“Heyya, little bro!” Jason couldn't restrain himself for more. Dick just shook his head resignedly then smiled welcomingly.

“We are happy you two came.” he stepped up and showed them further in the base. Damian growled a little then stopped as he caught Bruce disapproving frown.

He really loved his children, but they were handful.

“What is this?” Dick leaned closer to the bundle in Ladybug’s hands.

The two french looked at each other, and the girl held out a box instead to him. It was a patisserie box, inside a few different cakes and pastry. However her other hand was still full on with some dotted clothes.

“And that?” Jason pointed at it curiously.

The heroine looked down and blinked up shyly. A spreading blush grew from her neck to her ears. “We found him in a rain gutter when... There was no nest, so…”

In the red bundle was a little bird with ruffled feathers. His sons watched it in awe. It had a beautiful blue-grey and yellow plumage with a hint of white and black. For the situation it was in, the little bird was really calm and as it tilted its head, a little curious.

“It’s a Parus Major.” Damian jumped at his feet and ran swiftly to the animal. Of course he would, Bruce thought, watching with a smile as his youngest got excited about the little bird. “Mother never let me foster any Parus Major in the....” he cut abruptly off. Jason and Dick changed a meaningful glance before started asking questions about the bird. Sometimes Chat Noir chirped in shyly while his partner handed the animal over to Damian.

Lost in their conversation the boys didn’t even notice as Ladybug skipped away to the adults. Or more adults than Red Hood and Nightwing ever were.

“Monsieur Batman, Madam Kyle! Nightrunner!” she nodded in greetings to each of them.

“Little Bug, I have to say, you are a little badass!” Selina opened her mouth before Bruce could say something. He also won a disapproving look from his financé as she praised the increasingly embarrassed Parisian.

Bruce turned to Bilal for some help about what he did again, however the vigilante shook his head negatively. And of course, he couldn’t ask Alfred about it, because he was only in the comms and not here in person. Great.

“I am not here for the pleasantries, Madam!” the girl said after gulping her own bashfulness. Her voice was not that hard but carried a little stern edge. Bruce knew this voice, he used so much sometimes almost forgot to not use it. It mirrored his Batman voice.

“Please explain!” he straightened himself out in the chair.

For a long moment Ladybug looked at his cowl like searching for something then took a big breath. She glanced back at the boys and nodded to herself as they were all absorbed in their own conservation.

“Chat Noir is hurt. He is good at hiding it, but he is hurt. And if he isn’t ready to show himself to you, then… I think you have to step back a little.” She was confident. She stood beside his partner’s decision with her full heart and mind.

“I don’t want…”

“I know.” she interrupted him. “He wants you to learn about his new family too. But his life… Our life is not that easy.” She blinked some. “If we are akumatized the world ends. And we can’t let that happen.”

Bruce vaguely sensed how both Selina and Bilal tensed up at once. He also felt how his own muscles froze up to the indication of a new world-ending scenario. Of course, they already knew about the possibility, but to say it out loud from a teen girl’s mouth. It was another matter.

They had to be careful and follow the boy's wants.

“And I have to warn you about your identity. I didn’t say anything in the police station, and you two were really lucky that Chat Noir didn’t notice Madam Kyle. But you have to be more careful.” she explained, frowning. “I am not the only observant person in this city.”

Oh shit!

They didn’t even think about it at that moment. If Ladybug didn’t know about him being Bruce Wayne, that would have been a rookie mistake. No, not had been. It was a rookie mistake.

And he hated to be a rookie.

“By the way, it’s a common occurrence to fight with a fucking hydra?” Jason’s voice broke them out of their tense state.

“Language!” Bruce and Ladybug hissed at the same time with the same tone. Again.

The boys all looked them with surprised eyes then faced back with Chat Noir. Bruce kind of saw how they all debated how the heroine wasn’t his child. It was written in their masked face, and he knew them very well to recognize their mind’s logic.

Dick wanted to shoot sister-rights, while Damian was getting angry again. And Jason… Jason just looked too smug for his own good.

“If we are… kind of there…” the Parisian cat started shakily refocusing everybody. “I would like to say something.”

Fortunately besides Bruce, Dick also noticed Damian’s instinct and grabbed the boy by his shoulder and adjusted the little bird’s nest, distracting him at the same time. So without one batarang they all could concentrate back on Chat Noir.

Bruce tried to look encouragingly, however his new child only glanced at him for moments. He clearly waited for Ladybug’s approval and not his.

The girl searched for something in her partner’s eyes in the same way as not long ago she searched in his soul. It was kind of disturbing how it felt like she saw his mind like an open book. It was surely a magical skill.

When she finally nodded, Chat Noir looked around again. He is scared. His hands shook and his unnatural pupils were dilated. His closed posture said he wanted to be anywhere else than here. Bruce almost stood up to stop him whatever he wanted to do.

However he was late.

With a murmur and a big green flash, on the place of Chat Noir stood a thin boy with blond hair and green eyes.

“My… my name is Adrien Ag... Agreste.”

In the room almost everyone forgot how to breath. At least Bruce was close to drown without his oxygen intake.

This boy. His son. Adrien.

He stepped closer to him while trying to say something. Anything. Reassure him. Greet him. Introduce himself and his - Adrien’s - siblings.

However Jason was faster. “You are that perfume guy!”

@maribatmarch-2k21

To be continued in May...

#Maribatmarch2021 #maribat march #maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #batfam #ml fanfic #chat noir #ladybug #2021

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averyhappychainsawhalloween · 4 years

Text

Reverence | Part 2

Thomas Hewitt X Reader

The morning came like a soft embrace. Sunlight filtered in through handstitched cotton curtains and outside birds chirped. There was still an ache in your head but you felt a lot better after a good night’s rest. Swinging your feet out of bed you stretched your stiff muscles and started downstairs. It was an old house and each step creaked under your weight. It reminded you of your grandma’s house and how you’d scramble into the kitchen to stamp out sugar cookies with her.

You peeked your head into the kitchen to see the older woman working at the sink.

“Good morning,” you said. The woman jumped, nearly dropping a dish. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you, ma’am.”

“Don’t worry about it, I thought you’d be sleeping in,” she said, setting the plate aside. “And please call me Luda Mae.”

“Do you need any help, Luda Mae?” you asked, trying out the name on your tongue. It felt comfortable in your mouth, like you’d always known it.

“Aren’t you a doll,” Luda Mae said giving you a kind smile. “Can you help me bring the plates into the dinning room for breakfast?”

You nodded and picked up a tray of a sausage patties. They were warm and smelled good, if a bit ruggedly shaped. You set the tray down on the wooden table and take a look at the spread. There was coffee, sausage, bacon, and a small dish of eggs. Very little fresh fruits or vegetables but you figured it was hard to come by those out in the country unless you grew them yourself.

“Are breakfasts always formal?” you asked, looking around the dinning room and the highbacked chairs.

“It is when we have a guest,” Luda Mae said giving you a wink.

You helped Luda Mae get everything ready and soon the house began to gather for the meal. Hoyt took a seat, still in his sheriff’s outfit. An older man in a wheelchair was introduced as Monty. He gave you a hard look but seemed harmless. Hoyt said a blessing and then everyone began grabbing for food. You waited, looking to the doorway.

“Tommy’s already had breakfast,” Luda Mae said, reaching over to pat your arm.

“Oh.” Your eyes fell to your lap. You didn’t want to look too disappointed so you went for one of the sausage patties on the table. Your eyes connected with Hoyt’s at the head of the table. He was examining you closely and it made your skin crawl.

“Thomas has work he needs to do. He don’t need you distracting him,” Hoyt said before taking a large bite from a piece of bacon.

“What does he do?” You took a bite out of the sausage. It tasted different than the frozen patties your family shoved in the microwave. It was probably fresh from a butcher or maybe their own pigs. Most food tasted different fresh, this didn’t necessarily taste better just... different.

You looked up from the sausage to a silent table. The three family members share a look.

“He’s a butcher,” Hoyt said after a long pause before stabbing his fork into his plate.

“Oh, I thought he might make pies.” You didn’t mean to blurt it out but the words escaped anyway. Your face went red and Hoyt threw his head back to laugh. Monty and Luda Mae shared a small chuckle.

“Honey, you’re just too sweet,” Luda Mae laughed, taking your hand and squeezing it. A smile crept across your lips and you let it take control, showing off your teeth.

“A pretty little thing too,” Hoyt said, leaning over his plate. You didn’t let your smile waver but Hoyt’s words left a bad taste in your mouth. You were used to older men talking to you like this, but it didn’t mean you enjoyed it. However, you were at their table and surviving on their hospitality and your mother would hunt you down if you were rude.

“Does Tommy work nearby?” You turned your attention to Luda Mae. There didn’t seem to be much outside beyond fields you could see from your window but the country often had long stretches of nothing. Perhaps he had his own shop nearby.

“Since the slaughterhouse closed he’s been working at home,” Luda Mae said, her voice soft as if she was choosing her words carefully. You raised an eyebrow. You had heard of lots of businesses running out of homes- daycares, tamales, and bakers but a butcher? That didn’t seem like something you’d want to stain your floors with.

“Oh wow. I’ll have to ask Tommy more about it,” you said taking another bite of your breakfast.

“Oh dear, Tommy isn’t much of a talker,” Luda Mae said. “He’s a shy boy so don’t take offense.”

You thought back on your interactions and realized Tommy had not spoken a single word. How strange for you to have not noticed. He had such a presence that it felt like he was speaking even by being silent.

“Besides you don’t need to be down in the basement. You’re still recovering. How about you go outside and get some sun. A good walk will help your head, dear,” Luda Mae said rising from the table. You nodded and started out of the front door but paused on the porch.

You had woken up in the basement. It had been damp and musty and horrifying. They locked you down there with chains. You don’t remember seeing any animals, or anything resembling a butcher’s block.

A tightness formed in your chest and you looked back to Luda Mae who was clearing the breakfast dishes. She gave you a wink and waved for you to leave.

Suddenly the old house and southern charm of the family didn’t feel quite so inviting.

Outside you stretched out in the grass and watched the sun grow overhead. You had taken a small walk of the property, with an eye out for any animals they could be slaughtering, but didn’t find any. There didn’t even seem to be pins or any area arranged for cows or pigs that were empty. There were, however, a lot of cars. Not just old ones but newer ones tossed aside as if they were junk. You took look inside a few of them and saw ornaments on the dashboard, big gulp cups in the cupholders, and even wallets on the seats. They weren’t junkers, they looked abandoned.

You slid into the passenger seat of a Volkswagen beetle, it’s orange paint dull and tires flat from sitting in the field. A leather wallet was on the driver’s seat and you plucked it up and opened it. There was cash inside, and a driver’s license peeking out of it. You pulled out the card, looking at the face smiling up at you. It was a young guy, young enough that he may have missed the draft. People don’t just leave things like wallets and their cars like this.

You felt a shiver run up your spine. Where were your things from the van? Your backpack, the book from the flea market. You were wondering why this young man had left his wallet when you had no idea where yours was. You tossed the wallet aside and stepped out of the car. Maybe Hoyt knew where the wreck was. Someone in the house had to know- you didn’t walk to their house you just were in it.

Fear started to crawl up your throat. This wasn’t making sense.

You started back towards the house when you froze.

At the end of the row of cars and trucks huddled under a few spare trees was a van painted dark gray. You slowly walked towards it afraid it might vanish if you looked away or even blinked. You kept an eye on it until you planted a palm against its side. It was real it was here. The windows were shattered leaving holes to peer inside. It was dark inside, glass and blood covered the seats and floor. The side door was bent from the wreck and it took some work to pry it open. You shimmied inside, climbing over the seats to the place you had claimed for the trip in the back. You fell into the seat, mindful of the glass pieces that seemed to coat everything. You closed your eyes trying to remember exactly had happened but there was nothing to remember. Your head hit the van and everything was dark. You looked up at the frame beside you, a dark red mark spread across the metal from where your skull had connected.

Remembering wouldn’t help anything, but looking around might.

You looked under the seat but couldn’t seem to find your backpack. You moved through the van, closer to the front seat and stopped. The driver’s seat was coated in blood. As if a bucket had been poured on the upholstery and someone let is soak into it. It smelled rancid, like something rotting. You took a gulp of air before leaning around the seat to inspect it. There was a a hole in the headrest of the seat, the filling spilled out dried in clumps of blood. You leaned in closure, looking at the shriveled bits that seemed to cling to to the fabric.

A car horn blared through the afternoon and you nearly gave yourself another concussion jumping at the noise. You scrambled out of the van looking towards the house for where it may have come from. A small car had pulled up and a young man stepped out of the driver’s side.

Your heart beat hard in your chest as you moved to the stranger. They could take you to the next town and you could call your mom or a cab or something. Wherever you got would be fine as long as it wasn’t here where the butcher nonexistent cattle and collected the belongings of ghosts. You were nearly running, the tall grass tickling your legs, as you moved to the front of the house.

Except the screen door slammed open before you got there. Hoyt came down the stairs and started talking to the man. You stopped, catching your breath and clutching the side of the house. Hoyt and the young man talked, their voices too low for you to understand.

And suddenly Hoyt took out his pistol and shot the man right in the head.

Your hand slapped across your mouth trapping the scream that tore at your throat. The battered headrest coated in blood and brains came to mind.

Dead. This stranger was dead. Your friends were dead.

If you didn’t leave you’d be dead too.

Tears pricked your eyes as your fingers dug into the skin of your cheeks too scared to release your lips.

A woman screams and you think it’s you but it’s not. It’s a passenger in the young man’s car. She jumps out, yelling at Hoyt before running back towards the road. Hoyt takes aim and shoots her in the back. The blood spurts from her shoulder, arching into the air before splattering into the dirt.

Your knees gave out. You collapsed against the side of the house sliding down into the dirt. Your teeth bite into the meat of your hand to keep from screaming.

You feel impossibly stupid. How could you have not seen this? Because they were nice to you? Cause a man held your hand and got you water? Because an old woman smiled and gave you breakfast?

“Tommy!” Hoyt yelled, standing over his new kill. Her feet wiggled and he drove his boot into her neck. She twitched and then fell still. “Thomas get out here now!”

“Stop yelling!” Luda Mae’s voice came from the porch where you couldn’t see her. “I don’t want you scaring that girl.”

“Why not? She could use a good scare!” Hoyt said, hooking a thumb into his belt. His boot was still on that woman’s neck despite her body growing cold.

“Thomas is sweet on her and I won’t have you scaring her off,” Luda Mae said, her voice low but clear enough you could still hear it. You’re straining to hear and suddenly heavy bootsteps echo across the porch. Tommy steps off the porch into view, two heavy metal hooks in his hand.

“That’s a good boy. Mama wants these cleared before your little friend seems ‘em,” Hoyt said. Tommy moves to the body Hoyt is standing on, shoving the metal hook into the flesh of the woman’s chest. He drags the body before doing the same with the young man. Up close you see the metal pierce through the corpses’ skin and tear through its shirt. Tommy lifts the body up as easy as if it weight nothing at all and carries them into the house.

“I don’t know why you’re humorin’ him,” Hoyt said spitting into the dirt and walking up to the porch. “He doesn’t know what to do with a woman. It’s a waste of meat and another mouth.”

“She’s kind to him and I’m willing to wait to see how it goes,” Luda Mae said. “And if it goes south, there’s always the basement.”

The screen door slams shut and you’re left alone outside with the stranger’s car still idling and a million thoughts running through your head.

This was not southern hospitality, it was a deathtrap.

#thomas hewitt #thomas hewitt x reader #thomas hewitt x you #leatherface #slashers x reader

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thevoilinauttheory · 3 years

Text

Choke

[ FFxivWrite2021 Prompt 10: Heady ]

[ Content Notes: Mostly none? destroyed property, theft, absolute terrifying anger ]

youtube

When he stepped through the door, the entirety of his home was in disarray - a nasty state, really. Furniture was overturned, his fish tank broken on the floor (and his poor fish long gone with it - this was the last time he was ever going to keep a pet after that), dishes shattered on the ground. He let out a huff from his nose - anger, annoyance; whatever. It was fine, he was fine, he’d clean it up later. He trudged upstairs to take a look at his office, also finding it a wreck. Papers scattered everywhere, ink stains over his desk and floor (and most recent research piece), but above it all, the rows and shelves of books were either tipped over or torn apart - he could feel the heat rising in his ears. He stormed back downstairs, then into the basement. He was thankful to see that it was mostly intact, but a few pieces of paper were missing and the statue in the corner guarding it all was missing. He heard the front door open.

It wasn’t uncommon for him to have guests that helped themselves inside. They were welcome if he allowed it, and he allowed a total of five to make themselves at home within his house on the one condition that they did not go into the basement. He came back up the steps, heels clacking on them to let the “guest” know that he was home; and slammed the door shut behind him - only to realize that this guest was the only one he could stand to be around. “Shango. I apologize you have to see the house in this state.” “Gods, this is worse than-- sorry. I didn’t feel right, I have to come clean on it. I..” He paused, inhaling sharply. Maximiloix had an idea of what he was going to say, but he merely folded his arms and regarded him with a neutral expression. Shango knew that was just how his face was, and by now, he certainly wasn’t intimidated by the man who was able to laugh freely around him - but the idea of betraying his friend’s trust wasn’t something he wanted on his conscience. “...I went down into the basement.”

Maximiloix closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh. “Thank you for telling me.” How could he be mad at his only confidant? “I appreciate you coming to me about it - I hope nothing there was too… disturbing.” “I’m sure I could think of a few things more disturbing about you than a corpse in your basement.” Maximiloix snorted. “Well, then. I will forgive your presence there - and since you have seen it already, feel free to return to it when you wish to. If there was anything that piqued your interest - just, ah. I would prefer you to keep away from the documents in front of the fireplace and by the wall.” After seeing his friend smile again, knowing that he wasn’t going to have his hide skinned, he finally asked the next question. “Who else was with you?” “I feel like you could take several guesses and be right on all of them.” “Mm. I had a feeling. Do you know where they are now?” “Down at the beach.” “Thank you. I will be back shortly.”

The trek to the beach wasn’t long, but hells if it wasn’t difficult to walk in sand with heels on - and he was thankful he wasn’t wearing robes today - though the fires of his magic and rage scorched the sand enough to melt it down, making it almost solid enough to keep a steady footing. “Corvus!” His voice was booming with anger, and it took everything in him not to fling the man right back to Othard from whence he came. It startled both him and his girlfriend, who happened to be sitting next to him - as well as several others in the area. After Corvus found out the source of the voice, he only smiled brightly and lifted his hand. “Hey Max! Today’s a nice day, you should--” He was interrupted by Maximiloix grabbing him by the shirt collar and hoisting him up to meet him at eye-level. “What purpose did you have in destroying my home!” “What? Why are you blaming me! I didn’t go into your damned house! Let alone destroy it.” “Do not think me stupid, boy - the only people who are physically able to walk into my home are the ones I allow to, and you are the only one I know that would put that much effort into seeing my life a wreck.”

“Wait, wait, Max--” His girlfriend tried to interject, only causing his eyes and glare to snap at her. “Stay. Out. Of. This! You are not to protect a man not worth saving.” Now his hand was catching ablaze, setting fire to Corvus’s shirt - his teeth ground against each other when his attention went back to the man. “Why.” The word was venom, waiting for the most opportune time to strike him with it. “Because you’d know if someone was in your basement!” “Burglars do not leave evidence of their coming, aside missing items - and so you destroy my home and all of my work so you could poorly cover your tracks instead of coming clean?” Crystal got in the middle again, trying to pry her boyfriend from Maximiloix’s grip. “We’re sorry.. we didn’t know how you’d act if-” “Where are the letters.” “Uhm.” “Where are my damned letters! I welcome you roaches into my home, give you one, one! Rule - and you cannot even follow that. And upon breaking said rule, you steal my belongings and tear up a home you do not own! I hope you have money, because many of those books were worth more than your lives. I do not care what you are doing now, you are going to come with me and clean up the place.” His teeth didn’t move when he addressed them further. “And return what you have stolen from me. Now. Get back to the house.” “What are you going to do if--” Maximiloix’s hair stood on end, visibly, even, and the guttural noise that crawled into his throat threatened them with a fate worse than death - his voice deepened far further than it should of, as if something else were speaking *through* him instead.

“N̷̙͎̉̔̓̉ǫ̸̗̈́́̅̿͆̓̔͊͂̈́̓̎͠͠͠ẅ̶͈͚͔̼͎̮̠̼̱͙̂̌́̌͂̉̒̓͗͘͘͘”

Crystal helped Corvus up, quickly walking away and towards Maximiloix’s home to get started on cleaning. He let out a heavy sigh, waved dismissively at the people staring at him, and got himself back home. He was thankful that Shango had already left, so that he did not have to see him in the enraged state he was in - or maybe he heard him yelling from here and decided it was best to leave. He stood there like a statue, watching both of them, every one of their moves. It took them hours to see it cleaned up, with everything that was damaged set aside for appraisal. He stepped away from the door and over to the table of damaged goods, keeping his back turned to the two. While Crystal didn’t move just yet, she watched as Corvus tried to leave first - thinking his job was done. He opened the door, and immediately, it slammed shut - almost crushing his fingers in the process.

Maximiloix was turned towards him now, hand extended; all he did was close his fist and yank his arm inwards, pulling Corvus to the ground and to him with an invisible rope. “Did I say you could leave.” “Fuck you, man! We did the damn cleaning!” “You are the one who destroyed my home, you are the one cleaning it up. Now I will ask you again, did I say you could leave.” Corvus grumbled something intelligible, Maximiloix turning his back to him once more to count up the damages. Once he was done, he turned to face them, then looked at both of them. “You were saving up for a home, yes?” “Ah… yeah, something this size.” The expression on Crystal’s face already wasn’t liking where this was going. “Well, save up for one of a larger size - because that is how much you owe me.” “What?! You’re just making that up to extort money out of us!” “Would you like me to get a professional appraiser? Because I certainly can, and they will tell you the same thing.” He smiled at them. If it was a smile larger than the vague notion of a smile, that wasn’t good news. “But, you should be thankful Shango came to me first - that however brief or serious our conversations may be, they put me in a good mood. The only mercy I am affording you is that I will only charge you for half of the damages.” “Th-..This is a good mood?” “Would you rather me tear out your organs and feed your souls to the void? Because I can. And I gladly will, if given the chance to.” “Right…” Crystal let out a heavy sigh, getting Corvus to his feet by picking him up by the back of his collar. “Let’s go home and figure this out.” “Tomorrow - that is when you will come back here. If I do not find you here before the sun begins to set, I will hunt you down myself.”

#ffxivwrite2021 #prompt 10 #heady #about: Maximiloix Voilinaut #the cold truth #history will be written #i think i have the order of events right #this is based off an old rp #so some liberties were taken lmao

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