#Seriously the way hawks respond to things with wit and a smile even though his sense of justice is more fucked than even dabi
Note
he… he was born to be a hero and became a villain… he was born to be a villain and became a hero… no one asked them what they wanted… they don’t even know what they want they don’t even know who they ARE…. they bring out the worst in each other…. they can only be honest with each other and they hate it love it hate it destroy it in the end…. they ruin each others lives…. they don’t regret each other…. if you even care…. I’m gonna apass out
#WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME????#HELLA WHYYYYY#I swear this is cruel and unusual punishment#you can’t take your talented brain and invest it into dabihawks and pull out the most beautifully tragic words for them#YOU CANT MAKE MY HEART WANT TO CHAIN SMOKE#MY HEART IS CHAINSMOKING#WHY WHY WHYBWHYYYY#Wait why am I thinking you write a MHA fic???#I’m going to go to your ao3 and find out#Hella why do you want me to suffer with you???#I’m trying so hard not to get sucked into their bullshi#But I can’t stop thinking about them now#Seriously the way hawks respond to things with wit and a smile even though his sense of justice is more fucked than even dabi#Dabi sees the injustices in the justice system and he wants to burn it to the ground#& hawks is over here like ‘just not the wings man’#fire is good fire is bad fire is good fire is bad#Hot is good hot is bad hot is soooo good but it’s sooooo bad#Damn it hella stop it#STOP IT#Is is bad to say I do like endeavor?#Are people going to throw shit at me from the back!?#I love myself a flawed character with a fucked up sense of judgement and I’m also a sucker for that character realizing that they fucked up#& then trying to make amends because it’s not too late but it is too late hunny nothing will never be the same as it was and even when it w#It was fucked I mean come on man shotos crying in the dojo because you hurt mommy while touya is imploding in the forest and now they’re#Battling it out for your love while also seemingly rejecting it because they don’t need to be loved (but they need to be loved so badly)#SOMEONE LOVE HAWKS DAMN IT#Haha I love hawks though he’s like welll shit I kind of forgot about my mom I hope she got out ok and Dabi didn’t murder her oh well#Shit happens wow this is a nice apartment maybe I’ll sublease this thing#Make back some of the money she made SELLING ME TO THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT#*deep breath* I’m getting rambling over here
22 notes
·
View notes
Text
Birds of a Feather
Chapter one
Pairings: Canon!Levi x F!reader
Content warnings: violence, swearing
Word count: 4K
Summary: You were the most notorious criminal in the Underground City. With your organisation of highly skilled professionals, only one man could take you down. He also happened to be Humanity’s Strongest… and your ex.
A/N: asdfghjkl hello there. so, this has been on my brain for a while now, so i started this as just a drabble. what i thought would stay as just a drabble turned into this 22k+ multi chapter fic because i have zero self restraint or self respect. i’m currently finishing chapter 5 as this is being posted, but i want to keep chapters posted around once every two weeks so i can keep up with the workload. maybe once a week if i start feeling spicy. yeah plot twist this is actually the second time i’ve drafted this up. the first time i managed to get everything done and in order and then manages to delete the entire post with my huge disgusting thumbs. Genuinely felt like crying for a good half an hour.
This is also my first Levi fic! yay! lmk if it sucks and idk i’ll cry or something. nah, in all seriousness please send me criticism cuz i really want to improve and critiques are the best way.
𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔
“How down, Raven?”
“Six feet.”
Within the dank confines of a stinking alleyway, two green capes marked with the Military Police insignia crept ever closer to the taller, run-down building upon which you and your little squad of Shadows were now perched. No sunlight illuminated your position. Not that you’d ever seen the sun, or know what it even looked like, but you based your guesses upon the pathetic rays shining through the grates littering the ceiling of the Underground City.
The language you used with your Shadows, coded words translated to:
‘How do you want them to be dealt with?’
‘Death.’
It was something developed by your late guardian and mentor, Viper. See, you all had aliases in The Nest, your criminal organisation. The leader was often referred to as The Raven, however your mentor preferred to use his own nickname, stemming from his own reputation.
Then come the aliases for your Shadows. Prongs was your second, a tall, stern looking man with the black mask of a stag settled across his features.
Then came Wolf, and you swore the first time you’d set eyes on him, you thought a titan had wandered into the city. He was enormous, all 6ft 6ins of him carved in hard muscle. Slicked back silver hair and a beard that to rival a bear. Similar to Prongs, a mask sat upon his face, resembling that of a snarling wolf.
Following him was Verdant, Scales and Diablo. Your power trio. Though their special talents lay in different professions, get these three together and they were borderline unstoppable. A white mask decorated with three broad maple leaves obscured Verdant’s pretty features, Scales sported a bronze half mask etched with a snake-like diamond pattern, whilst Diablo, your trained escort, had opted for something that accentuated her own gorgeous features, a mask of black leather arcing high onto her brow on the left side, whilst the right arced low by her jaw. Though you were already spoken for, you couldn’t deny the beauty of Diablo. She did wonders when prying information between the legs of a moaning MP.
To your left crouched the twins, Una and Leaf. Una was gifted her name by none other than you yourself, after seeing her accuracy with a rifle. A single shot was all it took, from any distance. She wore no mask, something you’d allowed simply because she’d complained about the sight obstruction when lining up a shot. You’d agreed, but only under the condition that she wore a low hood. Her fiercely protective brother Leaf had chewed you out for that, but you knew he meant well. Leaf was good at what he did, excellent, in fact. Which was part of the reason you kept him on as a Shadow. The larger part was that you were damn fond of him. Of all of them, in fact. You loved every single one of your Shadows. Every single damned member of The Nest, you adored. You were their leader, afterall.
A masked helmet of black leather, similar material to Diablo’s, perched snug upon your own features. The hooked beak and obsidian feathers of a raven decorated the necessity, covering your face and hair, though leaving your lower features visible. It was a rite of passage, for you especially, and it signalled the start of your leadership.
“Una, set up. Verdant, Prongs, roundabout. Wolf…” your eyes slid to the giant man on your right, a dark smile slicing across your mouth. “Heel.”
The boulder of a man visibly sagged, clearly disappointed at your orders whilst the others sprang into action. Prongs and Verdant leapt across the rooftops in separate directions whilst Una removed her rifle from her back, parting her heavy cloak to reveal rounds and rounds of bullets strapped across her body. Leaf nestled closer into her side, whilst the other four took a step back. It was obvious you’d all been at this for a very long time, despite the twins not looking a day older than sixteen. In fact, most of your squad was younger than you, save for Wolf and Prongs, who had served their respective roles twice previously.
Sitting back on your heels, you watched your team get to work, the warmth of pride blossoming in your chest. Whilst you knew Prongs and Wolf were already incredibly skilled, the rest had flourished under your leadership. It had been ten years since you’d witnessed MPs put a bullet through your mentor’s skull. Ten long years since you’d taken up leadership and expanded the reaches of The Nest. Honestly, you were pretty proud of yourself, and none more so than when you watched your Shadows do what they do best.
Taking care of unwanted visitors.
Una took aim, resting the butt of her rifle in the crook of her shoulder, staring down the makeshift scope. She would be ready to take care of the two soldiers if either Prongs or Verdant failed to eliminate their targets.
Speaking of which…
That kernel of pride ignited as your (E/C) eyes followed Verdant’s careful, calculating form dropping from the rooftops above the alleyway, in sync with Prong’s own movements. The two assassins swooped with the grace of a stooping hawk, the silver glint of metal caught your eye as they both brandished their blades, before sinking the steel into the necks of the two soldiers. You didn’t need to be closer to see they were both dead. Expert precision. Deadly accuracy. That was why these people were your hand-picked Shadows. And why you were the most formidable gang leader in the Underground City. Your little criminal organisation had expanded into something to rival the killcount of Kenny the Ripper. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.
Una lowered her weapon, strapping it back in the buckles between her shoulder blades.
“Finished.” she simply stated, turning back to drop down between the shattered tiles and splintered ceiling beams that marked your entrance and exit to this lookout point.
“Rendezvous back at The Nest,” you ordered flatly, before dropping forward and into the alleyway below.
“Anything?” you ask, a brow raised behind your raven mask as you saunter over. Prongs held up two sets of blades from one of the crimson bodies now gathering dirt and grime. Useless to you as they were, but somebody would definitely find an interest in them. Verdant seemed to be struggling with the straps of whatever gear these mosquitoes used to fly around. You’d never been able to figure out how to use it, but that shit made good money when in doubt. However, your usual buyers had disappeared off the face of the city, and you’d noticed a decline in gear sales since then. Gritting your teeth, you shook your head to Verdant, laying a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t. It’s not worth it. The thug trio haven’t been back in years. I doubt they’d return to us now,” you explain softly, prompting the girl to stop her struggles and huff defeatedly. You’re heart ached softly at the thought of him, but you pushed the feeling down.
“Here,” she muttered, handing you another rifle. It seemed to be a newer model, something of an upgrade for Una.
“You did good, Ver. I’m proud of you,” that seemed to immediately lighten the girl’s mood, her eyes shining behind her mask as her mouth widened into a toothy grin.
“Thanks Raven!” she beamed, before scampering off back to The Nest, almost forgetting to take the gun back from your outstretched hand in her haste to make it back and tell everyone she’d received a compliment from you. It wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Rather it only happened once in a blue moon…
A huffed chuckle had your head turning and eyes narrowing to your second in command.
“Can I help you?” you ask, your tone dripping with the poisonous threat of hell if he chose his next words poorly. But Prongs continued to smile ever so slightly, shaking his head.
“Not at all, Raven. It’s just, in the last few years, since you drafted her into the Shadows, she’s really come into her own,” Prongs explained simply, shrugging as she stooped to kick over the now drained corpse, hoping to find anything useful. You bristle ever so slightly. That was something you hated. Compliments. How the fuck were you supposed to respond? You tried to think back to when Viper tried to teach you simple social skills.
“Uh, yeah. She has,” you respond, keeping your features as neutral as you could as you turned away, beginning to trudge back to The Nest.
“I’m serious, Rave. You’ve done incredible things for us. You know Viper would be proud of you. I am too. But…” Prongs trailed off, clearing having something to say but not knowing how to say it.
“Go on. But what?” you pressed, wanting to hear what your second in command had to say.
“Well, don’t you think it’s a bit much? Rave, it’s been years. Eyes have started looking in our direction since those three vanished. You don’t think we should be lying low for a bit? Calming suspicions instead of rousing them?” Prongs offered gently. You knew, deep down, he was right. But some notable gang disappearing hasn’t stopped you before, and it sure as hell wouldn’t stop you now.
“I’ll talk to Scar about it,” even just the mention of your advisor, and wife’s name gave your stomach butterflies. Scarlett Obsidine, your other, and better, half. After the disappearance of a certain dark haired man, Scar was the woman who comforted you, and though you missed him dearly, your heart managed to haphazardly piece itself back together and love all over again.
“Rave, listen—“
“Let’s go,” Prongs closed his mouth, the tone of your voice stating clearly that this matter wasn’t up for discussion. Especially not with him.
⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈
“You know he’s right,” you couldn’t help but sigh when your wife’s soft tones calmed your irritated mood. Soft hands gently kneaded at the tense muscles in your shoulders, forcing them to relax as a tired moan escaped your lips. Leaning back, you peer into her shining sapphire eyes, locks of brunette framing your face as she took the sides of your cheeks in her hands and leaned down, softly pecking your lips with her own. You couldn’t help humming a smile against her mouth, reaching up to deepen the kiss, but she pulled away before you could.
“Scaaaaar…” you pout, looking up at her mischievous smirk as she winked playfully.
“(Y/N)...” Scarlett sighed, swinging her legs over your body to sink into your lap, one thumb now caressing one of the most prominent features on your face. A nasty, jagged scar ran down from the the top of your forehead, over your right eye and finishing just past your jaw bone. One (E/C) iris lighter than the other as a result of the old wound. Soft lips chase away the shadows of your past as Scarlett replaced her thumb with her mouth.
“(Y/N), I don’t want to find you dead in some alleyway because you picked a fight you couldn’t win,” a finger poked your chest as she huffed above you, feigning irritation. You roll your eyes, (E/C) landing on your gear now strung across the table. That raven helmet almost calling to you as you shook your head. Disagreeing with your wife was never a good idea, but you were feeling particularly bold this evening.
“Look. So many jobs have opened up recently. We have so many opportunities to make this life more comfortable. More jobs means more money, more money means we can afford the gate toll and actually see the world above ground. And I can finally buy you an actual ring.”. Technically, you two weren’t married. Who the fuck would be stupid enough to perform marriage ceremonies in the underground City? But, it was easier than saying you were devoted to each other in every single way.
Lightly smacking your chest, Scarlett raised herself from your lap with a hefty sigh. “One of these days (Y/N), you’re going to be captured or killed,” she said quietly, unable to meet your eyes. “And then what the hell will I do…?” Scarlett had now completely turned away from you, shoulders hunched. Running a hand down your face, you pick your sore body up from the chair, reaching her in a matter of strides.
“I can’t give this up, Scar. You know that. You knew that when you chose to be with me. You knew The Nest was always going to be my priority,” you held out your arm, hand hovering over her back, not sure whether to comfort her or let her go. The admission almost had her in tears, you could tell by the way her shoulders shook ever so gently.
“You still miss him don’t you?” It was her vulnerable, defeated tone that alerted you to the slight change of topic.
You fell silent, not really knowing how to respond. Yes, of course you missed him. You loved him more than anything. But those days are over, you knew that. You’d cried enough those following nights after his disappearance.
He was probably dead anyway.
“Of course I do,” you wouldn’t lie to her. That wasn’t fair. But you knew the truth was just as painful for her.
“Will I ever be enough? Will I ever be enough to replace him?” the sound of her voice had your heart in pieces. You loved Scarlett. You really did. But your heart wouldn’t let you love her wholly. Part of yourself will always be dedicated to that grumpy kid you’d fallen for all those years ago.
“Scar… I—”
“I know,” she whispered, stepping forward away from your outstretched grasp. “I know,” you watched as the woman you loved, and who loved you, stepped from your shared quarters, hovering in the doorway. “I’m sorry I asked,” she closed the door as she left, leaving you a frustrated, conflicted mess.
⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈⎈
“Understood, I’ll bring them in right away. Thank you Niles,” The Commander of the MPs stood opposite Erwin, arms folded. An expression of irritation plastered on his sunken features. Erwin simply sighed, realising Niles was wanting to stay for this seemingly impromptu meeting. With a nod of his head, a cadet rushed off to find the two soldiers mentioned in their little conversation. Being Commander of the Scouts often had its perks, like having cadets around to run errands for him.
Niles cleared his throat, taking a seat on the green leather sofa within Erwin’s office. “You sure he’d help us? I mean, it wasn’t too long ago he actually decided killing you was probably a bad idea.”—he raised a thin brow, peering at Erwin with barely concealed suspicion—“I’m pretty sure the Underground City would be the last place he’d want to return.” a knock at the door cut their conversation short, both turning their heads as Erwin called;
“Enter.”
Hange was the first to make her presence known, poking her head in as she opened the door. A smile adorned the slightly dishevelled section commander, her hair sticking up in all directions. Clearly she had been in the middle of something when Erwin requested her presence.
“You asked to see us, Erwin?” her eyes sparkling with curiosity behind her glasses as she stepped through the door.
“Tch, just make it quick, I have shit to do,” the monotone voice of Levi behind her made Erwin pinch the bridge of his nose. How many times has he told him not to talk to him like that?
“Yes, come in and make yourselves comfortable.” Hange immediately took up a seat next to Niles on the sofa, Levi preferring to stand against the now closed door, arms folded. Erwin’s sharp eyes shifted to Niles, an indication for the MP Commander to speak.
“Well, no point in beating around the bush. We’ve received an anonymous tip about some criminal gang that’s been plaguing my soldiers in the Underground City.” Levi visibly stiffened at the mention of his old home. His jaw tensed in anticipation. There would be only one reason he would be called into such a discussion, and the answer was a firm no.
Without his permission, his mind flashed back to a (H/C) girl, her face etched with that ever mischievous smirk. He quelled the thoughts as quickly as he could. He needed his wits with him, and allowing his mind to wander back to what he’d left behind wouldn’t help anything. Besides, the likelihood of you being alive was close to none.
“Section Commander, I don’t suppose you would have heard of the group but Captain Levi here surely would have done. The Nest.” Niles continued, now eyeing Levi to gage his reaction. And for a man whose emotions were usually on a tight leash, this seemed to be what cracked his impenetrable walls. His eyes flew wide open, frantically searching between Niles and Erwin. They couldn’t be serious. The Nest? That was where Farlan and Isobel used to—
Shit, he really needed to keep his thoughts at bay. But what he did know was that The Nest was an impenetrable fortress of criminal activity. Trying to mess with them was suicide.
“Judging by your reaction, I’m going to assume you are familiar with them, Levi,” Erwin’s surprisingly calm tone eased the growing tension in the room. Taking a subtle breath to calm himself, Levi’s eyes narrowed to his commander.
“Yeah. I know of it. Why?” it was a rhetorical question, he already knew why, but he wanted to hear it from Erwin himself. Hange looked incredibly confused, looking between the men in the office, trying to glean something, anything, about what the hell was going on.
“The Nest? Why are they so bad?” she asked, not afraid to show how completely oblivious she is to anything that doesn’t concern titans or science. Erwin gestured to Levi.
“Levi? Care to explain? You probably know more than myself and Niles combined,” though his voice seemed kind, there was a slight edge to his deep tones. One that didn’t go unnoticed by Levi.
A heavy silence filled the room as the Captain wracked his brain for all the information he could think of regarding the organisation. It seemed like hours before he finally spoke.
“Well, you got one thing right. The Nest is a criminal organisation. A nasty one at that. Merciless bastards. Whether you’re a soldier or a citizen, they don’t give a shit. They’ll leave you a broken, bloodied mess in the street. I don’t know much about their leader. Only that he took over from the previous one around ten-ish years ago. Since then, they’ve expanded their shitty little gang and taken over an entire section of the city,” he explained, poison lacing his tone. It wasn’t that he was above the whole gang thing, oh no. It was more the state Farlan would be in before he left to meet whoever the fuck led that group of demons. He’d never seen his friend so anxious. So afraid.
“You never met him? Their leader?” Erwin inquired, lacing his hands together on the desk in front of him. Levi scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“If I had, I would tell you. But I know he’s smart. And not the good kind of smart. The kind of smart where he would always be ten steps ahead of you. He has a small group of trusted criminals surrounding him at all times, called his Shadows. They’ll be the ones to look out for,” Despite his voice sounding bored, Levi’s heart was racing. They couldn’t seriously be thinking of facing The Nest, could they? But something in the expressions of both Niles and Erwin told him he was wrong. Dead wrong.
“They’ve been picking off my soldiers. Always in the same places as well. I was going to leave it, just tell them to avoid certain areas until this tip. Their next job. We know what it is,” Niles interjected, looking down to the floor, his own mind a whirlwind.
“And you want to intercept them. The same way you did with me, right?” Levi finished through gritted teeth. This was absurd. There was no way they could pick them all off. Unless… that wasn’t the goal. Levi’s grey eyes widened slightly, realising what they wanted to do. Yep, this was total suicide. Hange clapped her hands together almost excitedly, as if she was also able to read Erwin’s mind.
“You want to capture him! The leader! Ah! This all makes so much sense now, I was starting to wonder why I was here,” the scientist mused almost to herself, before jumping to her feet. “This is the perfect opportunity to test some of the concept traps I have in mind. Obviously for titans they’d need to be much, MUCH bigger. And of course a few modifications would have to be made so they could adapt to size and body type but oooooooh this is so exciting! I’ll start right away!'' Without allowing anybody to get a word in edgeways, Hange dashed back to her lab to begin her preparations.
“Thank you Erwin, the Military Police will remember this,” Niles said, before he too was rising from his seat. Throwing Levi an unsure glance, he made his way towards the door, only to be shoved into the hallway by Levi, who promptly closed the door behind him.
“Don’t.” he simply said, turning back to Erwin who was peering at him, his expression puzzled. Levi rolled his eyes again, clearly having to clarify what he meant. “Don’t pursue them. It’s suicide,” The Commander’s expression relaxed slightly in understanding.
“We don’t have a choice, Levi. Not only are hundreds of MPs being slaughtered down there, but relationships between the Scouts and the MPs are strenuous at best. It would be in our best interests to—“
“Bullshit.”
Erwin sighed again, having to hold his tongue. Snapping at Levi now for his language would only rile up the man more.
“Levi, we already have a plan in motion. There are soldiers down there now meeting whoever gave us that anonymous tip to further discuss the job The Nest has taken. It’ll be fine, but you’re going to have to trust me.” Erwin’s eyes bore into Levi’s own, the man once again asking his Captain to trust him in a risky call he’s made. Levi’s done it so many times before, why was it so difficult now?
It took yet another pregnant silence before Levi eventually yielded.
“Fine, but don’t be surprised when we’re once again forced to retreat with our tails between our legs.” it was a savage comment, but one that Erwin didn’t take to heart as he watched the raven haired man leave. Yes, this was a risk, but all his risks so far had worked out fairly well. There was no reason why this one would fail. No reason at all.
Levi leant against the door to Erwin’s office, looking down the hallway before letting loose a long breath. Not only would he have to go toe to toe with The Raven, but he also had to face so much of his past he’d wanted to forget. Fuck, this was a terrible idea. Why did Erwin always have to gamble? It was exhausting for everyone else involved.
Folding his arms, the shorter man strode back to his own office, lost in thought the entire way. Would he see you again? Were you even alive? Did you know just how much he had missed you. Just how much he’d wanted to see you again. To hold you again.
Did you know he’d looked for you? How his heart shattered over and over again each time he found no trace of you. He’d never accepted you were gone. Always holding onto that thorn of hope that maybe, just maybe, you’d survived.
Collapsing in his chair behind his desk, Levi unlocked the bottom draw and gently pulled it out. He delicately picked out a small, ebony bird feather you’d crafted into a quill pen. Even though neither of you knew how to write, you knew back then how much he had wanted to learn despite never voicing it directly. All those nights spent copying out basic letters from discarded newspapers and wanted posters. You always had this way of reading his mind.
The smallest fond smile crept across his usually bored face. God he missed you. It had been years and he still missed you like he only lost you yesterday.
#levi attack on titan#captain levi#snk levi#levi x reader#aot x reader#aot x y/n#aot x you#levi x you#levi x y/n#shingeki no kyojin#levi ackerman#levi ackerman x reader#levi ackerman x you
152 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi hi hi could i request a hawk imagine where it’s an enemies to lovers kinda thing, so hawk is still in cobra kai and y/n is in miyagi do. basically tori hurts her and he sees her after and gets protective over her, then they get close and kinda secretly date... something like that haha THANK YOUUU <33333
Do Better — Eli Hawk Moskowitz x Female!Reader
HI OMG IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I literally had an entirely different fic at like 8k words for this before I decided it didn’t fit close enough to the prompt and I just completely started over and this one was even longer than the first so that’s why it took me literal ages LOL.
includes; swearing, fluff, fighting, so much angst
words; 11,394 (im sorry its a whole ass novel)
this takes place late s2, after demetri and hawk’s friendship ends but before eagle fang forms!
Most of your time in high-school you spent in a bubble, keeping to yourself and just your few friends. You didn’t involve yourself in other people’s crap very often, but when an all-out karate war happened at the end of your junior year, you couldn’t keep lurking in the shadows anymore.
Bullying was becoming heavy at your school, and while you weren’t usually a target, you grew tired of watching other people get hurt. Primarily, by a familiar face to you-- Eli Moskowitz.
Not that you knew him particularly well, but you remembered the shy boy you’d shared classes with, and you always tried your best to be nice to him knowing how others treated him.
You never would’ve thought that now he’d be the bully, destroying the confidence of other kids who were just like him.
“Look at this kid,” He laughed to his friend, Mitch. The two boys were standing in the hall, hovering over a small, scrawny boy who looked terrified. “You wanna be in Cobra Kai? Well, see, we had to be un-flinched first. We can do that for you right now, though. See how much you can take.” He teased, threatening a punch, watching the boy wince at his movement.
When you were in the halls on your way to your next class, you witnessed this horrible incident. You watched for a moment, before deciding that it was time for you to step out of your bubble. “Hey, leave him alone.” You said annoyedly, urging the boys to give it up.
Hawk turned to you and leered, and Mitch pushed the kid against the locker so he wouldn’t move while they dealt with you. “Be careful who you talk to like that, princess.” He moved dangerously close, and despite the feelings of anger you had towards him, your stomach dropped a little at the nickname.
Not letting it affect you, you came back bitterly. “Oh yeah? And who am I talking to, Eli?” His face contorted in disgust at the use of his real name. “You know, it’s sad, how you became everything you used to despise. I remember the other side of you, you were sweet..” You said, smiling to your self in remembrance. “And now look at you.” Looking at him in resentment, you finished.
Turning angrily on his heel at your words, Hawk punched the boy in the face and let him go running. He looked back at you with a look of victory, and Mitch smirked. “You better watch your back.” Hawk said threateningly, and knocked his shoulder into yours as he walked to his class.
Through the rest of the day, Hawk thought about you. He knew who you were; Y/N, the only girl to ever be nice to him during his shier days. He remembered the feeling he got any time you’d talked to him, and also how pretty you looked each time you did.
He had almost forgotten until then, how much he had always admired you. He even wanted to ask you out all that time ago, but now too much has changed. Way too much, clearly, because when the commercial for Miyagi-Do came out, you were quick to join.
It was that interaction with Hawk that really set you off, actually. You wanted to be able to stop the cruelty, and you thought that joining Miyagi-Do for defense would be a good start.
Little did you know, the rivalry would only grow.
As weeks passed, Miyagi-Do gained students and flourished. But in the meanwhile, Cobra Kai only got rougher, angrier, and just.. worse, in general.
You had done your best to avoid fights, (like a true Miyagi-Do would) but on a particularly bad day of yours, you were unlucky enough to find yourself running into Tory outside of school.
Being close friends with Sam, you knew to stay clear of Tory after hearing what she did to her. You thought Tory was a vile human being, though, and if she were to start anything-- she was probably the one person you wouldn’t hesitate to absolutely destroy.
When on your way to the dojo, you took a pit stop at a convenience store to pick up some snacks since you had some time to kill between after school and when practice started. You were met with an unpleasant surprise on your way out, when you saw Tory approaching the store.
The two of you made eye contact as you crossed paths, and you decided to ignore her and keep walking. Until, as you walked past each other, Tory stuck out her leg and tripped you over the concrete pathway.
“Are you kidding me, bitch?” You pushed yourself up, scoffing at her, and she smiled maniacally. “What’d you just call me?” She teased, obviously looking for a fight.
As much as you wanted to stay calm, you were pushed over the edge. “You heard me, bitch.” You repeated, letting her know you were not afraid. “What’s your problem? I keep away from you and you just can’t help yourself from starting something. I’ve never even done anything to you.” You confronted Tory, looking for an explanation for her behavior.
It was true, you’d hardly ever interacted with her-- but since you’re in Miyagi-Do and friends with Sam, she just didn’t like you. And Tory being Tory, if she didn’t like someone, she was going to be a bitch about it.
She laughed at your attempt to reason with her, and looked at you in self-satisfaction. “I just think it’d be fun to watch you bleed.” She seemed proud at the insult, stepping forward threateningly-- but you thought it was pretty lame.
Clearly, she had no real answer for the questions you asked her. She was far gone in her own world, using only anger to dictate her decisions.
You had let out a disappointed sigh, shaking your head, and turned to simply leave the situation, remembering that it wasn’t worth it. But Tory had other plans.
She grabbed your wrist, twisting it painfully forcing your body to face her. You quickly rotated it to release yourself from her grip, and punched her in the face with your newly freed hand.
“Leave me alone, Tory. This fighting for no reason crap is bullshit.” You said, stepping out of her proximity and holding your fists up in case of needed defense. Tory felt blood trickle from her nose, and as she wiped it from her face, she threw you a sickening sneer.
Seemingly avid on letting her rage out on you, she only continued. “You’re pathetic.” She cackled, taking a swing at you. You blocked this, but the movement left an opening for her to then kick your stomach, which sent you to the ground.
Before you could manage to get up again, she was hovering over you, punching your face repeatedly. It wasn’t until the pain was sinking in that you finally gained enough power to push her off, rolling forward and pinning her down tightly.
You grabbed a fistful of her hair, turning her face towards the ground. “Give it up, Tory.” She stayed quiet, breathing heavily, until she used her remaining strength to free her arm and dig her elbow into your side.
You fell back at this, and you were now both sat on the ground, mere inches from each other. “Seriously, I mean what’s the point? What are you gaining from this besides a couple of bruises?” You stood up, asking again.
You genuinely wanted to know, what could make a person so heartless. You had done nothing to provoke her, yet she was so intent on hurting you. Your question had unfortunately only sparked her rage again, the way you acted so ‘above it all,’ in Tory’s mind made her only angrier.
She rose, charging towards you for another strike, when the owner of the convenience store came out. “What the hell is this? Do I need to call the police?” The man asked. He had caught you in the blocking position of Tory’s attack, and she bitterly pushed herself off of you.
“You got lucky.” She spat, walking back towards the store she was originally on her way into. “Think about it, Tory! Why?” You yelled as she walked away, wanting your final words to sink into her.
You assured the owner that you were fine, and that he didn’t need to get the cops involved. You took out your phone and checked your complexion in the front camera, cringing seeing the cuts and bruises from Tory’s punches all over your face.
But remembering the bloody nose you had given her in your first punch, you smiled to yourself. Looking at your phone’s clock, you had certainly killed the time, but much more than you had wanted to. You were going to be late, so you texted Sam, alerting her that you got in a fight (sparing the details for later,) and that you would be late to practice.
You figured you could just clean up your cuts when you got home, it wasn’t a big deal, probably. But on your walk to the dojo, a passing car slowed at the sight of you. You started walking faster, instantly assuming the worst, but when the window rolled down, you heard a familiar, extremely unpleasant voice. Hawk.
“On your way to practice, huh? Still no car?” He taunted, knowing you still hadn’t saved up enough to buy your own. You glanced at him and rolled your eyes, continuing to walk down the sidewalk. How many enemies were you going to bump into today?
That was when he noticed your face. “Jesus, Y/N, what happened to you?” He laughed, fully stopping the car. You halted and responded annoyedly, “Tory happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be late.” Turning back towards the walkway, you continued down the street.
But before you could get far, Hawk had gotten out of his car and caught up to you. “You’re not seriously headed to the dojo like that are you?” He said confusedly, trying to keep up with your pace.
You looked at him like his question was stupid, and continued walking. At your ignoring of him, he pushed his point further. “You need to clean those cuts.” He said, still following close behind you as you walked.
“Since when do you care?” You said irritated, continuing to disregard the boy’s words. At this, he finally stopped following. “You know what, fine.” He stood, speaking sharply, and you looked at him curiously at his abruptness. “Just trying to help, or, be nice or whatever.” He muttered aggravatedly, raising his hands in mocking surrender at your attitude.
You had ignored his concerns, because quite honestly you didn’t believe he was actually concerned. You had assumed it was some sort of set up for a new insult, or a way to just mess up your face even more.
“Oh yeah? That’s pretty unusual for you, isn’t it?” You said rudely, engaging back in the conversation. Hawk pursed his lips together and shifted uncomfortably.
You didn’t know it, but Hawk still cared about you. He may have changed, but his feelings for you hadn’t— as much as he tried to get them to. And right now, seeing you hurt, and since there was nobody around to judge him for it, he wanted to help you.
“Look, I’ve got some first aid stuff in my car. Let me help.” He stayed where he was, not wanting to provoke you, and spoke softly, nudging his head towards his car.
You narrowed your eyes looking at him, feeling skeptical of accepting the invitation. He noticed your hesitation, but did not back down, looking at you expectantly for an answer.
You let out an exasperated sigh, and walked towards his car without saying a word. Continuing to argue with him about it seemed like a waste of time to you at this point.
Hawk smiled to himself in relief that you gave in. Hurrying after you, he retrieved the first aid kit from the trunk of his car and ran to open the passenger seat door.
“You wanna sit?” He pointed at the seat, motioning you to take it. You dropped your bag and got in the car, still glaring at Hawk.
He seemed sincere in his intentions, but you really just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Who knows what he could really be planning?
As you took your seat, you reached out to take the kit from Hawk’s grasp. “Hold on,” he said, moving the box away from your reach.
You gave him a bothered look, scrunching your eyebrows in confusion. “Have you ever even done this before?” He said, referring to cleaning up after a fight.
“No?” You shrugged, “It can’t be that hard.” You said impatiently, reaching for the box again. “Can you please just let me do it? I’ll show you how for next time.” He practically pleaded, wanting to make sure it was done right so you healed properly.
You didn’t understand why it was such a big deal to him, but you were tired of going back and forth with him. “Whatever, just make it quick. I’ll miss all of karate class at this rate.” You complained, moving closer to the edge of the seat so Hawk could reach you.
The height of his car made you two the same height, so Hawk was face to face with you as you were seated. “Hmm, miss a Miyagi-Do lesson? I don’t see the problem.” He joked, almost making light of their rivalry.
You smiled lightly at that, playfully rolling your eyes, but not saying anything. He stood close enough to examine your face, and it was close enough to make you both nervous.
It was silent as he opened the kit and started to clean your cuts, but you broke it to ask a question that was burning in you. “Why are you doing this?”
He looked at you for a second, looking reluctant to answer your question. “What do you mean?” He dodged, continuing to tend to your bruises.
You laughed, knowing full well he knew what you meant, but deciding to answer him anyway. “Why are you helping me? We aren’t friends.” You said plainly, making sure to keep your face still.
“I don’t know, you just obviously needed it.” He brushed off the seriousness of the question, starting to dab the cloth over your lip so you couldn’t talk.
You pushed his hand away lightly. “That’s hardly an answer. You’d never help a Miyagi-Do, so why?” You snapped, not letting his hand near your face again until he answered.
He finally took a step back, and stared at you looking defeated. “You’re the only one who was ever nice to me. Before.. this.” He pointed to his hair, referring to the era of The Hawk.
You crossed your arms skeptically. “Aren’t you forgetting someone?” You asked expectantly, and he rolled his eyes. “Demetri’s different, okay? He betrayed me. But you..”
He trailed off, struggling to maintain eye contact with you. “You were never anything but good to me. You deserve better.” He said, and your heart both stung and fluttered at once, trying to figure out what was going on with him.
You wondered if his actions were truly coming from a place of sincerity. It was very unlike him to be anything but an asshole, so hearing something like that come out of his mouth really made you think.
He tried to ignore the sentiment he had just said by walking back towards you and starting to tend to your wounds again, but you only pushed him back for a second time.
“I don’t understand what happened to you.” You said sadly, examining the way he stood. “I changed.” He said monotonously, trying to avoid matching your energy of seriousness.
His hot-and-cold temper was starting to annoy you, the way he would open up just to close right back down again.
“Yeah, and not for the better. Are you even happy?” You said, frustrated, looking at him hard. His face turned sour.
“More than I was before!” He yelled, stepping towards you threateningly. You were taken aback at his outburst, suddenly feeling small as he grew angrier. “My life was hell, remember?” His voice cracked, and he tried to calm himself as he saw the way you leaned back into your seat uncomfortably.
“Look, I’m sorry for keeping you, I probably cleaned you up enough so... just go.” He said softly, sounding regretful as he moved out of the way so you could get out of the car.
You furrowed your brows in confusion. You felt completely clueless on how he was feeling, and you didn’t want to leave it like this. “Hawk-“, you started, but he cut you off. “No, just go.” He pointed away. “I was stupid to think I’d get a second chance with you.” He muttered to himself, turning to walk around to the drivers seat of his car.
“Wh— second chance? What do you mean?” You shouted after him and hopped off the seat, grabbing his arm before he could get too far.
At your tug of his arm, he looked back at you with the most intense feeling in his eyes. Not wanting to use his words anymore, Hawk turned to grab your wrist from the hand that was already resting on his arm, and pulled you against him.
Hawk smashed his lips onto yours, holding you loosely in fear of your rejection. You weren’t expecting it, but you didn’t pull away. Your kiss continued and you subconsciously shuffled backwards, now being able to lean against the side of the car as he grew more passionate in his movements.
Being with him like this felt amazing, but it was confusing, too-- you had to pull away and clear up this situation.
Finally letting each other go, Hawk looked at you with glossy eyes. You had no idea where all of this came from or what to say, so you were silent as you waited for him to explain.
He knew what you were waiting for, and sighed deeply before expressing how he felt. “I just feel like after everything, I owe you my best.” Hawk said quietly, and you waited for him to go on, having not yet made up your mind on the whole situation.
You enjoyed the kiss, yes-- but you didn’t understand why it had happened, and that was something you needed to know before anything could proceed further. Hawk was a jerk, and he was going to have a lot of explaining to do for you to suddenly be able to forget that.
He moved even closer, and reached his hand out to brush your hair away from your face. “And I don’t like seeing you hurt.” He whispered, ghosting his fingers across the bruises on your face.
You felt a shiver down your spine as he touched you, closing your eyes in the moment. “And,” he pulled away from you, his voice changing to a more regular tone again, “I don’t ever want to be the reason you feel pain. Not after all those times you helped me escape mine.” He said, reaching out to hold your hand, as he referred to how you were there for him so long ago.
Pure concern and care for Hawk overtook you as the words left his lips, and you had never felt so conflicted in your life. It made sense to you now why he would often avoid you, whereas others he’d make it his mission to pick fights with.
He had just admitted to caring about you, and that he never wanted to be at fault for your hurt. He had a reputation to uphold, but he really did have a soft spot for you that never went away.
You felt like you were talking to Eli again, as though the sweet boy he once was had never left, but you also knew that once this moment was over, he’d go back to his corrupt ways again. And that terrified you.
All these new feelings for Hawk were rising in you, but how could you act on them when he was supposed to be your enemy?
He studied your expression, waiting for you to say something. He felt more confident now, seeing as you kissed him back, but he was still nervous for whatever you were about to say.
“What do we do?” You spoke shakily, your expression timid and lost. He caressed his thumb over your hand, noticing your own nerves. “What do you mean?” He asked, not expecting that to be your first question.
“I’ve always cared about you and you know that, but then you go through all these changes and become a total dick, and now you kiss me and tell me how you care too.” You say awkwardly, trying to point out the weirdness of the situation. “I’m confused, Hawk, and afraid. We can’t be together when everything about our lives will keep us apart.” You whimpered, scattering your eye contact.
His heart leapt at the mention of you two being together, but frowned once registering the context of the words. He suddenly felt guilty, seeing how distressed you were. Maybe he shouldn’t have done this, he thought.
But it was too late now, and as he released your hand to move forward and hold you, he never wanted to let go.
“I’m sorry.” He mumbled into your ear. He knew his recent actions since joining Cobra Kai weren’t exactly admirable-- he knew he should do better. But it was hard; and all he could muster right now, was an apology.
There was a lot to process in such a short moment of time, and you felt overwhelmed. You felt comforted and safe as he held you, but at the same time you felt wrong for feeling that way.
Maybe he was trying to do right by you, but would that be enough if he continued to act terribly when everyone else was around? You needed some time to think. “I should go.” You pulled away from his grasp, trying to be gentle even though your exit was abrupt.
“Oh,” he nodded, watching as you picked up your karate bag. “I just don’t want everyone at the dojo to worry.” You said, trying to rid the conversation of its tension.
He was trying to play it cool, but he was screaming on the inside, terrified that once you left you would never talk to him again. “Just promise you’ll fix that when you get home.” Referring to your still-slightly-messed-up face, he urged you, unable to refrain from making sure you took care of yourself.
You smiled sadly and nodded in response, feeling awkward about everything as you turned to walk back on your route towards the dojo. “And um,” You looked back at him once more. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” You said, assuming he wouldn’t want his Cobra Kai friends to find out he had kissed a Miyagi-Do.
His heart broke when you said this-- you basically thought he was ashamed of you? In a way you were right, he didn’t want them to know. But the guilt that spread across his face at your words, showed how badly he wanted to tell everyone just how much he liked you.
Clearing his throat, he tried to pull himself together again. “Right, yeah. See you.” He said, and watched you for a moment as you walked away.
Getting back into his car, he fought the emotions threatening to spill out, and pushed them away as he headed home. He couldn’t stop thinking about his next move, and what would happen next time he saw you.
Obviously the first thing he would want to do is kiss you, and hold you, and touch you.. but he knew that instead he would likely end up being encouraged by his friends to attack you in some way.
He couldn’t just say, ‘back off guys, she’s cool, i like her now.’ because that would definitely earn him a beating and a seat at the rejects table. He had been fighting these feelings for so long because of this exact reason, and he was pissed at himself that he couldn’t have just kept it under control for longer.
It would have been easier for him, and you. Even you were worrying as you walked to practice about what you were going to do when you saw him again. Your friends may be more forgiving than Hawk’s, but you doubted they’d be particularly thrilled about any of this news.
They would surely tell you to be careful, not to trust him, that it was just a game to find a weakness in you. These doubts inflicted your mind constantly, and it sucked that you had to figure all of it out on your own.
You were a half-hour late to karate when you arrived, and luckily Sensei Larusso had the tools to heal the remaining injuries on your face. You explained what happened with Tory, but you didn’t tell them about Hawk.
Your classmates were angry, Sam especially, and you were too. But after everything, you knew nobody in Cobra Kai was really in their right mind. Tory was an out of control girl with aggression issues, and Hawk was constantly battling a feeling of pressure and pent-up rage.
The worst thing about being in Miyagi-Do, was knowing the right way to go, and knowing that the right way was going to be a long, slow, and difficult process. It was a waiting game at this point-- how many fights would it take for the Cobra Kai kids to realize that wasn’t what they needed to do?
How much pain would they all have to endure, to realize there were better ways to solve their problems? You had only hoped that Hawk taking this step towards you was a step in the right direction-- and that maybe the rest of the Cobras would soon follow.
But until then, it was a secret. And the next few times you saw Hawk were an extreme struggle for the both of you.
Each passing day that you’d make eye contact at school, you’d both immediately look away. Neither of you had spoken or even texted since the kiss, and you were both failing miserably at proper communication.
At first, you thought that maybe the whole thing had been a mistake, and maybe it should just be left alone. But recalling everything Hawk said to you that day, you couldn’t ignore how real it felt. You wanted to be with him, but you had no clue how to go about that.
You were waiting for Hawk to make the next move, but to Hawk-- the ball was in your court. You had left him there, with no definite answer on how you felt about it, and never got back to him since. It seemed to him like you wanted to forget about it, so when one of Moon’s parties rolled around that weekend, he decided to forget about it too.
You were coming to the party, but got there late; and what a wonderful sight it was for the first thing to see as you walk in be Hawk, face inches away from another girl’s, flirting the night away.
Of course, you thought, feeling disgusted at what was in front of you. Of course everything he said was bullshit. You couldn’t figure out for the life of you what his goal was in pretending to care for you, especially when he got basically nothing out of it except a stupid kiss he could’ve gotten from anyone-- but clearly none of it was as real as you thought it was.
It’d been a few days, sure, but you thought maybe tonight you’d finally just talk to him. You watched as the girl played with the string of Hawk’s hoodie, and feeling a pang of jealousy you decided to walk by them, making sure your presence was known.
It definitely worked, because at the notice of your movements he excused himself from the conversation and followed you out towards the pool, where you had gone to get away from the sight of Hawk and the girl.
“Hey.” He whispered, as you poured yourself a drink. “Hi.” You replied boredly with your back turned to him, not exactly feeling excited to have a conversation with him.
He looked around, scoping out who may be listening, but luckily the only others outside were heavily invested in the drinking game going on at the other side of the patio.
Hawk could tell you were bothered about the girl, but didn’t understand why, since you had so obviously been avoiding him.
“Can we talk?” He asked, still being cautious as to not attract any attention. “Go ahead.” You were being difficult, but quite frankly you thought he deserved it. He made you spend days analyzing what had happened between you, only for him to move on from it after a few days?
He stomped closer, and you looked up at him. “You know we can’t talk here.” He nodded his head towards the back of the yard, hoping you’d go with him somewhere private.
You scoffed, and looked at the spot doubtfully. You were upset, but still curious to hear what he had to say. “Fine.” You rolled your eyes, feeling disappointed in yourself for giving in, but you couldn’t pretend you weren’t dying to know what the hell he was thinking.
Hawk walked eagerly to the secluded part of Moon’s property, hoping to get some clarity from you. But before Hawk could say anything, your anger got the best of you.
“So what the hell is your problem?” You started, as soon as you knew you were out of earshot from the rest of the party. Hawk looked taken aback, his eyebrows immediately coming together. “Me? What are you talking about?” He said, offended.
You looked at him in disbelief, mouth dropping open slightly. “Are you joking? Are we going to pretend you weren’t just about to make out with that girl in there?” You said, feeling a twinge of hurt from your own words.
His face knotted in confusion and annoyance. “Seriously? You’re jealous right now? After I confessed everything to you, and you avoided me for days afterwards, I was just supposed to think you actually wanted me?” He tried to keep his voice down, but his emotions were getting the better of him.
“What? I just needed some time to think! It’s not like you bothered to text me either!” You whisper-shouted, now feeling like you were missing something.
“Well when you kiss someone and they basically run away from you, who’s responsibility do you think it is to reach out after?!” He threw his arms up in bafflement, looking at you expectantly.
Your face fell to a look of guilt, and eventually his did too. Suddenly you both felt like idiots at how far you jumped to conclusions.
“I was gonna talk to you today. But when I saw you in there with that girl, all these insecurities just came over me. I thought everything you said was just some Cobra prank and it never meant anything.” Your face drooped, feeling a little embarrassed to admit any of this.
His eyes saddened, and he shook his head. “And I just thought you hated me, and that no matter what I said it’d never be enough for you to forgive me.” He explained his own worry, and your eyes started to water at his words.
Feeling overwhelmed after finally being able to piece together what had been going on this whole time, you sprung into his arms, hugging him tightly. You both stayed embraced, enjoying the feeling of comfort from each other once again, until you finally felt strong enough to pull yourself away.
He kept a hand around your head, as though cradling something delicate. “I meant everything I said that day. It’s not a scheme. I want to be with you.” He told you, proving your suspicions wrong.
You smiled weakly, feeling warm at his confession, but nervous for what’s to come. “I’m sorry I never texted you, but I just don’t get how we’re going to do this.” You said, unconvinced. “We can’t tell anyone, and despite whatever we have, there are a lot more reasons why we won’t work than will.” You look away, your mood of happiness faltering at the idea of being realistic.
“I mean, you know I like you Hawk. And maybe it’s different for us, but, I can’t exactly support the way you treat other people.” You say reluctantly, trying not to sound rude. Hawk gulped, looking down shamefully.
Not wanting to think realistically right now, he ignored what you said and pulled you closer. “We’ll figure it out.” He said sweetly, and moved his hand to lift your chin, kissing you tenderly. As nervous as you were about all of it, the way he kissed you somehow seemed to make all your worries disappear.
Just then as your lips met, sirens went off nearby. “Shit, cops?” Hawk said, breaking apart from you. You giggled at the unfortunate turn of events. “You go that way,” you pointed him in the opposite direction of where you were planning to exit, not wanting others to notice you were together. “See you around.” You said playfully, and he caught on to your plan.
Before he could give you a final peck or even say goodbye, you were gone around the corner of the house, and he wondered longingly when he’d finally be able to kiss you again.
The next couple days at school you’d both done your best to avoid looking suspicious with each other. There were many stolen glances, and lots of private texts, but you both somehow managed to keep whatever fling you two had completely under wraps.
Though you had been initially uncomfortable with the whole secret-dating-thing, you eventually gave up on worrying about what would happen if others found out. You were happy, and having a lot of fun sneaking around with Hawk.
You noticed he had even toned down some of his bullying, and your heart felt full at the thought that he might have done that for you. Of course, there were always a few ‘slip-ups’.. but he made sure you weren’t around to see those.
Even if it was difficult, it was thrilling in a way-- having make-out sessions in his car when no one was around to see, and slipping in through each others’ windows at night to see each other...
It was fun, pretending to hate each other by day, and then not being able to stay away from each other by night. It felt like the whole school was being pranked, and you two were the only ones in on it.
It had been a few weeks now since you admitted to liking each other at Moon’s party, and you were now headed to the sports shed near the soccer field where Hawk had asked you to meet him after school.
You’d came here and gotten a little wild with him twice before, so at the invitation you fully expected to be met with an aggressive Hawk, ready to hook up. But instead when you opened the shed door, he was standing shyly and gave you the sweetest smile.
“Hey,” he said, taking a small step forward to meet where you were standing. “Hi, baby,” you grinned and kissed him chastely, taking note of the more innocent energy coming from him today.
He wrapped his arms around you, his eyes examining your face adoringly. “Um,” he said, radiating nervousness and backing up slightly. “What’s up?” You smiled at him curiously, taking his hands in yours.
After only a moment, he released his hands from your hold, and you suddenly felt concerned. Why was he acting so weird? You watched confusedly as he fiddled with the inside pocket of his jacket, not saying a word.
Pulling out a small box, he opened it to reveal a simple but beautiful silver necklace. “Hawk!” You gasped, looking at it in awe. He felt more confident at your reaction, and felt safe to say something again.
“I thought that, since we always have to act around each other, you could wear it as a reminder of how we really feel.” He said, searching your expression for some sort of approval.
You stared at him in admiration, not yet able to find the words to respond. “It’s simple, so nobody will think it means anything, but, we’ll know.” He spoke again, hoping for it to grant a response from you this time.
Your face began to bloom with happiness. Taking the box from his hands, you kissed him passionately. “I love it. Can you put it on me?” You asked cheerfully, and Hawk smiled brightly. “Yeah,” he nodded excitedly, turning you around.
You did your best to move your hair out of the way, and Hawk gently pushed the few stray strands to the side. Feeling his fingers brush across your skin, you breathed heavily. You could feel his own breath hot on your neck, as he clasped the two ends of the jewelry together.
With your back still against his torso, he placed his hands around your waist, starting to leave soft kisses against your ear, and down towards your collarbone.
You closed your eyes, soaking in the feeling, until the door of the shed barged open. You stumbled away from each other in shock, and looked to see Tory standing in front of the both of you.
“I knew it! What the hell is this, Hawk?” She screamed, prowling towards you. Feeling completely unprepared from the utter suddenness of the situation, you stepped back in fear. “What are you doing here!?” Hawk shouted, ignoring Tory’s question as he blocked her path from getting to you.
She sneered at the both of you, stopping as she noticed his protectiveness over you. “I’ve noticed how you sneak off at the end of school. I finally decided to follow you here.” She said matter-of-factly, giving you a glare.
“So what is she, Hawk? Your girlfriend?” She taunted, starting to circle you. Out of everything she’d said so far, that was the thing that actually made you the most nervous. You hadn’t actually used that word before... ‘girlfriend,’ you hadn’t really made it official, despite how much it felt like you already had.
You weren’t sure how Hawk would react now that he was caught, but you desperately hoped he would say, ‘Yes, she is, and I love her.’ But that was nowhere close, to what he said.
“What? No! We’re just having some fun, alright? It doesn’t mean anything.” He forced a laugh, stepping away from you. Your heart ached. This is what you were afraid of. You knew it was probably for the best for him to have said that, but you couldn’t ignore the hurt you felt when you heard him say it.
You wished he would’ve right then and there just admitted it, stood up for himself, and chosen you. He could’ve just told the truth, and left Cobra Kai, and been with you. But you weren’t enough. He had a reputation to uphold.
“Oh, really.” Tory scoffed, barely believing his lie as she looked between the two of you. “You can have fun with anyone, Hawk, and you a choose a Miyagi-Do?” She spat, staring him down, and his usually-confident demeanor diminished instantly. “Break it off, or I tell everyone.”
Storming off, her threat lingered in the air as the two of you stood alone, unable to meet each other’s gazes.
“Maybe we should just end this, Y/N.” Hawk spoke meekly, finally breaking the silence. Your eyes widened in horror, forcing yourself to look up at him. “What?” You said, your voice faltering. “So that’s just it then?”
Tears threatened to spill out of your eyes again as he met your stare. “We don’t have any other choice!” He shouted angrily, getting in your face. Your mouth fell agape at the way he was acting, your expression hardening.
“Yes, we DO!” You shouted back, and sobs started to escape you. You of course meant the choice being he stands up to the Cobras, and fights for your relationship. You understood his dilemma in the beginning, but at this point none of it seemed worth it to you anymore.
His eyes were fixated on you intensely, and his mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out what to do.
“You can easily stand up to them, the Cobras! You’re stronger than all of them combined. Why won’t you fight for us?” You cried, searching for any sign in his face that showed he regretted his words. He had never said so, but you could tell the only thing holding him back was the fear of the Cobras’ reactions.
His insides scrambled with guilt watching you cry. But he had to stay strong. Unaffected, unfazed, completely unbothered. That’s how he forced his expression to appear as he turned and left the shed, leaving you alone and in pain as you watched your worst fear come true.
“Hawk!” You yelled after him, but he only kept walking. “What happened to never wanting to be the reason I felt pain?” Your voice cracked, and you wiped your tears from your face, giving up.
Your words cut into Hawk like a knife. If even possible, Hawk was hurting more than you. Each step he took farther away from where you stood, he felt his heart scatter into another piece. He wished things could be different, too-- but you were too much of a risk.
Cobra Kai may be a large reason for his troubles, but it was also the only reason he was still on top. He wanted you so bad, but he was too afraid to let go of everything else just to have you.
It was safer this way, he told himself. If nobody knew, you’d be safer. You wouldn’t have to be involved in the drama that would come from it, you wouldn’t have another reason for the Cobras to come after you, and you wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.
Hawk repeated these things to himself over and over to make himself feel better about the way things ended. But no matter what he told himself, it was never enough for him to fully believe that he made the right choice.
Feeling helpless, you called the only person you thought might understand. “D-Demetri?” You spoke into the phone, taking a gasp for air between sobs.
“Y/N? Are you ok?” He answered, sounding worried. “I need to talk to you, can you-” You paused, trying to catch your breath. “Can you come get me?” You were nervous he wouldn’t be able to, but you needed someone in person, not over text.
You and Demetri weren’t particularly besties, so for you to call him out of the blue, crying, was extremely worrisome to him. “Uh, yeah, okay sure. I only just left so I can turn back.”
Letting out a shaky breath of relief, you thanked Demetri and hung up, walking out of the shed and towards the front of the school to where he would be meeting you. Hawk was supposed to be your ride home, but clearly that was no longer an option.
When Demetri arrived, he didn’t wait for you to get in the car, he immediately got out and walked over to you. “What happened?” He said cautiously, becoming nervous about having to deal with others’ emotions.
He was never particularly great at consolation, being the awkward and blunt person he is-- and he really didn’t want to make things worse for you.
“It’s Eli,” You said, trying to hold back your tears. “I did something really stupid.” Your lip quivered, feeling embarrassed talking about it. You weren’t supposed to tell anyone about you and Hawk, but at this point, you had nothing left to lose.
Demetri looked at you confused. “What do you mean?” To his knowledge, you and Hawk barely conversed, and there should be absolutely no reason whatsoever for you to be crying over him.
The closer you got to explaining it, the harder it got to contain your emotions. Despite knowing Demetri wasn’t very keen on hugs, you ran into him, desperate for the feeling of comfort.
At this point, Demetri’s level of concern was on the rise. Why on earth would you hug him? That’s never happened before. “I just thought you’d be the only one who would understand... if I told someone.” You spoke, words slightly muffled as you were pressed into his chest.
Reluctantly, Demetri accepted your hug and rested his arms around you. “Okay, Y/N, you’re scaring me. What did he do?” He asked, looking down at you.
Gaining the courage to explain yourself, to Demetri’s relief you let go of him and steadied your breathing. “A few weeks ago.. Hawk and I kissed.” You said hesitantly, preparing for the worst.
“What?” Demetri’s face scrunched into the most confused and offended look you’d ever seen him wear. “I know, okay, just wait.” You told him, hoping he would hear you out.
“I thought it was just a stupid mistake, or something?” You began, recalling the uncertainty you felt when it first happened. “But then he said all this stuff about how much he cared about me, and it turns out we actually have something real.”
Aware of the weirdness of what you were saying, you looked to see how Demetri was handling it. He showed a look of understanding, but you could tell he was simply masking the discomfort he was truly feeling. “It was really confusing at first, but then we started secretly dating.. because we knew everyone would flip if they found out.” You continued, the awkwardness worsening with each sentence spoken.
Demetri’s eyebrows rose. “Dating?” You visibly cringed at the reaction, but carried on with your story. “And he even started being nicer to people!” You mentioned, hoping to make the situation seem like you weren’t a complete idiot for allowing it to happen. “Because, I told him I didn’t think I could be with him-- with the way he treats people, you know? And things were actually going well until today--”
You took a moment, preparing the end of your explanation in the hopes you wouldn’t start to cry through it. Demetri looked at you impatiently.
“When Tory found us together and threatened to tell everyone about us if we didn’t break it off, and then Hawk just left me there and said that we should end things because he’s a coward and can’t do what’s right because HE WANTS TO LOOK COOL.” You shouted, running through the sentences fast and furiously. Instead of getting sad like you thought you would, you got angry. Ah yes, another stage of grief.
Demetri looked slightly scared of you at your sudden tantrum, but having heard your story, he did understand what you were feeling-- because in a way, it had happened to him too. This time, it was him who reached out to hug you, and you appreciated him for it. Hugs always seemed to make you feel calm.
“I’m sorry, Y/N. I know how it feels. He’s stuck right now, but we can’t give up, okay? He’ll come around.” He said honestly, awkwardly patting your back. You laughed a tiny bit, seeing Demetri trying to console, but you were grateful for his presence.
You released each other from the hug, and you wiped any leftover tears off of your face. “Thanks, Demetri.” You said, smiling sweetly. He nodded, placing his hand on your arm in reassurance, and motioned for you to follow to his car.
The ride back to your house was quiet, but your thoughts were busy and loud. That’s how things were for awhile after that day. You kept to yourself again, and though you tried to look alive, you felt like you had retreated back inside the bubble you worked so hard to get out of.
You went to school, you went to karate, you did whatever responsibilities you had to do-- but for the rest of your free time, you spent it alone in your room, wondering what it would take for Hawk to come back to you.
It was unhealthy, really, how you would wait everyday for a sign of acknowledgement from Hawk, and decline any other social invitation because you never got one.
You even wore the necklace, everyday, in hopes that he’d notice and remember how much you meant to him. But it never worked. He never came back.
You got away with the isolation for awhile, but people were starting to notice how you’ve been pulling away. At least you had Demetri to cover for you once and awhile, to help keep up the facade that you were okay.
Because, you weren’t. You wondered if Hawk was, though. He certainly seemed like he was okay, but he couldn’t be. For your own peace of mind, you had to think he couldn’t be. To think that he was doing just fine while you were spending your days miserable, wouldn’t be fair.
He’s stuck right now, but he’ll come around. Demetri’s words echoed in your head, wondering if they were even true. Would he ever really come around? Is he in too deep? The thoughts scared you beyond belief, but as more days passed, the more you believed them.
You eventually forced yourself to stop caring. To stop thinking about it, and to just give it up. You’d spent too long waiting for him, and you were done letting his actions control your happiness. Although there was a part of you that could never really stop caring, you convinced yourself that it was gone.
After a few weeks, you stopped wearing the necklace. When you showed up to school without it on, it was the first time Hawk had noticeably looked at you since the breakup. He always avoided your eye contact, but that day he locked them onto yours as you passed him in the hall. His gaze flickered from your eyes to your neck, and you could see the glum look all over his face.
As much as you wanted to give in to the hope that he missed you, you ignored it. You weren’t going to let any of those thoughts in again-- not when you already worked so hard to let go of them.
Hawk watched you make your way through the corridors, hardly caring who noticed. While you may have had the ability to attempt to move on, he didn’t. It was his fault any of this happened after all, and it was completely up to him whether or not he could fix things between you.
The pressure of knowing he was the only reason for your and his despair was agonizing, and with the necklace no longer around your neck, he realized he was running out of time.
Time is what he thought he had, to turn things around for himself, and you. But his window was closing, and he was panicking.
Not knowing what else to do, Hawk waited a few blocks away from where you trained at Miyagi-Do, knowing he’d catch you on your walk home.
Making your way down the sidewalk after practice, you were completely unsuspecting when Hawk jumped out of his car and jogged towards you.
Things had really come full circle now, hadn’t they? You, walking home on that same sidewalk, pure disgust for Hawk in your veins as he tried to catch up with you.
You stopped short as Hawk stood in front of you, blocking your path. You were nervous and confused at his intrusion, and decided not to bother avoiding him right now.
His stare towards you was intense, and you only glared back, waiting for him to say what he needed to say.
“You stopped wearing the necklace.” He said it so plainly, you couldn’t tell what kind of response he was looking for. It seemed almost like a question in disguise-- why did you stop wearing the necklace, perhaps?
He was looking at you eagerly, though trying to hide the desperation behind the statement.
“Yeah, and?” You laughed at him, matching his tone of carelessness. He looked like he didn’t understand, so you continued. “What’d you expect? That I’d just keep waiting for you?” You said unpleasantly, with a hint of sadness in your own voice.
A shameful look glossed over his features, but you only kept going. “It’s obvious you’re not coming back, Hawk.” You smile at him mockingly, enjoying the feeling of guilt you were giving him.
He tried to stay strong, but every word you spoke was like a hit to his built-up walls, and they were so close to falling down.
“I spent weeks wondering what I’d have to do to get you to come back to me. To choose me.” You said, your voice calm, but the rest of you not. Your body was shaking with anger now, but your eyes were brimming with tears.
“Until,” You sniffled, gaining a tone of indifference, “I finally realized there was nothing for me to do. You just weren’t coming.” You were almost smiling through the pain, and Hawk looked at you in a loss for words.
You appeared so fragile to him, he just wanted to wrap you in his arms and spout apology after apology for what he’d caused. Seeing your eyes squint in attempt to hold back the waterworks, physically pained him.
“So yeah, I stopped wearing the necklace. But you know what?” You stepped forward confidently, despite the single tear that had just fallen down your face. “I think it hurt more wearing it than it did taking it off.” You finished with hardly any emotion in your voice, and Hawk looked mortified seeing you try to act so unaffected.
He had been silent through your whole exchange, because he knew there was nothing he could say now to make things better. He had done too much damage, and he had caused you too much pain. He did exactly what he said he’d never do.
You waited for him to say something, anything-- but as your eyes bore into his strongly, he couldn’t find the courage to speak. The disappointment was immense, and feeling hopeless once again, you pushed past him to go home.
Panicking at your leave, Hawk grabbed onto your arm. “Y/N, Wait, please-” “No!” You cut him off, looking at him coldly. His face was red, and his eyes were stinging now, too. Ignoring the feeling you got when you saw him like that, you ripped your arm from his grasp. “I’ve waited long enough.”
You turned to leave again, and this time, Hawk didn’t follow. There was only one thing Hawk could do now to get you back, and you knew he wasn’t ready for it. There was no use in you hanging around for him anymore, you deserved better. You deserved someone who cared enough that they’d do what it takes to be with you, regardless of social status.
You didn’t even care if he stayed in Cobra Kai, you just wanted him to stand up to his friends and be proud that he was with you. Didn’t he realize that he was one of the strongest Cobras, and that he could get through any of their shit? If his biggest problem was Tory, he hardly had any reason to stay quiet. You knew deep down he could do better.
Hawk hadn’t understood that then, but as he lingered on you walking away, something clicked in his head.
Maybe he really could do better. He wanted to, for you. He was still terrified at the idea of coming clean to the Cobras, but whatever he’d deal with from that couldn’t be any worse than being without you.
He liked the power he had being in Cobra Kai, and he hoped that he could keep it-- but if losing the power meant gaining you, at this point he was totally okay with that risk. But, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t at least try to negotiate with his friends first.
“Y/N!” It was a new day at school, and you were walking side by side Sam heading to your lunch table when he called your name. You shared a look with Sam, glancing towards him with a bothered look upon your face. “Come here!” Hawk shouted again, apparently not caring that the whole cafeteria had his attention.
A look of dread spread across your face, and you slammed your lunch tray on your friends’ table in defeat before stomping over to where Hawk and his asshole friends sat. Your friends watched from afar, completely clueless as to what Hawk would need you for, and Demetri struggled to pretend he was just as lost as they were.
“What.” You said bluntly, staring him and the rest of his table down. “Yeah, seriously, what are you doing calling her over here?” Mitch asked, looking at you in revulsion, and you rolled your eyes at him.
Hawk looked between you and his friends, struggling to keep his confident manner in tact, and sighed uncomfortably. “I know we don’t like the Miyagi-Dos. And we don’t like the way they run their dojo.” He stated, hoping to hook his friends in by starting negatively towards their rivals.
His friends looked at him in reluctance, wondering where he was going with this-- and you did too. “But I love Y/N.” He said loudly, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, and looking around at his friends. He was more nervous to see your reaction than theirs, so he barely looked at you once he said it.
“What?” The words came strongly from not only his friends, but you, too. He had never told you that before, and your heart melted at his declaration. When you spoke, he gathered the courage to look at you, and you’d never seen him so nervous.
“I love you.” He repeated, looking you in the eyes. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, and on top of that he was announcing it to the whole school. You glanced over to see Demetri, mouth ajar, observing the interaction like it were a movie.
He meant it, and you could tell. He was waiting on you for a response, feeling more stress than he’d felt in a long time as he studied your bewildered expression.
Before you could say anything, Bert interrupted the moment. “You can’t love a Miyagi-Do. They’re stuck-up pansies who think they’re better than us.” He said, completely convinced that Hawk was out of his mind and needed a wake-up call.
Hawk cringed a little at the feedback, but was surprised when you decided to bite back. “I joined Miyagi-Do because I was tired of people getting bullied. You all choose violence when it isn’t needed, so I just wanted to be prepared.” You defended your intentions, fearlessly.
Tory snorted. “Oh yeah? And how’s that working out for you?” She jabbed, trying to make fun of your self defense skills. Before you could retort, Hawk slammed his hand down on the table and leaned in towards his peers.
“Listen! I’m with you guys, but she’s right. We’ve been reckless.” He said carefully, trying to keep a balance between who’s side he was on. “Sensei told us to fight smart, and we haven’t been.” He locked eyes with Tory, clearly sending her a message.
You watched as Hawk tried to reason with them, admiring his every move. Keeping up his confidence, he set down what was going to happen, and there’d be no arguments against it. “You guys can hate the Miyagi-Dos all you want, but I’m going to be with Y/N, and I’m staying in Cobra Kai.”
Interlacing his hand with yours, he looked at you pridefully before turning back to the outraged looks on his friends’ faces. “From now on, if any one of you touches her, you deal with me. That’s of course if she doesn’t kick your ass first.” He said smugly, and you smiled widely, feeling content at his speech.
Your heart was jumping out of your chest at the gesture he made, and you wanted to smash your lips onto his and tell him how much you loved him back-- but you kept yourself restrained for the sake of the situation.
Most of the Cobras nodded nervously at his announcement, not wanting to challenge Hawk when he was so sure of himself. But Tory wasn’t having it. “You guys can’t seriously be okay with this?” She snapped, death-glaring the entire table.
The group looked like they were trying to decide whether they were more afraid of Hawk, or Tory. You smiled to yourself, knowing that no matter their reaction, you had won this, because you were with him now. It would certainly be a bonus if you gained their acceptance, though.
Mitch looked around in uncertainty about what he was going to say, but stuck up for Hawk. “Come on Tory, I mean, I get it... she’s hot.” He said referring to you, and you laughed a little at the shallow but positive response.
Hawk wasn’t as pleased with it though. “Hey.” He threatened, pointing a finger at Mitch. You giggled slightly at his jealous reaction, but pulled him back from Mitch by the hand you were holding his with. Mitch raised his hands in surrender, and Tory stood from the table, getting close to the both of you.
“You’d better sleep with one eye open, assholes.” She spat, and stormed away from the table. It went better than you would’ve thought, truthfully. Everyone else was loyal to Hawk, and you didn’t really expect anything less from Tory. Again, having Tory be your only threat seemed like small potatoes now that you two were together.
You nodded at the rest of the Cobras in respect, and with that whole thing being over, you tugged him by the hand towards your table of Miyagi-Dos. Hawk groaned, realizing where you were taking him, but did his best to stay civil.
Chris glowered at the both of you, and Sam looked a little disappointed, but she tried to look supportive. “So.... yeah. Sorry.” You said sheepishly, knowing that they had already heard everything.
“I’m glad it finally worked out.” Demetri said through a sad smile. You felt a little bad, knowing that Demetri still needed to work out his relationship with Hawk, and here you were rubbing yours in his face. That would be your next mission, you suppose-- operation get Demetri and Hawk to be friends again.
“Thanks, Dem.” You said appreciatively, and Hawk looked suspiciously between the two of you. “Wait, did you tell him before?” He asked defensively. The whole table looked to you and Demetri curiously, and you crossed your arms sassily.
“Uh, did I call someone to come get me after you left me alone in a shed? Yeah.” You recovered, your facial expression sly as you knew he couldn’t come back from that one. The others looked at him exasperatedly at your response, and his face dropped instantly.
“Oh my god, Y/N I am so sorry about that.” He cowered, immediately dropping it, and you laughed at the remorse he was finally showing. You already knew he was sorry, but you guess it was nice to hear him say it.
He didn’t understand why you were laughing, though. He felt awful. And he also really needed a chance to completely apologize to you in private, now that he had already confessed his true feelings.
Suddenly, he picked you up entirely, arms holding your legs and you wrapped your arms around his neck instinctively. “Whoah, what is happening?” You laughed, looking at your friends who all looked just as puzzled as you.
Without saying anything else, he took off out of the lunch room carrying you, and made his way to the nearest exit to the outdoors. “Babe, where are we going?” You cackled, amused at the adventure he was taking you on.
Finally outside and alone, he let you down gently in front of him, and took your hands in his lightly. “I’m so sorry. For all of it. I was a complete idiot for letting you go. You knew all along that we could do it, and I was too busy being a pussy to even try. And I’m really sorry for everything that went down today, I hope you aren’t mad, I literally told you I loved you in front of everyone and that must’ve been awkward, I mean you didn’t even get to respond, which, now that I think about it maybe you didn’t want to, or--”
You silenced his rambling with a forceful kiss, grabbing the sides of his face with your hands. “I love you too, Hawk.” You said, pulling away from the kiss quickly, to give him the response he had been looking for.
He smiled big in return, and it turned your insides to mush. “You know, I realized we never got the chance to make things official.” He looked up at you cutely and you smiled back, knowing what was coming.
“So, will you be my girlfriend?” He asked charmingly, his face mere inches from yours. Blushing furiously, you nodded as you touched your forehead to his. “Mhm,” You said in agreement, grinning.
He took a moment, just admiring the look of you so happy, and with his manner still playful, he reminded you of something you had said before. “See? I came back to you.” He said proudly.
You looked at him lovingly, feeling a little emotional at the sentiment. His expression turned serious now, and he parted from you only slightly. “I’m gonna do better for you, Y/N. I promise.” He spoke lowly, and you put your hands on his shoulders, beaming at him in acknowledgement.
You stepped forwards again, getting closer to him. He gave a seductive smirk at your movement, and you subconsciously traced your fingers along his neck, fixated on his face more than anything.
Hawk stared back at you affectionately, his attention flickering down towards your lips. Feeling bold, he placed his hands dangerously low on your waist, and pulled you in roughly for another kiss. You quickly reacted, letting your hands travel to the nape of his neck, your mouth opening slightly-- allowing Hawk the opportunity to deepen the kiss.
Your lips stayed connected as Hawk’s hands made their way up your back, his chest pressing closer to yours. As much as you wanted to continue, you were in broad daylight right outside the halls of your school-- and you really didn’t want a detention for too much PDA.
“Mm, Hawk-” You giggled, breaking away from him. “Hm?” He smiled, his hands resting loosely on your waist as he pecked your lips again before letting you free. “If we don’t go back in soon we’ll miss the whole lunch period.” You said, disappointedly.
“Eh, that’s fine with me.” He shrugged, smirking at you as he clutched you closer. You scoffed playfully, hitting him lightly, and gave him one last kiss before escaping his grip.
He pouted at you, and you looked back at him mischievously. He missed your touch already, so he snaked his arm around your waist as you walked back inside to satisfy his need of holding you.
You felt on top of the world with him by your side, now having full confidence in him and his feelings for you. “It’s a good thing I still have the necklace, huh?” You teased, looking back up at him, and Hawk smiled, tilting his head to meet your gaze.
Though your comment may have only been a joke, both of you felt whole at the idea of you wearing the necklace-- and as you walked joyfully through the halls with him, you knew you’d never be taking it off again.
------------------------------------------------------
i just wanna talk about real quick how much i cringe when writing like its actually terrible how much i cringe at myself so idk if i’ll keep doing fics or not HAHAH but y’all can always send requests and i’ll get around to them if i can. hope yall liked this one tho and made it through the whole thing cuz yikes.
#cobra kai#eli moskowitz#eli hawk moskowitz#hawk#jacob bertrand#eli hawk moskowitz cobra kai#eli moskowitz cobra kai#hawk moskowitz#hawk cobra kai#cobra kai hawk#hawk moskowitz cobra kai#eli moskowitz imagine#hawk imagine#eli hawk moskowitz imagine
342 notes
·
View notes
Text
Alliance
Chapter 7 – The Redemption
(Mando x reader)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary: Caged and alone you struggle to stay alive as the empire questions you about the child. With nothing left to lose you begin planning your final escape.
Tw: Swearing, torture, blood.
Notes: whoop its been a minute, but class started back up so chapters will take a bit longer to get out! Hope y’all enjoy it❤️
Words: 3.6k
Tagged: @crazycookiecrumbles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You're woken by yet another electrical shock coursing through your veins. They’d upped your security after your fourth escape attempt which meant you were only removed from your cell for intermittent questioning and various invasive tests. The sporadic visits left you with a distorted sense of time leaving you completely unaware at just how long you had been on the ship, a day? A week? A few hours? Your blood being drained wasn't helping the situation. You knew they would have figured out by now that its life elongating properties were nothing more than rumour, so what the hell did they need so much for? An all-inclusive spa?
After the shock finishes coursing through you, the two troopers cuff your limp limbs and walk you over to yet another cold, white, over-fluorescent room that smelled disconcertingly like bleach. They toss you roughly into a chair and restrain your wrists, abdomen and legs with thick metal straps that were sure to leave bruises. The troopers exit the room remaining at the door. Your multiple escape attempts paired with your ability to use the force had made them wary, watching your every move like a hawk. The door closes behind the troopers leaving you alone with only the faint murmur being emitted by the various machines casing the walls. You waited wondering who would be entering through the door. Another doctor or nurse with needles and vials which would be carted away for an unknown, but likely sinister purpose, or maybe another man in a grey uniform coming to beat you into submission. You’re not sure which you’d prefer. Whoever was coming for you today was taking their sweet time really keeping you in anticipation. Just as you’re dozing off the mechanical doors slide open. The imperial guard wastes no time in shocking you awake.
“Where is the child?” he says, lowering the cattleprod and removing his gloves.
“How the hell would I know that?” you ask your body clenched. Three men in lab coats enter the room drawing blood from you and exiting as quickly as they came.
“I will keep asking until your answer changes.” He says, this guard was particularly sadistic opting to burn you along your thigh when you once again refuse to answer.
“Well then start asking different questions.” you respond, eyes were brimming with tears that you had been holding back for too long.
“Where are they?” he demands, pressing the searing rod onto the bare flesh of your arm, you remain silent as a single tear rolls down your face.
“Even if I knew I’d never tell you” you say, as he slaps you across the face, the sound echoing throughout the room.
“You will if you value your life.” He snarls, grabbing you by the hollows of your cheeks.
“Well you’ve overestimated its value to me. Besides, my life is nothing compared to his.” You say, spitting blood back in his face
“Take her back. If she doesn’t speak soon, maybe she’ll finally get her wish.” He says, pulling out a white handkerchief. You watched as the white fabric slowly stains red as it drags across his face.
“Promise?” you ask smiling sweetly exposing your blood soaked teeth. It’s the last thing you remember before blacking out.
You wake up to a familiar scene, one you had bore witness to most nights. Your feet hit against the cold white marble tracing the same path you had walked a hundred times prior. Allowing yourself to flow through the motions, bringing your hands up to protect your face for the elements, fumbling around until you see the figure. Your hand reaches out your fist closing around nothing but the crisp air. This time, you don’t wake up. You swivel around looking back and scanning your dreamscape frantically, as the wind howls louder. A hand clasps around your mouth, you try to scream, but you can’t, you try to breath, but you can’t.
You jolt upright in the poor excuse for a bed gasping for air and pawing at your throat. You relax into a steady rhythm as your lungs refill with air, racking your hands through your hair. They’re just nightmares you repeat over and over to nobody but the four walls confining you.
They weren’t just anything and you knew that, especially not this one. This, this felt like a warning. It felt like something was calling to you, something evil. Something that was trying desperately to claw its way out. You shake your head, shifting to happier thoughts. You were still alive and that meant that the child was still safe, and Anya, and Din.
You figured you’d never see them again. You weren’t upset, or at least you wouldn’t be soon, one way or another. Hey at least you’d gotten an apology from the Mandalorian before the end, or you would have if you had let him finish his sentence. You knew it had to be this way. “This is the way” you say chuckling. Even a thousand light years away he was somehow still with you. Wherever they were they weren’t coming back, they couldn’t. You were on your own, and you had to plan your next escape to the T if it was going to work.
*************************************************
“I need your help, I can pay.” Din says to the ex-soldier.
“Mando, nice to see you again, and you found the precious bounty,” she says, lifting up the small green child who is happily held by her. “What do you need me for. “
“We need to get someone. Extraction mission. They were taken protecting this womp rat.” He says affectionately rubbing the kids head.
“Who took them?”
“The empire.” He deadpans.
“No way, not enough credits in the world.” She laughs, handing the child back to the Mandalorian and making her way over to her desk.
“Please.” he begs, hoping his desperation wasn’t as evident as it sounded under the helmet.
“Do they expect you to go back?”
“I don’t even know if they're alive.”
“Must be someone pretty special for you to risk going back there with him” she says stroking the kids ear.
“ I’m not taking the kid, I’m leaving him with a friend.”
“ Lots of friends these days hey Mando? Fine, I'll help, but I get my pick of the weapons after.”
“Deal. Not the spear though. Cara. Are you listening to me” he asks as she enters into the ship, not listening.
Corvus, Outer Rim
“So who are we looking for here?” Cara asks.
“Ashoka Tano, she's a Jedi, she can watch Grogu while we get the person out” he says, unsure why he kept referring to you as a person and not by name.
“Jedi, hey? They seem drawn to you maybe you're secretly one” she laughs
“You coming?” he asks
“Nope, I'll let you escort junior here to his babysitter, assuming you can handle it alone?”
Din exits the ship, child in arm, making his way through the trees that were beginning to bloom, now that the threat of war no longer loomed over them.
“Mando, welcome back!” The governor exclaims grasping the Mandalorians arm in his
“Is Ashoka here?”
“Yes, I’ll take you to her.”
“Hello again” she says, removing her eyes from the documents spread across her desk
“I need a favour.” He states bluntly “There are only a few people I trust to care for him, one is coming with me the other is being held captive”
“So that leaves me, I’m flattered and happy to take him for a short while” she takes the child gently rocking him back and forth.
“Thank you. Be good.” he says, pointing a stern finger at Grogu “You should watch your valuables and any food you're saving” Din finishes before striding back down the hallway.
“The person who you seek” Ashoka's voice rings out, stopping him dead in his tracks. “she is powerful”
“I know, she’s like you” He turns in time to see a notable look of seriousness spread across her face.
“In more ways than one, I offer you a word of warning. She is an asset no doubt, but she has suffered, and those who have known pain are often targeted by sinister forces especially when they are powerful. They have targeted her already, they will find her and try and claim her as their own.”
“How do I stop them”
“You can’t.”
“What can you tell me about her?”
“I cannot tell you anything, you can hope in time she will reveal herself to you, but do not hold your breath, it may never happen and that may be for the best. I do not tell you this to frighten you but to make you aware of the situation you are now deeply entrenched in.” The Mandalorian nods before returning the way he came.
Deep Space, unknown coordinates
“So who exactly are we getting? Whose so special they deserve a saving from you?” Cara asks, slouching down in the passenger seat.
“She saved me twice, I can’t leave her with the empire.” Realises his mistake the second he says it.
“Oh so it’s a she,” Cara says, drawing out the last word. “ You know for a guy with no face you certainly get around”
“It’s not like that” he answers, only causing her to press for more information akin to a dog with a bone.
“Oh I’m sure, so who is it this time?”
“You remember that bounty we got months back?” he says fiddling with various gadgets. “Vryssa” he adds hoping he doesn’t have to expand.
“Oh” Cara says slightly taken aback “the hot one with the bow and arrow who spat in your face?”
“That’s the one,” he says smiling under the helmet.
She lets out a low whistle “Good for you, I mean I don’t know what you look like under there but she’s gotta be out of your league.”
“It’s not like that,” he says.
“What? Am I embarrassing you?” she laughs. “Fine, I'll stop. I’m happy for you Mando, better get an invite to the wedding. Can you even get married?” Seeing she may have pushed her limits she continued “Alright, aright just joking so what’s the plan.”Leading Cara down the ladder into the mainspace of the ship a door opens revealing a single storm trooper uniform.
“I land the ship here. There's a hatch that leads into a storage closet where you, in the uniform, will drop down. The prisons are located on the third floor,and my guess she’ll be kept in maximum security, so by the end of the hall, here, on the far left. I’ll get the doors open, you get her out.”
“You don’t want to be the one to swoop in and save her?” Cara replies “Just asking,” she finishes raising her hands up in the air.
Your eyes open upon hearing the ringing of blaster shots reverberating throughout the hollow walkways. More infighting you suppose, letting out a deep sigh and closing your eyes hoping to get a moment's peace before your next, and quite possibly last, interrogation. Not a moment after you hear the familiar metallic screech as your cell doors open. You sit up shifting back into the wall and bringing your knees to your chest. Only one trooper? This was your chance, you could take a single trooper in your sleep, your eyes glance back to the trooper, as you formulate your next move. Move. Why hadn’t it moved? Where was the shocker? Why was the armour slightly malfitted. It couldn’t be. Could it?
“Aren’t you a little tall for a stormtrooper?” You ask, as its hands go up to the helmets side.
“Cara Dune,” you exhale, not exactly who you were expecting, but who you were to complain “nice to not be on the receiving end of your force” you say as she frees your hands and pulls you up.
“Can you walk?” you nod “Heard you’re a mean shot” she says handing you a blaster and redonning the trooper helmet. You’re following her out the door when you feel your knees go.
“Shit” Cara mutters, hooking your armpits and stopping you from eating it.
“I’m fine just give me a sec.” you say slapping your thighs to try and get the blood rolling.
“Ya you sure seem fine am I gonna have to carry you out?”
“If I said maybe would that be convincing enough for you.” she shoots you a look “I'm only partially joking, alright feeling reinstated lets go before they give out again.” You follow behind her shooting down the few troopers in your path.
You're almost to the ship when a mechanical voice stops you both.
“State your business with prisoner 26758” the droid asks.
“Prisoners 26758 is being moved for questioning” Cara says without hesitation. It looks at her then to you before turning around and continuing on its way. She exhales cutting the tension in the surrounding air. You proceed hastily through the ship ducking behind spare parts as employees walk by, until you reach a storage closet.
“Really?” you ask
“Really.” she parrots back to you opening the door as you squeeze into the closet's confined space. Once the doors closed she interlocks her fingers, boosting you up through a hatch where an unmistakable arm reaches down. You latch onto it with both hands and it pulls you up with familiar ease. With your feet back on solid ground you finally look up into the dark glass of the visor obscuring your saviours face.
“You came back?” you say unblinking, not wanting to break your gaze afraid this was nothing more than a fever dream.
“I said I would,” he responds, still holding your hand in his.
“There’s time for this later, let’s get a move on.” Cara, says pushing between you and the Mandalorian, causing a flushed feeling to rush over your body as you quickly drop his hand. You hobble over to the cockpits entrance where Cara had recently disappeared up into. You wince as your arms reach for the ladder, but before you can heave yourself up you feel two large hands around your waist. Din lifts you gently up to Cara who hooks her arms under yours pulling you up so your legs are dangling on the precipice.
“Where’s the kid?” you ask, as Din ascends.
“You think I’d bring him here” he says, gently helping you settle into the passenger seat. “They're safe, don't worry. Get some rest” he says “we’ll be there soon”
Corvus, Outer Rim
Cara helps you out onto the soft grass covering the planet's floor watching as a woman appears from the walls guarding a small city. She moves towards reaching her hand up causing you to flinch. She pauses for a moment before removing your hood.
“You look just like her.” She says smiling.
“Like who?” you ask.
“Your mother. I knew her back, before the temple when she... I'm sorry I couldn’t do more.” Ahsoka says allowing a silence to hang in the air as she hands Grogu back to the Mandalorian.
“It wasn’t your fault, from what my grandmother said there was no stopping him once the Sith took hold.”
“I'm sorry about your grandmother, I felt her leave not too long ago”
“Thank you” you say, taking her hands in yours.
“I have something for you” she gestures for you to follow her back into the city’s walls.
Din takes a step forward but Cara places a hand on his arm shaking her head.
“I don't think we're on the invite list for this one, c’mon i'll let you beat me in a arm wrestling match.”
“If we may speak frankly...” Ashoka starts once in her office “The item in this box is no toy, it must not fall into the wrong hands. You have been having nightmares?” She asks, turning to face you, as you nod eyes darting away from her gaze “You must be careful who you let into your head from now on. Once they’re in it's hard to get them out. They will be looking for you.”
“Who?” you ask, taking a cautious step towards her.
“They will not stop, they are dangerous, ruthless and extremely persuasive, they can turn even the best. The path you walk is unclear, foggy, there will come a time that a choice must be made, and if you do not make it yourself they will make it for you.” She runs a hand over a small wooden box lightly wiping away the gathering dust. “This belonged to your mother, I found it when I returned to the temple, she would have wanted you to have it.” Its weight takes you by surprise. Sliding the slotted lid open an unmistakable cylinder sits atop a deep blue fabric.
“A lightsaber” you whisper brows knitted in disbelief. “ I’m not, I don’t know how” you say, extending the box back out to her hoping she’d take it back.
“Your training over the years means you know how to use it.” She says placing the box down, taking out the sabers hilt and offering it back to you. You press down on the button and as you release it a faint purple light shoots out, emitting a dull buzz. Ashoka was right, you did know how to use it, all those years maneuvering around the woods with a wooden staff had paid off in the end.
“She was one of the best teachers, your grandmother. You’re a testament to that. You have a strong connection to the force and an even deeper understanding and respect for it.” You close the saber looking back over to the jedi master whose smile has faded.
“There are worse things in this galaxy than crime lords and ex troopers, something is brewing deep below, I know you’ve felt it too. This saber will protect you when you need it most. Continue your training, but keep an eye on your emotions, I do not know the relationship you share with those who came to your aid but do not let the roots grow too deep. It can have devastating consequences. To be a Jedi is to be alone” she squeezes your arm gently as your eyes finally meet hers, finding a semblance of similarity and understanding in them. Her words weigh heavy on you as you return back to the ship's entrance way where Din and Cara were wrestling. Anya spots you first and rushes over to you, you bend over scratching her ears. Grogu, noticing Anya leave, peels himself away from the fight and makes his way over to you whining loudly.
“Is no one paying you any attention?” you coo down to him and he responds with a gurgle “the nerve.” you say shaking your head causing him to giggle, as you pick him up.
“Your mother was probably teaching young Grogu here at some point.” Ashoka says loud enough to stop the all out war happening behind you.
“I don’t remember him, or her really.” You say as Grogu grabs at a loose strand of hair.
“Well he remembers you, or he thinks that you're your mother.” She reopens the wood box and you place the saber back inside, handing it to you once it's closed.
“Is that a lightsaber?” Cara asks, eyes wide, as she approaches, brushing dirt off herself. “You can pay me with that,” she says, turning back to look up at the Mandalorian who's fixated on you.
“Where will you go, now the empire is looking for you all?” Ashoka asks, noting the apparent fondness shared amongst the small motley crew.
“Hoth for now, hasn’t seen humans in a while good place to hide out with all the abandoned bases. Hopefully the camouflage technology is still in place.” Din says.
“And too cold for any reasonable people to venture to,” Cara says.
“Not exactly the retirement I had in mind.” you mutter, but at least it was better than the funeral you were planning earlier that day.
“Wasn’t sure we’d ever find you.” Cara says as the ship reaches deep space, her chair swiveling around to face you
“Glad you did.” You say looking up blinking slowly, as a yawn escapes your lips.
“Sure made our jobs harder, had to try to escape didn’t you.” She pats you lightly on the shoulder as she drops down to the lower level.
“Thought I was on my own you” you call down to her laughing.
“Not anymore” Dins' voice cuts in, causing you to scrunch up your mouth in an attempt to hide the smile that was forming.
“Thank you, for coming back, a few more days and I think there’d be no blood left in my body the way they were siphoning it.”
“Kid wouldn’t stop crying” he offers
“Well I'll be sure to thank him. Guess we're all squared up then, end of the line now the kid’s back?” you say.
“Doesn't have to be, besides you should wait until you’re healed up and we may need that saber if anyone shows up for the kid before we can get him to a Jedi.” He says realizing he’d thrown every excuse in the book for you to stay with them.
“Guess you’re right” you say, happy that the Mandalorian wanted you around, even if it was just for childcare
“Usually am” he responds, causing you to roll your eyes and shake your head, resting it back against the chair and allowing your eyes to close. As you doze off you hope when you wake you wouldn’t find yourself back in a cell.
#mando x y/n#mando x you#mando x reader#the mandolarian#the mandolorian x reader#din x y/n#din x reader#din djarin x reader#din djarin x you#din djarin x y/n#star wars#the mandalorian#alliance#chapter 7
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
Not Your Type
Steve Harrington x Reader
Read part 2 HERE
Word Count: 6,669
Warnings: Swearing, Smoking, Drinking, Sexual Assault mention
Tag List: @carolimedanvers @moonstruckhargrove @denimjacketkisses @hotstuffhargrove @thechickvic @alex--awesome--22 @hipsmcgee @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @so-not-hotmess @balladblood @ashescilev
“You’re not her type, Steve.”
“You can’t say that till she meets me.”
The two had been arguing for days on the subject, without a clear answer in sight. Robin had promised, after weeks of watching Steve fail at getting girls, first at Scoops Ahoy and now at Family Video, to introduce him to a girl. Not just any girl, a girl like her. Steve had finally admitted that Dustin was right and he needed to go after girls who could make him genuinely happy, not just a girl who fit his popular mindset. He had tried his luck with Robin, and easily accepted the loss due to her own sexuality, and now he was set to try again. And Robin had been hyping up this friend of hers for weeks. She was cool and funny and smart like her and she was straight. That was all he was looking for. Whoever she was, she sounded perfect.
But Robin was holding out on him.
His turned halfway to look at her, leaning his elbows on the counter to watch her shelf VHS tapes of music videos by the checkout line. She kept her back to him, rolling her eyes at his last comment. He was so pig headed most of the time, it was honestly annoying.
“Robin, you made this big deal about her, you said she was perfect, that I’d want to marry her on sight, and now you’re holding out. You gonna tell me what the deal is or not?” he asked with a brutal sigh.
Robin didn’t turn around “Look, I might have...overhyped her a bit...like she’s amazing but she might...not be interested.” she said, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, turning to look at him with an embarrassed grimace.
“What?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Look...she likes Billy Idol types. She probably would’ve gotten along with Billy Hargrove if...well, you know.” Robin said, trailing off at the end. Both nodded softly, Robin swallowing as if her throat was dry. Maybe it was, the memory was certainly hard to swallow and even harder to forget.
“Right...so?”
Robin scoffed “You’re too squeaky clean for her.”
Steve slapped his hand on the counter, his hair bouncing excitedly with the quick movement “Oh come on! Do you remember me? I’m Steve ‘Hair’ Harrington! I was the coolest guy at Hawkins High.” he puffed up his chest proudly, like a peacock.
“And the most modest.” Robin stood up, dusting off her knees from grim from the carpets sticking to her bare skin. The only perk of working at Family Video was the lax dress code. The store’s air conditioning had broken in June and had turned the place into an oven with its big windows that couldn’t be shaded to hide the marquees and cardboard cutouts in the windows. Keeping the front door open and wearing as little as possible helped.
“But seriously, Steve, I don’t want you to get your hopes up about her. She might not be interested.” Robin replied, planting her hands on her hips.
“I got it, now when can I meet her?” Steve asked.
Luckily for him, you were already on your way.
You had no idea why Robin had been so insistent on you visiting her at work. She never had been before, she’d made you promise not to visit her at Scoops, which was strange since you only worked a floor above at Claire’s, piercing children’s ears with ugly silver butterflies and flowers, only for them to buy big plastic hoops and balls to shove into the unprepared holes and get them totally infected. It was fun, you got to use a piercing gun. You’d almost gotten fired for trying to pierce your nose with the gun. You were glad that you didn’t, it would’ve totally ruined your nostril, but you wouldn’t pretend that it wasn’t totally worth it to see the look on your fat manager, Marge’s face. She was such a bitch, you were glad when that damn mall burned down. The one in Carmel was better anyway.
When Robin insisted on you coming to Family Video to meet her for her lunch break, you weren’t insanely apprehensive about it. It wasn’t until her tone changed when she mentioned meeting her coworker and friend that you started getting that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach. She was trying to set you up with someone. Again. She always did this when she wanted something. Last time she did it, it was with that awful Keith to try to get him to give her his poster from The Godfather, which he’d nicked from the back storage at The Hawke while it was still open. Whatever she wanted, you weren’t going to be used to get it.
Still, you showed up. You promised that you would after all, and you were a person of your word. Parking your car in front of the store, you saw the almost empty parking lot and the wide open door signaling the open store. You sighed softly to yourself, grabbing your purse off the seat next to you and stringing it over your shoulder, popping the door and climbing out.
“Robin? You here?” you called as you walked in.” the store was empty and far too quiet for your liking.
“Welcome to Family Video, where we bring movie magic to you! Can I help you with anything today?” Steve asked from the counter, startling you. You practically jumped out of your skin, your hand coming to clutch at your heart as you whipped around to meet the soft expression of Steve Harrington. He looked slightly bemused, clearly trying to not laugh at your over the top reaction. You rolled your eyes, walking up to the desk.
“Is Robin here? Robin Walker.” you asked, looking him over with a calculating eye.
“Yeah, she’s just in the back, wait here.” Steve stepped out from behind the desk, pulling at his stiff, polyester golf shirt. The shirt was so white and blindingly bright that it hurt to look at, but the large black logo for the store broke it up enough to make it easier to watch Steve leave as it was to watch him walk away.
Steve didn’t even make it all the way to the stockroom before Robin emerged, already changed out of her uniform and was grinning like an idiot. “Hey! You made it just in time!” she said, tossing you her purse and sweater. You caught them easily, relieved to see your friend and get out of there.
“Steve, this is my friend Y/N. Y/N, you know Steve, right?” Robin said, gesturing between them with her now free hands.
“What up, Harrington?” you asked boredly, crossing your arms over your chest.
Robin gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut and pulling her lips into a straight line. This is exactly what she thought would happen. Every time she’d introduced you to someone, no matter how genuine she was being, you turned into a brick fortress, completely impenetrable. Gone was your bubbly, snarky personality and quick wit, replaced by sneers and eye rolls and sarcasm. You weren’t nice or warm or open when you met the boys Robin decided you’d like. You weren’t yourself.
This wasn’t you. Robin knew it, she was certain that deep down you knew it. But Steve didn’t know it. Robin was certain that he had no idea who you were. And that made it worse. He had no background to you other than her own descriptions. And that wasn’t enough. This was not going to end well.
“You ready to grab food?” you asked, drawing Robin out of her mind.
“Huh? Oh yeah definitely. Burger in a Basket cool?” she replied, her eyes darting strangely between the pair of you.
“Sure, I’m not vegetarian this month. Accidently ate a fish stick last weekend while babysitting Todd Carther again. Total shit head but his parents pay me so much money to do it.” you replied, handing Robin’s things back to her.
“Hasn’t he scared you off yet?” Robin asked, tying her grey sweatshirt around her hips.
“Nope, almost got me by dumping a whole jar of electric blue paint on my head. But the stuff is non-toxic so it didn’t mess up my eyes or skin and it let me know that dying my whole head blue isn’t going to be a good look for me.” you replied with a giggle, flashing a strand of faded blue hair to her. “The stupid paint did dye some of the bleach though, which totally sucks.”
“You babysit Todd Carther?” Steve asked, drawing your attention back to him and indented a hard frown onto your face. Robin caught the look and wrapped an arm tightly around your shoulders, squeezing them too hard.
“Oh yeah, Y/N is utterly fearless.” Robin announced with a grin.
“I know his older brother Matt; wicked dude, total party animal. He threw the best parties at the end of the basketball season. Totally rad…” he trailed off with a doofy grin, clearly imagining the fun times he’d had at some shitty house party.
“I know Matt too. He groped Sylvia Newman in the middle of freshman English for a stripe of Fruit Stripe gum. He assaulted her and didn’t even get detention for it.” you replied stonily, narrowing your eyes at him.
“Oh… bummer.” Steve tried. You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “No, I’m serious. I didn’t know about that, that’s really fucked up. I don’t hang out with him anymore, but if I did I’d stop.”Steve said more confidently this time, running a hand through his overstyled hair.
That...wasn’t the answer you were expecting. It knocked you out of your senses and you took a moment to respond. “Yeah...well I take money from his parents so I mean nobody’s perfect. And that whole family’s fucked up anyway.” Steve smiled slightly and you tried not to notice it. He just looked so proud of himself. It was almost endearing. But not enough to make you want to care.
“So, anyway, Steve? You go on break yet?” Robin asked.
Steve furrowed his brow, looking at Robin as though she’d grown a third head. Robin nodded her head towards you strangely and suddenly Steve blurted “That’s the girl? Really?”
You whipped around to look at Robin, utterly appalled. You had a sinking feeling that the whole reason you’d been invited out today was to be introduced to some guy, but you had no idea it would be so quick and for the guy to be Steve motherfucking Harrington. You couldn’t believe it. I mean he was the dumbest, more generic guy at Hawkins High. You swore he’d won the metal for stupidest questions in your Home Economics class in freshman year. He was just…such a dork! How he’d gotten so popular, you had no idea. Maybe this town was such so void of charm and charisma that even the most empty, callus boy could become a god with a wink and a smile.
“What does he mean that’s the girl?” you asked, your face pulling into a look of sheer anger that could stop a man in his tracks.
“Oh great work, Harrington, now you’ve done it.” Robin sighed, pulling her purse across her chest, smacking his arm roughly.
“Robin, what does he mean? What did you do?” you snapped, forcing her to look at you. Her face pulled into a look that you knew too well. Regret, embarrassment, and just a little bit of fear.
“I might have promised Steve that I’d introduce you to him.” You groaned loudly, your head falling back to look at the white tiled ceiling. Robin pressed on, her face turning into a look of sympathy, her smile made of rubber. “Because you’re so great! He doesn’t have many friends his own age anymore and I just thought-”
“Oh I know what you thought.” You bit out.
“Well, are you coming or not?” Robin turned to Steve, completely ignoring you.
Steve’s face turned sour and surprised and he looked between the two of you and then to the clock above you. “I mean…I kind of have some stuff to finish up here and I should really wait until Keith gets here before I go on my break…don’t want Mr. Mueller mad at me again.” He scratched the back of his neck, shrugging awkwardly.
Robin clicked her tongue “Since when do you care?” Steve simply shrugged again. “Y/N, can you wait for me outside?”
You nodded, turning on your heel and heading out just far enough to be out of sight. You wanted to hear whatever they had to say.
“Dude what the fuck? You wanted this!” Robin whispered violently.
“Yeah but I didn’t want her!” Steve replied. You didn’t see the smack, but you sure heard the sound of skin hitting skin and the embarrassing yelp Steve let out.
“Yeah well, you’re going to come with us and you’re going to be nice. Because I did this for you. And now you have to accept it.” Steve didn’t respond, which must have been a good sign for Robin.
“Remind me to never do anything nice for you ever again…” Robin muttered as their footsteps charged closer to you and you scurried out the open door, choosing to lean against the burning hot glass, crossing your arms over your chest and knocking the sunglasses from the top of your head to your face again.
“You ready to head out?” You asked, standing up straight, smiling at Robin.
“Yeah, just waiting for Harrington to put the sign.” Behind her, Steve was hanging the tiny clock shaped sign on the door, trying to figure out what time it would be when they got back.
“Just put four fifteen, Steve, Keith will be back by then and your shift will be over like immediately anyway. You clocked out, right?” Robin said quickly, turning to you to add “Keith is a menace; he doesn’t like to work with anyone and kicks everyone off the floor whenever he can.” You nodded boredly, you’d heard this when she worked with him at the arcade; she quit whereas he got fired, it was a point of bragging for her.
“Yes, Robin. I did what you said. I don’t like this idea, I need this job more than you do.” He muttered bitterly. You raised an eyebrow curiously. Bitter looked decent on him.
“Oh, will you relax? Let your hair down a bit, dingus.” Robin grinned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. The three of you headed down the street to the cheesy diner Burger in a Basket. The whole place was themed after a fifties diner, complete with neon and pastel colours and fifties nostalgia on the walls. Bikes, hoola hoops, records, pictures of dead icons like Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, movie posters-the whole shebang. You didn’t go there for atmosphere, no, you went for the food. Robin insisted that it was the best burger she’d ever had and you’d be hard pressed to find one better in Hawkins. You didn’t know if Steve had been initiated into the burger ritual yet, but you didn’t really care.
Entering the teal and pink dining room, you nodded to the poor young thing in the giant black beehive wig and roller skates, you and Robin heading towards your normal booth. Steve followed behind, wide eyed and a little bit horror struck. You slid into the booth and grabbed the menus out of the rack at the table, handing them out wordlessly. Robin pushed Steve towards your side of the booth and he begrudgingly slid in, much to your dismay.
“You dragged me out of work…to go to a cheesy themed diner?” Steve asked incredulously.
“Just wait till you try it, Steve, it’ll change your life.” Robin said with a grin, flipping open the menu. You knew that she always ordered something different each time you came. You always ordered the same thing so you didn’t bother to open yours. Steve cautiously followed Robin’s example, flipping around with a wide eyed, innocent expression.
“Alright, welcome to Burger in a Basket, I’m Sylvia, how are you guys doing today?” the voice above you asked. You grinned as you saw Sylvia standing there in the stupid uniform. It was a comfort to know that her life was a little worse than yours. After all, she was such a bitch to you most of the time. That Matt Carther thing gave her plenty of room to get away with being a complete bitch, and it gave you something to use as a tester with guys in town. If they didn’t know who she was or they laughed, then they weren’t worth your time. Sure, you felt bad for her, but she treated you like dog shit for a year before dumping your ass to hang out with Macy Clarke and Nancy Wheeler.
“Hey Sylvia, we’re doing alright.” You said with a slight smirk, resting your head on your palms. Sylvia cringed slightly, but her eyes landed on Steve’s and her whole expression changed.
“Hey, Steve…” she murmured, pulling her lip into her teeth, grinning slightly.
“Hey, Sylvia, how’s it going?” he replied. Of course he’d go for her, you thought to yourself, she’s exactly his type. Just dumb enough to be cute but just pretty enough to hold your attention, with the slightest stink of desperation. You wanted so desperately to roll your eyes, but Robin was watching you with the knowing look, so you maintained your composure.
“I’m good! Can I get you a drink? Or are you ready to order? Do you need a minute?” you wanted to laugh; this was the best service you’d ever gotten at the restaurant. And it was all thanks to Steve.
“I mean…are you guys ready? I think I’ve got it figured out.” Steve said, gesturing to Robin with a nervous expression.
“Yeah, I’ll get the Fourth of July burger with mushrooms and can I get no mustard? Oh, and a diet coke.” Robin said, smiling confidently at Sylvia, who took down the order boredly.
“Sure, and for you, Steve?” she asked sweetly, fluttering her lashes.
“Um…I need a second more, Y/N can you order?” he muttered, leaning over to you. You nodded, surprised that him being closer to you didn’t upset you. It was almost…nice.
“Yeah sure…I’ll get the double hula burger with extra cheese, no pickles, no ketchup, and a triple thick chocolate shake.” You rattled off quickly, enjoying watching her struggle to get everything down.
“Alright, you ready, Stevie?” Sylvia asked and you noted the distinctive blush forming on his cheeks. Sylvia seemed too proud of her work and you wanted to wipe that look off her face. Pride was a bad look for her.
“Can I just get classic burger with mayo and extra tomato? And a coke?” he asked awkwardly, still clearly very unsure of himself.
Sylvia nodded “Perfect! I’ll be back with your drinks in a moment.” She said, turning and skating off, waving coyly to Steve as she headed back into the kitchen. You and Robin snickered, Robin rolling her eyes as soon as Sylvia disappeared.
“Oh my god we should have been bringing you since day one, they never give us that much attention!” you cried with a loud laugh.
“Dude, she wants you so bad oh my god!” Robin added, reaching out to slap his shoulder. Steve lowered his head, shaking his head.
“I totally remember her now…she had a thing for me in junior year, covered my locker in paper hearts. I wasn’t supposed to find out but I did. It was very uncool.” He muttered, shaking his head. You remembered that too, how she’d planned it for weeks, forcing you to help cut out pink, purple, and red hearts. You thought the whole thing was so cringy and weird, but she was dead set that he’d be intrigued by the mystery and sweetness of the action. She thought it was so cute. Barbra Holland unintentionally started the rumor that it was her, but you wished it was you to tell the world. Watching her slink home was worth the afternoons in the library with her calling you stupid for not cutting the heart out perfectly.
“She was just trying to put her feelings out there!” Robin replied incredulously.
“No, Rob, she was being weird. She could’ve shoved a note in his locker, send him a candy gram and Valentine, they do that every year for lacrosse team. She did something unnecessary and creepy to get attention. You’re just a hopeless romantic.” You grinned, reaching out to touch the bright red heart drawn in permanent marker on her wrist. You knew she had a thing for Jennifer Buffet, who worked at the now defunct Starcourt movie theatre. She always drew that little heart on everything whenever she had a crush, it was like she was trying to get caught, you didn’t get that; you always wanted to hide your crushes until the other person showed any interest in you. You wouldn’t usually agree or defend Steve Harrington, but he was right for once. You didn’t mind agreeing if he was correct for once.
“I am not!” Robin cried, crossing her arms over her chest.
You leaned in to whisper to her “Tell that to Tammy Turner.” Robin turned bright red and she leaned back into the vinyl seat, looking away from you.
“Oh was it bad?” Steve asked with a wide, doofy grin. You were surprised to know that he knew about Tammy, but you didn’t question it. Asking questions could reveal something that Robin didn’t want known. You were used to being careful with her.
“Ohhhh yeah, it was a rough year with her pine after that muppet.” Watching Robin pine after Tammy Turner was so embarrassing, since the girl was so straight. I mean the Steve thing was one thing, but the girl dated Tommy H for two weeks between his forty-second break-up with Carol. That’s the epitome of straight bullshit: finding Tommy H’ s awful, crass, and downright sexist attitude and sense of humor attractive and desirable. How Robin didn’t see that was beyond you.
“That’s what I said! She sounds like a damn muppet! Like Kermit the frog or something!” Steve cried, smacking the vinyl and turning to look at you fully. When he wasn’t trying so hard, he was actually pretty cute. His eyes blew wide and his smile reached its fullest capacity, straining to not split his face in half.
“I thought more Ms. Piggy, like when she sang with Elton John. She always like pinching up her mouth at the end of her words, she looks like a wrinkly old apple.” You said, giggling slightly. “Don’t go breaking my heart…” you imitated, pursing and squeezing your lips together, making a tiny ‘O’ with your lips. Steve’s eyes grew impossibly wider and he laughed far too loudly, his head tossing back. You turned to Robin, who was blushing crimson, fully turned away from the scene you were making. Sylvia skated over with your food and drinks, smiling far too much. She placed each order in front of you, angling herself so her chest landed in Steve’s face when she handed his order over to him. He didn’t seem to notice, he was too busy laughing.
“What’re you guys talking about?” she asked, tossing your order in front of you.
“That time you made Steve’s locker look like the Valentine’s Day massacre.” You grinned back spitefully.
Sylvia paled significantly and she reached up to adjust her wig, looking away. “That…that wasn’t me…” she replied softly.
“Yeah…yeah it was…” Steve said between breathes, wiping tears away from his eyes. Sylvia opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. She turned away quickly, skating out fast. You laughed hard when she ran off, hunching over in your seat.
“That was so mean!” Robin cried, looking between the pair of you with a stern look.
“She…she deserved it! After everything I dealt with from her, I get to have one!” you replied, shrugging softly as you recovered. Steve offered you a high five, which you took happily. You never thought in your life that you’d be laughing with Steve Harrington. Today was a weird day.
“Eat, both of you.” Robin snapped and you complied equally happily. You loved this place-everything was fresh and made to order. Sure, it was greasy and unhealthy, but you deserved a bit of comfort food once and awhile. Steve took his first bite and let out a very loud moan. You giggled, it was so stupid. And a little cute, you wouldn’t pretend that it wasn’t. And maybe a little hot. But you wouldn’t admit that.
“This is so good!” he said, muffled by his mouthful of food.
“It’s even better when you’re high.” You whispered, nudging his arm. Steve nodded in approval, clearly into the idea.
The three of you ate in silence, wolfing down your burgers without much of a hum save for the sounds of ice clinking in glasses and small slurps from straws. Burger in a Basket still had glass bottle of coke, the rumor was that they filled them up with every drink and washed them after, since they didn’t really make glass bottles of soda for retail sale anymore.
With only their fries left, the group returned to each other’s attention. To your surprise, Steve spoke first.
“Can I be like honest here?” he said, turning to face you once again. You nodded shortly, shoving a fry into your mouth. “I have like, no idea who you are. I really don’t.” you raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of how you were supposed to react to that news. You swallowed your mouthful, nodding to yourself.
“Yeah, I figured as much.” You replied “I remember you though.”
“Oh yeah, what for?” Steve leaned back in the booth, putting his arms over the seat. He looked to be ready to take in praise.
“I remember how shit you were on the basketball team. How shit that whole team was.” You replied with a chuckle, watching Steve deflate immediately.
“I was, like, the best player on the team!” he replied indignantly.
“That’s not saying much.” That line made Robin laugh and Steve curl further into himself.
“You really should’ve joined the track and field team. You were much better at that anyway.” You added softly.
“On what planet? I’ve never even done track and field.” Steve cracked bitterly.
“Yes you have, we all had to do it in middle school.” You said. Both Robin and Steve looked at you like you were crazy, so without any remaining shame, you pressed on.
“At the end of the year, every year of middle school, we had the grade-wide track and field meet. We all trained on basic stuff-long jump, cross country, shot put for the older kids, and high jump. Then, each grade would compete and the best of those kids would go onto the main competition. We all got a day off to watch and there were free freezies. It was one of the best days of the year.” You explained.
“Yeah, so what? I never competed.” Steve replied, watching you closely.
“Yes, you did.” Steve raised an eyebrow at you. You rolled your eyes and continued.
“You were in eighth grade and I was in seventh. You had won the long jump in your grade level because Jude Armstrong broke his ankle and I had won the high jump. So we both competed. I remember three things about that day: one; that I won the high jump against all the older kids and Tina tried to push me into the mud after I got my medal; that you and Tommy snuck off to smoke cigarettes during the high jump. You both pretended that you’d done it before, and maybe you had, but Tommy was coughing so hard even after that it was so obvious that he’d never even touch a cigarette before. And three, that that was the year we were all forced to run the cross country race. Nobody had wanted to compete in the race, so they forced us to do it to set an example. I didn’t want to run it, I’m not a distance runner, but you were so confident. You didn’t look nervous at all. And when the whistle blew and everyone bolted, you held back. You came in third in the cross country race and second at long jump, against the odds on both. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.”
Steve nodded. You looked so pretty when you explained the memory, your whole face lit up and your smiled so softly. You looked angelic, it was truly a sight. But the memory itself turned his stomach.
“I remember that…” he muttered “What I remember about that day was my dad telling me that no other place matter except first and that I was absolute shit.”
You felt so bad, bringing it up at all. He looked so sad now, you regretting even commenting on it. “Oh…I’m sorry…” you said softly. Steve shrugged as if it meant nothing, as if he felt nothing. “God, what a dick and you were good too!” you cried.
“Nah, I kind of sucked.” Steve replied, pushing away the compliment with his hands.
“No seriously! We could have used you on the team, Jude Armstrong sucked ass after like freshman year! You showed real aptitude. And you’re built for it, strong legs and a good core. Let guys like Chuck Bronson stomp around the court, you should’ve came and competed with us, you would’ve won something.” You joked, kicking his shoe with your own.
Steve huffed “We got into the county semi-finals last year…”
“Yeah? We won country finals and got fifth in state. Half my team got into state colleges on scholarship based on that alone.” You replied haughtily.
“You gonna get one?” he asked.
“I might, I got a scout watching me. Don’t know if I’m gonna take it.”
“Oh yeah, why not?”
You grinned proudly “I’m hoping to follow in Emma Lancaster’s footsteps.”
“What she do?” Robin rolled her eyes at that comment.
“She got a full ride to NYU for fashion design.”
“You sew?”
You rolled your eyes “I’m the head of the costume department for the drama club.”
“It’s how we met.” Robin added proudly.
“Emma Lancaster founded and headed up the fashion club at Hawkins High and ran the sewing club. She wants to work for designer labels and head up her own one day. I just want to make costumes for plays. I’d work anywhere that paid and go to any school that offered money.” You explained.
“That’s cool, I hope you get it.” Steve said and you noted the slightest hint of sadness in his tone.
“How’s your planning going, Steve, got any ideas yet?” Robin asked, clearly catching onto the tone Steve had in his voice.
“Well…” he looked a little embarrassed as he spoke, but did so anyway “I was thinking about applying to the police academy in Carmel…it’s not a clear shot, but I’d like it more than working for my dad.”
“My uncle works there, I can put in a good word with him if you want.” Robin said cheerily.
“That would be cool. I just don’t know if I’d be any good.” Steve muttered to himself.
“I’d think you’d be pretty good, I mean you’ve got strong morals.” You turned to Robin “Remember when he broke freak Byers camera? He deserved that fucking shit.” Robin nodded in agreement.
“I mean yeah, Steve, you care about people. Like you take care of Dustin like he’s your brother. It takes guts to be genuine and unafraid about hanging out with literal children.” Robin added.
“You hang out with Dustin Henderson?” you asked curiously.
“You know Dustin?” Steve asked, equally confused.
“Yeah, my sister Stacy made fun of him for like a week last year after the snow ball for asking her to dance. I wanted to smack the shit out of her for it, it takes guts to ask somebody out, especially at that age.” You explained, slamming your tall milkshake glass on the table, having just slurped up the last drops of chocolate milk and whipped cream.
“Yeah well he’s got a girlfriend now named Suzie.” Robin said. Steve’s attention had turned to the window and you heard a small gasp.
“Shit, Keith’s here, I gotta run.” He pulled out his wallet and slapped a twenty dollar bill on the table before sliding out of the booth.
“Don’t get in shit, dingus!” Robin called after him.
He spun around quickly, jogging backwards “If you get me fired, I’ll kill you.” He looked you over slowly, a lopsided grin pulling at the corner of his mouth “I’ll see you around, Y/N?”
“Yeah, sure.” You smiled. Steve nodded happily and his back slammed into the poor dish boy, stumbling slightly before scampering off.
As soon as he was gone, Robin turned to you with a devilish grin “He likes you.” She giggled, reaching out to poke your shoulder.
“Good for him.” You replied, trying to seem confident and uncaring about the whole situation. Internally, you were utterly rocked. He’d gotten to you. You’d drunk the Steve Harrington kool-aid. He was deeper, more genuine, honest, and cooler than you’d ever expected him to be. You were utterly intrigued and now you had to know more. But you weren’t going to admit it now, not when Robin was being so cocky about it.
“I think you like him toooo!” she said in a sing-song tone.
You scoffed “No, not really.”
Robin saw right through you. But there was no sense in arguing when you were like this. You had too much pride to admit it now, especially with Sylvia floating around, looking for any excuse to rip the rug out from under you. But she had an idea.
“So, listen, I’m not working tomorrow and we haven’t hung out in forever. Wanna have a sleepover tonight?” Robin asked, pulling out cash from her wallet to cover herself and you, since she owed you money from the last time you’d gone out to eat.
“Sure, I’m not babysitting the brat tomorrow.”
“Great! You want to rent a movie or something? I get a discount at Family Video.”
You knew what she was doing, but you went along with it. No sense in calling her out now when she had a plan, it wouldn’t stop her anyway.
“Eh, whatever. I’m good either way.” You replied breezily.
“I wanna rewatch Carrie so let’s head over. Maybe grabbed some snacks too, I want some sour belts.” Robin said, climbing out of the booth and grabbing your hand, pulling you out. You didn’t really like horror movies and you really hated sour belts, they weren’t even sour, so you knew Robin was milking your ambivalence for all it was worth. What she didn’t know is that you actually kind of liked Carrie and you had a new dress that needed fitting and Robin would be the perfect model for it. Karma was a bitch.
Robin dragged you all the way to Family Video and inside, grinning at Keith and watching him blush as you passed by. He’d told you that he loved you the first and only time you hung out. You never called him back and Robin had to explain to him that saying I love you on a date that wasn’t even a date is the wrong move. Now, he wouldn’t even speak to you, which you didn’t mind.
“Y/N! Go gather as many packs of sour belts as you can get your hands on! I’m gonna find Carrie in the back!” Robin instructed.
“Get something fun too! Like the Princess Bride or something! Something I’ll actually watch!” you called after her. Robin flashed you a thumbs up and you sighed, turning on your heel and heading to the checkout line, grabbing lime green packs of rainbow striped, sugar coated candies off the rack and clutching them to your chest.
Robin found Steve in the back and, with very little pushing, sent him out onto the floor to talk to you. It only took two tries from him to get the courage to go and talk to you.
And again, he scared the shit out of you. He tapped you on the shoulder and you jumped a foot in the air, dropping all the sugary treats.
“Shit sorry!” Steve cried, dropping to his knees to clean up the mess.
“It’s okay!” you replied quickly, following suit. He shouldn’t have to clean up your mess after all. Your hands both rushed to grab the packages and when they brushed one another over the last packet, you couldn’t pretend that it wasn’t nice. The briefest chance of touch set your heart aflutter. You felt like you were ten years old again. He handed the packages over quickly, standing up just as fast. He offered you a hand up, which you took, if only to hold his hand for the briefest of moments. God, who even were you? You pulled it away fast.
“So…what’s with all the sour strips?” he asked, looking over the armful of candy you had.
“They’re Robin’s favourite. She told me to grab a shit ton, so I did. She’s grabbing the movies for tonight.” You explained.
“What movies?”
“Robin wants to watch Carrie. I’m hoping she gets something fun too, like Fast Times at Ridgemount High or The Princess Bride. Something funny.” You replied. You’d never smiled so much in a day, your face was starting to hurt but with Steve you couldn’t help it!
“Oh yeah? Having a sleepover or something?” that cocky Steve Harrington attitude was coming out, but it wasn’t making you as nauseous as it usually would, which was very odd.
“Yeah kind of. Which means Robin’s gonna wanna watch horror movies, eat so many of these until she pukes, and sneak malt whiskey from her father’s liquor cabinet.” You said, not hiding the slight disdain in your voice.
“Yeah? What’re you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna hem the dress I made for the Roenke County theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet, sip vodka from my flask, and take away the sour belts when Robin gets sick.”
“Sounds fun?” Steve questioned.
“It probably won’t be,” you chuckled “But it’s not the worst way to spend a night.”
“How’d you think an evening with me would chalk up? In comparison I mean.” Steve asked, his hand coming to the top of the low black shelf to lean into you.
“Well I guess it would depend, what’s your plan?” you asked with a grin.
“Whatever you want.” He murmured softly, smirking far too confidently. You didn’t mind though, you knew what was underneath it all.
“Well, I’d have to think about it…how about you call me sometimes and we’ll talk about it.” You replied slowly, looking him up and down.
“Anytime, you got a pen?” Steve said. You nodded, pulling one out of your purse and grabbing his arm. You scribbled out your number on his palm, trying to make it as legible as possible and ignore how big and warm his hands were.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, that cool?” he said as you watched Robin saunter up too confidently, too proud of herself and of what she’d done.
“Sounds good.” You smiled, ignoring Robin’s cocky leer. “You ready to pay for this shit?” you asked as she walked up, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.
“Gimme the belts, I got this.” Robin said, eyeing up Keith like she was going to beat him up. Maybe she was. “Wait in the car, okay? I didn’t bring mine, so you’re driving me home.”
You nodded “Got it.” You turned to Steve, smiling softly “I’ll see you around, Harrington.”
“Definitely.”
#stranger things#stranger things 3#stranger things imagine#stranger things headcanon#stranger things au#stranger things 2#steve harrington#steve harrington x reader#steve harrington x you#steve x reader#steve x you#steve harrington imagine#steve harrington imagines#steve harrington au#steve harrington aus#steve harrington fluff#joe keery#steve harrington headcanon#steve harrington headcanons#steve harrington fanfic#steve fanfiction
5K notes
·
View notes
Note
Flustered 🐷 Berkut where he’s doing his best to retain his image as a a regal lord despite quite literally turning into a farm animal?
me? finish shadows of valentia just so i could write this? not on your life my game world has been consumed by cowboys & adorable animals for the past few months...SO! I hope this is good enough characterization considering I have yet to get back to valentia & its cast
Being the heir presumptive to the Rigel Empire was something Berkut took great pride in, but it was also something that he took very seriously. His responsibilities were many, especially when it felt like he had to prove himself to his King uncle at every turn. It was certainly the sort of life that could turn a man bitter, but Berkut was determined to be seen as unquestionably worthy to succeed the throne. It wasn’t a matter of being the only one capable by blood to take the throne, he wanted to claim it on his own merits.
Rigel was a land of power. Showing his skills on the field of battle was simple and effective. However, a king could not solely lead from the back of a war horse. There was politics at home as well as abroad -- however little that actually happened.
Politics meant flexing a different kind of power. It called for wits and charisma. Observational skills. The means with which to always secure your desired result without the need for violence. It was a different sort of game within the walls of the court, but it was one that Berkut intended to master just as he had the intricacies of war.
“It’s so beautiful...don’t you think?”
The soft voice of Rinea was often missed by most, but Berkut was finely attuned to her more quiet and reserved nature. Though demure, she had a love for the parties and galas that took place among the higher class. It was hardly for the vanity of it all; she enjoyed the dancing, the artistry of the dresses that noblewomen pranced around in and the fantasy of it all. It was a fairy tale to her, and Berkut always tried to keep the political underhand from spoiling her time.
“It is. Though, nothing that sparkles here can even dare to hold a candle to--”
“Ah, my lord Berkut! What’s with all this standing around?” a booming, clearly already sloshed voice interrupted, its owner waddling over jovially. He was a portly man; red faced from either dancing or drinking, or both. Balding head shining with sweat, and looking like he had been absolutely stuffed into the ceremonial suit he was sporting. It stretched dangerously tight around the man’s bulging middle, and Berkut didn’t even bother to hide his grimace of distaste and annoyance as the nobleman clapped him eagerly on the shoulder.
Rinea had jumped at the loud intrusion, and shyly averted her gaze to the dancers on the floor as soon as the man had lumbered over to them. It set Berkut’s teeth on edge to have been so rudely interrupted by such a swine of a man, but he attempted to keep his temper in check. Chatting with idiots past their prime was just another part of the game, as much as it irked him.
“...We were simply taking a break from the floor,” Berkut supplied begrudgingly, brown eyes sliding to Rinea for a moment, making sure she knew that he had plans for them to continue where they left off as soon as this bloated windbag was done nittering on.
The older man seemed to take great delight in this, laughing uproariously despite no joke having been told. “Good lad, good lad! That’s exactly what young folk like you should be doing,” he blathered on, wiping at his brow with a kerchief and grinning widely. “We may not be youngsters anymore, but my wife and I still like to show these other stuffed shirts how its done!” the man waves over a tall, willowy woman, who saunters over with an air about her like she knew they’d wait for her.
Arrogance. These two were quickly getting on Berkut’s nerves.
Stiff introductions are made, the tension going unnoticed by the corpulent man just as it was making Rinea nervous.
“Charmed,” the elder woman speaks, tone haughty, sharp eyes staring at the younger couple over her hooked nose like a hawk.
“O-Oh, very! Your dress is lovely,” Rinea offered, making an attempt to disperse the brewing dark cloud over their conversation.
The woman sets her steely gaze on sweet Rinea for a solid minute before deciding to speak, sniffing derisively and responding as if it was a chore to do so. “Yes, well, I do quite enjoy keeping up with the latest fashions.”
The “unlike you” went unsaid, but it set fire to Berkut’s smoldering temper as Rinea simply gave a strained smile.
Snorting in contempt, he was quick to grip Rinea’s hand securely in his own -- perhaps a little too firmly on account of his anger -- his thumb running circles into the back of her hand as he spoke up in a clipped tone. “I’m sure someone like you has to work hard to retain what beauty she has left after time has taken its toll.” His burning gaze didn’t waver, boring into the shocked and then equally as fiery eyes of the older noblewoman that had so insulted his beloved.
Rinea was doing her utmost to keep a sweet look on her face despite the shock that was begging to be seen just beneath the surface. The portly lord was blissfully unaware of the out-in-the-open tensions here, chuckling away as he grabbed another glass of something bubbly from a passing servant with a tray. Some part of Rinea wished she could be as oblivious as this man…
Lip twitching as she struggled to reply to such a remark, the older woman stifled a screech of rage and grabbed her drunken husband by his fat arm, turning to leave. “What an insolent brat you are!” she harped, her eyes almost seeming to glow in the light of the dance hall as she stormed away -- her husband jovially bidding the young couple goodbye as he was dragged off.
Something about the way she looked at him set Berkut on edge, like a chill going down his back, but he chose to ignore it as nothing more than an optical illusion.
“Shall we return to the dance?” Berkut asked, his demeanor shifting into something more pleasant now that it was just Rinea and himself once more.
“O-Oh, yes, please!”
They danced for as long as the music played, getting lost in the movements and the sounds. It was several hours later when Berkut felt an unpleasant tug in his guts, and he had to pull them away from the multitude of dancers to recover. Rinea fussed over him for a little, telling him to stay put and rest while she went to get him something to drink -- preferably tea, as she so kindly put it, as adding alcohol on top of a bothered stomach wouldn’t help too much. So, Berkut sat in a chair out of the way, grimacing and resisting the urge to try and settle his stomach by rubbing it. He couldn’t recall eating or drinking anything that would have caused this. Honestly, he’d barely done either since he’d been so caught up in dancing with Rinea.
His stomach gurgled loudly, and Berkut was thankful for the cover of the music and the loud chatter of the people in the hall.
“Ugh, how irritating…,” he grumbled to himself, trying to find a position that alleviated some of his discomfort. Not even thinking about it, Berkut pressed a hand to his stomach in an effort to work out the pressure there, surprise hitting him like something physical when his palm pushed into soft flesh. Despite their comfortable look, the clothes he was wearing were still rather form fitting; there wasn’t much give to them.
So, when he looked down to see his stomach bulging softly against the material of his overcoat, his first instinct was to deny it.
It was late, perhaps he was simply tired and seeing things. Yes, of course, that had to be it. So, removing his hand and keeping it by his side quite firmly, Berkut chose to ignore the way his clothes were growing ever tighter as the minutes ticked away.
He’d have to find out what fool had tailored this outfit, as they were clearly lacking in an real skill if they couldn’t get a simple fitting right for him.
A nervous sweat was breaking out on his forehead the longer he repeated his mantra of denial to himself, his suit feeling increasingly restricting and suffocating as his whole body continued to bloat up with velvety pudge. His gut was pooching heavily over the tight belt at his waist, causing the young lord to squirm in his seat at the discomfort. His ass was spreading out beneath him, not only straining his trousers but billowing over the seat of his chair as he started to run out of room. The clasps of his overcoat were struggling to maintain their duty of staying closed the more he grew, stomach and rounding moobs stressing them.
Just when he was starting to think he should get up and leave to find a healer, someone approached him to chatter away with more nonsense. It was obvious they were pointedly avoiding saying anything about his appearance, and their speech and body language was nervous as they conversed about absolutely nothing of importance -- but, this only served to make Berkut double down on his denial. If it wasn’t anything people felt they should bring up to his face, then there was nothing truly wrong.
Even when it became harder to breathe in his ill fitting clothes as his body plumped up further. Even as the chair creaked dangerously underneath him. Even when his words started to come out with grunting effort.
There was nothing wrong! Everything was business as usual!
Fat face tinged red from the extra heat building up from his growing form in such tight and fancy clothes, Berkut snorted in surprise when a quick succession of pings sounded off from the clasps of his overcoat, the material even ripped near some of the metal clasps instead of the metal itself giving way, his enormous belly spilling forward in a tidal wave of jiggling flesh now that it was no longer held back. Bulging love handles still filled out the rest of his shirt, forcing the material to more or less cling to his form in spite of his continued growth.
The nobles that had been trying to hold a polite conversation with the growing Berkut quickly excused themselves with stammered words, hurrying off as the young lord huffed and puffed heavily in some short-lived relief at being able to breathe freely again.
Leaning back in his chair -- the ornate wood creaking loudly, almost cracking at the weight -- Berkut groaned low as he cradled his fat, monstrous gut with both hands in bewilderment. It felt so damn real, but this couldn’t be, could it? He was dreaming -- this was a nightmare, a foul nightmare!
As he looked away from the expanding mass of his gut, Berkut met eyes once more with the old woman from earlier. She looked rather pleased with herself, turning to leave triumphantly; and as she smirked at him, fanning out her thin fingers in a wave, he tried to rush to his feet to chase after her in indignant anger. However, his center of gravity was rather distorted now, and it took a great effort to even wobble to his feet at his current weight -- fat belly sagging down close to his knees, thick thighs jiggling and rubbing together as they fought for space. Laboring to even take a step forward, a blinding pain in his lower jaw had Berkut stumbling backwards with a squeal of shock, his fat ass coming down hard on the chair he’d been using and utterly demolishing it as he fell back.
Dazed and pinned to the ground by his own sheer mass, Berkut grunted as he tried to right himself, flabby arms shaking as they tried and failed to push him up. His breathing was heavy and staggered, panting mouth wide open as he tried to process the odd obstruction to his vision. Waving a tired hand in front of his face, he winces when he realizes that he’s struck his own nose, the sensitive thing twitching a bit as he breathes out of it. Why...was it so large? Fingers so fat that they’re starting to rip through the soft lambskin gloves he was wearing, Berkut touches his nose, mapping out the way it looks by feel -- and snorting in disgust when he recognizes it as a pig’s snout.
There is, by now, a lot of attention turning on him. Whispering voices and prying eyes, a sickening mixture of concerned, confused and jeering, all hyper fixated on the young man as dark colored ears grew to fit the style of his nose. Flat and floppy, like that of a hog. The pain in his jaw only increased, and Berkut soon couldn’t care a single bit that all eyes were on his fat hog’s body, bursting out of his fine clothes and unable to even sit up for the mountainous weight of his own belly, as sharp, shining tusks ruptured from his bottom jaw. He squealed at the discomfort, though there was no blood to accompany the horrific feeling.
Brown eyes darted back and forth, feverishly, as Berkut tried to come up with some sort of viable explanation for all of this...only for his panicked thoughts to be completely sidetracked by his new, pig-sized appetite to awaken with a rumbling growl from his stomach that was heard throughout the now shocked-into-silence ballroom.
#Anonymous#male weight gain#male wg#chubby!berkut#pig transformation#pig tf#oink oink you kinky heckers!!#i'm a little proud of this#if only because it was fun to see how far i could push his denial of reality
45 notes
·
View notes
Link
"This is about my pride, Riza." Roy reasoned, taking a few steps closer to her desk. His palms were up, as though it was the simplest explanation in the world. "If Rebecca knew I was incapable of this, she'd never let me hear the end of it."
A series of oneshots documenting the life and times of the Amestrian First Family.
A/N: Alright, fam - this was tough. I don't know WHY this was such a hard chapter to write, but it was. I had a rough week at work, so my writing muse wasn't as strong as usual. That being said, I'm not exactly happy with this chapter. I hope that despite that, and any other mistakes there are, that you still at least find this chapter somewhat readable.
Also, fun fact, that I forgot to tell you last chapter. I've always considered Xingese, the equivalent of Chinese in the FMA universe - so, when Elizabeth refers to her little sister as "Mae Mae", it's actually a reference to the Chinese term "Mei Mei" which means "little sister".
Thank you so much for reading!
~
"Of all the times we spoke of hell, this is not what I imagined – "
At Riza's unimpressed look, Roy clamped his mouth shut. He knew his dramatics were not going to earn him any positive points with his wife at the moment. She was far too tired to deal with his own childish commentary.
" – however, I would do anything to keep my wife and daughters happy." Roy finally finished – a near visible sweat drop forming at the start of his hairline. At the change of conversational direction, Riza gave him a dubious look from over the documents in her hands.
"You're sure you can handle it?"
"No," Roy answered quickly, too quickly for a man who was usually so confident. "But I don't see any other choice."
"I could ask Rebecca – "
"I would rather you didn't."
With a single blonde brow raised, Riza regarded her husband in confusion. "I don't understand why you're so against – "
"This is about my pride, Riza." Roy reasoned, taking a few steps closer to her desk. His palms were up, as though it was the simplest explanation in the world. "If Rebecca knew I was incapable of this, she'd never let me hear the end of it."
"You're acting like a child, Roy."
"No," Roy patted his chest, quite a sight in his military blues. It was almost amusing how seriously the Fuhrer was taking this. "I am acting like a man. A man does not back down from a challenge such as this."
Riza couldn't help the tired smile that appeared on her features at such conviction. "A challenge such as a sleepover?"
Her husband gave her a withering look. "Don't say it like that, you make it sound ridiculous."
His petulant expression had laughter bubbling up in Riza's throat. The sound caused Roy's heart to soar. She hadn't been laughing much in the past few months, so it was nice to hear such a happy sound coming from her lips – even if it was still tinged with exhaustion.
Before Riza could respond, she was interrupted by a cry coming from the makeshift crib that lay in the corner of the room. Without a second thought, the First Lady of Amestris was on her feet and comforting the child that lay within the soft pink blankets.
The scene had Roy sighing in defeat. The main reason for their current dilemma was the same precious bundle that was now being cradled by her mother.
Mae Mustang had certainly turned their lives upside down.
Winter had come and gone, and with it, so had the illnesses that pestered the Mustang household all season long. Following the solstice, it seemed like the girls came down with a new round of sniffles every week. Nothing hit the family near as hard as the flu that had preceded the solstice – however, both Roy and Riza had certainly had their hands full with both their daughters and their duties.
On top of all the sickness in the house, Riza's moods had not improved much over time. With an extremely colicky baby, the woman had felt as though she were doomed to never get a normal night's sleep ever again. She was quick to anger and extremely lethargic – two things that no one who was part of their circle had ever known her to be.
Once she had brought up the issue with her doctor, the woman assured her that it was a normal to feel this way after some pregnancies. Given the fact that Mae was also a very fussy baby, it was to be expected that she would feel like she was at her wit's end for the first few months of her youngest daughter's life.
Though her words had been unconcerned and gentle when she had spoken with Riza, Roy would never forget the serious expression she gave him as she pulled him to the side.
'Keep an eye on her,' she had said with concern evident in her eyes. The soft warning in her tone was enough to have Roy breaking out into a nervous sweat.
He had already been concerned, but after that, he was really concerned.
That was why, nearly four months after their second daughter's birth, Roy insisted that Riza continue to work from home. While Riza normally would have argued against this, wanting to be as close to Roy as possible at Central HQ, she had simply nodded and agreed that this arrangement was her best option for now.
While working from home, the First Lady was able to sleep in and attend to her infant daughter throughout the day. Roy had suggested hiring a nanny temporarily, just to give Riza more time on her own – however, that idea had been quickly shot down by his wife.
'Are you saying I'm incapable of taking care of my own infant daughter?' Riza had snapped at him, absolutely appalled by the suggestion. Knowing that his wife was wrought with insecurities when it came to her parenting, Roy had dropped the subject rather quickly after that.
The man hated feeling useless, but there was only so much he could do to help his wife when he was several blocks away at Central HQ. The woman refused to let him tend to their daughter at night, citing that he needed his rest in order to attend to his duties as Fuhrer. Thus, that left Riza to take care of everything, from night feedings to bathing their young, infant daughter.
In the middle of all this was poor Elizabeth, who was certainly beginning to feel slighted by all the attention that was being given to her sister. Though she had always loved the baby and wanted to be around her whenever she was home, Roy could see that the tolerant child was beginning to grow weary at the lack of attention she was receiving from her usually doting parents.
Hence, the sleepover.
Elizabeth's birthday had always been cause for great celebration in their household. While typically they held a party with both friends and family alike, Elizabeth had requested something different this year. Though her time spent with the Elric and Havoc children had been nice, she wanted to invite her own friends over from daycare for a different kind of party.
A sleepover party.
The idea was foreign to both Riza and Roy. Riza had never concerned herself with birthdays during her adolescence, since her father thought they were nothing more than another day of life and that there was no real reason to celebrate them. Roy, on the other hand, had celebrated many birthdays during his formative years – however, despite having grown up with a multitude of foster sisters, was completely unfamiliar with the concept of a sleepover.
Though both her parents had been quite hesitant of the idea at first, Elizabeth's sweet little pout and tears had finally convinced them in the end. If this was what she wanted, then this was what she was going to get.
However, Roy had not expected that he was going to have to run this gig solo.
Three days before Elizabeth's sleepover – Mae had started showing signs of teething, and suddenly the sleepless nights of colic, became something a little more.
In the past several days, the frazzled mother had maybe gotten a total of three hours of sleep. Between keeping up with Mae's feedings and comforting her as she sobbed from both the pains in her stomach and her mouth, Riza had very little time to rest. Roy could see, as the days went by, that the usually dark circles under his wife's eyes, were continuously getting darker. Not only that, but the healthy glow of her peach-colored skin, had changed into a sickly pale pallor.
It was obvious. She was exhausted.
On top of all that, Riza was still performing her duties as Amestris' First Lady. She continued to move forward with her plans for the new school she was commissioning and had even kept up with the interviews she had scheduled to help with the hiring of its faculty.
Roy had no idea how she did it. He wasn't even sure how she found the energy to dress in the morning with all she was doing.
Hence, why he had offered to take over the planning and execution of their daughter's sleepover party. Though he seriously doubted his skills in this department, he would do whatever it took to give Riza a much-needed break.
Even now, as she cradled their youngest in her arms, Roy could see the weariness in the way she bounced their child in comfort. She had never looked further from her former self than she did now. The formidable "Hawk's Eye" – now beaten down from a rather rough patch of motherhood. It was unfair.
"I want to help you." Roy told her honestly, his voice soft as Mae's cries finally began to subside. He walked over to Riza's side, wrapping an arm around her waist. "If I'm already up with the girls, then that will give you some time to rest without having to worry about Mae."
"So, you're going to take care of Mae, too?" Riza asked, doubt evident in her words. She gazed down at their daughter – all blonde hair and dark eyes, before looking back up at him. "Are you sure it won't be too much?"
"I'm positive." Roy affirmed, rubbing a comforting hand over her back. Even through the thin material of her tapioca dress, Roy could feel the notches of her spine. She had lost more weight again. With this in mind, his resolve only grew. "Besides, I won't be alone. Breda and Havoc are going to help me."
Riza's brows rose to her hairline. "How?"
"I've dismissed my bodyguards for tonight, so they're going to stand in." Roy brought a hand up to rub a hand against Mae's fevered cheeks. "I know it's technically below their rank, but desperate times call for desperate measures."
The Fuhrer rarely made Captains Havoc and Breda his guards, unless there was something really important going on, such as the birth of his daughter. However, he had already asked the men if they could free up their Saturday night to assist him on a 'mission'.
Of course, he hadn't told them what that mission was – but Roy wasn't big on details. Besides, they weren't going to say no to their boss.
Riza shook her head at the idea. "You really think those two will be able to help you?"
Roy shrugged. "Possibly."
The woman rolled her eyes at her husband's answer. "I think you just want them to suffer with you."
"I'm wounded by your words, madam."
This had Riza laughing. Roy's chest puffed up at having made her smile again. Perhaps, this was the exact thing Riza had needed – a night off. Regardless of any of the torture he was about to face in the coming hours, Roy couldn't bring himself to regret his decision. He would do anything to keep that smile alive on Riza's face forever.
"Okay." The woman finally agreed, the grin never leaving her face. "I appreciate it. I hope you know though, that if things get tough, you can come get me at any point in time."
"Trust me," Roy assured her, pulling her close to his side. "Everything will be fine."
~
Everything was not fine.
Sure, things had started out alright – but Roy was pretty sure that he would be completely grey by the end of the night.
For the first hour, Riza had stayed by his side as they greeted the parents of the little girls' who entered their home. Both parents, having always been very involved with their daughter's schooling, recognized many of the adults who usually stood outside Central Children's Daycare. Introductions were made and the children were sent up the stairs to be greeted by excited exclamations from the other little girls who were already there.
That was when things took a turn for the worst.
He had no idea his daughter had befriended a child of Ishvalan descent.
Now really, he shouldn't have been surprised. Elizabeth was incredibly loving and friendly, so any differences between her and others, were usually swept under the rug by the innocent mind of the unprejudiced child. Even after the situation with Miss Abra at the daycare, Elizabeth still knew nothing of the history her parents had with Ishval.
Roy and Riza had just been wishing one of the girls' parents farewell, when a hulking figure of a man walked through the door. His appearance had both the Fuhrer and his wife pausing – though it had nothing to do with his height or the rippling muscles that peaked through the fabric of his shirt.
It was the white hair and telltale red eyes that caused their greetings to catch in their throats. Not only that, but the stern look on the man's face made it obvious that he wanted to be just about anywhere else but there.
From behind his leg – a little girl poked her head out to look up at the parents of her friend. Like her father, the girl's hair was white as snow with eyes the color of blood. They shared the same dark features – except where there was an expression of near hatred on the elder one's face, the little girl's expression held nothing but hesitance.
Riza was the first to recover from her surprise. Behind her, Roy could hear the sound of Breda and Havoc shuffling, as though preparing for a fight.
"Hello," Riza spoke softly, as she crouched down to the young girl's level, Mae still absconded in her arms. The child shrank back a bit behind her father's leg, but continued to stare at the pretty blonde woman before her. "What's your name?"
The girl had just opened her mouth to answer, when a flurried set of footsteps made their way down the stairs.
"Etha!"
From out of nowhere, Elizabeth scurried past her parents, already sporting her light pink pajamas. Disregarding her friend's timid disposition, the Fuhrer's daughter tugged the girl from out behind her hulking father's leg and pulled her into a tight hug.
At his side, Roy watched as Riza stood from her crouched position, ready to reprimand her daughter for being so rough with her friend – however, her words died in her throat.
Etha was smiling.
"Hi Lizzie," The young girl's voice was much quieter than her friend's, but just as excited. "Thank you for inviting me."
Elizabeth pulled back to smile at the girl. Standing together, they couldn't have been more different. With Elizabeth's hair dark as night and eyes nearly the same shade, she was a stark contrast to her white-haired and red-eyed friend – yet, none of those differences seemed to change the way they regarded the other.
The girl's father, on the other hand, seemed almost hyperaware of the differences between the girls in front of him.
At the top of the stairs, the five other girls who had already arrived, called for both Elizabeth and Etha to make their way up to the second floor. They were shouting about something that had happened on the popular children's radio show Roy had already set up for them to listen to.
"Come on, Etha!" Elizabeth tugged on the other girl's hand, dragging her over towards the stairs. "It's the good part!"
The little girl went to follow her friend, holding tightly to one strap of her backpack. Before she started her ascent up the stairs, she turned around to throw her father a quick smile and wave.
"Bye, Daddy!" Etha called as she was hauled up the staircase by her overenthusiastic, newly six-year-old friend. As they reached the top, the other girls squealed before grabbing their hands and tugging them back towards the nursery.
The three parents watched the two children as they were dragged off by the others, an awkward silence hanging over them following the exit of their respective daughters. Once again, Roy could hear Havoc and Breda shift nervously in their boots at the tension that seemed to engulf the room.
"I expect her to be returned in one piece."
The man's voice was deep, the sound of it rumbling in his muscular chest. The threat laced in those words went without being said, and while Roy wished he could be offended by such a vicious accusation, he couldn't say the man's worries were born from nothing. What he had done in Ishval could never be erased from the minds of those who had been made to suffer because of his actions.
"Of course, sir." Riza responded easily, though Roy could hear the tightness in her voice. She too was upset by the man's words. "Etha will be treated just as any other child in our home."
The man glared at Riza, as though measuring her words for any sign of deception. Roy could feel his spine straighten and fingers twitch at such a threatening stare. Although the Ishvalan father had many inches over him, Roy would not hesitate to defend his wife should it come to it.
Lucky for him, such a fight was not to transpire that night.
Without so much as introducing himself, the man turned on his heel and made his way out of the house. The door slammed behind him, causing all four adults left in the room to jump at the loud sound.
"Well, boss," Havoc drawled, walking up to his two old friends with a toothpick between his lips. "That went quite well."
Roy glared at the man, raising a dark brow in challenge. "I would really hate to know what you consider bad, then."
Havoc smirked in Roy's direction. "A pancake-shaped Fuhrer."
Breda tried to hide a chuckle behind his fist, feigning a coughing spell instead. At his two subordinates' behavior, Roy rolled his eyes.
"I know you two are upset that I didn't tell you what was going on tonight – " Havoc gave him a look that clearly said 'you think'. Roy ignored this and continued on. "However, I expect you to remain professional just as always. Keep in mind, this is a very important mission."
"It's a sleepover."
"It's a girl sleepover." Havoc corrected Breda, gesturing wildly at their military blues. "And here we are, decked out as though we're facing ole' Bradley."
Riza butted in, quickly – cutting off her husband's surely snide remark. "If it's really that much of an issue, I don't mind taking care of it."
Both Breda and Havoc went silent at this. From beside Riza, Roy was glaring at the two men, his eyes telling them that they better not accept such an offer. Both soldiers knew better, though. They had seen how different Riza had been upon their trips to the house, they knew she needed this reprieve more than anyone.
"Nah, Riza." Breda finally said, sending a supportive smile her way while shoving his hands into his pants' pockets. "Like I've always told you, we'll do anything for you."
Havoc nodded, agreeing with his friend's words. "Even if it means putting up with a few female brats for a couple of hours – we'll do it if it's for you."
Riza smiled gratefully at the two men, while Roy's expression turned sour.
"Are you saying you wouldn't do this for me?"
"Nope."
"Not at all."
Such insubordination had the Fuhrer's eye twitching – however, a loud bang and a yell from upstairs caused a pause in the conversation. Before any of them could react, a round of giggles broke out, the sound traveling down the stairs. Roy groaned at the thought of what that noise could have possibly been.
Riza was about to say something, when Mae began to fuss from her place in her mother's arms. Roy gestured for her to pass the baby over, but Riza shook her head.
"Let me bathe her and feed her before you take over." The woman bounced her daughter, as her fussing got louder. "That way you'll have an easier time putting her to sleep."
Roy was going to make a comment on how nothing seemed to help Mae sleep, even after four months of life – however, Riza had already started to make her way up the stairs. Even from his spot on the ground floor, the Fuhrer could hear his wife cooing at their daughter as she rounded the corner towards the master suite.
"So," Havoc drawled, clapping a hand on his boss's shoulder. "Is there a reason you didn't employ Becky to help you with this little venture?"
Roy glared at the man behind him. "Shut up, Havoc."
~
If Roy thought that the night couldn't get any worse than the awkward interaction that had kick-started the party, he was sorely mistaken.
The cake cutting had gone alright, besides a few cases of dropped icing and misplaced forks. One of Elizabeth's friends, Grace – if Roy was not mistaken – had shared offhandedly with the man as he passed her a piece of cake, that she was deathly allergic to nuts, causing Roy to pause in his action.
Elizabeth's cake was chocolate with nuts added into the icing of the middle layer.
Narrowly avoiding a potentially harrowing situation, the man had fished out a cookie from the pantry to give the girl instead while the other children enjoyed their cake. The small, blonde girl nibbled on her sugar cookie while telling Roy about the time she had nearly died after eating a sandwich that unknowingly contained peanuts. At the description of a swollen throat and difficulties breathing, Roy could feel himself growing pale.
Havoc simply laughed from behind him, watching as the Fuhrer's face grew more and more horrified. Breda would have laughed, too – however, he was distracted by his own piece of cake.
With that situation successful avoided, Roy actually felt like he was doing pretty good on his own.
After cake had been served, the girls had been redirected to the upstairs nursery. While Breda helped Elizabeth pick up her fallen dollhouse – the culprit of the loud sound they had all heard earlier – Riza entered the room with a freshly bathed Mae.
Upon the appearance of a baby, all the girls immediately turned their attention to the Fuhrer's wife.
"That's my sister, Mae!" Elizabeth told them excitedly, following the girls as they crowded around her mother's legs to get a better look. "I like to call her Mae Mae!"
Riza herself was already dressed in a pair of soft white pajamas with hair wet and cheeks flushed from her recent shower. Roy couldn't help but think she looked absolutely angelic as she began to approach him.
"She's all ready to go." The girl's mother said as she passed him the bundle of blankets. Mae didn't even fuss as she was transferred from the warmth of her mother to that of her father. "I've already fed her, so all she'll need is a good rock before bed."
"I can do that." Roy assured her, noting the worried look in her tired, amber eyes. "Go get some rest. I'll bring her to the cradle by the bed when we're done in here."
Though she still looked worried, Riza could not hide the near visible relief that suddenly flooded her body. Giving her husband one last grateful pat on the cheek, the woman kissed her young daughter's forehead, before taking her leave of the room.
Roy turned towards his men with Mae now cradled in his arms.
"So," He started, wincing visibly as Elizabeth and Etha squealed over something that had taken place over on the other side of the room. "I'm going to go put Mae to – "
"Uh, no you're not." Havoc reached out for the baby, his hands making a grabbing motion as though Roy were about to pass over a weapon. "You're staying here, boss. I'll take baby duty."
"If you hold her like that, you'll drop her!" Breda commented, also moving forward to get in on the action. The auburn-haired man didn't want to be stuck in the nursery with the young girls either. "At least give her to me, so she can rest in peace."
"Excuse me?" Havoc asked, turning to his friend, Mae completely forgotten. "What is that supposed to mean? I have four boys!"
"Which I have never seen you hold!"
"What?! That's bullshit!"
A chorus of tiny gasps caused the men to pause in their argument. Looking over to where the seven girls were crowded around the dollhouse on the opposite side of the room, the men were met with the shocked faces of each and every one of them. Havoc almost swallowed his toothpick in fear, scared to turn and see the dark look that was surely developing on the Fuhrer's face.
"Breda, take the baby."
Havoc winced at the Fuhrer's flat tone, not even turning to watch as Mae was placed in Breda's arms. The man made himself scarce as he opened the door to Mae's small room without even throwing a glance behind him.
While the girls continued to stare, Roy clapped Havoc harshly on the back. To the girls, it would appear to be a friendly gesture – however, Havoc knew better. Instead of retracting his hand after placing it on his subordinate's back, the Fuhrer continued to hold on to the fabric of his jacket.
"Hey, Lizzie?" Roy called out, prodding Havoc to step forward and towards the girls who were still staring in their direction. "Didn't you say earlier that you wanted to play doctor?"
Havoc gulped as a round of cheers erupted from the other side of the room.
He really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.
~
Roy had thought that forcing Havoc to partake in a game of doctor with the girls would somehow end up saving him from a similar fate – however, he had been wrong.
While he was already worried that all Elizabeth's friends would go home and tell their parents that the Fuhrer had some very foul-mouthed subordinates, he was even more worried that Etha's father would come and pound him into the ground for allowing his daughter to be exposed to such language. After all, the Ishvalan people were very religious, and he couldn't remember a time when he had ever heard any of them curse.
So, to distract the girls from the word that Havoc had let slip, Roy went about helping them create a makeshift "stretcher" to put the very unhappy man on.
Serves him right, Roy thought to himself as he fluffed up Havoc's pillow a bit more aggressively than any medical professional ever would. The blonde Captain gave his superior a withering look.
"Really, sir?"
Roy shrugged, allowing the young girls to take over from there, already having gathered all their "equipment" to perform a successful "surgery". The man found it all very amusing, until a tiny tug at the bottom of his jacket had him turning.
"Mr. Fuhrer Mustang, sir?" A small, black-haired child, who he believed was named Abigail, was pulling on the fabric of his coat. "Aren't you going to play with us?"
Roy opened his mouth to say no, when Elizabeth – appearing out of nowhere – began to tug at him a little more aggressively than her friend. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Daddy come play!"
"Lizzie, I don't – "
"Yeah, Daddy." Havoc mimicked the voice of a young girl from his spot on the floor. Grace was sat on his chest with a plastic stethoscope, trying to listen to the man's heart. "Come play with us."
"Havoc," Roy warned as his daughter continued to tug on his hand, leading him over to a second "stretcher" that the girls had prepared. "I don't ever want to hear those words from your mouth ever again."
The blonde man rolled his eyes, wincing as Grace reached out to hold his lids open to shine a light into them. From behind her, a young Alice scribbled away on a notepad, appearing to take notes as Grace shouted out random observations to her.
Roy was forced to remove his coat as his daughter pushed him back on to the pallet. He was suddenly surrounded by Etha, Abigail, and Lizzie, all who had donned white robes from his daughter's closet to give them the appearance of medical physicians. Two sisters, Helen and Margaret, rushed from the room to go retrieve something from Elizabeth's craft table.
"Hurry!" Elizabeth shouted after them, taking her plastic stethoscope from Grace to listen to her father's own pounding heart. "We're losing him!"
Noticing the wide-eyed stare of her father, Elizabeth leaned down with her hands on her hips. The look she gave him was quite stern. "Daddy, you have to at least act like you're dying."
Having been on the brink of death many times before, Roy had no problem playing the part of a dying patient. After heaving a sigh of resignation, the man relaxed on his back with eyes closed, mentally counting down the hours before he could finally force the girls to go to bed.
Despite the flurry of activity going on around him, and the poking and prodding courtesy of his daughter, Roy was able to get pretty relaxed atop the pallet. After a long week of talks related to a skirmish with Aerugo along the border, the man was definitely ready for a long night of rest alongside his wife.
He almost allowed himself to get lost in the image of her soft, warm body against his – when something cold and wet landed squarely on his forehead. The sensation caused his eyes to pop open, only to be met with a curious blue pair.
Helen had returned with a wet cloth and had been instructed to place it on the Fuhrer's head in an attempt to "lower" his "fever". The girl was the youngest of the bunch and the smallest as well, following the orders of the older children as they continued to move around him in mock concern.
Before Roy could comment on the water dripping into his eyes, another cold, wet sensation made him pause at it made itself known through the fabric of his shirt. From across the room, he could hear Havoc let out a yelp of surprise, as well.
"Lizzie?" Roy asked, as he tilted his head up to see what his daughter had just put on his stomach. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he watched her draw a circle with red paint over the area where his burn scar resided. "Lizzie! Where did you get that paint?!"
"Shhhh," The girl warned him, never pausing in her actions. "Daddy, we have to save you. I'm performing Alkahestry."
Roy groaned, knowing his wife was going to be unimpressed with the state of his shirt when she caught sight of it. "Lizzie – please, be careful. We don't want the paint to spi – "
Before he could even finish his sentence, a gasp broke out from the girl beside his daughter. Margaret, the dark-haired sister to the young child keeping vigil by his head, looked down at the floor in horror. The red paint can that had caused Roy such weariness, was now lying over on its side, its contents covering both the sheets of Roy's pallet and the side of his blue pants.
All the girls went silent as they stared at the mess in shock. Then, suddenly, a wail broke loose from Margaret.
"I didn't mean to Mr. Fuhrer!"
Roy, still surprised by the spilled paint all over his pants, hurriedly sat up to comfort the crying child. "Margaret, it's okay."
"Please don't arrest me!"
"Margaret," Roy reasoned, careful not to shift too much, lest he displace more red paint on to the floor of the nursery. "I'm not going to arrest you."
"I don't know, Margaret." Havoc commented from his spot on the other pallet, looking quite amused by all of this. "He's a pretty mean guy!"
"Havoc!"
The man's words only had the girl crying harder. "I wanna go home!"
While all the girls rushed to comfort their distressed friend – Roy groaned, while laying his head back down on the pallet. He was really starting to consider enlisting Rebecca's help, when the cold, wet cloth from before was placed back on to his forehead.
Looking up, Roy noticed that Helen was the only child who hadn't rushed to help her sister. Instead, she had remained by the Fuhrer's side with a bowl of water and a cold compress.
Wait a minute…
"Helen?" Roy asked, trying to gain the girl's attention. "Where did you get that water from?"
The facets were high in the manor's bathrooms, making it almost impossible for a small child to reach them unless there was a stool present. Even then, Elizabeth still had trouble reaching the knobs of the sink without the help of one of her parents. It made Roy wonder how a child of such small stature could have filled a bowl under one of the bathroom facets.
Unless…
"The toilet."
Times like these, made Roy wish he had birthed boys.
~
Breda returned to the room to find both Roy and Havoc sat on the floor and covered in paint. If he noticed the reddish tinge of Roy's freshly washed face, he said nothing.
The girls had convinced Roy to do "pretty" braids in their hair, after having seen Elizabeth come to school with them on more than one occasion. It was one of the perks of having grown up with a multitude of sisters. It was definitely something Riza was thankful for, since she had little experience with hair that was not her own.
Currently, the Fuhrer sat braiding Margaret's hair, the young girl's tears finally dried after having had her friends calm her down. No longer scared of the man behind her, the girl had agreed to let him braid her hair. Elizabeth, who sat beside her with her dark hair already braided, pointed excitedly at something in the book that lay before them.
Havoc stood from his place on the floor to greet Breda, pointing towards the mess of sheets and paint on the floor. "Want to give me a hand?"
Breda didn't even ask questions as he walked over to assist his comrade.
"I think Felix is really cute." Grace was saying, playing dolls with both Alice and Abigail. Helen scooted over so that she could watch the scene unfolding. "We shared paints last week."
"Ohhhhhh!" The two other five-year-olds giggled, their faces flushed with the idea of young love. Roy couldn't help but hope it would be a few years before he caught his dear Elizabeth saying such things about the males in her class.
As it was, his daughter seemed rather preoccupied with her book, gesturing for Etha to come over so she could show her something as well.
Roy smiled at her actions. His daughter certainly took after both him and his wife – always curious and always learning. It wouldn't surprise him, if in a few years time, she approached him about wanting to learn alchemy. He still wasn't quite sure how to feel about that one.
Once all the girls had their hair braided and their sleeping mats had been set up, Roy employed Breda to read them all a bedtime story in an attempt to tire them out. Though, from the look of their drooping eyes, it didn't seem like the men were going to have any trouble getting the girls to sleep.
While Breda and Havoc acted out the scenes from a bedtime story, eliciting giggles from the young girls curled up on the floor, Roy went to go check on Mae.
The infant was resting peacefully in her room that lay adjacent to the nursery. Roy was surprised that the noise hadn't disturbed her – however, with all the crying she had done over the past few days, the man figured she was just about as tired as her mother was. Careful not to disturb her rest, Roy picked the girl up from her crib to transport her back to the master suite.
After depositing his daughter into the small crib in his bedroom, Roy returned to the nursery, surprised to find it quieter than before.
The sight that lay before him had the Fuhrer nearly bursting into laughter.
Havoc and Breda were sat in two small nursery chairs, snoring loudly with both their heads thrown back. From the looks of it, all the girls seemed to be asleep as well.
Chuckling quietly to himself, Roy made his way over to where his daughter lay in the middle of it all. The man leaned over quick, pressing a gentle kiss to the skin of her forehead.
"Happy Birthday, Lizzie."
Roy was about to stand up once more, when a quiet, little voice had him pausing.
"Thank you, Daddy." Lizzie murmured before turning over, her new doll clutched tightly to her chest. It had been a present from her great grandpa Grumman.
"You're welcome, Lizzie." Roy replied, giving his daughter one last kiss to the head before turning the lights of the room off. With Breda and Havoc watching over them, Roy was sure the girls would be more than okay for the rest of the night.
After washing up and changing from his now ruined uniform, Roy was finally able to make it into bed to join his wife in blissful slumber. She had looked so cozy when he had moved Mae to their bedroom earlier, that all he had wanted to do was forego his nightly routine to join her.
Careful not to disturb Mae where she lay in her crib, Roy quietly reentered the room and made his way to the bed. After situating himself under the sheets, the man turned towards his wife and pulled her close to his chest, nuzzling his face in her hair.
Riza hummed tiredly. "How'd it go?"
Roy was too tired to explain the dramatics of the night. Instead, he pulled his wife closer and snuggled deeper into her embrace. "It went fine."
"Thank you." Riza kissed his chest tiredly, rubbing her nose against the skin there. "I needed a break."
"I know." Roy rubbed her back in comfort. "I certainly didn't mind giving you one."
Riza gave no response, already slumbering once more. Roy was just about to join her, when a shrill sound broke him from his semi-conscious state.
Mae had started to cry.
Fighting back a groan, Roy was just about to lift his head off his pillow when the door to his bedroom burst open and Elizabeth pushed her way through.
"Daddy!" The young girl exclaimed, ignoring the cries of her younger sister as she rushed over to her father's side. "Helen threw up on the floor!"
Now, Roy did groan.
He was really starting to hate sleepovers.
#royai#roy mustang#riza hawkeye#fma#fullmetal alchemist#fmab#fullmetal alchemsit brotherhood#royai fic#royai fanfic#royai fanfiction#fma fic#fma fanfic#fma fanfiction
13 notes
·
View notes
Text
The popcorn thief
While discussing how John could lurk and spy on his family using all the tech in the living room, the idea of him instigating a popcorn heist from Thunderbird 5 came to me. It was just too much not to write, because I’ve not written John in a while and I can so see him messing with his brothers from up high. Enjoy!
**********
John floated in front of the projection as MAX raced down the corridor with Scott’s popcorn. It had been a slow two weeks in regard to rescues, with only two major and a few minor call outs. Maintenance had been caught up on, as well as sleep, and some of his brothers were now struggling to keep themselves entertained. Gordon was the brother John was keeping his eye on. With Lady Penelope busy in England and having already pulled a few jokes on Alan, it was only a matter of time before he set up a large prank. Thunderbird Five was up to date on every major upgrade and EOS was happily fielding calls to enforce the Grandma mandated relaxation time. He was due to head down to the island that day, but with Gordon prowling, it was about time John got his brother back for the last prank that had been played on him.
John had gotten MAX to wait around the corner next to Gordon’s secret access elevator while Scott had made the popcorn for the movie. Watching his big brother secretly through the camera in the lounge, John waited until the popcorn was on the table and Scott had left to round up the family. He then sent MAX the ‘GO’ signal. The robot had darted out and grabbed the popcorn, before heading back the way he’d come towards the elevator. John observed the theft simultaneously through the living room camera and MAX’s built in one. MAX had even, rather gleefully for a robot, scattered some popcorn under the fish tank as he passed by. The stolen popcorn was then placed in the specially designed box John had strapped into the space elevator. He activated the recall mechanism and smiled in anticipation. Taking a breath, John straightened out his features into his usual calm demeanour and tapped into the communication link between Five and the Island, thus projecting his form into the room. Projected before him was the images of Virgil and Gordon collapsing onto the sofas.
“Not coming down to join us?” Queried Virgil, with a raised eyebrow.
“Grandma won’t be happy.” Gordon jeered, eyes sparkling at the thought of witnessing a battle of wills between John and Grandma.
“I have a few more things I need to finish up here first.”
Technically it wasn’t a lie, but all the things left on his list were non-urgent or research related tasks that could be put off until next week. Not that John let any of that show in his face. He was a master communicator and could withhold information in a heartbeat if he didn’t deem it necessary for the task ahead. The sound of feet announced the arrival of Alan as he raced into the room, only to stop abruptly with a confused look.
“Where’s the popcorn?”
“What popcorn?”
“The popcorn Scott just made. He told me to get in here fast before you two ate it all.”
Virgil and Alan both turned to Gordon, whose face showed mild shock until he smiled.
“Seriously guys, you think I’d mess with Scott’s popcorn after what happened with Virgil? Scott was a right misery guts after that, and Virgil only stole it because he thought he could get away with it.”
“I managed to placate him. Though I had hoped he would blame it on you. It would have been left unattended on the island for a whole rescue and it was pretty much guaranteed to be eaten in that time.”
“Well, we’d better find it before he comes back. He’s just helping Grandma finish the laundry, so she can join us.”
Alan’s voice held concern as John watched his brothers split up at light speed to search for the missing popcorn. He popped up the map showing the little moving dots of everyone on the island. EOS had labelled each heat signature with the persons favourite colour after verifying the individual each signature belonged to using cameras and deduction. The frantic footfall echoed around the comm sphere as his brothers searched the lounge and beyond. Virgil headed down to the kitchen while Alan headed around the corner, as the blue and purple dots of Scott and Grandma started their approach to the lounge. John smiled internally.
“There’s popcorn near your fish tank, Gordon!”
Alan was still within range of the highly sensitive microphones in the living room, as the yellow dot started toward the youngest Tracy.
“Someone must be trying to frame me.”
The aquanaut responded as the green dot left the kitchen and joined the red and yellow one at the scene of the crime. To the right of the map, John could see the blue and purple dots reaching the living room.
“Gordon, if you don’t own up, you’re going to be in trouble, and Scott will make sure you don’t have any celery crunch bars in Thunderbird Four for the next month.”
“It wasn’t me this time.”
“What wasn’t you, this time?”
It was Grandma stern voice from the empty lounge that echoed down the corridor as she headed over the Tracy huddle. She had ears like a hawk, and Scott was right on her heals. It didn’t take long for them to put two and two together. John was certain they were standing in front at least one worried looking Tracy.
“Where’s the popcorn Gordon?”
“I don’t know.”
“You had better go fetch it, that was the last of the kernels.”
Scott voice was level but stern. John knew it wasn’t that last kernels as he’d gotten MAX to hide the rest. Grandma would also know this, having done the weekly inventory two days ago.
“I don’t know where the popcorn is.”
With that, the yellow dot scarpered.
“You better be fetching my popcorn!”
Gordon was far enough away now that John couldn’t hear his response, but whatever it was made Scott give chase. Knowing no one was watching him, John finally let himself smile as the game of Cat and Mouse started. It was very much like the old cartoon Grandma made them watch as kids, which Gordon had loved replicating as a child. The rest of the dots headed back to the living room, and all but Grandma sat down on the couches.
“You were meant to be coming down, young man.”
“I’ve got a few more things to do up here. I might be able to come down tomorrow.”
“I’ve heard that before John Glenn Tracy. If you’re not down by the end of the week, I’m sending Scott up.”
“FAB Grandma. I’ll be down when this has blown over.”
The matriarch studied him with a frown and John kept his cool, though he knew the game was up. She knew, he could see it in her eyes.
“Right then, Virgil you get the film ready. Alan bring the portable holoprojector across from the desk, if John won’t be here physically, he can float beside us, and John, make the missing kernels appear so Scott can have his popcorn. I’ll go get your brothers.”
John shut down the visual feed and sent the message to MAX to put the kernels back and thanking the robot for his help. Propelling himself away from the projections, John headed to the elevator and retrieve the box of popcorn. It had a special rubber opening in the top which allowed him to access the popcorn while still keeping it mostly contained. He carried it back to the comms sphere where EOS had linked the lounge projector up to Thunderbird Five, so it now displayed the start menu for Virgil’s choice of film. The little green box popped up at the bottom, indicating that John was now being projected somewhere. Tapping the icon, brought up the camera feed alongside the film screen, clearly displaying the relaxing holograms of his family. Their voices once again filled the air around him.
“I can’t believe you did that, John,” Alan’s voice full of surprise, “Scott’s going to drag you down later.”
John just smiled knowingly at his younger brother, as Scott, Grandma and Gordon entered the room. Reaching into his box, John grabbed a handful of popcorn and started popping pieces into his mouth. Grandma was standing between Gordon and Scott, obviously not impressed by their behaviour. John just hovered waiting for their eyes to fall on him, enjoying the mix of sweet and salt that Scott always made. Anger flicked across the man’s face before he spoke in a steady voice.
“So, you really did steal my popcorn.”
“I was in the mood for popcorn.”
“You could have just come down.”
“And share it with all of you? Also, you’ve forgotten to ask if I wanted some the past three movie nights.”
Scott winced slightly at the accusation, knowing full well that it was correct. John knew his brother never meant to forget him.
“Sorry John, I’ll remember next time.”
“Apology accepted.”
Grandma patted Scott on the back and guided him towards the kitchen.
“Now go make some more, the missing kernels should be back where they belong.”
Scott turned to glare at John’s hologram, before heading down the stairs.
“Now John, aren’t you going to apologise for framing Gordon?”
“No point.” Gordon butted in, “He was just getting me back for the bagel swap I did on him last time he was down.”
John nodded while Grandma sighed.
“You’re all meant to be responsible adults.”
She muttered under her breath as she took the seat next to Virgil. Gordon was grinning from ear to ear as he put his feet up on the table. John continued to eat his prize as Grandma berated Gordon about his manners. Scott returned with a bowl full of fresh popcorn, which he placed on the table before taking a handful. Multiple other hands reached forward and dived in after him. Scott smirked as he glanced at John’s hologram.
“Are you keeping that piece in your hair for later?”
John reached up and sighed as his fingers found the runaway kernel.
“Do you need me to increase the flow through the extraction unit, John? It would be problematic if food got in any of Thunderbird Five’s circuitry.”
Laughter from the island filled the space at EOS’s helpful comment, the image of the AI projecting above the feed of his family.
“No, EOS. That won’t be necessary.”
#thunderbirds are go#thunderbirds fanfiction#John Tracy#Gordon Tracy#Scott Tracy#Virgil Tracy#alan tracy#grandma tracy#MAX#tracy family#pranks#theft#sneaky john
2 notes
·
View notes
Note
Can I pleeeaasseee request HCs for Hawks falling for an elementary school teacher who was out with her students during a villain attack and she sheilded them from and debris or attacks with her own body and thats like when he first sees her. Sorry if thay made nosense >.
Hawks:
In a society where the average person has super powers Hawks has largely never had a problem enforcing the “never use your quirk in public” law because most instances he found justifiable or harmless.
Sometimes it was necessary.
It really bothered him that Good Samaritan laws hadn’t properly kept up with quirk society.
He understood the necessity of tying up certain kinds of deeds in red tape for the larger safety of the populace in extreme circumstances, but all too often people refused to help themselves either because they didn’t believe they were able to or just simply didn’t want to.
He also couldn’t help but feel legislation and legal definitions of what was and wasn’t permissible with quirks may have something to do with lobbyists and politicians like so many other things...
He always found it admirable when some random face in the crowd would stand up in harm’s way to protect others. They weren’t heroes. They weren’t getting paid or recognized to help. In fact they could end up in trouble or even dead.
But they had a heart to help others even at their own great expense, and that was incredible.
When he had been called onto a scene near an elementary school he rushed over as quickly as possible, hiding his scowl behind his high collar - a secondary benefit of the design of his jacket. He hated villains that used innocents as human shields.
The moment the villain caught sight of Hawks he freaked out and immediately retaliated by ripping up an entire section of bleachers from his spot in the sports field and flinging it at a group of children who were obviously trying to escape in the opposite direction but were trapped by the walls meant to keep them safe.
It was a gym class judging by everyone’s uniforms and just how many children were outside at once, but he knew they all couldn’t outrun the projectile so he quickly depleted his wings trying to reach them all and wasn’t able to dodge the secondary attack thrown his way.
It sent him flying in the opposite direction, though he made sure to keep his attention focused until he knew the kids were immediately out of harm’s way before he could retaliate. He was the only hero on the scene so far, and this guy would not go without a fight.
The impact of the fall had temporarily disoriented him, but he did what he could to quickly gather his wits and recall his feathers for a return attack when he saw it.
The villain was trying to scoop up kids to take as hostages when a teacher jumped in the way, wielding a piece of broken bleacher as a weapon.
The villain was too big. She definitely didn’t look strong enough to take a blow. She was literally giving herself up for the safety of her students.
Or at least she would have if she hadn’t bought him time.
He wasn’t a power-type hero, but speed and accuracy were his greatest tools. In a flurry all his feathers surrounded the culprit at once and lifted him up effortlessly into the air high and above where he couldn’t hurt any more civilians. Hawks then dropped him a few meters to further disorient him before catching him and pulling him back down to the ground where he was able to keep him pinned.
First responders were on the scene immediately after that and were able to take the villain into custody. Thankfully no one had been seriously hurt and he sought out the teacher he saw as soon as he could.
“That was an incredibly brave thing you did, miss!”
You were sitting on the bumper of an ambulance with a shock blanket around your shoulders. “Oh no, I just- I did what I had to. They’re my kids, after all!”
“I mean it. You didn’t just do real hero work for free back there. You did it at your own expense. That’s no small thing.”
Whether it was the adrenaline still wearing off in your system or the genuine admiration in his voice, you felt your heart race and your face flush. “Truly, Mr. Hawks, I-”
“Please, just call me-!” A call of his name caught his attention to a squad of policemen gesturing him over for statements and paperwork. As much as he’d like to stay he had to go.
“Uh, please. Just call me.” He handed you a business card in your direction with a smile and a small wink before flying off to where he was needed.
168 notes
·
View notes
Text
Remember Me?
Pairing: Jungkook x Reader
Warning(s): 3 tbs of Cliche ahead
Genre: Romance, Fluff
The rain pelted against my window pane. I remember playing outside with Taehyung back when we were still adorable, young and naive. But now, we're just plane naive with a bit of dumbness added altogether. Earlier this morning, I thought today would be the day I'll leave a mark on this planet, with cloudy skies and sun rays skimming through, it was ideal. Then Taehyung happened. His phone call happened. The so called blind date that is about to happen added to the list. I mean, who sets up your own friend with your other friend just because you can? I tried my best to persuade him that it would be a bad idea since he knew how socially awkward I become around people. Heck, I even offered to make a PowerPoint presentation as to how his idea sounded like the dumbest essay paper you'd come across with. But he just laughed over the phone saying how silly I was. That twat. I am very much fine playing my role as the single fart in here but that alien of a friend of mine begged to differ.
My previous date had taught me well and left me traumatized for the rest of my life, not in a bad way but more in a hilariously epic one. I remember it as if it was yesterday.
"Don't worry he's a sweetheart. " Taehyung promised as he dragged my pastel-clad figure into a world of unknown which we prefer to call the homecoming dance. I was wearing a soft baby pink dress, like a unicorn just barfed on me. I was nervous and hopeful all at the same time. Taehyung hadn't mention a name but I didn't bother to ask either so when I was placed in front a lanky dude, I nervously searched for any sign of amusement in Taehyung's eyes followed by his boisterous laugh saying this was all just a joke, but unfortunately, there was none. I once again faced the noodle dude in front of me. Braces, check. Thick rimmed glasses, check. Horrible fashion sense, I'd give him an A plus for that. Don’t get me wrong though. I’m just not used to being the one in advantage when meeting strangers since I’m usually the awkward one.
I thought that that was the worst thing that could happen but apparently, as the night gets older, the more my unnamed date seems to be fidgety and awkward. At first, I tried to talk to him nicely. We danced for a bit even though he just kept on stepping on my toes, isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Despite that, we continued dancing anyway but things went downhill when I suddenly found myself tripping over our feet as I fall and knocked over a waiter who successfully poured the mocktails over my head in accident, if you thought that's the worst then you're terrible wrong. After a few attempts of getting up and coming back to my senses, everyone around me seems to find something funny as they point fingers in my direction. Anxiously looking down, I found my self sitting over some sort of liquid that is definitely not a mocktail with my date puking his guts out.... Oh.
So that brings us back to the present. Where I'm currently watching the rain from inside my room praying to all Gods alive that a rainstorm occurs so I can Netflix my way out of the blind date. I mean my efforts of dressing up will be gone to waste but I really don't care since I didn't even bother smudging a bit of a BB cream onto my face. Deal with it whoever this as equally as stupid blind date was supposed to be. As I continued to mentally think of ways and excuses, the doorbell echoed throughout the house sounding very much like an audio from a horror movie. I am doomed. I know it.
I just do.
"Hey you! You... " I greeted even though my eyes were focused solely on the device on my hand which happened to be my phone.
"Uh yeah, hi. " A smooth nasally voice replied. Is the news paper boy late or a little bit early? 8 hours early to be exact.
"Oh hi. Are you here with tomorrow's newspaper or are you lost or maybe a new neighbor or something because I really can't entertain any guest right now because I'm supposedly going in a date with someone in just about now... Oh." I paused as realization hit me like a bullet train, extra impact and damage, people.
"You must be jongkuk." I mumbled, a little bit hesitant. I regret not listening to Taehyung about who this other person was earlier. Now here I am contemplating and pondering about a couple of names that sound like Jong and Cook.
"Actually... It's Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook." He smiled adorably.
Wait what?
"Hey, uh yeah Jungkook. I'm Sera and I bet you didn't want to get stuck in this date neither right? Especially with a boring nerdy plain Jane who reeks of cheetos and other things. How about we call this quits and proceed on our own ways? Let's just tell Taehyung we were chased by the neighborhood dogs and decided that today is just not our day. How about that? Sounds good yeah?" I'm just hoping that my persuasiveness works just this once on this boy. I really don't wanna get wet neither do I want to go out and waste such a rainy comfy day.
"I was hoping we could go and see a movie. " The guy mumbled while he fiddles with his umbrella. My shoulders sagged but I immediately composed myself once again then looked at him. For a moment I contemplated. Well, he made an effort to dress up nicely and not to mention he was here holding his polka dot printed umbrella. I guess I'd be considerate and nice this time since I'm also already dressed up albeit a little too casual for a date.
"Alright. Just lemme get my bag then we're good to go." I responded then went to fetch my belongings. As I reach for my coat, my black umbrella calls out my eyes. Seriously I'm even manlier than my date. Just where did Taehyung got this manchild of a friend? Not judging.
I smiled at Jungkook after locking my door. I thought we were going to trudge our way to the mall. But when we reached the neighborhood park, he tells me to wait for a bit. I pouted as I watched the raindrops ruin my boots. I mean, I love the rain but I hate being in the middle of it. A moment passed then a motorcycle zooms near my spot. I’d be lying if I say that didn't give me a heart attack. I gawked as I watched the driver remove his helmet. Then came Jungkook's smiley adorable face.
Wait what again.
Never mind. You know what, I take back calling him a manchild. He's smoking hot on that motor, minus the umbrella.
"Did I scare you? I saw you jumping for like a meter away. Sorry for that. " He rubs his nape sheepishly.
Maybe this isn't so bad after all.
When we arrived at the mall, Jungkook immediately bought movie tickets good for two while I was busy choosing over cheese flavored popcorn or the barbecue one. He smiled at my form seeing the popcorn bag almost falling off from my embrace.
In the end I chose caramel.
As soon as the movie started rolling, I was pretty much fascinated by the animated characters than by my own date, even to the extent that I forgot I have one. I laughed at some scenes then threw some side comments along the way, I was just hoping I wasn't boring Jungkook out of his wits. Once the movie ended, it was already half past 9 so it was only as expected when we heard our stomachs grumble for food.
"I really want some pizza right now." I muttered mostly to myself but Jungkook seemed to hear me loud and clear as he started to drag me to the nearest pizzeria he saw. I smiled at him once we placed our orders. For a moment, it was really awkward between us which lead me to ponder over some things.
"Why were you determined to take me out earlier? I mean, I'm really not that attractive and I’m pretty sure Tae already told you I’m boring, which is kind of the truth. " I voiced out.
Jungkook seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a while. I waited for his answer but there was none. He just smiled at me then leaned closer. I furrowed my brows at his actions but he just sent another charming smile on my way.
Charming? What?
He took a deep breath then tucked a loose hair strand behind my ear. I thought he was going to do something funny so I watched him with a pair of eyes that can match a hawk's.
"I really like you. A lot. " Jungkook uttered leaving me stunned. I laugh nervously summoning my wittiness and sassiness to say something funny about that. But my stupid brain chose to blank out.
"Why so sudden? You just met me today? You just can't like me easily? Am I... Do I look easy to you? " I scoffed in feigned ignorance as he leans back in his seat. But the nerve of him to smile that smile of his. We didn't talk for a while, only the clatters and soft murmurs of the people around us was heard. I was uneasy though because the guy left me hanging. You know how curiosity is sometimes.
"Come on. I'm going to take you home now. It's late. " He then paid for our dinner then we walked out of the restaurant as he dragged a dazed me along the pavement of the sidewalk. I just let him be until we stopped in front of a mini park. He made me sit in one of the swings and I just obliged.
"This is actually not the first time we met. " Jungkook starts as he sits on the other swing.
"Back in freshmen year, we were classmates. I saw you during orientation and our lockers were next to each other. But you never really noticed any of that. " He mumbled the last part.
"Taehyung befriended me because I was quite the loner back then. He was nice and he kept talking about this also nice best friend he has. I knew it was you that time. I saw you two bickering." He continues.
I searched the back of my mind for any remarkable event back then. If I ever heard his name before. I remember Taehyung mentioning his name once but I just forgot the topic. So that means Jungkook is not lying. But I couldn't recall anymore information so that leaves me frustrated at the moment because how can I even not remember this guy?
"So Tae being the “good” friend he is did me a favor. He set me up on a date with you. " He said and by this time he stood up then kneeled in front of me, gripping my shoulders and sending me the softest look I had ever seen in someone's eyes.
"I was glad you agreed." Jungkook smiled. I don't know if it was just my eyes or Jungkook was really approaching my face. His breath tickled my face as I resisted the urge to giggle.
"Remember the dance?"
“Remember that weird dude who kept ignoring you and dodging your questions, who kept avoiding your eyes and kept stepping on your feet?”
I furrowed my brows at this. I remember the dress. I remember the lanky tall dude. I remember the incident. But...
"Remember me?" He whispered.
So with that, Jungkook presses his lips against mine. I slowly flutter my eyes shut with all my previous thoughts thrown out of the window because Goddamn, his lips are so soft and he kisses me like I'm the most fragile thing on earth.
He's a good kisser alright!
I wanted to push him away, really. But then he starts to caress my cheek and it was just so nice and warm in a chilly night so...
But wait what about the homecoming? What about..? No way.
I abruptly cut our make out session as I literally jumped away from Jungkook. He was surprised but nonetheless smiled at me despite the weird looks I was sending him.
"Who the heck are you? What the heck are you talking about and why are we kissing in this creepy park? " I said in one go. This is really romantic and all but I have no idea why I'm kissing this creep and cute of a date I have.
"Come on, you still don't remember me? " Jungkook asked then lightly chuckled. Why is he treating me like I'm a China doll when I am very much capable of kicking balls when provoked.
"Then you should answer me because I know for myself that I am very dense and dumb when it comes to things like this. " I admitted, still keeping my distance.
Jungkook sighed then sat on the grass. He patted the spot beside him so I obliged although we were still an arm's length.
"Once upon a time, there was this nerd who was very eager to enter high school despite his mediocre looks and poor social skills. He knew that it would be the start of something new so he welcomed everything, be it something bad or good, he went with the flow. Then he met this girl who just didn't give a what and walked around like a hermit. They were as equally as awkward so the boy found himself admiring her from afar everyday. In his eyes, the girl shone like she is the only being left in the world so he felt the need to protect her from all the evil of this world. He was contented with just looking at her but then this other boy befriended him. This other boy was like a ray of sunshine so they instantly clicked because well, socially awkward boy was in need of a company. This other boy then noticed socially awkward boy's behavior towards the girl so he offered to set them up on a date since apparently, sunshine boy was this girl's best friend. Without hesitation, socially awkward boy accepted. Then homecoming happened."
I suck in a breath as I tensed, remembering every bit of what happened 2 years ago. It can't be him. I mean, the dude back then was lanky and lame and very clumsy. That was Jungkook?
"I'm pretty sure by now you know what I'm talking about. " He added as I felt him avert his eyes over my stiff form.
"You were that dork? " I asked, my face shouting confusion all over the place.
"I'm actually thankful you didn't ditch me before and after the incident. Even after sitting on my puke, you still helped me clean up and didn't even laugh at me. I admire you for that." Then he tucked my hair behind my ear as his thumb caresses my cheek.
"Remember me now?"
The night ended nicely with Jungkook walking me home. As I lay still on my bed, I think back of my recent decisions in life and try to figure out just where I had gone wrong. 2 years ago? Wait, actually no. I made the wrong move when I had protected Taehyung from his bullies back in the first grade. Damn do I regret ever meeting that kid? To hell yes!
My phone suddenly rang cutting me out of my reverie. I glanced at the caller's ID then sighed.
"What? " I grumbled as I curled underneath my blankets.
"Woah there sweet cheeks. What's up with the snappy attitude? " Taehyung chuckled from the other line.
"You tell me captain obvious. " I retorted.
"I'm guessing the date didn't go well? " He asked.
"It actually did. Too well for my own comfort. How did he do that? " I asked in frustration. Those kinds of physical transformation only happen in movies. Now that I'm encountering a perfect example, you could only guess how crept out I am right now. And jealous.
"He's got a bunch of good friends that's how." The lad replied.
"I'm guessing you're not one of them right? " I remarked then heard him whine at the other end of the line.
"When will puberty hit you Tae? " Oh the joys of annoying him.
"Shut up. Did he confess? "
"Why? Are you jealous? " I teased.
"Dude I don't see you in that light so don't even bother. " He exclaimed out of frustration while I internally laugh at him.
"Maybe not me but Jungkook.. Oh I don't know..." I cackled mentally as I hear him hyperventilate out of anger and annoyance.
"PARK SERA I AM STRAIGHT YOU BRAT! " And so I doubled over as I listen to him rant his frustration about our friendship over the phone.
"Seriously though, the guy's been liking you for a while now. And for a while, I mean 2 years. " Taehyung stated after calming down from his outburst.
"He said that too. We actually came to an agreement to see where this date will take us. I just don't understand why it took him 2 years to be on a date with me again. " I wondered out loud.
"He needs time too you know. Look he’s not that lanky and clumsy and shy and awkward now. " Taehyung replied. Is that bitterness I hear?
"Yeah you're- hold up, someone's calling me. " I informed then put our conversation on hold.
"Hello? " I inquisitively muttered, hearing soft puffs of breath from the other line.
"Hi Sera. "
And at that moment I knew I was damned.
"Heyyy Jungkook. So what made you call me at 12 in the midnight?" I asked.
"Actually, I'm still outside your house." He mumbles hesitantly. I jumped onto my feet at this then looked outside of my window, it was foggy so it's probably chilly outside. I don't even know if I should invite him in. Both my parents had gone to hike last last day so I was left alone in the house. But it would be rude if I just leave Jungkook standing outside. So with no contemplation, I ran towards our front door then opened it, revealing Jungkook's shaking figure.
"Why are you still here?" I asked. My question might have appeared a little too rude to him for he seemed abashed and taken aback, making me feel guilty.
"I mean, our date ended an hour ago, have you been sitting here for an hour too?" I asked, softly this time.
"I was kind of thinking about confessing properly earlier but I guess I didn't notice the time. Calling you was just a spur of the moment decision. Go back inside now, it's freezing here. Sorry for bothering you." Jungkook shudders as he tries to hide his clattering teeth.
"Oh. But... do you live nearby? There are no buses out this time and...forget it. If you want, you could stay the night." I offered as I noticed his eyes lightening up in hope. I can't even with this boy. I opened the door wider then gestured him to follow me inside. Once I hear him lock the door, I turned to face him.
"My house is kind of small and since my parents are coming back home anytime tomorrow, I'd suggest you sleep in my room. I don't want them misunderstanding you as a burglar or a charity case. Don't worry, I can just crash down on my own couch." I bit my lip as the awkward atmosphere arise.
"It's okay, I'm grateful enough for letting me stay over. I'll just sleep on the couch.. or on the floor of your room. I'm really sorry for bothering you." He shyly says then I dragged him to my room by his sleeve.
"You can take a shower if you want. I'll just get some clothes from my dad. Maybe something will fit you but don't count on that, he dresses as if he's a hipster." I muttered as I reach for the extra comforter and duvet. I passed it to him then smiled.
"I'll come back and bring some snack from downstairs." I bade then closed my room's door. Heaving a sigh, I pressed my hand against my rapidly beating heart.
"This is unhealthy for you Sera." With a huff, I trudged my way to my parents' room then grabbed a shirt and sweatpants that will hopefully fit Jungkook. Once I was carrying a platter of cookies and a glass of milk, don't judge, I came back inside my room only to gape at the sight before me.
Forget about that forgotten call with Taehyung because what the heck!?
Jeon Jungkook will be the death of me.
"Why are you wearing my pajamas?" I asked as my mouth remains ajar. Jungkook smiled sheepishly as he ruffles his hair using MY towel. MY PINK HELLO KITTY TOWEL. How manly. Oh yeah, and my OCD is striking in.
"I thought it was the clothes you spared so I wore it..." He innocently replied then glanced at the dangling set of plain clothes on my arms, his mouth rounding in understanding.
"I'm so sorry!" He apologizes then starts to lift the shirt over his head, momentarily scaring me.
"Woah woah woah! You are not going to strip in front of me Jeon! Put the darn shirt back on!" I cried out, trying to balance the platter I was carrying.
"I didn't know it was yours. These clothes look like they're triple sizes bigger than your frame." He hastily uttered. I furrowed my brows at him as we both momentarily stilled.
"Not that I saw your body... or I was hoping to see but seriously, You're petite and I didn't think these PJ's will fit to you.. No offence?" Jungkook rambles. I laughed at our situation as I set down the cookies.
"It's fine... I think. I just didn't expect you to wear my clothes. And yeah, they're sizes bigger than me since I too, like my dad, dresses like a hipster. You know, with the baggy pants and shirts." I said then handed him my dad's clothes.
"It's okay if you stay in those so reserve this set for tomorrow." I smiled.
"Here have some snacks. Our dinner had been hours ago so you might be hungry." I then handed him the cookies and a glass of milk.
"Thank you for your kindness." He mumbles as he bites onto a cookie. I patted his fluffy hair then realized my mistake after he stiffens.
"Okay.. Now, that, was a spur of the moment decision." I chuckled nervously then made my way to my bed as Jungkook made himself comfortable on the sofa bed.
"What made you stay outside my house for an hour again?" I asked, trying to ease the awkwardness surrounding us. The guy stiffens again then plopped down the plate of cookies as he sips the milk.
"Confession. A proper one." He answered without looking up. He fiddles with his fingers while I stayed static on my bed.
"Why?" I finally asked, tucking myself underneath the covers.
"I felt like I owe you one. Especially after the kiss. Oh and, you may have talked to Taehyung why it took me 2 years to be on a date with you again, I just wanted to personally answer you because that's how things should be and I'm a grown up now. I think." He replied then looked up at me with his piercing gaze.
"Oh. Yeah, the kiss. So, what actually happened in those two years Jeon?" He smiles at my own nickname for him then find a comfortable position as he lies down on the couch, still facing me.
"I did some changes and learned some lessons, oh and gained some friends too. I thought that if I were to like someone, I should be able to like myself first. Two years back, I knew I didn't like myself for being me so I worked hard for my own and learned to socialize. Now I have a circle of trusty friends, I'm contented of what I am and... I think I'm ready to confess now." He states as he sends a smile on my way.
"And all along, even after having girls possibly dropping their panties because of you, you still like me?" I asked in confusion because who wouldn't? You guys have to understand that Jungkook is a very attractive young man so who wouldn't try to hook up with him?
"Nah, my feelings are mostly what motivated me to be the better me that I am now. Not only for my looks but also self confidence. I used to traipse around like I'm afraid of someone noticing me but now I can walk confidently as an individual, as me." He uttered.
"So... your feelings. I still really don't understand." I murmured.
"I really like you Sera." He confesses.
"What made you like me? Even after my obvious reluctance earlier?" I asked, sounding defensive and all but Jungkook just smiled at me.
"You still did went out on the date with me. Even two years ago, you still went through the dance after finding out how hideous I look back then, you even helped me with the mess I made. You didn't leave me alone in the middle of the crowd Sera, that's what I liked about you. You're considerate and selfless." He noted.
"You weren't hideous, you just looked funny." I muttered as I covered half of my face to hide my reddening cheeks.
"See what I'm talking about? Although you're kind of blunt, your honesty makes up for it." He added.
"I could go on and say a list of things I like about you but you seemed very sleepy so how about we call it a night and just go on another date tomorrow? If that's okay with you." Gone was the shy Jungkook.
So many things can happen in just six hours. Events like a spontaneous date, or a phone call or a heart to heart talk with someone who's been liking you for a couple of years. These are just part of the joys of youth. Some never want it to end and maybe, I'm one of those people.
I looked back at Jungkook then thought, two years were worth it for a lot of things happened and we matured over that span of time, helping him was worth it and being friends with Taehyung is also somehow worth it. If I were to date this adorable confident guy in front of me, what could go wrong? We're only teens. Just because we're going to date doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to be married to each other.
"I don't mind going out on a date with you Jungkook."
#BTS#BTS Jungkook#Bangtan#Bangtan Boys#Bangtan Sonyeondan#Jeon Jungkook#BTS Romance#BTS Fic#BTS fluff#bts angst#bts smut#bts angst fluff
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
a-nice-and-interpretive-fanzine
A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine
madimuffin75
Wa-hoo!
silence-book-and-tea
Silence, a good book and a cup of tea
bubbzdraws
Bubbzdraws
shainamazing
& so your lust is just convenient now