#THE RUNNER UP STRIKES BACK | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

philsrosesweatshirt · 2 months

Text

hello (one of the) resident phannie data analyst(s) here with some parasocial stats on dnp’s movie tastes! following: distribution of dan and phil's ratings overall, movies they each rated 5 stars, their lowest-rated movies, and the similarities + differences in their tastes

(lore moment: yes i am a data analyst in my real job. yes i surprised myself with wanting to do this in my spare time. but then i remembered when we read dracula in college (yes i was an english major) and i graphed like, how many times dracula was referred to as vampire versus monster or something. so i shouldn’t be surprised.

first up, their overall rating patterns and by ~special status~ (i.e., wall-e, kill bill, avatar, lmao, plus big hero 6 for the fun of it)

dan’s rated 304 movies and phil’s rated 305. both of them have mean and median ratings of 4 with min 1 and max 5.

both rated kill bill vols. 1 and 2 a 5. wall-e got a 4.5 from dan and a 4 from phil (phake phans). both gave avatar a 3.5. and big hero 6 3.5 (dan) and 4.5 (phil)

rating distribution:

i did analyses here by genre but i need to fix the output (i’m writing all of these based on the markdown document from my phone on the subway, but i need to fix the outputs and i don’t have my computer. so those are pending but there are other genre analyses that i could do & haven’t yet!)

while i was sorting through the data i got the impression that dan overall rated movies higher than phil. so, among movies that they've both rated, here's some information

number of movies dan rated higher than phil: 65

Empire Strikes Back, Blade Runner, Return of the Jedi, My Neighbor Totoro, Back to the Future II, Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story, Phantom Mence, Donnie Darko, Attack of the Clones, Finding Nemo, Oldboy, The Notebook, Batman Begins, Brokeback Mountain, WALL-E, (500) Days of Summer, Up, The Hangover, Drive, The Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Life of Pi, Skyfall, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Whiplash, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Room, The Hateful Eight, The Force Awakens, Manchester by the Sea, Deadpool, La La Land, Moonlight, Rogue One, Call Me By Your Name, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2., Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, I, Tonya, Thor: Ragnorak, Phantom Thread, Roma, The Favourite, The Lighthouse, Toy Story 4, Midsommar, Ad Astra, Knives Out, Soul, The Green Knight, No Time to Die, Don't Look Up, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Turning Red, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion, Beau is Afraid, Barbie, Oppenheimer, Poor Things

number of movies phil rated higher than dan: 55

Star Wars (New Hope), Blair Witch Project, Requiem for a Dream, Memento, Ocean's Eleven, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Moonrise Kingdom, Iron Man 3, Gravity, Prisoners, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, John Wick, Gone Girl, Big Hero 6, Jurassic World, The Martian, The Revenant, Nocturnal Animals, Split, Get Out, Baby Driver, The Disaster Artist, Dunkirk, The Shape of Water, The Greatest Showman, The Last Jedi, Ready Player One, Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born, Rocketman, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Joker, The Rise of Skywalker, The Invisible Man, A Quiet Place Part II, Greenland, Tenet, Malignant, Eternals, The Matrix Resurrections, Scream (2022), Nope, Prey, Talk to Me, Avatar: The Way of the Water, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

number of movies they rated the same: 99!

Alien, ET, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Se7en, Scream, The Fifth Element, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Magnolia, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Spider-Man, Lost in Translation, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Mean Girls, Howl's Moving Castle, Children of Men, The Dark Knight, Pontypool, Inglourious Basterds, Avatar, Toy Story 3, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Black Swan, The Social Network, 21 Jump Street, The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook, The Conjuring, Snowpiercer, Her, Thor: The Dark World, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Boyhood, It Follows, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Interstellar, Ex Machina, The Witch, Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Mad Max: Fury Road, Inside Out, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Your Name., Arrival, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, mother!, It, Blade Runner 2049, Hereditary, Black Panther, Annihilation, A Quiet Place, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Us, Avengers: Endgame, Parasite, It Chapter Two, Marriage Story, Uncut Gems, 1917, Black Widow, The Suicide Squad, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Dune, Last Night in Soho, The Batman (2022), Everything Everywhere All at Once, X, The Northman, Top Gun: Maverick, Bullet Train, Barbarian, Pearl, M3GAN, Dungeons and Dragongs: Honor Among Thieves, Evil Dead Rise, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3., No Hard Feelings, Saltburn, Priscilla, Society of the Snow, Saw X, Leave the World Behind

i didn't analyse this by genre or anything, but i could -- so if you're interested lmk!

the 5 movies with the most different ratings between dan and phil

- Iron Man 2 (dan: 2, phil 3.5)

- The Greatest Showman (d: 2.5, p: 4)

- Malignant (d: 3, p: 4.5)

- Scream (2022) (d: 2.5, p: 4)

- Beau is Afraid (d: 3, p: 1.5)

Interesting that even though dan has more higher rated movies, 4/5 of these ones phil rated higher.

next, their 5-star movies

dan's five stars: 80

Alien, Empire Strikes Back, ET, Blade Runner, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Stand by Me, The Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro, Back to the Future II, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Jurassic Park, Nightmare Before Christmas, Schindler's List, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Toy Story, Fargo, Scream, The Fifth Element, Hercules, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Fight Club, Magnolia, The Emperor's New Groove, Donnie Darko, Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Finding Nemo, Kill Bill, Oldboy, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Shaun of the Dead, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Howl's Moving Castle, Revenge of the Sith, Brokeback Mountain, No Country for Old Men, The Dark Knight, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Tree of Life, 21 Jump Street, The Avengers, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Under the Skin, Whiplash, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, Sicario, The Hateful Eight, La La Land, Arrival, mother!, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, First Man, The Favourite, The Lighthouse, Parasite, Midsommar, Uncut Gems, 1917, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Oppenheimer, Poor Things

phil's five stars:

Star Wars (New Hope), Alien, ET, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Scream, The Fifth Element, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Magnolia, Requiem for a Dream, Memento, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Howl's Moving Castle, The Dark Knight, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 21 Jump Street, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Arrival, Dunkirk, mother!, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, Parasite, Uncut Gems, 1917, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Gladiator, Little Miss Sunshine

overlap: 39

Alien, ET, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Top Gun, Aliens, Home Alone, Silence of the Lambs, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Scream, The Fifth Element, Titanic, The Truman Show, The Matrix, Magnolia, Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Howl's Moving Castle, The Dark Knight, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 21 Jump Street, Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, Arrival, mother!, Blade Runner 2049, Avengers: Infinity War, Parasite, Uncut Gems, 1917, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick

& their lowest rated movies...

dan: matrix resurrections (1) , thor: the dark world (1.5), the rise of skywalker (1.5)

phil: crimes of the future (1), attack of the clones (1.5), thor: the dark world (1.5), don’t look up (1.5), the matrix resurrections (1.5), doctor strange in the multiverse of madness (1.5), beau is afraid (1.5), black bear (1.5)

not even chris hemsworth could save thor the dark world, i guess (kat dennings, though…)

movies they logged on the same date:

note that this is like, non-exhaustive, because this is only based on their diaries that list the date. i think in reality they've watched most of these movies together. frequently dan logged a couple days after phil which aren’t shown here. procrastination queen

Pontypool, Eternals, The Northman, Nope, Barbarian, The Banshees of Inisherin, Glass Onion, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Beau is Afraid, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3., Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Saltburn, Poor Things, Priscilla, Saw X, Leave the World Behind

movies that one logged and not the other:

dan but not phil: 85

The Exorcist, Stand by Me, The Grave of the Fireflies, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Home Alone 2, Schindler's List, Fargo, Romeo & Juliet, Hercules, Men in Black, Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Mummy, The 13th Warrior, Fight Club, The Emperor's New Groove, Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Legally Blonde, Monsters, Inc, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scooby-Doo, 28 Days Later, Matrix Reloaded, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, School of Rock, Matrix Revolutions, Saw, Shaun of the Dead, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Revenge of the Sith, The Devil Wears Prada, Borat, Casino Royale, No Country for Old Men, Death Proof, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, There Will Be Blood, Tropic Thunder, Slumdog Millionaire, Moon, District 9, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The King's Speech, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Tree of Life, X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, Argo, Les Miserables, Django Unchained, World War Z, Pacific Rim, Under the Skin, 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, The Babadook, The Lego Movie, x-Men: Days of Future Past, 22 Jump Street, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Theory of Everything, Green Room, Sicario, Spotlight, The Big Short, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Conjuring 2, Train to Busan, Hacksaw Ridge, Doctor Strange, Hidden Figures, Logan, You Were Never Really Here, Game Night, Isle of Dogs, First Man, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Suspiria, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Glass, Hustlers, Pig, Violent Night

phil but not dan: 86

Jaws, The Terminator, Beetlejuice, Die Hard, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Groundhog Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Leon: The Professional, The Usual Suspects, The Frighteners, The Sixth Sense, Being John Malkovich, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Gladiator, Catch Me if You Can, Elf, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Little Miss Sunshine, Pan's Labyrinth, The Prestige, Zodiac, Spider-Man 3, Iron Man, Juno, Lake Mungo, Twilight, Zombieland, Kick-Ass, Brave, Evil Dead, The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me, Monsters University, Man of Steel, About Time, Dallas Buyers Club, Edge of Tomorrow, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, The Boy, Raw, Finding Dory, Suicide Squad, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, John Wick: Chapter 2, Lady Bird, The Ritual, Happy Death Day, Deadpool 2, Ocean's 8, Ant-Man and The Wasp, Bird Box, Booksmart, Crawl, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Platform, Black Bear, Palm Springs, The Empty Man, The Innocents, Titane, Old, Free Guy, The Black Phone, Fresh, Watcher, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Ambulance, Aftersun, Crimes of the Future, Fall, Bones and All, The Menu, Sanctuary, Do Revenge, Smile, Hellraiser (2022), Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Plane, Missing, Infinity Pool, Past Lives, Knock at the Cabin, Scream VI

i’m interested to see how this varies by genre!

miscellaneous non-statistical things that made me parasocially emotional and/or laugh during this process:

they watched nope together on christmas eve 2022 <3

dan rated moulin rouge a 5 <3 nature boy <3

he also rated shrek a 5. of course. (valid).

4.5 from dan and 4 from phil from the notebook

5 from danny for brokeback mountain <3 and a 4.5 from philly

cmbyn, yes, has its issues, but dan rated 4.5 and phil 4

the shape of water got a 4.5 from monsterfucker phil lester (dan gave it a 4)

surprisingly phil rated rocketman higher than dan! surprising because dan liked so many musicals

dan gave hustlers a 3.5. i don't know why i think this is funny, but i do. phil doesn't have it logged or rated, lmao.

a 4 (d) and a 3.5 (p) for barbie!

phil gave twilight a 3. lol.

phil also gave do revenge only a 3.5. tragique.

phil watched a LOT of horror alone in october 2022 (aka while dan was on tour). anyway he's just like me <3

#dan and phil #dnp #phan #dan howell #phil lester #twitter says letterboxd should have been gatekept i say 1) know your phannie history! 2) this is nothing their usernames are so obvious you #think they didn’t know this would be found? be fr!

388 notes · View notes

asha-mage · 8 months

Text

I feel like I am going to be having random WoT Finale thoughts for the next six months, but one I especially want to hit up now:

The actual logistics of the Whitecloak attack on Falme, from the military tactics to the geo politics of it all are so perfectly on point that it's like something Jordan would have written himself.

In the books the Whitecloaks are on Tomon Head for unrelated reasons to the Seanchan (ones that would be hard to establish properly in a tv format where we don't have the time to follow Bornhold Sr for six odd scenes), so the show runners shifted it so that they are explicitly answering a call for aid from a foreign throne. The Whitecloaks are a autonomous military body beholden to no nation that operates with pseudo-legality in most places that are not under their influence, and the idea of expanding that influence to another nation is far to tempting to resist, especially when no other power is answering the Falme's call for aid, including the White Tower, who are the Whitecloak's primary rival. On principles it seems like they are stepping up to help a victimized nation that the 'witches' have abandoned, or even orchestrated the fall of.

And then on a practical level, the actual tactics they employ are fiendishly clever. Using incense burners to create a fog to hide their approach and blunt the effectiveness of the enemy channelers (who need to be able to see something to target their weaves). This also makes sense on a world building level- the Whitecloaks probably have a dozen tactics in their back pockets to deal with an outright war against the Aes Sedai if it ever breaks out. Then once the Whitecloaks close up to the walls, they send in their cavalry first, to overwhelm enemy defenses before they can get the gates shut, then send in the infantry to secure and pacify the remaining resistance not taken out by the shock charge. At this point the Seanchan have to focus their fighting to the streets of Falme, and the best way to do that is to gather their damane on the nearby tower and rain down artillery fire in an attempt to break the Whitecloaks into retreat- a brutal strategy likely to result in the deaths of their own troops and civilians, but necessary if they are going to have any hope of holding the city.

And then is where things get INSANE. See, conventional medieval military wisdom dictates that in a situation where the gates are breached already siege engines have no use. Their too clumsy, taking to much time to aim and fire to be much use in a melee brawl like this. Siege engines are useful for breaking fortifications, toppling walls, etc, so if used offensively almost always come out first. That means that no one is expecting them to roll out of that fog and hurl stones at the damane's position. In one strike Bornhold Senior decapitates the enemy's primary advantage over him and tilts the battle in his favor. (And even if the damane had managed to counter the strike, they would be weakened significantly, having to focus on blocking further attacks and counter attacking the siege engines- not easy with the fog- instead of keeping the fighting in the streets under control).

This might be one of those things that only I care about, but good employment of medieval military tactics combined with magical fantasy elements always makes me go

#WoT #Wheel of Time #WoT On Prime #Wheel of Time on Prime #Geofram Bornhald #Dain Bornhold #WoT s2 e8 #Emond Valda #This is the kind of shit Jordan would have done and it makes me go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR #Geofram Bornhold out here gunning for Great Captain status #Seanchan #Wot Musing #Wot Meta #Wheel of Time meta #Children of the Light #Whitecloaks

500 notes · View notes

imababblekat · 9 months

Text

Caught

A/N, "By popular demand, I present pt 2 to Chase! Thank you so much for all the love and support, it truly means a lot to me 💕

~xXx~

The panting breaths of the girl running beside you equaled your own, sweat trickling down your skin and you were sure hers as well. As a speed runner, even your feet began to sore in your tireless chance to escape New York's most threatening gang. You couldn't even begin to imagine how the brunette beside you felt, as she had been running in healed boots for what felt like miles. Regardless, you didn't spend much time thinking on either ones apparel, too occupied with escaping for your lives as you both rounded yet another corner in the maze of alleyways. Suddenly the girl grabbed your wrist, effectively pulling you down into another narrow back street.

"This way! We'll be safe if we make it down over here!", she informed, not once letting you go, though you wouldn't have fallen behind even if she had.

It was odd to you how she could have any idea of where the two of you even were, every alley looked the same; dingy and sketchy. Scaling across roofs with a clear look of what was around was your territory, but not an ounce of doubt came from you as you willing followed. If there was any chance to escape the ever enclosing Foot Clan, you'd take it!

However, you should have known that a clean getaway was not at all how the Foot let their targets go. Just as you and wavy haired gal made it into another alley she had directed you into, a few dark figures had jumped down to effectively block the exit ahead. A quick spin around, the area you both had came in from had also been blocked off by more clan members with brandished weapons. Your arms found the girls beside you, you both despite being complete strangers holding the other close as you were backed up against a brick wall. Nearly tripping backwards on a manhole cover, your eyes darted around for any chance to beat it, trained eyes finding multiple places to scale your way up and out of danger. Yet, still being held by the person beside you, you knew you couldn't just ditch her to the wolves. There was no way you could assist her in getting out your way, and you found your already panicked heart racing even faster as the Foot Clan closed in.

Back hitting the roughed apartment brick behind you, you groaned aloud.

"How'd I even end up in this mess?"

The girl beside you sensed your uneasness, and while she herself felt the same, she knew somethings, or rather somebodies, that you didn't.

"Don't worry, my friends taught me some tricks, and they'll no doubt be here soon anyways."

With what little comfort her reassurance meant to fully give you, you hadn't paid much mind to the strange way she'd put emphasis on friends either.

"Well I think showing off those tricks right now would be a really great idea!", you about shrieked as a few of the Foot lunged out, your body going stiff for the inevitable end.

Out of the blue, the few attackers who you were sure to be your demise, had been collectively knocked unconscious, bodies falling forward before your feet. You were left speechless, attention darting from their limp forms to the object that had rendered them defeated. A man hole cover, the exact one you tripped over earlier, tossed like a frisbee was what had momentarily saved your life. Speechless, you looked to the girl beside you, who had a strange expression of relief, to find her still holding your arms as you held hers, confirming that she had not been your savior. Not that she could have been of course; there was no way she could have gotten to the cover that fast, or even have thrown something that heavy! So who had saved you?

Your answer came in the form of four oddly familiar voices.

"Ahah, strike! Heck yeah!"

"That's bowling Mikey, not frisbee."

"There is such thing as frisbee bowling, Donnie."

"Is now really the time for a sports argument, Raph?"

No way. There was absolutely no way they were your saviors. Yet, low and behold, dishing out fighting moves you only ever saw in movies, were the four ninja mutant turtles you accidentally met some time back. While you had hoped to see them once again, you never thought you actually would. Here they were though, kicking serious Foot Clan ass, all the while arguing like true siblings and jesting your assailants. Each moved so effectively, working as a collective unit and taking out the Foot Clan as one, even if they had some attacks landed on them by the opposers. It was almost mesmerizing, watching how their giant forms moved around almost like a dance. It made you think back to that night they had chased you, how they were able to keep up with you and the thrill it had sparked.

The last of the Foot Clan had been taken out, weapons broken and then effectively tied up, the turtle masked in blue whose name you believed started with an L, clapped his hands together as though patting off dirt.

"Donnie, alert Casey and NYPD for pick up."

"Already on it.", the later replied, sticking a thumbs up as he typed away at his phone.

Brain still trying to wrap itself around everything that had just occurred, you were unware that the girl beside you had left your grasp and let go of you as well, till you saw her run to the group of terrapins with a wide smile. The fact there was not an ounce of fear displayed by her confused you even more. Were these the friends she had mentioned? Does this mean you weren't the only one who knew about them? How many more people were aware of their existence?

You could feel an oncoming headache as your mind began to become overwhelmed with thoughts and more questions. Perhaps it had also been the recent, deathly danger you'd been in, but something in your fight or flight triggered mind decided that now was a great time to remember the accidental photo you had snapped of the turtles. The photo that you had kept.

"Oh no. . .", you whispered in a newfound panic.

Sure at the time it had seemed fine and even kind of funny to have left the four with a sort of bait to give you another thrilling adrenaline rush of the sport you lived and breathed. However, actually being faced before them now, and especially after what you just witnessed what they could truly do, you had to wonder what kind of negative reaction they would have to seeing you once again. Focus turning to a somewhat high up fire escape to the left of you, you decided you weren't going to stick around and find out.

"April!", Mikey happily greeted, hugging the girl as she bounded up to the four.

"Are you hurt?", Raphael asked, giving her a quick glance over as Donnie broke out his watch to scan her vitals.

April shook her head, looking between the four brothers with a heavy sigh.

"No, I'm just glad you guys showed up in the nick of time. Thought I was going to have to use some of the moves Master Splinter taught me."

Leo placed a hand on her shoulder, his tone serious but expression relieved.

"Well, it's good that you didn't have to. How did you get caught up with the Foot this time?"

"You say that like it's a normal Friday occurrence."

"April. . ."

The girl sighed, shaking her head trying to recall despite the slight offense.

"I was out with some girlfriends at a fancy dinner, when I swore I saw some waiter making some sort of deal with one of the Foot Clan. A cat by the back dumpster gave away my hiding place after knocking over some trash and next thing I know we're being chased."

The four brothers eyed each other, before turning back to their human friend. Something April had said didn't sit right with the them, and it had been Raphael to bring up the concern.

"Whose we?"

It dawned on April then what she had exactly said. Internally cringing at having forgotten the person she accidentally corralled into her Foot Clan escapade, she felt instantly bad. Who knew how much you were freaking out right now. Not only had you been chased down by a bunch of assassins and running around with a total stranger, but you just witnessed four giant mutated turtles. Recalling back on her reaction to when she first met the brothers herself, she could only imagine what kind of freak out you were going through.

"Oh shit, sorry! I got so caught up in everything I forgot! I ran into them when I was-wait, where'd they go?"

The boys looked back to where April had turned her attention, only to find the spot she'd previosuly been backed up into void of any other person. The sound of a loud creak alerted the group to an old fire escape, and the one person the turtles didn't ever think to see tonight.

"No freaking way.", Mikey gawked, him and his brothers staring at your frozen form as you stared down at them having been spotted.

What sounded like a low growl reverated from Raphael, his face twisting into an expression of what you assumed agression.

"You-", he started as you yelped and frantically tried to climb your way up the rest of the old ladder.

"Wait! We won't hurt you!", Leo shouted, shoving Raph aside to step towards you.

Pulling yourself up by another rusty rung you huffed, staring indigently down at the leader in blue.

"You threw a manwhole cover like it was a paper airplane!"

Leo rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of a convincing reason as to make the action not seem like a such a threat.

"Yeah, well. . ."

As the eldest tried to think up an exscuse, Mikey scooted around him, making poses to flex his muscles and wiggling his brow ridges.

"What can I say, Anglecakes? These bad boys aren't big for no reason-ack!"

If not for the predicament you were currently in, you would have found the yellow banded turtle's flirtations and even his brothers responding head smack to be quite humorous. Shaking his own head, Donnie took a try at convincing you. Despite being the tallest out of the bunch, he was the least threatening next to Mikey.

"You can trust us, promise! Look, Aprils human! Just like you! We'd never hurt her!."

"What about the photo?"

Once more, the brothers looked to one another. They had been so busy fighting crime since your chance encounter that they hadn't had time to track you down and retrieve said photo. All they could do in that moment was trust that you wouldn't show it to anyone till they found you again. It wasn't easy either, their mere existence frightened people into literally calling them monsters before. If evidence of them had been spread to the wrong person, it could put their lives in even more danger. Yet, they had to. They had to hope and trust in faith that you, the person who gave them a run for their money across New York's infrastructure, wouldn't dare expose them. Perhaps they could use this as reasoning for you to find reliance in them as well.

". . .you show it to anyone?", Raph question with a tilt of his head.

"N-no, of course not.", you replied, still a little apprehensive of the terrapin in red.

"Well, if we trust that you didn't, then how about you trust that we ain't gonna hurt ya?"

It was surprising that Raph out of anyone would come to such a resolve. Thus far, the only interactions you've had with him all involved you thinking he'd tare you in two if given the chance. Yet, here he was, putting out an offer of freedom from suspicion or doubt, even if it was a little rough around the edges. You looked down towards the ground for a moment, thinking through your thoughts. Not once had the ninja brothers ever truly given any indication that they would hurt you. Hell, they just saved your life from the Foot Clan! Maybe they weren't as mad about the polaroid as you thought.

A sudden creaking noise cut you from your thoughts. Taking a glance at the old ladder you'd hastily began ascending, you had only a second to see the old rusted metal snap, before you felt a sudden plummet in your stomach and rush of air. A scream flew from your throat as you fell fast, knowing that from the height you were once at, hitting the pavement below would render you unconscious at the bare minimum. Seconds from taking a serious fall, you felt the suddenness of being securely caught by two strong arms.

"Whoa there!", Mikey cooed, straightening up as he safely carried you.

You opened your eyes to unintentionally lock with his. You hadn't realized how pretty they were. Crystal blue, like the sky on a lovely spring day. You also took note of how firmly he held you. Tight but soft and careful enough as to not crush you. The strength of his muscles made carrying you like carrying a feather, but with such great self control as to not let you be crumpled or taken away by an intense breeze. With this realization and a rosy blush overtaking your cheeks, you made a comment that had the cheese ball of a turtle's heart flutter just as much as he made yours in this moment.

"With how you caught me in that trust fall, perhaps you're not so bad after all, huh?"

~xXx~

tags; @varra-ren , @boa-hoa , @dressycobra7 , @genesis378

#bayverse leo x reader #bayverse leonardo x reader #bayverse raph x reader #bayverse raphael x reader #bayverse mikey x reader #bayverse michelangelo x reader #bayverse donnie x reader #bayverse donatello x reader #bayverse tmnt x reader #bayverse tmnt #aged up tmnt #imababblekat's writing #did y'all like the lil mikey blurb i put in at the end?#felt like giving the dork some attention and luv <3

681 notes · View notes

mononijikayu · 2 months

Text

happy together ─ geto suguru and gojo satoru

As you observed the intimate exchange between them, you couldn't help but feel a warmth spreading in your heart. Your love was palpable, radiating from their gaze and enveloping you in its comforting embrace. It was a reminder that amidst the uncertainty and challenges of life, the love shared between kindred souls could serve as a beacon of hope and solace. If there was any possibility to split a soul into three, perhaps it was born into life just for you. You were each other’s fate, come what may. That’s what you think. You know that they wouldn’t have it any other way either. Life made sense when you were happy together. And now you are.

GENRE: Hidden Inventory Arc - Shinjuku Showdown Arc, 2006/2007 - 2018;

WARNING/s: Alternate Universe ─ Canon Divergence, Humor, Romance, Afterlife, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Character Death, Mention of Grief, Mention of Mourning, Depiction of Physical Touch, Fluff, Mild Angst, Pining, Reunion, House of Three;

masterlist

kayu's playlist, side 400;

listen: happy together by the turtles

note: i speed-wrote this because i had some time while i took a break from doing my school work. i love this one, you guys. cause they finally realized they should be a throuple!!! anyway, installment one done!!! enjoy it you guys!!! i love you <333

WAKING UP WAS QUITE AN EXPERIENCE. As consciousness flooded back into your senses, you could feel your entire body jolt with a sudden shock, gasping for air as your eyes snapped open, wide with alarm. It was as if you had been yanked back from the brink of oblivion, returning to the realm of the living from where you had lain, motionless.

Beads of sweat dotted your temples, evidence of the intense ordeal you had just endured, while short, ragged breaths escaped your lips in quick succession, reminiscent of a runner finishing a grueling marathon. A chill ran down your spine, sending shivers rippling through your body, and you couldn't help but purse your lips as you sat in the eerie stillness that surrounded you.

Perched on the cold, unforgiving metal benches, you made a conscious effort not to lose your balance; after all, you were already prone to clumsiness. Amidst the disorienting haze that clouded your mind, one thought echoed louder than the rest: what was happening? It was a question that gnawed at the edges of your consciousness, filling you with an overwhelming sense of dread and confusion.

As your eyes slowly begin to adjust to the glaring light assaulting them, you find yourself struggling to make sense of your surroundings. Every movement you make seems to flow effortlessly, your Jujutsu uniform clinging to your form, the bright yellow hoodie swaying gently against the back of your neck with each subtle shift. Squinting against the harsh brightness, your brow furrows in a gesture of discomfort before you finally manage to lift your gaze, revealing the source of the intense illumination: those bright, beaming lights overhead. A low growl of frustration rumbles silently in your throat, but you force yourself to look away, tenderly massaging your sensitive eyes in an attempt to ease the discomfort.

Yet, as you blink and open your eyes once more, a sudden realization strikes you like a bolt of lightning. Those lights—there's something undeniably familiar about them. In fact, they feel more familiar to you than you would have ever dared to hope. Casting your gaze around the vast expanse before you, you take in the massive glass windows, the endless rows of metal benches mirroring the one you occupy. Above, the wide expanding upper floors look like a circular maze, the long white columns stretching towards the heavens. Bright signs adorned with directional arrows point the way to terminal gates, their bold letters beckoning travelers onward.

Your mouth falls slightly agape, rendered speechless by the bewildering scene unfolding before you. Thoughts whirl through your mind in a chaotic frenzy. "Huh?" you inwardly mumble to yourself, confusion clouding your thoughts. "Why am I in Okinawa again?"

As you attempted to rise to your feet, a wave of dizziness washed over you, causing the room to spin alarmingly. "Too fast," you chastised yourself inwardly, recognizing the consequence of your sudden movement. The sensation of disorientation only intensified as you took in your surroundings—an empty, eerily silent airport devoid of any signs of life. This wasn't at all how you remembered Naha Airport from your previous visit with Satoru and Suguru, accompanied by Kuroi and Riko. Back then, it had been a bustling hub of activity, teeming with excited travelers eager to explore the exotic wonders of Okinawa or reluctant city-dwellers bidding farewell to the island paradise.

Your lips pressed together in a thin line as you made your way toward the expansive window, the view beyond revealing a grounded plane sitting desolately on the tarmac, devoid of any passengers or activity. Confusion gnawed at the edges of your mind as you struggled to piece together the fragmented puzzle of your current situation. The effort only served to exacerbate the pounding ache in your head, each attempt at coherence feeling like a futile road to go down on.

With each step towards the large window space, the weight of uncertainty pressed down upon you, adding to the throbbing ache in your head. Outside, the sight of the motionless plane sitting abandoned on the tarmac only deepened your sense of bewilderment. People would be here, no, you stopped yourself, they should be here. It was a stark contrast to the lively scenes you remembered from your previous visit, where the airport buzzed with the energy of travelers coming and going.

As you stood there, gazing out at the empty runway, a flurry of questions raced through your mind. How had you ended up here, alone in this deserted airport? Where were Satoru and Suguru? And what had happened to the vibrant atmosphere you had once experienced in Naha Airport? More importantly, what was the reason of you being here? And why are you all alone? You wouldn’t have gone here alone. Not by your own will, not at all.

Attempting to piece together the fragmented memories of your journey only served to exacerbate the pounding ache in your head. Frustration simmered beneath the surface as you struggled to make sense of the inexplicable situation unfolding before you. Your hands slides down to the depths of your uniform pockets and you gather yourself for a moment. Being frustrated wouldn’t do you good. With a heavy sigh, you leaned against the windowpane, your thoughts swirling in a whirlwind of confusion and uncertainty.

In the midst of the desolation, a pang of longing surged within you, a sudden ache for Suguru's comforting presence. He had always been the anchor to your tumultuous emotions, his touch a source of solace that grounded you in reality. You could almost feel the warmth of his hand enveloping yours, offering reassurance in times of uncertainty. Suguru possessed an innate gentleness, a kindness that seemed to radiate from his very being. He had a way of easing your burdens, providing comfort and relief to the pain that lingered within you. It was as if he carried a piece of sunshine wherever he went, banishing darkness with his unwavering warmth.

As thoughts of Suguru lingered, your mind drifted to Satoru, another pillar of strength in your life. Despite his penchant for cheesy dad jokes, he had a knack for lifting spirits and bringing smiles even in the darkest of times. You could almost hear his infectious laughter echoing in the empty halls of the airport, a reminder of the joy he brought to those around him. You missed the sound of his laughter, the way it bubbled up before he could even deliver one of his infamous jokes.

With a heavy sigh, you scanned the barren surroundings, searching for any sign of life amidst the desolate emptiness that surrounded you. It felt as though you were trapped within your own cage of loneliness, yearning for the comforting presence of those who had always been there to chase away the shadows of doubt and despair.

As you stood there, adrift in the labyrinth of your own thoughts, the sudden intrusion of a voice shattered the eerie silence enveloping the abandoned airport. Its resonance seemed to reverberate through the desolate expanse of the airport lounge, punctuating the solitude with an unexpected interruption. Startled by the intrusion, you pivoted on your heels to locate its source, your senses heightened by the jarring contrast between the stillness and the sudden commotion.

There, amidst the ghostly surroundings, you caught sight of Amanai Riko racing towards you, tears tracing a glistening trail down her cheeks. Her frantic footsteps echoed off the empty walls, each stride a testament to the urgency of her approach. The sight of her tear-streaked face stirred a mixture of emotions within you, a blend of concern and bewilderment at the unexpected encounter.

"Hey, are you alright?" Riko's voice called out, trembling with emotion, as she hurried toward you. Her hands moved frantically, checking your sides, your face, your hair, as though uncertain of what to do but driven by an urgent need to ensure your well-being. Confusion clouded your mind as you tried to make sense of her actions, her touch both comforting and disconcerting in equal measure. Tears welled in her eyes, her distress palpable, and without a word, you found yourself enveloped in her embrace. “You’re here, I can’t believe you’re right here. I found you!”

You could feel the warmth of her tears soaking into your Jujutsu uniform, her apologies whispered between sobs. The sight of her vulnerability stirred a myriad of emotions within you, leaving you momentarily stunned into silence. Slowly, you reciprocated her embrace, your arms encircling her as you gently brushed her hair, urging her to release her pent-up emotions. Despite your own confusion, your instinct was to offer comfort, to be a source of solace in her time of need.

At that moment, questions lingered on the tip of your tongue, but you pushed them aside, prioritizing Riko's emotional well-being over your own uncertainties. All that mattered was being there for her, providing whatever support and comfort you could offer in the face of her tears.

"I'm so sorry," Riko choked out, her words muffled against the fabric of your shirt, her voice heavy with emotion. “I’m so so sorry!”

Confusion swept over you like a tidal wave, threatening to engulf your senses as you struggled to comprehend the depth of her distress. Yet, despite the uncertainty swirling within your mind, your instinct was to offer comfort, to provide solace in whatever way you could. With a gentle squeeze, you conveyed reassurance, a silent reminder that you were there for her, unwavering in your support.

"It's okay, Riko," you whispered softly, your voice a gentle murmur against the backdrop of her tears. Each syllable carried the weight of understanding and empathy, a soothing balm to the turmoil of emotions swirling around you. "Don't worry about it. You don't ever have to apologize for anything, darling girl."

"But! But….I just!" Riko's voice wavered, interrupted by sobs that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Shhh…" You cooed, your words a comforting melody as you gently hushed her protests. A soft laugh escaped your lips, the sound echoing against the strands of her hair as you held her close. "I don't know why you're apologizing, but it's okay. I'm not mad about anything."

As Riko's sobs gradually subsided, you cast a glance over her shoulder, noting Kuroi Misato's approach with a gentle smile gracing her lips. "Hey," Kuroi greeted softly, her voice carrying a warmth that belied the complexity of emotions swirling within her.

Despite the outward display of kindness, there lingered a subtle hint of unease in Kuroi's expression, a flicker of guilt that caught your attention like a shadow in the midst of sunlight. It was a discordant note amidst the tranquility of the moment, leaving you with a sense of disquiet that gnawed at the edges of your consciousness.

As you pondered the significance of Kuroi's demeanor, a myriad of questions danced through your mind, each one seeking to unravel the mystery shrouding her intentions. Yet, try as you might, the elusive truth remained just beyond your grasp, leaving you to grapple with an unsettling sense of uncertainty. As Riko gradually regained her composure, you gently pulled away, your concern etched into every line of your face as you met her gaze with a mixture of worry and curiosity.

"What's going on?" you asked, your voice tinged with apprehension. You slowly straighten your posture and look between the younger girl and her guardian. “I woke up here….and you’re crying. And I just….”

With a trembling voice, Riko began to unravel the unsettling truth that had brought them to this deserted airport. She looks like she couldn’t even bear to tell you. But looking at her eyes, you realized that she was gathering the courage to say it to you. You wanted to coax it out of her, suspicion making your heart beat even faster at the anxiety. She looks at Kuroi, who gives her a soft smile and nods at her.

"We've been here for a while, on the other side of the airport," she explained, her words carrying the weight of revelation. "It took us some time to realize, but... we're dead."

The revelation hit you with the force of a thunderclap, jolting you from the realm of the familiar into the stark reality of their circumstances. It felt as if the ground had shifted beneath your feet, leaving you reeling in a maelstrom of disbelief and confusion. Each word uttered by Riko seemed to reverberate through the empty expanse of the airport, echoing off the walls like a haunting refrain.

Your mind raced to grasp the enormity of what she had just disclosed, but comprehension eluded you like a fleeting shadow. The implications of their predicament began to sink in slowly, like pebbles dropped into the vast ocean of your consciousness. This wasn't a mere misunderstanding or a figment of their imagination; it was the chilling truth laid bare before you.

As you struggled to come to terms with the stark reality of their situation, a sense of surrealism washed over you, enveloping you in a haze of uncertainty. It was as if you had been thrust into a waking dream, where the boundaries between life and death blurred and indistinct shades of gray.

Yet, amidst the tumult of emotions that threatened to engulf you, a flicker of determination ignited within your soul. You knew that you couldn't afford to dwell on shock and disbelief for long; there were questions to be answered, decisions to be made, and a journey into the unknown awaiting them all. With a steel resolve, you square your shoulders and prepare to confront whatever lay ahead, drawing strength from the bond that united you with Riko and Kuroi in this surreal limbo.

"Wait, what?" you stammered, your mind reeling with the enormity of what she was saying. It wasn’t registered. Your mouth parts, trying to get the words out. But nothing comes out.

This airport, once a bustling hub teeming with life and activity, now loomed before you as a solemn gateway to the afterlife. Its once vibrant corridors now echoed with the hollow silence of abandonment, the ghostly remnants of past travelers haunting its deserted halls. It was as if time had frozen within these walls, trapping them in a liminal space between the worlds of the living and the dead.

As the gravity of their situation settled upon you like a heavy shroud, a whirlwind of questions stormed through your mind, each one a relentless demand for answers in the face of this surreal reality. How had they ended up here? What awaited them beyond the confines of this desolate airport? And most pressing of all, what did it mean for their future?

Yet, amidst the chaos of your thoughts, you made a conscious choice to set aside your own uncertainties, focusing instead on providing Riko and Kuroi with the unwavering support they needed in this moment of profound uncertainty. With a steadfast resolve, you vowed to stand by their side, ready to confront whatever revelations the future held, even as you braced yourself for the unknown journey that lay ahead.

You let yourself slowly walk back to the benches.

You take a moment and you carefully sit down.

You look at the two of them as you cross your arms.

“Tell me everything you remember when you woke up.”

YOU THINK YOU SPENT QUITE WHILE REGISTERING EVERYTHING. The three of you huddled together in a somber tableau, grappling with the weight of the revelations that had reshaped your understanding of existence. There really isn't much to be done now, it seems. As the realization of your passing settles in, a heavy sigh escapes your lips, accompanied by a gentle rub of the back of your head.

The irony of finding yourself in an airport at this moment doesn't escape you; it's almost as if God has a penchant for whimsy in the afterlife. Taking a seat on one of the airport benches, you purse your lips in contemplation. You know you'll be waiting here for a while, and oddly enough, that's what you find solace in. Suguru and Satoru, together. You believe they'll be alright; those two were destined for long, fulfilling lives. At least, that's what you hope for. After all, Jujutsu sorcerers aren't typically associated with the concept of 'forever'.

In truth, for you, the concept of death had been a familiar companion since youth—a shadow that had trailed alongside you through the tumultuous journey of your upbringing. As an orphan with no prospects and no dreams to call your own, the specter of mortality had woven itself into the fabric of your being, a constant presence as natural as drawing breath into your lungs.

It was Tsukumo Yuki who had intervened, rescuing you from the abyss of despair during her travels and delivering you into the care of Yaga-sensei. Under his guidance, you had discovered the latent ability to perceive curses, a revelation that had irrevocably altered the trajectory of your life. Even then, death had not loosened its grip on you; the path of a sorcerer was fraught with peril, a reality Yaga-sensei had emphasized with disarming candor.

Yet, buoyed by the hope of strength and the promise of a newfound purpose, you had forged ahead, driven by the belief that diligence and determination would pave the way to a brighter future. In the embrace of companionship—with Satoru, with Shoko, with Suguru—you glimpsed the elusive promise of happiness, a fragile beacon amidst the darkness of uncertainty.

Now, faced with the stark reality of your demise, you couldn't help but mourn the life you had hoped to live—a life filled with love, with laughter, with the warmth of cherished bonds. The memory of your final moments flooded back, the visceral recollection of sacrificing yourself to shield Riko from harm, a selfless act that now loomed large in the landscape of regret.

As you leaned against the cold metal frame, a heavy sigh escaped your lips, carrying with it the weight of resignation and understanding. No wonder Riko felt guilty—your sacrifice had left an indelible mark on her conscience, a burden she now bore in the wake of your shared tragedy. You harbored no blame towards Riko, not even a trace of guilt weighed upon your conscience for sacrificing yourself in an attempt to protect her. From the depths of your being, there surged a profound sense of clarity—a steadfast conviction that your actions were born out of love and selflessness, devoid of any remorse or reproach.

In that fateful moment when danger had loomed large and fate had beckoned, you had acted instinctively, driven by an innate desire to shield Riko from harm at any cost. The notion of self-preservation had paled in comparison to the unwavering commitment to her safety, a commitment that transcended mere survival.

As you reflected upon the events that had led to your demise, there was no room for regret or recrimination. You supposed that it was the Jujutsu sorcerer in you. Yaga–sensei’s voice reverberated in your head, ‘A sorcerer doesn’t live for themselves. You live for others.’

The sentiment was something you wanted to laugh at. Satoru would laugh at how ridiculous that sounded, Suguru would think that it was ridiculous but it was what it was. But deep down you know you couldn’t. You know you wouldn’t. Instead, there existed a serene acceptance—a recognition that your final act had been keeping someone innocent alive. You did your duty, you stuck to your beliefs. You died well. You died fast too–you supposed that was a bonus in itself. That Sorcerer Killer had good aim too, you think. You sighed in finality, at the acceptance that this was fate. That this was what was destined. And it was what it was.

As you grapple with the weight of your departure, a single regret pierces through the fog of your thoughts, consuming your mind with its relentless presence. It's the ache of leaving behind Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko—the three pillars of your life, the anchors that tethered you to the realm of happiness and belonging.

Yet, amid this sea of regret, it's Suguru who occupies the forefront of your mind, his memory etched into the deepest recesses of your heart. You can't shake the feeling that your absence will inflict the deepest wounds upon him, for your love for him ran as deep as the ocean, binding your souls together in an unbreakable bond.

A flashback floods your consciousness, transporting you back to a moment frozen in time—a promise exchanged between lovers, whispered with the fervent hope of a future together. But now, as the harsh reality of your demise sets in, you find yourself grappling with the bitter irony of it all, the weight of unfulfilled promises hanging heavy on your soul.

You wish—oh, how you wish—that Suguru could understand the circumstances that led to your untimely departure, that he could find solace in the knowledge that your love for him transcends the boundaries of life and death. But even as you entertain this fleeting hope, a pang of uncertainty gnaws at the edges of your consciousness, whispering doubts of forgiveness and understanding.

And then there's Satoru—the other half of your soul, the one who had captured your heart with his infectious laughter and unwavering devotion. You can't bear to think of the pain that your absence will inflict upon him, the shattered dreams and broken promises that will haunt his waking hours.

A bittersweet memory emerges from the depths of your mind—a pinky promise exchanged between friends, a solemn vow to stand by each other's side until the end of time. But now, as you stand on the precipice of eternity, you can't help but wonder if Satoru will ever forgive you for breaking that sacred oath, for leaving him behind in a world devoid of your presence.

Amidst the whirlwind of emotions, a pang of guilt washes over you as you contemplate the impact of your absence on Shoko. She, too, had been an integral part of your life, a steadfast companion whose presence had brought warmth and solace in times of need. Now, as she navigates the bustling city streets alone, you can't help but feel a twinge of remorse knowing that she'll face each day without your comforting presence by her side.

You envision her, standing alone on the far-flung balcony of her dorm, the tendrils of smoke from her cigarette swirling around her like a melancholic dance. In that solitary moment, you can almost feel her loneliness echoing through the void, a stark reminder of the void you've left behind.

But even amidst the guilt and regret, you cling to a flicker of hope—that somehow, someway, Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko will come to understand the circumstances that led to your departure. You wish for nothing more than their forgiveness, their understanding, their acceptance of the choices you've made.

For now, as you stand at the crossroads of eternity, you hold onto the enduring love that binds you to them—a love that transcends time and space, a love that will guide you through the darkness and into the light.

A solemn silence settles over the three of you, each lost in your own thoughts and emotions. It's Riko who breaks the silence first, her voice trembling with emotion as she struggles to articulate the enormity of their situation.

"I... I never thought... I never imagined..." Riko's words falter, her eyes brimming with tears as she looks to you for comfort and understanding. “I just….”

You reach out to her, offering a reassuring squeeze of her hand as you meet her gaze with a soft smile. "It's okay, Riko. We'll figure this out together," you assure her, your voice laced with a gentle reassurance. “We gotta stick together, you hear me?”

Kuroi steps forward, her expression trying to lift from the veil of sorrow. She smiled. "We may not have all the answers right now, but we'll face this challenge together, as a team."

You nod in agreement, grateful for the unwavering support of your friends in this moment of uncertainty. "Thank you, both of you," you say with a sincere grin. “This might be easier with the two of you with me.”

With a determined smile, you hummed, eager to lift the spirits of your small group. You stand up from your chair. "Let's not dwell on what we can't change right now," you suggest gently, your voice infused with optimism. "Instead, why don't we explore this airport together? Who knows what we might find?"

Riko's eyes brighten slightly at the suggestion, a glimmer of curiosity replacing the sadness that had clouded her features moments before. She wipes the tears away. "That sounds like a good idea," she agrees, a tentative smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Kuroi nods in approval, her resolve visibly strengthening as she takes your lead. "We'll make the most of this situation," she declares with newfound determination.

“Now, let’s go! I’m craving an ice cream sundae!”

Riko laughs as she follows closely behind you. “We’re dead, we can’t eat ice cream.”

“It doesn’t matter, I want it!” You laughed back at her, but more obnoxiously. “Kuroi, what’s your favorite ice cream?”

“Oh, that’s a hard one to decide….”

As you set off together, embarking on a journey of exploration and discovery, you can't help but feel a spark of hope ignite within you. Though the road ahead may be uncertain, you take comfort in the knowledge that you're not alone—you have each other, and together, you'll find a way to navigate this strange new world.

With a sense of purpose guiding your steps, you forge ahead into the unknown, ready to face whatever challenges may come your way. And as you walk side by side, the promise of a brighter future beckons on the horizon, filling your hearts with renewed courage and determination.

You had high hopes that it’ll be just the three of you for now.

If there was a god watching you now, you whispered a wish.

You wished that those you love would live a long and happy life.

But a few months later, you stood and frowned as you stared.

Brown eyes stared at you, cheeks flustered all the way through.

“Yu Haibara, how the fu—you were supposed to grow old, idiot!”

YOU COULDN’T HELP BUT THINK. That’s all you could really do here, if you were being honest. God perhaps intended purgatory as a reflection on your life. But somehow, these days, you end up thinking more about your new arrival—-Yu Haibara, and how he got here. Why was he here? You already knew why. And yet you kept pondering why. Why did he end up here so early? Why should such a boy with a life long ahead of him be here?

In the hushed moments of contemplation, memories of Haibara's sacrifice resurfaced like ghosts haunting the corridors of your mind. You didn’t tell him about it, but you ended up thinking that he was more like you than you liked. You wished in a way, that the boy he was, had been a little bit more selfish. He didn’t have to tell you how he died — you already knew. Because he was just that kind. He was too good of a person.

His selfless act, a final testament to his unwavering loyalty and boundless courage, lingered with poignant clarity, etching itself into the fabric of your consciousness. The image of him, standing tall and resolute in the face of danger, sacrificing himself to shield Nanami from harm, was seared into your memory like a brand, a testament to the indomitable spirit that defined him.

Nanami Kento must have been distraught, you think. Your little Ken, as you liked to call him, was more emotional than he let on, you like to think. To lose you both in the distance of one year, that’s a big blow — at least you like to think so. Kento had few people he liked to genuinely call friends. Even with you, he was formal. But Haibara? Haibara was his closest friend, even if he didn’t say it out loud. And now Haibara’s gone. You didn’t know what to say, at first. But Haibara just smiled at you.

As you reminisced about that conversation with Haibara, his words echoed in your mind with a poignant clarity, each syllable carrying a weight of its own. His reassurance, delivered with a grin that belied his own fears, had offered a fleeting moment of solace amidst the turmoil of grief and uncertainty. But even then, you couldn't shake the heavy burden of concern that weighed upon your heart.

“He’ll be alright,” Haibara wistfully smiled at you. “He’s a strong guy you know! He’s survived this long!”

"I hope so. But he'll miss his friend the most, you know," you murmured softly, your gaze tender as you looked upon Haibara, your voice heavy with unspoken worry.

In response, Haibara had laughed heartily, his laughter a balm to your troubled soul. "Hm, I know. But we'll see him one day. For now... he has to live. Long and happily too."

Your response had been a quiet hum of agreement, the weight of his words lingering in the air like a promise yet to be fulfilled. Together, you had watched the birds outside the airport window, their graceful flight a stark contrast to the heavy thoughts that weighed upon your mind.

And then, in a moment of unexpected candor, Haibara had turned to you, his expression earnest as he broached a topic that had long been left unspoken between you.

"You know..." he had begun hesitantly, his voice trailing off as he searched for the right words to convey the depth of his emotions.

"Yeah?" you had prompted, your curiosity piqued by the sudden seriousness in his tone.

"Geto-senpai and Gojo-senpai..." Haibara had started, his gaze flickering with a mixture of sadness and regret. "They were really sad about your death."

The revelation had struck you like a blow to the chest, the weight of his words crushing in their sincerity. In that moment, you had been reminded of the far-reaching impact of your passing, the ripple effect of grief and loss that had reverberated through the lives of those you held dear. And as you grappled with the magnitude of their sorrow, a pang of guilt had seared through your heart, a painful reminder of the unintended consequences of your untimely departure.

A heavy silence descended between you and Haibara, the weight of his words hanging in the air like an unspoken truth. You felt a lump form in your throat, the guilt of causing pain to those you cared about weighing heavily on your shoulders.

"I... I didn't mean to hurt them," you finally murmured, your voice barely above a whisper as you struggled to articulate the turmoil within your heart.

Haibara's gaze softened, a gentle understanding shining in his eyes as he reached out to place a comforting hand on your shoulder. "I know, senpai. None of us blame you for what happened. It's just... hard, you know? Losing someone we cared about so deeply."

Tears welled up in your eyes, a silent testament to the depth of your remorse. "I wish I could have stayed," you admitted, your voice choking with emotion. You straighten your posture. You tried to be strong. "I wish I could have been there for them, to ease their pain and share in their sorrow."

Haibara's grip on your shoulder tightened, offering a silent reassurance in the midst of your anguish. "I know, senpai. But we can't change what's already happened. All we can do is cherish the memories we shared and hold onto the hope that one day, we'll be reunited with them again."

You nodded in agreement, finding solace in Haibara's words. "You're right," you whispered, a sense of determination settling over you. "We'll wait. Like they’re waiting.”

In those quiet moments of solitude, you found yourself reflecting on the bonds that had formed between you and your companions, forged through shared experiences and the trials of this peculiar existence. Haibara, Kuroi, Riko—each one has become an indispensable part of your makeshift family, their presence a source of strength and comfort in the face of uncertainty.

As you watched the sunset beyond the airport windows, casting a warm glow over the empty terminal, memories of happier times flooded your mind. You recalled the laughter that had once echoed through these halls, the shared meals and late-night conversations that had brought you all closer together.

But amidst the nostalgia, there lingered a palpable sense of loss—the absence of those who had left this world too soon, their laughter now just a distant echo in the recesses of your mind. You couldn't help but wonder what they would think if they could see you now, still waiting, still hoping for a chance at redemption.

Yet, despite the passage of time and the weight of your regrets, you refused to lose hope. You clung to the belief that one day, your vigil would come to an end, and you would be reunited with those you had lost. Until then, you would continue to cherish the moments you shared with your companions, finding solace in their unwavering support and the enduring bonds of friendship that bound you together.

As the last rays of sunlight faded into darkness, you found yourself filled with a renewed sense of purpose—a determination to make the most of each passing day, to live fully and love deeply, even in the midst of this endless waiting. And so, with a quiet resolve, you turned to face the challenges of the days ahead, guided by the enduring light of hope that burned brightly within your heart.

Amidst the ever-present stillness of the airport, a burst of playful energy erupted as Riko suggested the game of hide and seek. "Let's play hide and seek!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she glanced around at the group.

You and your companions eagerly embraced the idea, craving a reprieve from the relentless monotony of waiting. With a chorus of agreement, you all scattered in different directions, eager to find the perfect hiding spot or to be the one to uncover the others' hiding places.

As the designated seeker, you closed your eyes and began counting aloud while the others hurried off to conceal themselves. The rhythmic cadence of your countdown filled the air, accompanied by the faint sounds of laughter and shuffling as your friends found their spots.

"One... two... three..." you began, the anticipation building with each passing moment. "Ten! Ready or not, here I come!"

You navigated the deserted corridors of the airport, your senses heightened as you scanned every nook and cranny for any sign of movement. Laughter echoed faintly in the distance, teasing you with hints of where your friends might be hiding.

As you rounded a corner, you caught a glimpse of movement—a flicker of movement behind a row of empty seats. Your heart raced with anticipation as you quickened your pace, closing in on the source of the movement. But as you rounded the corner, your momentum carried you forward, and before you knew it, you collided with someone—someone whose familiar touch sent a jolt of recognition coursing through your veins. You thought it was Kuroi. You believed it was Kuroi.

"Gotcha!" you exclaimed triumphantly, reaching out to tag the figure on the shoulder.

The realization hit you like a sudden gust of wind, knocking the breath from your lungs and leaving you reeling in disbelief. The warmth of the hand against yours was unmistakable—this wasn't Kuroi. Her touch was always cool, her fingers delicate and precise. But this hand... it was different. It was warm, rough with calluses that spoke of a life filled with toil and hardship.

As the truth began to sink in, your heart raced with a frantic rhythm, each beat echoing loudly in your ears as your mind struggled to process the impossible reality before you. Why was he….here? How was it possible? This soon?

Your eyes widened ever so slowly in the shock you felt as you resisted the urge to look up, to meet his gaze and confront the truth that lay between you. You knew that if you looked into his eyes, you would see the same pain and confusion mirrored there—the same turmoil that threatened to consume you whole.

“It’s you….”

The sound of his voice, so achingly familiar yet tinged with a hint of reproach, pierced through the haze of disbelief that enveloped you. You could feel his gaze boring into you, urging you to meet his eyes, to confront the truth that lay between you.

But you couldn't bring yourself to look. Not yet. Not when the wounds of his passing were still so fresh, raw with the sting of loss and longing. Instead, you bit your lip in a futile attempt to steady your trembling emotions, feeling the hot sting of tears welling up in your eyes.

“Look at me,” he pleaded, his voice soft yet filled with an unspoken urgency.

You shook your head, unable to find the strength to meet his gaze, to face the reality of his absence head-on.

“After all this time, are you going to deny me seeing your face?” His words were laced with a mixture of longing and frustration, a silent plea for reconciliation that echoed in the empty space between you.

Your heart ached at the sound of his voice, the memories of your shared love flooding your mind with bittersweet intensity. Ten years—ten long years since you last saw him, since he slipped away from your grasp and into the cold embrace of eternity.

And now, here he was, standing before you with his hand outstretched, a silent reminder of everything you had lost and everything that could never be again.

But still, you couldn't bring yourself to look—to face the truth that lay before you, to acknowledge the gaping void that his absence had left in your heart.

“I can't,” you whispered, your voice barely above a hoarse murmur.

The air between you hung heavy with unspoken words, the weight of your shared history pressing down upon you like a suffocating blanket. And as the tears continued to flow, you knew that no matter how hard you tried to deny it. He died. And so soon. He didn’t let himself grow old. He didn’t let himself live the life you wanted for him. You cried even more in the silence.

As you looked up, your breath caught in your throat, tears welling in your eyes at the sight of Suguru standing before you. His expression softened with concern as he reached out to steady you, his touch sending waves of warmth cascading through your body. For a moment, time seemed to stand still as you gazed into his eyes, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions that threatened to consume you. His purple eyes gleamed, almost so wondrously as though he was taking in the features of your face. As though he’d forgotten. He slowly smiled as tears poured down from his eyes too. His breath became shaky as his fingers rested on your chin.

In that fleeting instant, all the pain and longing you had carried with you melted away, replaced by an overwhelming sense of love and belonging. Without a word, you threw your arms around him, clinging to him as though he were the anchor that could tether you to this world. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you buried your face in his chest, the weight of your shared sorrow and joy pressing against you like a comforting embrace.

In that moment, surrounded by the echoes of laughter and the warmth of Suguru's embrace, you knew that no matter how long you waited or how far you roamed, you would always find your way back to each other. And as you stood there, lost in the embrace of the one you loved, you felt a flicker of hope ignite within you—a hope that one day, you would be reunited with all those you held dear, in a place where time had no power to separate.

As the warmth of his embrace enveloped you, you couldn't help but let the floodgates of emotion burst open, tears streaming down your cheeks as you buried your face against his chest. The familiar scent of him, a mixture of earthy musk and the faint hint of his favorite cologne, washed over you, comforting you in a way that nothing else could.

“You idiot,” you cried out, your voice muffled against the warmth of his flesh. “You couldn’t even make me proud by growing old and living a whole life to tell me. You’re so annoying, you….”

But before you could finish your tirade, his laughter cut through the air, a melodic sound that echoed against your bodies and filled the empty space between you. It was a laugh filled with joy, unbridled and free, and for a fleeting moment, you couldn't help but feel a pang of envy at the happiness he exuded.

“I didn’t want to live a whole life if you weren’t going to be in it,” he confessed, his voice soft yet resolute. “There was nothing to smile about.”

His words hung heavy in the air, a poignant reminder of the depth of his love for you, even in the face of eternity. And as you stood there, locked in each other's embrace, you knew that no matter what trials may come, no matter how much time may pass, the bond you shared with Suguru would endure—a beacon of hope in the darkness that now enveloped your soul.

In that moment, amidst the chaos of emotions swirling within you, a sense of peace washed over your weary soul. You realized that even in death, your love for each other remained as steadfast as ever, an unbreakable thread binding your hearts together for all eternity.

"I missed you," you whispered, your voice barely a breath against his chest.

"I missed you too," he replied, his arms tightening around you in a silent promise never to let go again.

For a timeless moment, you simply stood there, lost in the embrace of the one you thought you had lost forever. The weight of the years spent apart melted away, leaving only the warmth of his love to fill the void in your heart.

But as the realization of your reunion settled in, a new sense of purpose stirred within you. You knew that you couldn't stay in this airport forever, trapped in a limbo of waiting and longing. There were others out there, waiting for you, longing to be reunited just as you had been.

You pulled away from Suguru's embrace, meeting his gaze with a determined glint in your eyes. "We can't stay here," you said firmly. "There are others who’d want to see you.”

Suguru nodded in agreement, his expression mirroring your determination. "You're right," he said. "We'll find a way. Together. But….”

You looked at him as he smiled at you, his height bearing down upon you.

“Let me kiss you.” He whispers to you. “Before you introduce me to the others.”

You felt a soft flutter in your chest at his words, a mixture of longing and anticipation coursing through your veins. Despite the weight of the years that had passed, the desire to feel his lips against yours burned fiercely within you.

Without a word, you leaned in, closing the distance between you and Suguru. His lips met yours in a tender embrace, a silent exchange of love and longing that transcended the boundaries of time and space. In that fleeting moment, all the pain and sorrow of the past faded into insignificance, replaced by the overwhelming warmth of his touch.

As you pulled away, you met Suguru's gaze, his eyes sparkling with a mixture of affection and gratitude. "Thank you," he whispered softly, his voice barely a breath against your lips.

Your heart flutters at his words.

He grins at you, wholeheartedly.

You admit, your heart is a little bit full.

But you knew it wasn’t as full as yet.

Satoru, you wanted to see Satoru too.

IT WAS DECEMBER 24TH 2018 WHEN GOJO SATORU ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT. As you and Suguru stood by the airport benches, your embrace providing a comforting anchor amidst the chaos of the bustling terminal, a sense of tranquility settled over you. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of you in your own private sanctuary.

But amidst this moment of serenity, a movement caught your eye, drawing your attention to a familiar figure nearby. There, amidst the deserted terminal, Satoru lay sleeping, his form peaceful and serene against the backdrop of the bustling airport.

You exchanged a glance with Suguru, a silent communication passing between you as you both recognized the significance of the moment. It was an unexpected reunion, one that held the promise of both joy and uncertainty.

For a moment, you simply stood there, lost in the quiet beauty of the scene before you. The terminal faded into the background, leaving only Satoru and the two of you in a timeless embrace. As you watched Satoru sleep, a rush of emotions swept over you, mingling with the tender affection you felt for him. It was a moment of unexpected beauty, a reminder of the enduring bond that connected the three of you, even across the vast expanse of time and space.

"He didn't even wait a year after you," you remarked to Suguru, a hint of annoyance creeping into your voice as you crossed your arms. "Nanami Ken-Ken, I understand. But the two of you?"

Suguru's snort was barely audible, but the wry smile tugging at the corners of his lips spoke volumes. Memories flooded his mind as he remembered the last time Nanami had made an unexpected appearance in the airport. He couldn't help but find amusement in the way you had reacted then – your expression a mix of shock and disappointment that was, in his eyes, utterly endearing.

In that moment, Suguru couldn't help but recall just how adorable you looked when you expressed such disappointment. He knew you well enough to recognize that pout – the one that often graced your lips when things didn't go as planned, or when someone didn't meet your expectations. It was a trait of yours that Satoru, too, was likely familiar with.

But Suguru understood the underlying reason behind your tendency to pout and lecture. It wasn't borne out of mere petulance or frustration; rather, it stemmed from a deep-seated care and concern for those around you. You had a heart that overflowed with love and compassion, and you wanted nothing more than for everyone to live longer, happier lives – even if it meant lecturing them endlessly or wearing that adorable pout.

It was this caring nature of yours that Suguru found so utterly captivating, and it was a trait that had endeared you to him even more over the years. As he looked at you now, lost in your thoughts, he couldn't help but feel a swell of affection for you – a silent acknowledgment of the depth of your love and the strength of your character.

As you stood in the airport, a familiar figure caught your eye. It was Nanami, standing there in the terminal, his presence a shocking revelation. Disbelief washed over you, mingled with a sense of incredulity. How could he be here after all this time? He was supposed to be alive and well. If anyone was going to outlive them all now, it would be Nanami. Suguru had said that he had left that life behind, after you and Haibara passed away. But to have seen him there, as young as you met him, rubbing the back of his head as you

Without a second thought, you rushed over to him, your voice tinged with disbelief and a hint of annoyance. "Nanami? What are you doing here?" you demanded, unable to mask the surprise in your tone. "You... you shouldn't be here. You're supposed to be..."

“Well, I’m here.” Nanami Kento replied to you, sighing, crossing his arms. He was as much a teenager as you remember him to be. “I’m dead, senpai.”

“You….”

But before you could finish your sentence, you launched into a tirade, peppering Nanami with questions and admonishments. "You can't just waltz into the airport like nothing happened!" you exclaimed, your frustration bubbling to the surface. "Do you have any idea how bad this is? Suguru said you left Jujutsu! Why did you come back, you idiot?”

“......It’s not like I have anything to do.”

“Kento, is that you?” Yu Haibara’s mouth went agape as he stood before you all, looking at his closest friend. “You still look the same! Emo and all!”

Nanami frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Now, now,” Suguru tries to mitigate.

“Wait, I’m not done lecturing!” You impede, your brows furrowing. You sighed, lowering your head to your palm. “Let me think for a second, I’m overstimulating.”

Haibara grinned. “You can do it, senpai!”

“That’s not helping.” Nanami whispers.

“Shhhhhhhhh!” You put your index finger on your lip, glaring at him. “I’m not done!”

Your words trailed off as you struggled to find the right ones, emotions swirling within you like a storm. But despite your agitation, Nanami Kento remained silent, his expression unreadable as he listened to your impassioned speech. He knew you weren’t going to stop. You were more the parent than Geto Suguru, after all.

At the sight of your antics, Suguru couldn't help but laugh, the sound echoing softly through the terminal. "Leave it to you to give him a proper scolding, even after he's dead," he remarked, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“You’re not out of the water either!”

"You make it seem like it was a choice for us to go down that route," Suguru replied, his tone tinged with resignation. It was a reminder of the circumstances that had led them here, to this peculiar purgatory where time seemed to stand still. “It is fate, whatever happened.”

"It is a choice," you insisted, leaning against Suguru's side as you settled down beside him on the bench. "I wanted to see you with white hair."

Suguru chuckled, his smile widening as he reached over to playfully poke at Satoru's hair. "You already see so much of that on Satoru," he remarked teasingly.

You swatted Suguru's hand away with a mock glare. "Hey, he might develop a bald spot with that!" you protested, unable to suppress a grin.

Suguru laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "He's already in the afterlife, he's gonna be fine," he reassured you, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

You raised an eyebrow skeptically. "We're not even sure if he's dead, Suguru! His soul is a bit glitchy from here!" you retorted back to your lover.

Suguru met your gaze with a playful smirk. "You can see souls?" he quipped, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"I'm dead, so obviously, I do!" you shot back, unable to resist a jab back at him.

Suguru's smirk widened into a grin as he considered your words. "What if we return him back to life and he's bald?" he mused, the corners of his lips twitching with suppressed laughter.

“That’s not funny, Suguru!”

Just as you and Suguru continued to trade playful banter, Satoru stirred from his slumber, blinking groggily as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. His eyes widened in surprise as he took in the sight of you and Suguru sitting beside him, the playful atmosphere of your conversation washing over him. You waved at him, happily greeting him. He couldn’t believe it. How he was seeing you greet him in that warm manner, as you always have when you were alive.

Satoru's initial disbelief gradually gave way to a sense of wonder as he took in the sight of you waving at him, a warm smile gracing your lips. It was a sight he had longed to see for years, a memory that he had held onto tightly even as the years stretched on in this strange limbo.

With a mixture of awe and gratitude, Satoru returned your wave, his heart swelling with emotion at the sight of you. It felt surreal, almost dreamlike, to be greeted by you in such a familiar manner, as if no time had passed at all.

For a moment, he allowed himself to revel in the warmth of your presence, the memory of your smile etched into his mind like a cherished treasure. It was a moment of pure bliss amidst the uncertainty of their existence in this surreal afterlife, a reminder of the enduring bond that connected them across the boundaries of life and death.

"Yo," Suguru greeted Satoru casually, a grin spreading across his face.

Satoru's expression shifted from confusion to disbelief as he processed the unexpected reunion. "This is freaking awful," he muttered, his words tinged with a mixture of incredulity and bemusement.

Geto pouted exaggeratedly, feigning offense at Satoru's response. "Hey, that's rude," he protested with mock indignation. “I can’t believe you greet the love of my life warmly but you greet me so cruelly.”

You let your tongue out at Suguru. “I’m his best friend, of course, bangs!”

He pinches your cheek as you squeal “You’re acting so cheekily again.”

Satoru sighed, running a hand through his hair as he struggled to make sense of the situation. "I told my students that when they die, they'll be alone," he explained, his tone tinged with a hint of resignation. "So I'm hoping this is just some illusion."

You couldn't help but laugh at Satoru's melodramatic proclamation, shaking your head in amusement. It was a clearly playful jab, one that you had not been able to say to him in such a long time. "That’s actually such a loser statement, Satoru," you teased, a fond smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “You’ve gotten this lame over the years, Gojo–sensei?”

“I’m Satoru to you, thank you very much,” The blue eyed sorcerer pouts at you, crossing his arms. Though he had to admit, he liked the way you said Gojo–sensei. “And Yaga–sensei was the one who said it to me! Blame him, not me!”

As Satoru sat there, basking in the warmth of your presence, a wave of pure contentment washed over him, enveloping him in a sense of peace that he hadn't felt in years. The sound of your laughter was music to his ears. It was a harmony that he had been waiting to hear for a decade since you’ve passed. It was a feeling he struggled to put into words, a profound sense of happiness that seemed to resonate deep within his soul.

In that moment, surrounded by the familiar faces of you and Suguru, Satoru couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the opportunity to see you again. He had missed you more than words could express, longing for the warmth of your smile and the comfort of your presence during the long years of solitude in this airport purgatory.

Even as he grappled with the knowledge that he could never truly express his romantic feelings for you, Satoru found solace in the simple joy of being near you once more. For him, this moment was a glimpse of paradise, a fleeting taste of happiness that he would treasure for eternity.

In your presence, Satoru felt a sense of completeness that he had never known before, a feeling that transcended the boundaries of life and death. You were his paradise, his beacon of light in the darkness of this strange afterlife, and for that, he would be forever grateful.

As he sat there, savoring the precious moments with you, Satoru couldn't help but reflect on how his ten years in this limbo had led him to this beautiful reunion. Despite the uncertainties and challenges he had faced during his time here, none of it seemed to matter in comparison to the overwhelming joy of being with you once again.

He thought about all the times he had yearned to see your face, to hear your laughter, to feel the warmth of your touch. And now, as he sat beside you, surrounded by the gentle hum of the airport and the comforting presence of his friends, Satoru realized that this was where he truly belonged.

In your company, Satoru found a sense of peace and happiness that he had never known before. You were his anchor in this strange world, his guiding light through the darkness of uncertainty. And even though he could never express the depth of his feelings for you, he took comfort in the knowledge that he was with you, sharing this moment of bliss together. As the weight of his past burdens lifted from his shoulders, Satoru smiled, his heart overflowing with love and gratitude. For in this moment, surrounded by the ones he cherished most, he knew that he was home.

“Does he know?” You asked Satoru, looking at him with a soft tone.

He looked at you with his blue eyes, his glasses lowering. “Who?”

“That boy, you’ve been taking care of.” You whisper back to him.

“How'd you know about him?”

“I met his father around here—”

"Who cares?" Geto's voice cut through the silence, breaking the tension with a note of indifference. “He killed you.”

"I know" you retorted back, your tone gentle yet firm. "But he deserves to know about his dad too, you know. That boy….family ties run deep, especially when it comes to matters of the heart."

With a thoughtful nod, Satoru left the topic hanging in the air, shifting the focus to more pressing matters. "I've left it with Shoko to handle," he added, his tone indicating a sense of finality.

“We’re not even sure if you’re dead yet.” You whisper back to him, your hand resting on his. “You’ll be able to tell him.”

Satoru didn’t know how to tell you.

But you looked so beautiful to him.

He didn’t want to leave you here.

He wanted to stay with you and Suguru.

He wanted to be happy here, together.

“How was fighting Sukuna?” Suguru asked him, changing the topic.

"He was strong," Satoru admitted, his voice tinged with respect. "Even though he wasn't giving his all."

Suguru nodded in agreement, his expression thoughtful as he considered Satoru's words. "It must have been quite the battle," he remarked, his eyes reflecting a mixture of admiration and curiosity.

Satoru's lips curled into a wry smile, his demeanor surprisingly casual given the intensity of the confrontation. "It was exhilarating," he admitted, his voice carrying a note of genuine enjoyment. "But I can't help but feel a twinge of pity for Sukuna. He didn't bring his full strength to the table."

You couldn't help but laugh at Satoru's nonchalant attitude, leaning affectionately against him as you basked in his presence. His scent enveloped you, a comforting reminder of the bond you shared. "Only the strongest would say something like that," you remarked fondly, your eyes sparkling with admiration. "As expected of you."

Geto's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of jealousy briefly clouding his expression as he processed Satoru's words. "That's what sets him apart," he acknowledged quietly, his voice tinged with a hint of envy. "But if you're content with the outcome, then perhaps that's all that truly matters."

Satoru's grin widened at Geto's response, a mischievous glint dancing in his eyes. "I suppose I would have been more satisfied if you were there to spur me on," he teased, his tone laced with sincerity. He gently looks at Suguru and then at you. “It would have made me feel a little bit more at ease.”

“Don’t you mean, less cocky?” Suguru teased him back but Satoru just laughed.

You take a moment to express your heartfelt gratitude to Satoru, your voice filled with genuine emotion as you speak. "I'm proud of you, Satoru," you say, your words carrying the weight of years of admiration and affection. "After all you've done, after all you've been through... I'm just so happy to see you again, to be together with you and Suguru."

As you gaze at Satoru, a sense of completeness washes over you, the weight of years of separation lifting from your shoulders. "You've brought so much light into my life," you continue, your voice soft but filled with conviction. "My heart feels whole again, thanks to you."

“South or north,” Satoru says, after a moment of silence. “Where do you think I should go?”

Satoru's question lingered in the air like a heavy fog, casting a veil of uncertainty over the moment. You and Suguru exchanged a meaningful glance, both understanding the weight of Satoru's decision. Going south meant embracing the reunion, journeying together towards an uncertain but hopeful future. Going north meant bidding farewell once again, facing the prospect of separation with stoic resolve.

"Moving south," you begin, your gaze drifting towards the direction of the plane resting on the tarmac. You turn back to Satoru, a smile playing on your lips, though this one carries a hint of somberness. "Means you'll stay as you are."

Satoru takes in your words, his expression thoughtful as he absorbs their implications. Leaning against the airport bench, he looks at you and Suguru, the two people who make up his world, with a sense of resolve. "Here," he breathes out, his voice tinged with determination. "True to myself."

Suguru nods in understanding, his gaze shifting between you and Satoru. "But to go north…," he begins, his tone gentle yet firm. "You'll discover a new part of yourself. Another you."

Satoru's expression tightens slightly, the weight of his decision bearing down on him. "But without you," he adds, his voice heavy with unspoken regret. It's a realization he never wanted to voice, but one he knows he must confront. He isn't truly dead, and he can feel it as much as you can.

Your eyes soften as you meet Satoru's gaze, your palm instinctively resting on top of his hand in a gesture of comfort. "Just for now," you assure him, your voice filled with warmth and understanding. "It's not forever."

"We'll wait for you, until the next flight," Suguru chimes in, his grin conveying unwavering strength for the blue eyed sorcerer. Together, the three of you stand at the crossroads of possibility, each prepared to face the future with courage and determination, no matter which path Satoru chooses. “Even if everyone goes ahead, we’ll be here. Waiting for you.”

Satoru's eyes soften as he stands, his gaze shifting towards the north. With a determined nod, he takes a step forward, his eyes meeting yours with a depth of emotion that transcends words. Leaning in, he presses a gentle kiss on your hair, a silent gesture of gratitude and affection for all that you mean to him.

Satoru's warm smile illuminated his features as he turned to Suguru, a silent expression of gratitude and affection passing between them. With gentle tenderness, he leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on Suguru's cheek, a simple yet profound gesture of love and reassurance.

Suguru's eyes met Satoru's, a softness reflecting in their depths as they exchanged a silent conversation. It was a moment of quiet understanding, a wordless exchange that spoke volumes of their deep bond and unwavering commitment to each other.

In that moment, as you looked at them and they looked back at you, you felt a profound sense of reassurance. Their eyes held the promise of a brighter tomorrow, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of love. It was as if they were whispering to you with the windows of their souls, assuring you that everything would be alright, no matter what challenges lay ahead.

As Satoru straightens, his resolve firm and his heart heavy with the weight of his decision, he meets your gaze one last time. In that fleeting moment, you share a silent understanding, a mutual promise to await his return and embrace whatever the future may hold. Suguru wraps his arms around you, grinning at Satoru.

With one final glance at the two of you. You urge him forward, your eyes swimming with a watery glaze. He smiles at you and whispers to you, to Suguru – ‘I love you’;

‘I know.’ Both you and Suguru whisper back.

As Gojo Satoru takes a deep breath, his gaze fixed towards the north, a sense of resolve washes over him. He knows not what awaits him on the path ahead, but he steps forward with unwavering courage and determination. The road may be shrouded in uncertainty, but he finds solace in the knowledge that the bonds of love, forged over years of companionship and camaraderie, will serve as his guiding light.

You and Suguru stand by, silent witnesses to Satoru's journey, your presence a source of strength and support. Though the time for your reunion may not yet have come, Satoru carries your wishes in his heart as he ventures forth into the unknown. He is determined to fulfill your desire for him to live a long and happy life, to carry on in your memory and honor your legacy.

But there are tasks still left unfinished, promises yet to be fulfilled. Satoru's thoughts turn to the future, to the responsibilities that await him. He must see to it that your final wishes are carried out, that you and Suguru find peace together. He must be there for Shoko, for Megumi, for his students who look up to him with admiration and respect. They still need him, relying on his guidance and wisdom to navigate the trials that lie ahead.

With each step he takes, Satoru embraces the uncertainty of the journey, knowing that with courage and determination, he will find his way home. And though the road may be long and fraught with challenges, he walks it with the assurance that love will light the way, leading him back to the warmth and comfort of your embrace, one day. But not yet. For now, he walks forward, his heart filled with hope and his spirit fortified by the knowledge that you and Suguru will always be with him, guiding him home.

It may take some time.

He’d be away from you.

But he knows he’ll return.

Three of you, together.

You’ll be happy together.

183 notes · View notes

topguncortez · 5 months

Text

not that anyone asked but here’s why i don’t thing TG3 should be made:

one, trilogies are known to not do well. Look at The Godfather to the Godfather III. The Godfather made about $245 million world wide when it was in theater. The third movie?? 137 million. now yall might be like “it still made over a million” but compared to the first one? it flopped.

the first hunger games movie made about 408 million versus mocking jay that made 282 million.

and divergent didn’t even get to make their last movie cause it did so bad. same with the maze runner.

and one of the reasons why TGM did so well was because it brought generations of people to the theater. this movie was 30 some odd years in the making. TG 86 was ahead of its time when it was released. TGM went above it but still kept those classic moments from the og, like the intro, some of maverick’s lines, the clips of goose and carole, the beach scene. TGM was a movie for parents to take their kids to and remember when they were young sitting in the theater watching tom cruise fly in an F/14 for the first time.

It was also the first big blockbuster since the pandemic. glen said that TC fought for the theatrical release of this movie. paramount was all too okay with putting it on the streaming app and calling it a day. TC saved the box office with this one.

and my last point, TGM really wrapped up all the loose strings from TG 86 and tied it with a bow. you got to see what Maverick had been doing with his career. you got to say goodbye to Iceman. you got to see what happened to Goose’s son. you got to see the reconciliation between Rooster and Mav. you got to see Maverick finally forgive himself for what happened to Goose.

i know there’s scenes we still wanna see; phoenix & bob after the bird strike, what rooster meant with the “early grave” line, what happens to the daggers after (which we all know they went back to their home units), does mav finally retire.

but making a third movie so soon after the second does not sound like a good idea. and i fear it won’t have the same affect and feeling as TGM did. it sounds like the beginning of a mission impossible type ordeal.

#top gun #top gun maverick #alright i shut up now

180 notes · View notes

cinnamonest · 1 year

Text

Yandere Profile - Alhaitham

Finally got this one done!

---

What are they generally like? Lucid, aware? Obsessive? How do they behave?

Alhaitham is the type of obsessed that has a slow descent. It's not an "at first sight" sort of thing, like some obsessives might experience.

When Alhaitham first meets people, he doesn't think much of them, he's not the type to make assumptions or rush to conclusions, be it positive or negative, unless the person makes a particularly bad impression within the first conversation (this can be accomplished by being generally rude or condescending, but of course, that's not too common of a neutral encounter). While this means he's not particularly judgemental from the get-go, it's not necessarily a positive thing either -- he knows far too well that many people can appear very pleasant at first, as one often does with strangers, but this is, of course, a social courtesy. Not that it's one he really plays along with, seeing as he has no problem being upfront and blunt with people, but he knows that most people abide by a sort of social convention of expected politeness and cheerfulness to strangers.

Thus, when you first meet him, he doesn't have much of an opinion of you either way. It's a quick exchange, you come to drop something off at his office on an occasion he happens to be there. You smile, speak in a pleasant tone, thank him and leave. The same as pretty much everyone. The incident is forgettable.

He'll still recognize your face, though, seeing you at a distance. Not that he's the kind of person to strike up conversation for the sake of it, but he'll sort of see you out of the corner of his eye in a public area or crowd. A subconscious recognition he barely takes into account, doesn't think about, it's just there in the back of his mind.

Once that happens again, and again, he might give it a passing thought, that that's the same person he's seen a few times over now. You get to have another, longer interaction -- basically the same thing again, dropping something off, but this time you ask a question or make a comment or something, thus prolonging the conversation if but only for a few seconds. The memory of that exchange sticks with him.

Eventually, he finds himself looking forward to it. Not that that's a big deal, you're a pleasant person after all, and even if he's not fond of socialization, he can't help but enjoy your nice attitude towards him. He's self-aware enough to know that that obviously indicates he's developing an attachment of sorts, but that in and of itself isn't a bad thing. Contrary to how some might view him, it's not as if he doesn't have people he considers acquaintances, people he's fond of.

Likewise, sometimes a few days in a row will pass where he hasn't seen you around, and he'll find his thoughts wandering to you. What you're doing, what you're up to. Of course, you only come see him when you have something to drop off, and oftentimes it's when he's not even there, he'll just find a folder or paper from you laid on the desk. But sometimes, for once, he finds himself staying in his office a bit longer than usual. As if by some chance, if he stays just a few minutes more than usual, that will ever so slightly increase the chance he might be present at a time you decide to stop by. And once or twice, it actually does work, so he discovers.

It's never for a prolonged period of time or anything. Just brief interactions, quick exchanges. He imagines you have plenty of those with plenty of people throughout your day. Something about that realization, as it comes to him one day, almost feels a bit upsetting. To realize that the interactions aren't anything special, that he's just one of countless people you probably talk to each day, seeing as your role seems to revolve around being a messenger and errand-runner of sorts.

Those thoughts become more and more common. Day by day. Gradually increasing. He's not sure at what point he recognized the odd feeling you give him, but he's certainly been aware of it for some time now. At first, the emotion strikes him as something frustrating. An annoyance. An inconvenience. Having something that keeps occupying his thoughts begins slowing the various processes involved in both personal and professional tasks, it takes a toll on his efficiency.

He's aware of the emotional and sentiment itself -- it's a very natural occurrence, after all. Like any animal, humans are biologically programmed with mating instincts, and even if it works against one's best interest, those instincts will persist, create urges, nonetheless.

But you've been nice to him, he can't bring himself to direct that frustration at you. In fact, whenever he sees you and speaks to you, that irritation goes away, but is quickly replaced by a more awkward feeling, a different sort of frustration. Frankly, it feels shameful, although those reactions are certainly what those sentiments tend to be known for causing. That just makes it feel more frustrating, though. The knowledge that this feeling is likely part of his own innate brain function, yet it's out of his control.

But, whatever, it's not anything that's going to cause a problem, it's just something he'll keep to himself and never act upon, and eventually, life will naturally take its course and you'll likely change positions or move somewhere else, and he won't really see much of you again. Until then, he'll just quietly live with it, and keep his thoughts about the matter to a minimum.

...Or at least, he tries. It proves difficult to do so. What makes it worse is the inherent gradually more and more irritating conflict between what his conscious mind wants to do and get done, versus the way his subconscious seems to constantly cause his thoughts to drift, and soon he snaps out of the thoughts and realizes he's been sitting there staring at a report he was supposed to be reviewing for the past twenty minutes. The feeling that one's own mind and body won't cooperate with one's active will is infuriating, more so than he has ever dealt with before.

Talking to you becomes a sort of craving, and he finds that the sort of natural high that it gives him in turn diminishes the negative feeling for a while. Thus, against his better judgement, he finds himself seeking you out.

All in all, he's has a methodical, generally calculated way he approaches most matters. The first few conversations you had were candid, yes but beyond that it becomes carefully premeditated. You never know that the interactions are intentional, it's always presented as coincidentally running into you. Thankfully for him, you never seem to suspect otherwise. He gets a good idea of your schedule, your habits.

But he can't do it constantly, or you'll know it's intentional. Yet, the urge to see you is still overwhelming, consuming all his thoughts, making him jittery and restless. The only solution, then, is to just... watch you. He begins to develop a habit of keeping an eye on you from a distance, often while working on other things too. When he's by himself, he can't concentrate very well, but when he has an eye on you, when you're within his range of sight so he can look up every now and then, it's an incredibly relieving feeling, and he can actually focus and be productive.

Of course, it does bother him, he's perfectly aware of how abnormally intense he's getting. That, too, makes it all that much more frustrating. To know it's all in his head, yet he can't mentally will the feeling away... what an incredibly inconvenient function of the mind. He tried the deprivation method once already, thinking that if he forced himself to not see you for a while, it would help, and the desire to see you would decrease... but it doesn't. He also even searched around for academic material related to the subject to see if he could find anything in the psychology archives, but most of what was available was all either advice from the perspective of the victim of stalking (and yes, seeing the word "victim" used as a descriptor was deeply unnerving, he had to take a few minutes to get over the realization that it isn't incorrect, he just hadn't thought of it that way...), or legal and procedural guidelines on the subject (possibly even more unnerving).

It worries him, starts to make him concerned for the sake of his productivity and self-control. Hopes he won't do something to make a fool of himself in front of you... or even worse, if you were to catch him following you.

He just can't stop. And worst of all, he knows that sooner or later, if the pattern thus far is anything to go by, it will just get worse. And yet, he feels stuck, there's nothing he can really do to fix it, and that leaves him with a horrible, worried feeling of helplessness...

How likely are they to kidnap their darling? How quickly will they do so?

He starts off fairly normal in terms of his desires and urges. In the earliest stages, he would never dream of doing such a thing. He's certainly not an unnecessarily straight-edge person who always follows social conventions and standards of ethical behavior, no, but he's a generally well-natured individual who by no means would intentionally do something wildly illegal and harmful for nothing but selfish gain.

For some, these ideas sort of have to slowly work their way into infecting the mind. The individual will initially reject the idea they deem absurd or unthinkable, blow it off as an intrusive thought that means nothing, only for it to slowly cement itself in their innermost thoughts, until suddenly the idea no longer seems so outlandish as it once did.

Alhaitham falls into this category. It takes a while before such thoughts take root in his mind. The process is slow, gradual. It will be one little intrusive thought that seems to venture just beyond the standards of normalcy, something like discontentment with uncertainty to your current whereabouts or well-being causing begrudging remark to himself to pop up in his head -- if only he could keep you in one place, all the time.

If only, then he wouldn't have to worry... but that is, of course, unrealistic, and ridiculous. You can't simply do that to a person. He doesn't think much of the thought itself, though; after all, intrusive thoughts are by nature often bizarre and unrealistic. Sort of like the phenomenon of how, when people stand at a spot overlooking a great height, they may suddenly have an odd compulsive thought that they could leap off the edge. But, of course, the average person would not actually do that. Very odd and certainly highly unlikely to be acted upon, of course, but despite how bizarre such thoughts are, it's recorded to be a very common psychological phenomenon, meaning that intrusive thoughts aren't abnormal, only acting upon them would be abnormal. Such thoughts are just some odd hardwiring in the brain. This is no different.

Those thoughts, however, seem to begin to gradually become more and more frequent. Not only that, but they become somewhat... perhaps darker is the appropriate descriptor. More intense in terms of the severity of the content of the thoughts.

He catches himself thinking about the matter almost casually. He'll be working on something at random, one of those idle tasks that requires no real thought and therefore allows the mind to drift. It's bad enough by itself, but in particular, the spontaneous fantasies get a bit darker if he's been busy and gone a few days without any sort of relief, which starts to occur and align with those times he finds himself fantasizing every now and then. The unreleased energy builds up and leads to a frustration, which results in his mind going almost immediately to much more graphic, explicit types of thoughts, the imagery in his head.

But he still catches himself in the process. He stops. Blinks a few times, rapidly shakes his head for a second, as if to expel the thought. For a few seconds, he's in a state of pause, as if surprised by the very thought he's caught himself in. Yes, the initial intrusive thoughts he could dismiss, but as time goes on, the severity and frequency starts to feel worrisome, strikes him as concerning, leaves an unpleasant sensation like a knot in one's stomach. But even though it does bother him a bit, he still doesn't really know exactly what to do about it, which leaves him sort of stuck.

What's he supposed to do? Thankfully, he knows the law well enough to know not to go to a therapist or something of the sort -- revealing any sort of thoughts that could make you a threat to yourself or others can get you involuntarily committed. He's actually rather grateful he's aware of that fact, or else he might have unknowingly walked right into that. It's doubtful that a professional would interpret 'yeah I have vivid fantasies of imprisoning someone I've never spoken to for more than a minute at a time' as anything other than unwell. So that's out of the question.

The only other obvious idea would be to distract himself, and he does try. Makes an attempt to immerse himself in other interests and responsibilities, takes up a new pastime even. It doesn't work. Even while working on other things, he finds himself spacing out, and sure enough, within no time his mind is back to those same thoughts.

Over the course of time, it begins to slowly wear down his resistance. The thoughts start to feel "normal."

One of the problems is that he tries to reason with himself, think it through very logically to dissuade himself, and even intentionally seeks out material in hopes of discouraging himself. Problem is, it has the opposite of the intended effect. It starts to sound rational, doable. Even the ethical aspect of it ceases to bother him nearly as much as it once did. Every point he was using to hold himself back and refrain starts to fall apart, the longer he thinks about it, the more he looks into it.

'I don't have the means to get away with it.'

Well, no. Now that he thinks about it, part of the general curriculum all young students take involved some chemistry, and he could very easily make sedatives and tranquilizers. It wouldn't be hard.

'I couldn't carry the body from one place to another without being seen.'

In fact, he scoped out the route to prove that to himself... only to find that your dorm is a singular one, at the very edge of the campus, where almost no one goes late at night.

'I wouldn't have the opportunity.'

And yet, following you around for a bit proves there are plenty of windows of time where you're alone, especially in your own dorm at night.

'I'd be found out eventually.'

But after doing some research on the matter, he comes to learn that the vast majority of kidnapping victims are never found, the opposite of what he was hoping to see. If it were the case, if there was a huge chance of him being found out, he could refrain on those grounds alone, but knowing how possible it is, how easy it would be, imagining it in his head and how cleanly he could pull it off... it's too much. It pushes him over the edge.

Impulses are such an odd thing, the way they can cloud the mind, lead one to act almost subconsciously, against their better judgement, the adrenaline of it too strong to break free of the sort of trance it puts one into. Still, it's not as if he doesn't plan ahead at all. The whole thing is sort of a haze, not just the acting-out stage of it. He hasn't exactly mastered the fine art of kidnapping, but there's some obvious measures that should be taken beforehand. He finds himself wandering over to this or that specific store, this resource storage unit, slowly collecting necessary things, taking necessary precautionary measures, refreshing his knowledge on how sedatives are made and work. All without actively acknowledging it at the time, lets his mind become preoccupied with unrelated thoughts while going about it, but nonetheless knowing why.

Still, it's more of a distant thought, one that slowly becomes more and more "real" as the day approaches. He doesn't actually remember circling one day in particular on his calendar. That too must have been something he did subconsciously at some point. Nonetheless, he knows what it indicates, and as that day grows closer, he gets more uneasy. Still, that same adrenaline haze and dissociative state of mind allows him to ignore the still very much present sense of reason -- yes, his reasoning and rationality is still there, and quite active. If anything, the two forces create a great deal of internal conflict. Maybe that rationality could have won out, if he'd just had one little circumstance go differently, or just let himself think about it a bit longer... but it doesn't. Instead, he finds himself arriving at that day, quietly waiting for the sun to set and the right time to come along, and when it does, his feet seem to move on their own.

You would think this sort of thing would slow down one's perception of time due to alertness, but it's actually quite the opposite. Maybe it's the adrenaline, or maybe just panic, but regardless, it all seems to actually happen very fast. One second he's leaving his house, looking each way to check for potential bystanders and witness risks, and in the blink of an eye he's already made the trek over to where your dwelling is. Waiting and waiting... that's the only part that actually seems to take a while, the painstaking, frustrating waiting period. Not to mention the thought of how pathetic it would seem if anyone were to see, concealing himself in shadows of the buildings, crouching in shrubbery up to his waist, like some kind of stalker... well, now that he thinks about it, he probably does qualify as exactly that... but he tries not to think about that.

When you actually do finally show up though, when your soft footsteps approach closer and closer, unexpectedly, he freezes up. For all that planning and premeditation and self-convincing, now that the moment is actually here, there's a second of hesitation. Maybe it's the look on your face, visible even in the nighttime darkness. So happy and blissful and so innocently naive of danger lurking so close. And he would be taking that away from you, ruining it. That feels suffocating. For just a split second, he almost feels like he can't bring himself to do it.

...Almost.

That second of hesitation passes, mind snapped out of it by the keys jingling in your hands and subsequent realization that the window of opportunity will be lost as soon as you close the door behind you. That's what breaks the stiffness of hesitation, makes his feet move forward on their own again.

Of course, you do thrash around, rather fiercely, presumably putting all your strength into it. You drop the keys, reach your hands up to claw at his own latched over your mouth. Your muffled cries against the fabric pressed to your face are, admittedly, quite gut-wrenching. But it only lasts a few moments. Your full weight then falls back against him, limp and silent. All in what feels like a heartbeat.

The journey back also passes by fast -- although perhaps not quite as much so as the walk to your home, seeing as he's now hyper-alert of every sound, shape and shadow, looking out for any potential witnesses. Of course, he already has an excuse ready to give if seen on the way back, something about you being sick or passed out, but nonetheless, the ideal number of encounters is zero.

And that works just as hoped. No encounters, no issues. It almost feels like the will of the universe is on his side or something, with how easily it goes. And thankfully, the adrenaline is still strong enough that the whole weight of the reality of it all and thus having to come to terms with his actions hasn't quite come crashing down just yet... although he's aware that will happen any minute now. For now, he just has to get you inside.

Except that actually turns out to be far from the biggest hurdle that remains to cross over. There's also one other very significant, pressing issue that can't be overlooked. And yet, in all his careful planning, he somehow, amazingly, did overlook it. Forgot to think about one critical detail in the plan, one that should have, by all means, been so incredibly obvious that it's literally astounding that it somehow did not occur to him until that moment.

He walks through the front door, takes a few steps in, does that sort of ever-so-slight tossing motion to re-secure your position in his arms. Comes to a freezing halt as he passes by a table towards the front of the house.

...

There's several seconds of suspended silence.

He looks at Kaveh. Kaveh looks at him, equally frozen still mid-pen stroke. Looks down at his arms and the contents thereof. Looks back up at him. Blinks a few times. A few more seconds pass.

...This isn't what it looks like. I can explain.

Yes, he knows he's digging himself into a hole, but the look of pure bewilderment on the other's face combined with the situation as a whole leads him to actually lose a bit of composure for once, trying to find an explanation that makes sense. And yes, the fact that he's lying is only going to dig said hole even deeper, and he's pretty sure the lie isn't being bought, but he comes up with something about how you were a drunken passerby stumbling outside of a nearby tavern, practically fell right into his arms, so he's just letting you stay here the night is all. He'll get you wherever you need to be in the morning.

Of course, he's immediately hit with a barrage of questions, but the insistent rambling just gives him an excuse to dismiss them all with claims of explaining in the morning. No, he's not going to sleep out here in the main room, he'll just sleep on the floor of the bedroom is all, he says. Going to such a measure would be unnecessary.

That will, at the very least, give him some time to think of how on earth he's going to actually explain the situation without his tenant going off on him, if not worse... he'll have to tell him the truth eventually. Granted, he does consider a what-if along the lines of if he'd brought you in another way and kept you away, but... no, it would be impossible to hide you from him forever. Best to get it over with now. Rather than entrenching himself in some complex lie, he'll have to just break it to him slowly... after all, he does depend on him for a living space, so he can't afford to have him dragged off to prison or anything, right? Maybe he can exchange silence for a rent reduction...

How difficult is it to escape from them? How do they keep you restrained? How do they deal with attempted escape?

Restraint is a simple process, and he already has that planned out ahead of time, at least for a temporary solution. Primarily, it's just locking you in a room. Gets a deadbolt installed on the outside of the room prior to bringing you home, and gets a barricade bar installed as well. At first, you'll actually be confined to the bed itself, but he knows that's not good for you both in terms of psychological well-being as well as your muscular health and hygiene, so he'll try to progress to the stage where you can roam the room as quickly as possible... hopefully you'll be cooperative.

He really, really does want your cooperation. He's not really sadistic, nor cruel -- a bit callous at times, sure, but really, although he understands you aren't going to be thrilled when you wake up and have to have it explained to you (not that he does so very well, he basically just leaves it at that you'll be staying here with him and nothing more), he would really prefer that you accept your situation and get used to it as much as possible, that you cooperate and try to make the best of it. Ideally, you could even come to be fully content with your circumstances... but he tries not to let himself hope too much, seeing how unrealistic that thought is. Yes, it would be nice, but for his own sake, he has to enforce it even if you're not cooperative.

Don't expect any help from the other inhabitant, either. You're still not sure what sort of miracle-working Alhaitham pulled to make it so after that first night, but somehow, he managed to convince Kaveh, albeit very reluctantly and almost certainly with bribery involved, to at the very least not ruin things by going to an authority. He's still far from happy with it and very clearly uncomfortable, that much is evident just from his facial expressions and heavy sighs and general avoidance, but he's compliant nonetheless. Turns out, if the homeowner goes to prison, the house will be reclaimed by the Akademiya, and, well... anyway, he seems to just try to ignore it, pretend the situation doesn't exist to the best of his ability... which becomes more and more of a struggle.

Thus, the primary issue making escape difficult is that you're more or less under constant monitoring, seeing as there is rarely a moment where both residents are absent from the home. You don't really get opportunities, seeing as even if you were to find a way to exit the room, you couldn't get out of the house without being seen. Perhaps you could manipulate Kaveh's sympathetic nature, but he almost seems to know you'd try that, and makes it a point to avoid walking by your door whenever Alhaitham isn't present, largely because he knows he wouldn't be able to resist if you pulled some guilt-tripping measure. So you'll have to scratch that plan.

The only real chance you'll get is the very rare occasion that you're left fully alone, should you somehow manage to undo the locks and break the barricade bar by some incredible means. Should you somehow manage to do so, and should he come home to an empty house... he has to struggle to keep calm. It's one of the few times in life he truly, outwardly panics, eyes blown wide and shaky as he makes his way out to look for you.

Should he actually manage to find you before it's too late, or should your escape attempt be foiled in a way that makes it obvious that you did try, well... you feel surprised at first that he doesn't seem too upset. No yelling, no outrage, just... quiet. A very cold, tense sort of quiet, but quiet nonetheless.

Truth is, he can't blame you. Any thoughts of being mad at you seem ridiculous and foolish, he would feel ashamed to get upset over something you both know full well is in the nature of any person in your situation. Of course you want to be free. And here he is, dragging you back, making you miserable. The whole thing really depresses him for some time, he doesn't talk to you for nearly a full day, and even then it's just a word here or there. It takes some time to go back to normal.

But hey, at least you don't really face too much consequence for it, he's too hurt and demoralized by your attempt to even summon the anger required to do anything about it... but he may have to force himself to take disciplinary measures if it becomes a repeated incident.

How easy are they to trick, deceive, or manipulate?

He has the same duality seen in a lot of "genius" types where he is both amazingly perceptive, and yet, can every now and then be astoundingly, almost comically dense. However, unlike some others with the same trait, he leans more towards perceptive than dense, just not always. So it is, in fact, possible to trick him, but only sometimes. It's a toss-up, you never know which way he'll go in a given scenario, and unfortunately that unpredictability means it's taking a significant risk each and every time you want to try.

Lying to him is something that does irritate him, but there are other things that would make him far angrier. That is, lying is not the absolute worst thing you can possibly do like some others might treat it, but it's not a good idea. One of the particularly unfortunate aspects of this is that he remembers each incident very well and never forgets an offense, so you'll just dig yourself deeper into a hole over time the more you make a habit of lying.

How lenient are they? What privileges can you have, and what will you be denied?

Privileges are something earned over time, and he'll get progressively more and more lenient as time goes on... thankfully, he's not one of those who would keep you at the same strict restriction level forever, but he's also not the type to be naively lenient. He knows full well that you'll take any chance to get out if that opportunity presents itself.

At first, you're confined to the bed, and then that progresses to being confined to the bedroom as a whole. Of course, he meticulously goes over every single object in said bedroom to ensure there's nothing laying around that you could use to your advantage or to attack him. Over time, he takes the same pattern commonly seen in such abductors, wherein he gradually increases the space to which you're confined -- first it's the bed, then the whole bedroom, then he'll start a sort of trial period in which he tests how you're willing to behave if you're allowed into the other areas of the house, under very close supervision.

Should you present problems, you'll just go right back to room confinement. But if you should behave well, he can get just ever so slightly more lenient, in which you're allowed to semi-freely roam the house -- just under supervision. He won't stay right by your side the way he does during the "trial period," and you can wander to the other side of the room and do your own thing if he's working on something, but he will make sure you're still in his sight at all times. When he's not at home to watch you, you'll still be confined to the room.

Well, unless he can convince Kaveh to watch you... that takes a lot of your complaining, of course, because at first he would never think to do so on his own. It would be far too easy for you to convince such a bleeding heart to let you go or do things you're not allowed to do, and he can't trust him not to get distracted.

But still, after a while, you start to whine and whine about it. He's here, so why do I have to stay in the room? He shuts your argument down the first few times, but the whining becomes annoying enough that he finally says fine, that he'll consider it. Granted, he knows it'll take convincing (and probably further reductions to his pseudo-landlord side income), but hey, maybe it'll earn some favor from you.

He's still very cautious about it though, never leaves you two alone for any extended time, should you try and convince Kaveh to let you go. Or even worse, a thought that admittedly is an embarrassing paranoia, but he can't help but let it cross his mind nonetheless, what if you pulled some stunt to seduce him and then used that to get out while he passed out, or use it to get him vulnerable enough to really injure him or something... ugh, he doesn't like to think about that. Not for Kaveh's wellbeing or anything, that's less important, but getting essentially cucked might be even worse than going to prison for his crimes.

What kind of rules do they have? What kind of punishment would they use?

Once you are confined, he can set actual guidelines. However, he's more likely to just... make sure you can't do the things he would prefer you not to by simply making it unavailable. Anything he'd not want you to see or read or mess with will be safely locked away, or kept where you can't reach. This includes anything you could use to harm him or yourself, as well as things like rat poison and sleeping pills... wouldn't want you poisoning his food or anything.

Which does bring up another matter, that if possible, provided you've been at least somewhat compliant, he'll essentially delegate tasks to you to help him out. You're bored, right? You complain about having nothing to do, so, once you're trusted enough, you can, you know, help out a bit, clean up around the place, make food (under supervision initially, and more trusted as time goes on). And in addition to each newly earned freedom, there has to be some responsibilities that come with that.

Eventually, should you make a habit of complaining, the bastard even has the audacity to suggest that if you're so bored, here, do his job for him. Copies of a bunch of of reports and applications for you to review. You're a student, so you can at least have some idea of standards, right? Just highlight parts you think are issues, he'll still read it of course, he can't trust you that much, but your notes will make the process go by faster. That should kill a few hours. Have fun.

Otherwise, he's not the sort of individual to enforce behavioral rules in terms of attitude. Forcing you to be all sweet and smiley would just make you resent him, and it would be fake, not authentic. He's also the sort of person who sees no point in inauthenticity, wouldn't derive any satisfaction from you being pleasant towards him if he knows it's performative or manipulative or done out of fear or pressure. Why anyone would want or enjoy that is beyond him, it doesn't make sense if you ask him.

How do they deal with rivals, or perceived rivals? Will they get rid of them? Will they kill them themselves, or find another way?

He's at an impasse. Alhaitham is not exactly the most socially inclined person in the world, and while he normally doesn't really care too much for abiding by social conventions of appropriateness and politeness, and has very little qualms with coming off as rude to or offending someone he finds distasteful, he still is self-aware enough to be embarrassed by the thought of trying to intimidate or directly confront someone like that. Making a scene, or even just doing something foolish in front of you, is an avenue he does not intend to take, and would in fact prefer to avoid at all costs.

That being said, he can get driven up the wall by individuals he finds irritating or obnoxious, and the concept of a "rival" in that sense is a quick way to become someone on his mental list of such people. This puts him in a disadvantageous position -- he's not someone who will be overtly and immediately confrontational, but rivals do get under his skin quite a bit, so he's basically just left to suffer the frustration and paranoia whilst feeling relatively helpless to do much of anything about it.

Overall, he's very unlikely to kill. He's not particularly impulsive or rash, so he wouldn't do so on a whim, and he's pretty good at regulating his emotions, so even if it's infuriating, he can manage to keep calm enough not to make a mistake he might regret. And as an individual with higher-than-average self-awareness, as well as a reasonably normal and functional sense of conscience, he'd prefer to avoid killing even when given the chance to premeditate, as well.

It's not as if the thought didn't cross his mind, though, especially at some particularly infuriating moments, like when you give the other person seemingly positive responses. Of course, he can easily recognize that violent urges are a natural response to irritants, but it still feels discouraging, as he would usually think himself above such things, he considers himself a respectable person with dignity, the sort of person who doesn't resort to violence unless necessary.

If that persists -- that is, you keep responding to said rivals' affections in ways he would prefer you not to -- he'll most likely take a sort of alternative route that doesn't seem like quite the same blow to his pride. If he were to resort to homicide, that would be incredibly shameful, he'd feel disappointed in and ashamed of his own self for stooping so low over something so selfish... so, by contrast, abusing his authority doesn't seem quite so bad. Even if the thought of it does still make him feel some sense of shame, all he has to do is think of it comparatively, and when you consider it the alternative to killing someone, it seems far less ignoble by said comparison, and thus, comparing it that way makes him feel both less shameful, and more bold.

It's actually rather easy, provided he's still Acting Grand Sage, but even if before or after that period of his life, he can always write a few things here or there, file a report for this or that anonymously, then claim to have witnessed the same thing himself, adding to credibility, feign some evidence if necessary. Turns out it doesn't take all that much to get someone removed. He tries to go light on them and merely fake some offense to get them on probation or something that will have them far away from their former post, but if it does get them get expelled entirely... well, he's not complaining.

How easy is it to make them mad? What does their anger look like?

He gets irked easily.

It would be incorrect to say that he doesn't show it, but he doesn't show it very loudly, or in a way that draws attention. Oftentimes, you can look at his face and body language and easily tell he's displeased, but he'll stay relatively quiet if it's not significant. With mildly irritating things or people, even though he has no real qualms with getting blunt with people if need be, most of the time it's still easier and less bothersome to just keep quiet and try to ignore the object of irritation.

It's not at all difficult to push him past that line, though. Again, he has no issues with getting very blunt and direct with people if need be, and will not really hesitate to tell someone exactly what he thinks of their behavior, attitude, or actions, nor will he soften his words.

Well, most people. With you, it sort of depends. Oftentimes, you're actually no exception to that -- he might hesitate for a mere moment, but if you persist even once, he'll outright tell you if you're being irritating or bothersome, all in that tactless, blunt way of his. However, truthfully, although he would never admit to it, he does have a soft spot for your feelings and can be very weak to any pitiful displays. So if you look hurt or sad after he says something very direct, blunt and insensitive, or as he's starting to speak a few sentences, he'll stop mid-speech, sigh, turn back to whatever he was doing and mutter something along the lines of just knock it off or just don't do that again. He can't be mean to you, he'd feel terrible. He already struggles with finding ways to express affection, so it won't help if the only sentiment you get from him is negative, it will just push you away.

That all being said, there's a limit to that. If you really, really push him, do your best to cause problems and antagonize him out of spite, he can lose his patience, and the irritation become enough that he does lay into you without any filter or buffer for the sake of your feelings... only to immediately regret it when your eyes get all teary, you either stomp away and slam the door on your way back to the bedroom, or if already in there, you pout and throw yourself down onto the mattress, cocooning yourself in blankets pulled over your head, and don't respond to anything he says.

Great. Now you're upset, and he's screwed up and made things worse... the sensitivity of others is a huge part of why he's not fond of socializing, and yet it's unavoidable when he actually wants someone in his life. He's still actually rather frustrated at you, but the wallowing in self-directed frustration is even worse. He'll just have to just suck it up and try to get you to not be upset anymore. So after giving both of your selves a while to calm down in separate rooms (if you were both in the bedroom, he'll leave to go cool his own head), he'll try to go back into the bedroom and talk things out with you and--

...Hey. Did you -- you locked the door from the inside. Goddammit. Open the door right now, or else...

So they see you as above them, beneath them, or equal to them?

He's fairly apathetic, the type to sigh at the mention of such a concept. People trying to determine whether or not another person is "greater" or "lesser" than themselves based on some arbitrary, undefined concept of "value" seems like the sort of thing that some of the more irritating types of pretentious, pseudo-intellectual academics in the philosophies would obsess over, he knows plenty of individuals of the sort. Besides, it's honestly a rather logically erroneous concept, really.

He can recognize individuals as better or worse in particular areas. It's akin to that whole venture he went on regarding the individual fixated on evolving the human condition -- he can acknowledge where one person's skills lie versus another's, and how productive or useful a person might be. But that's an applied sort of value, and where one individual lacks it, another might have it, and vice versa. An entirely different matter than the idea of an individual having some overall, collective, cumulative worth composing their entire person, based on some undefinable standard. There's no such way to measure or evaluate such a thing, since it cannot be practically applied like a degree of value in one particular area could be, therefore, he would actually conclude that the very notion is fallacious.

Notably, though, when it comes to the whole practical applied worth thing, he's not the type to be blinded by affection. That is, if you're terrible at something, well, he'll know, he won't be self-deluded into perceiving it as good. Granted, since he does like you, he won't be as blunt as he would with someone whose good favor he cares for as much, but might try to very lightly redirect you to something he feels you to be better-suited for.

How determined are they for you to love them? How hard will they try to make it happen? Or are they content just having you?

As with most things, he's very practical and straightforward, doesn't lie to himself, doesn't engage in naive wishful thinking. He also recognizes that doing what he did in the first place is more or less shooting himself in the foot in terms of getting any affection from you, a major setback. Sometimes he might even feel a bit of regret, think about what he could have done if he hadn't gone and taken you away from your life and brought you here, how he might have slowly won you over on your own free will.

But the urge was just too much to resist. And even when thinking about the "what-ifs", even when considering how things could have gone differently and worked out in his favor, he's then hit with the reminder that even if you were together on your own will, you'd still have the freedom to leave at any time, you'd still have the option to go places on your own, talk to other people on your own. When he thinks about that, then, the thought is gut-wrenching enough that he finds himself glad he didn't take that route. It's just something he couldn't handle. He knows, as with everything before, that that's not normal, that it indicates a defect, an abnormality in his psyche, but at this point, he's more or less accepted that.

Of course he's going to try, but then there's also the issue that he's not particularly effective or adept at successfully expressing affection, and finds it awkward anyhow, so he doesn't come off as very affectionate. His affection comes across in more subtle and unspoken ways, small acts that remind you he does care for you. He's attentive to your needs, will notice if you look cold, hungry, and so on, and fetch the respective necessity to resolve any such discomfort, without you needing to say anything. If he sees something he thinks you might like, notices an opportunity to do something for you that would make you happy or potentially earn favor points from you, he'll swiftly see to doing so.

He's just not going to do things that would be too awkward or out of line for him and his nature, like verbal displays of affection or clingy physical gestures. His hope is that, nonetheless, you will gradually come to recognize and appreciate the efforts he does make, and that your acknowledgement will eventually endear him to you, override any resentment you have, and gradually lead you to feeling affection for him too.

And hey, if nothing else, he's read enough to have learned before that extended isolation has certain effects on a person. That is, accounts from the past and certain studies would suggest that if a person is kept in prolonged confinement with only one or a few other persons, they will, in almost all circumstances, eventually become emotionally attached to them, given the natural human craving for social connections, and the lack of other available options. So, logically, keeping you here should eventually yield the desired results.

But he's also not going to delude himself into thinking there's progress being made if there isn't. If you're obviously rejecting all of his attempts, he's willing to accept that, although it might noticeably frustrate him a bit. Even if he starts to get upset about your ignoring his efforts, though, he's rational enough that he sort of reminds himself that, well, you do sort of have very good reason to be resentful of him, and when he thinks about it that way, he starts to feel guilty again, can't bring himself to be mad at you. He'll just keep up the hope that you'll start to change your sentiment towards him... eventually.

Bonus: Is there anything that makes them unique, in comparison to other yanderes?

While it's not entirely unheard of amongst obsessive individuals, it is still not really the norm to have quite the lack of "rose-tinted glasses" as he does. That being said, he's not overtly pessimistic either.

Most tend to fall into one of the two, making negative or positive assumptions and expectations. They'll either be the hopeful type convinced you will love them and not do anything bad towards them (be it deluded confidence or intentionally trying to keep their thoughts positive), or the pessimistic type to always assume the worst of you, constantly paranoid of how you might be actively working against them and trying to preemptively prevent it.

Alhaitham manages to fall into neither of these two. He has a fairly unique ability to look at virtually anything presented to him with objectivity, far more so of it than most.

He's actually quite level-headed, takes into account anything that happens between the two of you and analyzes what it means and how to work with the occurrence with a fairly non-biased point of view, not letting deluded hope nor paranoia nor bitter pessimism get in the way of his conclusions. It does take active effort -- if he weren't trying, he would be someone who falls into the pessimistic sort of mentality -- but he intentionally reminds himself not to let that mindset get the better of him. He's seen it before in others, and it's always rather irritating to watch people make unwise decisions out of said pessimism, so he uses that as a mental reminder and instead forces himself to be more objective.

Consequently, whenever engaging in any situation involving you, you find that he's surprisingly quite rational, and doesn't give into emotion. This is somewhat beneficial, as he's not going to be annoyingly negative nor overly paranoid to the point of making unfounded accusations or anything of the sort that some individuals with less mental fortitude might do. No walking on eggshells, no irrational insistence of your dishonesty.

Also, once again, there's the obvious roommate matter to be addressed.

At first, Kaveh initially suspected the whole incident was some sort of one-night drugging incident. Has fully prepared some antagonistic commentary on how if he's that desperate to get laid, he could at least try learning to have some semblance of charm before resorting to such unethical measures... but then, it sort of clicks, that locksmith that visited a few days back to install that deadbolt, Alhaitham's absent-mindedness as of late. He's already pretty much figured it out before it's even explained to him.

You actually do come to like Kaveh, over time. Even though his hands are sort of tied in terms of actually helping you, you can tell he feels bad about that and sympathizes with you, it really does bother him. He sort of becomes an advocate for you and your rights and needs, that you quite appreciate. Tells Alhaitham that he may be willing to keep quiet, but he cannot tolerate being complicit in the utter cruelty of locking you in a small space all day, of giving you nothing to do -- complete deprivation of stimulus is basically a form of psychological torture. You know, a very serious crime? Granted, it's not as if there's not already a serious crime going on...

It's because of his incessant bothering that you get provided reading materials, allowed to roam other rooms (it's cruelty to force you into such a tiny space), and are allowed to eventually have a window uncovered if you're well-behaved (people literally need sunlight exposure you know).

Not to mention if there's any arguing of any kind going on, both of you will automatically take the other's side, very commonly resulting in the very owner of the home being two-to-one outnumbered on any decisions (of course, he still usually has the final say anyway, but ganging on up him together and seeing him get so irritated is quite enjoyable).

The whole setup of things sort of goes largely unaddressed between the two of them, funnily enough. There's a lot of occasions of Alhaitham exiting the bedroom after you had made a great deal of noise, to come get something out of the kitchen or living room, making awkward eye contact... the two just sort of stare back and forth, Alhaitham's expression one of usual sternness with some obvious embarrassment and Kaveh's one of unamused exasperation, mouth pulled taut and eyes half-lidded as if to say really? Some silence passes, he walks away, neither one says a thing.

Sometimes, though, it makes for perfect material to use against the man, both in teasing, antagonizing, and blackmailing if necessary.

Any complaints about behavior, any criticisms, any subtle threats regarding missed payments or using his own funds. Now, Kaveh always has an immediate weakness to hit him with, and unfortunately it works every time. Especially with the rather harsh (although he knows it's true) choice of wording.

That's rich coming from the guy with the human slave!

Oh, now the kidnapper is preaching to me?

—if anyone were to find out about the LITERAL CAPTIVE—

He figured out pretty quickly that he's very sensitive to and gets easily guilt-tripped by blunt terms like slave and kidnapped and captive... largely because he knows it's true, and thus it gets under his skin. Plus, there's always that subtle threat of him going off and telling someone hanging over his head.

That being said, it's not entirely altruistic on Kaveh's part. All those ways he helps your quality of life, in turn, alleviates his own guilt. At least if he feels like he's helping you, making things better for you, he can somewhat ignore the reminder of his own complicity in the first place.

General perverseness: how sexual of a person are they? What’s their drive like? How touchy do they get? Do they have any reservations about sexuality?

Somewhat of an odd mix of being not reserved and very reserved, depending on the specifics of the situation and context of conversations.

When it's purely talking about sex as a concept, the socially constructed and biologically primal nature of it, from a sort of academic standpoint, he has no trouble at all. If you asked a question, say why humans evolved to be largely attracted to this or that or how a certain bodily process works, he could easily explain in full without so much as a stutter, and so matter-of-factly blunt and shameless that it might actually make you feel a bit embarrassed with how openly he says certain things. When it's presented in that manner, it's easy to dissociate it from any application to his own self.

When it's personal, however, rather cutely, he can get significantly more embarrassed. Once again, it's contextual, situational. If it's telling you what to do, giving some sort of command or instruction to move like this, get in this position, or so on, he can do so without hesitation, more due to the absence of inhibition that comes with the heat of the moment and reduced blood flow to the brain. When addressing any activity between the two of you, in concept/abstract terms or especially referring to events in the recent past, that's when he'll sort of stiffen up when talking. Mumbles, gets quiet, seems unable to summon words or say anything, tries to exit the conversation.

He won't refuse to speak if the topic arises, but he addresses everything with such formality, even in casual conversation, it's rather amusing. Always uses the words intercourse or coitus just like be would in the academic sense, and never any terms one would normally use in casual conversation. He'll try to change the subject if it goes on for any extended duration of time, and will get annoyed if it becomes evident that you're intentionally trying to get him flustered for amusement, which you'll inevitably do quite a bit, seeing how funny his embarrassment is.

He's not very touchy at the beginning of things, and at first, it actually takes a while before he'll even sleep with you, in either sense of the word. He has a a natural craving for it, as many people do, but he's not really sure how to go about it. It's something he really warms up to over time, namely by sleeping next to you, which naturally increases his comfort levels. He always waits until after you're already asleep to avoid embarrassment before coming to bed, but then, you gravitate towards his warmth in your sleep. Having you touching like that, but not in a waking state where you could express any rejection, is comforting. It also helps condition him to your touch, get used to it enough that he's more at ease with physical touch with your waking self, too.

In terms of drive, it's highly dependent on circumstances and factors, namely stress. He's one of the sort of person who defaults to using orgasm as a means of stress relief, so if he's under a particularly high level of stress (which, of course, he does try to avoid, but sometimes work just piles up despite his efforts to avoid it), his drive will be significantly higher -- and the sex itself noticeably rougher, with more force and harshness in each movement that you can feel. Otherwise, his drive is fairly moderate for someone of his sex and age, roughly once a day or so.

How forceful are they? Do they care about your willingness?

Consciously, yes, he does care. Again, while not a stickler for the rules or anything (and perhaps a bit lazy on some matters), he's not the sort of person who would do something he sees as not only wrong, but one of the worst acts one can commit, and he's a generally ethical person with integrity who tries to do right by everyone when he can.

For all his general collectedness and respectfulness, though, he's certainly not immune to the ever-alluring power of hormones and his brain's hardwired urge to breed. Ignoring that gets difficult rather quickly.

In the initial days after bringing you home, he spends a great deal of time sort of mentally kicking himself for it -- what was he thinking? Of course you're going to be upset, this eliminates any possibility of you ever feeling positively towards him, it was a terrible idea, it will only end badly... while not outwardly expressed, those thoughts do eat away at him, leaving him depressed enough that it kills some of said urges for some time. Even then, for a while, he actually avoids it, as aforementioned, in part due to his discomfort and awkwardness around touch, and in part due to conscience.

At first, you were somewhat surprised -- you figured someone who would abduct and encaptivate someone most likely had a very obvious intention in mind, so you're somewhat surprised at the fact that he seems to sort of just... let you live there, not requiring anything of you nor doing anything to you. Those first days are awkward enough getting over the initial stages of shock and fear and anger and bargaining, especially as he's not very direct or clear on explaining the situation to you in the first place. He explains it to you as something along the lines of you being too naive and at risk so he felt he had to "protect" you or something, but it's the sort of very weak, half-hearted argument where not only can you tell he himself doesn't actually believe it and it just coming up with that excuse on the spot, but you also know he doesn't really expect you to believe it either, you're both mutually aware it's nonsense to get you to stop asking. If you're the type to be confrontational and bold in the initial reaction stages, though, rather than meek and afraid, and tell him to drop the act, he may very well sigh and say fine, admit that you're here because he wanted you to be and acted on impulse.

Still, when you get to questioning 'what happens now,' what your immediate and long-term future looks like, he essentially avoids the question entirely, and once again doesn't really try to hide that he's doing so. He might even outright say he's not inclined to give you an answer, or that it's a loaded question because you're obviously implying to ask when you'll be allowed to leave, and he has no intention of doing that.

So, for some time, he just sort of keeps you there, in a sort of limbo state where you're just existing in his home and being fed and being given things to do. He can't bring himself to do something that strikes him as so utterly abhorrent.

Then again. He knows a great deal about a wide variety of topics, and recalls information learned years ago: in addition to the fact that forced isolation can create attachment, it's been more or less proven that in primates, forcing physical intimacy can also induce involuntary pair-bonding... but still, it would be unethical.

Perhaps it would have been best if he hadn't recalled that information. Because thereafter, much like the initial intrusive thoughts that led him to take you away in the first place, it begins to creep into his mind, coming back into his head over and over. And also much like that initial time, the thoughts begin to wear away at his psyche.

The most likely scenario to end up happening is that you simply push him too far at the wrong time. You pick a day where he's already stressed, choose to be even more spiteful than usual. You push him just a little too far, you're just a little too mean, and sooner or later, something snaps, and he ends up doing something he regrets. Alternatively, if you're more meek and afraid, he might take the same method with which he brought you here to begin with, drugging you into unconsciousness. You won't hold a grudge or be traumatized and afraid of him if you don't remember anything, right...? Maybe he can convince you that you got drunk and agreed to it yourself, and then you'll change your mind and be okay with it... maybe.

What sort of kinks or fetishes do they have, or would they fill?

Cockwarming

He can't really remember when exactly he got the idea. Probably when he was painstakingly going through a gruelingly boring set of reports, having to deal with the ever-intrusive I could be having sex right now I could be having sex right now I could be-- thoughts. Alas, if only there were a way to have both at the same time. At some point, those thoughts manifested into another thought -- why can't he? In fact, it seems perfectly doable.

It takes some form of persuasion for you, of course, but at the promise of some form of reward, you agree to come sit on his lap while he does work. You figure he must just want the physical contact, he seems like someone who wouldn't know how to really ask for affection, so this must just be an attempt to get you to show him some -- why are you pulling your cock out.

It was not what you agreed to, but the iron grip around your waist means you aren't going anywhere, and your protests are met with grumbling. Just let it happen. You're being so resistant for no reason. It'll feel good. Just relax. It's not like he's hurting you or anything.

And eventually, with enough of those excuses, you end up sitting there, heavily breathing, speared on his cock upright like food on a stick, all while he reads. Each little movement, each shift of position, rubs against your insides, sends little sparks of pleasure down your spine, almost torturous with how it just barely stimulates you, but not enough to relieve the arousal it creates. You can feel him twitch and shudder, too, each time your insides pulsate or clench. You can, likewise, torture him by intentionally clamping down hard... thus speeding up the inevitable -- because regardless, he's not going to actually get too much work done before he can't take it anymore, anyway.

Marking

The manner of which doesn't particularly matter, anything will do. It's discovered by accident, after unintentionally leaving behind a few bruises and scratches from digging his fingers into your hips a bit too hard. Afterward, he turns his head to look over where you lay, sees the crescent shapes where his fingernails dug in... and then within a short time, the flesh shows bruising too. That probably shouldn't be arousing... but it is, and he finds himself hard again just seeing it.

With time, he learns that it applies to much more than just that. Any sort of markings, visual indicators that have some indication of impact, possession, give him sort of a comforting but egotistical feeling. Often, this comes in the form of being something related to your flesh: scratches, hickeys, occasionally bite marks, and if you get him really sexually frustrated and deprived, or perhaps drunk enough to lose inhibition and be shameless, he might even take to writing on your body. But this can also be in the form of other sorts of visual indicators, namely with cum -- be it on your face, on your back, on your chest, or slowly oozing out of your holes and trailing down your thigh -- and, after going at it long and hard enough, the slight gape and twitching whenever he pulls out.

How do they feel about pregnancy or babies? Do they want them?

If you were to ask the very basic question of whether or not he wants kids at some point, he would nod and say yes, but would hesitate before actually saying anything more, sort of needs a moment to find the right words. His eyebrows do furrow just a bit, as if slightly unnerved by the thought.

Well, if you really think about it, it is the biological hardwiring of most living beings to reproduce. Even if an individual personally didn't want children, most of them still have the innate urges to breed. For him though, it does seem like a nice idea. It's not something he's put a great deal of thought into, rather, it's one of those things that's very "someday" in his head, the sort of thing a young individual imagines they will get around to doing one day in the coming years, but doesn't really intend on anytime very soon.

He's not particularly cautious against it, though. It's not his fault it feels too good in the heat of the moment to remember to pull out... should an "accident" occur, he's not going to be upset or anything, but the issues it presents creates a panic that makes it difficult to be particularly joyful.

After all, how is this going to... work? He could handle educating a child himself, so school isn't necessary, but he can't bring himself to confine the kid to the house all the time. He already feels bad about doing it to you, there's no way he could handle the guilt of not letting his own kid go outside, he'll surely end up taking them out every now and then. But how will he explain suddenly having a kid to people around him? And what about the kid themselves? Sure, it will be naive and won't know any better for a while, but as it grows up, even if he asks them not to, surely one of these days it's going to tell someone about its mother that never leaves the house that no one knows about, and that will spell the end for him.

He doesn't voice any of that out loud, but you can see the worry quite obviously on his face and tone of voice when he talks about it, always stern and quiet. Almost seems to be in denial, trying not to think about it. He still takes very good care of you, seems very concerned for your well-being all throughout. There's a mix of contrasting emotions, because he is happy in a way, but the paranoia and fear is overwhelming. He's not great at expressing emotions like that, though, so he mostly just stays quiet. For now, he'll just have to brainstorm ways to deal with the issues that will arise, and then cross that bridge when he gets to it and hope for the best... not the most ideal course, but more or less the only option.

What kind of (nsfw) punishments would they use?

He's a bit stumped when it comes to how to handle any outbursts or deemed undesired behavior. Alhaitham is used to having some degree of guidelines when it comes to going about certain processes - usually, in almost any field of work or study, there are standard methods for dealing with problems.

When it comes to people, likewise, there are also set ways of handling conflicts and complications... well, that is, for institutions. On an individual scale, though, one-on-one personal interactions... there's not really any specific guidelines. Especially for someone you want to hold you in high regard.

So what happens is that he usually bites his tongue at first when you get bratty or mean, unsure of exactly how to handle it, thinking that maybe you'll be quiet after a moment... but then you keep going, which in turn makes him more irritated, and then he snaps and it just sort of... comes out. Nothing methodical or thought-through, instead, for once, letting his emotion override any reasoning. He's still rather composed as always, not bursting into a fit or anything like that, but a sort of cold anger, once in which you can tell the very moment he's finally had enough. He stops whatever he's doing, possibly slamming something down if he's holding an object, turns to you with narrowed eyes. Dead silent, but the expression on his face says enough. In fact, the fact that he's so initially quiet makes it that much more unnerving, makes you go silent and take a few steps back in and of itself, usually a quick change of tune as you start to apologize when he takes a few steps towards you, grabs you by the arm with force, and equally silent dragging you to a couch or bed or other surface of choice.

What ends up being his go-to choice of "punishment" is more an exertion of that irritation, holding you down, rutting into your body with painful force. It's more the painful details and humiliation factor that make it a punishment, that make it unpleasant -- it's always from behind, either pressing your face into the mattress, painful tugging on your scalp, or a hand choking your throat. It's only then that he actually speaks to you, sometimes through gritted teeth, often emphasizing certain words with particularly harsh thrusts as each one is said.

Yes, even without the roughness and soreness that comes after, the emotional degradation is what hurts the most -- perhaps it's the thought of being put into a state of such intimate vulnerability, or a sense of being violated and used as a punishment for your actions, or just the humiliation that comes with the not-so-subtle reminder of how easy it is for him to overpower you.

Either way, it backfires for him when you suddenly get quiet and cold towards him afterwards, often staying bundled up and shivering... admittedly, that does make him feel bad. In part, he still finds it justified, will sigh and say something to the effect of asking why you act the way you do if you can't handle consequences... but he's still weak to your sniffling and cold shoulder, and will take on a softer voice and more gentle hand to pat your head or rub your back in an attempt to obtain your forgiveness. If you act pitiful enough, he might even swallow his pride and give you a small apology.

What body parts of their darling do they like the most?

Alhaitham is a thigh appreciator. No particular deeper psychological reason or anything, they're just nice to look at, nice to grab onto, make nice pillows to put his head on. Like with most other things of a sensual nature, he can get a bit embarrassed by his affinity for it, may absent-mindedly reach over and brush his hands over your thighs, just to realize what he's doing and jerk his hands back away and pretend it didn't happen... if you say it's alright and allow it, he'll still hesitate and turn away, implore you to pretend it didn't happen, but with enough coaxing from you, he can become comfortable enough to be more open about it, provided you really insist.

#.ah #alhthm getting group bullied in the comfort of his own home by the very residents he brought in on a daily basis

473 notes · View notes

will80sbyers · 19 days

Note

Do you still have the list of movies that inspired ST4? I had a picture of it but I lost it and I haven't been able to find it since. Please and thank you in advance.

Yep!

Long post warning lol

300

2001: A Space Odyssey

47 Meters Down: Uncaged

12 Monkeys

28 Days Later

13th Warrior

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

Altered States

Amelie

American Sniper

Analyze This

Annihilation

Aristocats

Armageddon

Assassins Creed

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Arrival

Almost Famous

Batman Begins

Batman V. Superman

Basket Case

Battle at Big Rock

Beauty and the Beast

Beetlejuice

Behind Enemy Lines

Beverly Hills Cop

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey

Billy Madison

Black Cauldron

Black Swan

Boondock Saints

Borat

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Burn After Reading

Broken Arrow

Blade Runner

C.H.U.D

Con Air

Cast Away

Congo

Constantine

Children of Men

Cabin in the Woods

Crank

Casablanca

Carrie

Crimson Tide

Clueless

Dukes of Hazzard

Don’t Breathe

Death to Smoochy

Doom

Dark Knight

Dogma

Deep Blue Sea

Dreamcatcher

Drop Dead Fred

Die Hard

Die Hard 2

Die Hard 3

Don’s Plum

Dances with Wolves

Dumb and Dumber

Edward Scissorhands

Enter the Void

Ex Machina

Event Horizon

Emma (2020)

Forrest Gump

Fargo

Fisher King

Full Metal Jacket

Ferris Bueller

Fallen

Fugitive

Ghost

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Ghostbusters

Good Fellas

Girl Interrupted

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Get Out

Good Will Hunting

Hackers

High Fidelity

Hellraiser 1

Hellraiser 2

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Hidden

High School Musical

Hurt Locker

Heat

Hunger Games

Highlander

Hell or High Water

Home Alone

I am Legend

It’s a Wonderful Life

In Cold Blood

Inception

I am a Fugitive from Chain Gang

Inside Out

Island of Doctor Moreau

It Follows

Interview with a Vampire

Inner Space

Into the Spiderverse

Independence Day

Jupiter Ascending

John Carter of Mars

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

James Bond (All Movies)

Julie

Karate Kid

Knives Out

Kingsmen

Little Miss Sunshine

Labyrinth

Long Kiss Goodnight

Lost Boys

Leon: The Professional

Let the Right One In

Little Women (1994)

Mad Max: Fury Road

Magnolia

Men in Black

Mimic

Matrix

Misery

My Cousin Vinny

Mystic River

Minority Report

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Neverending Story

Never Been Kissed

No Country for Old Men

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

North by Northwest

Open Water

Orange County

Oceans 8

Oceans 11

Oceans 12

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Ordinary People

Paddington 2

Platoon

Pulp Fiction

Papillon

Pan’s Labyrinth

Pineapple Express

Peter Pan

Princess Bride

Paradise Lost

Primal Fear

Prisoners

Peter Jackson’s King Kong

Reservoir Dogs

Ravenous

Rushmore

Road Warrior

Rogue One

Reality Bites

Raider of the Lost Ark

Red Dragon

Robocop

Shooter

Sky High

Swingers

Sword in the Stone

Step Up 2

Spy Kids

Saving Private Ryan

Shape of Water

Swept Away

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Superbad

Society

Swordfish

Stoker

Splice

Silence of the Lambs

Source Code

Sicario

Se7en

Starship Troopers

Scrooged

Splash

Silver Bullet

Speed

The Visit

The Italian Job

The Mask of Zorro

True Lies

The Blair Witch Project

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Tangled

The Craft

The Guest

The Devil’s Advocate

The Graduate

The Prestige

The Rock

Titanic

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Fly

Tombstone

The Mummy

The Guardian

The Goofy Movie

The Peanut Butter Solution

Toy Story 4

The Ring

The Crazies

The Mist

The Revenant

The Perfect Storm

The Shining

Terminator 2

The Truman Show

Temple of Doom

The Cell

To Kill a Mockingbird

Timeline

The Good Son

The Orphan

The Birdcage

The Green Mile

The Raid

The Cider House Rules

The Lighthouse

The Book of Henry

The A-Team

The Crow

The Terminal

Thor Ragnarok

Twister

The Descent

The Birds

Total Recall

The Natural

The Fifth Element

True Romance

Terminator: Dark Fate

The Hobbit Trilogy

Unforgiven

Unbreakable

Unleashed

Very Bad Things

Wayne’s World

What Women Want

War Dogs

Wedding Crashers

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

Welcome to the Dollhouse

Welcome to Marwen

Wet Hot American Summer

What Lies Beneath

What Dreams May Come

War Games

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Weird Science

Willow

Wizard of Oz

Wanted

Young Sherlock Holmes

You’ve Got Mail

Zodiac

Zoolander

#stranger things #ask #st4 #st4 movies

65 notes · View notes

astyrial · 3 months

Text

breathtaking views bradley bradshaw x fem!reader (fluff) synopsis: a surfer catches bradley's eye word count: 709 warnings: none masterlist | requests are open

large waves roll onto the sands of windansea beach. small crabs bury themselves between the grains as sand dollars find their way onto the beach. a few surfers take advantage of the early morning waves, hoping to ignore the tourists starting to enter the beach. among the crowd emerges a few navy officers who bring along a mean game of football.

bradley is the first look out at the surfers, holding the football between his hands, "you guys ever gone surfing?"

"well, i've taken a lesson or two, mostly because of the instructor..." payback walks up to him, bumping bradley's shoulder with his, a cocky smile stuck on his face.

he shakes his head, eyes narrowing as he spots a certain surfer. you stand confidently on your board, knees bent to keep you stabilized on the board. your wetsuit ends right before your knees and the top portion garners short sleeves. beads of water flies through the air as you twist your board not more than twenty-five percent. you gaining some momentum as you push through the wave

bradley holds back a smile as he watches you jump off of your board, letting the water engulf you. "rooster, you thinking of trying or are we going to get this game going?"

he raises his eyebrows, looking back at payback, nodding. "yeah, i was just giving you time to back out because you guys don't stand a chance," bradley tosses the football back to payback and walks over to bob and phoenix, eyes taking a small peek in your direction.

once again, you're paddling up towards a large wave, body nearly propping up to fight it. he spends the whole game distracted and unable to pull his eyes from where you're surfing. phoenix pulls bob and bradley into a huddle, her eyes forced on bradley.

"i get it, we're on a beach, pretty women. but do you think you could get us one win rooster? considering a few hundred push ups are on the line," phoenix tilts her head. nostrils flaring with her annoyance.

bradley sighs, nodding. there's something so intriguing about you, the way you work with the water to achieve run after run. he looks between bob and phoenix and then over at their very capable opponents, "actually, phoenix, you think you could stay on fanboy's side? he's usually eager to get that front runner spot, we could take advantage..."

luckily for bradley and his wandering eyes, fanboy takes the bait. both him and hangman attempt to rush rooster at the beginning of the play, giving him an opportunity to throw it straight to phoenix. the ball flies through the air until phoenix catches it, leaving her little room between her and the end zone (drawn out with a stick). however, as she's mere steps away, she can see playboy rushing towards her.

in a moment of adrenaline and excitement, she throws it to bob. he reaches for the ball and nearby drops it before rushing to the end zone and happily throwing the ball to the ground.

"touchdown!" rooster shouts out, pushing past his opponents to grab bob, hoisting him into the air.

the three of them hand off high fives, congratulating bob on his first beach touchdown. just as he bradley finally gets his heart to slow down a little, he spots you exiting the water with your board under your right arm. you bring your other hand over and holds the top of the board, water dripping from your arms and board.

when you look up from the sand below you, you meet bradley's gaze. he has a small smile lining his lips, almost hidden by his mustache. you send one back in his direction, unable to keep your eyes away from his. bradley turns back to his teammates, mind still straying back to you. he wants to walk over to you, strike up a conversation, but when he looks back, you're nearly gone.

down by a shop, your board is resting against a wooden stand. you standing in a line with a drawstring bag on your back. for a second, he wonders if he should still take a chance, ask for your number. however, hangman is already nagging him to continue the game.

#rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x reader #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw imagine #rooster top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction

84 notes · View notes

miraitrunks · 3 months

Text

okay, so… here it is: a larger post of most of the treasure planet merch i’ve received but haven’t shared here. this stuff gets more and more niche/rare the further you scroll, so check it all out! let’s start from the top:

first up— we’ve got my complete collection of all the loungefly products. each one has jim on it so it was a must <3 personally the first release (middle) is my favorite but i think the pink backpack is prettier

second up— my 20th anniversary pin as well as my cursed concepts pin. such lovely grabs <3 then we have the pin i bought off the artist Dean Grayson from his “Heroic Rides” series on etsy. it’s fricken huge!

third— probably one of my favorites, my hallmark treasure planet cups. i got these off ebay and i have absolutely no idea what year they’re from. aren’t they so cool?! i got so many and they’re brand new. the print of jim on the cup is just top tier. “honey, we’ve got guests. bring out the fine china!” 10/10.

number four— my jim & silver keychain toys. these are olddd! if you know me though, you know i don’t keep stuff in the packages. silver could stay, but jim definitely had to come out. he zooms forward like a toy car when you pull him back and then let him go!

item number five— treasure planet for the playstation 2. i’m especially fond of this one considering the ps2 was my first ever gaming console that i owned myself. so many fun memories!

number six— my japanese art promo book featuring some of the japanese voice casting! as an anime fan, collecting japanese promotional material for american media is something that i’ve always wanted to do. i haven’t gotten my hands on a japanese movie poster yet, but it’s on my list for sure. this is a pretty close runner up though! i love all the pngs used for this booklet! (sorry for my weird hand placement in some of these, as the pages folded out and it was hard to photograph with one hand)

number seven— last one for now! i think i saved the best for last personally, but this is my disney adventures collector’s edition magazine for treasure planet back from 2002, the movie’s release year. let me tell you, this thing is such a throwback from the events of the year to the ads that come in the thing.

…AND THERE’S A WHOLE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE COMIC IN HERE?! i had no idea! it was like striking gold! this is also one of my favorites of all the things i own. can we get a load of how cute he looks on the cover? he almost looks like he’s aware he’s posing for a magazine cover. so adorable!

…wow, that’s all from me for now! while it’s definitely not all i own, this is just some of the newer stuff i’ve gotten since i’ve been away and/or some of the stuff i think is cooler. did you recognize any of this stuff? find anything new? lemme know!

#( phew long post ! sorry everyone ! )#( sharing my plunders with the world )#piggy podium #merch #treasure planet #disney #jim hawkins #john silver #treasure island

102 notes · View notes

rise-my-angel · 11 months

Text

Heart of the Great Wolf

7 - Shadow of a Fiery Stag

Pairing: Jon Snow x F!Baratheon!Reader (Slow Burn), Robb Stark x F!Baratheon!Reader

Length: 11.3k

Warnings: angst/hurt comfort, slow burn, nighmares, blood and violence, discussions of warfare torture and executions, character death, smut, p in v, light bondage, slight dom/sub dynamics, references to unwanted and aggressive sexual advances, canon divergence

Notes: Based mostly off the show, but certain sub plots here are pulled right from the books instead. Previous chapter here, series masterlist here.

It was during a night like this when you had been at the opposite end of this kind of attack. The rain that night had been heavy and only grew heavier the longer you were out there. Most would have given up by that point, called out their surrender or simply made their way back home on their own. That was not you however, not that night. Your teeth were shattering and your clothes were so soaked through it would take days to dry but what kept you was blind, dumb, determination. Or stubbornness.

It was a sweltering air of summer in that year, unlike now where the heat was dying to what everyone knew would be a longer winter. Your back was pressed against a tree as your eyes peeled around you trying to see in the darkness. You appeared to be alone but you were no fool on that. There was a wolf somewhere in these woods. There had been two as they hunted you and that of the sea, but one your partner in crime was caught, and the first wolf had given up once the rain grew heavier.

It was a game, really. To the younger Starks, it would be fun and easy. Chase them and you around the clearing until they tired out or the sun begun to dim and Lady Catelyn would bring them all in. But between the four of you, three all around eighteen and you at sixteen, the game was much more competitive. If the runners could hide out until midnight, well honestly you hadn’t remembered what the winning bet was for. But it had boiled down to the two teenagers who hadn’t grown up in the wolfswood had to last until midnight without getting caught by the two wolves who knew it like the backs of their hand.

The rain started to fall when they caught Theon, both Starks all but charging him into the mud and once the rain grew harder? Robb tried to call it, but when you wouldn’t come out, considering it to be a ploy? Well it seemed Jon took that stubbornness of yours as a challenge.

Now it was nearing midnight and the rain hard as anything, you knew Jon was still searching for you, never trying to call out or coax you to him.

No you were the prey being stalked by a quiet, and stealthy wolf and you had the great feeling he was toying with you. Purposely letting you get close to winning before he striked. From here, if you ran as fast as you could, you just might make it to the small lake a bit ahead and then you knew how to get back to the castle easily from there.

Your eyes had narrowed, looking to the sides and in front but nothing was there. The tree was thick enough to hide you entirely so by the time he spotted you, you might have made enough of a head start. You had to risk it, and risk it you did.

Taking a deep breathe you begun to sprint in the direction of the lake, only to be grabbed almost instantly by two strong arms yanking your back into their chest. You could feel Jon’s smirk, he didn’t even have to say anything. He had snuck up on you, and hid on the other side of the very tree you were hiding behind, and you never heard a thing.

Struggling against the far stronger one, you huffed out with a laugh. “Alright, alright, you win, now let me go.”

Oh he was definitely smirking, you could hear it in his voice as he spoke lowly into your ear, only in this instance for some reason you picked up on the raspiness of it. A husk in his voice that had been there for a long time, but for some reason as it growled in your ear it made you still in his hold. “I think you’re forgetting who the wolf is here.”

If he noticed your sudden change in demeanour, he didn’t show it. Your voice a little more out of breathe for someone who hadn’t even broken into a spring yet. “Stags are bigger then wolves, Snow.”

His hold previously pinning your arms to your sides, moved gently to unravel as they rested against your upper arms. Him not having moved you away from him, nor backing up to give you space. Once again, the deep raspiness of his voice made your breathe hitch. “Stags are male. Besides, you’re too small to be one anyways, you’re more like a deer. You know what deer are to wolves, Baratheon?”

Jon’s tone putting a mocking emphasis on your own last name. Turning your head slightly, you could see his dark curls, quite long at that time and soaked as they brushed against the side of your cheek. If you looked any further, you may have caught his grey eyes, so dark at that moment they could’ve been black. Your voice was higher pitched, and it was obvious to both of you something in the air had changed but you didn’t have the words in your mind to pin why. “Prey?”

As he chuckled, you tried to take one last chance. Not really for the sake of this little game, but maybe beacuse your head was overwhelmed. Even over the rainfall, he was close enough you could smell him and it made you dizzy to find that you liked it. But Jon wasn’t one to give up, as you broke free of his hands, you only made it a few feet before he called your name.

Coming up behind, he grabbed and spun you to press your back against a tree as he stood in front of you, only when you looked up at him it wasn’t Jon.

Something tall enough you had to stretch your neck to see, and staring back down were two shockingly blue eyes that glowed against the darkness of the figure. A freezing wave casted around you like a fog and in the distance you heard the echoing cries of a baby.

Your memory having turned to something new, playing the events out right until it turned into a nightmare of cold you didn’t understand. It was that dream that you thought of as you sat atop your horse in the rain.

Only this time, the two wolves were on your side and you were the one doing the hunting. Ahead of you were a good number of Lannister men, lead by Stafford Lannister. An easy job, even as they outnumbered your six thousand men they were poorly trained and with even worse command. Men were beside you, on the front ready as you and the King in the North were, but he had one trick up his sleeve first.

You were staring ahead, but the small glance you took to the side as you waited out Grey Wind’s attack, you swore for a split second Robb’s eyes looked almost white. But then an aggressive growl rang out, and whatever you think you saw was once more his blue ones, dark and sharp in the night.

The watchmen ripped apart by the direwolf, and the men led forward by who some had begun calling The Young Wolf. The King in the North, Robb Stark, the Young Wolf ravaging the Lannisters throughout the south with his Queen, his Silent Stag at his side.

They had put up little fight, at least in respect to what you thus far had been used too. The dark and the rain had confused them, making all the worse by the orders given to those acting as archers just before. “Kill the men, not their horse. A dead horse is good cover in the dark.”

The light came quick and the victory came quicker. Still freshly painted with blood, you walked through the scattered remains on the field beside Maege Mormont, keeping track in your mind of the enemy survivors being counted for. “That’s what? At least five of them for one of ours?”

Nodding with narrowed as as you looked around, “So it seems.”

The large woman next to you seemed to have sensed the mood, “It takes getting used to, your grace.” You turned with a raised eyebrow in question as she nodded with her chin to the dead around you. “All this. Every fight it feels like it never gets better, but one day you’re standing on the winning side and your too focused on how many of you, ‘ya got left then focusing on how many you killed.”

She took a pause as she looked you over, the distant and stoic expression she had started to learn wasn’t that of a cold inside or uncaring. Just more of a shell that’s been long taught to cover you on the outside. “And if you ask me, the longer it takes to get used to it, it means you’re still human in the inside. Treasure it while you still have it, your grace.”

Both of your eyes followed a path in the distance to where Robb was having a similar chat with Roose Bolton, but you both could tell there was some disagreement being discussed. “Some lose it faster then others.”

Nodding with a slight grimace you turned to her, your hands resting on your hips as you both watched the pair for a few seconds. “You know, I can’t tell if I respect him or am terrified of him.”

An easy laugh left her that was more of a knowing “Ha” then anything. Maege took a step towards you leaning down closer to your level. “Bolton terrifies most. I can bet if it weren’t for the King, he would’ve been hanging and flaying open those Lannisters the second the fighting stopped.”

Jaw clenching you tore your eyes away from him, “As long as they have his sisters, he won’t risk doing anything that gives Joffery and Cersei any more reason to hurt them.”

Raising an eyebrow at you, “You think they’re hurting those girls?”

You could still see the look in Joffery’s eyes that day in the throne room. An unhinged look that only added up to all the separate times you’d seen him act out so egregiously. “That little psycho isn’t above dragging them into the throne room and having his sorry excuse of a Kingsgaurd beat them as much as he can get away with.”

It weighed on Robb a lot. Knowing that they suffered with each of his own victories, that in his campaign to free them and his people for good he has to sacrifice their well being. It was something you know Catelyn was struggling with. Trying to convince her son that they will give them her daughters for Jaime, but you know handing him over is too risky.

Information, details, secrets, and worst of all, you’d lose a hefty leverage over the Lannisters knowing that they would never grant the same in return. The North loses, people die, Robb surrenders in any way and they will drag you him into the public and end you both just as they did Ned Stark.

Continuing down, it was nice to have found a companion in Maege. She was large, brash, unafraid to speak her mind to just about anyone while keeping a good sense about her. You had asked if all Mormonts were as towering as her and Dacey, to which she gave a pretty good laugh. “Most of ‘em seem to be. All but my youngest, Lyanna she’s a tiny thing but hell if she makes up for it in that mouth of hers.”

You smirked, “Wonder where she could possibly get that from. You have all girls?”

Nodding there was a pride in her face, “Aye, and thank the gods for it. Men in this family were starting to drive us up the wall, now it’s at least a little more quiet.”

You had kept to yourself and only Robb that her nephew, Jorah was a spy working with the now single living Targaryean. He had already disgraced their house enough you didn’t think they needed one more slight added to their pile. It already was a stain that left them bitter, what he did. “My brother always said I was the short tempered one, but I’ve never met a man who could yell quite as loud as him.”

Noting the amount of your own dead, gathering names and families to write for as Olyvar had come to your side at the ready. Maege had glanced at you with an amused smirk, but you shook her off with a close to flat smile of your own. Robb had accepted him, but he hadn’t the patience for a squire that wasn’t quite use to knowing when to leave him alone.

So he had started coming to you, you having no qualms about sending him off on any task just to keep the boy busy. “Be sure to write to Lord Frey yourself about Ser Stevron. I’m sure he’d more appreciate hearing it from one of his own boys.”

“Right away, your grace.” Maege laughed as he took off and you found yourself chuckling alongside her quite freely. “He’s hard working, I’ll give him that but I have no idea how Walder Frey means to make a knight out of that boy.”

“The most aggressive I’ve ever seen him get is when one of the goats bashed him in the ass a few days ago. Think it made him drop his grace’s meal judging by how much he was trying to yell at the thing.” You smirked, that may explain how strangely apologetic he was one evening about being late, when in reality neither you nor Robb had noticed. There was plenty to go over keeping you from noticing the time.

Glancing her over you asked her, “How are you with livestock?”

Her eyes narrowed in question before shrugging. “I can carrel them better then that boy can, that’s for sure.”

Nodding you turned to face her properly. “Good, I want you and Dacey to take your men and start moving along the lines and capturing as much livestock as you can, start getting them into the riverlands so they can get a jump on some before they get too slim or the Lannisters pick them off first.”

An easy grin on her face, “And here I thought you were going to give me something hard, that’s not even a challenge. I’ll get them ready to go by afternoon.”

“Keep an eye out the closer you get. With us heading to Ashemark, then the Crag, Tywin’ll assume Stannis is going for the Stormlands meaning he’ll start heading west for us. Don’t be in his cross hairs when he does.” You glanced around again, “There’s too many men here even with you here.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” You felt thankful she knew you well enough that she put her hand out. Yours clashing into hers with a steady force as she gave it a shake.

You held it there for a moment as you gave her a much more easy going look, “Don’t get killed, Mormont.”

“Nor you, your grace.”

Taking a moment to look over the field alone, you went over in your head trying to organize just who was where and expected by when. Starting to understand how your father always seemed to wrapped up in paperwork, you think you needed a tome full just to keep track of your own men. Greatjon Umber should be close to the Gold mines at Nunn’s Deep, while the Glovers and Karstarks had moved to start raiding along the coast.

“You seem troubled, your grace.”

Your palm having been running over your forehead, you rose up in surprise to find Roose Bolton approaching you. Shrugging you could spot Grey Wind in the distance behind him, suspiciously keeping you in his eyeline it seemed. He’d been keeping his eyes on you as much as he always did Robb now and you were finding the sight of the giant direwolf close to comforting in a way. Turning your attention back to Bolton, “Not troubled. Just struggling to find a way to keep track of things without feeling like my head’s going to explode.”

Chuckling, beside you, you always found him to be an odd man. He was someone with a commanding presence, full of a calm respect, and offered as much as he did listened well. And yet part of him spooked you to the core. “I’m afraid that feeling only gets worse with age. Finding a good outlet helps.”

Face remaining impassive, “And what kind of outlet does a man such as yourself engage in?” Quiet ran between both of you, the tension growing a tinge thicker as he looked as calm as you did, only a single flicker of his eyes betrayed his thoughts as he glanced to where you could distantly hear Robb speaking to a group of men. “He told you no, I am to guess?”

“He did. His grace dies not condone the use of torture, even now in times of war.” There wasn’t discontent in his tone or face, but certainly his words put you at a feeling of unease that was rather similar to what Robb had previously felt at such suggestions.

“You torture a person long enough, and they’ll tell you anything you want just to make it end. Even if it’s nothing but lies, and we’d be none the wiser.” You thought not of rumours of Dragonstone, and how all too much of it was vastly outrageous and some inhumane. It was easier to tell yourself none of it was true here as well.

Roose conceded, following as you both walked. “I must say I am surprised, your grace. I didn’t think a woman such as yourself would have been raised to believe in fighting war with kindness.”

The smell of blood and rotting death festered all around the field, it stuck in the air and would attach itself to you for as long as this war went on. “I don’t believe in that, my lord. Not at all. I think if you’re too kind then you risk letting any fear slip passed by those looking to take advantage of it. But this?” Passing in front of you, a small trio of Silent Sisters passed on, all with gloves drenched in blood and bodies to follow.

The two of you share a glance as you both waited, giving them space to work. “This isn’t kindness, though. And the King has no intention of showing them any.” He looked at you with a lighter expression, eyes a bit more open to your words. “If he was showing these men kindness, then Lord Tywin would have no reason to hide away in Harrenhal, would he?”

Roose tilted his head slightly at you, and in a moment of surprise, you recognized the same strange unspoken pride that you had seen from your own father. In earlier years, you had said when being taught the Great Houses of Westeros, you couldn’t imagine what growing up under “those kinds of people” would be like, when identifying the flag of a flayed open man of House Bolton.

But as you stood with the man now, you started to think maybe you already did. It just took your own father a bit longer to get to the cruelty of it all. Interrupting your thoughts he spoke, “And yet he sent Lady Catelyn to broker a truce with Renly Baratheon.”

He noticed how easily you smirked at such a comment, a sight so rare on the silent Queen. “Renly has had everything given to him by others, my lord. Robert gave him Storms End when he was only a child, he spent his days on the small council laughing and joking with Petyr Baelish instead of taking it seriously, and he has never been involved in anything more violent then getting knocked off his horse like a fool.” Arms crossed over your chest, you could see the men in the distance all looking to Robb with almost worship. “Renly has as many men as he does, because he thinks all a ruler needs to be is charming and his men will do the rest. I think sending her was the safer option, he isn’t really a leader who responds well to anything that might actually intimidate him.”

Was this how your father felt? A love for his brother turned sour as he was wronged more and more, and watched him get rewarded for it? The men of the Stormlands would have turned to Stannis most likely if not for Renly, and of Highgarden? You couldn’t be sure. The allegiance of the Tyrells seemed to be something that eluded you.

“It’s all just a game to Renly. And it won’t last forever.”

You had been sitting partially atop the table, your legs up with knees bent against the seat of a chair as you read and reread the contents of the raven. Robb watched you try not to break into a smirk as the returned Lord Karstark stood present. “And you are sure this was meant for-”

“Lord Damon of House Marbrand, your grace. No doubt about it. The details match what your scouts have reported.” He explained, turning to address the King himself. “A right fuck up, these southern men can’t even read, now.”

Robb much more freely joined in the amusement Lord Karstark had brought to you with a smirk. “Thank you, my lord. I’m sure the Lannisters would thank you as well for such a prompt delivery. If you would give us the room if you would.”

As the room fell quiet your face fell into your palm. “Everything I’ve heard about Ser Amory Lorch, and suddenly him not being able to read makes a whole lot more sense.”

Coming to your side, Robb leaned back against the table, grabbing the letter from you with a mix of amusement in his tone. “By the time Lord Tywin realizes it, we’ll have taken Ashemark already.” A raven had been sent to Lord Marlyn of House Dormand, keen eyes being able to tell the general direction which a raven has been sent from one of Karstark’s men recognized a flight path coming from the direction of where they knew Tywins forces had been pushed back too.

It wouldn’t have even passed them at all had it been sent to House Marbrand of Ashemark like the letter was addressed. Details of infantry movement telling both of Lannister forces pushing back out of Riverrun, garrisoned across the river, and of instructions to the very place your own forces were marching onto. “We started writing in code to avoid this.”

“We were also ten years old, and afraid of our parents finding out what pranks we wanted to play on our siblings.” His voice trailing off in fondness at the thought. It was after your first visit to Winterfell, Robb and yourself would get caught the most getting into trouble and by the time you were to return to Dragonstone, both of you came up with a way to plan out things without getting caught.

As you looked over at him, it was as if a wave of softness came over your heart. The gentle smile on his lips and the bright eyes that always spoke so much in them. It wasn’t fair, the only thing that finally brought you together so deeply being war. A war started for a father he still lost, and a family that was scattered across the rest of the realm and it all now weighed on his shoulders. Any loss, any mistake, any bad thing to happen all fell on him no matter what now and you knew there would be no way for anyone to understand what he’s truly given up to do this.

He knew it was his responsibility to protect his family, and he knows that there is no losing this war that doesn’t end with him ending up beside his father. Robb can’t just give everything up for his sisters and surrender, because he knows that his surrender won’t mean anything to the Lannisters. Not after what they’ve shown themselves to truly be. He had no choice anymore, this was his duty and he has to do it.

“We do not chose our destiny. We must do our duty, no? Great or small, we must do our duty.”

You could hear him even from here. His words ringing out in lesson after lesson, hammering it into your head until you could say it backwards in your sleep. It wasn’t your fathers choice to inherit a throne he was never meant to have, and it wasn’t Robb’s choice to lead his people who had spent generations being shoved away and forgotten by the very throne your father now sought after.

Robb gently calling your name brought you back to the present, standing tall over you once more with a narrowed look in his eyes. Just as he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, and just as you felt the gentle brush of his hand on your waist you lifted a hand up to gently cup his jaw. Pulling his lips to yours as the rush of comforting warmth ran through your veins once more.

Almost too sweet and innocent of a kiss for where you both were, one that felt so much like the gentle kiss in front of the Weirwood. So many women in your life told you that your duty was simple, you were a highborn lady. You would marry a high lord, have his children, should you be so lucky have a quiet and simple life in his home. But you and Robb were nowhere near that.

Far from home surrounded by a war that depended on him and all you had brought from your side was a broken family who hates each other. Pulling back, he could see the trouble in your eyes but the sounds of someone entering broke the spell between you. You had at least, gotten more used to not feeling so flustered at Robb’s lack of care about showing such physical affection in front of his men.

Keeping his hand on your waist as you stood up and turned to face Brynden Tully, “Pardon the interruption, your grace.” Pausing he looked at you, even in his normally hardened expression you could see the apology for being the one to deliver it. “I thought you should hear it before the rest of the camp start squawking about it. Renly Baratheon is dead.”

Your heart both stopped and pounded at the same instance, a dizzy feeling flushing your mind as you slowly brought your palms down to brace against the table in front of you. You’re glad it was him who delivered it, a man who at least wouldn’t take any offence to the cold roughness in your tone. “How?”

As Catelyn entered the tent, you at least put together how he found out so fast. “Maybe we should speak in private.” Glancing at her uncle, you shook your head, nodding for him to come in.

“Stay.” Brynden didn’t question it, as he nodded to Robb still behind you, the hand on your waist wrapping more around your back as he came to stand more next to you. He understood that if he continued to find some semblance of solace in his mother you at least were starting to find an amusing kind of understanding with the older Tully.

Catelyn seemed to say something quiet to someone outside the tent before Brynden closed you all in as she looked to you, almost confused. Your name coming out in a cracked tone as she found the words trying to form. “I don’t know how to even describe this without sound like I lost my mind..”

Robbs hand around your waist tightened as he could see your knuckles turning white as you tensed your hands on the wooden surface. Your jaw set so much it looked like it would break. “Try, mother.” He was more quiet beside you, but in a serious tone.

Exasperated, she stepped closer to you on the other side. “We were speaking in his tent, when the wind picked up and...” Her voice trailed off as her head turned away, only to see yours snap up with a flash of something you knew she couldn’t quite read behind them. “This, black smoke seemed to just..fly in as it..” She found no doubt in your eyes, so she only looked to you. “It looked like it turned into a man, and stabbed Renly right through the chest before disappearing.”

“Cat-”

“I know how it sounds, Uncle. Trust me, I do. But it happened right in front of my eyes, there was no mistakening it. The woman I came back with, she saw it happen as well. One of his kingsgaurd, no doubt they’ll blame it on her but I promise you, that’s what I saw.” Your eyes had trailed down to focus on nothing in particular on the table.

Whispers in your head, images in your mind, and nightmares you’ve never spoken of all seemed to make this sound like the more rational thing. You could hear Robb and Brynden try to find reason with her that she was mistaken, when Catelyn once more said your name. “There is one more thing. The woman with me, she didn’t just see it. She claims she saw the...figure in the shape of the person who did it.”

The hesitancy in her voice, and you felt something constrict around you. Being at war with him was one thing, but this? No, there was no way. Your father would never stoop to something like this. Ned Stark’s words in the small council chambers that day sung in your ear, “You’ll dishonour yourself forever if you do this.”

The silence was stifling before you glanced to Brynden. “Do we know where his forces have moved too?” Walking over to where the plans had been laid out, he leaned over it as you came around to his side. Robb giving his mother a stern glance to drop it, to let him deal with this.

“If our scouts are correct, then most of them are headed to Stannis’s side. Except for the Tyrells, who we haven’t heard where they ran off too.” Your eyes fell onto Storm’s End, he wouldn’t risk going from there. The charge from Dragonstone to Kings Landing was right in his path and he knew those waters better then the Lannisters did.

Robb beside you came to the other side. “I know where they’ll go.” Looking up you could see him catching your eye. “You said that Renly had been trying to find a way to get Margaery Tyrell at Robert’s side, right?” Nodding slowly, you tried to clue in the dots he was, but you couldn’t push past the thought. “Robert dies, Renly declares himself King and Margaery his Queen. So where is the next best place they could think to go that’d give them that advantage?”

Catelyn was more unsure. “But if they already sided against the Lannisters once-”

Robb with no doubt in his tone, once more an easy shift to that of a real leader. “What do the Tyrells have that is more important to Tywin Lannister then gold or men?”

You bit your tongue as you tried to keep your breathe even as Brynden answered for you, “Food.”

As you exited the tent, you were met with a flash of a darkish gold shine leading up to a face you hadn’t seen before. Trying to place her but coming up short, “My Lady, I assume I’m correct in saying you must the one who came with Lady Catelyn?”

Her voice was calm, polite, and as formal as one could ever hope for. “I am, my lady. My name is Brienne of Tarth-”

Coming up beside you was Brynden, “Pardon me,” more stern then you had expected from him, but he moved right through her mid sentence regardless. “But this isn’t your lady, she is the King in the North’s wife. That is, she is our Queen.” A recognition painted in her eyes, and something must have clued in for her.

So this is the woman who thinks your father was behind this. Whatever was in her mind, she found it in her to push aside as she nodded to you. “My apologies. You have my sorry for the passing of King Renly, rest assured your uncle was well loved by all of his followers.”

“Followers that all ran to Stannis once he passed.” Onlookers had noticed tension between the three of you, but all but none would dare interrupt. “And it takes more then just calling yourself King to make you one.”

Something irked inside of the woman and you almost were just itching to have her let it out. In a stroke of likely good luck, rings of “Your grace” spoke up as Robb approached. Giving a nod to Brienne with nothing but a polite but firm look in his eye. “Pardon the interruption my lady,” Hard to see from where anyone was standing as Robb put a hand flat over your lower back with a slight pressure. “But the Queen and I have many things needing attending too. I’m sure you and my mother are tired from your travels. I’d ask you do well to make sure she settles in.”

Nodding, you could see her catching the eye of what likely was the woman in question behind Robb as she lost much of the tensity she spoke to with you. “Of course, your grace.”

As she begun walking off, you caught Catelyns eye whose gaze was full of a complex sympathy, not an easy position you’ve been put in in her mind. Robb having quietly sent his great uncle off with something he pushed you with him in the opposite direction. “If you’re going to scold me-”

Robb letting a small amused smile slide onto his face, “I wasn’t. I was going to say that we’ll talk about it in private later.” Sensing your muscles relaxing, he let go of you before moving up to stand in front of you closer. “I’m having Grey Wind stick to your side from now on.”

Your eyes narrowing in question he looked at you with a stern darker look in his eye not to argue about it right now. “I can’t ask you to-”

“I’m not asking.” His hand coming up to run over the side of your neck and jaw. “If I’m not with you, then I want him to be. And to answer your next question, yes this is an order.”

Something stirred underneath him that you could feel was worry, neither of you really had any reason not to believe her but without the time, energy or ability to question it further? You would have to accept for now that Robb would feel better if you weren’t left on your own without a watcher as trusted as himself or his own direwolf. Nodding, you ran your hand over the wrist closest to your face, sneaking under all the coverings to run your thumb across his pulse. Your voice for now, just that of a whisper. “Understood.”

You both nodded at the other, your eyes taking too long to look away as a protectiveness was clearly swimming in his, but was calm enough to not let it overtake. You both had things needing your attention, you would at least have to wait until tonight to give yourself a real chance to breathe.

Or not, in the ever growing day that provided nothing but issue. Only this time the offence was far more personal. And the anger felt in the room wasn’t just contained to fester on the inside of your heart, no Robb was a Stark and when that anger was felt it would wash over the camp like the sea.

The news came in from more then once place. Trusting in the man he’d known for over ten years, the person who oathed to stand by his side and had never shown an inkling he would do this. Theon had left in high spirits, and instead of giving Robb the news one answer or the other, Theon chose a third route. A brutal betrayal. From a man who swore himself to the King in the North, this was treason.

Greyjoys had landed in on the areas around the North, raiding and all the worse which comes with their warfare. Theon had led the Iron Islanders himself to the heart of Winterfell and had taken it for himself, taken it in the name of his father.

One King dies, and another took his place. Stamping out any alliance with the North that Robb had offered, an offer which respected their once rebellion to be independent again. Two kingdoms who had enough of the Souths choke hold on them, and yet when given the chance to work together Balon Greyjoy had instead sent his only living son to take the place he grew to be a man in.

You supposed, this must have been how those words felt, father. His daughter, a Queen to her husband the King in the North. You know knew what mocking words felt like. King Balon, and Prince Theon. You could take those words and wrap them around the decrepit old mans throat and leave him to choke and die in the sea he loved so much.

Robb sat with the words in his hand. His mother stood with a shock of her own of her own while you and Roose Bolton kept the only calm in the room as you stood next to where Robb sat, and Roose standing across from him. You were angry, and there was no question about it but Robb was angrier. “This cannot be true.”

Roose confirming what he had informed you of moments prior to bringing the news to the King, “We’ve had ravens from White Harbour, Barrowtown, and the Dreadfort. I’m afraid it is true.”

You could see it grow, if not even in his voice or eyes you could feel it in the air, the betrayal was more then an insult, it hurt. It truly hurt. “Why? Why would Theon..”

“Because the Greyjoys are treasonous whores.” Looking up to him, you tilted your head with a pointed look that with a flicker of his eyes you knew the man caught. Asking of Bran and Rickon, Roose confirmed only, “We’ve heard nothing of them. But Rodrick Cassel is dead.”

Your chest feeling a sinking weight in it like being dropped off a cliff, he had taken his home and murdered his men. Men he’d known his entire life. Robb was silent, but it was right at the edge and you knew there was no stopping it.

Catelyn with a waver in her voice, “I told you never to trust a Greyjoy.”

Your head rising up with a warning in your eyes, “Catelyn,” As quick as she realized the seriousness of your warning, Robb reached his limit on his own.

“I must ride North at once.”

Moving to step in front of him before he could reach the front you pushed him back, making him look at you. “Robb, we’re still at war-” Even from how many layers sat between your hands and his chest underneath you could feel his heart pounding and screaming at him as it rose up.

An almost furious desperation in his yell as he looked at you. “How can I call myself King if I can’t hold my own castle?” You felt him shake under as you kept him right there in front of you, knowing if no one stopped him, he’d take off right then and there. “How can I ask men to follow me if I can’t-”

Finding his eyes, you stood tall as your own voice was laced with it’s own anger, yet low enough to try and soothe that wolf clawing to come out. “You are King, and that means realizing that you cannot do everything yourself.” He wasn’t calm, and he felt no less in a need for bloodshed but Robb stood still and evened out his breathe as you looked at him with the calm he needed.

Catelyn stepped to you, “Let me go and talk to Theon.”

Both of you whipped your heads to her, “No.” The same look as you warned her with earlier, now in the sharpness of your tongue. “We won’t talk this out, he dies for this.” You felt in a tight grip that almost could be painful as he ran a thumb over your pulse, finding something relieving knowing that you were only as calm as for his sake. Your pulse ran fast, however.

The woman wasn’t made for war like this, not to this kind of violence. Never trust a Greyjoy she said, but even hearing from you that death is the only fate you saw fit left her a bit stunned.

Roose approached the pair of you, Robb not making any move from you. “Let me send word to my bastard at the Dreadfort. He can raise a few hundred men and retake Winterfell before the new moon.”

Glancing at you, it was hard to not soften at those eyes. Anger and hurt and it tore at you knowing there was nothing to take that back. You leaned up more, ensuring his eyes looked deep into your own. “We have the Lannisters on the run. If we turn around now, we lose everything.”

“My boy would be honoured to bring you Prince Theon’s head.”

Robb kept his hand on you, looking with a steady approval in his expression to Roose. “Tell your son Bran and Rickon’s safety is paramount. And Theon, I want him brought to me alive.” The question in the other man’s eyes melting out to an approval that for once, you both could stand on even ground over.

Robb’s voice almost rough enough to be a growl. “I want to look him in the eye and ask him why, and then I’ll take his head myself.”

The three of you stood in an approval, as he nodded. “I’ll send word at once.” He glanced to you, “Your grace, a word?”

For a moment it almost looked like he was split about you leaving him alone with his mother, the last thing Robb needed was to be told that something he had no way of knowing about, was this much of a mistake. But, it was your mistake too then. You both trusted him, and you both sent him off without the worry of betrayal. If it was on Robb it was on you.

Your eyes narrowed in question, but he just nodded. Not a day that left either of you without an exhausting rage. Stepping out into the night, you spotted Grey Wind sitting up in one direction and Roose in the other. Tilting your head to the direwolf, he seemed to be content to obey as he stood and followed close behind.

Eyeing the sight with a bemused curiosity he nodded to the wolf, “I see you’ve attracted the attention of more then one wolf, now.” You shrugged a shoulder as you glanced back with a fondness in your eye for him, apparently you did, didn’t you. What was the saying, two is coincidence and three is a pattern?

“I seem to have a knack for it.”

Chuckling, the pair of you begun walking through the camp. Looking to the men all around who deserved better then to have their King stabbed in the back by one they called their own. One that was raised by Ned Stark for more of his life then not. “I’ve underestimated you, your grace.” Raising an eyebrow to him, he gestured around the pair of you. “Every man here is a northerner, the first men blood runs strong in our own, and yet they all look to you like you’ve never been anything but one of them.”

“I may not have grown up there, but I’ve been in the Stark’s lives since I was eight. Lord Eddard treated me as well as his own daughters, and I’ve been friends with his eldest sons for as long as I’ve know them. Hell, I even married one of them.” Somberingly, you thought of Renly. How he would tell you that you were never suited for Kings Landing, that the only place that agreed with you was the North.

“You’ve even stood against your own father for them.” Roose seemed to sense the tightness in your throat at the subject but he pressed on. “Married or not, if it’s the Iron Throne Stannis wants, then it’s the throne he’ll fight for and I think most had dreaded that you would side with him.” You had a chance, you really did. But what had Ser Barristan told you? That your duty now was to your family?

“My place is beside my family, and the Starks were family long before I married the King. I suppose I should be grateful that more men aren’t looking at me waiting for my turn.”

What surprised you was the ease which he spoke next. “For a while, I was the only one.”

Heart picked up in speed as you paused in your step. Looking to him with a hesitant wide eyed look as he turned to face you. “Is that what you asked me out here for, my lord? To tell me Robb’s men don’t trust me?”

“Quite the opposite. You’re a hard woman to read, your grace. Everything I know of your father, I see very heavily in the way you carry yourself, and yet I see you in there like you’re the only one who can get through those Starks tempers.” You hadn’t really seen it that way. You just acted in the only way you knew, the only way you’ve ever been with Robb. Or any of them. Wolves can be temperamental, yet you’ve never once worried about that being directed at you.

Your own silence seemed to prove something of a point to him. “I’ve underestimated you for some time, and I’m happy to be proven wrong. I see quite a formidable foe in you, you just need room to let it out.” Looking at him with a more squinting look he stepped in closer, your eyes glancing to calm the slight growl from Grey Wind.

“What did you call me out here for?”

“My bastard has his own way of doing things. I could tell him to simply do only as he’s been told, or I could tell him to make the Greyjoy feel some of that pain the King he betrayed is feeling. And the Queen.” An impressed look on his face, truly something about him reminded you strangely of your father, finding things to be proud of that most would tell you to ease up with. “Sometimes, we must punish pain with pain. Leave our enemies with a bit of fear.”

You didn’t think you knew what he was trying to ask of you. Or if you liked it. As if what he saw in you was a darker feeling then you had ever intended to show. You had heard of what your father has done, and you’ve spent much time trying not to think of it. Not to consider the horror of fire that has been used as a tactic of fear.

Inhaling a steady breath you looked at him, “Tell your son that Bran and Rickon need to be safe and unharmed. Have him find that out for us, and then it’s Robb’s decision from there. He is the King, and it’s his choices I stand by, now and always. Is that all, my lord?”

There was a pause, as he seemed to be unsure of where you yourself was standing at his suggestion, but made his leave without a shred of discontent. “It is. Goodnight, your grace.”

He startled you as he stormed into the tent. Grey Wind immediately taking leave to stand out the door, and yet the look in Robb’s eyes was something you didn’t recognize. You had assumed you were here before him, but judging by his dressed down state he had only walked out for a short while. Tossing something you couldn’t see in his hands down onto the bed, Robb walked up to you.

Grabbing both sides of your face with his hands and pulling you up to him, his lips hovering just over yours as he almost seethed. You could feel him as you whispered, your hands gently finding his torso and resting flat. “Talk to me, my love.”

Eyes squeezing shut he shook his head before hissing out. “I need to hear it.” Stunned for a second as where this was coming from, Robb felt his patience wear thin, yanking you to press up against his front. Already you could feel how hard he was. “Tell me you’re with me.”

There was the hurt, the betrayal from someone he never expected and the need to turn that anger into something else. Gently you danced your fingers up to run them behind his neck and into his curls. “I’m with you, I always will be and I will keep telling you that everyday if I have too.”

His hands on you tightened before he slid one to rake through your hair. Nudging your cheek now with his nose before mumbling deeply into your ear. “You trust me?” Nodding, he ran his hand over your hair comfortingly, “I need you to say it.”

“I trust you.”

You should have been tipped off by how worked up he was, how much he was trying to keep himself in control as he held you but the softness of his voice was a trick that you truly fell for. One that revealed itself as Robb spun you around, holding your back firmly to his chest as he held both your hands at your sides like he was pinning them. “If I do anything you don’t like, I want you to tell me right away.”

Despite your nod, he leaned more over your shoulder grasping at your chin to turn you to look back at him. “I will, I promise.” You dared not move your hands.

Finally, a soft smile came over him. “That’s my good girl.” Leaning down Robb closed the gap and kissed your roughly. Pulling a gasping moan from your mouth into his almost right away as your fingers itched to reach back and run your hands through his hair. He lightly bit your bottom lip and as you opened with a little breathe he slid his tongue to brush against yours. The hand on your jaw trailing down, reaching slowly into the top of your shirt and smirking into the kiss as he found nothing in his way.

Biting your lips once, twice more before trailing down your neck. His facial hair scratching at your neck, leaving raw red marks where he passed that added to the delicious sting of his teeth. Your eyes fluttered shut, cries wanting to leave your mouth so desperately only to come out loud and needy as he kissed and bit at such a sensitive spot.

You hadn’t realized Robb turned you in the room until he pressed your hand to your side firmly in a warning to keep it there. Reaching over you tried to look but he pulled you back to strain your neck back at him. “Ah, ah you keep your eyes shut for me.”

For a second both his hands left you only to find him yanking both your hands back and wrapping what felt like a rope around your wrists before pulling at it to test how tight it was. Robb knelt down behind you dragging your breeches down slowly. “You drive me insane wearing these, you know that?” Carefully helping you step out of them before he ran his hands up your legs as he stood, grasping your ass roughly with both hands. “Walking around this camp, not even realizing how much every one of them would kill for even a peek at this.”

A smack at your ass pulled a shocked gasp from you before a shaky breathe sent shivers running down your spine. Smacking the same spot again before he roughly groped at the plush skin. “They don’t-”

Another smack, this time harder then either before as his groping increased in greed. “Oh they do, all those men want a piece of my pretty little wife and not one of them will ever get it.” On the unabused cheek, he gently massaged the skin before smacking it too, all the while watching your face twist in a fight of pain and pleasure. “I could walk you out there right now, and not a single one of them wouldn’t be hard as a rock at the sight.”

Stepping forward Robb moved around you to sit on the bed, pulling you carefully up to straddle his lap, when you swallowed nervously at the feeling, his touch turned soft on your hips. “I’ve got you, you’re safe I won’t let you fall.” Shifting back enough so that you could firmly sit in his lap, both your knees pressed against the fur beneath.

Smoothing his palm out to run back and pull you right over his cock by your ass, he other ran along the back of your hair much more gently. He pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek, “I’m sorry,” your eyes narrowing in confusion as he kept you on the edge with both his hands on such different places. “About today, all of it. You were angry, then I was so angry I didn’t even bother asking if you were alright.”

Shaking your head, you both hated yet understood why he kept you tied back. It was too easy for you to distract him with your touch, “You have nothing to apologize for, I know you care even if you don’t say it.”

“Aye, that’s the problem.” Like he was trying to drive your senses crazy, Robb ran his mouth along your jaw once more, nipping along the skin on the other side now. “If I don’t ask, you just won’t tell me when you’re not okay. I don’t want you assuming I don’t care if I don’t show it, you do nothing but be there for me and if I’m not doing the same? Then I’m a bad husband.”

Your fingers flexed again, “I love you, and you love me, that’s all we need, Robb. Just us-” you cut yourself off as he bit a little harder, marking the other side of your neck to match his previous. “Are we talking or are you seducing me?”

Smirking into your skin, he pressed his hand into your ass a little tighter, “Can’t it be both?”

“I don’t know, maybe you’ll have to tie me up a little better if you want me to really listen.” Pulling back his eyes were dark as they stared you down, his hand finally moving from your hair down to hold onto the rope tie at your wrists. In a second, the world spun as he pulled you up onto the bed, and flipping you over so your hands sat behind your back.

Robb pushed both your knees open before reaching behind him, pulling a small dagger out. One hand rested on your inner thigh as he kept your eyes on his, so you could watch him carefully tip the blade down to the top of your shirt before slicing into it. The sound of the tearing fabric almost screaming in the silence of the room otherwise. Tossing it down, he pulled back to rest on his knees as he took his own clothes off for you to watch.

Your knees being kept wide apart as he knocked them open more with his own and knelt in between them, watching you grow more and more wet as he undressed. “You think any of them are lucky enough to have a woman like you in their bed, soaking their sheets when they’ barley done anything?”

You shook your head, “They’re not missing anything special.”

Leaning over top of you, you felt his cock slide hard and thick between your legs. “Oh but they are, and they know it. I could buy each and every one of them as many whores as they could handle, but none of them would make them anywhere near as greedy as you make me feel for free.”

Both hands braced beside your head he dragged is cock along more ever so slowly, your voice coming out in strained breaths as you stammered out. “F-fuck, could start charging. Be good for morale.”

Capturing your lips in a biting kiss, Robb wasted no time in deepening it as he let you soak his cock more and more. Pulling your hips up to his level, but never using the leverage to try and tease you more then dragging along your folds. “You think?”

You almost laughed if he didn’t capture your lips between each word before running a hand down, pressing a thumb against your clit, sliding down to gather the wetness he knew you were still giving him and ran small circles against it firmly. Pulling back with a small bite to your bottom lip, Robb slid two fingers deep inside of you, the sound almost obscene with how wet you were around him.

“Those men have no idea do they? Not a clue how much of a needy little whore their Queen is, how desperate she is for her King to fuck her every single night.” His fingers started to thrust slowly, almost pulling out before a rougher push back in, a moan crying from you every time. “Or maybe they do, you don’t seem to bothered about letting them hear you moan like one.”

Your core burning, head thrown back as he suddenly let a third join as he fucked you with them, “Please, Robb, of fuck please, I-” You could barley finish a sentence how worked up he had you, how much your inside twisted with pleasure at the sting three was giving you.

Leaning his head down, he pulled your forehead to rest up against his as he held the back of your neck with a rough voice, “Remember my love, when you asked why would a woman want it to hurt?” You felt lightheaded as you nodded, the wolfish grin ready to devour you as he pressed a kiss to your lips. “It’s only because the one fucking them, knows exactly how far to push before. Knows right where it’ll hurt just the perfect amount that it makes you cum.”

Your whine this time was a little harsher, Robb gently shushing your cries as he slowly shoved a fourth finger inside of you. Your body already sweating from the heat of him on top of you, the fur below and the need inside of you. Tears falling from the side of you as he paused just as he pushed them as deep as they could go, “Talk to me,”

“Don’t stop, please. I, fuck, you make me feel so good I promise.” His smile this time was a little more soft, the gentle kiss a little more innocent. The wetness sounding obscene as he fucked you this way, but the heart pounding pleasure you were feeling in between the aching sting was too good. “Fuck, I love you so much.”

Robb actually breathed out a laugh into your neck, leaving another kiss where his lips lay.

Only in an instant, you felt that coil snap, back arching as much as you could as Robb gently fucked you with his fingers through your orgasm, his lips along your neck making the same bite worse. Pulling them out just as you started to shake, he yanked your hips up and pushed inside of you.

You could barley think as he almost pushed you right into another orgasm, the stretch was thick and you clenched around him from the sparks of pleasure before he started to fuck you. Right up against that spot that had you sing for him, both of his hands now shoving your thighs as far apart as they could go he fucked harder.

Slow, pounding of his cock that slapped against your skin loudly. His eyes dragging over you as you weren’t even trying to hold your moans back. From the deepness of his cock and how each rough fuck sent you closer to burning in the fires you weren’t even sure you were aware of crying out his name, and how much Robb groaned each time.

All you could see and feel was him, and your heart pounded suddenly at the idea that he would ever consider you wouldn’t be there for him. The wolf making you feel utterly crazy from his touch like he wanted to possess you as much as you had his own mind and heart.

Almost falling on top of you, like Robb needed to feel you pressed against his skin, he buried his face in your neck as his hands roamed all over you. You pushed closer to the edge and this time the fall off would be into waters you never wanted to swim up from.

“Robb, please, fuck, cum inside me, my love. My king, please I want to feel you so badly,” The hair around his cock rubbing against your clit as his facial hair did the marks on your neck. His cock pushing hard against such a sensitive spot inside you that you snapped, coil twisting and breaking as your orgasm pushed you off the cliff. Arching into him and Robb holding you close as his hips fucked into you now faster as he seeked his own end deep inside of you.

“My needy girl wants me to fill her?” His voice rough as it was cracking from his own pleasure, your thighs burned from the strain, your neck from his teeth and your hips already sore from how hard he was pounding inside of you.

“Make me yours, Robb.”

Something came over him as he reached his orgasm. His hands on you rough as he started to cum, hot and thick like you could feel every drop of it deep as he spilled inside of you. His teeth clenched onto your neck and for a split second it was like as he came, he was gone and an aggressive and loud growling came from Grey Wind just outside.

Only just as he started, he stopped and Robb pulled back to press his lips against yours.

It took some time to come down, for both of you. Robb undoing the rope as he turned you onto your side away from the entrance as Grey Wind wandered in. You were pulled back into his chest as you both held the others hands tightly between your breasts as you both settled your hearts.

It was late into the night when he spoke quietly to you, “We need to meet with him, both of us. If he has Renly’s men now, he might stand a chance.”

Snuggling back into his touch, you sighed at how warm he felt. “He thinks I’m a traitor, thinks you’ve stolen half his kingdom.”

“All the more reason to try, we combine our numbers then the Lannisters have no legs to stand on, and if he doesn’t? I may have an idea for that anyways.”

Laughing lightly, your eyes slipped closed as he ran his nose along the back of your hair. “You think about my father a lot when we’re in bed, your grace?”

You got a smack on your ass one more time for that one. He likely could tell you were too close to slipping away to get into it, but Robb was awake for some time that night. Not only was his head stirring with any and every strategy he could conjure these days, but also at one other thing. Renly Baratheon being killed by a black mist in the shape of a man didn’t seem to insane, not to Robb.

Not when he could no longer pretend what was happening with Grey Wind was just his imagination.

Another direwolf on the other side of the world also sat curled up close to his master, but there was no sense of calm as they lay there that night.

One more night out in the cold beyond the wall, and another night Jons dreams were filled with tormenting images of you and Robb. Like the old gods were cursing him, more then they already currently were. You were his brothers now, he shouldn’t be forced to have such dreams that drive him insane, haunt him with knowing what you sound like in ways he almost had.

It was impossible to forget you in the dead of night, when something was filling his mind with sights and sounds of you and too many of them were like an alluring mockery of what Jon knew he gave up. But as he looked up in front of him one of the two actual things he could see just made this worse then being stuck here already felt.

Ghost first, being the only comfort he still had, beside him and facing the second figure carefully. His sharp red eyes watching as on guard as Jon’s grey ones were. It almost made him more frustrated. The woman who spoke as if she had no hypocritical thoughts that she spat at him, as if her kind hadn’t done as much bad as his and yet she never knew when to stop that mocking.

Taunting him for what she caught right away as inexperience and did she ever torment him for it. She had the gall to act as if The Night’s Watch were the true irredeemable enemy, and yet here Jon was, a grown man who certainly knew how to fight, having to put his own direwolf between them at night just to keep her aggressive advances away from him.

Whatever she thought this was, Jon couldn’t possibly tell her enough times she was wrong. She refused to listen, mocked him, and had no care of being told no. And now, each night he was mocked by dreams of the one person who showed him the exact opposite of the abuse thrown at him currently.

With the brother who always got what Jon never did, and still the one person who was the only thing Jon once ever had to himself. Ygritte could taunt him all she wanted for whatever she thinks he doesn’t know.

But Jon certainly did know what being consumed with a burning love for you feels like, and how much he hated that being forced closer to the wildling made him feel like a traitor to you.

He had to watch you and his brother for who knows why, but he told you to do it. To find love with Robb, and you listened to him, you always listened to Jon. But for him, on top of everything in this new life he had to deal with, feeling like Ygritte’s advances somehow betrayed him to you even now?

Just let the cold of the night take him out already, he thought.

#jon snow x reader #robb stark x reader #game of thrones #jon snow #robb stark #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #jon snow x you #robb stark x you #jon snow imagine #robb stark imagine #game of thrones imagine

234 notes · View notes

mylovelies-docx · 10 months

Text

Sorry, I Love You - Part 9

Oh wow, a new chapter? Who'd have thunk it.

My posting schedule is all off and I honestly don't know if I can get it back under control. I have no idea when I'll get time to sit down and write and when inspiration will strike, so I can't assure weekly updates. But I'll try my hardest to get this story out! I have future chapters written, it's just that I have no way of connecting them right now :/ Oops.

Plot: You and Bucky have a good thing going - best of friends that also have more than a little chemistry between the sheets. Everything is fine until you develop feelings for the man who doesn't want a relationship. What will happen when Bucky finds out?

C/W: Ah shit, here we go again. Angst, arguments, jealousy

Word Count: 2,250

Tag List: NOW CLOSED! If you'd like to keep up with this story, please follow my blog and turn on notifications! ❤️ you :)

[Prologue][Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Part 4][Part 5][Part 6][Part 7][Part 8]

Some moments are easier than others. Sometimes you feel like you’re not pining like a love-sick teenager enough to think that you can actually do this – you can actually be friends with the man you love.

But then there are moments like tonight.

A few weeks have passed since community get-together, and you and Bucky are the new kids in town. Everyone drops by to say hello, leave you with enough food to last the winter, and invite you both back to their homes for dinner. It’s all very sweet, and you would appreciate the hospitality in any other situation.

But the amount of mothers trying to marry their daughters off to Bucky is insane.

Several have not-so-subtley seated Bucky next to daughters of marriageable age, while everyone else is silently discouraged from interrupting their conversations. It skeezes you out when the girls are barely out of their teens, but most of the girls are around your age or older. Morality-wise, that’s a whole lot more appropriate. Internal monologue-wise, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh doesn’t even begin to cover it. What you feel whenever he laughs at something they say, or looks at them with his intense blue eyes – it hurts. That’s how he used to look at you, once upon a time. Like his life wouldn’t be the same without you in it, like you’re one of the most important people in his world.

To be fair to Bucky, you probably read waaaay more into it than he ever meant. And you only ever really saw that look come out when you were straddling his waist and grinding hard on his cock, skin mottled with his teeth marks and wearing his metal hand as a necklace.

Stop, stop, stop, stop!

Anyway,

You’re usually placed next to older, widowed relatives, as most of the young men in the town have already settled down and popped out a few kids with their spouses except for Petre. Tessa foists the two of you together at every possible opportunity, hoping you’ll hit it off and decide to get married in the near future.

Petre is nice, smart, cute, but not really your type. You’re convinced that you’ve only ever had one type and he’s off-limits. But Petre’s company is much more enjoyable than the sad, lonely older men they try to pair you with – it never feels great to be compared to someone’s long lost love – so you don’t mind having someone around your age to talk during these things.

Speaking of.

“It’s a nice night, yeah?” Petre comments. The night is warmer than expected, but you and Petre are still bundled up in your coats as you stroll through the dead copse of trees near the latest dinner party. The sun had set only minutes ago and the stars are making their presence known. There’s next to no light pollution in this area, so you always take the time to admire the night sky when you have the chance.

You often take walks with Bucky up and down your street as a way to decompress after your shifts at the HYDRA facility. After the first week or so of being everyone’s errand-runner, they’ve slowly built up your workload to include calculations and deductions based on redacted data – it’s not as much information as you’d like, but it’s enough to build a foundational understanding of what the experiment was about.

You hum in agreement and continue walking. It’s about time to turn around and head back, but you can’t bring yourself to return only to watch Bucky flirt with the pretty girls that were also invited.

“Is something the matter?” Petre asks you.

You startle out of your petty, jealous thoughts. “Hm? Oh, no. Nothing’s wrong,” you reply with a smile.

“It’s just that you seem very distracted tonight,” he responds.

With your hands in your pocket, the only thing you can do is shrug your shoulders. “Just tired, is all. It’s been a long week at the office.”

“Ah, I know the feeling,” Petre commiserates.

All of the sudden, a wailing, piercing shriek ricochets between the tree trunks and reverberates in your ears. Tensing with adrenaline, you take two steps forward, ready to intervene in whatever events are unfolding in the darkness.

Before you get much further, Petre reaches out and takes hold of your elbow. Turning you around, he starts leading the way back. You try to tug your arm from his grip, but he holds firm.

“The cry of a vixen who is looking to mate. They’re rather vicious creatures this time of year, foxes. We don’t want to get in her way,” Petre deters.

“But…” you begin, looking back over your shoulders and watching for unexpected movement among the swaying branches. “It sounds so real.”

“Terrifying, really. I was just as concerned when they began, as well.” Petre gives you a tight smile and relaxes his grip slightly when you stop trying to pull away.

“What do you mean?” you question.

“What?” Petre’s eyes flash around quickly, looking through the woods that surround you.

“‘When they began’. What do you mean by that?”

“Ah,” Petre replies. “When mating season began.”

There’s no more discussion on the eerily accurate sound of a woman in distress. You can only trust that Petre would know the local fauna and their habits better than you, since you’ve never spent an extended period of time in areas such as this.

***

The neighbor’s house finally comes into view. A lone figure stands silhouetted against the porch as they lean against the railings, their arms braced against the banister and posture rigid. When you get closer, you realize that the figure is Bucky.

You can’t see his face, but you can feel his eyes on you. And apparently Petre can as well.

“He doesn’t like me?” Petre asks.

“Why do you say that?” The question puzzles you because Bucky has no reason to dislike Petre. He’s been incredibly helpful so far, allowing you to ask as many questions as you want about himself and others and he doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. In fact, you feel as if you and Petre have become friends.

“It just seems like he’s never happy to see me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that – James just has RBF,” you reply nonchalantly.

“RBF?” Petre replies.

You laugh as you and Petre climb the stairs, only now realizing that he still has a hand on your arm. You’d forgotten all about it, but you miss the slight warmth that permeated through your jacket when he removes his touch. You turn to look at him, but Petre is looking away, his hands now deep in his pockets. Turning your focus onto Bucky, you see him watching Petre, his eyes squinted.

A large smile returns to your face as you reach up and grab Bucky’s chin, squishing his cheeks and making his lips pucker from the pressure. “This –” you say triumphantly, “is an RBF.”

Bucky glares down at you and swats your hand away. You cackle at the perfect example of Resting Bitch Face™ in front of you, throwing your head back in joy. When you right your posture again, you can see a small smile on Bucky’s face as he laughs along with you.

“Whatever,” he murmurs. He shakes his head in exasperation before circling his arm around your shoulders. Bucky begins dragging you back down the steps you had just ascended and you grunt in protest. “It’s time to go,” he says simply.

“Ugh, you’re so rude,” you say to him. Craning your neck as much as possible, you look back towards Petre who remains on the porch. “I’ll see you later!” you call backwards with a wave. Petre raises a hand in return, face hidden in shadow as Bucky’s had been.

Focusing back on the road in front of you, you can practically feel what little mirth Bucky had drains away. Looking up, you notice that his jaw is clenched and a hard look has entered his eye.

“What’s wrong?” Now you’re worried that something happened to Bucky while you were gone that has put him in a bad mood. Did someone say something to him? Did one of the women reject his advances? You can’t see who in their right mind would turn him down, but not everyone feels the same way about him as you do. But if it’s the latter, the guilt you feel only slightly outweighs the relief.

“You don’t think you’re spendin’ too much time with him?” Bucky says between clenched teeth.

A frown appears between your eyebrows as you continue to look up at him. “No?” you respond. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Ofcoursehedoesn’t,” Bucky mutters under his breath, but you can still hear him.

You slide out from under Bucky’s hold, his agitation sparking flames of your own. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t think you’re leadin’ him on a bit, Y/N?” Bucky asks you.

You scoff. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You’re always hangin’ around him!” Bucky quips back. “You’re flirting with him and walking out of parties together. All these people, Petre included, are going to think you’re pitching for an engagement.”

The hurt and pitiful feelings from earlier tonight come flooding back. Only this time, instead of feeling them for what they are, you combine them with the anger his comment brings. How dare he accuse you of leading Petre on? As if he isn’t doing the same thing to all those girls?!

“And what about you?!” you yell, the last word ripping its way between your lips and setting your tongue ablaze. “You don’t think you’re stringing all these girls along behind you? You don’t have any intention of getting into a relationship with any of them, either, do you?”

As the words escape, you remember how Bucky sat you down and asked for a friends-with-benefits situation. Said he wasn’t ready for a real relationship, but tired of one night stands. How the two of you could help each other out since you weren’t seeing anyone either. The old resentment towards yourself and how you let yourself fall for someone wholly unavailable whiplashes back into your mind after months of repressing it.

If he could ask that of you, does that mean he’s asked someone else? You usually arrive home later than him, but on some occasions that you are released early, he’s not there. Instead of asking where he’s been, you had just let it slide since it could have been construed as possessiveness. Like your feelings – that Bucky believes to be long gone – entitle you to his life. You hadn’t wanted to risk anything at the time, but now your mind can’t help running wild at the possibilities.

“It’s not like I’m screwing his brains out every time we’re gone!” You shout at Bucky. You had been walking down the road away from the house party which was on a street with few homes, so there’s nobody around to hear your fight. “We’re not in the bathrooms having quickies, he’s not fucking me against a wall, or bending me over his motorcycle! He hasn’t proposed we fuck around with each other until someone better comes along!”

Your chest heaves with the effort of expelling these vicious words from deep within your heart, and you can feel a burning beginning to creep behind your eyes. You hate getting angry – hate that any strong emotion makes your eyes well with tears and makes you look weak. And in this situation, you are weak – weak against Bucky, weak against yourself, weak against the knowledge that the one man you’ve ever loved never felt the same way and never will. Your inability to keep yourself from falling for someone you knew you could never have? Your jealousy that he is probably sleeping with one or more of the women in town? That makes you weak.

And you can’t stand to be weak in front of Bucky again.

“Newsflash, Buck: I know how it feels to be lead on by you and it fucking sucks!” You lower your voice slightly and take another step away from him. “I know that wasn’t your intention, and I didn’t feel that way at first, but that’s how I feel now.”

“You were my best friend, Y/N – I didn’t want to lose that!” Bucky exclaims. “And I genuinely thought we were on the same page!” He takes a deep breath and clasps his hands over his eyes before saying, “And seeing you run off with Petre all the time just reminds me of us – how we’d always sneak away to get some time alone. It’s just –” He drops his hands and sighs heavily, looking up at the star-studded sky and then back down to you. “I’m jealous.”

“You’re jealous?” You ask incredulously. “Why?”

“Because –” You can tell that he’s struggling to get this out, and if he hadn’t started this argument and accused you of wronging Petre, you might have been more receptive to what he’s saying. More understanding. But right now, your anger swallows all empathy and hope that his words would usually supply. “Because that could have been us,” he breathes. Bucky takes a tentative step in your direction, but freezes solid at the icy glare you send his way.

“No,” you say flatly, “No, it couldn’t have. You made that abundantly clear when I asked.”

You turn your back on him and start running, ignoring the sound of your name as you leave Bucky behind.

Part 10

Taglist: @jackiehollanderr @rabbitrabbit12321 @12345sebby @blackwood-bodecker-housewifeife @lauraashley93 @themorningsunshinee @happinessinthebeingg @nash-dara @calwitch @stany0url0calwh0res111 @pono-pura-vida @learisa @introverbatim @kentokaze @marvelogic @kaz11283

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky fanfic #sorry i love you

376 notes · View notes