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huskersbooze · 2 months

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Who's in Control?

Alastor x Reader

| Part 1(here!) | Part 2 | Part 3 |

Summary : You sold your soul to Alastor and had no idea how big of a deal this was. Until recently, you finally learn what it means, and realize all that Alastor had been doing was just a lie.. or was it?

Pairing : Alastor x F!Reader, Huskerdust? (M!Reader here, Gn!Reader here)

Warnings : swear words

Additional Tags : Angst, miscommunication, misunderstandings, Alastor actually being nice?!, no use of (Y/n)

Ib : Who's in Control By Set It Off

Word count : 1.8k

"Good morning, dear."

"Morning, Al." You reach the lobby and take a seat on the floor next to Alastor's chair.

"How was your sleep, darling?"

"It was good! And yours?"

"Aha, hilarious, really. You know I don't sleep, my dear." He places a hand on your head and gives your hair a ruffle. "You really do know how to brighten my day."

The rest of the team reaches the lobby, and you all gather around for your daily dose of trust exercises.

-----

You and Alastor had been growing closer and closer ever since your arrival at the hotel. There was no doubt that he was your favourite person there.

And, well, for Alastor, he never wanted to admit it, but everyone in the hotel could tell, and even he was aware.

He was growing a soft-spot for you.

It was never supposed to be this way. He was never meant to grow attached. It just somehow happened, and that was that.

Everything between you two was going great. Except for that one little issue that bothered Alastor.. but you didn’t have to know. He never tried to abuse any of that power when he asked for your soul. He never thought of doing anything to you.

But there comes a time in every relationship where a lie can ruin it all.

“Hey, sugar. How ya’ doin’?” Angel Dust leans by the bar counter, greeting you as usual.

“I'm doing decent. Husk and I were just talking about you.”

“We were fuckin’ not!” You watch as the cat's ears twitch, the drink he was originally pouring tipping over.

“Oh, really? No need ta’ lie Husky~” You laugh at Angel's teasing, which makes Husk let out a low growl. “At least I don't gawk over a certain demon so obviously.”

“Hey! Are you talking about me and Al?”

“Who else would he be talkin’ about?” Angel tilts his head to the side, giving you a knowing glare. “Ya’ can't even deny it.”

“Al and I are just friends.”

“Kid, Angel's right.” The cat can only do so much but sigh. “You don't know him as well as I do. He treats you differently.”

“Still, we're just friends-”

“The Radio Demon doesn't do ‘friends’, kid.”

“Yeah, well, he owns my soul. Of course he'd treat me differently.”

The way it so simply came out of your mouth like it wasn't some big deal. Both Husker and Angel Dust froze in place, staring at you wide-eyed.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“What.. what did you just say?” The spider can hardly comprehend the news you'd just dropped.

“He owns my soul..?”

“Kid. What the actual fuck?!”

“What the fuck did he do to you?! Ya’ alright?! Are you hurt?”

You watch as the two demons skim your body up and down, firing questions at you, checking up to make sure you weren't hurt.

But you were confused.

“What's going on? Why are you guys suddenly acting so strange?”

“Wh- Why did you sell ya’ soul to him?!”

“Fuck I knew he was up to no good!”

“He told me by selling my soul to him he'd protect me from everything and anything at all cost. I didn't see a reason to decline?” You reply to Angel's question, ignoring Husk as he mutters about himself being correct. “I got nothing to lose.”

“Ya’ got everything to lose, shitass.” You hear his voice start to crack slightly as you realise tears welling up in his eyes.

“Angel?! Hey, what's wrong?”

“Damn, kid. You really don't know shit, huh?”

“About..?”

“What it means to sell your soul.”

“I know what it means, Al said-”

“Forget that fucker.” Husk practically spits out his name. “D'you know why I work here at the bar?”

“Because you like your job..?”

“No. It’s because I was forced by the person I sold my soul to.”

“Who..?”

“Hell, kid.. you really can't take a hint?”

And just like that, he says one more name, and your whole world comes tumbling down on you.

He didn't actually care for you, he was just shaping you in case you came to use.

He didn't actually enjoy your company, he was just watching you to make sure you were obedient.

He didn't actually mean any of the things he said. He was just trying to manipulate you.

And you were so damn lost. So damn lost as to whether the control and power you thought you had, really belonged to you.

“Valentino is an overlord.. and he's your boss?”

“Yup.” Angel nods.

“And he owns your soul like Al owns Husk’s?”

“Exactly.” Husk replies.

“And there's no escaping this contract..?”

“No.” The two reply together.

“Fuck.”

-----

“Greetings, my dear! How are you on this fine morning?” The static sounds from Alastor's usual seat at the lobby where you all gather every morning.

There's that usual smile etched on his face, which, you used to believe looked genuine when he was talking to you, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

“Hey, Husk. Hey, Angel.” You greet the two on the couch, completely passing by Alastor and ignoring his whole existence. “Mind if I sit?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Angel scoots over and makes space for you to squeeze between Husk and himself. “Ya’ look like hell.”

“You alright, kid?”

“Couldn't sleep much last night, but I'm fine.” You reassure them.

The rest of the crew were a bit startled at your display, knowing well that you refused to not sit by Alastor's chair, normally.

And here you were, ignoring him completely like he was no longer relevant, and hanging with the other two demons.

“Okay.. what an interesting way to start the morning!” Charlie tries to break the ice.

Everyone turns their attention towards her.

Everyone but Alastor.

He was practically fuming with rage, anger, irritation, but yet, a tiny bit of worry.

How dare you ignore the Radio Demon like he was some piece of useless trash?

But then again.. why were you suddenly acting so cold and distant? What did he do wrong?

He couldn't help but focus his attention on you throughout the entire day, but you didn't even spare him a single glance.

Needless to say, you felt a knock on your door that night.

“Darling, how wonderful to see you! Wonderful, really. Mind if I come in?”

“A little. What do you need, Alastor?” You stand at the door frame, hand still on the door handle, prepared to slam the door in case anything happens.

Meanwhile, Alastor was pissed. You had never rejected inviting him in for late night chatting, in fact, you never rejected anything from him.

“It's nothing, really. I just hoped to have a friendly little chat with you, if that's alright?” Alastor leans down to your level, tilting his head and giving you his usual smile he reserved for you, and you only.

“A bit busy. Maybe next time.” You attempt to close the door, but a hand swoops in and, damn, was he strong.

“Dear, what seems to be the issue?”

“I’m really busy, Alastor.” You sigh. His ears twitch at the name. Where were all his sweet little nicknames? Why were you only referring to him by his full name?

“Clearly, something is wrong, and I ought to find out what I had done to deserve such treatment.” He states, making himself welcome in your room. “Talk to me, darling.”

“Oh enough with the pet names, I’m not your fucking pet.” You roll your eyes, closing the door behind you to make sure no one stumbles upon your little predicament.

Alastor stiffens, then laughs.

“Whatever are you talking about, dear? Of course you’re not my pet.”

“The damn contract says otherwise..” You watch as Alastor shifts uncomfortably, his back still facing you. “I should’ve known you just wanted another soul. Fuck you, Alastor.”

You continue on about how you never should’ve trusted him, and how you finally knew about everything so there was no point in him pretending to tolerate you.

Alastor, however, could barely process anything you were saying. He could hear his own static in his own head, and it was growing louder and louder.

What the fuck was happening? How did you know? What did he ever do? Where did he go wrong..?

“Darling, please.. You don’t understand-” The radio filter in his voice was off, his actual voice coming out as a soft plea.

Taken aback, you stopped talking. Alastor turned to face you, smile still etched high and proud, but his eyes looked like he was about to break.

“Alastor..” You murmur. “I just don’t think I can trust you anymore. I’m sorry.”

“When have I ever used any of that power on you?!” Alastor snaps, eyes darting all over the place, trying to find out what to do to fix all this. “I’ve been nothing but nice! I.. I helped you when you were in trouble! I did nothing to hurt you..”

You watch as Alastor starts losing his usual composure, having it slowly drifting away.. It was heartbreaking seeing him like this, but you couldn’t bring yourself to forgive him and pretend nothing happened.

“It doesn’t matter when you’re in control..”

“No.. darling, no! You’re in control!” He scrambles, grabbing you by the shoulders.

“Really? I’m not sure I trust any of that bullshit anymore.”

“Dear, please, listen to me..!”

“I'm sorry, Al.. I think it's best if you leave.”

He pauses.

“Have a good sleep, dear.” He says, voice filter completely off. It was a rare occasion getting to hear his sweet voice. Too bad it had to be under such circumstances.

-----

“Oh my, Alastor, what's got your ears pinned back?” Rosie leads her friend through the halls and has him take a seat opposite of her. “Is everything alright?”

“No.. no it's not.” He replies. “She found out.”

“About the deal?”

“No, Rosie. No.” He sighs. “She found out what selling her soul to me actually permits me.”

“But you never wanted to abuse that power, did you?”

“Of course not.”

“Then, I'm assuming you didn't tell her?”

“No.”

“Well, why not?”

“Would it make a difference?" She could practically hear him scoff. "She's irritated at me as is. It's not like she'd even heed my words."

“Come, now, Alastor. You know as well as I that the sweetheart would listen.” Rosie tuts, waving a hand at him.

“She doesn't need to know how powerful she actually is.. she doesn't need to know her soul is being gambled this very second.”

Alastor sighs, getting up from his chair.

“Thank you for your kind words, Rosie. I shall take my leave now.”

“Take care, Alastor.” She smiles. “I'm sure she'll understand.”

“I surely hope you're correct."

———/ TBC. /———

READ PART 2 HERE

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godkeis · 2 years

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GHOSTING.

pairing: kang taehyun x f!reader ft. choi yeonjun

genre: angst, fluff | college!taehyun

word count: 2.2k

content warnings: cursing, mentions of illness, and smoking, yeonjun hinting that he have a crush on the reader

summary: when your best friend, kang taehyun has stopped talking to you for no damn reason, you found yourself being distracted in an unusual way.

author’s note: to the anon that requested this, i accidentally posted the ask when i was drafting this so i delete it i’m so sorry T__T.

you: hey, taehyun! do you want to study together later? i'm free!! :D

you: taehyun?

you: hey. why are you ignoring my texts?

you: what the hell is wrong with you?

you: you literally walked passed by me and did not even glance in my direction

you: i waited for you for 2 hours and you didn't even acknowledge my existence?

taehyun 🐸: I did not tell you to wait for me. It's your choice.

taehyun 🐸: And also stop bothering me. I have a lot of things going on with my life right now.

you: fine then, i'll stop bothering you from now.

seen 12:03pm

"Fucking shit." you almost threw your phone across the room. Skimming the last exchange of heated text messages between you and your best friend was not a good idea.

You and Taehyun have been friends since high school. A lot of people see him as someone stoic but deep inside, you’re the only one that knows how warm he is for a person. However, a few months ago since year 3 in college started, things changed between the two of you.

You couldn’t really figure out what changed. Maybe he found a new circle of friends? People that have the same interest as him? Or perhaps, a girlfriend?

You spent days wondering where the hell Kang Taehyun goes? Not the Kang Taehyun right now, the old, stoic but warm Kang Taehyun you knew.

You wanted to confront him about the gap separating the two of you but just could not find the right timing because of the hectic schedule and hard-to-balance life in college.

And now, the thing that scared you the most came. It was Taehyun suddenly forgetting about you. Everything that you guys shared together was gone, just like that.

You have to admit but that hurt the shit out of you. It’s like breaking up with him except that it’s all platonic.

Days passed since the last time you saw each other and you have to admit that you are strangely missing his presence. Everything that you do, everything that you see, it all reminds you of him.

“You’re spacing out too much.” Yeonjun pointed out as he snapped a finger in front of your frozen face.

“Well, I am.” chuckling, you went back into highlighting your notes from your last class.

You tried your best to distract yourself by putting double effort into studying. You weren’t the hard-studious type of person but you suddenly became one for the sake of clearing out your mind.

“So, tell me what’s bothering you.” Yeonjun closed his book and stared directly into your frowning face.

“What do you mean?”

“Y/N, I am not an idiot. We’ve been classmates and almost partners in all the subjects since the first year so I know you. I know you very well.” he cleared his throat. “And I know you’re not fine so tell me, what’s bothering you?”

Pursing your lips together, you swallowed a lump. You guess that there’s no escaping from him.

“Well…It’s Taehyun.” you finally cracked your bubble for him.

“Taehyun? Your boyfriend?” your eyebrows creased with Yeonjun’s comment.

“Boyfriend? No! He’s not my boyfriend.” your voice turned into a defensive one as you tried your best to resist the beats of your heart against your chest. It was beating hell fast.

“Your crush then?”

“No! Absolutely not!”

“Then why the fuck are you so distracted?”

That is enough to shut you up. You tried to come up with an answer but your mouth couldn’t move to utter a single word. Your defense fell down and you’ve lost, just like that.

“Y/N,” Yeonjun’s eyes went to meet yours. “You will not act like this. Look at you, you tried to mask yourself too much but you’re constantly looking at your phone. And don’t try to tell me that you are not checking Taehyun’s socials because I see it. I see it across the classroom. You’re too obvious, Y/N. You like Taehyun.”

The words that came out of Yeonjun’s mouth speak nothing but the truth. The truth that you’ve been trying to hide from everyone, especially from Taehyun himself. And the worse is that Yeonjun found it out himself because you failed to hide it.

“Is it that obvious?” you grimaced at your question which Yeonjun answered with a nod.

“If I were you, You should be telling him about how you feel. Don’t be like me.” Grabbing the cup of nearly-empty americano, he took one big gulp from it.

“Don’t be like you? What do you mean?” you frowned at him.

“Well, I like this one particular person but I know that I wouldn’t stand a chance on her. I just confirmed my theory a few days ago.” he smiled sadly. Your mouth parted at his sudden confession. All this time, Yeonjun was going through heartbreak but how come he’s so good at hiding it?

“I’m…I’m so sorry, Junnie.” apologizing for making him suddenly confess because of your dumbness, he waved you off and returned to his usual cheerful self.

“It’s alright. At least she’s going to be with a great person soon that’s why I hope you follow my advice in taking your time to let your heart out on him. Who knows? Maybe he feels the same that’s why he’s acting strange too.” Yeonjun winked with a goofy smile that somehow made you feel relieved.

“You know that Yeonjun? I hate you.” rolling your eyes, you let out a small smile as your sinking heart saw a glimpse of light because of Yeonjun’s encouragement.

“Oh shit, I remember that I have an appointment with my dentist today.” Gasping, Yeonjun grabbed his jacket that was hanging on the chair’s rest. “I nearly missed it shit. I’m so sorry Y/N.”

“Oh no, it’s okay. Take care Yeonjunnie! And thank you, really.” You gave him a genuine smile that made the corner of his mouth twitch in happiness.

“See you, Y/N.”

“See you too, Junnie!”

Stepping out of the cafe, Yeonjun placed his jacket around his shoulders and turned his back to see you again. When he caught a glimpse of your smiling face, he couldn’t help but feel butterflies all over his body.

“Dentist appointment? You’re so stupid,” he muttered under his breath before turning away to grab a smoke. He never knew that you’re the one who’s gonna make him realize how hard it is to tell someone how they feel, especially in a romantic way.

All he wishes for you is good luck and he’ll support you no matter what.

You didn’t realize how late it is not until you found yourself running back to your apartment a few blocks away from the University with the rain pouring hard.

You waited for transportation but sadly, all of them are full and you were aching to get home so you took all your might and ran as fast as you can.

As soon as you got home, massive migraine hit your head so you dumped all your soaking things on the floor, changed into your usual sweat pants and t-shirts, and tucked yourself under the blanket. Within five minutes, you are drifting away into dreamland.

“...What time…is it…” shaking, you tried locating your phone, and thankfully, you found it under your sheets.

Your lock screen lit at 2:47 in the morning. You can feel your head pounding from your sleep as well as your nose is congested and clogged. Feeling cold even though you know you’re under a thick comforter, you tried your best to get up so you can turn your air conditioner into fan mode.

Before you can even step out of the bed, your foot tripped over the sheet and you fell to the ground, earning a loud thud.

“Shit…” your voice was horribly coarse.

Pulling all your last piece of strength, you pressed the number one on your speed dial and it started ringing a familiar number. With just two rings, the other person on the line answered.

“Y/N? It’s two in the morning-”

“T-Taehyun…” you swallowed a lump as you speak his name. “I…can’t move. I think I am convulsing, I feel so cold…all over. I-I don’t know what’s happening…” you couldn’t speak the next words as you felt your nose blocking the pathways that made you gasp for air.

There were a few rummages noises in the background, followed by keys jiggling and the door unlocking.

“Stay on the line, Y/N. I’m going over there.” Taehyun’s was full of worry.

Taehyun hated it. He hates it so much that he has to ignore you because of his messed-up feelings towards you. He acted like it was nothing but, in reality, the feeling of not talking to you for days killed him deep inside. It feels like a part of him was taken away from him.

And now the first thing he’ll hear from you after not hearing your voice for a few days was you sounding so groggy and having a convulsion.

He was worried. He felt like he’s gonna be sick as he hears you breathing deeply and hard on the line. He even couldn’t speak because he was too occupied with running as fast as he can towards your apartment. Good thing that his apartment was only a few streets away from yours and he has a spare key.

“Stay on the line, Y/N. I’m near. I’m coming over.”

“O…kay.”

Finally reaching your doorstep, he felt like it was the longest run he ever had. He inserted the key and unlocked your door in no time and that’s where he found you, lying on the ground weakly and sweating with the phone in your right ear.

“Fuck, Y/N. Are you alright? What happened? I’m calling an ambulance!” before he can dial the emergency hotline, you grabbed his hand that made him turn to you.

As soon as your eyes met, Taehyun felt every emotion he tried to surpass since the day he said those hurtful texts to you. God, he missed you so fucking much.

“I’m…fine. I think it’s fever. Please just help me get up and turn the AC into fan mode.” you pleaded. Taehyun was hesitant at first but he knows that you know your body well and trusted your judgment. Kneeling, he helped you by wrapping his arms around your shoulders, supporting you.

He carefully laid you down back in your bed and hurriedly went to your AC to change the temperature setting.

After that, he went towards your cabinet and took out the emergency box that contains a variety of medicine and emergency stuff you will possibly need in times like this. Taking out a paracetamol pill, Taehyun punched it out of the packet and handed it to you before proceeding to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

You immediately drank the medicine and finished the glass of water.

“Rest,” he said, grabbing your study chair and placing it down beside your bed. “I’ll stay with you. Just rest, Y/N.”

Flopping down, he settled himself comfortably.

“I missed you.” You don’t know if it was just the fever kicking in again and it made you feel drowsy that made you say those words.

“I missed you too, Y/N. So much.” Taehyun replied and wrapped both of his hands on your right, warm hand.

“I freaking hate you, Kang Taehyun. Don’t ghost me like that. Don’t run away from me.” you bit your lips as you feel your heart sinking again with the flashbacks of the pain you’ve gone through these past few days.

“I won’t run away from you anymore, I’m so sorry, Y/N. I had to figure my feelings out too. It’s my fault that I took it out the harsh way on you. I was just so… frustrated with myself because I am starting to fall for my best friend.” Taehyun admitted with a deep exhale.

“You know what? I like you too, Taehyun. I really do.”

Taehyun’s eyes lit up in happiness. He felt like every negativity circulating around his body has been removed because of the assurance he got from your answer. He’s so happy and it is the fulfilling type of happiness because you are the reason why he is feeling like that.

“Rest now, Y/N. We’re going to talk about this later when you wake up.” he smiled and gently caressed the top of your hand.

As much as he wanted to hug you tightly right now, his priority is your safety.

“Okay, Terry. I’ll sleep now. Don’t leave me, okay?” you pouted at him.

“I won’t leave you, Y/N. I’ll stay by your side.” he smiled once again and started rubbing your palms.

You don’t know but his presence is so calming and his touches are so comforting. In no time, your eyelids started closing and the last thing that you saw was Taehyung mouthing I love you to you.

Taehyun never expected that he’ll fall for you. It was the thing that scared him the most because he does not want to lose his best friend and his friendship with you. But, he couldn’t help himself because he found both friendship and love in you and that is enough to make him say those three words to you.

Now, he’s determined to make it up for ghosting you and ask you out officially once you’re well recovered.

Leaning towards you, he placed a soft kiss on your heating forehead that made him chuckle.

189 notes · View notes

memyselfandi2008-blog · 8 months

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Just a Coffee

(A/N): First of all, before anyone asks, yes, this is extremely self indulgent. Second off, I mostly wrote this to somewhat explore Lindsay and Chris’ dynamic. Also, I might continue this? Probably not, but we’ll see if I’m motivated at all.

Paring(s): Lindsay & Chris McLean

Word Count: 1,191

Summary: Chris hadn't intended to get his own coffee, but one messed up order and one fired intern later, he found himself standing outside the coffee shop a few blocks away.

"Unbelievable," Chris grumbled under his breath, tossing the still warm latte into the nearest trash can, "How hard could it possibly be to get my order right? I even wrote it down for them!" he ranted to no one in particular. That was the fifth time, within two weeks, that someone had gotten his order wrong. Could you really blame him for getting frustrated?

Chef couldn't help but roll his eyes at the TV host, briefly recalling the memory of Chris barking out his order, while the intern frantically wrote it out on a piece of paper, "If you're really that upset about the whole thing, why don't you just get your own fancy shmancy drink?" he proposed, meeting Chris' bewildered stare.

"Get… my own… latte?"

It was as if the thought hadn't even crossed his mind—which it hadn't. Why would he bother with such a trivial thing when he had better things to do, like literally anything else?

Chef nodded, "There's a coffee place nearby," he gestured towards the exit of the building, "So it's not like you'll be walking far."

Chris hummed, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he thought over his options. He'd lose the joys of firing any intern who messed up his order, but he'd also finally get his coffee just the way he liked it. Making people suffer, or his own wants and needs…

Wait, why was this even a dilemma?

"You know what? I think I will get my own coffee from now on," he crossed his arms and grinned, a satisfied look on his face, "Man, I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner."

Chef sighed heavily, shaking his head in mild annoyance as he watched Chris head out of the building. It was times like these, some small part of him missed being in the Army.

———

It was a cozy little building with a chalkboard sign sitting just outside the door, listing off the day's specials in different colors. Several plants were intricately placed on the windowsill, causing a sense of unease to settle in Chris' stomach. Anything that looked that cheerful must have something wrong with it, if he was going off of his prime example (himself).

Nevertheless, he still needed his coffee, and the only way he'd get it is through that door. Letting out a long sigh, he entered the building, causing a faint ding to fill the quiet room.

"Hello!" a cheerful blond greeted him from behind the counter, "Welcome to…" she seemed to trail off, gaze shifting down as she tapped her chin in thought, muttering quietly to herself.

Chris raised an eyebrow, the faintest of smirks pulling at his face. Did she... forget the name of the café?

"Um… hm… welcome to…" she squinted at her surroundings, gaze searching for where she might find an answer. After a minute, she smiled, eyes going wide, "Oh! Welcome to Brew-ti-ful Coffee and Bakery!" she grinned, meeting Chris' stare, "What can I get you today?"

His eyes skimmed over the baked goods on display, unable to keep the smirk off his face, "Looks like the pastries aren't the only thing here that's brew-ti-ful," he hummed, giving the barista a quick once over as he leaned against the counter.

"Well, duh," she crossed her arms, still smiling, "The coffee is too! That's why it's part of the name."

A small, almost breathless, laugh escaped Chris before he had the chance to stop it, "Well, nothing gets by you, now does it?" he turned his focus to the menu, absentmindedly drumming his fingers on the counter. There were so many options to choose from, and so little time to pick. He did still have a show to host, after all.

And yet, some part of him felt the need to take his time. The world did revolve around him, all things considered.

"What would you recommend, Lindsay?"

She gasped, "How did you know my name?" she asked, an excited glint in her eyes, "Are you, like, psychic or something? Oh, oh! Can you read minds?" she frantically asked, bouncing up and down at the thought, "What number am I thinking of?"

There was a shift in his stomach and, once again, a laugh broke out of him, "Actually…" he admitted, gesturing to the tag on her apron, "I just read your name tag."

Her face fell into confused disappointment, "So, you're not psychic?"

"I'm not, but I think you might be," Chris was still smiling, still bidding time, still ignoring the feeling that had settled in his chest, "You spend so much time in my mind, I should charge you rent."

Lindsay tilted her head to the side, "Do I? How much do you need?" her voice seemed to grow quiet as she spoke, digging through her wallet, "I mean, I've only got a little money, cause Heather used most of it to buy her lunch, but—"

Without hesitating, Chris quickly interrupted her, listing off his order at record speed, in an attempt to drop the previous remark before it got too out of hand. Lindsay carefully pinned it into the register, nodding her head to show she was listening, her wallet having been placed back in her pocket.

"What's the name?" she asked, sharpie and cup in hand, staring at him expectantly.

Despite himself, Chris let a beat of silence pass between them as he glanced around the very empty building before turning back to Lindsay, "Chris."

She hummed, writing down the name, then turning to work on the order. Chris watched as she briefly struggled with getting the drink put together, knocking over various items in an attempt to get what she needed.

"This your first day?" he couldn't help but ask, trying to bite back the amusement in his voice.

"Nope!" Lindsay replied cheerfully, "I've been working here since summer break started."

"Really?" he blinked in surprise. She had been working here for almost four weeks and she still had trouble remembering the name of the place?

"Yep!" she turned towards him, holding out the paper cup, "Here you go!"

He took the drink carefully, "Right, well, it was nice talking with you."

Chris nearly froze at the statement, but tried not to let his shock show on his face, waving goodbye as he left. He never liked talking to anyone, save for a very select few.

"Bye! Come again, soon!" Lindsay called after him, returning his wave as the door's bell chimed once again to indicate Chris' departure.

It felt funny, the whole thing. He was sure Chef would get a laugh out of it, at the very least. A sigh escaped him as he looked down at the drink, hesitant to even try it, with how much of a mess she made putting it together. Though, all that hesitation seemed to vanish when the name she had written on the cup caught his attention.

Chip.

"Huh…" he smiled gently, taking a drink as he started his walk back to his studio. Almost surprisingly, she actually got his order right. Definitely surprisingly, he silently decided he'd go back there again.

#total drama island #tdi #total drama island au #alternate universe #chris mclean #tdi lindsay #platonic chrindsay #chrindsay #flirting #oneshot #cross posted on wattpad #cross posted on ao3 #cross posted on ff.net #scheduled

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mjlovescm · 2 years

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4- Dirty books

Completed, 27 chapters, “She’s an angel” Rodrick Heffley x black fem reader

Without realizing, Rodrick had spent most of his day with y/n. Originally he planned on sleeping all day, maybe bothering Greg a bit if he had time. Ya'know his normal vacation routine. But he'd be lying if he said he didn't have fun with her, even if it was just reading. Reading together, alone in her hotel room.

“Finally.” He said pulling the book out of a large pile.

The words "Property of y/n l/n" confirmed that he had the right one. His curiosity peaks as he runs his fingers over the colorful tabs sticking out of the pages and the fabric hiding the cover wasn't helping. He thinks back to the day before, the interesting sentence he read when he took it from her. It must be good if she can't put it down.

“Maybe I should find out.”

He knows there's no way she would let him read it which means he might have to do it without her knowing. Or maybe he should just return it ? But then gain y/n could go a day without right, and she wouldn't exactly mind as long as he returned it eventually. The sound of approaching footsteps forces rodrick to act fast. Struggling for a moment he pushes the book into the back of his pants, covering it with his shirt.

“Hey.” y/n called now standing in the doorway. “Did you find it ?”

“Nope.” He says plainly. “Maybe we should just come back tomorrow, it's still kinda early.”

“I guess we should just go back to room an-“

“Actually,” He interrupts you. “I'm feeling kinda tired.” He fakes a yawn.

“Oh ok, well, goodnight.”

“Come on.” He said nodding towards the hallway.

Walking her to the room, Rodrick struggled to kept straight. He felt hyper aware of every step he took and how it caused the corner of the book to repeatedly dig into his back. He wasn't the only one feeling hyper aware, y/n could tell how uncomfortable he was. How shaky he walked, how tense he was and how uncomfortable his face seemed. She couldn't help but wonder if it was because of her.

“It seems like you're forgetting something.” She says leaning against the door.

“I am ?” A slight panic in his voice.

“You said if I had a book you liked you'd admit that I was right.”

“Fine.” He said not wanting to put up a fight. “Your right.”

“Right about what ? Say it.” A teasing smile light up her face.

“Nope.” He says simply.

“Fine.” She pauses, the teasing smile flattening into a shaky line. “But you did have fun right ?”

“Why wouldn't I.” He says happily.

He smiles noticing the shift in her expression, hoping she'll do the same. Before a second could pass a small smile beams on her face.

“Good, I had fun with you too.”

“I should get some sleep. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, see you tomorrow okay.”

“Okay.” He waits a moment, watching her walk into the room.

Now back in his hotel room Rodrick was really struggling. It's just a book Rodrick kept having to remind himself. y/n's book … y/n's porn book filled with her dirty notes.

*God, she's a freak* He thought skinning through the pages again.

He'd been doing this for the past two hours. Skimming pages, reading slightly before see something wild and slamming the book shut. It's not like he'd never seen anything sexual. He was a teenage boy, after all, sex was usually all he thought about. But not like this, it took nothing to watch a video or look at a few pictures but to read a book of sex. That was a full time investment, and now he was defiantly invested.

In all honesty, a part of him did feel guilty not for hiding the book from y/n and lying about it but for enjoying it, actually enjoying reading something. A quick look at y/n's annotation guide and Rodrick knew what he was looking for anything red or pink. Pink for romance and red for what really mattered. After the first few pages of background information and relationship establishment, rodrick understood that this was about the main characters losing their virginities before college.

*clique* He thought rolling his eyes.

Landing on the first red annotation Rodrick found himself completely immersed.

“Fuck.” Rodrick said deeply.

Reading the next few pages Rodrick found himself struggling the way he had earlier. It's not like he was illiterate or couldn't take the sexual aspects. But this was definitely a challenge. He'd never read anything so descriptive. It actually made him feel something.

His mind was a blur, a mix of confusion and ecstasy. Porn to him was taken at face value, the only thing that mattered was finishing and finishing fast. That was the end goal, that was the only feeling that was the only thing that mattered. Pleasure. Which usually left him feeling the opposite.

Finishing the page he was on Rodrick yawned glancing at the clock. He hadn't realized how long he'd been reading. Shutting the book he decided that he would continue reading tomorrow. Something he never thought he'd think. Setting the book on the nightstand, Rodrick found himself almost giddy at the thought of reading tomorrow.

*maybe books are fun*

…

“Rodrick what did we say about being on your phone while we're eating.” Susan complained.

“I'm not on my phone.” He says with his head down.

“Yea, right.” Greg says before grabbing what he thinks is Rodrick's phone.

“You little shit give it back.” Rodrick demanded.

“Wow. It's a book.”

“Really.” Said Frank and Susan in unison. A mix of confusion and excitement.

“Don't get your hopes up, it's not his.” Greg says reading the y/n's name on the inside.

“Asshole,” Rodrick says taking the book back.

“That's nice of her, don't you think ?” Susan says eyeing Frank.

“Very nice of her. It looks like she put a lot of opinions in that book. What's it about son ?”

Rodrick scoffs trying to ignore the painfully obvious was his parent are trying to have bonding time. Trying to go back to reading Rodrick can feel his mother's eyes burning into him, prying for information. Who could blame her it wasn't exactly normal to see Rodrick reading. Or at least reading an actual book.

“It's a college romance.” He says through his teeth.

There's a silence at the table before a laugh escapes Greg. A stern look from Susan quickly shuts him up.

“That's sounds very … intriguing.” Frank says with a small honest smile.

“Very.”

“Anyway mom you were talking about going somewhere.” Rodrick say quickly changing the subject.

Thankfully after that the focus shifted to possible activities for the day. They threw out different ideas weighting the pros and cons of each. A trip to an amusement park sounded fun but meant standing in long lines. A museum could offer some sort of learning experience but then again who wants to go to a museum on vacation. As an easy out they settle on going to the movies. Walking into the movie theater it looked like the l/n's had the same idea.

To make thing easy on themselves and their clashing interest the group decided to go separate ways and watch different movies. Leaving Manny with Greg and y/n's brother. While her and Rodrick were forced into the older crowd. For better or for worse the two of them were stuck on opposite side of their parents. To be honest Rodrick didn't really mind being apart from y/n. It would be fun to have someone to talk to during a two-hour-long Oscar bait movie but being seen with her book wasn't worth it. Who knows how she'd react.

“So what did you guys think of the movie ?” y/n asked now outside the theater.

There was no real answer between yawns coming from the adults, almost screams coming from the young boys and silence from Rodrick. Walking y/n wonders if he spent his two hours the same way she did, bored. Bored and honestly lonely.

“The end was definitely a surprise.” She says to herself.

“Speaking of surprise.” Susan says steeping away from her car. “y/n thank you for getting Rodrick to actually read something. I'm not sure how you convinced him to do it, but he hasn't been able to but that book down all day.”

“What book ?” She asks not really listening.

“The one about the two kids in college. Ya'know, it's so nice to see that he's reading actual literature. And It's nice to see you too reconnecting.” She speaks in the last sentence in a chipper voice.

She smiles as the words hit her ears. Reconnecting. That's definitely an interesting word. Two friends hanging out, maybe but certainly not reconnecting. Catching up on lost time even. But no real connection, right ?

In the car y/n continued to think bout Susan's words, not fully digesting all of them. Smiling she waves goodbye as the car starts to drive away. She searches for a wave from Rodrick, but she's met with noting but the top of his head. A smile creeps on her face, along with a small feeling of accomplishment once she realizes he was reading.

The smile slowly fading as the car passed theirs. Looking forward, she wasn't sure if she really saw it. Maybe it was a figment of her imagination, maybe it was nothing at all. Or maybe Rodrick had her book.

Next chapter ;)

All chapter :)

#mjlovescm #diary of a wimpy kid #rodrick x reader #rodrick heffley #black fem reader

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curiousconch · 3 years

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Chase You / Chase Me (Pt. 1)

Part 1: Burning on the Edge of Something Beautiful

Catch up here: Series Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Alex finds herself personally affected by the Rothswell case and Gabe attempts to find out why.

Book/Pairing: Choices - Laws of Attraction / Gabe Ricci x MC (Alex Keating)

Words: 1.8k+

Rating/Warnings: Mature (16+) / implied sexual content, alcohol consumption

Disclaimer: Most of the characters as well as some dialogues belong to Pixelberry. I am merely borrowing them.

Wednesday Evening at McGraw Byrne

Back from a day in the courts, Gabe stepped out of the elevator and into the halls of McGraw Byrne. Eager to finish the day's work, he passed by the break room where he unwittingly heard something that made him instantly halt.

"Did you see how clammed up Keating became when you asked her that question?" Gabe heard Vanderweil's deep voice.

"Actually, I sensed something irked her during the ride back. Seems like I did strike a chord," a serious female voice replied, which Gabe presumed was Sinclair's.

He made the assumption that the line of conversation was about their visit to the Rothswell's mansion. Earlier that day, the law firm's major client Philip Rothswell, demanded that they see to the whole Lydia and Joey situation. So Gabe and Sadie instructed the associates to go see the young heiress, trying to give the firm more time to create a more solid strategy than playing family counselor.

When they were placating Rothswell, he noticed how Alex fidgeted in her chair as she listened to their client. The way her body pulled up every defensive stance in the book full with meaning.

Seems that what he just overheard confirmed his suspicions. Something was bothering Alex Keating. And like all things Alex, it piqued at his curiosity.

It irked him that he did, more than he was willing to admit. Seems like even as trivial as office gossip, as long as its about her, Gabe is guaranteed to take notice.

Hastening his strides, he continued on to his plush new office, the setting sun coloring the wood furnishings with a hue of orange. He tossed his briefcase on the khaki couch, his leather soles padding on the clean white carpet. Loosening his tie, he crossed the room towards his desk. He took off his coat, hanging it on the rack nearby and turned to face the glass walls which offered a much better view of the concrete jungle below.

His mind whirred as he rationalized with himself as to why he was so invested with Alex. He initially chalked it up as a familiar, primal response to her... attractiveness. Yet as he watched her emerge from every pressure test and challenge he and Sadie gave her, he can't help but root for her.

It's not just that. After a long time, Gabe wanted to be near someone. He wanted to hear what bothers them, their goals, even their history. A level of interest he never exhibited to his usual carnal pursuits.

She stirred up something sleeping within him, something he willed never to return.

Consumed by the thoughts of her, Gabe finds himself glancing at his Rolex and hatching a guise to know what made the mighty Alex Keating got so worked up about.

Sometime later, uptown New York

"Alex... Have you ever had someone like Joey mess with your head? It's not about smart or stupid," Gigi had asked.

Alex poked her fork at the piece of chocolate soufflé as her mind whirled back to the ride back to the office.

"I'm not buying you any more of that Riesling if you wouldn't even bother being a worthy companion," Gabe teased, before downing another glass of scotch across her.

Her head immediately perked up, breaking free from her introspection. Alex forced a smile in response.

"As if another glass would make a dent in your indomitable fortune," she leaned back, trying to hide her thoughts under the façade of her sarcasm, rolling her eyes at him for added effect.

The two find themselves in a swanky New York restaurant, its upscale interior design worthy of the five star Yelp rating. The sleek tables and gray scandinavian chairs made Alex grateful that her wine red dress fit among the crowd. With a private booth overlooking the city lights and the delicious gourmet food served, she did not regret accepting Gabe's dinner invitation to meet a client.

Her mind decided that more work and Gabe's company was a great way to distract herself from the nagging of her memories, and it didn't hurt that the senior partner was easy on the eyes.

And when the supposed big shot canceled at the last minute, Alex completely saw it as a win.

"Something bothers you." Gabe suddenly articulated, breaking her from her contemplations.

Alex's brow arched in reply, as Gabe stated it like a fact, not as a question.

Crossing her legs under the table, she folded her arms across her chest.

"And why does that concern my pretend-boyfriend, hm?" she interjected, hoping to evade his interrogation.

"You're not the only astute one in this booth," Gabe let his eyes trail across her defensive stance the second time today.

Throughout the course of their meal, the heat between them simmered as well as the flow of their usual banter. Their chemistry was palpable, convincing even the waiter of the restaurant. The cocky man was certainly redefining the phrase hot and cold for Alex. He quickly and easily shut down her attempts to flirt, pulling back when the temperature between them reached a boiling point.

But Alex was more surprised, pleasantly so, when Gabe briefly opened up about his past and the vague explanation of why he's still not settled down.

She sensed the current trajectory of their conversation was what Gabe planned to have all along.

But now, as she swirled the remaining expensive liquid in her glass, trying to decide whether to put her guards up or to just give in, she couldn't deny the uncharacteristic softness in his gaze. It was magnetizing, making Alex want to fold and drop her pretentions.

She watched him as he seemed to eagerly anticipate for her retort, a half smile lingering on that pretty mouth of his.

Alex knew he won't push her if she didn't want to, yet a part of her wanted to share the heaviness that weighed on her shoulder since meeting Lydia Rothswell. Of how much the teenager reminded her of her old, naïve self.

She's been trying to rack her brain for a reasonable explanation for her growing desire to introduce herself to Gabe more than she'd allowed the string of men that she had trysts with. Despite her continuous self-denial, her gut is telling her that Gabe wasn't like any other she crossed paths with.

Making up her mind, she decided to let the door open. Maybe just a little.

She sipped her wine beckoning some needed courage, wishing that she ordered something stronger.

Taking a deep breath, she began, her eyes fixed on the view behind him.

"Since you were wondering, my otherwise impeccable track record is stained by one mistake," she paused, finally turning her gaze to Gabe's waiting eyes.

"Like Lydia, I trusted the wrong person," she continued. "I... risked everything and got nothing."

Gabe's mouth twitched ever so slightly, sensing a fluttering in him because of Alex's candor. There was no trace of the witty comebacks he'd grown to see in her, only vulnerability.

And somehow, he adored her more.

He watched her as she bit her thumbnail, an action greatly contradicting the fiery personality she projected in front of everyone else.

Alex gritted her teeth as she fought back the overwhelming emotions as she stopped herself from revealing more than she's prepared to. Not yet, not tonight, she thought.

"But I woke up from that nightmare, solemnly swearing to myself that I wouldn't repeat the same wrong decision that almost railroaded my whole future," she concluded, determined not to expose herself any further.

A hush fell between them.

Alex raised her head to meet the eyes of the man that made her walls crack, expecting to find intrigue. Instead, she found a subtle look of understanding.

It's as if it was telling her that he knew. He knew every pain and every hurt that she wanted to just forget and bury inside a box, never to be opened again.

Just because for him, pain was a familiar companion. That like her, he too, has been through hell and back.

And while she relished under his attention, her breath slowed, letting herself be trapped within the depths of those reassuring brown eyes. Alex thought nothing can make her drop down her guard, but Gabe's next actions proved that there's still more he can do to break down her walls.

Without thinking, Gabe reached for her hand and took it in his, skimming his own thumb on her knuckles in an attempt to comfort her. He smiled warmly at her, expressing a gentleness that she never thought he was capable of.

It made Alex's heart skip a beat.

Even Gabe seemed to slowly enter the same daze, unable to veer away from Alex's unguarded view. Any remnants of his resistance, leaving him. He found himself leaning in, lured by the heady scent of her perfume - a mix of coffee, vanilla and jasmine. An unexpected combination that enticed him more to her.

For a few moments, their world stood still, as if they were on the edge of discovering something that all their lives they subconsciously sought.

Something more than any flirtation or any pursuit for lustful pleasure. Something more...

"More drinks, Gabe?" a familiar voice broke them from the temporary oasis that they pulled themselves in.

All of a sudden, they were sucked back to the reality of their actual surroundings. The noise of other patrons of the restaurant, the soft ambience of the lights overhead, and the fact that he was her current boss, and that she was under his professional supervision.

Gabe turned to James, their waiter, and refused the offer nonchalantly, and instead asked for their check.

"We should head back to the salt mines, the stack of work on my desk probably hasn't gotten any smaller since we left," Gabe casually said, erasing any trace of what just happened between them. Alex silently agreed, following his queue by checking her phone for emails.

The trip to the lobby was wordless, as well as the wait for their ride. Up until Gabe opened the door of the town car, not following Alex inside.

"Aren't you coming?" Alex inquired, briefly confused.

He cleared his throat, his expression stoic before he answered her. "I think its best if we part ways here. I wasn't kidding about needing to head back to the office," he paused, a look of contemplation in his eyes before it softly shifted to that of sincerity.

"You, on the other hand, should go home and get some rest. Partner's orders."

Alex couldn't help but smile. "Whatever you say, Gabe."

"Careful, Alex. I just might hold you to that promise one of these days," Gabe replied, the usual playfulness evident in his tone.

And with that, the door closed and the car pulled away.

But as Gabe watched the vehicle fade out of his sight, his phone pinged for an email. Glancing down at his screen, he saw the name of the sender, prompting him to open it in haste.

The message contained a single statement: "I found what you asked me to look for." An attachment was included.

When he opened the file, he saw a picture of a younger version of the woman he just parted from.

And a look of recognition passed over his face.

Author's Notes: This is getting a little canon divergent, though I'm just expanding their dinner conversation and using the intimate setting provided in the original book.

Tags: @adiehardfan @pixelnutrookie @starryjieun @fucking-random1 @choicesficwriterscreations

Thank you for reading! Let me know if you want to be tagged or removed on succeeding installments. If not, please reblog or comment, I'd really appreciate it!

#choices laws of attraction #choices fanfiction #choices loa #choices loa fanfiction #choices laws of attraction fanfiction #gabe ricci #gabe ricci x mc #choices fic writers creations #fics of the week

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caxsthetic · 3 years

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WEDDING BAND — Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Type: Standalone Movie (One-Shot Fiction)

Cast: Kuroo Tetsurou

Storyline: High school reunion was the best time to catch up with old times. But you could never be ready to meet him again, even after eight years already went by.

Genre: Drama, Slice of Life

You took a step backward, making him let out a sigh as he knew that he was reaching out for something that was never there. Hope, a second chance. Yet he said it, digging his mindless dream that maybe there could be something. Maybe not now, maybe someday.

Your grip on the steering wheel tightened as you contemplated once again.

Was it a good choice to come here? It had been such a long time since the last time you met up with your high school friends, of course, you wanted to meet them. But you remembered a conversation on the group chat three days ago — when your friend suddenly brought up a name.

A name that was long forgotten, buried deep inside your mind.

Was it seven? Eight? You didn't count anymore how many years went by after graduation. After that fateful day where you decided to break it all off with him, you never once thought about him, feeling certain whatever choice you made was final and valid.

But somehow, you were not ready to meet him. It was not like you were still head over heels over that man, you didn't even bother to ask around how he was after you left, or what he was doing for his adulthood.

You already moved on.

Yes, you were. Those were the words that you chanted at the back of your head. You unlocked the car and got out in a haste. Your fingers skimmed the wrinkles on your skirt, smoothing it up a little before checking your hair one more time, wanting to make sure you look decent.

You have no one to impress, you do this for yourself, honey.

Blowing a kiss to your reflection on the window car, you smiled confidently before striding towards your high school's gymnasium, chin held high as you greeted whoever familiar faces that you remembered.

The second you walked inside the area, you felt a sudden blow of nostalgia knitting it's way back to your heart. You remembered how you tended to be here, sitting on the bench as you cheered your former lover every time he had a practice.

You even remembered the things that happened inside the locker room when everyone already went home. A little rendezvous filled with heavy pants and teeth clashing to each other — such hormonal teenagers, the two of you used to be.

Shaking your head, you decided to look around, wanting to see your friends that you only met daily through a video call. They were all screaming when they knew you were coming back, that you finally would live in Japan again after such a long time embarking on a journey in a foreign country.

It was such a miracle really, that you somehow could get a scholarship in one of the coldest countries in the world. You were not the smartest student on Nekoma before, but you applied anyway, filling all the requirements and wished for the best.

Three months later and you got a mail from the benefactor, you were so happy that you could make your parents proud, jumping throughout your house as you shouted that you were in, happy tears cascading down your cheek when you called your boyfriend with excitement lingering on your voice, telling him that you were one step closer to your dream.

And you still remembered how your smile faltered the second you heard his answer.

"Oh, congratulations."

Him and his unusual tone that was fall flat, hanging up the call before you could answer some more.

You knew it was the right thing to break things off. From the very first start, he didn't want to try. Ever since then your relationship with him was like leaves in autumn, waiting for the wind to make it fall to the ground.

And the graduation day was the time when the wind finally knocked things off.

Shaking your head, you flicked your own forehead not to let your mind wander, focusing on the task of finding your group of friends.

Your feet brought you to a bar that the committee set up right under the basketball ring. A familiar dark brown hair that belonged to your friend moved slightly as she gulped down a shot down her throat.

Always a heavy drinker, that friend of yours.

"Honey-pie!" She screeched the second she had a proper look at you. Her breath already reeked with alcohol, making you chuckle in amusement with how wasted she was (even though the reunion just started less than an hour ago). "Goodness, my dear! Look at you!"

She slurred a little, your other friends praising you and made your presence to be showcased with a spotlight. It didn't take long for the others coming around, asking how life was, how it was to move overseas, or even how many flings you had for around seven years in another nation.

"Oh, please, you know I am not like that." You hummed in delight after sipping a glass of cocktail that the bartender made for you. "I am a very loyal woman, never prancing around once my heart’s set for someone."

"Ah, a certain former captain?" Your drunk friend retorted, making you flinch a little as you understood her reference. Another one of your friends (who was the mature, and completely sober one) nudged her hips. "Fuck, sorry, forget I said anything."

You didn't know if it was because of the alcohol or the way his name was mentioned that your throat suddenly felt so dry. It was the alcohol, you reassured yourself, feeling certain nothing was going on inside your heart.

"I-I need a breather." So why did you run away? You couldn't understand yourself too sometimes as you drank the cocktail down your throat and left the scene.

It was immature for you to do that, you didn't mean to make your friend feel guilty. And you could only hope that they would understand, that whatever state you were in right now was solely because of yourself, no one else was at fault except you.

You ran outside from the back exit, catching your breath as you felt like you wanted to throw up. Running with alcohol in your blood and a full digestive system was a bad idea.

"Long night?"

And somehow a voice that slipped in your ear triggered it all.

He was frantic when you suddenly threw up, making him run back inside the gym to grab you a glass of water. This was not the reunion that he thought he would have.

With you still gagging out some alcohol, forcing it out of your stomach, you felt a familiar hand resting on your back. Gentle palm went up and down on the surface of your shirt, trying to ease you from another urge of nausea.

Funny how he was probably the main reason why you threw up in the first place, yet the reason why you calmed down too.

You straightened your posture as you felt that you were alright. He immediately retracted his hand away, stepping aside a little to give you some space. This was not the reunion that you thought you would have.

There was no intention for you to talk to him. It was clear that he wanted nothing to do with you when you never received any messages from him. You tried to reach out, once when you came home for a few days, but he never answered back, he never let you in again.

"Goodness." You muttered softly, calming down your heartbeat while taking a few deep breaths before finally dared to take a look at him. "Thank you, Kuroo."

He grimaced a little, making you raise one of your eyebrows in confusion. Was he feeling that cringe when you called his name? Should you just not acknowledge him at all? You pondered as you waited for his response, a few seconds felt like an eternity.

"That feels strange." His hand went to the back of his head, sighing as he fixed his composure.

"Huh? What strange?"

"You called me by my last name." His words made you wonder, making a pout to slip on your face. "I know it's been years," and 'us' was long gone. "But it's still strange, you know?"

You blinked, didn't expect him to casually act buddy-buddy with you. Shouldn't you be angry that he acted like you were still friends? Where was he when you tried to reach out, he was never there. And he had the audacity to make you feel that you were still in high school all over again.

"O—kay…" But you shrugged off the feeling, trailing your words as you bit your lips before the both of you fell to an awkward silence.

Awkward was something that never existed when the two of you were together. At least it never did before, and you were not surprised it was here right now. This was how it was supposed to be, right?

When two former lovers see each other after cutting ties for years, the awkwardness was normal. You wanted to just run away, get back to your friend, or go anywhere since you thought other places were better as long as you were not with him alone.

But as you were deep in thought, you didn't know when he took off his blazer. You were too busy thinking of an escape plan that you didn't realise it until the blazer was weighing on your shoulder, resting there to shield you from the night breeze.

This was unfair.

The way he dropped his blazer without thinking, tugging it on your shoulder, and patted your back before pulling away once again,

He was being unfair to your heart.

"W-what—"

"How was America? You were in California, right?" He asked nonchalantly as if he didn't just give you his blazer to warm you up. "Heard it was kinda freezing if it was not summer, and I know you are someone who couldn't handle cold."

You subconsciously gripped on his blazer, sniffling the familiar scent that even now — still made you feel at home.

"Yeah, it was cold most of the time." Chuckling, you tried to just enjoy the moment. Finally surrendering to the position you were in right now. "But it was alright, I have a heater in the dorm. So it's fine! I like it there, the scenery, the cafe, and I met someone there too, maybe you know him—"

The night wasn't supposed to be like this. You chat with your former boyfriend, catching up on all the years that went by as if there was never a huge gap separating you and the black-haired man.

It was so easy, all the words and laughs poured like a broken dam. Inching closer and closer, not even one realised that the two feet gap now turned into none — as your shoulder brushed with his, and both of you just let everything unfold.

Maybe if he leaned in, you would do the same.

"I didn't expect you here, to be honest." The laugh that you shared had now died down. "You moved overseas, and I am pretty sure you wouldn't come back." His voice sounded so restrained as he just looked forward, didn't glance at you that was standing right beside him.

You eyed him carefully, swallowing a huge lump as you could feel all the longing feelings started to come back to the surface. You couldn't, you couldn't let it happen. The reunion was to have fun, not to rekindle the love that could never work.

But it was already happening, right now, even maybe since he had his palm on your back to calm you down.

"Yet, you came back." The restrain on his voice now changed, turned into a melancholic tone. "It took you eight years. Eight years was actually not a long time when I think about it." You knew you should have bid farewell right now.

Now, before the dam breaks completely and couldn't be mended anymore.

"I should have waited for you, you know?" No, no. "Eight years was nothing when it came to someone who's in love."

What he said was something that he should have buried, knowing the circumstances.

But he didn't regret it. As he turned his head to face you once again, even though you were standing one foot apart from him with eyes that screamed how dare you, he could see how at the same time you wanted to run up to him, circling your arms around his neck to crash your lips on his.

He knew, he could see it because it was the same look that you gave to him all those years ago when you and he were just young, stupid, teenagers.

"Tetsurou, I—"

"Hey, (Y/n)!"

Both of you jolted when a familiar voice of your friend rang from the door. It was all gone in an instant; the magic, the love that aired once again before, it dissipated into thin air. And neither you and he were ready to come back to reality.

But maybe it was for the best.

It was for the best.

"Sorry if I disturbed you, but hey, Kuroo! I am gonna steal her for a sec, a photo group!" You chuckled softly at how your friend flailed her arms, begging you to join her. "I will run back inside to inform them that you are in!"

She was like a firework, reminding you of Kuroo's best friend from another school. One that you remembered was now a professional volleyball player.

"I-I will go back inside." You said softly under your breath, averting your gaze as you took off the blazer that still wrapped around you. So slow as you wanted the warmth to last. "See you around, Kuroo."

It was back to square one as you gave back the black fabric. Clutching on it a little too tight before bowing your head to give some respect. This was for the best, either you or he knew that. So he didn't stop you, he didn't stop you from slipping away once again, knowing for sure that there was no way you would come back to his arms — not after what he did.

But he didn't expect you to turn around once again, facing him as you played with the bag strap on your chest. He let out a small chuckle under his breath, knowing how you didn't change at all, always playing with your bag strap or clothes when you were nervous.

He stood there in silence, wondering what you were going to say as he wore his blazer again. Fixing up the button slowly as he waited. You finally parted your lips, closing them before opening up once again, eyes locked with his.

"If I choose to stay back then, do you think we would have a chance?"

The question knocked the air out of his lungs. Of course, of course, you and he would have a chance. It would be so much easier, he would go to your university every now and then, catching up would be so easy, it would last, the relationship that you have with him since the first year of high school would—

"Maybe, maybe yes and maybe not." He shut his heart, using his head to answer your question instead. "We will never know, I guess. It wouldn't happen, so don't dwell too much with it, okay?"

He said it for you, and for himself.

Both of you were an adult now. Not everything could be changed by I love you anymore. It was the real world, no one could go back to the past as much as they wanted to. And his firm answer made you smile, slowly locking the memory with him back to the deepest part of your heart, in hope that you wouldn't have to find it ever again.

"Then," You cleared your throat, smiling so wide as if you didn't just ignore the love that you harboured towards the man in front of you. "Farewell, Kuroo."

And he nodded, giving you a salute. As if he didn't just shed a tear (one that he immediately erased with his thumb subtly) as he knew it was a farewell to his first love. No, to his love.

Both of you just stood there in silence, neither of you willing to avert each other. He tried to remember this, painting the moment to keep forever. How you smiled for him — just for him — how it never changed even after years went by.

And you, you noted how much he had grown. That life sculpted him to where he was right now. He lived a happy life, he stayed in the volleyball world, his passion. He was successful, this was something that you wanted to believe was enough for you.

Your eyes met with his, smiling there like an idiot, capturing the moment one last time — before both pairs of orbs fell to the left hand of each other. The two of you met with a truth, a reminder that life must go on, even though sometimes it was led in the unwanted direction.

Such a simple warning, mute, and stayed still.

Yours was silver, and he was gold.

"Farewell, Iwaizumi-san."

MASTERLIST

“And It Cracks” Taglist:

@roseestuosity @mistypoison @samanthaa-leanne @tycrackculture @cactuski6 @aomineavenue @tris-does-stuff @tremblinghearts @too-many-lanes @sunflwrsandprettyskies @ntimacy @ch4jime @tsukkiboii @oikawoahh @hoefor2ds @edvigelacivetta @playboygeniusphilanthropist @wompwomphq @himichii @chibichab @shoyomeow @miyayane @shinhiromi @p0taytoes @lilolpotato @tetsuskitten @shrimpypenis @pharvhs @ilhy2003 @kuro0luvr @mrs-kuroojinguji

Strikethrough couldn't be tagged! I am sorry, please provide me with another url or check the setting!

#kuroo tetsurou #kuroo tetsurou x reader #kuroo tetsurou imagine #kuroo tetsurou angst #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu angst collection #haikyuu angst #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagine

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iamnmbr3 · 3 years

Note

So, this is going to be a long, two-part ask (apologies in advance for that). Thank you so much for your Loki series thoughts. I discovered your blog by accident, and I am so glad I did. I was trying to figure out why I felt so hollow/not-great after watching the episodes each week, and your posts helped me find the answer. I was so looking forward to this series, to see more Loki, but what we got...wasn't Loki. I tried to see past the flawed writing and absurd 'plot', tried very hard, but eventually I just stopped lying to myself, and finally let myself think 'I did not enjoy this'. It is very clear that Waldron didn't bother watching Thor and TDW, and it also seemed like he only skimmed Avengers, because the characterization comes off like he only watched Ragnarok (and somehow made it worse than it was in that film). It was a huge disappointment that in a show titled 'Loki', Loki wasn't even the main character after the first (or second; everything blended together for me) episode. (Side note: I like the concept of Sylvie, but like...she didn't need to have that much focus, or take over the plot. Also...I don't understand why she was named the way she was; Sylvie Lushton was a completely different character in the comics. Show!Sylvie seems like Waldron tried to mix Sylvie Lushton--in terms of looks--with Lady Loki, and even a bit of Amora the Enchantress thrown in there. Which is...a strange choice. It would have been so cool to see Amora get an MCU appearance, especially given her ties to both Loki and Thor, but I digress.) I even, slightly, shipped Sylki for a bit due to the concept of it being interesting to me, and even did some art for it, but as the show went on, and Sylvie started taking over as the main protagonist, my interest in it waned. (I am much more of a LokixJane fan, anyway. -shrug-) I also shipped it because I just...cannot ship L*kius at all. Like you, I cannot stand Mobius as a character; you are absolutely right: he is what Pierce was to Bucky. Except this show paints that in a 'positive' light, and even worse, that Loki deserved it. I have no problem with darkships or darkfic. My issue lies with the majority of people shipping it treating it is if it is a healthy, fluffy relationship in canon, when it is clearly the opposite. (Also, ever since Mobius told Loki that his only purpose was to basically be a stepping stone for others to reach their full potential, I knew that I would never like him or ship him with Loki. Perhaps it is personal, but a toxic person I used to associate with said basically the same thing to me in terms of my role in my friend group, and it messed me up for years, at least regarding how I thought my friends saw me. It got better when we no longer were close to them, and of course it wasn't true, but still. It screwed with my sense of self esteem for a long time. So seeing my favorite character being told essentially the same thing made my stomach twist.) 1/2

2/2 (continued) And don't even get me started on how Loki's mistreatment is used for comedy. Or how he is shown as incompetent, while in his earlier appearances in the MCU, he is clearly very intelligent. (These asks are all over the place, sorry about that.) That whole 'narcissist' comment also infuriated me. Because Loki is not a narcissist. Mobius, on the other hand... His trauma also constantly being erased did not sit well with me, either. Ugh. And of course, I have to mention how, while Wanda, Sam, and Bucky got new outfits for their shows, Loki did not. Just a few of those drabby TVA outfits. (Which, I am fine with him in Midgardian clothes. But like...these did not suit him. Even Ragnarok did 'Loki in Midgardian clothes' better. :/ Now, there were some things I did enjoy, like meeting the other Loki variants in episode five. Episode one was okay, too, since I thought it was going in a different, darker direction. And there were bits and pieces of some other episodes I enjoyed, too. But as a whole? Definitely disappointed. However, I flipped through my art book of TDW and immersed myself in the beautiful designs and characters, and fell in love with them and their world all over again. (Sorry, these got so long!)

Very eloquently put! Also so sorry that happened to you. <3 So many people have been hurt by the toxic and dangerous messaging of this show. Just remember that regardless of how the show presents him, Mobius's behavior is not justified at all. Not only is he not a good friend but in real life he would face very serious repercussions for what he did to Loki and would probably end up going to jail for a very long time. Torture and slavery are heinous acts that are against the law for a reason. The fact that this is normalized in the show doesn't meant these acts are ok and I just a reflection of the moral corruption of Mike Waldron and Kate Herron and the Disney execs that okayed this. Thanks for this very thoughtful ask! And yeah. Going back to the good Loki movies is a great way to deal with this. I rewatched Thor 2011 and Avengers and I'm going to rewatch TDW soon. And read my favorite fics. And forget about this. And so glad you’ve enjoyed my blog!!! <3

#asks #loki tv series #loki series #loki show #loki tv show #loki 2021

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reminiscing-writer · 3 years

Text

Off The Deep End

Warnings: violence, harsh language, fainting, miscarriage, and lots and lots of crying.

Derek Morgan, if you go over to those curtains one more time, I swear on all my plushies back at Quantico, I will beat your ass myself.” Penelope threatens for the fourth time in the past few hours. She receives a smile from Emily who’s seated beside a napping JJ.

“Babygirl. I’m just trying to open a window, it’s too hot here.” He squints at her, with sweat beads on his forehead.

“I don’t care!” She snaps, placing her laptop aside a little rougher than she'd like. She gets up from her spot on the couch, and shoves Derek aside from the open window, “You’re going to sweat through your clothes, you are going to make a puddle on this floor. I don’t care! But, we are not opening these, because if these open, then my internet fades away, and if my internet goes away, then I can't do any digging to find Spencer. So, no, Derek, you may not open the window!” She snaps.

He stares at her for a moment with wide eyes silently. As she returns back to her spot he follows her and sits at her feet.

“What?” She growls frustratedly. He softly takes her glasses off her face and folds them, putting them aside. “I can't see without those, Derek.” She huffs, going to take them back. He stops her hands, and brings them to his mouth and gives her knuckles soft kisses.

“Sweetie, I know this is stressful. It’s hard on all of us,” He speaks to her with love, “but, it's important we don't lose our temper with each other.” She looks at him dearly with teary eyes.

“I just wish I could do more.” She sniffles quite like a mouse, tears dripping from her eyes, “I feel like we’re not doing enough to help him.”

The team is all at wits end. It’s very clear. Earlier, Hotch had lost his temper with JJ because she hadn’t ‘talked to the local police about the case yet’. Even he knew that was a ridiculous thing to argue over, because, the local PD had nothing to do with this case. But, nonetheless, he had yelled at her, and she had argued back, causing the both to walk away from each other heated.

“Well, then talk to me. Tell me, what is it that can help you work better.” Derek wipes his dear friends cheeks, “Want me to help set the internet a little better?” He asks, stroking her cheeks with his large hands.

Her lips perk up at the corners, “Now you're talking my language, Baby.” She nods like a little child. The two continue back and forth for a bit. They don't realize they have a watcher from afar.

From the dining table in the kitchen, Amelia sat watching the two agents longingly. She knew they didn't have a romantic relationship, but she envied the way they were touching each other and smiling and loving. She envied them and she hated herself for it. Because, with every hour that passed without Spencers being found, was another hour that she was growing angrier.

Not at the team, she knew they were trying their best. But, at herself? She didn't really know; she just needed to be angry at something, or someone.

“How are you feeling?” A hand on Amelia's back startles her. She looks up to see Aaron.

He was older than her by a good decade or so, but Spencer always spoke with such respect to his name. Not so much as a father figure, but more so an older brother. So, eventually that's the role Amelia gave him in her life also.

“Alright,” She lied, taking a sip of her unintended cold coffee.

He takes a seat beside her. He’s about to say something when Derek and Penelope both call for Amelia.

Both of the two seated in the kitchen come into the living room. Hearing their call startles JJ awake, as she was napping on the love seat opposite to them. Emily places a hand on her thigh to reassure her nothing has happened.

“Ameilia,” Garcia starts off just above a whisper, “did you ever have anyone come and check your internet?”

All eyes are on her, “Yeah,” she's confused. She already said the internet was slow. Why does it matter? “I called someone a couple months back, but he didn't really help. In fact, I think it just got worse after he checked it.” She half shrugs. “Spencer thought I was crazy when I told him that.” She gives a ghost of a smile.

“What exactly did he do? The man you called for the wi-fi?” Penelope pries.

“Why does it matter?” Hotch asks.

“Just give me a second to figure this out,” Penelope stalls, looking back to Amelia, “What did he do when he came?”

Amelia licks her dry lips, starting to get anxious, “Um- he checked our router and our modem. Said it was old school, and he would give us a new one free of cost.” She takes a shaky breath in, “Why?”

“Where’s the new system he set up?” Derek asks, standing up from the couch he was seated on.

After Amelia points to the closet in her room, she comes back to Penelope. “Pen, what is it?”

“I have a hunch,” Garcia says, typing on her laptop, “I don't want to be right about it.” Derek comes out of the room with a tiny black box with flashing red lights. He hands it to Garcia, who without a beat says, “But, I'm afraid I am.”

“Sweatpea, this isn’t a new modem. This is a blocker.” Penelope says, turning it around and switching off numerous buttons on it. “The guy, whoever he was, came in here, and planted this on purpose.” She speaks directly to Ameila, though the whole team is watching her with wide eyes.

“Why would - why would someone do that?” Amelia stutters.

“It all makes so much more sense now!” Penelope's brain switches a flip and she tosses the blocker onto the floor, and starts typing hard on her computer. She laughs, “My internet is back! And I got something else too!” JJ gets up to stretch her legs and is instructed by Pen to go and open the curtains.

She's confused, but follows orders as told.

“Derek Morgan, I could kiss you.” Peneople is in her own world.

“I would love that, I really would. But, if we could know why…?” He snaps in front of her screen but she shoos his fingers away. She's in a trance. Maybe it's just because her internet is back up and running, but Amelia begins to get impatient.

She finally turns the screen around to show the team what she's looking at. She's panting as though she ran a mile in under a minute.

The whole team looks at her screen in confusion. “Is that-?” Emily starts.

“Is that us?” Amelia finishes.

“That's us.” Morgan confirms as he raises his arm just to watch his arm raise on the screen.

“What is going on?” Aaron looks at Penelope.

Penelope waits for a dramatic pause, and then she says with complete confidence, “Amelia, someone has been watching you and Spencer for a while now. That same someone was the one who had that blocker planted in your apartment, so they could block any interruptions in and out of here. My bet is,” She turns her laptop back around, “they’re the ones in charge of Spencer's kidnapping.”

Amelia takes in all the information one by one. “But, I called the internet guy just out of chance.” She recalls her memory.

“Where did you find his number?” Emily asks.

“Spencer gave it to me. Actually, he’s the one who called him.” She remembers, “I had complained to him that I was having trouble working on my kindergarteners report cards, so he said he had found someones number on a bulletin board. He’d spoken to him himself, and said the guy would come over the weekend.”

“This is good,” Hotch says, “this is the closest thing to a lead we’ve had since Spencer has gone missing. Emily and Derek, you two go and check out the bulletin boards back at the office, and check if you can see what number Spencer had gotten in contact with.”

The two agents nod, and head out of the apartment, “Penelope,” Hotch says. As she looks up, he replies, “great work.” She beams a smile.

Amelia feels something deep in her stomach. Maybe it's the baby she never forgets about. Or, maybe it's the sense of guilt taking over her. Because, if she hadn't complained to Spencer about the crappy wi-fi, then the man wouldn't have come over. If he didnt come over, he wouldn't have planted the blocker which would mean they wouldn't have surveillance on them. Which would mean Spencer wouldn't have gotten kidnapped, and then he’d still be here today holding her close and-

She begins to feel lightheaded and loses her footing slightly staggering in place. Aaron quickly catches eye of her losing balance and runs up to her. He quickly places a hand on her back and seats on the nearest couch.

“Amelia, we will find him, you have to take it easy..” He reassures her. Most, if not all, of the team knew about her pregnancy. Only the females had made it verbal, but the males also showed just a little extra care towards her in the past 24 hours

Emily and Derek roll up to their Quanatico office half an hour after the conversation back at the Doctors apartment. They both step out of the car. “So, what are we looking for?” Derek asks, taking off his sunglasses, tucking them into his back pocket.

“Well, Amelia said Spencer had found the electricians number on the bulletin board. Our first best bet is probably the one in the kitchen.”

“But,” Derek opens the door for Emily, “is it really like him to just call a random stranger over to his apartment? I mean, the guy doesn't sound like he worked for a big company.”

The two file into the elevator and start heading up, “Well, he's not really one for technology, is he? He wouldn't really care as long as the problem got solved. Amelia said herself, the problem wasn't bothering him, it was bothering her.” Emily walks out of the elevator first after it stops.

“And, he would do anything in his power to help her be happy.” Derek says as they walk into the bullpen and head for the kitchen. “Even if that meant calling up a stranger and asking for help.”

When they walk into the kitchen nothing stands out to them. Coffee is brewing for other agents, sing has a few dirty mugs, and the bulletin board is just filled with papers they'd seen before.

Derek skims the pages and doesn't seem satisfied, “This is all the regular stuff. Flyers for newbies, orientation timings, and lectures by older agents. Nothing about electricians.”

“Well, there has to be something somewhere.” Emily grunts as she goes to fill herself a mug of hot caffeine. She offers to make Derek a cup, but he declines politely.

“Okay, so I’m Pretty Boy, okay?” He looks at Prentiss, “My wife needs help with the internet at home. I don't know jack squat about that stuff, so what do I do?”

“Ask someone else for help?”

“But, I'm also too shy to ask someone myself. I don't see any flyers here at work, so…” he trails for a second before continuing, “maybe, i see a flyer at my regular cafe.” He lifts an eyebrow suggestively.

Emliy hums in agreement, “Could be.” She nods, “He does get to work with coffee in hand, so he has a regular spot. Someone was already watching him, so they probably knew that. Could’ve planted a trap for him there.”

Derek takes out his phone and dials a memorized number on speaker, “Speak to me, Chocolate Thunder.” Penelope answers.

“Hey, Mama. I need you to look up the route from Spencer's apartment to work. Tell me what coffee shops you see between us.”

Typing begins on the other side before the hear Amelia's shy voice.

“Is this regarding Spencer?”

“Yeah,” Emily answers, “would you happen to know where he got his morning coffee from, Amelia?”

“Uh, yes,,” she replies, “it’s this small cafe like ten minutes from here.” She pauses, “I think it's called The Corner Brewery.”

“Already sent you the address to your cells.” Garcia adds.

“Of course The Genius marries a Genius.” Derek smiles, “You're a lifesaver, Amelia. You too, PC. Get back to you two soon.” He hangs up.

“To the The Corner Brewery we go.” Emily jangles the keys.

Amelia is in the kitchen making some pasta. No one is hungry, including her. But no one stops her, because she needs something to keep herself busy or she goes back into overthinking mode. Unhealthy for her and the baby.

Penelope sits clacking away at her computer. She had a router backtracking number from the camera she had gotten connected to (the surveillance footage one), so she was hoping she could find the location it was coming from.

Hotch sat across from her, on the phone with Strauss because she was on his ass about his entire team being absent from work with no notice. Hotch was winning the argument, he usually is.

JJ walks into the kitchen, “Can I help?” She offers.

“No, thank you.” Amelia says quietly and politely.

“Amelia,” JJ calls for her attention, “Em and Derek are so close to getting more information. We’ll find him. I promise.”

“Aren't you not allowed to give empty promises like that?” Amelia locks eyes with JJ for the first time all day. It knocks the breath out of Jennifer because she sees just how broken Amelia looks. Her eyes are puffy and rimmed red from constant crying. Her nose is red, and her lips are trembling.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“It’s okay, I just-,” Amelia turns back to the pot she was stirring, “I really want him to come back home, but please stop giving me false hope.”

It breaks JJ’s heart seeing Amelia so broken. They were never super close, but Amelia was Spencer's wife. And, Spencer was her best friend, and that was enough for her to love Amelia.

A knock on the front door breaks the girl's attention away from their brief conversation.

Hotch stands up immediately, and JJ protectively stands in front of Amelia, with her hand immediately on the gun on her waist. Hotch takes a slow step towards the door, and calls out loudly, “Who is it?”

No answer.

Hotch looks back at JJ, and when she nods, indicating she's ready to fire on command, he swiftly opens the door, pulling out his own gun simultaneously. There's no one at the door, which makes Amelia exhale a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Theres a small package on the welcome mat outside, and just as the previous package, in messy handwriting, it has Mrs. Reid scribbled on it.

Hotch quickly looks outside the door left, right, then left again, and brings the package inside. After shutting and locking the door, he places it on the center table.

Amelia, still traumatized from the last thing they received slowly approaches it, “What is it?”

Aaron shrugs, “Light,” he lowers himself to inspect the package before opening it, “doesn't seem like there's much in it.”

“Maybe you should go inside,” Penelope offers, “since last time-”

“No,” Amelia quickly interjects, “I can handle it. I can do it, I have to. This is about my husband.” She inhales deeply, “I can be strong for him. Open it, Aaron,” She encourages him with the fakest face of courage she can muster up.

He waits a moment, but realizes she's not going anywhere. He begins opening the packing cautiously, just to realize it's a cardboard box. Inside is just a disk. A CD. No label, no tag, no writing. Just a CD.

All heads turn to Garcia, and she nods and holds out a palm to Hotch, “Pass it, I’ll check what it is.”

He hands it to her and she inserts into her laptop. Amelia is seated beside her watching her work away on her laptop.

“There’s a single file on here. A video.” She squints at her screen.

Without another movement made by Garcia, a video opens up on her computer. Her and Amelia gasp in unison. It’s Spencer. Tied to a chair, bloody rag covering his now four-fingered hand.

He looks scared, and bloodied and bruised. His hair is matted down to his forehead and one of his eyes is so swollen that it’s shut. Breathing labored, he tilts his up towards the camera slightly, his messy hair moving with him.

Amelias eyes water and her lips tremble. She covers her mouth with a shaky hand to stop herself from crying. Be brave, she reminds herself, be brave and strong for Spencer.

Penelope places her equally shaking hand on her friends thigh, just as to remind her, we’re here for you.

“Whenever you’re ready, Spencie.” A voice says from off camera. Garcia places the laptop front and center on the living room coffee table.

Spencer takes a deep breath, “Amelia,” his bottom lip quivers, “I am so sorry, Sweetheart.” At the mention of the nickname Amelia whimpers. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and I would never have hoped you would be involved in this also.” He shut both his eyes and looked down at his lap. “We’ll figure this out, Buttercup.” This nickname causes Amelia's eyes to water and start streaming silent tears. “Just you and me, against the world.” A small smile from him earns him an identical one from his wife.

“And, Amelia, I promise you,” he swallows hard, looking back up once again. His face almost unrecognizable, this time JJ looks away with her eyes shut, “once I get out of here, you and me, we’ll go on that date to Griffith Park observatory you’ve always wanted to go to. But, maybe we’ll skip the ending, I don’t like the end of the observatory.” Amelia furrows her brows, her heart beating a mile a minute. “And, then, maybe we could watch a movie. Like that one Jim Carrey film. What was it? Something, Ventura? It was top class acting, I know you said that.” Amelia can sense something off, but she couldn’t place her finger on it. She messily wipes her tears, sniffling. She stands up catching the eye of JJ.

“Please, Amelia.” Spencer pleaded desperately, “I love you.” He was crying too. His voice was shaking. He was at his breaking point.

“Hey, Lover Boy!” The same voice from before came loudly. A man walked from behind the camera, keeping in mind of not showing his face. He walks towards Spencer, his back to the viewers, “Would you like to give us the password now?”

Amelias breathing shallowes, and she unconsciously placed a hand on her stomach. As she stares at Spencer with wide eyes, the man swings a punch straight to his gut. “Couldn’t hear you, dear.” He chuckles evilly.

Amelia watches in horror as the man cracks his knuckles, “Speak up for me.'' Another punch gets delivered to her husband's chest.

“Please stop.” Spencer pleaded, spitting blood. The sight made Amelia cry loudly, and Aaron tries to move her from in front of the screen.

“Garcia, turn it off.” He orders, equally shaken up.

“I’m trying,” she cries, tapping at herkeyboard, “it won’t go away.” She sniffles desperately.

“You know what I want. Give it to me, and I’ll stop.” The man threatens. He walks away for a second just to return back into the screen with a large metal rod.

“Garcia!” Aaron scolds loudly.

“It won’t turn off!” She yells back, scared.

Spencer squeezes his eyes shut, and as if Amelia's body couldn’t handle seeing her husband get hurt any longer, her eyes shut on her, and she falls straight to the floor.

“I’ll tell you!” The team hears Spencer plead on camera. But, no one is watching the screen anymore. Instead, they all quickly huddle around Amelia, who lay on the floor. Eyes shut with tears streaking her cheeks. The commotion of the apartment is loud for the next few moments.

Spencer in the video giving a password to his captor. Garcia is on the phone with the police, telling them to send an ambulance to her current address. JJ is trying to wake up Amelia, her head being softly placed onto the agents lap.

JJ strokes Amelia's hair softly, “Amelia, please. Please wake up.” She whispers, her eyes ready to leak tears.

Aaron, in the midst of the chaos, turns his attention to Spencer just to hear him say the last few letters.

“That’s not right.” He mumbles, grabbing JJ’s attention.

“What?” She looks up.

“That’s not the code. If the code they want is the Integrity Files one, he gave them a faulty password.”

“Why would he do that?” She asks.

A few moments later, paramedics rush into the apartment. After Garcia argues her way into the ambulance also, JJ and Aaron agree to meet at the hospital.

“I’ll let Derek and Emily know.” JJ says to Garcia as she sits next to a still unconscious Amelia. Penelope nods and the medics shut the ambulance doors.

Back at The Corner Brewery, Derek and Emily walk with purpose. The barista asks them for their orders.

“No coffee, although, we were wondering if you guys had a bulletin board of any sort?” Emily asks as Derek takes a look around.

The cafe was very large. It was busy, and the amount of customers made Derek nervous if they would find any information they seeked.

“Yes,” the man behind the counter replied bored, “we allow paying customers to post any advertisements they want over there.” He points to a cork board that hung at the end of the store.

Very big, and very much covered in papers, and stickers and flyers.

They nod, and before heading to the board, Derek feels the need to flash his badge. Just to show that he has a reason to be here.

“Where do we start?” Emily gawks at the board. There’s at least 50 different papers layered on top of one another.

The two agents start to remove paper by paper to see if they can see any ads that may stand out. After half an hour of unsuccessful searching, Derek excused himself.

“I gotta take a bathroom break, Prentiss.” He walks away as she nods. He walks up to the barista and asks for the men’s room. As he’s about to walk away, he catches glimpse of a page hanging behind the wall the barista stood in front of. “Hey, my man.” He grabs the servers attention, “What’s that?” He points to the page.

The barista comes by. He tears the paper off the wall and hands it to him. “An ad, probably hung up by one of the other servers here. Customers aren’t allowed back here.” He gives a half shrug before walking away.

Need help with bad internet? Call us today!

Derek rushes back to Em to show her what he found.

“Hey, check this out.” He hands it to her.

She reads it over. It looks simple, like it was printed at home. A stock photo image of a computer with a large red cross over it. The heading was big and bold. Loud enough to catch attention.

At the bottom of the page, there was a name and number.

“Leonel Cassum.” Emily reads the name at the bottom.

“I think we should give him a call,” Derek looks over at the number, “after that bathroom break.” He turns back around to where he was before.

“So, Leonel,” Derek starts, sitting opposite of the male they called in for questioning, “tell me, how’s business?”

He’s confused. The freckles on his nose move as he scrunches his nose, “It’s alright, going decent enough.” He looks from Derek to Emily and back. “Am I allowed to ask why I’m here?”

Derek gives a large smile, almost condescendingly, “Of course you are,” he pauses, waving over Emily. She hands him a folder. “now, do you know who Dr. Spencer Reid is?”

The young blonde shakes his head. “No, why am I here?” There’s a shake in his voice.

“Because,” Emily takes a seat next to Derek, “Dr. Reid is missing. And you’re our only lead. The whole case is sitting on your shoulders.” She points her index to him.

He stares back, mouth agape, “W-what? No, no that’s not possible.” He leans forward, “Look, you guys have the wrong guy. I didn’t do anything. I don’t even know who that is!” He looks desperately from one agent to the other.

“Really?” Emily raises an eyebrow, “Well, it says in your call records,” she opens her folder, “that you spoke to Dr. Reid exactly three months ago. It was a five minute long call. He had called you, at,” she squints at her page, “8 in the morning. Early, huh?” She looks to Morgan.

“Well, maybe Leonel here isn’t an early riser. That’s why he doesn’t remember who he spoke with. Right, Leonel?” Derek looks to their guest.

He stares back, “I- I may have spoken to him.” He shrugs, “But, I speak to a lot of people everyday. It’s nothing significant.”

“Well, it must’ve been. Because, you spoke to him on a Friday, and agreed the very next day. Fast service for such a busy company.” Emily counters.

Leonel looks to the dark haired agent, “It must’ve been a slow weekend, I really don’t know what you guys are intending.” He continues his innocence.

Emily stands up slamming the table with her palms, scaring the kid, “We’re intending you spoke to the Doctor, came to his house, placed a blocker in his home,” she inches close to Leonel's face, “and have been watching him like a stalker since then. Now he’s gone missing! So, who’s head is that on? Yours!” She yells in his face.

Leonel scoots back, “I didn’t do any of that!” He cries.

“We have footage of you walking into his apartment, Leonel!” Emily walks around the table so she’s next to his chair, “How much are you going to lie before you break?” She stares at him menacingly. Derek quietly watches, playing the good cop between them.

Leonel's shoulders start to shake.

“I’m real tight on money.” He squeaks. “Some guy came up to me at a cafe and told me he’d pay me hefty if I just go along with a few things he wanted.” He looks to Derek, almost ignoring Emily.

“It started off small, like just making a flyer. Then he told me I'd receive a call,” he wipes his nose with his sleeve, “and after a few days, I did. I was told what to say, and I did exactly that.” He wipes his tears quickly, “All I did was set up a small blocker in his apartment.” His breathing gets shaky again, “But, that’s all! That’s all I did! I didn’t kidnap anyone! I didn’t hurt anyone! I swear!” He cries.

Emily goes back around next to Derek, “If he’s saying the truth, then there’s another surveillance guy.”

“I don’t know who he is,” Leonel speaks quietly, “but,” he swallows hard, “I can tell you where he’s at. I heard the guys who hired me talk about it once.”

Leonel gets sat with a facial artist first, to hopefully get a rough sketch of the man who hired him. And then he gives the address of what he thinks should be the place the creep who was watching Spencer is set up.

Derek drives to the given address, which happens to be just a street opposite of Spencer and Amelia's abode.

“Makes sense, seeing as how close this is to Amelia's place,” Emily gets out of the passenger seat and looks up at a tall building, squinting as the sun hits her eyes.

“Well, this is the address blondie gave us, so let's give it a look.” Derek starts to walk into the apartment complex before them.

They walk in and quickly come to realize that anything could happen in this building, and no one would know. The place was empty. Maybe there were residents living there, but whoever they were, they were very much to themselves.

The two agents make sure their badges are on display on their belts, and start to inspect the building. Slowly making their way up each floor, they finally stop at the 7th floor. As the elevator doors open, Derek stops the doors from closing with his hands, “Well, this looks promising.”

The floor seemed to be under construction. Paint buckets laid everywhere, and plastic sheets hung from the walls.

As the two stepped out of the elevator, they hear a paint can fall in the distance. Instantly whipping their head in that direction, Emily calls out loudly, “Federal Agents! Who's there?”

When instead of a reply they hear footsteps running, both of them grab a hold of their weapons and start running towards the sound. Derek gives a quick and quiet hand motion, telling Emily to split up to over more ground.

It a large floor and the place is split into different sections just by plaster or lanky wood. Once the footsteps stop, the only sound they hear is wind and their own breathing. Neither of the agents say a word.

Then, a sound behind Morgan, something sounding like a rustling makes him whip his entire body around and instinctively tackle. And rightfully so, because down goes the man they’re supposedly looking for.

Emily comes running up next to the two men who are wrestling, (although Morgan is most definitely winning). She hands Derek a pair of handcuffs and pulls out her vibrating cell to see JJs caller ID.

“Great time, JJ,” She breathes into the phone catching her breath. “We’ve got good news.”

“I’ve got some bad news.” JJ says at the same time on the other end. When Emily doesn’t say anything else, she continues, “What’s the good news?”

Emily walks a few feet away from Derek as he forces his handcuffed man up forcefully. She walks towards a set up right by an open window. A camera, a laptop, a few other boxes that are beeping green and red, and something that she didn’t expect; a large sniper rifle. All aiming straight at the dear doctors apartment.

“We found our peeping Tom. Well, he seems more like sniping Tom, but you know what I mean.” Emily says, “What’s the bad news?” She furrows her brows.

“Amelia fainted at the apartment.” JJ says, “We received a video of Spencer and she passed out while watching it. We’re headed to the hospital now.”

“Okay, we’ll meet you there.” Em replies, following Derek into the elevator.

“Oh, yeah, and Em?”

“Yeah?”

“This is about the Integrity Case. The kidnappers were torturing Reid for the password on camera.”

We’re so sorry. Sorry. So sorry. We tried. Our deepest condolences.

It doesn’t make any sense to Amelia. Sorry about what? She can barely remember what’s happened, and here doctors and nurses apologizing to her.

She continues to stay silent as a male doctor stands before her speaking of something that doesn’t register in her brain.

She’s in a hospital. She knows that. She’s been changed into a gown, she knows that also. Her mind feels woozy, that’s something also.

A nurse steps in front of her, “Is there anything I can do for you, Darling? Before we leave you for a bit.”

Amelia licks her lips before speaking, “I’m just a little lost,” as she speaks, she realizes she’s slurring her words slightly, “what’s happened?” She blinks hard.

“Oh,” the nurses blinks, “well, you’re friends out there say you had a fainting episode. And, well, sometimes if the body is undergoing a lot of stress, it can put a lot of stress on the baby also.” She's speaking slowly and clearly- unlike the doctor before her. “Sometimes, that can cause the fetus to get over worked,” she tilts her head slightly, “and, in your case, unfortunately, the fetus was far too young to try and save.”

The words slowly start to settle into Amelia's already foggy brain. Her hand goes onto her stomach.

Sorry. So sorry. We’re so sorry.

“We did try our best, but there was only so little we could do.” The nurse says sympathetically.

“The baby,” Amelia's voice is quiet, “the baby… is gone?” She asks in utter disbelief.

“We are so terribly sorry for your loss, hun.”

And before another word can leave anyone else’s mouth, Amelia's shoulders start to tremble as she breaks down. Loud cries leave her room as she cries over the loss of her unborn child.

A nurse comes outside and informs the team of what happened. Some shed a tear, others conceal their feelings till they’re in private. But they all hear the cries from Amelias room. Loud and clear.

It’s all pent up feelings.

Grief, because even if the baby wasn’t in her arms, it was still inside her. She was still talking to the baby. Telling them about what a great father Spencer is. Talking to them about how wonderful a mother she will be also. How much she’s looking forward to them growing everyday. Telling them just how much they’re loved, even before they’ve entered the world.

Anger, because Spencer isn’t here with Amelia. He didn’t know she was pregnant, much less know she’s lost the baby. She knows it’s ridiculous to be angry, but she is upset. He should’ve been here. If he was here, she wouldn’t have lost the baby.

She knows it’s not his fault. He wanted a family just as much Amelia did. They’d been trying for years, and when they did finally succeed-

Amelia screams. Again, and again, and again.

Some words. Some just incoherent screams. Her voice is not nearly loud enough to express all the emotions she’s feeling. Her screams boom through the whole maternity ward. While some mothers are cradling their newborns, this mother is mourning the loss of hers.

JJ decides to stay back with Amelia, even if it does mean just waiting in the waiting room. Garcia and Derek team together to go back to the apartment to gather all their belongings to head back to the office. Hotch and Emily agree to head into question their newfound suspect.

Amelia is left alone in the room.

Missing her husband.

Missing her child.

Losing everyone she loves, one by one.

Tag team!

(Drop a comment if you also want to be tagged when the next part goes up!)

@twentysomethingloser92 @spencerreidsthings @mbowles23-blog @andiebeaword @dontshootmespence @notdisneychannel @wiitchxbiitch @manchildstagram @lagirl112

#criminal minds #spencer reid sad imagines #og story #off the deep end #spencer reid #sad #angst'kidnapping #kidnapping #angst #oc

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panicinart · 3 years

Text

A nanny to replace with someone new part 1

Brahms x transman/transmasc reader

Please take my writing privilege away when it's past midnight

There arnt any trigger warnings here and at the moment no gendered words or pronouns is used! I guess there is a bit of queer coding(???) if you squint but nothing to serious or specific

Your phone vibrated with a new message send to you. Scrambling it out of your pants with hasty and shaking fingers while the other hand tryd it's best to not let the travel suitcases fall on the floor. Giving it a quick glance your lips curled into a smile, it was your best friend asking how the flight into the UK was.

So you gave her a quick message on how you got the worst seat imaginable. The guy next to you constantly gave you weird glances, he tryd to be sneaky about it, looking at your way when he thought you were asleep or occupied with something else. The smell that receded from him wasn't pleasant either, betting your left arm that he didn't shower for at least 3 weeks straight.

A few seats away was a couple that constantly started a loud argument with each other about the most random and unimportant things imaginable. When the fly attended tryd to calm them down the whole scenario got even more chaotic, making a kid that was another few seats away cry loudly. You would feel bad for the child if it wasn't for your enormous migraine building up. The only good thing out of the situation was when a bag of salted snacks got accedntly thrown to your way, giving you a free extra snack.

As you clicked send an announcement made it's self know with loud static noises. The train had a one hour delay. At this point your nerves were on edge. With a heavy sigh you walked out of the airport to the underground, at least there was now some time to look at the airport stores. Buying a few snacks here and there and seeing the cute souvenirs lighten up your mood a bit, and you even found a pharmacy!

Munching at your last chocolate bar and swallowing the pill for your migraine as you clumsily walked down the stairs to the subway, you eyes skimmed for a clock, and there it was, old and a bit rusty but it worked just fine showing that it's currently 7:43 pm.

'20 more minutes'

you thought, as you gave it a quick glance with a groggy look,

'Might as well give her a quick text'

•hey,sophie the train has a delay probably will come in like an hour late if everything goes well.

It took a few minutes until she texted you back

▪︎Yea I already thought that, can't have shit in public transport >:/

•yea,,, so,,, how is the babysitting going? Is the kid as bad as the last one you took care of???

▪︎Nope! How should it when it's a doll :)

•....

....

a what???

▪︎A doll! It's one of those weird porcelain ones that look like a small child. It's even live sized! I was already weirded out that a couple this old would have small children of their own but that? A whole new level of weird

•,,,,what are you doing with it????

does it just hang around or do you actually take care of it??

As you waited for an answer another announcement was made, the train that should come in now 15 minutes should be here earlier.

You would have made a small victorious smile if the question didn't come crashing down like an avalanche.

Why do they keep it? Why do they need a babysitter when it's just a doll? Why is it live sized? And most importantly, how in the fresh fuck did they managed to let the train come earlier the thought. While being lost in your mind with questions your phone took you back into reality when it vibrated.

▪︎Nope! I just let it sit in the corner, sometimes I put a towel or blanket over it. It's stare is really fucking creepy....

•oh,,, so free money I guess, pretty cool.

hey sophie what was the name of the family??

Something with shire right??

Chestershire??

▪︎Heelshire, why do you ask?

•just out of curiosity, maeby there is an article about them and the doll.

i mean they are a well know family so I can imagine there is something out there about them. also my train is coming later then planned.

they made an announcement that it should come earlier the thought but,,, I think I won't come over today for the sleepover, I'm just too tired, sorry for the late cancelation

▪︎It's fine (Y/N)! You had a shitty flight so I can understand that! So we see us tomorrow :) ?

•ye

▪︎Awesome, can't wait to show you the creepy doll!

And with that the chat ended, your train already making a big entrance with the loud hald of it's heavy metallic wheels.

You took the suitcase back into your hands and tumbled your way into the train.

Looking around, you accepted defeat that there was no seat left for you, your mood slowly dipping from tired annoyance to about to having a small fit. But that wouldn't help your progress, so you swallowed your anger down and leaned to one of the metallic poles. Wobbling a bit from left to right and needing to catch your suitcase to not let it roll over a passengers feet as the train started moving again.

You grabbed your phone, hesitating for a bit

'Do I really want to know what the fuck is going on or???'

You just shrugged your shoulders and gave it a go, the heelshire family is a rich pompous family you're sure there is something about them on the internet.

Aaaaand you were right, it didn't even took a second when hundreds of articles pooped up with dramatic headlines.

Terrible fire at the Heelshire mansion

Mysterious fire in Heelshire property

Heelshire, how their live turned quickly into a nightmare

These were the few that caught your interest.

You gave the articles quick reads, your tired eyes switching between almost falling shut from tiredness and going wide at the gruesome details on the tragedy.

Well that gives you a few indications on why they keep it.

'It's probably some kind of coping mechanism....'

You don't really see yourself as someone who's heart gets torn apart everytime you hear a sad and tragic story, but you still can't shake the heaviness off it all, a family losing their only child in an enormous fire that up to this day nobody knows were it came from.

Too keep your mind off the whole thing you looked outside, still having a bitter expression of the new info as you admired the houses.

It looks like your heading towards a more suburban area, making it look like one of your old English telenovela that you watch every now and then.

As the sun slowly goes down and engulfing the area in beautiful colors was quite a bit breathtaking, infact so breathtaking that you almost missed your station.

In a moment of panic you pushed yourself out of the train almost dropping a few things in it, but luckily you had everything with you.

With lazy steps towards a billboard your eyes scanned the map for the area, the bus stop wasn't far away, just a few minutes walk, but your heavy arms slowly giving up and your feet starting to hurt didn't really help.

You got your headphones out in hopes that listening to your favorite music makes the whole thing a bit more bearable.

Even tho it was just a tiny bit left until you arrived at your destination, somehow everything went wrong one way or another. You almost missed the bus and then one of it's tire pooped, making you wait for the next one that came in like half an hour.

Then one of your water bottles wasn't closed properly making some of your stuff soaked in it, destroying your notes, drawings and a few comics you had with you in the process.

When you arrived in the small but cozy hotel a woman had a giant fight with the manager. One of her kids didn't stop bothering you with weird and uncomfortable questions about your appearance. While the other didn't keep their grabby hands off of you. Then when she finally finished her rant on how the room service didn't left a small piece of chocolate for her children like always, she had the audacity to give you a 'tch' when she walked passed you with a slightly disgusted expression. The manager and her assistant apologized for the inconvenience and offerd you some candy as a sorry gift for the inconvenience, you don't want to sound like a glutton, but it did make you forget about the whole thing for a bit.

Finally you managed to get your keys. On the way to your room you almost dropped all your stuff becoming a clumsy mess that just wants to sleep.

As you opend the door impatiently you more or less threw your stuff on the chairs and floor quickly unpacked your pajamas and hastily puting them on. Dropping your body on the softest bed you ever were able to sleep in like a rock. To say that you were happy to finally be here is taking things way to lighty. With a happy sigh you closed you eyes for the well deserving sleep.

#slashers #slasher #slasher community #slasher fandom #my writing #slasher writing #brahms heelshire x reader #brahms heelshire #brahms x trans reader #transmale reader #transmasc reader #slow but steady #love story #??? i think #we will see

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whumpiary · 3 years

Note

cw: unkind family member made a comment trying to justify some horrible stuff

So this might be a big dumb ™ question, but I'm really not great with words out loud when I'm under a lot of emotion. It's why I'm a writer, I think; I write out my responses so much better than I could ever say them.

Someone in my family over their holiday visit spied on me reading a whump prompt, and after they quickly skimmed it, they made the most offhand, hurtful comment. I feel like a loser because I had 0 idea how to respond to it because my brain does a massive freeze response and locks completely up.

They said, "Oh, so you're fetishizing abuse now? Makes it perfectly cool then, I guess, to do _____ to someone."

I was so angry, all I could do was stumble out "No, that's not--no," and had to just leave and cry in the next room until they left. I wanted to explain that no; whump is something that helps me. I just...I didn't know what to say, or how to properly describe whump, and I almost want to reach out and explain it to them, but they're unfortunately the type of family member to side with all the wrong types of people. They're always saying something like this, it's just never been directly to me.

I think my question is, do you or a fellow whump writer have advice for how I might explain this to someone in the future, if not that particular person, that that's not what this is doing? That that's not what my fellow writers are doing? Because honestly, I've never been in a more supportive community than this, I love how whole I feel here, but I'm just struggling so much with not only the right way to explain it, but the guts to say it out loud.

I'm so sorry to bother you. I look up to you a lot. It's hard being in a trauma headspace a lot and formulating responses under pressure for me personally. Ughhhh. I'm asking anonymously because I'm too scared I'll be put on blast or something for 'not speaking up'. But thank you for reading. I support you and your work, and the entire whump community's work, so much. I hope everything's going well ♥️ You all really do inspire me.

This isn’t a dumb question at all. Thanks for writing me.

Cards on the table, it’s late in my time zone (Happy New Year, in fact!) so I may reblog again in the morning with more thoughts but it felt important to answer you tonight.

I see you and I hear you and I am sending you so much love. What your family member did was really shitty. (First, spying on something seemingly without your consent? Asshole move. Second, making you feel shit about something you like? Asshole love. Third, making you feel shit about something you made? Big asshole move.) I’m sorry you had to experience that.

First up: There’s nothing wrong with you for liking whump. There’s nothing wrong with you for reading it. There’s nothing wrong with you for writing it.

Liking and producing whump content doesn’t mean you condone abuse, and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. You’re okay.

You’re also not a loser for not being able to rattle off a perfectly reasoned response in a moment of confrontation. That shit is hard, even when you’re not running on trauma software. You’re not a failure or dumb for not having an answer for them. You’re just a human. Especially on a topic as complex as whump.

I don’t think anyone would “put you on blast” for not speaking up. We’ve all been there, whether on the topic of whump or not. Anyone who’s telling you that you need to be a champion defender of whump at all times is just as much of an asshole as your family member in my opinion. You need to look after you first.

Whump is more prolific than we acknowledge or people recognise sometimes, in my opinion. It’s very easy for people to watch a movie or read a book and know the creators aren’t condoning what they’re depicting, but people seem to find it more difficult when they know the artists personally (like your family member knows you, for example). Something that I do sometimes is make references to things that are well known. Like:

“Saving Private Ryan depicts war and I don’t think they’re glorifying war. It’s a way to explore different parts of humanity and I think that’s interesting”

“[insert TV show here] has a lot heavy themes as a way of exploring character and relationships. That’s what I’m doing here.”

“Horror movies depict violence and gore all the time and they’re rarely fetishising things. It’s a way to get people to face and explore their fears and anxieties in safe, entertaining ways.”

You can also check out the “defining whump” tag for some really great community commentary on the subject.

Here’s the other thing, though: You also just straight up don’t have to justify yourself. You can just shrug and ignore them. Their opinion, and I know this maybe doesn’t feel true, straight up doesn’t matter.

If your family member is anything like some of mine, they likely won’t be convinced to your side. I don’t know your family member, so maybe I’m wrong, but it sounds to me like they were wanting to pick a fight, not have a discussion with you. In which case, even a million well thought out points and arguments won’t help. They’re just in this to make you feel crappy. In those situations, sometimes it’s best to just say “that’s your opinion, I just gave a different view” and step away from the convo.

You know why you like whump. You know why you read it. You know why you write it. You know what you enjoy about it. You know you don’t condone abuse or violence. That’s all that matters. You don’t need a moral high ground to find joy or benefit in something. It’s all good.

I know this is easier said than done, but remind yourself of the community you love and the content you enjoy and let the comments be water off a ducks back. We’ve got you. We get you. Forget about the folks that don’t. They’ve got their plate full of their own shit and clearly don’t have the space for empathy right now.

We love you. We are you. You’re all good, mate.

Anyone who has some words of wisdom or love to send is welcome and encouraged to pile onto this post. I think Anon needs it.

(P.S I hope you get around to posting that prompt! If it prompted such a reaction from someone reading it, I bet it’s a doozy. I’d love to see it and I bet the rest of the community would too)

#whump community #whump discourse #defining whump #answered #anonymous #long post

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teacherunicorn · 3 years

Text

A/N: I really see OneRepublic's 'All This Time' as Five & Delores' song. I feel like it has the right vibes to it. Am I wrong?

@tomisbaeholland @universsdaughter

Delores Theadoisa Hargreeves

Chapter Sixteen

The Hargreeves kitchen was silent as five of the occupants stared at the one other, who just went about making his sandwich.

"What's the date? The exact date."

"The 24th." Vanya offered uneasily.

"Of?!"

"March...."

Number Five paused and seemed to think for half a second. "Good."

"Are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther put forward, only to be ignored. He stood in Five's way and said in his 'I'm Number One' voice: "It's been seventeen years."

"It's been a lot longer than that." Five snapped and with a flash teleported behind him.

"I haven't missed that...." Luther sighed.

"So where'd you go?" Diego questioned.

"The future." Five blinked between the cabinet and the table. "It's shit by the way."

"Called it!" Klaus piped up.

The next thing out of Five's mouth made everyone else stare at him like he had three heads: "I should have listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing, but jumping through time, is just a roll of the dice." He looked up from spreading peanut butter on his sandwich. "Nice dress."

Klaus lit up. "Oh, well danke!"

"Wait how did you get back?" Vanya asked in confusion.

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time."

Beat.

"That makes no sense." Diego looked at him with a furrowed brow.

Five didn't even look up. "Well, it would if you were smarter."

Number Two jumped up to attack, but Luther was quick to hold him back. "How long were you gone?"

"Forty five years." Five shrugged, closing the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. "Give or take."

"So what are you saying? That you're fifty-eight?"

"No, my consciousness is fifty-eight." Five corrected with a glare. "Apparently my body is now thirteen again."

"Wait how does that even work?" Vanya asked.

"Delores kept saying the equations were off." Five took a bite of his sandwich and shrugged. "Eh, bet she's laughing now."

"Delores?" Alison frowned. "Our Delores?"

Five turned to face them and seemed to notice for the first time that the caretaker was not among the group. "Where is she?"

"She was working in Germany when she got the news." Diego informed. "Pogo said she was flying in."

"Oh, she called; her connection got delayed. She won't be in for another few hours." Klaus commented idly.

"What?!"

"You didn't think to mention this earlier Klaus?!" Alison demanded.

"Well I'm sorry, when between Luther accusing us of murder and Five jumping through time was I supposed to relay a message?"

Everyone in the room collectively groaned. They all knew that they were doomed to insanity until Delores arrived to straighten things out.

"Well, nice to see that nothings changed." Five sighed, strolling past the group and out the door.

"Really? That's all you've got to say?" Alison called after him.

"What else is there to say?" He called back, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Circle of life!"

*******

Upon entering his old bedroom, the first thing Number Five did was open the door to his closet in search of something to replace the suit that had become far too big on him.

Flipping a few hangers to the side, it quickly became apparent that all the closet held were the Umbrella Academy uniforms he'd left behind. Cursing under his breath, he sighed and selected one off the rack at random.

Turning, Five paused when he noticed the large pile of packages occupying his bed. Wrapped in various colors of paper in various sizes, he noticed that the ones toward the bottom of the bunch seemed faded, as though they'd been there a while. A quick count showed that there were forty packages in total.

One for every birthday and Christmas he had missed.

"She waited." He smiled fondly. "Well, nice to see she didn't forget about me."

Leave it to Delores Theadoisa Hargreeves to go the extra mile for her kids. Had the situation been different, he may have been worried his caretaker would have planed a future without him in it; but this was Delores he was talking about. The single ray of sunshine that even the Apocalypse couldn't snuff out.

Seeing the small signs she'd left for him to find through the years he'd been gone had kept him going. A mark scratched into the stone of a building or sidewalk, small doodle in the corner of a historical paper that the Commission thought to be stray ink marks; it kept her voice with him.

It also made him all the more anxious to see her again in person.

******

*Several Hours Later*

Muttering to herself about about the fact that, for all his eccentricities, Reginald Hargreeves had never bothered to invest in a private plane, Delores unlocked the front door and pulled a large rolling suitcase in behind her.

Huffing, she propped it up on it's wheels and dropped her duffle bag on top of it. She turned to the empty entry hall and frowned.

"Come on! I know I can't have been the only one who came to make sure the old man was dead! Where is everyone?"

Her voice was still echoing down the halls when a familiar flash of blue blinked in the corner of her vision and Delores stumbled backwards when a weight was thrown against her and a pair of arms locked around her torso.

She blinked. Once. Twice.

The rest of the Umbrella Academy appeared in various doorways, but Delores failed to notice,her eyes locked on the person burying his face into chest.

She opened and closed her mouth serval times before hesitantly wrapping her arms around him.

Solid. Real.

"....Finny...?"

The only response she got was Five squeezing her tighter, as though she was the one that had been gone for nearly two decades and would disappear once more if he let go.

Blinking again, Delores looked up to see the faces of her other charges watching the pare of them. She skimmed over a quick headcount; Luther, Diego, Alison, Klaus, Vanya. All accounted for, and all the same age they had been when she'd seen them last.

In the doorway leading to the sitting room, she saw her mother and Pogo. Feeling more like a lost child than she had since she had properly been one, she looked to the pair that had raised her with a bewildered look.

"W-What did I miss?"

*******

Number Five was very much the type of person that hated having to repeat himself, but he gladly recounted the story he had told his siblings mere hours ago. Delores seemed to understsnd his explanation for his return better than the others had, but gave him a look when he mentioned the off equations that had put him into his thirteen year old body.

“Five what was the number one rule of all your lessons?”

“Don’t start fights with my siblings?”

“That was trainings.”

Five smirked. “Double check my math, then double check it again.”

“There you go.”

He chuckled. “I’ve missed you, E. Obviously....”

“The feeling’s mutual. Obviously.” Delores smiled at him. Finally turning to address her other charges, she did a quick head count to see who had actually shown up. When glancing over Number One, she blinked and did a double take. “What the hell Luther, you’re not supposed to be taller than me!”

“You didn’t know about this?” Diego raised an eyebrow.

“Spaceboy has been keeping radio silence for a while now.” Delores folded her arms.

“Oooo, somebody’s in trouble!” Klaus sang from his slouched position on the couch.

“Well while she’s already mad at you, why don’t you tell her about your theory of how dad died?”

“Diego—“ Luther tried to cut him off.

“An old man in his seventies had a heart attack.” Delores frowned. “While I admit that’s the most normal thing to happen in this house, what’s to theory?”

“Well- I- you see-“

“Luther.”

“He was anxious the last time he contacted me.” Luther tried to reason. “Told me to watch my back.”

“Sounds like the paranoia he instilled in all of us.”

“Maybe, but —“

He was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Everyone frowned and looked towards the noise. They were all here, who the hell could that be?

“Oh little digits, I’m home!”

#tua #tua fanfic #tua imagine #umbrella academy imagines #umbrella acedmy #ben hargreeves #deigo hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #luther hargreeves

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outoftimewriting · 4 years

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Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids) (7/8) or (12/13)

Blood of Olympus pt. 1 - The Aftermath

Hello! So there I go dividing more stuff - oh well, what did you expect? Before reading, make sure to check the masterpost - there's a lot before this.

Before anything, I want to apologize. A reader brought to my attention that I had not put on trigger warnings - a mistake that I corrected as soon as I could. I apologize if I accidentally triggered anyone. I'm sorry, I won't do that again. Check the masterpost for the warnings before proceeding and tell me if I forgot any. So, anyway. Good reading, enjoy!! :))

They're traveling to Athens. It's slower because the winds don't cooperate - but they have some time. They have to be there by August 30th, so ten days.

It's good, Annabeth thinks. It gives her time. Time to plan, to strategize. To hope a part of her best friend, the only remnant of her teenage years that is not dead or off serving the gods, is not still in the Pit.

She keeps herself occupied - between maps, research, and daily messages from Reyna and Malcolm, Annabeth has not a lot of time to ponder.

But when she does - and she does anyway, because Annabeth is a solver. Is what she does, she solves problems - but she has no idea how to fix her best friend.

Percy - Perseus, really, because this is him in full combat mode - has been awake for exactly a day and a half. Literally.

He doesn't sleep - mostly, he just patrols. It doesn't seem to affect him much. At least he is eating. Oh yes, the eating - he eats like the food is going to be taken from him at any second, and as much as he can.

She can't help but be scared - he has the same scar, at the same place. If Annabeth is a little affected by it, how is he dealing with the remainder of the son of Hermes?

Annabeth knows rationally that she can't blame him for not talking to anyone, for acting differently. But it hurts, that he won't confide in any of them, in her - not about what happened down there.

It's been a day and a half. He was in the Pit for more or less twenty days - and time in the Underworld is different. What if he was stuck there for years in his perspective? What did he see there?

These are questions that, unfortunately, only Perseus could answer. And he is deflecting. Well, at least he looks closer to crashing when they trade places at patrol - Annabeth will wait until he is ready, but she really hopes is soon.

Sometimes, when she is alone, she wishes none of this ever happened. If they were in power, maybe this wouldn't happen - it's not hubris, right? To see that they would be better than the gods?

The daughter of Athena is not alone in worrying. Most of the crew share different levels of concern - mostly prominent in Will, who saw all of Percy's scars and is torn between wanting to know how he got them, and never asking for fear of the answer.

Leo is surprised to notice that he is also very worried about the health aspect. He is not a person that generally focuses on humans - but this is different. He saw prosthetics before - Hephaestus cabin does a lot of them - and this kind of amputation? Very traumatic. People took a lot of time to adapt - Jake amputated his foot eight months ago and he is still having phantom limb pain and disassociating from it.

Okay that Perseus' new leg is a marvel of engineering that Leo's hands are itching to dismantle to see how it works - alas, Daedalus never left the blueprints of his fake body in Annabeth's laptop, he asked - but how did he deal with it in the middle of a wasteland?

Everything came full circle when the boy in question finally crashes - Nico is the first one to wake up with the screams. They aren't shrieks, nor words, just sheer screams of pure horror.

When he is out of his door, sword at hand, all the other cabins are opening too - Jason is the last to come down, being in the deck in patrol.

Perseus' door is cold. There's no other name for it - there's an aura of pure death around it, covering the entire hallway in a dreadful mood. It curls around Nico's spine - he can feel the shiver in his bones.

The one who opens it is Hazel, the one who seems least affected by the cold - it's so easy to forget that she was dead once. Perseus is immobile in the bed, his mouth open in the awful scream.

Before Will can stop him, Nico goes to wake Perseus up. He has no idea how to deal with the situation, but he cannot keep hearing this. Piper tries to hold his arm to stop him, but she is still sleep ridden.

The son of Zeus barely touches the other demigod - his fingers barely skimming Perseus' arm - and he is pinned to the wall, an ax he didn't even seem prepared to slash at him, with a tiger growling behind Perseus.

Nico suddenly feels like his true age. His whole body tires and sags, and he feels the drawn in his bones - it's only a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity. He wants to drop down - to rest and let his slumber carry his soul away.

He closes his eyes - expecting either the slash of the blade or the tiredness to take him away - but neither happens.

"STOP"

It's Piper. It works - more or less. Perseus doesn't immediately drop everything - the light just seems to return to his eyes. They are black still, but the vines of green are back, creeping towards his pupils.

"Oh. Oh shit. Shit shit shit. Nico. I... I... I'm s-sorry... Oh gods I'm so, so, so s-sorry I-... I didn't... I didn't t-think... I-... this, this wasn't s-su-su... supposed to happen! This wasn't supposed t-to c-come with me!"

Perseus worked himself into a frenzy. He is in a corner of his room now, his ax left behind, but the tiger firmly in front of his master. None of the others have noticed Nico's strength leaving him. The son of Zeus half thinks he imagined it.

"No... no. No. No, no, no. No touching. No touching. No. No touching."

Perseus is almost trembling, but he is not crying. Nico realizes that he saw Perseus cry only once - when Luke was spread on the floor of the Olympus, Annabeth's dagger buried to the hilt in his tight. He wonders if the hero ever cried for himself.

The son of Zeus - and most of their friends that took a step forward - put their hands up, take a step back. Perseus seems calmer.

They don't talk about it. Nico suspects something happened - he felt so tired. He felt eighty - his body decaying around him. But nobody mentioned it - and when they left Percy alone, it was like it was just a nightmare.

PTSD, Will called it. Anxiety after days of being hunted through hell - the trauma still fixed on his mind, the idea of being in danger every second of every day. Depending on the outcome of this war, they might all have it by the end of it, if they don't already.

But Nico knows there's more to it. He would pass it up as a figment of his imagination if Perseus touched anyone. But he doesn't - he avoids even looking at people for too long.

He tries to bring up the topic with Annabeth - the gloves, the sweaters back. She thinks that it's comfort, something to tether him into reality.

Nico doesn't believe that - he doesn't think she does either. He had his own struggles with anxiety for years, but he has no time for pushing. After that night, Perseus doesn't scream again - one has to wonder if he is even sleeping at all.

Nico wants to help. For once, correct something that he knows it's his mistake no matter how many times they deny it. It's how he finds himself in the third night hovering in Perseus' door.

This is not really a smart idea - because the other demigod notices and opens it, so tired - there are bags under his eyes, but the ax is held precariously in his hand.

"What is it, Nico?"

The correct answer would be "Sorry, didn't mean to bother you." But Nico's dumbass teenager mind stutters.

"I... I wanted to check on you. Are you okay? I... I just noticed that you seem kinda weird."

Percy is not angry or resentful - he doesn't even slam the door in his face as Nico would probably do. He is just tired, and that's a thousand times worse.

"Why... why do you care?"

"We are friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah, sure. Kind of." The "you never bothered before" goes unsaid.

It stings, but it's not a lie. Their past is turbulent - a lot of misunderstandings and mistakes on Nico's side, a lot of grudges and overreacting on Percy's. Still, they fought in a war together. They're still fighting.

"I care about you" He hopes Percy doesn't see the blatant subtext "Something happened - don't... d-don't shut me out. I did that when Bianca... died. Nothing good came out of that."

Perseus takes a deep breath - he looks exhausted to the bone. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to mention Bianca. One of his hands tremble - Nico sees that no parts of his body touch the mechanical leg, ever.

"Something happened. I fell down into hell." He must see the flinch Nico gives, and breaths out "Sorry. That was harsh. It... it wasn't your fault. It's nobody's fault."

Something in his eyes tells Nico that he does blame someone - not him, but maybe Arachne. Or the gods. Or Annabeth. Or worse, himself.

Well, that couldn't stand.

"I know" He doesn't, but that's not the moment "But you need help. I can help."

Nico makes a move to touch Perseus' arm - it's a bad idea because his whole body flinches away.

"I don't. I don't want your help."

It's uncalled for, and it hurts on Nico's pride - of course, he wouldn't need Nico's help. What did Nico ever do to him? Was his touch so unwelcomed? Well, if he thinks he can do it alone, Nico should leave him to it.

"Sure, suit yourself. I won't bother again."

Perseus sighs again when the sixteen-year-old leaves. He doesn't want to hurt Nico - gods know that he should, dammit his weak spot for cute people that would drive a knife through his back - but they should leave him alone. He is fine. He'll be fine.

Hazel is also worried - mainly for the backlash of the coming back to the natural, living world. For her, it was weeks of adaptation - to air, breathing, the sun. And Perseus was in a worse place even.

Sometimes she wonders if the Tartarus shouldn't have been her weight to carry - if the Underworld shouldn't be her place. Hazel loves the surface - Nico, Leo, and Frank, and warmth - but there's a part of her that will forever be under a sad tree in the Fields of Asphodel.

Perseus is nothing but kind - he saved her. He saved all of them - not only from danger - but from themselves. And she is too chicken to help, after listening to her brother whine about his own experience.

Her only comfort comes when she is able to cuddle with Leo - Leo, her Leo, her soon-to-be Leo. While Frank is older and her crush for him never diminished, her own for Leo only grew.

That's why, when her patrol is ending on the fourth morning and Leo emerges from the belly of the ship, covered in grease and clutching an ash-covered wrench, talking under his breath about a thing or another, she goes khaki wacky and plants one on him.

Leo flays a little - Hazel is from the 40s. She thinks maybe this is being too forward - even if in Nova Roma, this isn't uncommon behavior. Girls are able to kiss boys - it's not being a sharecrop anymore.

The boy takes a deep breath - like he can't believe this small closed mouth smooch is happening and gives her a grin.

"Hi sugar, are you rationed?"

She laughs until her belly hurts, and they smooch again - no tongue, no open mouth. Leo blushes horribly - and it's easy to see under the grease.

When this war ends, it'll be she. And Leo. And Frank. Their lives are too short to spend pining and pondering - she sees her brother every day, and that's not what she wants.

After the war, there will be no wars. There will be no quests and no killing - just peace. Heroes get to have peace - like the original Jason. The gods are not ruining this for Hazel anymore. So she walks Leo to the front of the ship, so they can watch the sunrise together.

In the afternoon of their fourth day, they fight against a mixed group of monsters - and that's the day Piper actively begins to see the changes on Perseus.

She likes him a lot - he is an amazing friend - but he has no mercy. He annihilates two-thirds of the obstacle Gaea sent for them. It's a sight to see - because he is not close to the ground. There are no skeletons, no vines, no metal, no shadow under the sun of the middle of the day.

It's just him, his ax, and a skeleton tiger. Perseus doesn't even do it cleanly - there are blood, ichor, and dust smeared all across the floor and through his clothes. He twirls the blade around, and they don't even see him as he chops up monsters left and right.

Some try to flee - he doesn't let them. Something keeps them in the ship - and Piper would bet is Perseus, for he just keeps slaughtering them. She doesn't feel bad for them - this is war. They would kill the demigods, exactly like he is doing.

Piper is... curious. She wonders if he would rip the gods apart too - if they would bleed as much as some monsters, of if they would just turn into dust. If Perseus needs to cut them in pieces and scatter them on the Pit himself.

She isn't the only one - she sees the reluctant lust in Nico's and Jason's eyes, the sheer possibilities blooming in Annabeth's eyes. She sees fear mix with interest - Piper sees everything.

She doesn't think Perseus is well, or better. He isn't telling them shit for some reason after all. You don't go to hell and get on with life. Piper doesn't trust him to not turn on them - she knows him for about a month and a half now, a third of which he was in hell - but if he is going to destroy someone, is probably Gaea. Or the gods - she isn't bothered either way.

They are all dangerous. Reality-changing, world-ending dangerous. A skilled warrior? That doesn't scare Piper. Not anymore. Not in the middle of a war.

"Huh. Can you teach me?"

Perseus gives her a feral smile. Across his cheek, there's a streak of gold - for a second, Piper wonders if he is not a god himself.

Annabeth wonders if the gods will let them survive after the war. They got too powerful, too much. Sometimes, she looks at their eyes and sees they're more god then men. Their powers accumulate - evolve. Better.

Before, she was a sharp mind. Now Annabeth feels her godly blood spurning her further and further - no longer just mind, but the body. She sees attacks before they come - she is a goddess.

And she likes it. The power coursing through her veins - the ability to control. She then swears to herself they'll be that way - forever.

The following day, they stop by an island - Perseus feels a big gathering of ghosts. It's Odysseus' palace. They go in a group to investigate: Perseus himself, Hazel for her mist, Annabeth and Will. Nico would go - but he hasn't talked to Perseus for two days now, and is mostly sulking.

Annabeth - who is as cunning as Odysseus himself once was - asks Hazel to cloak her as a beggar. She asks around - but all suitors give vague answers. Even her wordplay cannot get a single phrase out of the ghosts.

Until Perseus puts her hands on a ghost - Eurymachus is his name - and the ghost is possessed - it tells them anything. Annabeth is clocking information from it - devouring with an avid look. Her grey eyes gleam in the blueish light of the spirits.

For Will, is almost otherworldly. It's Hades and Athena. It's more - it's Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase, controlling and pushing something they never did before.

They trade looks, and their glowing hands stay entwined long after the ghost tells them that Apollo no longer controls Delphi and that Nike is lost - running free.

Victory, Perseus thinks, Victory. A goddess so vain, that she thought the tides of war depend only on her - not on Tyche, or Bia, Enyo, and Ares. So many gods of war - so many superiors - and she thought herself capable of defying them - and the demigods. For a charioteer, Nike is quite a proud little goddess, isn't she?

So they have their next goal - finding the elusive arrogant dickhead - and following travel to Athens. With Victory on their side or not.

With the glowing phantom, their disguise is blown. Perseus himself was never proficient with ghosts - but he is very proficient with his Ax, and that cut spirits very well.

They fight - but Perseus is just so tired. He just wants them all to go away. With his powers fully restored, even if the earth doesn't obey him anymore, increasingly possessed by Gaea, the shadows should.

He is fond of his shadows - they are a comforting presence, so different from the corrupted ones of Tartarus. He revels in them - Perseus is their master. As he is master of the green ghostly fire, that seems to burn the spirits away.

He hopes sincerely that they don't even get the pleasure of the Fields of Punishment. He hopes they disappear forever in the void - Perseus has no time for petty enemies anymore in this long war which has absolutely nothing to do with them.

Will is hurt in the side - a gladius - but doesn't stay like that. As they climb back to the ship, his wound closes under the fiery light of the morning sun across his fingers - magic that was supposed to help only others, and never himself.

His father disappears, and Will is getting more power. He is not the only one - Perseus fear they'll become too much like their parents, that their powers will amplify their faults and take their humanity away - but is he even human anymore?

He looks at his "leg". It's not him - he is a cyborg. There's a dead piece of metal in him. Perseus could feel the vitality around him - their sheer youth, blazing like a light to burn all the empires. He could take it all for himself. He could kill them all, grind them to dust - they wouldn't even have time to fight him.

Perseus could take it all for himself - become immortal, a parasite latching unto others - how does that make him human? How is he any better than a flea?

They decide on a group to go to Olympia after lunch - Percy, Leo, Hazel, Nico. Four is a good number - a solid number, made of people who are non-competitive. The ones who loathe themselves - isn't this fun? Maybe they'll debate who is the worst.

They divide when they get to the island - Leo and Hazel go one way, the Nico and Percy go the other - Leo is the one to engineer it, but Percy wholeheartedly approves - it's tiring to coexist with a passive-aggressive Nico. He is done with this situation.

While the couple walks, Nico and Percy stand in awkward silence, side by side. Eventually, Percy sighs - he doesn't want to cave, but they have bigger problems to work on, and he kinda misses Nico's sarcasm.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being harsh with you."

"No, you aren't."

"I am!"

"Will you let me help you? Will you let anyone help you?"

"I don't need help. I'm better."

"Then let me touch your hand."

"Go on."

"With no gloves."

"What? Why? No!"

"See? You aren't better!"

"We're in the middle of a war. I was in Tartarus a week ago."

"Promise me then. Promise me that after the war, you'll get help."

"Nico..."

"Promise me Percy. And don't... don't break this one."

It's the lowest of low blows, but Percy's acquiesces. They start talking - stiltedly. Percy still doesn't touch him. Then Nico sprouts something he'll later regret (or maybe not): Calypso is again locked up.

Nico sees now - before, when Perseus was mad, the earth trembled. With no earth to answer to him, the shadows curled around his ankles and his covered fingertips - rounding behind his ear and on the curve of his smirk.

The son of Zeus is not a fearful person - but that doesn't make him afraid. It makes him remember why he is so infatuated with Perseus - he is not only a hero - he is more. He is a rebel and a challenge - Perseus only follows his own rules. It's a bravery Nico lacks, and one that attracts him like a moth to a fire.

Perseus just asks him to repeat, and then hums when he does, stuttering over his stupid blush. It's mercy that the demigod is not looking in his direction.

"Fret not, Nico. Let Calypso enjoy her vacation. The beaches are really pretty this time of the year."

It's scary - there's no one in Percy's voice. It's like the demigod is on the brick of a really bad meltdown - but they both know they don't have time for it now. So Perseus breathes in - once, twice.

Calypso will be free, and he is not even using his winning wish for it - he already used one once. She did nothing wrong, they are the oathbreakers. Perseus should know better than to trust any oath in a river that they never put a finger on.

So he lies back on the rock. If they survive - when, because he didn't go to hell to die because of Tartarus' less impressive sister - she'll be free. And well prized for this stunt.

Leo and Hazel get back accompanied by Tempest, who, again, appears always following some big revelation - maybe the venti also serves Hazel's new mistress.

The group heads towards the ruins which are roughly twenty kilometers wide. They decide to walk through them, looking for something to pop up - the earth doesn't answer to Perseus, but that doesn't mean that he can't feel the power on it. Eventually, they head toward the Temple of Zeus where an old Nike statue used to stand.

Leo provokes the goddess to come forth by hurling insults at the Nike brand - it's his specialty, sassing up gods. Perseus is more of a shade kind of guy if he can say so himself.

The goddess' Roman and Greek side, Nike and Victoria, are at war with each other trying to decide which side will be victorious. It's ridiculous.

The goddess challenges the four to a fight to the death, with the Romans and Greeks against each other. But there are no Romans and Greeks here. Nico and Perseus lived on both sides - and even if Hazel is Roman-inclined and Leo didn't have time to meet Nova Roma, it doesn't change anything. They wouldn't fight each other.

The time to fight is long gone - they should be rallying against Gaea. But Nike is too proud to admit to a tie - to both sides of herself to have peace.

She demands them to fight in an arena and gives them four minutes to be present. To make sure that they get there she sends four metal statues after them. But instead of fighting each other, they will fight the goddess.

Nike can try and influence their minds - but in the end, with her so weak, battling against herself, it's no match for four strong-willed demigods. Perseus is so tired of gods with petty struggles in the middle of something so much bigger.

The goddess-es fight for him and Nico - what side should they be. They trade verbal blows - Senatus, Praetor, Titan War are all used as arguments.

Funny isn't it? She wasn't on his side a month ago. Perseus fell - into the depths of the abysm - and while he won - again, and again, and again - it wasn't truly a divine victory.

It was not her victory. The merit is his, only his. She didn't sweep down in her great golden wings to save him, did her? Nor will she help with a war to save herself and her family. So why should she exist at all? Why should Perseus abstain from draining her and...

Perseus clenches his fists - he can't, he won't kill Victory. That's not him. He is not a murderer. That's just the remnants of the Pit in his good-for-nothing mind.

She is horrible - but if she dies, she'll end up in Tartarus. And not even her colossal hubris deserves that.

So, they subdue her - her powers aren't enough to stop the four of them, not when Percy alone and twelve defeated her superior - Ares himself. And, when defeated, Nike concedes her blessing for the upcoming war - they just won Victory.

It's a good omen - but she does advise them that one of them shall die - and that they would need the Physician's Cure.

When they go back to the board, Annabeth and Will start researching - both of them know the name, but can't link it to anything else. They find it in the Infirmary Archives - some that Will brought for light reading. It's not very hopeful, since none of them are brewers, but Hazel is a magic user and Will is a healer - they can do this.

Daedalus laptop holds the answers to the formula: Pylosian Mint, Makhai, and the Curse of Delos. They would also need Asclepius himself - but seeing that he was condemned to Tartarus and probably still there, it's more probable they'll do this themselves.

Frank, Jason, and Annabeth go to the port of Pylos looking for the poison - obvious options for the small mission nearby water.

They walk for a while. Annabeth notices a weird tension between Frank and Jason - Frank is giving Jason pointed looks, while Jason gives Frank worried ones - that has been that way for a few days now.

She couldn't possibly know that was about not only Jason's obvious crush on Perseus - which Frank is pushing the blonde to act on - but about Frank's own feelings.

Yesterday morning, while Frank was coming to take his shift on the patrol, he saw Hazel and Leo kissing. And the worst part is that he is not only sad but longing.

He is not jealous. He wants that - he wants all. Is too much and he doesn't deserve it - Frank feels so small, compared to the demigods he is traveling with. And with such... disgusting desires. The son of Mars only feels guilty - he has to erase this from his mind.

Eventually, Annabeth helps Frank to force an old soldier ghost to give them answers - she tells them they need to go to Nestor's Cave and gives them the directions.

Frank goes in and talks to a man who hands him a bottle. The son of Mars explains that his cousins, other descendants of Pluto, have been living there for generations.

They dinner together - Jason is not very welcomed. Most people there still remember the last war - and aren't all that fond of the progeny of Poseidon and Zeus - but as they are close to the sea, at least they're civil.

Some of them recount fondly about their own days at Nova Roma - they are all clear-sighted mortals, even if the godly blood is too diluted in their veins, but these are the ones that have it closer - great-grandkids of minor gods attracted to the old blood.

There's even a daughter of a minor river deity - and a pair of twins that are direct descendants of Juventa, in her travels to visit Hercules. It's an overall paradise, in the middle of a war.

Annabeth misses her dad. And Thalia. And Luke. She misses having a family - she wonders if this war will turn her unrecognizable - or else if it already did. If they are too godly for the mortal world - if they shouldn't take their rightful place.

As a parting gift, the cousins gave Frank the small vile of poison - it's the Pylosian Mint, the first piece to their puzzle. Before leaving, they tell the trio about a chained god, in Sparta.

They go back to the ship - in the mess hall, Frank muses that the chained god might be Ares because the Spartans believed that if they chained him up the spirit of war would never leave them.

Hazel disagrees - she thinks it might be Aphrodite Areia - Sparta was the first place where the goddess was worshiped, and if the Romans have aspects, wouldn't the greeks too? It's quickly shot down - Dyonisus said they were reborn - their aspects changing with their cult, if they weren't worshipped at the same time.

Perseus thinks he heard once that Aphrodite Ourania, Aphrodite Areia, and Aphrodite Pandemos were worshipped at the same time - but doesn't mention it. It doesn't seem important - he might be wrong.

Piper herself argues that it might be one of their sons - Anteros, Himeros, Phobos, Deimos, Harmonia, Pothos, or Eros - for which Jason, Nico, and Frank flinch - they wouldn't want to meet the divine couple's offspring again.

Other possibilities are the Erotes - which seems to make Piper happy, for one of them is Hermaphroditus theyself - or one of Ares or Aphrodite other children - too many to list here.

Anyway, they set course to Sparta - for the happiness of Annabeth and the general tiredness of the group. It is like an RPG play - Nico muses - they have a ton of mini-quests. It's tiring, and it's boring - flicking like bees after something or other for a bigger purpose that never seems to come.

They go to sleep, and Piper has a vision: it's her, Annabeth, and Hazel, running through the ruins of a temple - the temple of Phobos, her half brother. There's blood on the blonde's forehead - and Piper looks like she did before.

She doesn't want to go there. It's fear - she understands it - but that's one fear she is not keen on facing. Her old short hair, the boy clothes, the adam's apple, the stubble.

But they need this - someone might die. Someone will need this. So damn her half-brother. Her mother promised her, that when this ends she'll be herself like she always wanted.

So she goes and tells the group - no one is really happy to send them to somewhere they might get hurt - especially because the last time Annabeth went on a mission on the Underground, shit happened - but the daughter of Athena starts to list all of their mistakes and they have no real say in what the girls do, so off they go, into Sparta.

The six boys stay behind - but no one is slacking. Will ropes Frank into helping to research for anything they might have on the Physician's Cure; Leo finally convinces Perseus to have a look at his leg - even if just to see how much time before Perseus has to go to the Phlegethon to get more fuel; and Nico and Jason are stuck in patrol together.

Which is no good - they haven't really talked since the Cupid episode, and the last few days, the worry about Perseus and the small missions clouded everyone's personal turmoils. But now that the son of Hades is somehow adapting, they have time.

And time is a dangerous thing. Before the two weren't alone in the ship - there was always one on the mission, one otherwise occupied. Leo - and probably Frank and Piper - have been running interference.

Jason had no courage to approach Perseus, as Nico did. Nico knows that - it's in the way that Perseus treats Jason, just like he does Frank - pretending that the Pit never happened.

It's impossible to do this with Leo, who looks at his leg and his medical history and see far more than the others. Or Annabeth, Will, and Hazel, who he is closer to. Or Piper, who just seems to know everything. And Nico, who confronted him face to face.

Jason, however, only knows him one-sided - Perseus doesn't know him. They are friends, and before all this happened, they seemed to spend more and more time together. But they aren't close - the camaraderie didn't have enough time to develop into the trust.

That's why is so weird - he knows what the blonde is going through - the wish to be closer, to be able to at least help in any indirect way, but unable to gleam more about the situation. The information didn't come so easy in real life as it does in dreams.

They don't talk anymore, him and Jason. They just sit in silence or walk around their rounds in opposite directions. Eventually, the son of the sea god can't help it.

"How is he?"

Nico has the urge to answer "Wouldn't you like to know?", but that's petty and unnecessary. Jason isn't a bad person. It's just too easy to love Perseus sometimes.

"Better, I think. After the war, he'll be."

It's more for their sake than the truth. They try to talk again, stilted and trivial. Nico feels awkward - he misses their natural friendship. It won't stop because of a mutual crush - but they need to work for it.

So he settles for this trying. It's bad, and it's mostly both of them skirting around topics, their upbringings making it difficult - both have the emotional development of teaspoons. But they're trying, and it's okay.

Meanwhile, the girls are descending the Temple of Phobos, which is under a blazing hill. Hazel goes in front - manipulating the mist to stop the fire and looking for traps - and Piper and Annabeth follow the hike, talking quietly to fulfill the silence.

"What are you hoping to do, after this?"

"I don't know. Spend time with my dad. Fight for trans rights. Learn how to use more weapons. You?"

"I want to reshape the world - to build something. Maybe a city for the greeks. Maybe go into politics - Nova Roma looked directly out of my dreams."

"I do like politics - I'm more on the activist side, though."

"I was all for the Nobel Woman Initiative last year - there were two of my half-sisters there. You know, I did think it would be cool for schools to take this more seriously - I did my freshman year the same school as Percy, and like, barely any girls at the honor roll - even though most PA classes were brimming with them."

"I'm guessing traditional boarding school - I went to a lot of those, y'know. I was finishing my sophomore year before this mess, taking three AP classes. Stretched out like hell."

"I was taking five - because crazy over-achievers Perseus and Rachel took four, and I couldn't decide on the options. I was overworking for a while, but I did manage better than them - I think Rachel was high every time we visited her on the St. Claire's Academy, but maybe it was just the sheer amount of coffee and Redbull."

They keep on talking. It's the first time Annabeth talks to the daughter of Aphrodite and doesn't think she is an airhead. Piper is a conversationalist - exactly the type of friend she lacks, someone that can keep up with her streams of random thoughts.

Maybe they could have a girl's night with Rachel when they go back to camp. Maybe invite Hazel, and even Reyna too - Annabeth has never had one of those, stereotypical girly things. But maybe it could be cool.

It serves as a good distraction - the longer they stay on the temple, the worse it gets. Annabeth feels crawling in her skin and a sucking - a sucking that she remembers coming from the Pit, taking her in like if she was trash.

Hazel feels cold - her skin flickers. Some moments, she can't touch anymore. It's like being dead again - the rustle of the leaves in the trees of the Asphodel Fields ring in her ears as she walks through the marble halls.

For Piper, it's her nightmare vision all over again. It's like she never came out, never took the estrogen. There are mirrors everywhere she looks - there's no escaping the image that she hates the most - Piper, the boy.

It's not that "Piper, the boy" is ugly. He is just not her - that's not her body, that's not her face, that's not her. Her gender dysphoria is rising high in the back of her mind.

They keep going into the temple anyway - it's not easy to find the "chained god". They find instead Mimas - the giant supposed to kill Hephaestus, and, apparently, Ares - now that his stupid brother Damasen is dead.

Annabeth can't connect the dots yet, but the way the giant talks about Damasen helping an enemy - in the end, it all ties up to Perseus. What doesn't, these days? She is just so frustrated about the lack of information - and her new powers of extracting stuff won't work on a giant, she's pretty sure.

The titan is the opposite of Hephaestus - where the man is silent and intelligent, he is brute force and loud voices. He remembers them of Ares - Hazel even notices that he shares features with Mars Ultor.

To fight a god meant to fight intelligence, they must be emotional - Aphrodite would be excellent for this quest. But Hazel herself takes the lead - her magic is not mind-based - while Piper follows her routine of never being where is expected of her.

But none of the three are in their best shape - fear, the mental manipulation, drains more of them than the actual physical effort. Hazel is able to drive her broadsword across the god's shoulder - but the backlash of him shaking her off throws her towards the wall.

Annabeth - the strongest of the two remainings, physically at least - hoist the younger girl over her shoulders and starts to run. Around here, there's a faint grey-ish light - her mother's blessing shining through her skin.

He nearly strikes the vulnerable Annabeth with her extra weight, managing to hit her in the thigh. Piper, however, is quicker - love always is - and stabs him in the calf.

"You think that would hurt me? Silly little thing, just like your mother - I fought against two gods in the last war - you are nothing, little gallus puella!"

Piper doesn't get Latin, but she knows enough to think that's a trans-related insult. This is not her first rodeo - not even in her old boy's body - but it stills fill her with rage she cannot name.

"You should be more worried about how the makhai will castrate you, instead of caring about what's inside my shorts!"

The giant laughs - but there are doubts in his voice. The makhai hasn't been seen in centuries - but it all connects. It's not Ares or his children - it's the spirits of war that the Spartans thought to be pieces of Ares himself.

Piper takes advantage of his distraction and charges at him with her blade, causing the giant to stumble backward into a wall and destabilize the temple.

"You're worst than that godling that was manipulating my weak, useless brothers - that one lost a leg. I wonder how many limbs I can chop off you before offering you to Mother Gaea."

That is enough to incite Annabeth's rage. She puts Hazel carefully on the floor and attacks He barely managed to deflect her attack, and as he reaches out to grab the prone girl in the ground, Piper slices off Mimas' arm and hair off.

While Piper is keeping Mimas occupied, Annabeth released the makhai from the statue of Ares. The makhai follow the girls - they couldn't forget the smell of Aphrodite Areia and Pallas Athena, not even in a thousand years. They swarm Mimas, and as he staggers off-balance, both of them deliver the final blow by stabbing the giant in his gut.

Mimas topples face-first into the nearest doorway and disintegrated into ash when the stone face of Phobos falls onto him.

The god appears only to deliver the final blow, but doesn't help at all. He just laughs at their predicament and leaves them to find their way off this maze of terrors.

It trembles over them. Hazel is still unconscious - there's a trickle of blood running through the side of her face. Something is slowing down Annabeth - she shivers every time they take a step. So it comes to Piper to try and guide them through the falling building.

She is still a boy - and she hates it - but maybe it's just an illusion, and when they get out of here, she'll get her two-year estrogen body back.

Piper guides them out, with the makhai in tow. It doesn't feel like a victory - not when, even though she crossed the border of the hill, she keeps her boy's body.

Climbing back on the ship, she hides herself in her room. She - he, because that's a he body, and a he person, and she is not a he but when she looks in the mirror, he looks back.

Piper works herself into a panic attack alone in her room - and it's actually Annabeth that comes to check on her.

"Tell me five things you can see, Piper"

Annabeth's golden tresses. A blue sweater that is probably Percy's and got mixed in the laundry. One of Leo's screws that are everywhere he goes. A crown of flowers Katie Bell did for her. Malcolm's favorite book sitting at her nightstand.

"Good. Four things you can touch."

A calloused hand beneath hers. The soft jeans Annabeth is using. The cold hardwood floors. The wall against her back.

"You're doing amazing. Now three things you can hear."

The ship's engine rumbling beneath them. Annabeth's voice. Nico's brooding rock music coming from his room.

"Almost done. Two things you can smell."

Annabeth's lavender cologne mixed with the grime and sweat of their taxing day. The salty smell of the ocean.

"One thing you can taste."

Her mouth on Annabeth's. It's Piper who starts it - she is just so overwhelmed by Annabeth's everything, still worked up about the anxiety attack she just had, and they are so close.

The daughter of Athena is surprised and pushes back - she sits side by side with Piper, holding her wrist so she can't flee.

"Piper, I... I didn't mean to pass the... wrong... signs. I don't like girls. And boy body or not, you're still a girl."

It's the best and the worst let down of Piper's life. She nods - she is the daughter of Aphrodite. She should've known better. Annabeth is in love with Perseus - for years now.

"We can still be friends, right?"

Piper nods - Annabeth thinks it's ironic. It's the same interaction she had with Perseus - and she knows that, deep down, being friends is not enough, how much this rejection is just as bad as any other.

But she wants to keep Piper in her life. Is unfair - but there's something guiltily pleasurable about having someone that likes you, to know that you're not undesirable.

It's selfish, but Annabeth never claimed to be altruistic.

Up in the deck, Frank and Jason are receiving news of Reyna. She says she and Malcolm were attacked by Lycaon and his pack - and that Malcolm had a vision about Orion, the giant meant to oppose the twin gods, heading towards the Hunters and the Amazons.

With Apollo and Artemis missing, it comes to them to help. Jason thinks they could try and help if they cross paths, but that they should inform them by IM and go on their way - they have little time to dawdle, even if they're using Malcolm's mother transport company to carry the giant statue.

They are able to rest for the remainder of the day - it's more or less eighteen hours before Reyna sends the next message - they met the hunters and the Amazon in the Lisbon's Harbor and fought Orion, but no god came to give him the final blow.

So Reyna and Hylla had to run - the statue was already shipped off to America, and nymphs were helping them to get to the Long Island Bay within the next two days. Malcolm wasn't so lucky.

Orion smashed Malcolm against a boulder, breaking his arm and a leg. As they fled, Malcolm told them to leave him behind - he would stall the giant for a little while.

With most Amazons and Hunters out of commission or dead, they had no other choice. The last thing Reyna saw was Orion raising Malcolm above his head, and the sickening crunch of it breaking against the sea rocks.

Will is the one on patrol - and the one who has to relay the news to Annabeth. He doesn't want to wake her, but it's her right to know - so he goes and wakes Perseus too, to help deliver the blow.

"Annie, I... We... We have bad news."

Annabeth screams - that was her big brother, almost her father. He taught her how to hold a shield and how to swim - he was her only family left on Camp.

It's unfair. That shouldn't be his battles anymore - he is twenty! She screams and she throws a statue of her mother - and that damned coin - into the wall. Then Annabeth sobs on Perseus' shirt.

"It's her fault Percy, all her fault if she didn't send us in this goose chase if she didn't choose Malcolm..."

Will solves to tell the others in the morning - it's late, and most of them had little to no sleep. He goes back on deck, but there's a storm brewing in the ocean - and it's not a natural one. It's some kind of deity - and that's not a good moment.

He goes to Perseus - he is still awake, asleep Annabeth with tear tracks in her cheeks and scrapped knuckles in his arms, and tells him about the situation - Will is not that good of a fighter.

"I'll deal with it. Stay with her. I'll be back shortly."

Will should be alarmed - with Perseus more recent behavior, the way he always hated the gods' trivial troubles, should he really be sending him upstairs, with an ax, a tiger, and a mad expression into his eyes? Maybe not, but he won't stop it. The deity chooses their own fate - even Will is done with their willful moods, compromising a much more important journey in their own name.

Let whoever it is burn - The son of Apollo covers the sleeping girl's ears softly. She doesn't need this kind of stress now.

The storm stops, but the screams in the deck don't - they are like music to his ears.

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nothingbutfangirlsmut · 4 years

Text

The Maze Trials: A Gally Fanfiction

Pairing: Gally x Emi(OC)

Summary: Emi, first girl the Glade has seen. Tougher than she looks and more than ready to prove it. Since day one her and Gally have been at each other's throats. Fighting constantly and not just with their words.

(Gally fanfiction which will include smut. It also has an actual story line. Think of it as an AU to the original Maze Runner. It'll mostly follow the main story line with some changes. Mostly focusing on Emi and Gally and their relationship.)

Chapter Nineteen

I don't know exactly how long I was hiding in my room. I had lost track of time as I tucked myself into the bed without bothering to put my clothes back on. It was the sudden knock on my door that finally pulled me away from my thoughts. Gally popped his head in slowly.

"Emi? Can I come in?" He asked gently.

"Yea"

I heard him close the door then walk over to the bed. I scooted backwards so he could sit down on the edge. He stayed silent for a few minutes.

"What's going on?" He asked quietly.

I sighed as I sat up letting the blanket fall off me. Gally noticed my lack of clothing instantly.

"The dream I was trying to tell you about before the box interrupted me. It was about this boy who I called my twin brother. I hadn't seen that boy anywhere in the Glade. It was him Gally." I said quietly hoping Gally wouldn't think I was crazy.

"Who?" His eyebrows scrunched together.

"The greenie, he's the boy from my dream. The one I called my twin brother." I explained.

"That's impossible. You've never even seen him before." Gally grumbled.

"I know! That's what I don't understand. I just know it's definitely him." I turned my head away from my boyfriend.

"We will figure this out Em. Come on, get dressed we have work to do." Gally said only coming off a little tense.

I did as he said climbing out of bed and throwing my clothes back on. I followed him out of the homestead and back into the Glade. We immediately got started on helping the others unload the box. While carrying a few things back toward the homestead I saw Chuck and the greenie walking towards the entrance to the maze. They were a few feet from the opening when Ben and Minho came jogging back inside. I could see the two runners say something to the other two before continuing on to their private hut. The greenie kept walking closer to the opening which made me instantly concerned. The door was about to close. I nudged Gally with my arm and nodded to them.

Gally dropped what was in his hands and took off running towards them. I quickly did the same dropping my load to the ground then running as fast as I could behind Gally. I watched ahead of me as Gally harshly shoved the greenie to the ground.

"We gotta stop meeting like this greenie." Gally said to him.

"Get off!" The greenie shouted.

This caused a small ruckus and had all the other gladers running towards them.

"Alright, calm, calm, calm. Relax." Gally said holding his arms out.

The greenie jumped back up to his feet. He turned between Gally and the rest of us.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" He questioned in disbelief.

"Just calm down alright?" Newt said running over to him.

"No, I can't. Why won't you tell me what's out there?" The greenie questioned.

"Just trying to protect you man." Alby said sternly.

"It's for your own good." Newt added.

I was stuck staring at the greenie. My brain going back to my dream. He looked exactly the same only older. There was no doubt that this is Thomas. My brother. At least according to the dream.

"You can't keep me here!" The greenie shouted.

"We can't let you leave." Alby said in his authoritative voice.

"Why not?" The greenie questioned harshly.

As if perfectly on cue the sounds from the maze began. The shifting walls in the distance. The harsh and fast wind pushing into the maze as the doors to the maze began to close. Thomas turned around already looking like he had seen the most awful thing. He faced the entrance to the maze as the wind hit him. The doors began to close slowly as he watched in complete amazement and fear. As soon as they closed tight Gally stepped closer to him.

"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave." He said harshly then walked away.

I took one last look at the greenie then jogged to catch up with Gally. We silently gathered what we had thrown on the ground then continued towards the homestead. He was quiet the rest of the time we were working. He only spoke to bark orders at someone.

We had a little bit of time to spare after unloading the box. I pulled Gally into the homestead. I needed to make sure he's okay. He seemed tense. I closed my bedroom door behind us then pushed him to sit on the bed. He didn't argue but also didn't say a word. He just watched as I walked over to him and climbed on his lap to straddle him. I cupped his face in my hands.

"What has you so tense baby?" I asked softly.

"Nothing" he said simply.

I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness. I leaned forward capturing his lips with mine. When he attempted to deepen the kiss I pulled away to nip and kiss along his jawline. I heard a heavy breath come from him making me smile.

"Please tell me baby." I whispered against his neck.

I nipped at the skin below his ear earning a small moan to escape him.

"The greenie" He said in a deeper voice obviously enjoying my assault on his neck.

"What about him?" I asked as I moved to look at him.

My fingers played with the top of his shirt. My nails skimming under the fabric to drag across his skin. His eyes fluttered closed as he focused on what I was doing.

"My girlfriend is dreaming about the damn shank then he thinks he can just do whatever he wants." Gally grumbled threw clenched teeth.

I pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the floor. I stood up long enough to toss my shirt and pants to the floor. In that time Gally had rid himself of his pants as well then laid on the bed. I climbed back on him to straddle him once again. I leaned closer to him capturing his lips once more. His hands grabbed my hips holding on tightly. I broke the kiss to lean away from him. My nails scratching at the skin of his chest.

"If you wanna go with my dream he's my brother so absolutely no worries there." I whispered as I drug my nails down his chest slowly.

I continued down his stomach to the hem of his boxers. He seemed to forget about his worries which was exactly what I wanted him to do. There was no reason for him to be so upset or tense over the greenie.

I moved off of him so I could pull his boxers off and toss them to the floor. His dick was eagerly standing at attention. I smiled knowing I could easily calm his tense mind. I slowly ran my hands up his legs pulling my body slowly behind them until he could feel my hot breath against where he wanted me most.

I glanced up to him to see him eagerly watching me. He had himself propped up on his elbows so he could watch what I was doing. I kept my eyes locked with his as I licked from the bottom of his shaft to his tip. I used my tongue to tease at his tip just licking here and there. His eyes fluttered closed as he let himself fall back on the bed. I continued to tease him only licking around him. His hand tangled into my hair as he grabbed a handful. He pull my head up to look at him.

"Em, please don't tease me." He said in almost a growl.

That's exactly what I wanted him to do. Beg. I took him into my mouth when he let go of my hair. I made sure to take him all. He let out a breathy groan as his tip hit the back of my throat. His hands grabbed my head pulling it back slightly then holding it in place. I knew what he was doing and I was more than okay with letting him work out his tenseness.

He growled as he shoved himself deep into my mouth. His grunts quickly filled the room as he bucked his hips upwards to fuck my mouth. I kept my eyes on his face as I aloud him to do as he pleased to me. His eyes were closed tight. His mouth hung open in a silent moan. He truly was incredibly handsome even when he was doing such a crud act to me.

I knew he was close as his hips slowed but kept their force. I pushed him back into the bed as I took over once again. I used both my hand and mouth to work him. I wanted to make him feel good. I needed to make him feel good.

"Fuck baby" He growled.

I sped up my movements until he tensed letting out a long, deep groan. He came into my mouth as I continued to pump him with my hand. Once he finished I swallowed back all he had given then leaned back up.

"Feel better now?" I asked with a cocky smirk.

He nodded as he laid there trying to catch his breath. I climbed off the bed then grabbed his clothes. I tossed them to him then got myself dressed.

"Come on handsome, we have a bonfire to set up for." I chuckled as I watched him.

His eyes were half closed as he slowly dressed himself. I leaned towards him so close our noses were touching.

"Don't worry, I'm not done with you yet. I plan to finish you off after the bonfire." I said quietly then pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

—

#nothingbutfangirlsmut #the maze trials #the maze runner #gally x reader #gally imagine #gally smut #gally #tmr gally #original character

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nicolewoo · 4 years

Text

All Along Part 2

Pairing: Joe Anaoi X Reader, Roman Reigns X Reader

Warning: Cursing and explicit sex. SMUT SMUT SMUT.

I woke up to the realization that I was curled up on Joe's chest again. I breathed in his scent and appreciated the feel of his arms around me. I looked up to see that he was still asleep. The movie we'd been watching last night was over, and the TV screen was on the menu page. I was going to lay just like this for as long as possible. I placed a kiss on his chest and ran my hand over his arm tracing his tattoo.

“Mmmmm” He moaned. I felt his head shift and looked up to see him looking at me. The sweetest smile brightened his face. “Hey. Looks like we fell asleep.” He ran his hand up and down my back.

“Looks like it.” I answered laying my head back down onto his shoulder. “How did you sleep?” I asked.

“Baby, I always sleep well when you're here.” He kissed my forehead, running his fingers through my hair.

My alarm went off, jarring us from our snuggling bliss. Joe moaned as I reached to grab my phone and turn the beeping off. “I don't want to get up,” he sighed. I opened the calendar on my phone and began reviewing my schedule for the day. Joe peeked down at my phone and said, “What time is our flight?”

“10 am.” I said. “We should get up and get ready.” I smiled up at him.

He turned me so my back was to the mattress and he shimmied down so he was on top of me, face to face. “Can't we just play hooky?” He nuzzled my neck and I felt him begin to get hard. If only he knew how wet he made me, he'd never get out of bed..... I wouldn't either.

We hadn't had sex yet. We'd only declared our feelings two days ago, but knowing each other as well as we did, waiting to be together was so difficult. It felt like we were ready, but were holding off out of some archaic morality system.

Now, laying in his bed beside him, sleeping next to him as I had both nights since Thanksgiving, feeling him nuzzle my neck, I KNEW I was ready. Maybe it was a good thing that we had to catch a flight in a couple of hours.

“I wish.” I said as I played with his hair.

He pulled away from my neck and looked in my eyes, his hand running under my shirt and skimming my stomach lightly. “Stay with me tonight.” He said impulsively.

“What?” I was shocked at how certain he sounded. “We're going to be in a hotel full of co-workers.”

He smiled slightly, “And?” he quirked an eyebrow. “Stay with me.” He pleaded. “I don't care who knows or what they say.” He was so certain it was hard to argue with him, so I nodded yes. He kissed me sweetly, and his hand began to brush against my stomach again. As he slid his tongue in my mouth, his hand slowly ventured down slipping inside my shorts. It took every bit of willpower I had to grab his wrist and stop him. He pulled back and looked into my eyes.

“We have a plane to catch.” I gently reminded him, and he lowered his head to rest in my neck.

“It's getting harder and harder to stop myself.” He admitted.

I grunted in frustration, “Here too.” I admitted.

I took a deep breath. “Ok, let's get out of bed before we start something we don't have time for.” With a quick kiss to my lips, he slid out of the bed, holding his hand out to help me up. Joe showered in his room while I used the shower in the guest room. When I returned to his room to start putting everything back in my suitcase, Joe came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel. I gasped at the view.

“Shit, baby girl. I didn't know you were in here, he quickly turned to go, but not before I saw the tent in his towel.

“Fuck.” I whispered to myself as I turned away.

“Could you... um.... Can you bring me some pants?” He called out. I knew where he kept everything and I quickly got into his dresser to grab a pair of boxers and pants.

“Which pants?” I asked looking at the array.

“The jeans that are on top please.” He said. I grabbed them and went to the bathroom to hand them to him. “I was never shy in front of you before.” He admitted, and I realized he was right. I often saw him changing or in a towel in his locker room. Now though, it was so different.

I just chuckled and went back to packing, trying desperately to forget what I'd just seen.

“Did I see The Bump on your schedule?” Joe called out from the bathroom quickly changing the subject.

“I'm meeting with the producer today. I'm a guest on next week's show.” I saw him come out of the bathroom, still incredibly sexy with wet hair and no shirt.

“That's awesome!” he said as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. “You've been kicking ass and taking names since you got to Smackdown.” He kissed my shoulder softly.

“Joe?” I asked, and he answered with a questioning hmmm. “Baby,” Fuck! How could I say this? “If you keep touching me......” I trailed off, but he knew.

He pulled his arms away from me and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I understand.” He said, but he didn't move away from me. Instead, he kept his body pressed against mine. His voice was husky with lust “Tonight, baby girl.” His voice resonated in my body and I felt my pussy clench in desire. I had to take a deep breath this time. He moved away from me and calmly said, “Finish packing. We're running out of time.”

“Ugh! That's not fair!” I complained, and turned to see a shit eating grin on his face.

“It might not be fair, but it's fun.” He teased, and I threw a sock at him.

He reached into his dresser to grab a shirt and slid it on his body, covering his incredible chest. “Tonight?” I asked.

He stopped what he was doing and came over to wrap his arms around me, “If you're ready.” He looked into my eyes. “I'm ready.”

I couldn't help the giant smile on my face. “I've been ready.” I said and he smiled too.

“Let's finish packing and get to the airport.”

=================================

The day DRAGGED. Everything seemed twice as hard as it should have been.... First a plane delay.... then a mix up with our room reservation.... the whole day was difficult. I just wanted it to be tonight. I wanted to be with Joe so bad, and it was all I could think about.

After losing my match, which I really didn't care about today, I showered, then waited in Joe's locker room until his match. As I went to the common area to watch the match on the TV, Becky wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “How are things going?” I knew she was asking about Joe.

“Everything is perfect.” I said, but she quirked an eyebrow.

“If everyt'ing is so perfect, why are you all tense?”

“Tonight.” was all I said.

“Tonight?” She questioned.

“Tonight's the night.” She didn't understand. “Becks, tonight is THE night.”

Realization dawned on her and she looked at me in surprise. “You guys still haven't....?” I shook my head no. “Holy shit girl! No wonder ya look like yur gonna snap on someone.” She giggled a bit which caught the attention of others in the room. I pressed my finger to my lips to tell her to keep the information quiet, and she patted my shoulder in understanding. I leaned my head back onto her shoulder. “It's gonna be great.” She said to me.

================================

“Let's go to the gorilla,” she suggested when the match was almost over. I hadn't pried my eyes off the screen through the entire match. We headed over just as his music hit. He'd won the match.

AJ styles came through the curtain first. Everyone was congratulating him on such a great match. Joe took a few extra minutes to ham it up for the crowd before he came back. Once in the gorilla, he and AJ congratulated each other on a great match, and Paul Levesque joined them for hugs and congrats. As the show ended, everyone in the room started milling around.

Joe was talking to Paul, so Becks and I chatted while we waited. I noticed Joe peaking up at me, and I smiled softly at him. Then again and again. He was having trouble paying attention to his conversation.

“Get a room,” Becks said quietly to me.

“We have one,” I whispered back, “and as soon as he's done talking to Paul, we can head there.”

Paul finally looked up to see where Joe's attention was. He looked confused when he saw me. He knew Joe and I were best friends, and it wasn't uncommon to see me waiting in the gorilla. My guess is that he was wondering why Joe was distracted by me this time. Either way, Joe focused solely on Paul after that. When their business was done, Joe marched over to me, took my hand and dragged me to his locker room without even a word.

I took a seat on a bench while he showered trying to block out the urge I had to strip down to nothing and join him. Before I could I even imagine what would happen in there, he was out, and he was ready to go a minute later. He beckoned me to him and we left. He didn't even care who saw us. Yeah, it was normal for us to hold hands, but not for him to be dragging me out like this. I saw a couple of people take second looks at us.

“Are you hungry?” He finally spoke once we got in the car.

“Yes.”

“Can we order room service or is there something special you want?” He asked, and I agreed to room service. Once in the hotel, we stopped by the front desk and ordered dinner. Joe left specific instructions to have the meal delivered to our suite's living room, but not to bother us. He tipped there at the front desk.

“What was that about?” I asked about the special instructions as we got I the elevator

Joe walked over to me, placing a hand on the wall on each side of me. “I don't want to worry about having to wait because of room service.” He looked in my eyes and I reached up to kiss him.

“You think of everything, don't you?” I teased.

“Well...” Joe looked shy again, “There's one thing we haven't talked about. Birth control.” He looked down to me, grabbing my chin in his fingers. “I brought condoms, but I'm pretty sure you're on the pill?” He was right. One of the benefits of working for WWE was that we were tested for STD's when we were drug tested; which was frequently, so we didn't have to worry about that.

“I am.” I answered; then added “But we can use a condom if you want.”

He chuckled down at me, “No baby girl, I trust you to take the pill.” He pressed his lips lightly to mine, starting a fire inside of me, but it was interrupted by the elevator stopping.

I was getting excited and just a bit nervous. What was going to happen? Was this going to be awkward? I began overthinking every possible scenario of how this was going to start. I shouldn't have worried though, because once we were in the room, Joe took my face in his hands and stared deep into my eyes. He slowly leaned down and gave me a gentle, sweet kiss. Instantly, all of my nervousness was gone. I was with my best friend, and this is what we were meant to be. I knew it. He knew it.

He guided me to the bedroom, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a few candles scattered around the room lighting everything in a soft glow. Joe turned to see the happy look on my face and shyly said, “I wanted to make tonight special.”

“Thank you,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him deeply. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, kissing me back. I began to guide us to the bed, and I felt a smile cross his lips. When I felt the mattress against my legs, I stopped and laid down on the bed.

“Sit up,” He said, and leaned over to kiss me, his hands slipping under my shirt and running over my skin. I moaned at the gentleness of the move. He lifted my shirt up and over my head and removed his own shirt. His eyes took in my form as he smiled down at me. “I've thought of this so many times,” He said as he laid next to me and ran his hand over my stomach again.

“Me too.” I said as I pulled him closer for a kiss. I moved to start kissing his neck, and he moaned as I gently sucked a spot for a moment. He pressed his body against mine, and I reveled in the feel of his skin against mine, but it wasn't enough. I needed more, and he sensed it.

Slipping his hand behind me, he undid my bra and discarded it onto the floor. He leaned up for a second to survey my breasts and smiled in pleasure. He took a nipple into his mouth, his tongue lathing it quickly, causing me to arch my back and press closer to him. I felt a contented hum from him, and it vibrated my nipple wonderfully.

I reached and grabbed for anything I could hold onto finding only his shoulders as he continued to tease my nipple. I could feel him hard as a rock inside his jeans as he pressed against me. I was having trouble concentrating on anything except the pleasure his mouth was giving me, but I managed to reach between us and undo his button. He pulled away and looked into my eyes as he took off his jeans and then mine. I pulled my underwear off which prompted him to also.

The view of his thick member being freed caused me to inhale sharply, and I reached to take him in my hands, causing him to moan and lean his head back as I stroked him. His hand began to slide slowly up my inner thigh, sending pangs of need straight to my core. I released his penis and wrapped a leg around his waist trying to pull him closer to me.

“I need you,” I begged, and he moaned back at me.

“There's so much I want to do with you.” He whispered to me.

“Later.” I whispered back. “Right now I NEED you, baby.”

He looked down at me, giving up his plans and slowly sliding into me, causing us both to moan in relief. It felt so right having him inside me. He kissed me softly and began to slide in and out of me slowly, tenderly. My hands grabbed onto his arms and explored his muscles as I reveled in the feel of him filling me. He moaned again and I saw frustration in his eyes as he tried to keep a slow pace, so I wrapped my legs tighter around him.

He pressed his forehead against mine. “Baby girl? Tell me what you need.”

My voice was louder than I meant it to be as I answered, “I need to cum.” He didn't need to hear any more. He pulled out of me and replaced his dick with two fingers causing me to cry out in sadness. He pumped in and out of me a few times before stilling his fingers deep inside me and curling up to brush my gspot. It was exquisite pleasure, and I lost all control of my body as he brought me to my orgasm, watching my face as I came.

He kissed me deeply until he was sure my orgasm was over. “You look so beautiful when you cum.” He smiled down at me, and I felt a hint of shyness, but this was Joe. This was my best friend, and we were taking this journey into a new phase of our relationship together.

“Come here,” I said as I pulled him back on top of me. He immediately slid back into me and started a steady pace. My gasps and moans spurred him on. He grabbed my legs and pulled them over his shoulders, looking down at me lustfully.

I screamed his name as he began pounding into me unabashedly. “That's it baby girl. Give me everything you've got.” He slid his hands between us and began rubbing my clit. I exploded around him almost instantly. My walls squeezing him tight and he lost control. He began rutting into me wildly, nearing his own orgasm. He pounded harder and harder, faster and faster until he lost himself inside of me. He exploded with a wild groan and stilled inside me, releasing my legs, laying on top of me and burying his head in my hair.

I ran my hands over his back as he caught his breath. He rolled beside me, and I turned to face him. We stared at each other as we recovered, smiles on both of our faces. He reached up and put his hand on my cheek. “That was amazing, baby.” He said, and I moaned in agreement.

After a few minutes, he whispered, “Are you hungry ?”

I hadn't heard the food arrive. “Is it here?”

He chuckled, “Yeah. You were busy calling my name when it got here.” I blushed and groaned at that. “Go get cleaned up, baby girl. I'll get the food.” He laughed.

We had a picnic that night right there on our bed. The food was fantastic, but nothing could live up to the feelings I had for Joe. We laughed. We joked. We ate. We kissed. We cuddled. We loved.

#Joe anaoi Roman Reigs

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caxsthetic · 3 years

Text

SECLUDED BOOTH — miya osamu

Type: Standalone Movie (One-Shot Fiction)

Cast: Miya Osamu

Storyline: There was this one booth inside a twenty-four hour diner, secluded from prying eyes, yet people knew who owned the seats. It used to be you who sat there with face lit with joy. With his arm draped around your shoulder and lingering kisses on your forehead. Yeah, used to be.

Genre: Drama, Slice of Life

“One more, please.”

There was disapproval all over her face as you pushed the empty glass of beer towards her. Nagisa was a waitress in this diner that had become your second home, the place that was introduced to you by the one who owned your heart.

The place that even now that he was not yours anymore, still held a special place in your heart.

“That was your second glass, (Y/n).” She let out an exasperated sigh, one that you answered with a simple shrug since you just wanted to forget. After all, you couldn’t trust yourself when you were sober, everything was too much to handle even though it had been months since you broke things off with him.

“Come on, you know I can handle it. Why are you serious anyway?” You chuckled, trying to ease the tension that of course was swatted away by her in an instant. But even though she didn’t like the fact that her friend used alcohol to lessen the pain, she actually knew when too much was too much.

She filled the glass once again, slamming it lightly right in front of you as a warning. Her orbs pierced into your eyes, trying to intimidate you.

“This is the last glass.”

“Why, thank you.”

You raised the glass as if to clink a cheer and smiled, gulping it down your throat like it was the first drink that you drank today. From behind the glass, you could see how she shook your head, yet decided to stay still in her place to keep an eye on you.

Before, she didn’t have to worry that you would somehow drink too much beer. For years, you always came here with someone’s arms wrapped around your waist, dark grey eyes never leaving your body as if you were the only person that mattered in this universe.

For years you had someone that would be there, telling you to stop drinking when you started to show any sign of drunkenness. For years that same person always made sure that you ate well, enjoying the time that you spent with him in this very same diner, both sitting down at the corner booth that was secluded from prying eyes.

And now, without someone else keeping their eyes on you, she was afraid that something would happen.

That somehow if she just averted her gaze for a second, she wouldn’t see you again.

The tingling and familiar laughter could be heard as other patrons came in, one that somehow made you straighten your back for those laughs was the same one that always accompanied you for years.

Your pupils dilated in horror, yet you tried to swallow down the pain for every single gulp that you took. Nagisa eyeing you with concern written all over her face, one that suddenly turned into anger when another laugh came from another direction. The unfamiliar laugh — a laugh that replaced yours.

That was a sign for you to put down your glass. Afraid that in a few seconds, you would tremble all over your body and let it crash to the table, making a ruckus. You were glad when a couple of laughs walked past you, indicating that neither of them recognised your rigid body sitting on the stool's bar.

Nagisa hissed and cursing under her breath, ready to mess up whatever they were ordering.

“That motherfucker I swear—”

“It’s alright.” You swallowed a huge lump, biting your lip as you tried not to let any tears spill from your eyes as the aching feelings started to build up. “I am not going to be here for a long time anyway.”

The air was so thick as you tried not to move around too much, didn’t wanna show how nervous you were. His calloused fingers skimming through the paper as brown orbs read the passages again and again. Sometimes you could even see him raise his eyebrow, forehead scrunched for a millisecond.

"Why?"

It was just a simple question, but you didn't think this through. You already put down the reason why, the professional reason, of course. But seven years he had you under his wing, he could read whatever occurred inside your mind, he knew a lot of things about the woman who had been there for him from the start.

And a resignation paper was something that he never thought he would receive from you.

"I already wrote it there, Kita-san. I—"

"No, the truth."

He let out a sigh, setting down his reading glasses on the table as he waited for you to answer. Right now, he even asked himself why your resignation bothered him so much. Maybe because you have been there from the start, and it would be weird if he suddenly didn't have you around.

"I-I just can't do this anymore, Kita-san." Your voice was like a whisper, so soft that he almost couldn't catch it. "You know this town, everyone talking about the same thing. Over and over I can't bear it!" Little by little, you raised your voice. "I know it's selfish, but I—"

He stopped you, he knew. Kita stood up from his chair and rested his hand on your shoulder without saying anything. A flicker of hurt could be seen for a split second, but replaced again by the professional facade that he always had at work hours.

"When are you going to leave?"

"Tonight."

You knew that this was unfair. Working with Kita and helping him take care of the papers and all the contracts were always your job.

Meeting him in college was a miracle, you didn't have to search for a job. He asked you right away after graduation that he wanted you to handle the financial cycle in his new business. He would enjoy all the work outside, and you would be there signing papers for him.

But meeting him brought you to another thing that used to be a blessing.

You met Miya Osamu a year after graduation day. Kita needed to be away for a family gathering, leaving you in Hyogo to take care of the rice farm. Of course you were flabbergasted at first, you were always behind the desk, and for him to suddenly begging (more like commanding though) you to handle everything, you were overwhelmed.

Though, if Kita did such a thing, then that meant he believed in your ability.

From reminding the workers of what they should do, making sure everything was in-stock, delivering the sacks of rice to close partners. You never thought that the circumstances would lead you to meet the love of your life.

There was this warm smile plastering on his gorgeous face, black hair sticking to his forehead as he greeted all the patrons. And when he finally took a look at you, with one sack of rice on your hand, he excused himself within an instant, eyes never leaving yours as he cleaned his hand on his apron.

It started with just a simple hello, saying with confidence that you must be Kita’s assistant. And you remembered how you were just standing there, starstruck by his presence. When you thought your employer was beautiful before, this man was another meaning of beauty.

What you knew for sure, was that you needed to thank Kita for letting you meet him. Miya Osamu, someone who months after the encounter, became one of the reasons why you wanted to wake up for every morning that came.

He took you one day on this nice diner close to his house, a little place for you and him to hang out after a new routine that you had. Ever since you met him, you have been insisting on Kita taking you to the Onigiri Miya, in hope that you would meet the black-haired man for every shipment of rice.

From there, the simple hello became a confident word of asking you out.

From a shy peck on the cheek, to two bodies tangled under the white sheets.

From just an acquaintance, now a couple that the whole prefecture got jealous of.

And it still ate you alive little by little — as the lovely routine turned into nothing since he was not a part in your life anymore.

"I am sorry, (Y/n)." You didn't want to hear it as you focused on the task in front of you. "I never want us to be like this." At this point, you didn't know anymore if the tears that prickled at the corner of your eyes were caused by him or the heat from the stove. "I don't want this to happen—"

"But it did."

You stopped him from saying any other word before finally turned your heels to face him. He looked at you with the same gaze; with care, worry, and the same warmth that was always visible every time it laid upon your face. "But it did happen, Samu."

Yet there was something that was gone from his gaze, "And sadly, I know you can't control it."

Love.

It was not there anymore as he had his head hanging low, couldn't believe that after all the years of loving you, it suddenly vanished when he woke up one day.

Without the urge to kiss you, without the need to see your lashes fluttering as your eyes looked at him, without a spark that usually ignited as you snuggled your body closer to him.

For days he forced himself to think that he was still in love with you. Something that he couldn't do anymore as he always saw the same orbs that looked at him with so much love and adoration, one that he was sure you couldn't see from his grey orbs.

“I love you.” The words that used to feel so fulfilling, now sounded like just an empty promise — and the two of you could see it. “Fuck!” He slammed his fist on the table, desperate to feel all the sparks that he once felt. “I love you, (Y/n). I love you so much you don’t know that, I-”

“I do know that, Samu.” You couldn’t see him like this, staying for someone that he didn’t even love anymore. “But it has became a past tense.”

He expected you to push him away as he dropped the bomb, thinking that it was the most logical thing that a woman would do when her lover suddenly said that the love was gone. But you were just silent, continuing your turn to cook for dinner as he confessed and apologized.

“Are we done?” He whispered the question, hoping that you would say no, that you would give him time to fix himself. “I promise I will do anything, I know that I love you, and I—”

“Have you felt the spark?” Again, you cut his words as you took off the apron from yourself. “You said you didn’t feel it when you are with me anymore, so…” You trailed off, face so unreadable as a thin line shaped your lips. “So you felt the spark, right? With someone else?”

“No.” He answered in an instant, didn’t hesitate as he manned up and looked at you.

But he forgot that it was you, someone who he shared his house with for the last few years, one that knew him inside and out.

Someone who knew when he was not being honest.

His breath labored as you took step by step toward him, every second felt like a torture, afraid that if he said any other word, it would push you away even further. But he should have known by now that the second he fell out of love from you, you were already hundred miles apart from him.

You didn’t utter anything as you gazed at him with the same warmth looks, eyes scrutinizing every single detail that adhered in his face, memorising the beautiful face that you always adore to see.

“(Y/n)?” Your name rolled down from his tongue like a mantra that always enchanted you. The thin line of your lips slowly shaped into a gentle smile as you closed your eyes, bathing in a little fantasy that you made as you put yourself in the state you were in months ago. “(Y/n).”

Breath tickled each other’s lips, a gap that almost closed if only either you or him leaned a bit more.

His calloused fingers running down your arms before he pulled you close, and you to seek comfort in his embrace.

For you to share affirmation that you were so thankful he became a home, to feel his low chuckle reverberating in his chest.

But then you opened up your eyes, and that was when you were brought back to reality as the grey orbs that used to look at you with love, now just filled with misery as it looked back on you.

“Please,” His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed a huge lump. “Please don’t look at me like that.”

You knew exactly how you looked at him. Your orbs glimmered with the same affection, same excitement like the first time you saw him behind the counter of Onigiri Miya. And it truly pained him, that somewhere inside your eyes, he could see that you let him go.

“You should catch that spark, you know?” You whispered out as you took one step backward. “Don’t let it go, that could be the spark that would never die out.”

He wanted to reach his arms for you, wanting to feel maybe any remnants of love that he could give. But as you smiled at him with tears cascading down your cheek and yet a smile never left your face — his body just went still.

You gave him a curt nod before you walked past him, leaving the man who you spent your adulthood with without a chance to answer back. Tears blurred your vision as your feet stumbled on the way to the bedroom that you shared with him, grabbing the biggest duffel bag that you could find as you tried to numb your feelings.

You needed to get out from there — fast. You were afraid that he would grab your hand, assuring you that he would get the spark again. You were afraid that you would fall for it, you had fallen for a hopeless dream that he would love you again for the past weeks.

And it was enough. There was no progress, there was nothing that could fix a heart that was already falling for someone else.

When you woke up one day without him by your side, without a smile greeting you as he slid you a pancake for breakfast at the table, you could feel that your relationship had ended ever since then. Yet you were too naive, still hoping that maybe it was just your insecurity eating you up.

You packed all of your clothes, bags, and all things that were there in your life before you met him, leaving any sentimental items behind. Descending down the stairs, you still couldn’t believe that it would be the last time you roamed on the same hallway.

It felt like there was a huge rock on your shoulder, weighing you down as you walked to the living room, walking past the kitchen where you could see him standing still from your peripheral vision.

You didn’t dare to turn your head to face him, but you could feel how your feet slowed down as you heard a bitter chuckle from his direction. It needed all the willpower in your heart not to run at him, for you not to wrap your arms around his large torso as you whispered out that it was alright and you would wait.

But the love that was once given to you, now already belonged to someone else.

“See you on Monday, Osamu.”

And maybe it was their chance — to feel the profound love that was once yours.

You ignored the familiar laugh that rang in the air, slipping inside your ear without mercy as you could see (even from the back of your head) that the couple who sat on the corner booth were so deeply in love with each other.

It used to be you, you and him. The couple who occupied that booth used to be you and the enigmatic gentleman called Miya Osamu. Everyone knew that the place belonged to you, no one ever slid into that secluded booth because they all didn’t want to taint the place that showed a powerful young love.

How tragic, that powerful young love was not the same. But maybe the booth was still filled with the love that everyone adored to see. Though, it was just you that changed. And with how they mostly just wanted to see the lovely couple, they didn’t care about whose heart was broken in the process.

“Hey, I can kick them out if you want, you know that?” You chuckled as your friend whispered the proposal with one intonation that you despised the most — sympathy. “My boss actually likes me enough to control who could dine here.”

“Nah, don’t do that.” But you just shrugged it off, enough with people around you pitying or either didn’t care about you at all. “I am fine, Nagisa. Nothing that I couldn’t handle, actually.” You acted so tough, gulping down the few drops of beer that were still at the bottom of the glass, not wanting to waste any of it.

You glanced a little toward the new couple, and you felt some kind of nostalgic feeling struck at your core. They looked so — happy. So free as they talked on and on about maybe a silly and unimportant thing while casually eating the fries that they ordered.

You wondered if this was how people used to look at the two of you when you were still together.

Radiant, as if by just seeing two people in love so happy made everyone’s heart flutter. You didn’t know what made the tears start to prickle at the corner of your eyes at this moment. Either it was how the couple looked so good together, or how he smiled happily as his arm draped on someone else’s shoulder that made you wonder if he always liked that.

A heart filled with laugh, joy, as he was accompanied by someone who he loved with all of his entire soul.

You couldn’t help but see it all over again.

“You know what’s funny, Nagisa?” Your eyes never left them as the lips that used to kiss yours, now captured by another. “Every time I looked at them, sometimes...” You trailed off, smiling as you saw how happy they were for each other. “I still see her as myself every time they sit in our booth.”

“(Y/n)-”

“Keep the change, dear.” You cut her off gently by slipping some cash on the bar, the amount probably covered triple the beer that you ordered today. You grabbed the duffel bag that was rested on the empty stool beside you, the same bag that you used a few months ago as you left the place you used to call home.

You needed a fresh start, where people around you didn’t whisper in your ear about the new lovely couple that shone so bright. You needed a place where you could find a new routine, the place that didn’t tie you down into the same routine like when you were with him.

With every step that you took as you only looked forward, you left a little piece of yourself inside the booth that you used to call yours. You didn’t look back as you muster all the courage that you could gather before leaving the place for good.

You pushed the door with your arm, making the bell rang a little as you got out gently, not wanting to make any striking exit.

One step, two step,

And then there was a jingle.

Followed yours a few seconds after you walked outside the diner.

“(Y/n)?”

And you turned your head, facing the man who seconds ago was in a passionate kiss with his new lover. “Hey, sorry. I just want to make sure that it was really you.” He looked so normal, so different with the state you were in right now.

His grey orbs fell on the duffel bag that sling in your arm, and you could see how his forehead scrunched for a few seconds, with a panicked look written all over his face. “Are you going somewhere?”

He didn’t even hesitate to ask, and now you were aching to know what was it with him and the urgency that could be heard from his voice just now.

“I am moving apartments, nothing big.” You answered with a gentle tone, attempting to make a friendly conversation. “Finally found one, I didn’t want to burden Shinsuke for too long. You know how much of a handful I am.”

The black-haired man chuckled a little from your last sentence, a flicker of warmth was there as he reminisced the time that he used to have with you. Then it died down, no one said anything as you looked at his eyes one more time.

His gaze found yours, and this moment, you savoured how great it was to have him — even though it was just for a few years of your life.

“You found the spark, Osamu?” You couldn’t hold yourself but ask. “Is it good? You are happy, right? With her?” He bit his lips, still not used with his full first name rolling down your tongue.

Say yes.

You screamed inside your heart, cursing at yourself as a piece of you still wanted to be in his arms once again.

Please, Samu…

You ignored how it took seconds for him to answer, you ignored the possibility that might come if he said the otherwise.

I just need to hear you say—

“Yeah.”

And then you smiled.

“Yeah, I feel the spark when I am with her.”

You took a few steps forward, leaving only three feet apart from him as you memorized how his orbs looked at you right now. It was filled with love, one that you knew for sure it was for the woman that he mentioned just now.

That was enough of a sign, enough proof for you to end the wondering feeling that was still there in your heart once in a while.

“Then I am happy for you, I really do.” You said it with your chin lifted. “I hope the sparks will never go this time, Osamu.” With confidence as you swallowed down the tears and replaced it with a smile. “I hope this time, that booth would be yours and hers, for a long, long time.”

You gave him a playful salute as you took a few steps backward, leaving him dumbstruck in front of the diner where you used to spend time with him for a few years of being in love with each other.

“I’ll see you on Monday, right?” He shouted a little, making you chuckle softly at the reminder of your old routine where you always delivered the rice stock from Kita’s farm to his shop, even after you were no longer together.

“Monday, huh?” You shouted back, looking up at the skies that started to get dark. “Sure!”

You didn’t bother to stop for a second to answer him, eyes fixated back to the road ahead as you ignored how his gaze still fell upon your figure that was slowly getting smaller. Your finger gently fixed the duffle bag so it didn’t fall from your arm, the only piece that would remind you of this lost spark as it was given by him.

And you whispered under your breath, for the last time using a nickname that you used to call him with.

“See you on Monday, Samu.”

Then you kept looking forward after that, taking yourself to a new destination as you closed this chapter of life.

“Monday, someday.”

To hopefully, a better place where you could feel another spark that never died — just like he found it in her.

MASTERLIST

“and it cracks” taglist @roseestuosity @mistypoison @samanthaa-leanne @tycrackculture @aomineavenue @tris-does-stuff @tremblinghearts @p0taytoes @too-many-lanes @ntimacy @sunflwrsandprettyskies @chibichab @tsukkiboii @oikawoahh @hoefor2ds @edvigelacivetta @playboygeniusphilanthropist @wompwomphq @himichii @shoyomeow @miyayane @shinhiromi @graykageyama @bakugou-akaashi

#miya osamu #miya osamu x reader #miya osamu imagine #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu imagine #haikyuu x reader #inarizaki #haikyuu angst

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