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clonerightsenthusiast · 5 years

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Connecting with the Youth

[Campaign Skyjacks, gen, 5k words]

“Do you think they forgot about us?”

Jonnit’s voice has gotten progressively more anxious over the last day. Really, Travis can hardly blame him; to a boy as young as he is, a few days of uncertainty must feel like a lifetime. It’s funny, though, so he takes his time responding, leisurely stretching his arms upwards and linking his fingers behind his head. “Forget us? No,” he says with a dismissive sniff. “They could never forget us.”

Jonnit nods quickly a few times and mumbles affirmations to himself, clearly taking heart. Travis waits for the newly resolved hope to grow for a few more moments.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jonnit says louder. “They wouldn’t—”

“Now, leave us behind on purpose? I wouldn’t throw that one out of the equation.”

Jonnit’s face contorts into an expression of fear and betrayal. Travis throws his head back and laughs. The kid’s just so expressive; everything he feels shows so clearly on his face, every tiny change in mood. It makes playing with his head so fun.

Being stranded, he thinks, may not be so bad.

As long as they get picked up before it starts to lose its shine.

(continue on ao3)

“I’m hungry.”

Jonnit is drumming his heels against the rock face, and Travis would reach up and flip him off the top of the boulder to hear him squawk and sputter in the snow at the base, but ever since he did it the first time, whenever he makes any move upwards the boy snatches his legs in and just keeps talking.

“We didn’t bring enough food to just sit here forever and wait for them,” he says, hugging his knees close and peering down at Travis. “What are we gonna do, Travis?”

“Die, maybe,” Travis says, shrugging. He eyes the base of the boulder disdainfully: clearing away enough snow to be able to sit comfortably without getting wet would take too much time and effort to be able to do with dignity, and he isn’t quite desperate enough to stoop to sharing the top bit with the boy.

“Travis, I’m serious!”

“So am I.”

“You’re never serious.”

“I’m always serious.” Travis gives him a withering look, which Jonnit returns with every ounce of teenage stubbornness in his body. “Really, Jonnit, think logically. We’re lost in the mountains with very little food and no known settlements in traveling distance by foot. Either the Uhuru will come get us, or we’ll die. That’s really all there is to it.”

“We’re not lost,” Jonnit grumbles. “I know exactly where we are.”

“Oh, good. You’ll be able to pinpoint our graves precisely on a map.”

“That’s not funny, Travis.” Jonnit is full-on scowling, now. He must be more upset than Travis thought; it’s usually impossible to rid him of his normal sunny demeanor.

“On the contrary, I’m hilarious.” When his quip fails to procure any more than a huff, Travis gives a put-upon sigh and swans over to lean artfully against the boulder. He gives the side of Jonnit’s boot a flick with one finger. “Oh, come now, Jonnit. There’s no need to be a little bitch about the situation.”

“I’m not being--I’m not!” Jonnit snapped, his hands flailing as if he was attempting to take off and fly back to the Uhuru on the power of his frustration alone. “Just because you can’t die—”

“I never said that,” Travis says mildly.

“Well--well, can you?” Jonnit asks, blinking down at him. Travis applauds himself for momentarily distracting him from what was shaping up to be a real tirade.

Travis shrugs. “You can do anything if you believe in yourself.”

“Travis—”

“Jonnit.”

Travis drops his voice, cutting Jonnit off and leaving no room for argument. The boy stops, hugging his knees to his chest once again and looking down at him with wide, owlish eyes.

Travis takes a deep breath and puts a hand solidly on his boot. “Jonnit, who is in charge of the ship?”

Jonnit blinks, the gears in his head nearly audibly grinding as he tries to follow the abrupt change in topic. It’s always entertaining to watch the boy think; he’s certainly clever enough, and applies himself so thoroughly to any question asked of him that you can see him working through it. He uses his whole body to think, forehead scrunching up and hands fiddling with the laces of his boots.

“Uh, well,” he says, frowning, “I guess technically that’s Captain Orimar, but since he’s dead and all it would be whoever tells the captain what to do, so I guess it’s… Dref?”

Travis snorts. “God, please, no. Be serious. With the two of us off the ship, who’s really making the decisions on board?”

Jonnit blinks. “I mean, lots of people make the decisions--I mean, there’s… there’s Spit, and Wasp, she makes the decisions about food and stuff, and—”

Travis pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. Connecting with the youth is such a tiresome endeavor. “Gable, Jonnit. Gable is in charge of the Uhuru right now.”

“Oooh,” Jonnit says, nodding to himself. “Yeah, that makes sense. I should’ve guessed that one.”

Through heroic effort, Travis does not roll his eyes. With exaggerated patience, he squeezes Jonnit’s boot to get his attention back. “And if Gable is in charge of the ship, do you really think they’ll let them just sail off without us?” he asks.

Jonnit lets out a long, blustering breath. He nods, his head bobbing faster as he seems to convince himself. “Yeah,” he says, and then brighter, “Yeah! Gable’ll come get us for sure! They're probably just… a little lost, or something.”

“Sure,” Travis says, patting his foot. “So stop complaining. Everything'll be fine.”

“Yeah!” Jonnit says. “It'll all be fine. Thanks, Travis.”

“Oh, no problem,” Travis says magnanimously, waving one airy hand. “Oh, and Jonnit?”

“Yeah?” It takes all of Travis's discipline not to snicker at the wide-eyed trust in the look the boy directs at him.

He closes his hand around Jonnit's boot and flips him off the boulder, sending him tumbling into the soft snow below with a satisfying yelp.

“You're in my seat.”

—

After two days of waiting, the boy is miserable. To his credit, he does an admirable job of hiding his discomfort, but it doesn’t take someone as astute as Travis to notice the way he shivers and curls into himself when he thinks no one’s watching. Summer be damned, it’s cold up here, and their clothes are soaked through from the snow. Travis had dug out little burrows where the snow is deepest for them to sleep in, but they were far too cramped to stay in during the day—especially for a pair of skyjacks.

So instead here they are, crouched in the lee of the boulder to shelter from the wind, Jonnit chattering away about some inane story or other to cover the sounds of their empty stomachs. It’s not the first time they’ve missed a few meals, especially considering those lean months following Orimar’s death, but rarely have they gone a full day without food and even then it was never for quite so… open-ended a timeframe. There is no upcoming port here to restock at, no leads on jobs to follow up on for the promise of fuller coffers. No light at the end of the tunnel. All they can do is sit, and wait, and freeze.

Of course, Travis isn’t worried; cold and hunger simply do not work fast enough to hurt him in any permanent way. He’s terribly uncomfortable, of course, and he does wish Gable would hurry up and just come get them already, but he’s fine.

The boy, on the other hand, will not be. Jonnit has proven himself time and again to possess greater fortitude than would be reasonably expected of a child his age, but he is still so terribly mortal. Travis watches him shiver in his wet coat (and, okay, maybe dunking the child in snow several times wasn’t the best survival practice, but it’s not like he’s ever claimed to be a good babysitter) and pictures life on a ship with Gable and Spit if he returns to them with a dead Jonnit.

And then he considers life on a ship with a Jonnit who is, even more than he already is, laboring under the delusion that he cares.

He weighs it for a while.

Eventually he sighs inwardly and gets up, cutting Jonnit off mid-sentence. Travis stretches luxuriously and in one smooth motion pulls off his coat and dumps it on the boy. "Well, I'm going to go find a better vantage point and see if I can spot the ship. You stay here. If I don't come back, just assume I've run off or something."

Without looking at Jonnit sputtering as he extricates himself from the heavy fabric dropped on his head, Travis strides off up the slope. It really is worse without his coat to break the wind, and for a moment he considers going back and retrieving it after all, but… well. It's such a shame to spoil a dramatic exit.

—

The pile of rocks is absurdly precarious, but it is also very tall. Climbing it gives Travis something to do, and if he does get a better vantage point to spot the Uhuru, then he can't be accused of leaving just to avoid Jonnit. Besides, even if he does fall, so long as he doesn't just die outright, he'll be fine. He rubs his hands together and gets to work.

It takes a certain amount of dexterity to be a skyjack, regardless of official position, so Travis makes it a fair way up the rocks before gravity finally (some might say inevitably) gets the best of him. His boot loses traction on a patch of nearly invisible ice and he can't catch a good handhold before he's tumbling off his perch.

He lands hard and his leg gives way beneath him with an unsettling snap. Travis lets out a yelp, and then a much louder series of curses that would make even Gable frown.

"Travis?!"

Travis jumps at the yell, sending a shock of new pain down his leg, and then turns his eyes skyward. If he doesn't look, maybe it'll turn out to just be his imagination.

"Travis, are you okay?! Hold on, I'm coming!"

At that, Travis gives up on hope and cranes his neck to see, clambering up the rocks at the base of the pile, Jonnit. Wearing Travis's too-big coat with the collar pulled up against the wind, and decidedly not where he had left him.

"Jonnit, what are you doing here?" Travis demands, shifting to what he hopes is a more dignified position and wincing as it moves his injured leg.

"I came to help!" Jonnit calls up, nimbly scaling another boulder. "I'm really good at spotting stuff! Plus you, uh, you forgot your coat."

Travis does not pinch the bridge of his nose, but he feels he should be recognized for the heroic effort it takes. Jonnit is making remarkably good time up the rocks—he's a nimble little kid, and has more practice than Travis does swinging about in the ship's rigging.

"Jonnit, I don't need help looking at open air," he says.

"But apparently you did need help climbing these rocks," Jonnit shoots back stubbornly. "I mean, these things are dangerous—oh!"

Travis sighs as Jonnit slips on some more damn ice and falls—a much shorter distance, to be sure, but he still lets out a sound like a kicked dog and doesn't immediately get up.

"Jonnit," he drawls, with exaggerated patience. "Did you hurt yourself?"

There's a significant pause, then another yelp and finally a sheepish, "Maybe."

Travis sighs again, louder this time to make sure the boy hears him. "You know, for a very clever boy, you are really remarkably dumb sometimes."

"Hey!" Jonnit snaps back indignantly. "You hurt yourself too! I was just trying to help!"

Travis finally looks down so Jonnit can see his full disdain. "Jonnit," he says slowly. "My bones turn to goop, remember?"

Jonnit opens his mouth to respond, then shuts it and sits there with a really extraordinary expression caught between embarrassment and teenage mulishness.

Travis takes a moment to enjoy it before breaking the silence with, "Well now I suppose we just wait until nightfall and then find a way to get you back down the mountain."

Jonnit deflates, retreating back further into Travis's coat. "I really was trying to help," he mutters, just barely audible over the wind.

Travis sighs and tries to get comfortable against the rocks. It's going to be a long few hours to sunset.

"Do you really think I'm smart?"

"Don't fish for compliments, Jonnit. It's unbecoming."

—

By the time the sun finally sets, Travis feels more like an icicle than a man. The familiar agony of his transformation is almost a relief when he at least gets four functioning legs and some fur out of the deal.

Climbing back down the rocks is no easier than getting up, especially when he's now considerably smaller and lacks thumbs, but the white coyote eventually makes it down to where Jonnit is curled up miserably.

"All right, now what's wrong with you?" Travis asks, sniffing at him. He doesn't smell blood, which is probably a good sign. He wonders idly how cold it has to be for blood to freeze.

"Just my ankle," Jonnit says, shifting to show him. His ankle is a sight to see, crooked and swollen and an unseemly color.

"Gross," Travis says eloquently.

"I dunno how well I can walk," Jonnit adds as if he hadn't spoken, moving his foot and wincing. "I don't think it's broken, though."

"Well you'll have to, because I can't carry you," Travis says. "And even if I could—"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Jonnit snaps. "Okay, maybe I can just sort of… shimmy my way back to the ground…"

It's undignified, but Jonnit does manage to slide his way down the rocks using his three remaining limbs. Travis picks his way down a fair bit quicker and looks at him expectantly as Jonnit stands braced against the rocks at the bottom.

"How fast can you crawl?" he asks, tail wagging slightly in amusement at the mental image.

Jonnit makes a face. "That'd take all night to get back to the rendezvous point," he says. "Maybe I can just…"

He lets go of the rock and takes a hesitant step forward with his bad foot and... immediately falls over.

Travis, because he is a saint, doesn’t laugh. Well. He only laughs a little.

"Travis, I don't think I'm gonna make it," Jonnit says mournfully, propping himself up and looking at Travis with wide, sad eyes. "What do we do?"

Travis sighs and sits down to consider. He could leave the boy here and go back alone; if Gable shows up tomorrow he can simply lead them back to Jonnit. If he remembers how to get back here, that is.

The disapproving Gable frown in his head deepens further.

Maybe you shouldn't have left me here with him, then, he thinks spitefully at them. What did you expect? Why don't you come get him, then? Where are you?

Of course, he gets no response, because Gable is on the Uhuru and he's alone on this mountain with an injured child.

Well. He supposes Jonnit did get hurt trying to help him. Even if it was very stupid of him. It would be… rude to abandon him here after that. Besides, with the sun down the temperature is dropping rapidly and Travis does not relish a walk back to their bags in the cold and dark.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to sleep here and go back in the morning," he says finally, getting up.

"Are you sure?" Jonnit asks, but he's already sagging against the rock from relief. Travis rolls his eyes and doesn't deign to respond, rather getting started on a new snow cave.

If paws are good for anything, it's digging; it's not long before Travis has cleared out a decently sized burrow under the snow. He slips out and stretches, eyeing Jonnit. The boy sat down to wait, but at least he had the presence of mind to leverage himself onto a small ledge and didn't drop directly into the snow in Travis's coat. His whole body is drooping as he tries to stay awake.

"All right, get in," Travis says, startling him awake. His funny little jerk upright is amusing, but Travis watches his bad foot carefully. It would be much less funny if he made their situation worse by further injuring himself just from a little spook.

It takes the boy a moment to visibly process what Travis said, but when he does Jonnit perks up. "You're done?" he asks, already slithering down off the ledge.

"If I wasn't, would I have said anything?" Travis says with what he thinks is remarkable patience.

"Right, yeah, no," Jonnit says, bobbing his head and hobbling towards the cave. He hesitates just outside, glancing down at the coat still engulfing him. "Um, your coat…"

"Well I can't very well use it like this, can I?" Travis says snippily, raising a paw to gesture at his current canine form. The inability to raise his eyebrows with disdain is one of the most frustrating things about his animal forms.

Jonnit ducks his head. "Yeah, okay. Uh, good night, Travis."

"Mm, yes, good night," Travis says, turning his back on the boy as Jonnit crawls into the snow cave. The faster he digs another cave, the faster he can get out of this damn wind.

Now he's thinking about his coat. Sure, strictly speaking the boy needs it more. But it's warm, and it's his coat, and he wants it. Another gust of wind cuts through his thin fur and Travis shivers. Coyotes really are not made for snowy mountain peaks. He turns around, eyeing the entrance to the snow cave. Maybe he could just…

It'd be humiliating. But it would get him out of the cold faster. Besides… they're alone up here, and he can probably talk Jonnit into keeping his mouth shut.

Making up his mind, Travis crawls into the snow cave. It's dark inside, but already warming up. Jonnit's visible only as a dark mass curled up in the small space. He stirs as Travis wriggles his way into his space.

"Travis…?" he asks, his voice heavy with drowsiness.

Travis nudges his way inside his coat, pressed up against Jonnit's chest. This close, he can make out Jonnit's wide eyes barely a foot from his. "We are not friends," he informs him sternly as he settles in against the boy.

He thinks Jonnit smiles, but he could also be imagining it. This is obviously nothing to smile about. "Okay, sure, Travis," he says.

Travis snorts. Jonnit's arms close around him, wrapping him up more completely in the coat and pulling him closer. Travis blows out a long breath and gets comfortable, sticking his snout into Jonnit's neck and smiling to himself at the boy's little yelp.

"G'night, Travis," Jonnit says, yawning.

Travis hums and closes his eyes. "Good night, my boy."

—

Travis wakes up to the familiar ache that heralds his transformation. He's loathe to leave the warm little cocoon he's found himself in, but Jonnit snuffles in his ear and he remembers abruptly exactly where he is, and where he does not want to be as a man.

He pulls himself free of Jonnit's arms and crawls out of the snow cave as the transformation begins in earnest. The sounds echo off the rocks in a particularly gruesome manner, but soon enough the sun is above the horizon and Travis is a man again.

He stretches, pleased as always with the return of his opposable thumbs, but a gust of wind quickly makes him miss his fur again.

Oh, his coat!

Travis crouches down outside the entrance of the cave and clears his throat. "Jonnit," he calls. "Jonnit, I know the sounds of all my bones breaking woke you up. Get out here."

After a moment, he can make out movement inside and steps back, considering the rocks again. He's not actually going to climb them again, because one day lost to injury is enough, but it does seem a terrible waste to just leave without actually getting a better view of the skies around them.

Before he can talk himself into a spectacularly bad idea, Jonnit pulls himself free of the cave, blinking in the sudden sun.

"Good morning," Travis says, turning back to face him. "How's the foot?"

Jonnit grimaces. "Not great," he admits, moving his bad leg out in front of him to show Travis. It's still gross and Travis grimaces back at him.

"Well, nothing for it. We can't just stay here. What if the Uhuru finally shows up and we aren't there and they just leave? We have to get back."

Jonnit seems to take this to heart—as, bless him, he does with everything. He struggles to his feet—or, well, foot. He still stands on one leg, hesitant to put any weight on his injured foot.

Travis looks him over, but the boy puts on a brave face (which is, frankly, rather adorable) and says nothing, so he shrugs and starts walking.

He gets a scant few yards before he hears a surprised little yelp and turns to find Jonnit face-down in the snow. As he watches, the boy pushes himself up, scowling. When he looks up and notices Travis watching, his eyes go wide and scrambles to get back up again—only to put his weight on his bad leg and tip over again.

Travis sighs. "Jonnit."

"Just a second, Travis, I just need a—"

"Jonnit," he says again, more firmly.

"Really, just a second, and I'll be good to go—"

Travis strides over and grabs the boy by the bicep, hauling him to his feet. "Jonnit," he says again, and finally he shuts up. Travis takes a deep breath and summons a stern look. "If you need help, just say something."

A number of emotions flash across Jonnit's face in quick succession, from confusion to annoyance to exasperation. "But you said—"

"What I'm saying now," Travis interrupts him, "is that I would like to get back to the rendezvous point today, and if you can't walk there on your own then you need to tell me."

Jonnit bristles for a moment, puffed up like a slighted songbird, then deflates all at once. "Yeah, I need help," he admits.

"There, was that so hard?" Travis asks.

Jonnit glares at him. "You're real mean when you're trying to be nice, you know."

"Jonnit, please," Travis says, pulling his arm over his shoulders and starting back down the mountain with the boy hopping along beside him. "I'm never nice."

—

By the time they get back to the boulder marking their rendezvous point, Jonnit is clinging to Travis's back with the sworn promise that he never breathe a word of it to anyone else. Travis does not slump in relief at the sight of their bags laying there in the snow where they left them, because Jonnit would be able to feel it. He keeps his relief entirely to himself, thanks.

Jonnit slides off his back and leans back against the rock. "Thanks, Travis," he says, painfully earnest.

"Don't mention it," Travis says, kneeling to inspect his foot. "Really, don't mention it." He shoots Jonnit a warning look. The boy grins back unrepentantly.

Children.

Travis hasn't had to worry about injury in a very long time, so he frankly has no idea what to do about Jonnit's. Also, he doesn't like looking at it. He shrugs and stands back up. "Well, just don't climb any more rocks until they come get us," he says. "It probably won't fall off."

"If I sit up on the boulder, will you push me off?"

"Probably, yes."

Jonnit huffs and flops down onto the packed snow at the base.

Travis sits on the boulder.

—

Without the problem of the rocks and Jonnit's injury to occupy their thoughts, it's not long before they turn back to their empty stomachs.

"Travis?" Jonnit finally pipes up after a while.

"Hmm?" Travis hums from where he's splayed himself across the top of the rock.

"What if Gable doesn't come?"

Travis sighs and glances down. Jonnit isn't looking at him, but has his head tipped back against the boulder and is staring off at the sky. Travis reluctantly pushes himself up into a sitting position. "Gable will come."

"But what if they don't?" Jonnit repeats stubbornly.

"Then we'll die, is that what you want to hear?" Travis snaps. "Does that make you feel better?"

"You mean I'll die," Jonnit grumbles. "I bet you'll be fine."

Travis bristles. "Jonnit, please, I didn't carry you down a mountain to abandon you now. If I was going to leave, I would've done it before humiliating myself."

Jonnit subsides, chewing his lip and still staring intently at the cloudy sky.

Travis sighs. The next time Gable asks him to babysit, he is going to tell them precisely where they can stick it. "Jonnit," he says finally. "There's no point in worrying about what will happen if Gable doesn't come, because Gable will come. End of story. All right?"

Jonnit sighs and goes boneless against the rock. "Okay," he says, defeated.

Travis's hands twitch. He's not happy about leaving the conversation there, but what else can he do? There's no point in lying to the boy. They both know that if Gable doesn't show up, there's nothing they can do.

"Hurry the hell up, you giant idiot," he mutters under his breath, too quiet for Jonnit to hear. "We need help."

—

With nothing better to do, Travis elects to take a nap. So when the screech echoes across the mountain side he nearly falls off the rock.

"Travis!" Jonnit cries in glee before the sound has even fully faded. "Did you hear that?!"

"No, Jonnit, I didn’t—of course I heard that!" Travis snaps, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "What the hell was it?"

"Metatron! It was the Metatron, look!"

Travis follows Jonnit's point to see, sure enough, the familiar figure of Gable's hawk approaching, with the albatross trailing behind.

"They found us! They came!"

"Well," Travis says, not bothering to stifle the grin spreading across his face. "I told you they would, didn’t I?"

Jonnit pulls himself to his feet using the rock as Travis hops down beside him. The Metatron lands with a flurry of snow maybe thirty yards off, and Gable slides down off its back.

"Gable!" Jonnit calls, waving frantically as if they needed help finding their way over. "You're here, you're finally here!"

"Jonnit," Gable says, their voice cracked with relief. They stride over quickly, barely impeded by the snow, and kneel down in front of the boy to inspect him. "How are you? What happened to your ankle?"

"I fell off some rocks climbing after Travis," he says cheerfully. "Uh, I'm gonna need some help walking to the bird."

"Of course, Jonnit, no problem," Gable says quickly, then squints at Travis. "Why were you climbing rocks?" They look back at Jonnit. "And what are you wearing?"

"It's really of no concern now," Travis cuts in smoothly before Jonnit can open his mouth. "We can all go back to the ship, and he can get his gross foot fixed, and I can get something to eat, I'm starving."

"Yeah, Gable, I'm so hungry, it's been days—"

"I know," Gable says quickly. "I'm so sorry, let's get you back to the ship now."

As if on cue, Flee lands beside Metatron and from his back appears—

"Spit!" Jonnit grins and waves again. The old man trundles over, reaching out to ruffle Jonnit's hair.

"Good to see you still in one piece, Jonnit," he says fondly. "Too bad you still have Travis with you, though."

"Lovely as ever to see you too, Spit," Travis drawls.

"Aw, c'mon, Spit, Travis was great! He gave me his coat, and helped me with my foot! Last night he even—"

"All right, why don't you go help the boy onto a bird, Spit," Travis says loudly.

Spit eyes him suspiciously, then offers Jonnit his arm. "Come along then, boy. It's not every day I'm the more able-bodied one around, ha!"

"What are you talking about, Spit? You're fit as a fiddle!"

The two made their slow and careful way back over to Flee. Travis watched them go then turned to see Gable's raised eyebrow.

"Nothing happened," he says. "Nothing you'll ever hear about."

Gable snorts and drops one massive hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for looking after him."

"The boy's tougher than he looks," Travis says, shrugging. "Though he wouldn't have needed looking after if you were at the rendezvous on time, you know."

Gable's expression turns grave. "I'm sorry, Travis."

Travis huffs and looks away. "Yes. Well. Did you accomplish what you were trying to do, at least?"

"Yes. We did."

"Then it's fine. We were fine. We are fine, certain limbs excepted. It takes more than a little cold and hunger to take us out."

Gable's hand squeezes once then releases him entirely. "It won't happen again. I promise."

"Hmph. I hope not. Maybe don't leave your navigator with the ground team next time, hm?"

Gable snorts. "Yeah, in retrospect, maybe not the smartest move."

"Well, that's why you have me," Travis says, waving a hand. "Now can we please go? I've been in these clothes for days."

Gable picks up both bags and slings them over their shoulders. "Will you forgive me for being late if I let you fly the bird?"

Travis narrows his eyes, unable to stop a smile from pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Maybe."

Gable snorts and gestures towards Metatron, and before they can change their mind Travis hurries over and climbs into the saddle.

Over on Flee, Spit climbs up in front of Jonnit, who wraps one arm around his waist and raises the other to wave at Travis.

Before he can think better of it, Travis waves back. A grin splits Jonnit's face and for a moment Travis can't help but feel that maybe being stranded wasn't so bad.

Gable climbs up behind him, and with one final rush of cold wind, they take off for home.

#campaign podcast #travis matagot #jonnit kessler #you know whats NOT worth the time?? editing in all the goddamn italics that didnt copy paste over #anyways i finally finished this fic pls accept some fluff in this our hour of need #my fic

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uwu-shinsou · 4 years

Text

Stakeout

Summary: After an unexpected breakup, pro hero Ground Zero is the last person you expect to be comforting you. And also conducting a stakeout in your living room.

Warning(s): Language, themes of breakups

Pairing: Pro Hero!Bakugo Katsuki x Reader

Genre: Hurt/comfort, I guess slight angst?, light fluff, Bakugo tries to be comforting

Word Count: 2.3K

A/N: Okay first off idk about the whole legality of a hero secretly having a stakeout in your home but let’s just IGNORE that pls and thnx LOL. I was scrolling through AUs and saw one that was like “im an assassin conducting a stakeout in your house and you weren’t supposed to be home until next week” and I said okay but what if it was pro hero Bakugo and BAM HERE WE ARE!! So pls enjoy my first baku fic, I tried to make him just as fiery but also slightly more mature since he be a PRO in this 😌

You gotta be honest, the last thing you were expecting to come home to was a famous pro hero conducting a stakeout in your living room.

You hadn’t even planned to be home at all this long weekend. You and your boyfriend had planned a weekend trip together, driven all the way to the hotel, only for him to promptly break up with you and confess that he’d been seeing another girl for almost the entirety of your relationship. You’d dumped him, kicked his butt out of the car, and promptly driven two hours back home, trying your best not to cry over it.

You’d lugged your suitcase up five flights of stairs to your door, fumbling with your house key before sliding it into the lock. You tiredly stepped into the dark apartment, closing your door behind you with a sense of finality.

While locking the door, you began to mumble out the stream of consciousness that had been running through your mind since the moment you left the hotel.“If I ever see his face again I’m seriously gonna break his nose. How dare he even-”

You walked a few steps forward into the living room, only to freeze up and let out a screech as the dark outline of a person moved from your couch. Your hand shot out behind you, and the metal baseball bat that you kept near the door flew through the air and into your hand. You took a prepared stance, ready to bash the intruder’s head in with your weapon.

“You have three seconds to tell me who you are before I start swinging!” You hiss, readying the bat.

“You aren’t supposed to be here,” The darkened figure said, taking a step towards.

“No! No, do not come any closer to me. I’ve had a very bad day and I will take my anger out on you!” You threaten, pointing that bat at the intruder to act as a barrier.

“Hey! Don’t do anything fucking rash! I’m just turning on the light, okay?” In a moment you were blinking into the soft light of the room, gaping at the man who you’d almost just clobbered with a bat.

Your arms slowly lowered, the tip of the bat resting on the floor as you blinked in disbelief. “...Ground Zero?” You asked dumbly.

“Yeah, that’s me,” He answered curtly. “Now what the hell are you doing here?”

You looked at light haired hero in disbelief before glancing around the room. “Uhhh, this is my apartment? We’re standing in my living room, and you were sitting on my couch. I think I’m the one who should be asking what you’re doing here.” You slung the bat over your shoulder and glared at him, trying to calm the butterflies in your stomach from the fact that one of Japan’s top pro heroes was standing in your living room.

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” He grumbled, walking back to the couch and grabbing his phone. “WHAT THE HELL?” Ground Zero yelled as his phone flew out of his hand and into yours. His eyes closed and he huffed out an angry sigh. “Fucking telekisnesis. I forgot that was your quirk.”

Your mouth opened in surprise and you clutched his phone to your chest. “How do you know what my quirk is?”

Ground Zero opened his eyes and glared harshly at you. Questioning and antagonizing the most temperamental pro hero was probably not my smartest move you thought as he began stalking towards you.

“F/n L/n, early 20s, telekisnesis quirk, barista and occasional babysitter, lives alone, has been dating her boyfriend for five months, and, most importantly, isn’t supposed to be home for four days because she was on a trip with her shitty ass boyfriend!” He finished his statement with a growl, and his red eyes felt as if they were burning a hole in your face.

You averted your gaze, shuffling your feet as you mumbled, “Well you’re right that he is a shitty ass boyfriend.”

“Listen, I don’t have tme for your drama. According to our intel, you shouldn’t be here until Monday night,” He said accusingly.

“Well I didn’t want me to be back this early either!” You said, letting go of the bat and sending it back to it’s spot by the door. Your hands tightened into fists in frustration and you pushed past the intimidating hero, making your way into the kitchen.

“Hey- don’t you fucking walk away from me!” Ground Zero stomped behind you, staring in disbelief as you started rummaging through your pantry. “I asked you a question!”

You turned around to face him, holding a full package of cookies. “Guess what, Ground Zero? I don’t care!” You exclaimed, opening the package. “Honestly? I don’t even care why you’re in my apartment! Go ahead, make yourself at home! Sit on my couch, eat my food, watch my TV, it doesn’t even matter! The past five months of my life have been a fucking lie, so please just leave me alone to cry in my room and eat my feelings away.” You shoved a cookie into your mouth and tried to step past him. The hero side stepped into your path, and no matter which way you tried to go, he was in front of you. You were just about ready to take a swing at him when he started talking.

“Y/n,” He said. Hearing him use your name startled you enough to stop you in place. He huffed out a quick sigh before speaking. “We’ve been tracking down a rising villainous organization for half a year now. Eveytime that we get close to making the bust, they pick up and move operations. This time, we’re one step ahead of them.” He gently took your arm and guided you back into the living room and over to the window. “We have to take extra precautions when dealing with them, since any sign that the police are on to them causes them to run.” He points out the window to the building next door. It was a squat, rectangular warehouse of four stories. With you apartment being on the fifth floor, it had the perfect view in through a poorly covered sky light.

The pro hero switched out the lights in the room, allowing you to see clearly out and into the other building. You crouched down to get an even better look, and Ground Zero lowered himself down next to you. He handed you a pair of binoculars and pointed to the left side of the skylight, where you could see a group of people working at a long table. Looking through the binoculars brought the figures into clearer view.

“Ground Zero, are they-”

“Bakugo,” He said, interrupting you. “Just- Bakugo is fine, okay?”

You glanced at him in surprise before looking back into the adjacent building. “Alright then, Bakugo. Are they making-” You squinted and focused harder on the objects lying on the table. “Support items?”

“Yeah that’s right,” He responded. “A black market organization for support items to supply to villains. We’ve been through hell trying to track the weapons back to them, but we had a breakthrough a few weeks ago.”

You hummed in thought, shoving a cookie in your mouth before offering one to the pro hero. Bakugo’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but he accepted it nonetheless.

“So you needed my apartment to finish getting your dirt on them, and then you planned on doing your big bust?”

“More or less, yeah. And being here,” He gestured vaguely to your apartment. “Was critical because that skylight was in the perfect place to capture incriminating photos of them doing deals earlier tonight. We’re fucking finally ready to finish this.”

“And how many heroes are on this job, exactly?”

Bakugo held up a hand, counting on his fingers as he thought through it. You hid a smile behind your hand at the gesture. “I guess a dozen or so, plus the local police force. There’s a good number of those shitty criminals in there, but we’ve faced a lot worse.”

You sighed, eating another cookie. “Well, sorry that my breakup got in the way of your important hero plans. I could leave I guess, maybe stay with a friend for the weekend-”

“Shut the hell up, I’m not gonna kick you out of your own damn apartment,” He said, rising from his spot on the floor beside you and going back to his supplies laid out on the couch. “I’m not exactly a very patient person so the bust is happening within an hour anyways. There are heroes and police stationed all around in the other buildings and streets, so I won’t be in your hair for that much longer.”

“Oh,” Was all you said, slowly putting a cookie in your mouth.

The hero stopped fiddling with his supplies and plopped onto the couch, his furrowed eyes meeting your gaze. You raised an eyebrow in question, holding out the cookie package in a silent offering.

“No that’s not- did you say ‘breakup’?”

You huffed out a humorless laugh. “Uh huh. Bastard was cheating on me for basically our entire relationship. I guess I just wasn’t good enough or something.” You bit the inside of your lip and looked down at your lap, furiously trying not to cry. I’ve already embarrassed myself enough, I definitely do not need him to see me crying right now.

“But don’t worry about me, I should just leave you to get ready to, er- arrest some criminals and- do your hero stuff.” You quickly stood up, clutching the cookie package to your chest, and tried to make your way past him while hiding you face. “I’ll just- go sit in my room so I don’t bother you.”

You’d almost made it to the hallway when you suddenly bumped into something that was definitely not your furniture.

You let out an “oof” as you collided with Bakugo’s chest, his hands landing on your shoulders to steady you. You glanced up at him, and his face showed he was just as surprised as you were. He then realized he was still touching you, and took his hands off your shoulders like it had burned him.

“Listen- it’s shitty that he did that to you, and there’s no way you deserved it,” Bakugo said, and the absolute sincerity of it made you burst into tears.

Bakugo started to panic then. “Oh shit, what’s wrong? Did I say it wrong or-” He cut himself off as you vehemently started shaking your head, trying to rub the tears away.

“No no no no,” You said, assuring him. You sniffled, desperately trying to stop your crying. “I guess that I just-” A fresh wave of tears hit you and started rolling down your face, making Bakugo hover his hands in front of him, unsure of what to do.

“I know that I’m not very good at this, but if you want I can go and beat the shit out of him or something,” He said, making you laugh as you wiped your face.

“I was trying to say that it just- meant a lot to me, that you said that,” you said as you started to calm down. “I didn’t really believe it before, that I didn’t deserve that to happen to me, but when your favorite pro hero says it to you…” You shrugged, giving him a wobbly smile. “Maybe it is true.”

He gave you an assuring smile that you could almost call a smirk. “Well you better believe it, honey, because it’s the truth.” He paused, smugly crossing his arms. “So, your favorite hero, huh?”

“Ahaha,” you felt your face go warm, and you gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorta kinda yeah.” The admission seemed to surprise him, like he didn’t know how to respond.

The beeping of Bakugo’s phone in the living room drew the two of you out of the moment. He bumped his shoulder playfully into yours as he passed. “Glad to hear that I’m your favorite.”

You scrambled to the kitchen to put away your cookies and splash a bit of water on your face as he answered the phone. You could just make out his conversation over the running water.

“What’s up, nerd?... Yeah, I know. I got all the pictures we needed... Good. Everything’s still quiet in there… Got it, I’ll see you in a few.”

He hung up his phone just as you edged into the living room, watching him glance out the window into the criminal’s headquarters. He let out a huff of a sigh as he started packing up his things.

You wandered in a little bit further. “So it’s time, then?” You asked. He looked up at you as he finished his packing.

“Yeah, time to beat some villain asses,” He said, shouldering his bag. “You gonna be alright?”

You gave him a soft smile. “I will be. I already feel a lot lighter, like the weight of a whole ass grown man has been released from my body.” Bakugo let out a snort of laughter before falling quiet. “Really, I will be.” You reassured him.

“Of course. But I was serious, if you ever need me to go and knock him around-”

You snickered at him. “Very hero-like.”

“Hell yeah it is,” He responded as you walked him towards the door, opening it for him. “Also maybe don’t go around telling people this happened, ‘cause I’ll probably get my ass kicked for sharing classified information.”

“My lips are sealed, pinky promise,” You said, holding your pinky out towards him. He scoffed but linked his pinky with yours nonetheless. “Good luck, Bakugo.” You started pulling your hand back before he grabbed it and pressed something into it.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” He said with a wink before making his way downstairs and out into the night. You slowly closed the door, leaning back against it and taking a deep breath before opening your hand.

Inside was a scrap of paper with a phone number scrawled across it, and the words “your fav hero” written below.

You may have looked out your window a little more than usual during the rest of the night.

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renaleis · 7 years

Text

[Without You, I’m Just a Sad Song]

AU: Barista!Jimin (sort of)

Pairing: Jimin x Reader (i tried my best to be gender neutral so everyone could enjoy)

Genre: Fluff; so fluff it’s like marshmallow fluff

Length: 1.8k

Song: Sad Song - We The Kings ; pls listen to this song while reading!

So basically I did a fic exchange with the wonderful @jeonwrites and she requested a barista!jimin fluff and this was the best I could come up with but I love her to pieces and it was so much fun to do this fic exchange with her! Do check out her blog and her work! <3

p.s. feedback is always appreciated since it helps me improve! anyways hope yall enjoy some cute jimin :’)

- Five years ago -

With you, I'm alive, Like all the missing pieces of my heart, they finally collide. So stop time right here in the moonlight, Cause I don't ever wanna close my eyes.

The day you stumbled across the quaint little bookstore a few blocks down the road from your school was undoubtedly the best day of your life. It was filled with books both old and new, from literary classics to modern novels, and the tea or coffee, depending on when you visited, served by the owner made it a charming and lovely place; a hidden gem in every sense of the word. You quickly became a regular here, coming every day after class to work on your assignments and to try out the newest pastries baked by the owner Park Jimin himself.

Jimin was a man of few words, but his actions said everything he didn’t need to. You’d learned that he has a passion for the culinary arts, particularly baking and brewing drinks, and had decided to turn a portion of the bookstore into a small cafe. Every time you came in there would be a plate ready for you, a freshly baked pastry with a cup of tea or coffee to go along with your reading for the day. On occasion there would be a book tucked underneath the plate, something he thought you would enjoy.

He never said much, but he always paid attention to the little things. If you sniffled he’d bring you a few tissues, if you were shivering he’d take his scarf and wrap it around you; once when it was raining you’d forgotten your umbrella, and you’d walked into the store drenched in water. What did Jimin do? The boy ran to his apartment above the store and brought you a change of clothes along with a blanket to keep you warm.

The bookstore itself was a hidden gem no doubt, but it took you two months of visiting to finally understand that the greatest treasure hidden in the store wasn’t the countless number of stories in books, nor was it in the countless frappuccinos, macchiatos, or teas, but the quiet boy behind the counter who took care of you like a lover.

And maybe, that’s all Jimin really wanted.

To call you his.

~~~

- Four years and seven months ago -

You’re the perfect melody,

The only harmony I wanna hear.

It was quite cliche really, how easily Jimin had become smitten with you. Although admittedly, it was quite difficult to ignore a beautiful individual that came in every day with an aura like yours. Something about you drew him in like a moth to a flame. Most people would say that it was only puppy love, but Jimin knew that he had long since passed that phase, that the feelings he harbored in his heart were genuine and true. Of course, he was never able to express these feelings to you; he could never. It was as if his life had become a romance trope, one where he was too afraid to confess to you because of course the worst thing that comes to his mind is: what if the feelings weren’t mutual?

Jimin shook his head, clearing these thoughts as he brought you today’s special: a chocolate filled croissant with a cafe latte. A pleasant warmth filled his chest as you smiled up at him, accepting the treats with a thank you.

“I hope you enjoy these today [Y/N].” He said, bowing slightly.

“Why don’t you join me today? The shop isn’t crowded right now and you could use a break Jimin.” You asked, feeling nervous at the prospect of being the one to invite him for coffee. Ironic really.

“Sure.” Jimin smiled, excusing himself and returning a moment later with his own coffee.

“So,” You began, taking a sip of your latte. “You seem to know all the things I like, but I hardly know anything about you.”

“Well for starters, this here bookshop is my home.” Jimin held the cup between his hands, hoping that his nervousness wasn’t too obvious. His eyes darted back and forth before settling on the coffee in his cup. Jimin was not in any way prepared for this, and he suddenly became self conscious of his appearance. Did his clothes look okay? What about his hair?

“Do you have any hobbies?” You continued, taking a bite of the croissant, and successfully breaking Jimin from his thoughts.

“Pretty much everything I do here. Baking, reading, et cetera.” Jimin replied.

“Is this like a full time job or part time? Do you go to the university nearby?”

“Yeah I’m a freshman, but I take online classes so this is kind of like a full time job. I love it here though, since I get to meet all of the amazing and beautiful people that come into my shop.” Jimin felt himself relaxing in his seat as his eyes finally met yours. A smile made it’s way onto his face as he continued. “People like you [y/n].”

~~~

- Three years and eleven months ago -

You're my favourite part of me,

With you standing next to me, I've got nothing to fear

It wasn’t long after that first conversation that you and Jimin had developed deeper feelings for one another, with simple fifteen minute chats that turned into talks that lasted hours. Some days you would end up sleeping at Jimin’s little half bookstore-half cafe because you both knew you’d just come back in the morning anyways.

You wondered if this friendship between you two would ever grow into something more. You knew you had already fallen in love with him, and you were at least ninety-eight percent positive that Jimin felt as strongly for you. Of course, it had only been a matter of days after these thoughts made their way into your mind when Jimin had finally asked you on a date.

That day was one that you would never forget. You had both been so nervous, stumbling over each other’s words until it finally reached a point where the two of you couldn’t control your laughter. Jimin wanted to take you on a nice dinner date followed by a movie (the traditional and classy way to woo a person he claims) but by the time you had finished dessert and managed to stop laughing both you and Jimin realized that, honestly speaking, these kinds of dates were too boring.

Instead, the two of you ended up going to a night market a couple blocks away from the bookstore. The whole night was spent eating various street foods (the restaurant hadn’t been exactly filling), watching several performers and even dancing along to their music, and buying little fun and whimsical knickknacks together (Jimin still had no idea where to put the little marble cat statues the two of you bought).

By the end of the night you two were exhausted, and you decided to head back to the bookstore, where Jimin made two caffe mochas. Ever since Jimin had found out that mochas were among your favorite coffee drinks, he’d wanted to make the perfect cup of caffe mocha for your first date.

As the two of you quietly sipped your drinks, Jimin intertwined his fingers with yours, his thumb rubbing small circles on the back of your hand. Setting his cup down, Jimin felt his nervousness from the beginning of the date returning again as he contemplated his next move. Taking a deep breath he decided this was going to be his only chance and no way in hell was he going to mess it up.

“Hey [y/n]?”

“Yeah?” You turned towards him, cheeks burning as you realized how close he actually was. Without hesitating any longer than he wanted to, Jimin leaned forward, lips trembling as he kissed you. You were both shaking but it was okay, because first kisses weren’t meant to be perfect, only memorable, and neither of you would ever forget this moment. Jimin finally pulled away, smiling as he rested his forehead against yours.

“Do you think it’s too soon to say I love you?” He asked.

“Depends, do you think it’s too soon to say I love you too?”

~~~

- Present day -

Without you, I feel broke,

Like I'm half of a whole

Without you, I've got no hand to hold,

Without you, I feel torn…

“...Like a sail in a storm, without you, I'm just a sad song.” You smiled as you finished reading out loud the lyrics in the small book Jimin had given you today along with your coffee; a caffe mocha. You had gone through almost all the books in the store already, so Jimin had opted to give you books he made himself, compiled of various poems, song lyrics, and other things that reminded him of you. It was something he had started doing at the beginning of your relationship, along with the traditional caffe mocha drink reminiscent of your first date, and had continued doing for the four years the two of you had been dating.

“What did you think of that song?” Jimin asked, eyes sparkling as he kissed your cheek.

“I love it. In fact, I vaguely remember that song playing once or twice in the store before am I right?” You smiled, shifting in your seat, which in this case was Jimin’s lap, so that you were facing him.

“Good because I was thinking of singing it with the other guys. Taehyung, Hoseok, and Seokjin are all for it, and Yoongi and Jungkook have no choice but to agree.” Jimin sighed in content as he rested his head in the crook of your neck, pulling you closer.

“Oh? How did you get those two to agree to such a lovey dovey song?” You asked, fingers absentmindedly running through his hair.

“Well because they’ll be singing it on our wedding day.” Jimin said.

You choked, staring at him with wide eyes. “You’re thinking about when we get married already?”

“Yeah, and I’m hoping for sooner rather than later.”

“Jimin what-”

“[Y/N] you only have a little bit of mocha left, why don’t you finish it first?”

Rather confused, you did as he asked and brought the small cup to your lips, finishing the remaining bit of coffee. A small glimmer of black at the bottom of the cup caught your eye and as you brought the cup closer you realized that words had been inked into the bottom of the porcelain cup. You gasped as you read the words, nearly dropping said cup if it hadn’t been for Jimin holding your hands steady with one hand, while the other held out a small object that shined like a thousand stars.

Will you marry me?

#I'M BACK #it feels so good to post a fic again #i hope you liked this kathy ;~;#jimin scenarios #jimin scenario #jimin fluff #park jimin #BTS jimin #jimin #bts fic #bts scenarios #pjm

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