#anyways sorry to ramble in the tags. i’ll fix them later i just needed a place to dump thoughts out
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New Girl on the Block (1)
(Hey guys! I finally got around to posting the first chapter of this! I hope you guys enjoy it, and please tell me if you’d liked to be tagged or want to read more! there’s also a mini-series of Journal Entries connected to this fic.)
Ch.2
Chapter 1: Happy Accidents
Rosemary Highschool, a private school for the truly gifted and the rich. Anyone who attended this facility was either poised and reserved, or uptight, or all of the above. Therefore, when a stuttering, stumbling raven-haired girl came tripping through their doors, it was only natural that the students became curious.
Felix couldn’t care less, if he was being honest. The girl was just another student, and he had better things to do than waste his time meddling in the personal life of a complete stranger.
His friends, however, did not share his sentiment.
“Did you hear?” Allegra asked as they walked to their lockers, her sky blue eyes wide with delight. She leaned forward slightly to catch a better view of their expressions, causing her golden braid to fall gracefully over her left shoulder.
“About the new student? Who didn’t?” Claude replied, wearing his usual grin.
“How do you think she got in?” Allan wondered aloud, fixing the green cap on his head in thought.
Felix rolled his eyes. His friends had always loved picking up on the latest gossip. He never understood why. Take this new student, for example. She hasn’t even finished enrolling in the school yet, but everyone’s already chattering relentlessly about her. Why? Because she was rumored to be clumsy? That was hardly an achievement, let alone something to be talked about by the entire school. So what was all the fuss about?
Allegra gasped, a smile lighting up her soft features. “Oh! We should show her around! This school is huge, so she’ll definitely need a guide. Plus, we can get the first scoop on her.”
“Absolutely not.” Felix finally cut in, giving her a sharp look. He refused to galivant around the school with a complete stranger while his classmates tried to pry into the poor girl’s personal life.
“We didn’t say you had to go.” Claude pointed out.
“But you should at least say hi.” Allegra hastily added, a motherly tone coming to her voice.
Felix scoffed. Right. He would say ‘hi’, then they would ‘convince’ him to stay- i.e. drag him by the collar -and he would end up going around the school with them anyway. He’d gotten used to their tricks by now.
Allan frowned in disapproval. “Come on, Fe. It’s the polite thing to do. We are her new classmates, after all.”
“Yeah, Fe, don’t be a jerk.”
“When am I ever not a jerk.” Felix retorted.
Claude smirked. “He’s got a point.”
“Felix.” Allegra pressed, fixing him with a stern glare and putting her hands on her hips.
Felix groaned, irritation prickling up to the forefront of his mind. What did it matter if he saw the new student? He wouldn’t be talking with her often, and they would probably meet later on during classes anyway. Why did they have to be so pushy?
He reached up to rub his temples and closed his eyes. If he couldn’t see them, it helped him imagine that they weren’t annoying him to the point of insanity.
“Alright, fine, but if any of you-”
Felix barely registered the hit. He heard his friends gasp, and the sound of his books and pencils scattering across the floor, and he felt the dull pain of someone smacking into him before he unexpectedly hit the ground.
Then his ears tuned into a light, yet panicked voice.
“I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I just did that- are you hurt? Do I need to call the nurse?”
Someone was talking to him. Well, they were more of rambling, really.
“Pardon?” He said, interrupting the person’s ramble as he rubbed his back. He glanced up to see a young girl kneeling on the ground in front of him. She was scrambling around on the floor- gathering up his books, he realized -and appeared to be even more disoriented than he was.
His question spooked her, apparently, because she jumped, and her eyes darted upwards. They were an overwhelming blue, bright and sparkling despite being filled with anxiety at the moment.
“I-I’m sorry!” She repeated, briefly setting the books down so she could nervously pull on the tips of her raven-colored pigtails.
Felix’s eyes widened.
Raven.
Claude stifled a laugh behind him.
“It’s not a problem.” Felix sighed, swiftly taking his books back from her and moving to retrieve the others. This was exactly what he had wanted to avoid.
The ravenette furrowed her eyebrows, now bringing her hands down to play with the zipper of her black, half-sleeved jacket. “A-are you sure?”
He gave a short nod, scooping the rest of his books into his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
“I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I ran into you. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry.” His tone was composed, calm, if only for the sake of dignity. Claude and Allegra were never going to let him live this down.
He picked up her small handbag, holding it out to her. “So, I apologize. I’ll be more careful next time, and I am willing to replace anything of yours that is broken.”
A wash of color came to her cheeks.
“Oh, That- that won’t be necessary, thank you.” She insured, taking the purse and clutching it to her chest.
Felix didn’t reply, instead using the brief pause to look her over. With her light pink capris and child-like pigtails, she didn’t exactly give off the impression of being rich or poised. Perhaps a relative bought her tuition? That’s happened before.
“Aw, look! Felix made a friend!” Claude’s snide remark broke Felix from his thoughts, and he shot the brunette a glare. That clown can never keep his mouth shut.
Allegra pushed past the two and extended a hand to the girl just as they got to their feet. “Hi! I’m Allegra. What’s your name?”
The girl smiled- which Felix found surprisingly pleasant -and took her hand. “Marinette. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Like the doll?” Allan asked curiously, stepping forward as well.
“Sort of, yes.”
“That’s pretty cool. I’m Allan, by the way.” He introduced himself, also shaking her hand. He then pointed behind him, towards Claude and Felix. “The one in the blue striped shirt is Claude, and the stiff board you just ran into is Felix.”
Felix hunched his shoulders slightly, a scowl tugging at the corner of his lips, but Marinette only laughed. It oddly reminded him of the sound of tinkling bells.
“You’re new here, right?” Allegra asked before Felix could snark off to Allan. “Mind if we show you around?”
A sigh of relief tumbled from Marinette’s lips. “Please do. This place is like a maze!”
Claude chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’ll make your head spin. We-”
“-Can start with the cafeteria.” Felix interrupted. The sooner they could start the tour, the sooner he could go home. “Then we’ll work our way around the classrooms.”
He spun on his heel, ignoring his friends’ smug smiles, and marched off. It wouldn’t take long for them to follow.
Allan was the first to catch up, throwing Felix a sly smirk as he whispered, “I thought you said you weren’t going to show her around.”
Felix shrugged. If he was going to suffer through the embarrassment of running into somebody, he might as well get something out of it. He would take her on a quick tour, and perhaps his friends wouldn’t feel the need to meddle in his social life for at least another month.
“We’re her new classmates, right?” He said. “We should exercise basic politeness and guide her through the school.”
Allan hummed. “Sounds like good advice. I wonder who could’ve told you that.”
“The name escapes me.” Felix replied, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He stole a glance over his shoulder to the rest of the group. Marinette was talking cheerfully with Allegra now, her previous show of anxiety all but gone. She even looked a bit confident with the tripping matter settled. Isn’t that strange?
“...What else do you know about her?”
~~~~~~
When Maman suggested that Marinette start attending Rosemary Highschool, reluctance couldn’t begin to express how she’d felt. She’d heard the rumors, how the kids were spoiled, snobby brats, how the classes were just a room full of fancy trinkets to keep the kids satisfied for a while. Marinette honestly didn’t want any part of it, but at that point, any school was better than her old school. She simply couldn’t stand Lila’s schemes anymore, nor Adrien’s relentless pursuit of having them get along. As bad as Chloe’s bullying was, Marinette almost wished that she could go back to that time. At least then she’d still have friends. (Well, calling her old classmates “friends” would be over exaggerating now. At least then she wouldn’t have to deal with getting bullied from everyone at school.)
Either way, Marinette chose Rosemary over Dupont in a heartbeat, despite her uneasiness, and found that it actually wasn’t all bad. The endless halls were a bit confusing, but the classes were more advanced than others had let on, and though a select few of the students could be considered snobbish, everyone else seemed quite nice. A small group even offered to show her around. (After she ran into their friend, that is. Only Marinette could make such an embarrassing introduction.)
“I think that covers everything.” The girl of the group, Allegra, said. “But in case you’re still confused, I have a map for you.”
“A map?” Marinette echoed. She didn’t think they presented those at the school, though they probably should.
Allegra nodded and pulled a folded piece of paper from her school bag. “Claude gets lost all the time. So I started making maps for him. I have multiple maps because- typical Claude -he loses the maps too.”
“How was I supposed to know that it got mixed in with my history homework?” Claude, obviously the jokester amongst them, defended with a flail of his arms.
“If you ever need help,” Allegra continued, ignoring Claude’s comment as she scribbled something on the map, “feel free to text me.”
“Thank you so much.” Marinette smiled, peeking at the phone number that was now on the corner of the page.
“It’s the least we can do.” Allan, probably the most relaxed of the group, replied.
“It’s not as complicated as it looks. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it within a week.” Ah, yes. Then there was Felix, the poor boy she’d run into earlier. He’d been extremely mature about the matter, even insisting that it was his fault and that he’d pay for any of her damaged belongings. Naturally, she refused the offer, but it was a thoughtful gesture nonetheless.
“If not, you know where to find us.” Claude added, before scooping her hand into his and pressing a quick kiss to her knuckles. “But I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to you finding me for non-school related purposes as well.”
Allegra rolled her eyes with a sigh, and Allan pinched the bridge of his nose. Felix just scoffed, especially when Claude winked at the end.
Jokester and flirt of the group. Marinette thought with a smirk. In one quick motion, she slipped her hand out of Claude’s grasp and pushed him away by the tip of his nose.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said, flashing him a wry smile.
Claude stumbled back a step, clearly shocked by her reaction. Allan straight up laughed next to him, and Marinette, to her delight, caught a glimpse of Felix smirking.
“Oh, I like you.” Allegra snickered, slinging her arm over Marinette’s shoulders.
“So do I.” Claude grinned.
Allan, once his laughs died down, stepped forward. “Do you mind if I give you my number too? I can’t imagine not hanging out with you now.”
Marinette blushed from the compliment, but nodded and handed him the paper. Claude eagerly jumped at the opportunity and wrote down his number too. Then the boys turned to Felix.
“What about you, Fe? Are you giving her your number now or are you gonna beg for it later?” Claude asked, his grin turning devilish.
Felix shot him a glare- which he apparently did quite often. “I don’t beg.”
Allegra- ever the patient friend -let out a huff and shoved the paper into his hands. “For Pete’s sake, Felix, just write your number on the dang paper.”
“O-Only if you want to.” Marinette interjected. She didn’t want to cause a fight amongst them on her first day.
Felix’s glare faded slightly at her input, and he sighed.
“It’s fine. You would probably need it eventually, anyway.” He relented, plucking a pen out of his left vest pocket and jotting down his number on the paper too. Marinette smiled despite herself as she took the paper back. It was only her first day, but she’s already made four, lovely friends. She liked to think of that as a good sign.
“Have you gotten your class schedule, yet?” Allegra queried now that the phone number matter was settled.
Marinette shook her head. “I was actually trying to find it when I bumped into you guys.”
Claude snorted. “‘Bumped into’. Good one.”
Marinette giggled along with Allegra and Allan. She hadn’t meant it that way, but the irony was a bit humorous.
“Let us walk you to the office.” Allan requested. “The school tends to overcomplicate things, class schedules included.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to hold you guys up.”
Allegra waved her hand dismissively. “Classes are over for the day, and our drivers are paid to wait for us.”
Marinette furrowed her brows slightly. “Your drivers?"
“You know, the people who drive us to and from school and anywhere else we want to go.” Claude helpfully supplied.
So, like Gorilla. Marinette thought. It made sense. This was a school of kids who had fortunes of the same extent, if not greater than, the Agreste’s fortunes. If Adrien had a driver, then the students here would certainly have one too.
“You don’t have a driver, do you?” Allegra guessed.
Marinette glanced up at the blonde, a strange mix of surprised and embarrassed. Was it that obvious? Would it be weird in this school if she didn’t have a driver?
“Please don’t take that the wrong way.” Allegra rushed to add, noticing Marinette’s sheepish expression. “I’m just curious. We don’t get many students here who aren’t drowning in their own money.”
“That makes sense.” Marinette replied. The tuition for this school had been unbelievably high. “But no, I don’t have a driver. My family was granted an early scholarship for me to come here.”
Surprise flashed across the group’s faces, including Felix’s.
“Well, isn’t that interesting.” Claude muttered.
Marinette shrank back slightly. “I-I’m sorry-”
“No, don’t apologize.” Allan cut her off. “We’re just impressed.”
“Getting a scholarship here isn’t easy.” Allegra explained.
“I-It’s only in the fashion section.” Marinette admitted, fiddling with the ends of her bookbag.
Claude gasped, a sparkle coming to his chestnut eyes. "You're a fashion designer?!"
“Uh oh.” Allan smirked.
Allegra shot her an apologetic look. “I’d say that there’s an escape to this, but I don’t want to lie straight to your face on our first day of knowing each other.”
Marinette held back a smile. Did that mean she would lie to her face when they knew each other better?
“How many outfits have you designed? Can you sow outfits too? I’ve had a few ideas, but none of the other art students listen to me-” Comments and questions started spilling out of Claude left and right. Things about smeared pencil drawings, pricked fingers, and his strange obsession with ruffled, prince-like sleeves seemed to explode out of his mouth all at once. Marinette knew her rambles could fall on the fast side, but this was a whole other level.
“I’d have to look through my notebook, but I think the ruffles are doable.” Marinette managed to say when Claude paused to take a breath.
“Really?!” He exclaimed, going so far as to clasp his hands together with a grin.
She nodded, smiling herself. “I’m not sure how princely sleeves would fair on modern sleeves, though. They’d look much nicer on a full prince costume.”
Claude’s eyes bulged out of his head. “You would design a full suit for me?”
“I can’t promise that the fabric will be of good quality when I sow it, but yeah.”
Claude threw his fists in the air in celebration, and Allegra took the opportunity to lightly pull Marinette aside.
“You know you don’t have to do this, right?” She whispered. “Claude’s not going to be too disappointed if you decide to change your mind.”
Marinette’s smile softened. “Thanks, but I really don’t mind. I needed a new project to work on, anyway.”
Allegra studied her for a moment, then smiled as well. “Well, if you’re sure. He’s going to send you cars full of fabric though.”
She laughed. “Guess I’ll tell Maman to start clearing out the guest room.”
~~~~~~
Felix stared at his book, rubbing the corner of the page between his thumb and index finger. His phone buzzed relentlessly beside him on the arm of his recliner, no doubt the group chat that he'd been roped into. It was chaotic enough when it was just Allegra, Allan, and Claude, but now that they've added Marinette to the group, Felix wondered if his phone would ever be silent again.
He supposed he should have known better than to assume they would show Marinette around the school and be done with her. Allegra, Allan, and Claude were always overly friendly. However, he also couldn’t say that he minded having her around either. At least, not for the time being. She was considerate enough not to push his buttons and lively enough to keep the others occupied. No more on-the-spot activities from Allegra and Claude to cure their boredom.
"They're chatty today." Bridgette, his mother, commented from the loveseat couch to his right.
Felix hummed in agreement. "A new student arrived at the school today."
"Is that what they're talking about?"
He shook his head. "It's who they're talking to. The leeches have already adopted her."
Bridgette chuckled. “You mean Allegra, Allan, and Claude?”
“Who else insists on sticking to me like glue?”
She tilted her head in a “True” gesture. “Who’s the new student?”
“Her name’s Marinette.” Felix answered, flipping the page of his book.
“Oh, that’s a unique name.” Bridgette replied thoughtfully.
Felix hummed in agreement. “She said it was supposed to be similar to the doll ‘Marionette’.”
“You talked to her?” Bridgette asked, surprise lacing her tone.
Felix resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew she didn’t mean to sound patronizing, but sometimes her questions irked him. For example, why wouldn’t he talk to the new student if Allegra and the others were? Even if he didn’t particularly enjoy human interaction, there was still such a thing as common courtesy.
..Which he supposed he didn’t usually have either.
Okay, maybe her question was more reasonable than he originally thought.
“Yes, I actually ran into her while we were walking down the hall.” He finally said.
Bridgette tried- and failed -to hide her laugh. “You ran into someone? That’s not like you, Felix.”
Felix sighed, slipping a bookmark into his book so he could close it. “I’m aware. I was trying to ignore Allegra’s prodding when it happened.”
“I see. What did Marinette say?”
“She actually started apologizing.” Felix admitted. “Even though it was my fault, she picked up my books before tending to her own things and asked if I was alright.”
Bridgette smiled. “She sounds delightful.”
He nodded without thinking. “Allegra even invited her to our routine luncheon tomorrow.”
Felix missed the twinkle in his mother’s eyes as she said, “Wow, to your personal lunch? They must really enjoy her company. You’ll have to invite her over here sometime.”
“I’m sure Allegra will arrange it eventually.” Felix replied dismissively.
“Then I shall have to thank her when she does.” Bridgette remarked, standing up from the couch. Her fingers ruffled through his hair as she passed him. “I’m glad you had a good day at school, sweetheart.”
Felix almost objected, since he hadn’t necessarily claimed to have had a good day at school, but decided against it. There was no point in arguing, especially when his day had, in fact, been satisfactory. He’d met someone new, someone that intrigued him. (A rarity, indeed, but it was true.) In the short time they talked, Marinette had shown herself to be both kind and anxious, but also witty and confident. It was an interesting mixture that stuck out to him. What type of life must one live to create such a paradox of a personality?
Unfortunately, Allan and the others knew about as little as he did when it came to her. She was a new student that had a passion for fashion and a bright smile. That was all. This was why he’d elected to remain silent instead of sharply opposing Allegra’s inviting Marinette to their lunch. (The sly smiles that were thrown his way by Claude and Allan afterwards were above irritating, though.)
Nevertheless, Felix felt she was worth the teasing for now, because Marinette, in short, was a puzzle.
And Felix loved his puzzles.
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So yeah, I got carried away. As usual. *facepalm*
Anyway, Happy Birthday, Wolfie @jaskierswolf!!! I hope you enjoy reading this long-ass fic, lovely. 😀💙
(Edited) Word Count: 9k (I have a problem, I know)
Relationship: Geralt/Jaskier
Tags: AU: College/University, Professor!Jaskier, Professor!Geralt, Soulmates, Rated M for Language, Jaskier!Whump, Miscommunication, Enemies to Lovers (ish, can’t find the right tag sorry), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending
Read on AO3 here
--------
The Other Half
“Do I have a class to teach here or are all of you going to be focused on your phones?”
Jaskier is standing in front of his desk, hands on his hips as he gives his Creative Writing class students a stern look. Several of them look up from their phones with guilty expressions, and if Jaskier wasn’t in the middle of a lecture about storytelling in poetry, he would’ve laughed at their almost identical expressions.
“Sorry, Professor,” Rebecca, one of his favorite students, says. Jaskier raises an eyebrow at her, and the brunette blushes faintly as she reluctantly turns off her phone.
“Care to share what has everyone’s attention glued to their phones instead of me?” Jaskier smirks, injecting a bit of humor into his query. He notes how half of his students chuckle as others follow Rebecca’s lead in turning off their phones.
“It’s Sole Mate, sir,” a student from the back answers.
Jaskier frowns slightly. “Soulmate? Did another celebrity couple split up because they met their other half?”
There’s a ripple of laughter in the classroom while others shake their head. Thankfully, it’s Rebecca who gives him a proper answer.
“Er, no, sir,” she begins. “Sole Mate. The new app that’s been circulating lately? Everyone said it’s loads better than Tinder because instead of just random hook-ups -- um, I mean dates -- Sole Mate allows you to find your, well, soulmate.”
By the end of her explanation, Jaskier’s eyebrows are nearly reaching his hairline. He’s no stranger to social media and technology, so Jaskier knows what Rebecca is talking about. In fact, he’s noticed that aside from the students in the campus, he’s heard his fellow colleagues talking about it every now and then. Which is odd, to be honest, because for one, professors like Jaskier aren’t really that open about the whole soulmate thing. It’s not a taboo, per se, but more like a personal thing because not everyone has met their soulmate yet.
So while he’s aware that people are talking about the topic, Jaskier didn’t think that it was this big of a deal.
“I… see.” Jaskier nods, giving himself a few extra seconds to come up with a follow-up question. He coughs lightly before clearing his throat. “I’ve heard about that app, but I’m afraid I’m not familiar with its algorithm. What makes it so special, hm?”
Another student, Marcus, raises his ring-laden hand in the air. Jaskier gestures for him to speak.
“Well, sir, Sole Mate gives you the option to upload a photo of your soulmark. The photo is never made public, of course, but rather it’s an added feature that’ll help the app. Once it’s in the system, Sole Mate narrows down the scope of the search to people who have a similar look to your mark. It’s broken into groups which the app refers to as Sole Groups. Then you just chat with the people who are in those groups that meet the criteria until you meet the one whose mark matches yours.”
“I read an article from CNN yesterday,” Arif pipes in. “Since the app launched three months ago, there’s been a 95% increase of people finding their soulmates compared to the last ten years. And just yesterday, I found out my great-aunt found her match!”
“I’m going on a date tonight and I think they’re my match!”
Jaskier looks on in befuddlement as his students start to whisper excitedly to one another about the prospect of meeting their soulmate. He blinks and shakes his head before calling their attention once more.
“Alright, alright!” Jaskier calls over their chattering. “Enough now, please. Midterms are a month from now and we still have much ground to cover.”
“How about you, sir? Have you found your Sole Group yet?”
Jaskier hides his amusement at how eager his students look at him. Instead, he shakes his head and smirks at them as he moves around his desk to pick up his chalk.
“No, Damian,” he says mildly. “I don’t see a need for me to do so.”
“But why not?” Rebecca asks, sounding both curious and confused. “Don’t you want to meet your soulmate, sir?”
Fortunate that he’s facing the blackboard so his students can’t see his conflicted expression, Jaskier writes a few notes on the board as he flippantly replies, “I’m happy on my own and don’t see myself settling down, Ms. Haywood.” Before his students can pry further, he adds in a sterner tone, “Now, please pay attention to the lecture because there will be a quiz before the end of this class.”
There’s a collective groan behind him which Jaskier happily ignores as he launches into his lecture once more.
~
“‘I’m happy on my own and don’t see myself settling down’?” Essi repeats to Jaskier later when they’re on their lunch break. “That’s a load of bollocks, love.”
Jaskier rolls his eyes as he pops a grape in his mouth.
“Obviously,” he says after swallowing his food. “My students don’t need to know I already met my soulmate, Essi.”
“I know that,” Essi replies. “And I respect your privacy for saying that. But you don’t have to pretend with me, you know.”
“What the hell are you on about now?”
“I mean that you don’t have to lie to yourself, Jask.”
“I’m not lying!”
Essi scoffs at him. “Oh, please. We’ve known each other for nearly ten years. I know when you’re lying, Jask. You do that thing with your lips; it’s subtle but don’t think I didn’t see it earlier.”
Jaskier scowls at his friend, who’s one of the best and strictest Marketing professors in Redania University. So instead of replying, he decides to take a huge bite out of his ham and egg sandwich.
She’s lucky I love her, Jaskier thinks moodily.
“Still haven’t spoken to him?” Essi asks him after several minutes of comfortable silence pass.
‘Him’ being Jaskier’s soulmate, obviously.
He shakes his head. “Nope.”
“Are you ever going to speak to him?”
“Once he has his head out of his arse, maybe I’ll contemplate breathing the same air as him.”
Essi whistles low. “Damn, was the confrontation really that bad, Jask?”
Jaskier pointedly stares at her.
“Essi, darling, I’ve told you about it a hundred times in various states of inebriation and sobriety. Of course it was bad. It was horrendous for both parties.”
And honestly, Jaskier doesn’t want to talk about it. Hell, he doesn’t even want to think about it because every time he does, he feels nothing but disappointment and anger and hurt. Goddamn it, it’s been three years and it still fucking hurts. It’s a constant phantom pain in his chest that Jaskier doesn’t know what to do with, and he’s been living with that kind of pain for years with no hopes for resolution in sight.
He thinks of that day, the confrontation as Essi puts it, and all Jaskier can think of are golden eyes filled with apathy. An inscrutable expression on his soulmate’s chiseled features after Jaskier told him that they’re meant to be together.
Well, Jaskier didn’t say it like that, exactly, because he was nervous. He was rambling and sweating in places he didn’t know he could sweat, and he had just met his soulmate for fuck’s sake!
Alas, like the idealist he is, his expectations didn’t meet his reality.
“Oh shit,” Essi suddenly says, breaking Jaskier from his glum thoughts. “Don’t look. Your three o’clock.”
Because Jaskier has an issue with impulse control, he looks.
And he freezes.
There, dressed in tight-fitting grey slacks and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, is Jaskier’s soulmate.
Geralt Rivia.
His hair is fixed into a man bun, and Jaskier feels his chest constrict at the wisps of silver hair framing his jawline. Geralt hasn’t seen them, thankfully, because he’s busy chatting with Yennefer Vengerberg, the gorgeous yet cutthroat International Relations professor who’s notorious for failing 40% of her students.
Jaskier is about to look away when Geralt turns his head and meets his eyes.
Fuck.
He notes the deep furrow between Geralt’s brows, the Anthropology professor’s hold on his lunch tray tightening when their gazes meet across the room. As much as Jaskier talks about being alright on his own, he can’t help but secretly admit to himself that he likes the shiver of pleasure that runs down his spine when their eyes meet. Jaskier read somewhere that researchers called it The Spark. It’s cheesy, yes, but it’s exactly that. An electrifying feeling shared between two halves of a whole finding each other.
Then reality comes crashing down and Jaskier remembers what Geralt told him that day and he thinks: Fuck this.
Appetite gone, Jaskier clears his throat and looks away. He deliberately ignores Essi’s sympathetic gaze as he packs up the rest of his uneaten food. He stands up and slings his shoulder bag before daring to look at his friend.
“I just remembered I have papers to grade. I’ll see you later, yeah?”
Essi nods her head. Jaskier doesn’t wait for a reply and turns to make his escape, but not before he catches Geralt still staring at him.
For the life of him, Jaskier is still unable to read the man’s facial expressions. It’s just so… inscrutable. Like staring into a slab of brick wall with no hopes of breaking through it. Jaskier doesn’t know why he still finds himself caring at this point.
Who is he kidding? He’s always cared.
“Professor Pankratz.”
Jaskier averts his eyes from Geralt to meet Yennefer’s violet eyes, a smirk on her ruby lips. They’re not close, and though he finds the woman equally terrifying and beautiful, Jaskier can’t help but be a little fond of her.
“Professor Vengerberg,” he acknowledges her haughty look with a faint smile.
From his peripheral gaze, Geralt looks like he’s opening his mouth to address him. But Jaskier thinks it’s probably a trick of the light, so he walks away and forces himself not to look back.
No matter how painful it is. No matter how his soulmark feels like it’s going to burn a hole through his shirt.
~
3 years ago
“Is that the new Anthropology professor?” Essi whispers to Jaskier excitedly.
Jaskier gazes across the spacious meeting room to find the person his friend is referring to. It’s about damn time the university hired someone to replace Mousesack. The elderly scholar looked like ready to drop if he stayed for another semester.
“I don’t see-- oh.”
Oh, indeed. Jaskier shamelessly eyes the silver-haired Adonis dressed in grey slacks and a tight-fitting dress shirt. He notes with mild amusement how the newcomer looks a little awkward standing beside the drinks table, drink in hand as he silently eyes his surroundings with a guarded expression.
“Oh, he’s gorgeous,” Jaskier says under his breath.
“The hair isn’t doing it for me, but yeah he’s gorgeous,” Essi agrees with a hum.
“I’m gonna introduce myself. Be right back.”
Jaskier doesn’t wait for Essi’s response as he quickly crosses the room to approach the brooding man. Like a lone wolf eyeing his prey, he thinks with an inward chuckle.
“Hello, there,” Jaskier greets the man with a friendly smile once he’s standing a respectable distance from him. He quickly takes note of their height difference. Well, more like a lack of it as Jaskier surmises the burly man is only an inch or two taller than him. “You must be the new Anthropology professor. I’m Julian Pankratz, but everyone here calls me Jaskier. I teach Introduction to Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing.”
Jaskier feels his smile start to falter as the silver-haired Adonis initially doesn’t accept his handshake. He’s about to bring down his arm when he feels a warm, calloused hand curl around his.
That’s when he feels it: the spark. Jaskier is unable to hide a gasp when he feels an electrifying feeling trail down his spine. He blinks owlishly at the other man who looks just as shocked as him.
“Geralt Rivia,” the man introduces himself after a few seconds of awkward silence pass. Jaskier feels another shiver down his spine upon hearing the low, growly voice.
“N-nice to meet you, Geralt.”
“Hmm.”
Instead of feeling annoyed, Jaskier feels endeared at the non-verbal reply. He finds his gaze falling on their clasped hands, and he’s about to let go when something catches his eye and he freezes on the spot.
Geralt has his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, so Jaskier can see the veins and light dusting of hair on his arm. But that’s not what he’s focusing on, no. He finds himself drawn to Geralt’s forearm, where a familiar-looking mark resides. A mark that Jaskier can draw in his sleep because he bears the same mark since he was born.
Holy shit, Jaskier thinks as he looks up to meet Geralt’s puzzled frown with a slackened expression. I just met my soulmate.
~
Present day
“Hang on, you bloody cat,” Jaskier grumbles under his breath as he enters his one-bedroom apartment later that evening. Mister Fuzzball meows and curls his orange tail around his calf while Jaskier locks the door. “Yes, yes, you will get your meal in a bit. Just let me put down my bag, darling.”
Mister Fuzzball meows again as the tabby cat trails after him.
Jaskier goes through the motions of his nighttime routine like clockwork. Change into his home clothes, feed Mister Fuzzball, prepare his own dinner, and then eat his dinner on the couch while watching a rerun episode of The Office.
Afterwards, he leaves the dirty dishes on the sink to sit on the small dining table to grade more papers. He works silently for a couple of hours while nursing a glass of wine, and when Jaskier finds that he can no longer find the energy to constructively criticize his students’ writing, he turns in for the night. He cuddles Mister Fuzzball for a few minutes before going to the loo to brush his teeth and do his extensive skincare routine.
By eleven o’clock, Jaskier is in bed with the lights turned off. He lets out a sigh as he stares aimlessly at his ceiling and wonders how his life has come to this. Just going through the motions of a routine well-established whilst trying his best to ignore the ache in his chest.
Lost in his thoughts, Jaskier finds himself stroking his left collarbone, tracing the lines that are slightly raised as he hums a nameless tune under his breath.
Rebirth. That’s what his soulmark symbolizes. But all Jaskier feels these days is the opposite.
He doesn’t fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.
~
“- so I told mum that I’ll spend Christmas with them and then go to Scotland for New Year’s with Edmund. What about you?”
Belatedly, Jaskier notices the silence has stretched on, so he looks up from staring at the painting of Philippa Eilhart to meet Essi’s worried gaze.
“Sorry, what?”
“Are you alright, Jask?” Essi asks. “You don’t look too well, love.”
Jaskier bats off her hands as his friend tries to feel his forehead for a fever.
“I’m fine, Essi. Just tired.”
“Not sleeping well?”
He shakes his head. He can’t explain it, but he’s feeling more lethargic than usual.
“No, I’m sleeping fine. I’m just tired, s’all.”
Essi doesn’t look convinced, so Jaskier musters what strength he has left to smile at her.
“I’m fine, mother. There’s no need to get your knickers in a twist.”
“If you say so, Jask,” Essi replies with an eye roll. Then teasingly, she adds, “Better apply concealer, though. I can see your bags from here.”
Jaskier gasps and tosses the crumpled wrapper of his sandwich at her.
~
3 years ago
“Geralt! Hey, hi. Do you have a minute?”
Jaskier smiles nervously at the hot Anthropology professor who is about to exit the break room. Geralt turns to look at Jaskier with a puzzled frown before he grunts and nods his head. Relieved, Jaskier tilts his head and gestures for the other man to follow him to a somewhat secluded corner of the room. Although standing beside the painting of Philippa Eilhart, one of the founders of Redania University, isn’t such a good idea. But Jaskier is out of good ideas at this point because he’s nearly bursting at the seams to do something he’s been meaning to do for the past three months since he met Geralt Rivia.
“What did you want to talk about?” Geralt asks him, looking curiously at Jaskier now.
Jaskier clears his throat and wipes his sweaty palms on his slim corduroy pants as he works up the nerve to just… do it.
“Yes, um, so,” he begins eloquently. Oh gods, this was easier in his head. “So we’ve known each for a few months now and I like to think we’ve reached a certain understanding of one another. One might, er, even say that we’re casual friends at this point.”
Geralt blinks at him but doesn’t say anything. If Jaskier looks closely, which he is, he thinks there’s something akin to amusement dancing in the other man’s golden eyes. Could be a trick of the light, but Jaskier has high hopes.
“Geralt, um,” Jaskier continues. He tries his best to ignore the butterflies fluttering in his belly as he focuses on what he’s going to say next. “I don’t know how to say this, exactly, because it’s never happened to me before. But, um. Well, the university is singing your praise and you’re an unexpected hit with the students. No surprise there, if you ask me, you’re an incredibly beautiful man and, oh god.”
“You’re rambling,” Geralt notes with a slight upwards quirk of his mouth.
Jaskier scratches the back of his head. “Yes, I’m well aware, thank you.”
Geralt snorts, looking amused now.
“Just spit it out, Jask,” he says not unkindly.
And, well. That ought to do the trick.
“We’re soulmates,” Jaskier blurts out. He doesn’t notice Geralt stiffen, too preoccupied with getting the words out now that he’s finally said it. “And before you say anything, I saw your mark. On the first day we met - well, I introduced myself. We shook hands and you had sleeves rolled up to your elbows, and that’s when I noticed the mark etched on your forearm.” When Geralt doesn’t say anything, Jaskier hurriedly adds, “I have the same mark, you see. Right here.”
Then and there, Jaskier unbuttons his white dress shirt and yanks the collar of his undershirt down to show Geralt the same dandelion tattoo across his left collarbone.
Seconds, and then minutes, pass by and Geralt remains stoic, an unreadable expression on his chiseled features. Jaskier’s smile falters as he self-consciously buttons up his shirt once more, feeling naked and seen under the stoic gaze of his colleague.
“Geralt? What, um. Please say something.”
It takes several seconds before Geralt reacts. The older man breathes in deep through his nose and slowly exhales through his mouth. He blinks at Jaskier, golden eyes swiftly glancing at his covered soulmark.
“Hmm.”
Jaskier nearly balks at the response. Well, he certainly wasn’t expecting that!
“Geralt?”
When Geralt meets his hopeful stare, Jaskier knows his answer from the lack of emotion in the other man’s eyes. Something in him cracks at that very moment.
“I don’t know what to say,” Geralt begins haltingly.
Jaskier’s voice is hoarse when he answers, “The truth would be nice.”
Geralt hums but doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. He looks at the painting to his left, and Jaskier silently observes him as he works up the nerve to share his thoughts.
Eventually, Geralt settles upon saying, “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
A part of Jaskier was already expecting it, based on Geralt’s initial reaction, but it still hurts, holy shit.
“Can you…” Jaskier clears his throat. “Can you tell me why? Maybe, maybe we can compromise?”
His voice trails off when Geralt shakes his head.
“I’m not… available. The whole soulmate thing is… hmm. It’s not my thing. I don’t believe in that whole destiny crap. I’m sorry.”
Not his thing? Doesn’t believe in the “whole destiny crap”?
What?
“But, but Geralt,” Jaskier protests weakly. “You’re my other half. And I’m your--”
“I said I’m not interested,” Geralt reiterates firmly, golden eyes determinedly not meeting Jaskier. “I’m sorry, Jaskier.”
Then without waiting for a response, Geralt shoulders past him and leaves the break room like he’s being chased by a pack of wolves.
Jaskier stares at the spot where Geralt was standing just moments ago, feeling like he lost the one thing he never had in the first place.
~
Present day
“Remind me again why Valentine’s Day is not considered a proper holiday?”
Essi is looking through the books that line up the shelves of Jaskier’s office as he rummages the piles of paper scattered on his desk.
“Because Valentine’s Day is not a proper holiday, Essi,” Jaskier answers somewhat distractedly. He continues searching for one of the papers he remembers grading the night before, but he can’t find. It. Here. “It’s just a big, fat scheme for companies to capitalize on lovesick fools. Now where the bloody fuck is that paper?!”
Essi ignores his grumbling.
“Hmm, true, but they should. I mean, any business big or small can develop a strong value proposition aimed at lovesick couples. Of course, the competition would be ghastly, but considering that Sole Mate has matched 5,000 couples in the UK alone, I think they missed an opportunity there.”
“Whatever you--” Jaskier starts to say, only to immediately cut himself off when he starts coughing. And it’s not the good kind of cough, either.
He spends almost a minute coughing up a lung, and he ultimately accepts the tissues Essi hands him. He thanks her with a thumbs up before he spits out the phlegm on it. Jaskier crumples it up before tossing it in the bin under his desk. Out of sight, out of mind.
“Are you okay?” Essi asks him, sounding worried.
Jaskier nods as he clears his throat before speaking.
“Yes yes, I’m fine. Sorry, didn’t mean to alarm you.”
“Jask, you don’t look fine.”
Jaskier waves off his friend’s concern as he pushes a book out of the way. He makes a triumphant sound when he finally finds the missing paper. Jaskier quickly shoves it into his messenger bag as he picks up his blazer to shrug into it.
He meets Essi’s worried gaze, and Jaskier tries to appease her with a dimpled smile.
“Turn that frown upside down. I’m perfectly fine, Essi.”
Essi still doesn’t look convinced. “Have you been to the doctor? You should go for a check-up.”
Jaskier shakes his head.
“I’m still recovering from the flu last week but I’m regularly drinking that herbal tea you recommended to me. It’s working wonders on my throat. I’ll be right as rain in no time, don’t you worry.”
~
Rejected soulbonds are few and far between as far as Jaskier is aware. There’s not much study material available on the Internet, but what he’s found out so far doesn’t help ease the anxiety that’s been building up for months now.
Lethargy. A decrease in the immune system. Difficulty with sleeping. Shortness of breath.
They’re a few of the symptoms that researchers from Kerack Institute compiled a few years ago from studying broken, or rejected, soulbonds. According to their study, it’s not a life-threatening situation. People who experience this usually end up recovering after a period of time. Broken or rejected soulbonds usually occur if the person’s soulmate is deceased before they meet, or if their other half is already in a committed relationship with someone else.
In Jaskier’s case, it’s neither. Geralt’s rejection still stings after all these years, and Jaskier doesn’t understand why he still feels like it happened yesterday. The ache in his chest is not dissipating at all. In fact, it’s worsening as days go by. He’s been to see a cardiologist, and the scans showed that his heart is perfectly fine. So whatever Jaskier is going through right now is not physical, but more… psychological? Emotional?
He’s not certain about that since there’s not enough material about his case. But one thing does stand out from what Jaskier read about rejected soulbonds.
Proximity is what makes or breaks the affected party.
Unfortunately, Jaskier and Geralt are employed in the same university. They attend the same weekly meeting, attend the university’s functions when required, and they usually see each other during their breaks. It’s not often, but it happens frequently.
So the more he sees Geralt, the worse Jaskier feels. And over time, it could literally be his life on the line.
And therein lies the problem.
Well, there’s only one thing left to do.
~
“You want to go on sabbatical?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“I believe that’s what I just said, yes.”
Vesemir Morhen, the president of Redania University, looks at Jaskier with a perplexed expression.
“Jaskier, may I know why you’re requesting to go on leave in the middle of the semester?”
Jaskier hesitates for a second before replying, “I just think it’s the right time to do so, sir. I talked to Priscilla, and she’s willing to shoulder my classes for the rest of term. There’s not much ground to cover--”
“Jaskier, Priscilla is going on maternity leave starting next month,” Vesemir interrupts him, eyebrow raised.
“Well, um, I’m aware of that.”
“Then why--”
“That’s why I talked to Coën to cover for her, well, for me, next--”
“No.”
Jaskier snaps his mouth shut mid-tirade at Vesemir’s stern gaze.
“Sir, please, I--”
Vesemir shakes his head.
“No, Jaskier. If you really want to take a sabbatical, you can do so after the term ends. At this moment, I can’t allow you to go on leave. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait a little longer.”
“Very well, sir,” Jaskier answers stiffly, knowing that once Vesemir has made his mind up there’s no chance of him changing his decision.
So he’s stuck for another three months here.
Fuck, he curses to himself. Damn it.
~
It’s a little late in the evening and Jaskier is just about to leave his office. After hours of hunching over his desk marking papers from his Advanced Creative Writing class, Jaskier is more than ready to eat leftovers for dinner and binge-watch a few episodes of Anne With An E. Fortunately, he doesn’t have a scheduled class until tomorrow afternoon so he can sleep in a little bit later.
Jaskier locks his office, pockets his key, and turns to walk down the hallway towards the parking lot when he finds himself meeting Geralt’s gaze across the corridor. A jolt runs down his spine as he staggers in his steps, and Jaskier is momentarily nonplussed at the peculiar look on the burly man’s face.
“Jaskier,” Geralt says eventually when he doesn’t speak up.
Jaskier swallows inaudibly, his tongue clicking on the roof of his mouth.
“Geralt.”
Jaskier waits patiently as he eyes the Anthropology professor who looks like he’s working up the courage to say something. It’s certainly a first, and Jaskier is not sure what Destiny has up her - his? Their? - sleeve this time.
He’s fucking exhausted, damn it.
“Yennefer told me you were planning to go on sabbatical,” Geralt finally blurts out in his typical gruff voice.
Jaskier blinks. Well, he was certainly not expecting that.
“What? I mean, how in the world did Yennefer find out? I never spoke to anyone about this except Vesemir.”
He notes with awe as Geralt shuffles his feet on the hardwood floors, and for a moment, something akin to fondness wells up in Jaskier’s chest before he tamps it down. This is not the time to feel anything remotely positive towards Geralt Rivia when he’s the source of Jaskier’s misery.
“Hmm, well,” he hears Geralt reply. “She told me she heard it from someone who overheard Vesemir’s assistant talking to Tissaia after you left. So it could be anyone.”
Jaskier is unable to hide a groan of frustration. He runs a hand through his already disheveled chestnut locks as he thinks, Great, they’re definitely going to bring this up at the meeting on Friday. Nosy little witches.
“Yes, well, it’s not happening,” Jaskier says with a shrug. He finds himself taking a step, and another, and another, before he’s walking down the corridor to narrow the distance between him and Geralt. And he doesn’t stop when he reaches the other man’s side. “Vesemir said I can’t go on leave right now, so I’ll still be here until the end of term.”
He hears footsteps behind him, and Jaskier inwardly curses when Geralt picks up the pace to follow him.
Just his luck. And why the fuck now?
“Is everything okay?”
Puzzled at the non-sequitur, Jaskier doesn’t break his stride, but he does look over his shoulder to see the closest thing to concern written over Geralt’s face. A part of Jaskier finds it endearing before he swats that thought away with a scowl.
“Everything’s fucking peachy, Geralt,” he answers waspishly before turning his attention ahead of him. “And why are you following me?”
“I’m not, I’m going to the parking lot,” Geralt says simply. This time, Jaskier detects a hint of amusement in his tone, which only serves to piss him off. “Where did you plan on going, then?”
“None of your business,” Jaskier says through gritted teeth. He thrusts open the double doors and quickly descends the stone steps two at a time.
“What’s gotten into you?” he hears Geralt ask, and that’s it.
They reach the parking lot, but instead of marching over to his blue Volkswagen Beetle, Jaskier whirls around to face Geralt. He distantly notes with satisfaction how the other man quickly takes a step back.
“Nothing has gotten into me,” Jaskier says, aggravated beyond comprehension in that moment. “I just wanted some goddamn space, but apparently that’s really fucking hard to come by these days. So for the love of god, take your curiosity and fake sincerity and leave me the fuck alone.”
Geralt’s brows furrow as he meets Jaskier’s glare with perplexity.
“I… it’s not--” he protests haltingly before he shakes his head and tries again. “I only wanted to know--”
Jaskier swiftly cuts him off.
“Well, you lost that right the day you rejected me,” he spits out. Distantly, he knows he’s being too harsh, but Jaskier can’t bring himself to care right now because nothing in his life makes sense anymore. He misses the flicker of emotion that passes over Geralt’s face, too busy turning around to unlock his car. “Just… just leave me alone, Geralt.”
If Geralt responds, Jaskier doesn’t hear it. He starts the ignition and doesn’t bother to warm up the car. He quickly reverses from his parking space and presses his foot on the gas, wanting to get as far away as he can from the one person his soul is aching to be close to.
~
“Damn, Jask,” Essi says after Jaskier relays to her what happened that night over the phone. “You really tore him a new one, huh?”
“Serves him right,” Jaskier grumbles. He takes another bite of leftover orange chicken as he listens to his friend whistle on the other end. “I know that kind of whistle. That’s your disapproving whistle.”
“Yes, well,” Essi starts. Jaskier frowns, so he pauses the show he’s watching, cutting off Anne mid-tirade as she talks to Gilbert Blythe.
“What is it?”
Essi hesitates for another second before eventually saying, “Don’t you think you were a little harsh on him, though?” Before Jaskier can respond, she continues. “Don’t get me wrong. Geralt should’ve seen it coming and I understand where you’re coming from, Jask. But I don’t know, something doesn’t add up to the confrontation. Like, I feel like your reaction wasn’t justified enough?”
Jaskier sighs.
“What do you want me to say, Essi? He was being nosy and I didn’t like it. We barely exchanged a word in three years and of all the occasions, he chooses now to do so? Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know, either.”
Essi is silent for a while.
“Something’s up with you, Jask.”
Jaskier is lucky that they’re not talking over FaceTime because he would’ve been caught in that moment.
“Nothing’s up with me,” he says with an eye roll. He knows Essi doesn’t believe him, so he adds, “I swear, Essi. I just want a break, and I think not seeing Geralt’s face for a year is the first step.”
~
Weeks pass, and spring slowly introduces itself in hues of green and yellow. Jaskier is able to breathe a little easier when he notices the distinct lack of one Geralt Rivia. Sure, they still see each other during faculty meetings, but that’s a given. Outside of that weekly assembly, Jaskier doesn’t see neither hide nor hair of the silver-haired Adonis. A part of him sighs in relief because at least his one wish was granted. But another part of him, the bigger part, can’t help but feel melancholy at no longer seeing or bumping into his soulmate.
After all, it’s for Jaskier’s benefit that it has to be this way until the end of term. Less than three months to go and he can finally go on sabbatical. He doesn’t know where he’s going yet, but Jaskier finds the idea of starting in New Zealand to visit Hobbiton very appealing.
He’s going to miss his students, of course. He’s going to miss Essi and Priscilla, and the other faculty members he’s gotten close to over the years. He’s obviously going to miss Mister Fuzzball, his orange tabby purring and constantly requesting for cuddles and treats. He hates to admit it, even to himself, but Jaskier knows he’s going to miss Geralt. Fuck, he misses the man right this moment, and the idea of not seeing his soulmate for a year makes him feel… antsy.
“No, we’re doing this,” Jaskier shakes his head. Mister Fuzzball meows and he looks down to see his cat playfully nipping at his fingers. Jaskier chuckles and cuddles Mister Fuzzball closer to his chest. “You’re right, Mister Fuzzball. This is for the best. Distance is what will heal this rejected bond, that’s for certain. What’s the worst that could happen, right?”
Mister Fuzzball meows and boops his nose to Jaskier’s chin.
Yes. Easier said than done.
~
It all comes to a head in late May.
Finals week is looming closer so Jaskier and the rest of the faculty at Redania University are working overtime. After a tiring week of preparing exams and preparing his handover to the Literature Department before he goes on sabbatical, Jaskier elects to pamper himself once the weekend rolls around.
He wakes up after eleven on a Saturday morning and decides to have brunch at his favorite pub. He calls Essi, who agrees to meet him at Rosemary & Thyme in half an hour, before he gets up from bed and starts getting ready for a relaxing day outside. Maybe he’ll try and coax Essi to go shopping with him. Retail therapy has worked wonders on his mental state before.
But Jaskier never managed to do any of those things.
Instead of taking his car, he elects to take the subway instead because finding a parking space is always a pain in the arse on the weekend. Jaskier is only a few blocks away from reaching Rosemary & Thyme when he hears the commotion before he sees it.
Several vehicles’s horns start blaring while people from the sidewalks shout in alarm. Jaskier turns at the noise, and he feels his heart leap to his throat when he sees a small blonde girl running to the middle of the road to pick up a round, furry stuffed toy she likely dropped.
“Ciri!”
The voice who yells the child’s name is somewhat familiar, but Jaskier ignores it for the moment because a child is in danger. He doesn’t know how it happens or why, but something clicks in Jaskier that makes him act on instinct. He pushes past the other onlookers staring in horror and sprints to the middle of the busy street.
The small blonde girl -- Ciri -- can’t be more than five years old. She has the furry toy clutched to her chest when Jaskier reaches her side. From his peripheral vision, he glimpses a cab approaching them, and the next several seconds happen in slow-motion.
The cab’s brakes screech as the driver spots them a little too late.
The blonde girl’s emerald eyes lock on Jaskier, a look of awe and confusion on her freckled gaze.
Around them, several bystanders are either frozen on the spot or shouting in alarm.
Geralt stands at the curb with Yennefer and a few other burly men, a look of undisguised terror on his handsome face.
It feels like a lifetime and not, and without giving it much thought, Jaskier finds himself lifting the blonde girl and tossing her in the arms of the one cyclist who had the presence of mind to block the other cars who managed to brake on time.
Except for one.
One second, he has both feet on the ground, and the next Jaskier finds himself on his back on the concrete floor. He feels something sticky trickle down his face, and when he tries to speak, he ends up coughing on the metallic taste of blood.
Oh. So he got hit by the cab, then.
A cacophony of noise permeates through his muddled senses. Sirens and screams and several pairs of feet thudding closer and closer. Jaskier tries to blink but his vision is blurring.
“Jaskier, Jaskier,” the familiar voice says, sounding panicked and choked to his ears. Do they know him? “Jaskier, oh fuck. Hold on, Jaskier. Help’s on the way.”
“Eskel, take Ciri from the cyclist,” another familiar voice filters through. “Geralt, don’t move him. We don’t know what injuries he’s sustained.”
“What injuries-?!” an unfamiliar growly voice interrupts. “He got hit by a fucking car! He’s definitely broken some bones.”
“Lambert, be useful and call a fucking ambulance,” the familiar voice growls back. There’s a gurgling sound before the familiar voice, Geralt, speaks up. “Ssh, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay. I’m so sorry.”
“Ngh,” Jaskier slurs. He tries to keep his eyes open but it’s becoming more difficult by the second. “G’rlt.”
“Keep your eyes on me,” the voice repeats, and they sound choked with emotion. “Jask, stay with me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please stay with me.”
It’s the last thing Jaskier hears before he loses consciousness.
~
2 weeks later
“You wonder what he’s thinking when he shivers like that. What can you tell me? What could you possibly tell me? Sure, it’s good to feel things, and if it hurts, we’re doing it to ourselves--”
Someone knocks on the door before it opens, and Jaskier looks up to see the nurse, Jackie, standing on the threshold. Essi, who’s been reading to him his favorite poems for the past hour, stops to look up as well.
Jackie smiles at them before she addresses Jaskier, “I’m sorry for interrupting you, but you have another visitor, Jaskier.”
A glance at the clock nailed to the wall in front of him alerts Jaskier that it’s already past three o’clock.
“Shit,” Essi curses beside him, clearly taking note of the time as well. “Sorry, Jask. I lost track of the time. I need to go.”
She looks down apologetically at Jaskier, who shakes his head in understanding and smiles warmly at her.
“Not at all, Essi,” he says, voice still a bit hoarse. “Thank you for visiting me again. I’m sorry for keeping you.”
Essi pockets her phone and slings her messenger bag across her shoulders before leaning down to brush a hand through Jaskier’s unwashed hair and planting a soft kiss on his bandaged forehead.
“Don’t apologize, silly,” she admonishes slightly once she straightens. She smiles crookedly at Jaskier and brushes her fingers on his face, lightly tracing the faint bruises on his cheek. “I’ll drop by again tomorrow before my afternoon lecture. Do you need me to get you anything?”
“No, I’m good. But please feed Mister Fuzzball, and cuddle him for me, won’t you?”
Essi rolls her eyes good-naturedly but nods her head. “Of course, Jask. I got Mister Fuzzies under control.”
“It’s Mister Fuzzball!”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Love you. Take it easy and I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
It’s Jaskier’s turn to roll his eyes, but he carefully waves his bandaged wrist at his best friend’s departing figure.
“Love you too. See you later, Daven.”
When Essi disappears around the corner, less than thirty seconds pass before Jaskier’s next visitors come in.
“Jaskier! You’re awake!” a small, blonde girl greets as she dashes inside the room. She stops at the very last second when she reaches Jaskier’s side, careful with his injuries as she climbs up the bed to plant a sloppy but very welcome kiss on his bruised cheek.
“Of course I’m awake, darling,” Jaskier answers with a dimpled grin as he playfully boops Ciri’s nose, causing the child to giggle. “I would never pass up the chance to miss your visit.”
“How are you? Did you finish watching Frozen yesterday? You fell asleep and Papa said I shouldn’t disturb you.”
“I’m feeling better now that you’re here. And no, I didn’t finish Frozen yesterday but I already watched it before so it’s okay. What movie do you want to watch next, hm?”
Jaskier chuckles as he listens to Ciri prattle on for the next few minutes about her favorite scenes in Frozen and how she wants to watch an old Disney film called The Emperor’s New Groove. Jaskier looks up to see the second visitor who silently trailed after the energetic child, making sure to shut the door behind him to give them privacy.
Geralt is already seated on the chair Essi just vacated, the silver-haired man looking at Ciri and Jaskier with undisguised fondness. If someone told Jaskier that he would be the object of Geralt Rivia’s shameless googly eyes, he would tell them where to shove it. But as it is, since his unfortunate accident two weeks ago, it’s like the man did a 180-degree. It’s probably mean of Jaskier to think it, but he can’t help it. If he hadn’t saved Geralt’s daughter, they likely wouldn’t be in this situation.
But Jaskier won’t have it any other way. Daughter or not, Jaskier doesn’t regret saving Ciri. Not at all. He may only know the child for less than a month, but he already loves her like his own, and that notion should terrify Jaskier. It really should, but for some unfathomable reason, it feels completely natural. As easy as breathing.
Although he and Geralt still have so much to talk about - goodness, there’s so much baggage between them that needs to be unpacked and addressed - Jaskier finds that he doesn’t mind spending this time getting to know his soulmate’s family. Aside from Ciri, he’s already met Lambert and Eskel, Geralt’s foster brothers who also drop in to visit him a few times a week. Jaskier likes them, likes their crude sense of humor and enjoys their company even when he doesn’t feel like chatting.
Then there’s Vesemir, who happens to be Geralt’s uncle or whatever, and isn’t that a fucking shock? Jaskier initially didn’t know whether to be horrified or amused when the president of the university he works at visited him to wish him a speedy recovery. In the end, Jaskier takes it in stride and thanks the old man for his well wishes.
How has this become his life now? Will wonders never cease?
“- and Uncle Lambert said I should watch Monsters, Inc. next after The Emperor’s New Groove because he said I remind him of Boo,” Ciri continues to chatter, the adorable five-year-old making herself at home by Jaskier’s uninjured side.
Jaskier listens to her attentively, while looking up every now and then at Geralt, the Anthropology professor currently balancing his laptop on his knees as he slowly types.
It’s the sixth, or probably seventh, time that Jaskier looks up when he meets Geralt’s golden eyes already trained on him. There’s that familiar jolt that runs down his spine when their gazes meet, and Jaskier raises a brow at him.
Geralt’s lips quirk upwards into a semblance of a smile, and Jaskier feels his heart stutter against his chest when his soulmate quietly mouths, “Hi.”
Jaskier tries to fight off a smile but fails rather dismally.
“Hi,” he mouths back before shifting his attention back to Ciri, who’s now chattering about her morning at the daycare.
All at once, it feels like the end and beginning of something new.
~
“Gods, I miss playing my lute,” Jaskier grumbles to himself a few nights later.
Ciri is fast asleep beside him, the adorable child already drooling on his shoulder but he doesn’t mind it in the least bit. They watched two movies and had dinner plus dessert, so Jaskier feels a little spoiled.
“Your what now?” Geralt asks, and Jaskier nearly jolts Ciri awake, almost forgetting that there’s another occupant in the room.
He recovers quickly and leans back against the fluffy pillows.
“My lute,” he repeats. At Geralt’s blank stare, Jaskier huffs out a laugh and continues. “It’s a medieval instrument that bards used to play. I learned to play it back in uni - I minored in Music, by the way - and I just… I just love it. And I miss playing it.”
“Oh,” Geralt says after a while. “I never knew you played.”
If Jaskier’s smile comes off a little bitter, Geralt thankfully doesn’t mention it.
“We both don’t know a lot about each other, I’m afraid,” he says.
“Hmm.”
Jaskier snorts. “Well, except for that.”
Geralt doesn’t say anything after that, so they spend the next several minutes in silence. It’s comfortable, for a change, and Jaskier doesn’t mind breaking the quiet with inane chatter. While he enjoyed watching children’s movies with Ciri, he’s easily exhausted, still in the midst of recuperating from his extensive list of injuries. A major head concussion is no joke, but at least Jaskier can sleep peacefully these days.
He’s staring aimlessly at the ceiling and thinking about what he’ll do first when he’s eventually discharged when he hears Geralt clear his throat.
“I was afraid,” Geralt starts when Jaskier turns his head to meet the older man’s eyes. At Jaskier’s puzzled frown, Geralt clears his throat again and explains. “That day, when you told me we were soulmates… I panicked.”
Oh, so they’re finally going to talk about it now. While his soulmate’s daughter is lightly snoring and drooling on Jaskier?
Okay, then.
“That’s some way to panic,” Jaskier teases, but it falls a little flat. He notices Geralt wince, and Jaskier inwardly curses himself because it’s not the time to make jokes right now. “I’m sorry,” he quickly adds. “I didn’t mean it like that. Please continue, I won’t interrupt.”
Geralt blinks, looking surprised. Jaskier smiles at him and decides to wait patiently for him to speak. It doesn’t take long.
“I don’t have a good track record when it comes to relationships,” Geralt begins, his voice quiet and gruff so as not to wake his daughter. He’s not meeting Jaskier’s gaze. Instead, it’s trained on Jaskier’s fingers that’s carefully playing with Ciri’s blonde curls. “Ask my brothers, ask Yennefer, and they’ll gladly tell you of my failed relationships. Don’t know why, but I was more prone to burning bridges than maintaining them.”
Jaskier feels his heart break, and it takes every ounce in him to not reach out to take Geralt’s hand in his because he’s afraid the other man won’t welcome his touch. So Jaskier bites his cheek and keeps silent, and keeps his hands to himself. He continues to wait in silence, willing to be patient for Geralt because it’s clear to see now that his soulmate is struggling with his words.
And he knows better now, too, that Geralt needs this moment to unpack everything that’s been left unsaid between them all these years.
“When Ciri was born, I felt like I finally had purpose,” Geralt continues. “Her mother didn’t want anything to do with her, so Fiona left her in my care and never looked back. I was fine with it, didn’t mind taking on the responsibility of caring for Ciri. She’s my kid, after all, and it’s an honor to raise her. I thought, since I hadn’t met my soulmate at the time, that everything would be fine. And it was fine for a couple of years. Then I met you.”
At this, Geralt finally looks up from studying Jaskier’s deft fingers to meet his cornflower blue eyes. There’s that oh-so familiar jolt, and for the first time in three years, Jaskier allows himself to bask in the remarkable feeling.
“Then you met me,” Jaskier repeats with a small, sad smile. “And I went and made a fool of myself.”
Geralt emphatically shakes his head.
“No, you didn’t,” he says firmly. “I was an idiot.”
“No, I was the idiot.”
“Let’s agree to disagree, then.”
“In retrospect, I probably made things difficult for you,” Jaskier says with a half-shrug. “So I’m really sorry, Geralt. I think I was pretty tactless with my approach.”
Geralt smiles ruefully at him. “My reaction is what caused us to have a falling out.”
Jaskier opens his mouth then closes it with a thoughtful hum.
“I suppose,” he says, then he glances up from studying Ciri’s peaceful face to look at Geralt with a slight tilt of his head. “Why did you react that way, though? I thought… well, I thought you hated me. Hated the concept of soulmates.”
“I could never hate you,” Geralt cuts him off with a sincere look.
Jaskier gapes at him for a few seconds.
“I, well. You said--”
Geralt swiftly interrupts him once again.
“I remember,” he discloses with a grimace. “I’m not proud of it. I was selfish, Jaskier, and I’m sorry.”
“Alright,” Jaskier says with a patient smile. “You’re sorry, but for what? Telling me the truth? Rejecting me?”
His voice trails off when Geralt shakes his head.
“No, no. None of that.” At Jaskier’s puzzled frown, Geralt sighs and rubs the back of his head. “When I met you, I was terrified at how you made me feel. I felt… wrong-footed, I think? And when you told me we were soulmates, it just made the whole thing more… threatening.”
“Threatening how?”
“Ciri is my number one priority. Sure, she has Vesemir and her uncles, and Yennefer, but I’m her dad. My purpose, my… everything I do is for her, Jask, and you have to understand. Please understand, that when you told me we were soulmates, it felt like everything I worked so hard for would come crashing down. Because here was another person who… matters to me more than I could understand at the time. I was… scared… that if I acknowledged our bond, and accepted you, that it would make Ciri feel like I wasn’t prioritizing her. That she was no longer my number one.”
“Because then you’d have to focus all your time and energy on me,” Jaskier finishes, finally understanding where Geralt is coming from. “And on us. Because it takes a couple of months to solidify the bond.”
“Yes.”
Geralt nods, and he looks like there’s a huge weight that’s lifted from his shoulders. Like he’s been carrying this weight for the past three years or so.
Jaskier breathes in and slowly exhales through his nose. He, too, feels like there’s a huge weight that’s been lifted off his chest. Like he and Geralt are finally on the same page.
Well, almost.
“Geralt, I want you to listen to me closely because I’m going to say this once.”
Geralt nods, golden eyes intense as he waits for Jaskier to continue. This time, Jaskier takes a chance and reaches for his soulmates clasped hands. To his immense surprise, Geralt’s fingers curl around his, as if they’ve been doing it for years instead of for the first time.
“I will never fight for your attention, because Ciri will always be your number one. I’m confident in saying that because, believe it or not, I absolutely adore your daughter to bits.” They exchange smiles at that, each turning to look at Ciri sleeping peacefully between them. Jaskier clears his throat and continues. “I’m sorry that you felt like you had to choose between us. If that was the impression I gave you, then I beg for your forgiveness because it honestly wasn’t. I promise you, Geralt. I promise you that Ciri will also be my top priority.” He shakes his head when Geralt is about to open his mouth. “No. If we’re doing this, Geralt, then I want to be involved. I want to be a part of Ciri’s life, not just yours.”
“I can’t ask you of this, Jaskier,” Geralt professes.
“I know you’re not asking,” Jaskier says with a good-natured eye roll. “That’s why I’m offering, silly.”
Something in Geralt breaks because his shoulders sag. He stares unbelievably softly at Jaskier, golden eyes tender with emotion.
“Jaskier,” Geralt says, awe in his tone.
Thinking that he literally has nothing left to lose, Jaskier moves his hand from grasping Geralt’s to cupping his cheek. He feels his soulmate lean into his touch, and Jaskier knows right then and there that they’re going to be alright.
“We both have baggage,” Jaskier tells him once their gazes lock once more. “And we still have so much to talk about. But I’m in this for the long haul, Geralt. You’re my other half, and I’m yours.”
“I’m yours,” Geralt repeats, and he sounds like he’s starting to believe it.
When he leans over to press soft, dry lips to Jaskier’s slightly chapped ones, Jaskier lets himself believe it, too.
They’re going to be alright.
#jaskierswolf#birthday fic#geraskier#geralt x jaskier#the witcher#the witcher fic#geralt of rivia#jaskier#professor jaskier#the witcher au#will cross-post on AO3 in a bit#my writing#dapperyklutz
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long, long health update - tw in tags please read them
I am going to speak very frankly about suicidal ideation; please don't read further if this is triggering for you ;3; but please know that I love you
I had my follow-up appt with my neuropsych on monday to go over my results and whatnot. it was virtual, and I was in the middle of a head episode and I told her I wasn't doing well, but within about 5-10 minutes, she was saying I should probably go to the ER lkajflaj
I guess it looked pretty bad lmao anyway I told her all the reasons I couldn't. medical trauma, being dismissed b/c I have doctors who manage my headaches, and I know it's not life-threatening even if it is 10/10 agonizing, so why are you here. they're so dismissive. she said that they have medication to possibly help break the cycle of constant migraines but I've been treated with those before and they didn't do shit
migraines are secondary to iih. it's the iih that needs to be fixed ._. she said I still deserved to not suffer and that the ER is very strict about keeping covid patients away from other patients and I didn't have the heart to tell her they intubated a covid patient 10-15 feet away from me last time I was in an ER 😭
anyway so the results. she said she wasn't worried about anything going on that was concerning or indicating something wrong in my brain. I DID score quite a bit lower for someone my age on information processing (which is exactly what I said I was struggling with to my two neuros who were both like ehhh) and some issues with memory
but they weren't super specific and so it could be something neurological, could be my migraines and constant agony lmao, could be my Emotional State. could be all of them at once, I suppose ;)
she went into more detail about some of these things but it was the two questionnaires I filled out that were HNNN. so once all the data is entered from like 300 questions it shows a good look into my personality and perceptions and all that and it makes a cool little graph (OR SO I THOUGHT). the kind that looks like mountain peaks. so she points at the one that is waaay higher than the rest and nearly touching the top of the box and she's like 'do you see this one'
me: yeah 😬
her: this is your feelings and ideations about suicide
me: 😬 😩 😬
her: when I see a score this high, I stop what I'm doing and I call the police to have them escort you to a hospital
me: 😬😬😬😬😬
her: but I didn't do that. because when we spoke in office you told me you felt this way and why you don't do it. you told me it's something you've lived with for a long time and the pain you are suffering is what makes it so bad. and I trust you
me: 😭😭😭 okay
her: do you see this line down here? this is people who have suicidal ideation recorded on this test. you scored 98% higher on suicidal ideation compared to people reporting suicidal ideation
HNNNNNN. she said it probably wasn't surprising to me and asked me if I was safe again and all that. I assured her I was and said in my previous appointment; I've had suicidal thoughts since I was like 12? maybe earlier. there have been very few times in my life not surrounded by abuse and trauma so I'm never really free of it. I've had four traumatic incidents causing increasingly horrible episodes of ptsd in nine years. all through my 20s. still here woo, lol
and she said she knew that and had a patient not long after my first appointment who had similar circumstances in their life. and they told her it's almost a comfort having it. cause I was saying it's in the back of my mind at all times and I won't do it, but yeah, it's always there. anyway she said they said the same thing; it's always there, always in the background as 'hey I'm an option!' even though we aren't going to harm ourselves. it's a comfort knowing there is an option even if we plan on never using it? idk it just spoke to me and I felt it in my soul
we talked about some emotional stuff after and I cried and it was a thing. it felt really good to speak to a psychologist who, just as she was in the first appointment, seemed genuinely concerned and wanted to help
me. I told her I was ready for therapy and she said she'd already looked for therapists for me lkasjdlkja and gave me a group that I emailed yesterday. I don't think they'll take my insurance but she said to message her through the portal if they don't and she'll try to find someone who does
I don't remember if I mentioned it, but since she knew about the head shit before I met her, she dimmed her office lights without asking if I needed it and like as soon as we started the virtual visit, she leaped up and dimmed them and said she should've thought about it before the appt 😭 (I keep my brightness really low on my computer and use the warming feature 24/7 on comp and phone and my apt is really dimmed but it still helped a lot when she did it)
she kept saying 'you did nothing wrong. it was the choice of others to do what they did. you don't deserve to carry their choices. you deserve to be able to hand it back to them. you don't deserve to be in pain. you did nothing wrong. you deserve to be free of what they did and you deserve to not suffer in such physical pain'
I'm so wary of doctors but I really like her and I feel fortunate to have been referred to her ;3;
speaking for a long time and especially emotionally is hard for me, so I might try to do two sessions a month once I find a therapist and see if I'm ok with that. trying to keep everything virtual while delta is out there
I read her report and her official diagnosis is uhh really strong for major depressive disorder, severe. and severe ptsd with disassociative symptoms so!!! I claimed both of those on my disability application and the person handling my claim told me when I had this appt to call and let her know because she wanted the info. I signed a release the day I was there when I told my neuropsych that cause MH stuff is different than other medical records. she said she faxed it to the woman handling my disability application but I was gonna call her and ask if she received it and also tell her I have a new neuro so she will probably request his stuff too
I called today and her voicemail box is full so lol try again later
today's been awful. last night was horrible. got a bill for over $800 from my colonoscopy/endoscopy even though I asked numerous times if insurance was covering it and was told yep, every penny. so I was on the phone with insurance and the surgery center for 45 minutes. insurance seemed confused af but the agent I spoke with got some help from people who handle this stuff I guess
finally she told me not to pay it, they're going to send them a letter to get it sorted (idk if this means I won't have to pay it at all or if they're going to try to make it that way. but I think govt insurance, which is what I have, works differently. like doctors kinda have to follow what they say vs. the other way around) and not worry about it for the next 30 days. I'm still gonna worry about it lmao they used a nice scare tactic on the bill that this was the 'LAST AND FINAL NOTICE' despite the fact they've never sent me anything else. my mom and the insurance agent said nah that's just what they do to scare people into paying
fuckin love america <3 land of the free. the american dream! greatest country on earth 💜🖕💜
I just don't want it to go to collections and have to fight credit bureaus to get it off my credit so it's not destroyed |:
anyway my head hit like 10/10 bad while I was on the phone cause of the talking a lot and trying to PROCESS INFORMATION and stress and also the fucking hold music, which I have to hear in some way b/c I gotta know when they're back on the line hnnnnn
bad day. it's 1pm and bad, bad, bad day. bad month all around. I want this shit to stop
anyway. I'm sorry about the suicidal ideation talk, but it's important to talk about that stuff. it can get severe but it can also get better. it does, eventually, even if it comes and goes. it always does get better
I'm sorry, I also really needed to get this down somewhere. feel like I'm going to explode emotionally AND physically and I need to talk about it. hopefully
soon I'll have a therapist to talk to so I can get a lot of this stuff worked on. got my whole life to chat about so it'll probably take a long time but I'm willing to let it lmao therapy doesn't usually work for me anymore but idk I've had a lot of shit happen in less than two years so maybe it will this time
I'm trying! I really am trying
if you read this rambling monster, thank you. love you all and please stay safe
#vtforpedro personal#tw suicidal thoughts#tw suicidal ideation#tw suicide#tw mental health#tw depression#tw anxiety#tw mental illness#personal#medical#also she is obligated by law to report suicide risks and right now that's to the police so I can't blame her for that#we desperately need crisis intervention rather than fucking asshole cops but that's just what it is right now
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Roses Are Red | Bang Chan
Genre: fluff, a little (ridiculous) drama, and a whole lot of crack
Pairing: Bang Chan x princess!reader
Au: royal / fantasy au
Word Count: ~11.2k
Warning(s): some censored language…?, author rambling on and on, some underdeveloped plot what can I say this is mostly for laughs and giggles
Summary: Royal Gardener Christopher Bang only ever wanted to make music all his life, but being orphaned due to a senseless war against the Fire Nation left him at the hands of the kingdom to decide his fate. When tending to some of the many royal roses one day, he happened upon the kingdom’s princess, Y/n, and love at first sight was quite the understatement. However, what they are both unaware of is that she may already be betrothed to another…
A/n: Requested by @hanniiesuckle17 | Masterlist linked down below and in bio!!!
Tag List: @hanniiesuckle17 / @distrikt9 / @hanstagrams / @hyunsunq / @smolboiseavey / @jisungsjheekies / @iluvlix / @straycozy / @stay-nctzen (Let me know if you’d like to be added! Comment, ask, or DM me! <3)
ღ Stray Kids M.List | M.List ღ
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
Howdy y’all
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything in this format…
I know many of you are still waiting for me to finish light switch and let me tell you it IS still...under construction ._.”
I can’t stay loyal to one story at a time and life gets hectic ya dig?
...But I promise that EVENTUALLY MAYBE SOMETIME SOON I’ll get around to carving the second half of it
N E way let’s get this ball rolling! ->
So once upon a time in a far away land…
...Did you just roll your eyes or yawn? >:(( Don’t do that this is totally exciting
Okay so once upon a time in a far away land
There was a princess named Y/n <3 yes, that would be you, sis
She was the cream of the crop, the bees knees, the peanut butter to everyone’s jelly
...Well maybe like 90% of the jelly
There’s always gonna be haters or skeptics nothing we can do about that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway you were basically loved by almost everyone in the kingdom, for your kindness, hospitality, forthcomingness, honesty, bravery, generosity, and sophistication
Also, you were quite beautiful <3 like now teehee
But there was only one problem
Besides the fact that 10% of the jelly jar had peanut butter lodged in their brain
And that was that your father, the king, refused to let you go outside. Like ever. The only time you saw the sun and felt the wind through your hair was from your highest-Rapunzel-tower window, during required festival appearances or during emergency evacuations because THE FIRE NATION WAS ATTACKING!!!! 🔥 (╯°□°)╯🔥🔥🔥
This, however, rarely happened...er, maybe just once, but it was a false alarm because your half-brother Felix had stayed up too late playing video games (YES there is technology in this medieval au sorry not sorry) and he was just...seeing things
He’d been really stressed because his mother, your actually kind and not at all wicked stepmother, had been lowkey pressuring him to find a lovely princess consort or young fletching maiden
He didn’t necessarily have a problem with that, except for the fact that the whole thing was a huge problem that was stressing him out...marriage??? What was that again??? He kinda just wanted to run around the forest practicing archery with his friends, Dark Knight Changbin and Court Jester Jisung (read: pizza and video games)
BUT THIS WASN’T ABOUT HIM, THIS STORY IS ABOUT YOU (ง'̀-'́)ง
...Which is what I was getting at
You see
Felix was a great brother regardless of his mistake of screaming about a false Fire Nation attack and throwing you out of bed at 4 am
Besides being fun and great support/company, he also had this...friend...
A boy named Christopher Bang (♥‿♥)
He often went by Bang Chan tho, and he was ALSO your kingdom’s royal gardener
You know this because you often enjoyed watching him tend to the roses outside your tower, and occasionally would hide in the closet when you were SUPPOSED to be at violin lessons but instead dressed Felix up as your stunt double to spy while Chan watered and changed out the soil of the daffodils in your room
Daffodils were your favorite flower next to tulips and cherry blossoms and sunflowers
And
Almost every other flower in existence that Chan had anything to do with (♥‿♥)
...What could you say, you were hopelessly in love
But he didn’t know that
And the odd thing was
He felt the very same way about you
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
Can we finally get to some real-time story now?
Okay well
Channie’s pov now here y’all
Bang Chan had been the castle gardener for what felt like eons
His parents had disappeared to fight in the war with the Fire Nation and never came back…
:(((
So from a young age, before he was old enough to count, his mom and dad entrusted him to kingdom’s orphanage with care
The local nuns raised him well, and blessed him many times over
He grew up with two best friends there -> a shy boy named Han Jisung and a more confident one named Seo Changbin
The three of them were transferred to work under the kingdom after the local coming-of-age ceremony given to all children when they turn 15
And I totally didn’t steal half of that from an anime or anything...well, just a bit; 25%
So the three of them were whisked off to be given roles of their own to fulfill in order to contribute to society
Changbin was given the title of Dark Knight for his bravery and supreme combat skills
Jisung was awarded the title of Court Jester due to the fact he always made everyone laugh, despite his naturally shy and more introverted demeanor
And Bang Chan, as he preferred to be called, was granted the title of gardener...because...well, they actually denied his musician application, believe it or not
Now, before you get mad
I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!
ARE THESE GUYS FOOLS OR SOMETHING???
WHO WOULD DENY SUCH A TALENTED--
...Well, they were ignorant buffoons, unfortunately (｡•́︿•̀｡)
So he was forever stuck as a royal gardener because, he worked hard, the court knew it, and their predecessor gardener at the time was kidnapped by the Fire Nation
No one knows why and it’s not important (sorry random garden dude)
He’s okay though...we think
Anyway
So Bang Chan fit the role
And now at 23, to this day he still fit the role
It was the same mundane routine every day
W a t e r t h e p l a n t s
C u t t h e v e g e t a b l e s
S n i p t h e t h o r n s
T r i m t h e v i n e s
C h a n g e t h e s o i l
U G H ! ! !
It got to be downright tedious and vexing repeating the same routine like a Zombie by Day6
Which is the song he often hummed with a lull in his eyes as he w a t e r e d and c u t and s n i p p e d and t r i m m e d
And c h a n g e d eua;bhuisahfvirs WAIT A SECOND
(Oh, we’re backing up to age 16 for a sec)
He’s outside the tallest tower s n i p p i n g the thorns on another rose bush when
He looks up to see what time of day it is and stretch his aching back
And he sees
Up in the window
A g i r l ? ? ?
……
Who is she
She’s GORGEOUS
WOW
HE HAS TO SQUINT BUT HE’S STILL GOT 20/20 VISION AND HE KNOWS A CUTE GIRL WHEN HE SEES ONE
HE’S GOT TEENAGE BOY RADAR
Wowza
She’s h o t 🥵🥵
Like the sun beating down on his face right now
Hot hot
Bruuuuuuuuuuuh--
OUCH! The thorns…
He can’t be getting lost in the waking daydream glancing out her window above him, he’s got a job to do
Flashforward to a few days later, when he makes an excuse to go back to Tower C and tend to the roses that don’t need tending to
She’s not there :((
Darn
He looks left and right before burying himself into the bushes so he can wait and see if she shows up
But this poor boy is so overworked that he falls asleep
Poor guy needed a nap anyway 😔😔
He’s having a peaceful dreamless sleep when a song enters his mind
It’s actually a song he wrote, when he applied to be a castle musician
He wakes to hearing the song above him
The sweet, sweet melody just wafting daintily through the air
It’s coming from somewhere above him
...But he’s snagged in the thorn bush and can’t get out 🗿💧
O o p s
Rip
Maybe the bushes did need some work after all--
By the time he rips himself out and basically lost half of his shirt in the process, the song is almost over, coming to a soft decrescendo into a gentle pianissimo
That’s fancy music talk for slowly growing softer and more quiet and ending with a soft, maybe slightly breathy tone
Thankfully it’s cloudy that day so he doesn’t have to squint this time
And BOY IS HE GLAD ABOUT THAT BECAUSE GOOD GRAVY
IT’S HER AGAIN
THE LOVELY MAIDEN HE SAW TWO DAYS AGO
WHO IS SHE?!?!
“Oh, that’s Princess Y/n.”
JISUNG?!?! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM
Boy deadass just pops out of a rose bush like a weasel 🗿💧 what the what
His court jester hat has a few loose thorns in it, and it’s fallen askew to cover half of his face
“...That’s Princess Y/n?” Chan askes, totally in awe
You have such a lovely voice
And he’s bewildered as to how you know his song, seeing as it was a confidential piece he only played for a private group of royals once when auditioning
Jisung just nods, fixing his hat only to have a few of the bells bounce around and whop him in the face
One jingled all the way right into his eye…
But he carries on unaffected; must be used to it <_<
“Yeah, her dad is a total overbearing crazy-protective psycho. ...Well, maybe not psycho, but...he’s crazy protective of his daughter. He’s scared if she takes one step outside, some Fire Nation goon is gonna come popping out of a bush like Team Rocket in almost every old school pokemon episode and kidnap her like Pikachu.”
“...I thought Pikachu always got away.”
“...Oh yeah. 🤔 Bad example then.”
“You are a bad example.”
“Oh yeah?! Well you’re...a good example!”
“...Jisung that was a compliment. And thank you.”
“.........”
...Moving on
“What can you tell me about her?”
“OOOOOOO...Why? You got a crush on her, bro?”
“...I’m just...curious why the king would wanna keep her locked away in a tower like a Christian Anderson tale.”
Jisung sighs and places his hands on his hips like a lecturing mother. “Are you serious? I just told you, His Majesty is crazy overprotective of his only daughter...also, wouldn’t you wanna keep a beauty like that locked away if she were your daughter???”
Chan gives him a disgusted look. “No? Because I’m not an insecure psychopath?? Everyone deserves to be happy and free…” He glances up to the tower. “That can’t be healthy being held prisoner in a giant dungeon like that.”
“True, true...I’d still keep her locked away, though.”
“Jisung!!! Seriously?!”
“WHAT?” (ง'̀-'́)ง “I KNOW HOW TEENAGE BOYS ARE!!! THEY’RE GONNA CATCH THESE HANDS BEFORE I LET ONE OF THEIR GRUBBY LITTLE--”
Chan clamps his hand over his friend’s mouth. “I’m gonna stop you right there. Goodbye, Jisung.”
He looks at you one last time, marveling at your beauty with a hint of pity in his eyes before walking away
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
You hadn’t noticed that day, seven years ago, being too lost in a daydream over whether you wanted tea or a nice iced latte with your lunch...despite how loud they were being
It was one of the few enjoyments of your day
One the few things you got to look forward to: choosing what to have for a meal
Choosing what to wear that was within your parent’s standards
Choosing whether you wanted to wile away the hours reading a book or watching Royal TV or scribbling some poorly drawn comics of what your life COULD be like were you NOT a princess with an overbearing father…
S i g h
You’re hanging upside down on your giant canopy bed in a very unladylike fashion when Felix enters the room. You must have not heard him knock, and he’s like
😳😳💧
To which you “oop-” and quickly throw yourself over in an upright position
“...Sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s fine.” He laughs a bit and closes the door behind him. “So, whatcha up to?”
“......”
Did he have to ask you that? The question sort of burned. What were you supposed to do??? “Just...chillin.”
“Like a villain?”
“In the...millen.”
He laughed at your attempt to carry out the rhyme. “What’s a millen?”
You shrugged. He sat down at the dining table you normally ate at, crossing his feet over the table. “Well, I’ll do you one better. I came to ask if you’d like to accompany me to--”
“WHERE?!?!?!”
\(ಠAಠ)/
You’re right there in his face, shaking his shoulders before he can get another word out.
Felix, wanting to take you OUT OF THE PALACE?!??!?!?!?
THAT WAS HUGE
THIS WAS HUGE
OMGRAVY WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR?!
YOU DIDN’T EVEN CARE WHERE YOU WERE GOING, JUST THE FACT THAT YOU WERE GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE WAS ENOUGH
...You should still probably let him finish, though
Felix (@-@) <- was dizzy for a moment, but once he got his head back on straight, he explained that he’d ask your father if the two of you could go shopping together-- just for a few hours
Felix was the sweetest brother ;-; the sweetest BOY ಥ_ಥ
You were going to have so much fun browsing the shops that you’d only ever read about in novels and seen on TV
The two of you would get popcorn and ice cream and feed the pigeons and do rain dances around the park fountain
And you’d come back with so many souvenirs and nostalgic timepieces from your little journey (╥﹏╥)
It was going to be the BEST. DAY. EVER!
*insert that Spongebob episode here*
……
Or not
Because
Shortly after the two of you skipped hand-in-hand like Hansel and Gretel down to the Royal Throne room
Your father gave the two of you a big fat N O
Jerk…
His booming voice declared, “NO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF MINE WILL BE SEEN BILLOWING ABOUT THE CITY STREETS!!! That’s like asking to be kidnapped and used as a means of war!!!”
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUASDFGHJKL;;SVBU;IABV;SIFABVIFARHVS
HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING BUT WAR AND TAXES!!! IT WAS SO ANNOYING!!!
So, the two of you are forced back to your room alone…
And Felix comforts you and apologizes a thousand times over, words that should coming out of your father’s mouth instead
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
~LATER THAT DAY~
Well, it’s more like evening now
The sun is setting comfortably over the horizon
And Felix has just returned from his shopping trip without you 😔😔
Now before you get angry and call him a traitor, he actually had a fit and refused to go
He even came close to knocking over a table
But that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly and his mother was present
It was his mother that insisted he had to go in order to make a required public appearance for the kingdom and “hopefully find a lady that spotted his fancy” or whatever
Yeah, Felix rolled his eyes too
But he had no choice ://
If it makes you feel any better, he didn’t enjoy himself at all
He spent the whole time thinking about you and looking wistfully at the palace in the distance, to the tower you were most likely glaring wistfully back from
He was now tromping tired princely feet up the winding steps to at least give you a nice gift he’d brought back for you, and some flowers he’d gotten from a recently opened flower shop called Christopher’s Garden
A very nice not-yet-elderly couple ran the shop in honor of their lost son, who they hadn’t heard from since they returned from war
The story was quite sad and bittersweet
……
Shhh we’ll get there later it’s called foreshadowing（∩‿∩）
He’s about three-quarters of the way there when he’s suddenly ambushed by-- you guessed it-- Team Rocket!1!1
Jk it’s Jisung and Changbin
They’re the new Jessie and James of this story except they’re actually good
“Felix!!!”
“SH*T!!!”
Oop
They nearly gave him a heart attack!!! >A<
He almost beats them with the flowers, too, until he remembers last minute they’re for you
“WHAT DO YOU WANT NEVER DO THAT AGAIN”
“I CAN’T MAKE ANY PROMISES BUT WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING”
“WHAT IS IT”
Changbin sighs in his heavy, overzealous knightly gear. “Maybe the two of you can keep it down before you wake the princess?”
Felix shrugs. “Eh, Y/n is always up at this hour. She’s actually a night owl, but don’t tell the king that. Or her teachers.”
Bin smirks. “Noted--”
<_<
Felix has to smack him, which is a hard two second decision but you’re his sister and family comes first 😔😔 But he makes it up by giving Bin a flower, which he awkwardly accepts
“So what was it you wanted to tell me?”
Jisung nods his jingle bell hat all over the place like a bobblehead. “Yeah, okay, so-- check this out!”
He jumps a few steps ahead so he can have room to put on a one-man show. Changbin groans and crosses his arms, while Felix eyes him curiously
“I have this friend, right? Well, we do, actually! Me and Changbin!”
The Dark Knight tilts his head. “You mean Chan?”
“YEA-- I mean, yeah!” He starts bouncing around, mining walking around the garden surrounding the palace walls. “So...I never told you this, but a few years ago...more like seven, I was going for a walk when I spotted him outside the princess’ tower! And I stopped and went ten-thousand stealth mode!”
He mimes diving into the bushes. Changbin rolls his eyes.
“He’d totally fallen asleep in the rose bushes, so I--”
“Could you maybe not talk like you’re twelve?”
“......”
Before the two can start quarreling like a couple of twelve year olds, Felix takes on a responsible air, stepping between them
“Hang on...your friend? Was loitering outside my sister’s room?”
Jisung pops his head over Changbin, which really isn’t that hard. “Yeah, he’s the royal gardener! But like, I don’t think the roses needed tending to that day...and after I revealed myself, he was asking a LOT-- well a few...questions about her. Hint hint, my boy’s in love.”
“Love?”
“Love, bro. Like the real sappy stuff.”
“...Love.”
“...Yes.”
“Your friend. Is in love with my sister.”
“...That would be what I just told you, yes.”
“...Wait. Chan as in, Bang Chan? ...OUR friend Chan?!”
“That’s him!”
“Okay okay hold on,” Changbin waves his arms through the air. “Love is a strong word...and this is Chan we’re talking about. He loves just about everybody. He’s nice and empathetic to everyone. Just last week I had to turn away two maids and a palace chef who’d gotten the same mixed signals.”
Jisung shrugs. “Yeah, well…”
“Also this was seven years ago?!”
“...Yeah…”
Changbin deadpans. “So you got me all hyped about jumping Felix for some love story that probably isn’t even real. Seven years is a long time, Jisung. He may have forgotten about her already-- NOT THAT SHE’S SOMEONE TO BE FORGOTTEN.”
He had to finish that last sentence real quick from the look Felix was giving him. The boy sighs, shifting his gifts into one arm so he can run a small hand through his wind-blown hair. “...This is kind of crazy Jisung, even for you. Why are you bringing this up now of all times?”
“...Well…”
👉👈
“I overheard a royal meeting I shouldn’t have about an hour ago...and your dad was talking about having Y/n engaged.”
“What?!?”
“To the Fire Nation king.”
“WHAT?!?!”
“People often refer to him as Zuko, for reasons unknown, but his real name is Minho.”
“.........”
With fever and a newfound energy, Felix tries bursting up the steps to your room. But unfortunately, Team Rocket stops him.
“MOVE! I have to talk to Y/n about this!!!”
“Hang on! The whole reason I brought up my homeboy in the first place was to maybe stop this suspiciously dangerous and shady deal! If Y/n has already fallen in love with someone else, maybe the king will have a change of heart!!!”
Felix groans, glaring harshly in a manner that isn’t really like him. “Han, her father keeps her locked away in a plush-tailored dungeon and refuses to let her go outside, not even on a short shopping trip with her own brother. He doesn’t want her to be seen, and he certainly doesn’t want her falling in love.”
“Well--!” Han balls his hands into fists. “I WAS TRYING OKAY?! I LIKE Y/N TOO, SHE’S A TIMEPIECE GAL WHEN I’M ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO BE WITHIN TEN FEET OF HER!!!”
“Dang…” Changbin groans. “So you don’t think I’ll be able to ask her out this weekend?”
“......” “......”
The glare he gets from both men is a definite no
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
So what are we to do about a situation like this?
Well I’m glad you asked because we’re about to find out
IRONICALLY right at that moment, you were supposed to be in a late-running math session on how taxing the economy works but
Instead you were blissfully hidden in the closet, watching Chan plant a newly discovered breed of roses on your balcony the author forgot to mention you even had
It was an indoor balcony of sorts; fenced in with mesh and curtains to keep the bugs and trespassers out
There was a cute little garden table with comfy chairs and a small bookshelf
As well as a mini bar and even a small stereo system B))
You’re the princess sis
This was your world since you weren’t allowed to experience the real one
To explain, you had a window right next to it that you often looked out, since your balcony was more or less closed off…
Hopefully that makes sense ._.”
Alright anyhoo
So Chan is planting some gorgeous purple roses that only ever existed in Animal Crossing until now
The most lusciously soft and purpley purple that ever was and ever would be
And here’s you, hunkered down in the closet like a stalker spying on him with one eye and a slit through the cracked door
WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN
Bang!
The door flies open!
A wild Felix appears!1!1
Uh-oh
He’s probably looking for you, but given the equally wild look on his face
He’s probably not aware of Chan’s job, coming in to tend to your plants when you’re scheduled to be absent
Wait they’re friends right
So he isn’t gonna kill him...right?!
Or does this mean he was gonna kill him that much more?!
OH NO
FELIX NO PLS
You’re holding your breath and waiting for the right moment to pounce and topple your half-brother to the floor when apprehensively
He checks his surroundings quickly before shutting the door behind him
……
What the what is this about--
“We need to talk,” Felix starts, pacing to the dining table where he usually sits. Chan freezes, blinking a few times into the roses and the air above them before turning a blank stare the prince’s way.
“Okay,” he states back, “what’s on your mind?”
“About Y/n…”
About you?
“Princess Y/n? What about?”
Yes, what about you?
“...Jisung…” he sighs. “Look, I know it’s been a while since we’ve talked. Let me start by apologizing about that.”
“Oh, no need to apologize. You’re the prince, and I’m the gardener. We’re both quite busy with our—“
“Jisung told me you like Y/n.”
………
…………
……………
I’m s o r r y
WhAT WAS THAT
WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?!
Okay okay hold up
Han Jisung was the court clown and notorious for pranks and lying his ass off
Surely this was just a (albeit cruel) joke…
...Right?!
…
Bang Chan’s ears are turning red
Redder than the roses outside your window
He’s biting his lip, like he wants to say something, but is trying hard to suppress said something
His hands are clenched down into the dirt…
“...Well?” asks Felix. “Is it true?”
“...It’s…”
!!!
WHAT WHAT IT’S WHAT
TELL ME FLOWER BOY WHAT IS IT
SPILL THE BEANS ALREADY
Haha get it…
Beans……
Like seeds……..
...Anyway
“......”
He nods, softly, barely. Bang Chan nods his approval at Felix’s proposed statement.
Is this even real right now…?
Is this allowed?! 😩
Instead of jumping the guy like you thought he would, Felix instead smiles, so brightly it would be enough to scare off the Fire Nation and save thousands of lives
“Oh wow. Oh f*ck. You like my sister. This is...shouldn’t I be mad right now?”
He begins to pace
“...But I’m not. I’m genuinely okay with this. Better than okay. It’s...weird.”
“Probably because Y/n may be saved from marrying Prince Hellhole of the Underworld now.”
The two of them (and you still in the closet) jump at the sound of a new voice wafting in from the ceiling. Looking up, a set of bells can be seen hanging out if the air vent
...Has that always been there?!
Oh my gravy what if Han Jisung has spied on you before
What if someone else has?!
EW
Felix scowls angrily at the vent before lifting a pen off your desk and throwing it with surprisingly good accuracy
It must have hit something because next thing you know Jisung is saying “ow!” and climbing down at the Prince’s demand
“What the hell were you doing up there?!”
“Detective work.”
“You’re banned from doing detective work anywhere near this room.”
“What about Changbin?”
“What?!”
“Oh uhhh...nothing.”
The clanking of heavy armor trying to escape travels across the ceiling…
And Felix huffs.
“CHANGBIN I KNOW THAT’S YOU.”
~~~
So I’m gonna do a mini skip right here to get the ball rolling
After Bin is dragged down and everyone (minus you) is accounted for
The four guys are sitting around your dining table, a sinister(?) plot coming to notion
“Okay,” Felix begins, “So what we know is, according to what Jisung overheard, this arms race war of sorts against the Fire Nation is coming to a rock and a hard place for both sides. And to resolve this issue, it would appear that Y/n is being offered as a bargaining chip. A wedding to unite the two kingdoms.”
……
Everyone is pretty silent
You included, not that you can say anything at the moment…
But just because you’re silent on the outside doesn’t mean you don’t have a million thoughts racing through your head
Let’s get to the most pressing one that’d likely catch your attention first: MARRIAGE?!?!
With whom?!?!
How dare some old geezers try and pawn you off without your permission?! To the enemy?!? To a man you didn’t even know?!?!
WHAT IF HE WAS REALLY OLD
OR GROSS
OR BOTH
OR WHAT IF--
Han suddenly has something to say
Then again when does the boy not
He lunges across the table to grasp at Chan’s hands. “PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO MARRY THE PRINCESS SO SHE WON’T BE SENT AWAY AND I CAN STOP AWKWARDLY CATCHING YOU SPYING ON HER OUTSIDE!!!”
!!!
OH UH
WHA?!
Chan’s ears are turning red again. He’s got a brow quirked like he doesn’t know what Jisung is talking about, but averts his gaze all the same in a guilty manner
Felix is tapping his fingers against his forearm in an attempt to ignore that confession
And Changbin is just sitting next to Chan half confused and half annoyed
“I- I can’t just… Jisung what you’re asking is…”
“It’s too much,” Bin cuts in. “Jisung you can’t just ask someone, much less tell them, to marry a person they have a far-longing crush on, but really know nothing about. They’ve never even spoken to each other before, I can assume, and you’re telling them to spend the rest of their lives in a commitment? That’s intense.”
Jisung pouts. “Yeah, but…!”
“What if we just faked a marriage?”
Three stunned faces (four if we’re counting you) turn eyes upon the eldest and only prince. He smiles warmly, sending a warily comforting shiver down your spine that you have trouble placing as good or bad.
“What do you mean?” Changbin asks.
“I doubt the king is going to accept Y/n’s wishes in all of this, so we can’t just have her or Chan ask to be wed. But if they’re already married…”
Jisung’s face lights up. “Then there’s nothing the king or Fire Nation fools can do about it!!! That’s BRILLIA--”
“But it would just be a ruse. We’ll have a fake license made, and I can supply the rings. I’ve got plenty of underground connections~”
You’re looking at Chan’s face to see what he thinks of all this, but unfortunately his back is to you, and Changbin is blocking 90% of your view…
You can, however, see that his ears are still a flushed scarlet, as well as the base of his neck
“Would you be okay with that?”
He jumps. Felix and the others blink expectantly.
“...Huh?”
“...Are you okay with being my sister’s fake husband for a few hours?”
It’s gotta be the awkwardest question you’ve ever heard coming out of your brother’s mouth, but then…
“Yeah. If it’ll protect Y/n...let’s do it.”
……
It’s the first time you’ve heard him not refer to you as the princess, but rather, just yourself
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
OKAY WE’RE GONNA TRY AND START CRAMMING THINGS WITHOUT CRAMMING TOO MUCH BECAUSE HNNNNN I DON’T WANT THIS TO BE TOO LONG AND DRAWN OUT ಥ_ಥ
SO ON THAT NOTE
Meanwhile in a diabolical castle not too far away but still kinda far
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)⊃━━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ
We’ve got an evil firelord named Zuko over here
But he’s not really evil :(( In fact he’s not evil at all!!!
His name isn’t even Zuko it’s Minho
And he’s just kinda mean is all…
Just a smidge | |
“My Lord Zuko!!!” An attendant bows, groveling at the steps to the throne
He’s some weird guy with an eyepatch
Not important but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Fire King growls, swirling a glass of something strong
“I told you that’s not my name,” he states, tossing the glass after a single gulp. Dang. Intense.
The attendant :((, covering his face like a scared manchild. “PLEASE FORGIVE ME YOUR GRACE!!!”
Minho rolls his eyes. “If I do, will you man up and give me the details on the Nation of (Your Kingdom Name Here)?”
“Oh, yes, yes! Thank you, sire!!!”
“...S u r e.” He blinks a few times, only sparing the slightest hint of a smile when one of the three cats wandering the kingdom jumps onto his lap. “Well? Get on with it.”
“Yes, sire, right away!” Patchy pulls out an enormously large scroll that should NOT have been able to fit in his pocket similar to the mechanics of Animal Crossing (seriously how is it you’re able to fit a giant whale into your pocket and like a freaking tarantula and a hive of wasps like idk about you sis but I would NOT be putting those things in my pocket-) “It would appear that the Princess of (Nation) has given her consent to marry His Royal Highness of the Tallest Order Fire Nation King Zu-- ...L-Lee Minho of the Tallest Order of the Nation of Fire and All Things Cat Related.”
Minho is nodding, a pleasant smirk on his face. Things were just going swimmingly for him. “Perfect. Just as I thought they would. Seungmin? Jeongin?”
From the shadows, two boys stepped forward. “Yes, Your Grace?”
“Please plan my arrival to the Nation of (Your Nation) at once. I’d like to arrive no later than the end of the week.”
“...Sire, with all due respect…” Seungmin swallows. “That’s in two days. Normally, I’d have to send a carrier pigeon to customs since you banned technology after that one disapproving cat commercial, and as you know, your cats are constantly eating both the birds and the notes…”
“......”
“......”
Minho shrugs. “And? So? Just write a new note and buy more birds. There’s no time to waste!”
Seungmin and Jeongin share a look. Arguing against the King would be suicide, so…
“...Yes, Your Unreasonable Grace.”
“Grea-- wait what?”
Comically, they both vanish before any more words can be said.
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
Moving right along here
That night, after the sun has fully set and you’re getting ready to tuck yourself into bed
There’s a strange sound coming from the window…
. . .
Creepy but probably nothing
It’s just the wind, right?
You choose to ignore it and continue organizing the pillows (and dolls?) on your bed in a fashion that suits your fancy when
Tap Tap Tap
. . .
It’s either an incredible coincidence that wind can tap in such a rhythmic fashion, and not so sporadically, or…
There’s someone at the window
...No, really
SOMEONE IS OUTSIDE SIS
THERE’S A FREAKY LOOKIN’ SHADOW RIGHT THERE
On the twelfth floor tho?!
…
Should you answer it
Survey says no
Are you going to?
The stars say yes
BUT FIRST WE MUST ARM OURSELVES BC WE AREN’T TOTAL DUMDUMS 😩
You grab an ornate candlestick from your nightstand and start heading that way
Slowly, carefully, one foot at a time
The closer you get, the more prominent the shadow outside the window becomes…
It almost looks kinda like…
...A tumbleweed? A scarecrow???
………
You’re scared
SOMEONE COMING THIS HIGH MUST BE SKILLED AND DETERMINED AND HAS TO KNOW IT’S YOU OR MAYBE IT’S A THIEF THAT--
“Princess? Princess Y/n?”
!!!
Gasp you know that voice
It’s… …
Without a moment to lose you ditch the candlestick and unlock the hinges, tossing the windows open to…
Watch your beloved…
...Almost fall and crack his head open ._.”
Chan is laughing nervously hanging onto the windowsill with a faint pink mark on his cheek from where the window popped him
You cry out nervously and with an effort on both parts, manage to hoist him inside
Where he clichely falls on top of you 🌚🌚 Teehee 🥴
You can feel the heat rising to your face and swirling around your head that’s already been spinning with thoughts for a while now
And Chan, catching his breath over you, practically mirrors that reaction
I Am You
I see me in you--
Okay sorry
Chan laughs the whole thing off and rolls himself off like Nishinoya performing his famous Rolling Thunder, and helps you up while profusely asking if you’re alright, if you need to sit down, you should probably sit down, oh I’m so sorry Felix told me you stayed up late so--
Ah wait
“He told you that? When?”
You’re now sitting on the side of your bed, and Chan is standing a few feet away with windblown hair that could easily be mistaken for a tumbleweed through the dead of night
The fact that you’re staring at it makes him a little self conscious, but really you were just thinking about how cute he looks
“Uh, he told me a few hours ago. We were just...chatting, and um…”
……
He cuts himself off and sighs into his hands
“I’m so sorry. You probably don’t even know who I am.”
“I do.”
“You do?”
“I do.” You smile. “You’re the gardener. Your name is…” You blush. “Christopher Bang. You take care of the roses at the base of the tower and you planted the purple ones on my balcony today. You’re also a friend of my brother’s.”
“Wow, okay yeah.” He smiles back. Seeing him smiling at you while acknowledging the other, the faint flicker of candlelight (Felix broke your lamp during a karate stunt to make you laugh)...it’s almost too much to handle. “That would sort of explain why you let an absolute stranger into your bedroom at night.”
………
Oop
He had a point there
Blame the author sis she’s got three other WIPs rn and wanted to get this done while doing a semi-decent job (｡•́︿•̀｡)💧
“I-I just...have a strong sense of adventure,” you lied. Kinda. Reality was, you really WERE longing for a chance to explore and have just a little excitement in your life instead of the same boring gray stone walls each and every day
Lucky for you, that’s exactly what Chan was here for
The next thing you see is his hand in your face (a still-respectable distance away), offering you quite the gentlemanly smile. He managed to fix that windblown hair of his in the seconds you spent spaced out over your longing to leave this place
“Come on. I actually came here to ask if you’d like to go somewhere with me.”
~~~
A little disclosure here
Normally, you should never, EVER let someone you don’t really know into your home (much less your bedroom) late at night, and you certainly should not agree to go somewhere with them
This is just common knowledge, I know
But, for crack, time, and in the spirit of classic fairytales, I’m going to allow it to happen :)))
~~~
AND SO, Y/n chooses to defy common sense, and takes the hand of the boy she really likes (▰˘◡˘▰)
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
To make things slightly less weird and insanely unnatural, Chan gives you a note from Felix. It’s got his secret seal of approval that he only uses when addressing letters to you, one that only the two of you know about, so it’s gotta be legit and valid
🙄🙄
Just pretend it makes things A LITTLE bit better for me, okay?
“Author do you know how illogical this all is and that, like, ANYONE could figure out--”
YEAH OKAY JUST GO WITH IT PLS 😩😩
The note says:
𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒴/𝓃,
𝒴𝑒𝑒𝓉! 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓃, 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 ;) 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝓉𝑜𝑔𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇...𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓉, 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁, 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃...𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓅𝒶𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑒. 𝐼𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉? 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒. 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝐼'𝓂 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒢𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓊𝓈 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓋𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊.
𝒫.𝒮. - 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓃, 𝓈𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒, 𝒴/𝓃!
𝒜𝓁𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓃, 𝓃𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝓉𝓉𝒶 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝒾𝓉. 𝒴/𝓃 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝒷𝓎 𝓃𝑜 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝒾𝒹𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒻𝓊𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝒷𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎, 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒶 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒. :)
-- 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝑜𝓀𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝐹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓍 (ℱ )
...Well, there you had it
Now, onto the date! …
WAIT DID THIS COUNT AS A DATE?!
uHHHHHH
ಥ_ಥ 💧
IDK SIS JUST GO WITH IT FOR NOW, GO GO GO!
Chan is about to take your hand and wisk you out the window like Rapunzel or some Romeo and Juliet au (hey btw??? That ain’t a bad idea someone request this from me)
He nearly forgets about the height difference and the fact that he don’t have any rope or long flowing locks to grab onto to :D so instead the two of you opt for an idea that comes to you after nearly tearing your room apart to look for rope:
THE AIR VENT!!!
You have to move some furniture around but it’s not like anyone is gonna come into your room or find out about you missing anyway
Reader: “Chan came into my room tho--”
SHHHHH THAT’S DIFFERENT IT’S CALLED PLOT CONTINUATION
Now
After getting lost for approximately ten minutes in the winding air ducts, Chan manages to get his poor sleep deprived brain together and leads you down the right path, coming to a purifying viel(?) he knocks out of the way to kick the door open to outside
AND THEN
IT’S THE MOST GLORIOUS AND MAGICAL THING
IT’S
（ つ﹏╰）
SIS IT’S OUTSIDE
IT’S THE OUTSIDE WORLD
YOU DID IT--
……
You can’t do it
Chan jumps out easily onto the grass to some East side of the palace, but you just sit there, hunkered down in the opening space of the vent
Just staring at it
The grass
The trees
The tumbleweed that is Chan’s hair blow by
It’s almost too much…
Your body won’t move. You’ve been locked away in the palace for so long now...something inside of you is telling you it’s morally wrong to change that now.
“Hey wait author I have a question”
I’m kinda in the middle of telling a semi-deep part of the story but okay sure
“If Chan and I were on the twelfth floor how is it that we made it to the--”
SHHHHH AGAIN JUST HUMOR ME AND DON’T OVERTHINK THINGS
Chan is watching you with some sort of softness in his eyes illuminated by starlight. He holds his hands out to you.
“It’s okay. If you need me to, I can carry you for as long as I’m able.”
…
But you refuse
You need to cross this bridge
And then you need to burn it 🔥
NO GOING BACK SIS
NO GOING BACK 😤😤
...Except you’re always open for an excuse to be close to Chan so 🤪💓
You jump in his arms without much of a second thought, and without thinking he spins you around, and a moment later
Both of your slippered feet hit the ground below
Soft earth enveloping your heels
Blades of grass tickling your skin
It’s so WEIRD BUT
It’s a good kind of weird
A kind of weird you’d love to get used to
Hand in hand the two of you slip off after that, out into that starry starry night that looks like a Van Gogh painting
It’s beautiful and blurred yet sharp and soft yet bright and you feel like queen of the world as you’re running through Central Park, riding on Chan’s shoulders
Dancing around the center fountain
Nearly blowing your cover when a racoon runs by
It’d be kinda bad if someone saw you, much less recognized who you were 😅
The two of you lay on the hillside, where Chan makes up stories about the stars and you smile at the sound of his voice, and the feeling of wildflowers against your cheek
You’re so enthralled that you scarcely notice when his voice trails off as he’s watching you, admiring your beauty as he often has in days gone by, only this time it’s up close and nearly surreal
The girl of his dreams lying in a bed of flowers
Not palace-tainted ones either -> wildflowers, flowers that are free to billow any way the wind takes them
And the moonlight casting perfectly angular shadows over your body
He has to get a hold of himself and tear himself away with a sharp breath
……
But he’s adding the image to a memory in his heart, that’s for sure
He takes a moment to mull over it a few more times before dusting himself off, standing, and reaching out to you. Something you also want to get used to other than being in the Great Outdoors. “Come on,” he says, “We’ve almost used up all our time, and I haven’t even been able to show you the town yet.”
SHOPPING~! (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥
...Ah wait it was night time 😔 You’d have to settle for just seeing the sights and playing pretend
“We’re gonna do something called window shopping.”
“Window shopping?” You ask, taking your first steps down main street. “What’s that?”
Surprisingly, there were a few stragglers still out and about at this hour, so you had to keep your head down and wander as seamlessly as possible off to the side of the road.
“Window shopping is when you wander around a shopping district just to look at the stuff on display. You shop with your eyes and pick out things you like.”
That sounded kinda fun
Of course anything with Chan sounded like a good time to you (♥‿♥)
And so, still hand in hand, the two of you quietly walked the cobblestone streets, examining clothes and trinkets in the large glass windows of stores and commenting lightly on things you liked/disliked
And, over a short span of time, you felt a gentle shift as Chan entwined his fingers with yours
ƪ(˘⌣˘)┐ ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ ┌(˘⌣˘)ʃ
You wander the streets for a while longer, taking a left here, a right there, when after pacing a little ways down a side street connecting to a sleepy neighborhood, Chan stops quite abruptly
His arms and posture is rigid af, so it almost yanks you back a bit, and a little startled you look up to see what it is he’s gawking at
…
It’s a flower shop
And the big sign across the roof’s edge says, “Christopher’s Garden”
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
Christopher’s Garden was the name Chan’s parents had wanted to name the flower shop the two of them had dreamed of opening together
Chan knows this because of the letters he’d receive at the orphanage during the war
The last letter he received was when he was eleven years old; a simple “hello we miss you” update with a miniature bouquet of pressed wildflowers
Flowers he still kept in his small room at the palace, tapped to the inside of the box where all his letters are stored
Faintly, he reaches out towards the sign, like it’s the only thing around him; suddenly there is no village, no night time, and there almost isn’t a Y/n either
Not that you aren’t important…
He just simply can’t believe that…
…
This couldn’t be real, it had to be a coincidence
A cruel one, but still
A coincidence nonetheless
And he’d continue to think that had he not lowered his hand, and found the face of an older man staring back at him
A man with burn marks on his cheeks and the scars of war apparent in both his features and his eyes
He has to grip the doorway to keep himself from falling backward
For it may have been many years, but he could never forget the face of his own son; not even after time had aged him
The parental spark was just there, a father’s intuition
……
As if seeming to understand, Y/n lets him go
She retreats stage left, one, two paces
And watches with heartfelt joy as the two men embrace somberly beneath the moonlight.
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
You wanted to stay and watch
You really really did
You wanted to be that support beam for Chan, but
In a way, you also didn’t want to intrude on such an important family moment
...And you were more or less due back at midnight 🙄 Cinderella much?
You’re racing along the alleyways right now
Slippers puffing a muffled breath with each step along the pavement
Buildings casting shadows and jagged shapes of light along the way
A random cloth you borrowed from behind a grocery masking your head
You found it lying over some crates of produce; and you may or may not have borrowed a few plums for the road, too…
...You’d have someone pay them back with interest 🤷
You probably should have told Chan you were heading back, but
He needed his family, right?
This was really important to him, you could tell he obviously hadn’t seen his dad, uncle, or whoever that man was back there in a while
You could catch him up later, right?
He’d probably spend the night there and be back by morning or mid-afternoon
You’re just now reaching a fork in the road
You could keep going straight or make a slanted right venturing toward the front gate, which connects the pastures of hills (making up Central Park) to the palace
……
It would probably be better to stick the backways, but you didn’t know the area that well…
If you went back into civilization, although it was after curfew and despite your disguise, someone may still spot you
What to do what to do what to--
“So you’re the Princess of (Kingdom Name).”
!!!
Did
Did someone just--
ARE THEY TALKING TO YOU?!?
RUN?!
DO WE RUN ...
“You don’t have to be frightened.” the voice says, stepping closer. “I’m here to take you home.”
……...
🚩🚩🚩
:))))))))
Yes okay now we RUN 🏃♀️🏃♀️💨
You make a break for it down the straight path, letting your veil fly away from your body and temporarily blind whoever’s following you
You also make good use of those plums you stole, tossing them like bombs over your shoulder
“Argh--! Dang it, sh*t, I can’t sEE--” Your pursuers flail about before shredding the cloth to bits, whipping the fruit off their faces. “AFTER HER!!!”
!!!!!!
DID HE JUST SAY--?!
HHHHHHHHHHHH
The sound of heavy metal clanging against cobblestone bounces off the space behind you as you’re pounding, scrambling, flinging yourself in a zigzag pattern in case someone is trying to snipe you
IT’S WHAT ALL THE RIDICULOUS HEROES IN MOVIES DO, OKAY?!
IT’S MORE OR LESS EFFECTIVE
But alas there are so many boxes and wheelbarrows and junk in the way...
MOVE FASTER YOU CAN HEAR THEM GAINING ON YOU
But wait who even is “them” anyway???
Do you even need to know?! It was probably some councilman your stepmother or father pissed off
You’d seen it all on TV and read plenty of horror stories in books to know there were endless reasons why someone would be targeting you for vengeance
...And, also…
……
Blast it all
You could hear your father’s voice echoing:
“NO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF MINE WILL BE SEEN BILLOWING ABOUT THE CITY STREETS!!! That’s like asking to be kidnapped and used as a means of war!!!”
“A means of war!!!”
“A means of war!!!”
…………………………………...g u l p
ಥ_ಥ
YOU JUST WANTED TO HAVE A GOOD TIME OKAY
THAT’S ALL
GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN 😩😩
HE SHOULD TRY SITTING ON HIS ASS DAY IN AND DAY OUT IT’S MIND-NUMBINGLY BORING 🔥🔥🔥
But boy were you getting your fill of excitement now
If you could just make it back to the palace, maybe you could use this as an excuse
Say you were kidnapped and made a grand escape
...It wasn’t a TOTAL lie…
“Oh Princess~ Princess Y/n, slow down, won’t you please?!”
LIBSDIBVISAFBILSFIL
NOT ON YOUR LIFE BUDDY 🏃♀️🏃♀️💨
WE AIN’T ABOUT TO DIE
GOTTA
HURRYYYYYYY
~ t r i p ! ~
Oh-- ...
THUD
Owowowowow… (｡>︿<｡)💧
………………
……………………………
ಠ_ಠ
You slowly look up to the enemy
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ❤️ “Guess who? ...Oh, wait, we’ve never met before.”
………………..
Crap.
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
The plan was going to be very simple: swoop in, rescue the princess, and take her back home to appease to the King and speed up the royal wedding of the century
Unfortunately, nothing was ever simple in the Fire Nation
That and, well, Minho had spies everywhere
He’d seen your photograph
He knew what you looked like
And when one of his minion’s squeaked saying they spotted a certain soon-to-be-and-technically-already-so engaged princess and coming-soon queen of the Fire Nation running around after hours with another man, well
He just couldn’t have that
It simply wasn’t allowed
The king had promised him your hand
And that’s exactly what he was going to get
“Tie her wrists tighter. Yes. Now a little closer to the left…”
He smiles at you from inside the back of the carriage. He was about to make this go his way faster than he could have hoped for.
He leans forward, now dressed in some ridiculous royal garb festive with plated armor and flapping ribbons, patting your knee with smooth-lined fingers that shouldn’t belong to someone ruling the Fire Nation. And he knows this, too. He was and still is the youngest king to ever hold the throne. “Don’t worry, Princess, I simply wish to escort you home. This is, however, a pleasant time for us to get acquainted. Since I will become your husband in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
To this, the Princess of (Your Castle) makes some sort of a scoffing remark beneath her cloth-covered mouth and fidgets herself away, as far back against the plush carriage interior as she can. Even beneath the pale moonlight and faint swaying torchlight outside, bobbing in the hands of soldiers, he can see the scowl of disapproval and hatred on her face.
That would have to change real’ fast. No way he was tolerating a disobedient bride for long.
A rapping comes from outside the window. Carefully, Minho opens the small glass door, pulling the curtain aside along with it. “What is it?”
Seungmin’s face appears in the open space. “We may have a problem. Two, actually.”
“Yes, yes, what are they?”
His first attendant licks his lips nervously. “Well for starters, Jeongin is going to have a mental breakdown if Doongi scratches his face one more time. Your pets--”
“My family.”
“...Your family is getting antsy being cooped up in the carriage for so long.”
A hissing can be heard in the distance, followed by Jeongin’s muffled scream. Minho sighs.
“Fine, Fine…” He glances tentatively at his soon-to-be bride. “We’ll stop at the next fork in the road and switch passengers. I will ride with the children and Jeongin can accompany Princess Y/n until we arrive.”
“Very good, Your Majesty.”
Minho makes a face, suddenly. “...It shouldn’t be long now, yes?” ((After all, you and Chan did WALK into town.)) “What’s taking so long? How much farther?”
Seungmin looks a bit grave. “...That’s...the other thing I wished to speak to you about.”
“???”
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
You can hear the shouting from your new location inside a smaller (yet still quite plush and fancy) carriage that’s covered in cat fur...and a pitiful attendant with a bloodied face
“So we’ve been traveling in circles this whole TIME?!?!”
Oof
That kind of anger didn’t bode well for whoever’s plan this was
“Ahh…we’re so sorry, Your Majesty! But the guard won’t let us through! They refused to take us seriously when we proclaimed to be the Fire Nation escorting the Princess home…”
The Fire King let out a groan.
You zoom your attention on the boy before you, holding a dampened cloth of alcohol to his face and hissing as it makes contact with several wounds. Poor guy is young, and he couldn’t be too much younger than you. Give or take three to four years.
“M-mm-m, mm mm-mm mm m.”
He looks at you like you’re speaking in tongues. Which, quite frankly, you may as well be. “...What?”
“Mm mmm, m-mm-m, mm mm-mm mm m!”
“.........”
Peering left and then right, he makes sure both curtains are closed before leaning forward and pulling down the cloth over your face. You cough a bit, spitting out pieces of string and fabric and the dry taste in your mouth. “...”
“......” Jeongin seems to be admiring you in a new sort of light. It’s a bit weird, but flattering. “Um, what was it that you tried to say?”
You look him dead in the eye, which is somewhat hard to do, but your anger helps you manage. Jeongin winces backward, something twitching in his mind. “I said, if I were you, I would blow this joint.”
“.........” Jeongin glances down at his shoes, staring hard at the laces. He seems to be taking your words quite seriously, though you’d half meant them as a joke. “...I’m in no position to do such a thing. Just thinking about it is treason.”
“Treason? For having thoughts? You don’t have any mind readers in your country, do you?”
Slowly, he shakes his head no. It was kinda cute how seriously he was taking your words...and a bit sad, too. “No, we don’t dwell in psychics or anything supernatural. But the author of this story has been kinda thinking about making a supernatural au for some time now--”
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
“.........”
A rapping comes at the carriage door. Jeongin acknowledges it with a nod. “...Never mind.” He opens the window. There, again, was Seungmin’s floating head alongside a ball of fire.
“His Majesty Pain-in-the-Ass is being difficult again. Imagine that. He wants us to make camp and then plans on playing the martyr card come tomorrow morning.”
“...He expects us to camp out in the woods?”
“That’s the order.”
Jeongin groans. He leans back in his seat, tossing the rag down in frustration. “...Maybe I really should consider running away…are you hiring, by chance?”
It was meant to be a joke. But you take it all too seriously.
“Why, yes, actually, I am.” :))))))))))
“....................”
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
And so that is how you have now ended up here
In front of a roaring fire
All comfy cozy in the new fleece pajamas Jeongin and Seungmin sewed for you out of one of Minho’s extra capes and some “spare” fabrics
Sipping some freshly pressed apple juice and flipping through King Minho’s edition of Royalty Daily
Seungmin, to your left, is fashioning you a new pair of slippers that you can wear both indoors and out and will feel as if you never stepped out of bed
And Jeongin, to your right, slowly moving an electric fan around your face, in a pleasant manner that wasn’t at all distracting
It was glorious, really ٩(˘◡˘)۶
You never imagined being so relaxed in an enemy camp held hostage, even if you were a Princess…
...The only thing sour was the sour look of King Minho brooding at the other side of the fire.
“What is the meaning of this?” he hisses, eyes flitting back and forth between his two former attendants and you in-between. “Why aren’t the two of you doing your normal duties?”
“We are doing our normal duties,” Seungmin explains, snipping the thread he was working with.
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, we are.”
“Are you defying me right now?!”
Minnie scoffs. “Defying? You? Wouldn’t dream of it, Sire.”
“......” Minho dramatically rose from his seat, snatching a slipper off the boy’s lap. “Then what is the meaning of this,” he demands, shaking it about. You notice from a new angle of lighting the cute white polka dots patterned along dark pink fabric. Adorable. “Why are you...restyling my slippers?!”
Seungmin gives a reputable glare, snatching the slipper right back in the sassiest way possible, and dusts it carefully, as if it were tainted by the mere touch of another. “These are not for you, dear King. They are for My Lady, Princess Y/n.”
O-O
Now surely you can imagine, the look on Minho’s face is not a good one. “They’re… They… Y-Your whAT?!?!”
“SHHHHHHH!!!” Jeongin chimes. “Lord Zuko, you must keep your voice down! The Princess is trying to read, and she has sensitive hearing!” >:((
“.........”
(✿︶‿︶)
*Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurp*
You sip that apple juice like it’s the sweetest tonic out there
And Minho, stunned, can only watch...until he throws down his foot and starts having an unroyaly absurd hissy fit
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR PRINCESS?! SHE’S MY BRIDE, AND THE HOSTAGE!!! And what do you think the two of you are doing?! What are you saying?!? Have you...are you telling me you switched sides?!?!”
“Well…”
“We aren’t telling you, we were hoping you’d get the memo by watching.”
!? “ARRRGH!!!”
._____.
The three of you watch with second-hand embarrassment, along with a couple of nearby guards, until
The King has to pause mid-fit
For a rustling in the bushes pulls his attention aside-- along with the others.
Minho seems to gain his composure surprisingly quickly. With serious glint in his eyes, he pulls his sword, in unison with the surrounding army he’d brought.
Behind you, Jeongin respectfully pulls you close, Seungmin brandishing his own blade and standing protectively before you.
You’re confused, almost, at how high the tension had magically become
You can feel Jeongin’s heartbeat against you back, and the silence amid the rustle is deafening
A single bead of sweat rolls down your neck…
And then evaporates when a field mouse screeches at the glinting of sharp metal objects and flees. 🗿💧
“Oh...false alarm…” the Fire King sighs. His army groans, reupholstering their swords and spears
And then jump in surprise at the ambush that comes after
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
I know we’re 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️ flying through this story kinda fast now but just hang tight
Cause a few familiar faces had come to save the day B))
Familiar faces known as Sir Changbin, Newly-awarded Knight Jisung, and brother who loved you a little too much, Felix
The way your brother’s sword clashed with Minho’s as your new attendants hurried you into the awaiting cart was a sight to behold
And you could still hear the screams of startled men even now :(((
Luckily Felix held a philosophy unlike your father to not cause any permanent damage at all costs, so no casualties occurred; just a lot of smoke-bombing and a few cuts and bruises
Then there was Jisung, who had to hang on to the roof bc he went flying during the ambush and landed in a tree and there just wasn’t enough time to get him inside so Changbin had to snap a branch and let him fall on top...but
You know
No casualties :))))
“Are you okay?!?!” Felix is demanding, checking you face, your neck, your hands. You sigh and shake your head, which at first he takes as a no and has a small panic attack but you give him a little shove followed by a hug
“I’m fine. I’m sorry I was gone for so long...but thank you for saving me.” <3
Felix hugs you back, though a grim look resides on his face. “I’m gonna have a serious talk with Chan. I can’t believe he just left you out in the city-- or the forest-- to find your own way home in the dead of night when you’ve scarcely left the palace before!”
!!!
You jump back, startling him a bit. “Chan didn’t leave me! Please...don’t be mad at him.”
“Wha?” He lists his head. “Then what happened?”
“......” Oops. “I...I left him. I thought I could make it back on my own.”
His arms cross. “And what the heck made you think that?”
>:((((((((
At this, you almost felt a sense of defiance. Almost.
Felix didn’t think you could make it on your own?! You?!? A twenty-something year old young woman?!?!?
...Well he was right because you had absolutely no sense of direction except where the shampoo was in your royal bathroom 😔
BUT HE DIDN’T HAVE TO RUB IT IN Y’KNOW?!?!
“I--!”
“You? Yes?”
“......”
“......”
“......” Sigh. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you...but first you have to let my friends go.”
The screen pans over to Seungmin and Jeongin, tied back to back with apples shoved in their mouths. Seungmin stared a hole into Felix’s head while Jeongin was actually making some decent progress getting a bite out of the apple to free himself...until some juice went down the wrong pipe and he started choking.
“RhUK--!!!”
“Your friends?” The prince huffs. “These are the Fire Lord’s attendants. I’ve met them on two occasions in the past. Trust me, they aren’t your...friends.”
You stamp your foot, to which everyone comically flinched. Outside, Han howled at the branches slapping him in the face and the dust in his eyes. “They work for me now, and they’re my friends!!! 😤😤 So let them go right now or I’ll push them out and roll out of here right beside them!”
“!!!”
Felix couldn’t have this, so
He gets to untying, and once freed, the four of you sit on the empty cart floor: you and your attendants on one side, Felix on the other. He exchanges a few words with Changbin up front and Han still on the roof before settling down for your story
“We should be arriving to the west gates shortly. Also, Han is fine, so don’t worry about him. Tell me everything that happened.”
You do. You start from the beginning, with Chan, and the wonderful time the two of you shared. Then you tell him about the village, and how lovely window shopping was, and the moment that all came to a halt. You explain Christopher’s Garden, the aging man who sleepily walked out the front door, the exchange that occurred between him and Chan...the way they embraced. You’d felt so happy but out of place, you decided to venture off and give them the privacy they very much deserved.
Then you come around to Minho. How you’d tried to run, but only made it so far thanks to your new mortal enemy, rocks. You’d become a hostage, and you quickly rush through the rival king’s evil(?) plan to lie his way to victory.
And, of course, you mention the proud and wise decision of his most loyal and trusted adversaries switching sides and how good you are at making friends (ღ˘⌣˘)♥ so that happened
By the time you get through the whole (short? Not really) story, the six of you have arrived at (Castle’s) West Gate.
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
M E A N W H I L E
In the past tense bc the author’s random switching is a meme
A certain evil(?) king named Minho was angry
You can understand, right?
I mean, his future bride had escaped, his former friends(?) betrayed him, and he got his ass beat pretty flawlessly by some punk prince who didn’t even injure him that badly...ON PURPOSE
This was a DISASTER
A TOTAL NIGHTMARE
😭😭😭
SCREW THIS HE WAS GOING TO BE VICTORIOUS WITH CHAMPAGNE POURING OVER US AND ALL HIS FRIENDS AND HE WOULD BE GLORIOUS NO MATTER WHAT
In fact, he was following the trail with a few uninjured guards as he spoke
“Keep following the tracks,” he demanded from the window of his carriage. Doongi, Soongi, and Dori all meowed in agreement. “I want those fools hand-tied and the princess back in her station before the sun rises. Is that clear?”
“Crystal, Sir!!!” They all cried. Minho scoffed, closing the window and falling back exhaustively in his seat
He messaged his temples...since Jeongin wasn’t there to do it for him
How did this happen?
How could he lose?
How could he let you and the others just escape like that...and fall for such a subtle, dumb trick?
Also…...there was the matter of his childish behavior from before
In front of the princess, his future wife
His friends
His army
……
That really hadn’t been like him at all
He just...was so stressed lately
And exhausted
Did he mention exhausted?
What time was it, like, 1 am???
That might be fine for you, but normally this king had his ass under covers by 11 pm
He could scarcely keep his eyes open were it not for all the rocks and potholes and--
…
And the curious young man that just stumbled out into the road.
Minho leaned forward, staring through the open front window, squinting in the darkness to make out a face; was that one of the boys? Was that Seungmin, or Jeongin perhaps?
It certainly didn’t sound like it-- the sap was calling out a name, and seemed to be dressed in tattered old clothes. Probably a peasant looking for his lost sheep or dog.
But then his men pulled the carriage closer, since that previous battle had spooked all the horses away, and Minho was able to make out a name: “Y/n!!! Princess, say, “here I am!!!””
…………
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Gottem.
~ꕥꕥꕥ~
To be continued...maybe.
ღ Stray Kids M.List | M.List ღ
#skzwriternet#stray kids#bang chan#stray kids imagines#stray kids scenarios#stray kids fanfictions#stray kids oneshots#stray kids reactions#stray kids fanfics#bang chan imagines#bang chan scenarios#bang chan fanfiction#bang chan oneshots#bang chan reaction#bang chan fanfics#kpop imagines#kpop scenarios#kpop fanfiction#stray kids royal au#bang chan royal au#kpop royal au#stray kids fantasy au#stray kids crack au#lee minho#seo changbin#han jisung#lee felix#kim seungmin#yang jeongin#skz
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‘tis the season.
pairing: reggie x reader
an: so, I had the idea for this, and while it isn’t very long, I hope you guys like it! I’m just going to tag @n0wornever and @mamakitty187 since they responded to my post about it encouraging it to happen, so here it is! I hope you enjoy!
word count: 1.9k+
If you took one look around the city of Los Angeles, you would have no idea that it was nearing Christmas time. Sure, the city had their decorations up, but when you looked to the people, there was not an ounce of festive spirit to be found. You had no idea why everyone else was so hesitant to start spreading Christmas cheer, but you had been looking forward to celebrating practically since Halloween was over. You had refrained and made yourself wait until the first day of December to break out your favorite Christmas sweater, though it had taken everything in you to stay so patient. You thought that maybe other people might be feeling the spirit now that it was officially December, however, the second you stepped onto the bus that first morning to head to the mall, you realized that you had severely overestimated just how much everyone else loved the December holiday.
A few people gave you strange looks as you walked up the steps in your bright green holiday sweater, the front of which was covered in colorful tinsel and fake ornaments. It was your favorite sweater that you owned, and you had been quite proud of it when you put it on that morning. Now, you weren’t so sure that it had been the right choice. Everyone else was dressed in their nice winter coats and muted colors, and here you were, sticking out like a sore thumb on a public bus where people would be able to judge you for the next thirty minutes of your ride.
You kept your head down as you moved down the aisle towards the back where you had seen an empty seat, but just as you passed the second to last row, you heard a voice that was unmistakably directed at you.
“Hey, I like your sweater!”
You were surprised to hear the compliment from anyone on this particular bus, but when you looked up to find the owner of the voice, you immediately realized why it shouldn’t have been a surprise at all. The boy that had just spoken to you was smiling brightly, and it only took a second for you to see that he was also wearing a rather festive looking outfit himself. Only, his sweater was red and green striped with a reindeer on the front of it. When he moved, you could hear the faint jingling from the small bells that decorated the cartoon deer’s antlers, and an involuntary smile immediately spread across your lips.
“Thanks. I really like yours too,” you replied, gesturing slightly at his chest. The boy’s eyes fell down to look at his sweater, even though he was well aware of what he was wearing, and then he lifted his head again to give you another bright smile.
“Thanks! Did you… did you want to sit?” It was a rather forward question you thought, but there was an empty seat right next to him, and you figured if you were going to make it through this bus ride without too much more embarrassment, you might as well sit with someone who clearly had a mind that worked like yours. So, you nodded, and slid into the seat next to the boy just as he lifted his hand up for you to shake. “I’m Reggie, by the way.”
You looked at his hand for a moment before happily accepting it and giving him your name as well. You felt yourself relax as you settled in next to him, and even though you had felt like everyone was staring at you before, when you took another quick glance around the bus, you were relieved to see that no one was looking in your direction at all. Maybe you had been overreacting just a bit.
“So, where are you heading too?” Reggie asked, as he attempted to keep the conversation going. You felt bad for being so quiet, and when you looked back over at him, you smiled again.
“To the mall. I was trying to get some of my Christmas shopping done early. You know, to beat the really bad crowds.” Reggie’s face lit up as his body turned towards you even more.
“That’s what I’m doing too! Well, to get some things for my friends, anyways. We’re doing our gift exchange a little early, so I want to make sure that I can get them something good.”
The excitement on Reggie’s face was one that directly mirrored yours, and you felt lucky that you had stumbled upon someone with the same enthusiasm for Christmas that you did. In fact, you spent the rest of the bus ride talking about your Christmas plans, and while Reggie constantly brought up his friends, you couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t mention much about his family. You knew better than to press, as he was still a stranger, but you became more and more intrigued as the conversation went on.
You were disappointed when you reached your stop, but when you went to stand up and Reggie did too, you looked at him curiously, and another bright smile formed on his lips.
“Is this your stop too?” you asked, even though you probably should have figured it was. He had said that he was going to the mall, and this was the closest one on your route. It didn’t really make sense for him to stay on to head to one farther away, especially since he had been on the bus longer than you had.
“Yep! It looks like we aren’t getting rid of each other quite yet,” he replied happily, and you felt a stirring in your chest as you stepped into the aisle and made your way towards the front of the bus. You didn’t look to see if people were staring as you walked because now, you weren’t quite as self-conscious about it. With Reggie right behind you, you barely noticed anyone else.
“So, these friends of yours,” you started, as the two of you walked across the parking lot of the mall side by side. “What kinds of things are they into?” You were hoping that his previous comment meant that you weren’t going to be parting just yet, as you had become quite fascinated by the Christmas sweater boy.
“Well, we’re in a band and I know Luke is always in need of journals to write songs in, so I thought I would get him one of those. Alex and Bobby are a little bit harder, but I’m sure I’ll find something. I’ll know it when I see it.”
The fact that he was in a band was something that Reggie hadn’t mentioned yet, and it was something that peaked your interest even more. You loved going to local shows and small venues to see bands perform.
“You’re in a band? Really?” you asked excitedly, and once again, Reggie’s face lit up at the question. You could tell immediately that it was a subject he loved to talk about.
“Yeah! We’re called Sunset Curve. Tell your friends.” He added the last part with a quick finger-guns motion and you couldn’t help but laugh. His band wasn’t one that you could recall seeing, but either way, you loved his enthusiasm, and you were sure that was something that translated into his music.
You talked about the band and his music while you walked around various stores, and you learned that he played bass and while his band wasn’t well known yet, they had several gigs lined up in the near future.
“You should come to one,” he added as color filled his cheeks. You had just stepped out of one of the record stores located near the food court when he said it, and your steps hesitated a bit as you felt the familiar tug in your chest that you had experienced earlier when getting off the bus. You slowly looked up at him, and his eyes fixed on you, his cheeks a light pink at his rather forward suggestion. Not that it was the first one he had proposed that day.
“I’d love to,” you grinned, and relief flooded his features as you then started walking once again.
You had to admit, you liked spending time with Reggie. You had only met him a couple of hours before, but the fact that you got along so well made it seem longer. From an outsider looking in, you might not have guessed that you had just met on a bus on the way to the mall, and instead, you might have looked more like longtime friends doing their holiday shopping together.
“Thank you again, by the way,” you spoke about an hour later as you sat across from each other at a table in the food court. You had both already finished your shopping, so now you were recharging with some greasy mall food. Reggie tilted his head slightly in confusion at your words, encouraging you to explain yourself. “For saying something to me on the bus. Today has been a lot of fun, and I’m glad that I’m not the only one that seems to enjoy Christmas around here.”
Reggie’s expression softened as he smiled.
“Of course! I mean, I always have to appreciate a good sweater. Especially when the person wearing it is so…” His voice trailed off, and his eyes fell away from you as his face went red once more. Your heart jumped in your chest at his words, even though you weren’t sure how he was intending on ending that sentence.
“So… what?” you pressed. “So lost? So embarrassed? So-“
“Beautiful.”
His word caught you off guard, and you were sure that you looked incredibly silly as your mouth fell open slightly. It wasn’t really what you had been expecting, but a warmth spread through you when his eyes hesitantly lifted to meet yours. You didn’t know how to respond, and in the silence, it seemed that Reggie had taken your lack of response negatively.
“I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that. I just…when I first saw you, I thought ‘wow’, and I wanted to say something sooner, but I didn’t want to come off creepy. But, it seems like I did that anyways, and I am so, so, so, sorry-”
“Reggie,” you cut in, breaking up his panicked rambling. His mouth immediately clamped shut at the sound of your voice, and his wide eyes locked with yours as he waited for you to continue. “I don’t think it’s creepy at all. I think it’s sweet, actually. I just… as you can imagine, I don’t have a lot of strangers randomly compliment me.”
“I actually can’t imagine that,” Reggie piped in quickly, causing another flutter in your chest. “And I’m not really a stranger anymore either, if you think about it.” He was right, and you couldn’t deny it. You had spent most of the day together at this point, and you had shared quite a bit of your lives with one another, so ‘stranger’ didn’t really fit the description anymore.
You were sure that you looked like quite the pair, sitting together in your bright Christmas attire, chatting over overpriced pizza and smiling like fools. However, even though you had started the day caring what people were thinking about you, when you were in the presence of the boy sitting across from you, you found that it didn’t matter anymore. Reggie was special, and it took you no time at all to realize it. You were especially grateful for ugly Christmas sweaters that day.
#jatp Reggie#Reggie#jatp#jatp story#jatp imagine#jatp one shot#julie and the phantoms imagine#julie and the phantoms one shot#Julie and the phantoms story#jeremy shada
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Demons - The Rewrite
Chapter 1: The New Girl
T/W: Brief ED reference.
Tag list is open
I moved to the small town of Hawkins just after my school year ended. When the sun never set and the days were hot and humid. My parents divorce had just finalized and I had left with my mom to live closer to her family.
A new start, she said. But, you see, a mother who was torn between being a workaholic and drinking with her friends in one state is still that same mother in any other state. And my father leaving only made her worse. She couldn't stop, couldn't quit moving for more than a second or else she'd flounder. Mom worked in the hospital so she usually wasn't home much but now, she picked up every extra shift she could get her hands on. Working herself to death and going out with the girls all the time was better in her mind than dealing with anything. Better than being around for me. Not that I needed her anyway. It's better like this, easier for me to hide things. Things like parties or skipped meals, things like the red scabs on my skin.
__
It took two minutes to meet Nancy Wheeler and her boyfriend Steve Harrington. Nancy lived just down the road from my new house and as soon as she'd seen moving trucks she was on her way to introduce herself. She was nice enough, friendly and smiling when she came over, nosey though. Steve was the real reason I continued to talk to Nancy. He seemed more genuine and was easier to be around. He also didn't ask questions that I didn't have answers to.
It took two weeks before I met Billy Hargrove, though by then I'd heard plenty of stories. That he had rolled up from California and let chaos rain down on this sleepy town. That his car was loud and he was louder, immediately drawing everyone's attention. That he looked like a god amongst men, all tanned skin and hard muscle, and that his looks had girls leaving their boyfriends to fawn at his feet.
I had been invited to a party by Nancy and Steve. The first party of the summer. Small towns and bored teens meant a lot of parties, but the first and last of the summer were apparently the biggest.
When the three of us pulled up to the party I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my black jeans and tried to keep up with Nancy’s socializing. A blur of names and faces as she paraded me around. After a while I managed to duck away from her and Steve in search of drinks and found Billy leaning against the open door frame leading from the kitchen to the deck and yard.
As soon as he saw me he smirked around the cigarette hanging from his lips, “well I don't think I’ve ever seen you around here before.” He hummed, eyes scanning from my conversed feet all the way up my legs to my chest-wrapped in an over sized canvas jacket- and finally settling on my face, “I think I’d remember a smoke show such as yourself.”
Blushing, I looked quickly down at the toes of my shoes before meeting his gaze, “I just moved here a couple weeks ago, the name's Cat. You are..?”
Billy licked his lips as he stomped out his cigarette and I couldn’t help but do the same scan over his body. Black combat boots led to skin tight blue jeans which led up to an unbuttoned shirt, sleeves rolled up to show off the muscles he was so proud of, and long curly hair framing piercing blue eyes.
“Billy Hargrove.” He had stepped forwards, looking down at me.
“The infamous Billy Hargrove,” I smiled, "I've heard about you."
His tongue shot out, licking his lips as he smirked, "good things I hope."
"Oh no, terrible things. I heard you came to town and stole everyone's girlfriends. Heard you fought a few guys for their girlfriends too."
He laughed, "don't believe everything you hear."
"Oh yeah? You got a different story for me?"
He smiled and took me under his arm, "come on, let’s find you a drink."
--
I sipped on the too strong drink in my hand, "so it's all bullshit?"
He took a swig of his beer and nodded, a playful smirk on his face, "I did give a couple guys black eyes, but they started it. I can't help it if their girls left them."
I swayed, giggling into my cup, "and the girls? Is your bed post whittled down to a toothpick?"
Billy shook his head, golden curls bouncing, "not quite."
"You did sleep around though," I pointed, gulping my drink.
A shrug of his shoulders, "can you blame me? Not much else to do here."
"Yeah," I puffed, "I hear that.."
A brief silence followed, muffled music from the house filling the night around us. Billy pulled a cigarette from his pocket, flicked his lighter and inhaled deeply.
"What brings you to this hick town anyway?"
I sighed, grabbing for his cigarette and bringing it to my lips. Held the smoke in my lungs until it burned and then blew it up into the sky, watching the cloud disappear.
"Parents split. My mom's parents live here so she packed up and took me with her. New beginnings and all that shit."
Billy blew a puff of air out of his nose and raised his beer can, "to being stuck in this shit hole."
I raised my cup and we gulped down the rest of our drinks.
We sat in the darkened corner of the yard for hours, until the music from the house shut off and the moon hung heavy in the now silent sky.
"I guess that means it's time to go home," I mused, "hope I didn't keep you past curfew."
Billy shrugged and stood up, "dad's always an asshole, me climbing through the window doesn't make a difference."
He held out a hand to help me up and led me around the house to the driveway where his Camaro sat waiting.
"I'll take you home," he offered.
I cocked an eyebrow at him, knowing how much I'd watched him drink as we talked.
"Don't worry, I'm fine to take you home...unless your mom's gunna be pissed, then I could sneak you in through my window," he looked at me, a playful smirk on his face.
"Mom won't care," I murmured, swaying lightly on my feet, "if she's even there."
"Sounds like we've both got winners for parents," he huffed, helping me into the passenger seat of his car.
"What about your mom?" I asked when Billy opened his door to slide into the driver's seat.
He froze for a second, fingers tightening on the wheel and clipped, "she's gone."
"Oh, I-I’m sorry, did she..."
He shook his head and turned the key in the engine, "nah, she just left one day. Said she was going to the store...never came back."
"Oh, Billy, I'm sorry."
Billy's shoulders raised with a quick shrug as he shifted the car into drive, "it's fine...Dad found Susan and Max and we moved out here."
"New beginnings," I mumbled.
"Something like that."
We pulled up to my empty house a while later, the only sign someone lived here being my old, crappy green car sitting in the driveway.
"She's not here," I sighed.
"That your car on the cinder block?"
"That's my steaming pile of garbage on the cinder block," I quipped.
He blew a puff of air out of his nose, a smirk pulling at his lips, "what's wrong with it?"
I shrugged, "dunno, it only runs sometimes. Dad was supposed to fix it up for when I got my license...he never got to it."
"I can look at it for you."
"Oh, you don't have to."
Billy smiled, his face soft when he looked at me, "want to. I get to see you again that way."
My cheeks burned, a grin creeping as I opened the car door. I took a deep breath of the cool air and turned back to him.
"Good night, Billy."
--
I was nursing a headache on the couch when I heard the loud rumble of Billy's car pull into the driveway. Groaning, I rolled off the couch and kneeled on the floor for a moment to let the room stop swimming. A knock on the door had me lurching to my feet and going to the door. I leaned a hand against the door, bracing myself for the afternoon light and winced when Billy started pounding on the door.
"Ssh!" I scolded, opening the door a crack.
My glare was returned by a playful smile, "morning, Sleeping Beauty."
I opened the door a bit more, squinting against the bright sun, "why are you here? And so....alive?"
He chuckled, "I'm not a lightweight and I'm here to look at your car, remember?"
I groaned, tipping my head against the doorframe, "right now?"
Billy threw his head back to laugh and pushed the door open to let himself in, "I'll fix you first."
A couple of aspirin later, I followed Billy outside with a large glass of cold water in one hand and a piece of toast in the other. I hid in the shade of the house, Billy's sunglasses on my face and sipped at my water.
"I didn't realize you were such a lightweight," Billy joked, "we didn't drink that much..did you eat before the party?"
"Yeah."
No.
"Must have just had more than I realized," I shrugged, picking at my toast and tossing crumbs to the ground.
Billy peered at me, "you're supposed to eat it."
I laughed nervously and took a small bite, "I can't eat much when I'm hungover, makes me sick."
A half truth.
"Your dad, he a car guy?" Billy asked, turning to look at me from under the hood of my car.
I scoffed, "not at all. He had this thing parked in the garage for years before I got my license. Found it really cheap...he always wanted a son to fix it up with...got stuck with me instead."
His mouth pulled into a tight line, eyes glancing away from me.
I kept rambling, heart pouring from my lips to the pavement below, "mom caught him cheating when I was little...started secretly taking birth control and staying out more and more. He started staying later at work.. eventually they just stopped trying, stopped talking and started yelling if they had to be together. Separated last year and finalized the divorce as soon as they could. Mom's still never around...I think I remind her too much of him."
He stopped tinkering with my car and slammed the hood down, making me jump, "come on, let's get out of here for a bit."
We slid into worn, baby pink leather booths at the diner in town. A sticky, plastic coated menu was slid between us by a baby faced girl as she batted her lashes at Billy. He didn't even look at her, just pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it and took a long drag.
"You want anything?"
I shook my head.
"I'll have the grand slam. Two forks. Coffee and water for both of us," he ordered, lazily flicking his cigarette in the ash tray on the table.
"Uh, oh-okay," the waitress stammered, blushing as she hurried away.
"You always treat waitresses like that? And here I thought you weren't as rude as people said," I asked, an eyebrow cocked.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lip and he leaned in to meet my eyes, "she's been trying to get with me since I got here, can't take no for an answer."
He pulled back and blew out a puff of smoke when the waitress returned with our drinks. She set down the cups and scurried away, keeping her eyes down. I reached for the sweetener, ripped open a couple packets and poured them in my mug. Stirred and took a sip only to scrunch my face at the taste.
Billy laughed across the table, and started dumping cream and sugar into his cup, "yeah, coffee's terrible here. Food is greasy and delicious though."
"You could've warned me," I chided, grabbing for more sweetener.
"And miss your face? No way," he finished emptying an ungodly amount of cream and sugar into his coffee, stirred and took a sip.
We quietly sipped at the bitter coffee until a heaping plate was placed down between us along with a couple forks and a bottle of ketchup. Billy dug in right away, mixing an egg into a pile of oil drenched hashbrowns and pouring ketchup on top before taking a large bite. I looked at the plate, mentally calculating the calories in front of him when my stomach growled loudly.
"I knew you were hungry."
I gulped at my water and shook my head, "I'm okay, really."
He pushed the plate towards me when my stomach rumbled again, "try some, you'll feel better."
I huffed, picked up a fork and stabbed one of the sausages on the plate, dipped it into an egg yolk and stared at it for a second before taking a purposeful bite. I savored the bite, letting the grease fill my senses and before I realized it, I'd devoured a small portion of the plate.
"Feel better now, right?" Billy smiled, "told you I'd fix you."
--
Three days. It took three days for Billy Hargrove to weasel his way into my life. Three days of showing up at my house and working under the hood of my car while I sat off to the side in the shade. Three days of mindless drives and loud music, of easy conversations and small touches.
Three days until Billy showed up later, well into the afternoon and forced a tight smile onto his face when I opened the door. He jerked his head towards his car and spun away, leaving me scrambling to put my shoes on and follow him. I slid into the passenger seat and barely got my seatbelt on before Billy took off down the road. He swerved through Hawkins and turned to follow the highway out of town.
“Are you kidnapping me Billy?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood in the car.
Billy flicked his cigarette out his window and turned to me, a light smile on his face, “you’re not scared are you, Baby?”
I smirked, “being taken by an almost stranger into the forest? Not scary at all."
He chuckled and turned up the music, continuing his drive into the forest. When he pulled into a clearing and parked the car I felt my chest tighten with anxiety.
Why did he bring me out here? What does he want?
@charmed-asylum @alias-b
#billy hargrove#stranger things#stranger things fanfic#fanfic#billy hargrove fanfiction#stranger things fic#billy hargrove fic#stranger things fanfiction#steve harrington
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Senior Year Adventures (Zuko xOC) pt.16
“So much for a drama free New Years”
“Hey Ki?” Zuko knocked on Kianna’s bedroom door “are you almost ready, we gotta leave soon.
“yeah I’m ready” she puts some last-minute touches to her red lipstick, grabbed her purse and opened the door. Zuko was standing there with his arm on the side of the door. He was wearing a black long-sleeved turtleneck and black pants with a red jacket to finish the look. ‘man can this guy dress’
“wow, you look beautiful” Zuko gives her a sly smirk when he sees the blush creep up on her cheeks.
“do you mind taking a picture of me?” Kianna hands Zuko her phone. She turned slightly posing for the picture.
“Ok come on” Zuko looked at her with his phone in her hand.
“what, do I need to change my angle” she turns her body
“no, you look beautiful, I just” Zuko rubs her face “your butt is showing”
“well yeah that’s the whole point” she gets back into the pose she was first “now take the picture”
Zuko took a few pictures, changing his angle a few times before handing the phone to her.
“are you going to post this?” Kianna takes the phone to look at the pictures.
“I mean yeah” she looks at him to see an uncertain look on his face “ok what’s wrong”
“nothing, I just”, he sighs “as much as I want everyone to know your mine, I don’t really want anyone to be able to look at your ass anytime they want”
Her expression shifted, she hoped Zuko wouldn’t notice but of course he did.
“I’m not trying to control you or anything I promise,” he steps closer and puts his hands on her waist “I just can’t help but be a little possessive”
“no, I don’t feel like your controlling me, and I’m sorry I guess I never thought of it like that, I just thought I looked cute”
“you look gorgeous, forget I said anything you can post anything you want” Zuko felt a little sad he didn’t want to push his insecurities on her, he didn’t want to make her feel like he’s trying to change her.
“no Zuko, if you feel a type of way about its i’ll pose differently, here you can keep the ass pics I’ll take one from the side”. She pushes the phone back to Zuko and does a side pose. She can see him smile while he takes the picture. After the mini photoshoot, Kianna forced Zuko to take some picture too, the two quickly hurried to Zuko’s car (he opened the door for her – what a gentlemen). The ride to Toph’s house wants long, but it was enough time for Ki’s nerves to spiral. Somehow Zuko could tell she was silently freaking out and like the good boyfriend he is, he placed his hand on hers to calm her nerves. Even though the two haven’t been dating long it felt like they have known each other for years. Kianna apricates how sweet and understanding Zuko can be and Zuko feels like he’s lucky to find someone as patient and open as Kianna is. Kianna instantly feels better when she holds his hand. She doesn’t let go when the walk from the car, to inside Tophs house. The first people to greet them where some players from the soccer team. Kianna wasn’t listening because she was too busy looking for her friends, but she assumed that they were still trying to get Zuko to try out for the team. Zuko spots their friends before she does, he tells the soccer guys he will see them later and guides Kianna towards the group. Sokka was the first to notice the new couple, he gives both of them a smirk. Sokka draws the attention of the group to look at Zuko and Kianna. The pair finally get to the group and everyone notices them holding hands.
“so, you guys are together now, officially” Katara looks at the two, crossing her arms over her chest.
“yes, its official now” Kianna couldn’t help the bright smile that formed on her face.
“good cause Azula told me you guys almost did each other in my kitchen and I wasn’t keeping that secret long” toph says as she gets up and leaves the group. Everyone’s eyes turn to the two in amusement. The couple blush furiously as their friends stare at them.
“I think we’re going to get a drink” Kianna pulls Zuko away from the group. The two walks to the kitchen weaving through the crowed. Zuko walked over to the drinks to make drinks for them while Kianna stayed towards the entrance of the kitchen. Basically, the whole school was at this party, she saw people she knew, people she’s seen before and some people she had never seen before, ‘people form another school are probably here.’ Zuko walked up to her and handed her a drink as he was talking to Haru. The two were deep in a conversation about some video game so Kianna slipped away to find Katara and suki. Now that her and Zuko were out in the open, she wanted to show them the beautiful ring Zuko gave her. She gave the house a quick walkthrough before she checked her phone. A few messages from Zuko asking where she went was quickly ignored when she noticed the group chat going off.
She rolled her eyes at her friends’ messages.
‘I can be in the same place as jet’
she thought
‘I’m totally over what happened, I mean I’m not going to be friends with the guy, but I can be civil’
just when she turned around to walk to where Zuko said he was, she saw him. Jet. He didn’t look any different from the last time she saw him. Still had brown untamed hair, a smirk glued to his face, and dark clothes to put together his ‘bad boy’ look. And of course, he sees her too, he makes his way to her, wearing the same smirk that used to make her weak in the knees a year ago.
“Well well,” he says when he finally reaches her.” If it isn’t Kianna, long time no see huh”
“Hey jet” she sighs with slight irritation
“Well damn I guess your not happy to see me”
“well I’m not really jumping for joy, am I?”
“Look I get it, I treated you like shit and you hate me, but I’m a changed man, Kianna rolls her eyes,” no really I’m different, and I came to this party cause I knew you would be here”
“Oh god not only are you saying you changed but your stalking me? I’m walking away now.” Before she could turn around, he stops her with a hand on her wrist.
“I came to apologize, not to stalk you. I want to move past this, be friends like we used to be.”she looks at him, waiting to he the grand apology.
“I’m sorry I treated you badly, I had no reason to do that when I was supposed to love you and care for you and instead I tore you down, I know an apology will never be enough but I miss my friend. I miss the Kianna I grew up. I know I messed up bad, but I want to fix our friendship.” She found herself speechless. This was old jet talking. Jet before becoming a jerk, jet who she grew up with the jet she shared secrets with and hang out with everyday. Part of her wanted to hug him, welcome back his friendship, but the other part of her thought back to how bad things ended with them, how bad the relationship was. She continuously fought everyone who said he was no good for her, defended him when he did into deserve it.
“I appreciate the apology, but I think it’ll be a while before I could trust you again. He looks down at his shoes for a Brief moment before looking back in her eyes.
“I understand, and I’m sorry again,” He pauses as if he’s debating on saying what he’s going to say “I heard you with that Zuko guy, just be careful.”
“what, why are you of all people warning me about someone”
“I know I know, but seriously, I’ve heard some things from his ex, there not good”
“Look I don’t know what you heard but Zuko is a good guy” she turns preparing to walk away
“don’t defend him like you did to me” she stops dead in her tracks, her mind racing with what he just said, ever inch of her body was fueled with rage as she walked back up to him and slapped him, hard.
“no one will ever do you me what you did to me, just own up to the fact that I moved on to someone better and stop trying to bring me down like you did when we where together.” She brushed last him, making sure to hit his shoulder with hers, and walked to her old room. ‘So much for a drama free New Years’
A/n: only updating once a week makes me sad but that's all I have time for now. but anyway I hope you guys like this and thank you for the love and the likes, my tumbler has been blowing up with likes and follows these past two weeks and honestly its what been keeping me going, sadly this fit is coming to a end in the near future (within the next 3 weeks) but don't worry, your favorite oc will be back in season 2 of Senior year adventure!!(in December). and of course im rambling.... thanks again everyone, if you want to be added to the taglist let me know!!!! lots of loveeeee P.S the next part is a continuation of this part which will be posted later today.
Tag list: @snickerdoodleeee @fanficflaneuse @welovediaaxx @pyromanicschizophrenic @firedancer016 @bostwickellin
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Angel -5
Matt King series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Words: 1,6K
Warnings: n/a
I had stopped by at Carly and Erin to talk about what happened with Matt yesterday but when I knocked on the door he of course opened it. I could never get away from him these days.
“Oh hey, what you doing here.” I smiled even though I had been crying the whole way there out of frustration.
“I didn’t want to be home with Zane.” He grumbled and turned, leading me into the living room. He wore grey sweats and his hair was a mess, making it extremely hard for me to remember that we having a bit of a rocky time as I checked him out.
I said hi to the girls and told them I had to show them something in the room. I pulled them in and started my rant about Matt and I. I’m sure he heard everything but I didn’t say anything about my feelings- the girls knew anyways.
“We know, Matt came here telling us the same story last night.” Erin giggled. “You both want each other but are too scared the other one doesn’t like you back the same.”
“He doesn’t like me.” I stated, “He’s just mad because it’s Jeff.” The other two nodded insincerely and gave each other a look.
A knock at the door interrupts us the Matt pushes open the door. “Can I talk to y/n please.” He huffed and the other two left and he stood in front of me. “So you telling me you still the group’s little angel?”
“Oh my word, just leave me alone Matt.” I groaned, “I can never fix what I did because you always bring it back up!” I yelled and rolled my eyes which made him angrier.
“I brought it up once!” He yelled back as I stood up to fight him back.
“One too many times then.” I spat back. His body tensed and it wasn’t working in my favor.
“Did you ever consider my feelings?” He rushed out.
“What feelings! All I did was flash my boobs.” I yelled in frustration because I didn’t know what to do.
“Exactly.” He grumbled.
“Well it’s your fault this has all happened!” I screamed and pushed him lightly. “Don’t get butt hurt about my problems when you’re just being a dick rather than my friend.”
“You’re being such a brat.” He growled and stepped closer to me. I was looking up at him and the tension was growing heavier as he got more angry. He stared into my eyes and even though a frown appeared on his face, the tension and mood in the room made thoughts run through my mind. He breathed heavily with his forehead almost resting on mine. I scanned his eyes and even though they were filled of anger it wasn’t directed towards me but rather at the situation. I stood on my tippy toes and pulled him by his shirt towards me and kissed him before he could fight me on anything further.
He relaxed as I kissed him but I pulled away quickly, “Fuck, I’m sorry.” I said and started to make my way out the apartment with tears welling up my eyes. Why did I do that?
“No, wait y/n.” He tried to get me back but I left before he could reach me.
I can’t believe I just did that, if anything was going to end our friendship I think I just did the worst. It felt so good though, it felt right- not the situation but the kiss and the way our body’s and lips reacted perfectly. He didn’t pull back in the kiss, I was the one that pulled away and rushed out. He wouldn’t get so mad about me having problems with other boys if he didn’t care about me, but he’s always cared about me. There’s no point in getting my hopes up that he likes me when I know for a fact he would never be interested in me.
I just wish I could take it all back and stay his best friend and hang out like we used to when we would stay up watching stupid movies together or beg each other to come over because we were both too lazy to get out the house and then we’d show up at each others door in pajamas and a big stupid smile. I miss my old Matt and the stupid things we would get up to.
I got back to my apartment and lay in my bed wondering what damage these silly fights have caused. If I was gonna go to Matt’s next week and everything will be fine or if I had lost him forever. I felt like an idiot for crying every time I thought about it but it broke my heart that I may be loosing my best friend.
The unlocking of my front door pulled me out my thoughts, I slipped out of bed and stepped quietly to my bedroom door but I relaxed when I saw Matt faced away from me in my kitchen. He turned around with a mouth full of French fries which turned into a goofy smile when he noticed me. I uncrossed my arms as I giggled, failing to stay angry at him.
“I brought dinner, I think we should talk.” He said softly as I came towards him to hug him hello.
“Ice cream too?” I teased and he nodded eagerly in response and wrapped me up in a tight hug. This felt better already.
He gathered up an armful of take out boxes and lead me to the couch while putting on my favorite movie. “That’s a lotta food Matty.” I said as I followed behind him.
“I wanted to prepare for every situation this talk may bring about, emotional eating being the first consequence.” He chuckled and placed the food on the table and handed me a box of food before sitting down too. “So listen, you kissed me-“
“I know, I’m so sorry.” I groaned and covered my face with my hands.
“Shut up, you’re supposed to be eating!” He joked, “Did you want to kiss me?” I nodded slowly and a small smile started to form but he dropped it once he noticed it. “Would you wanna do it again?” He mumbled as he’s cheeks became rosy.
I smiled, “You’re not mad at me anymore?” I said avoiding his question.
“No, Carly and Erin explained the whole situation properly, unlike Zane who came home drunk and said ‘hey, ya seen y/n tits? They kinda dope.’ So I’m sorry I fought with you, it just hurt because I thought I was loosing you for another guy.” He sighed and stuffed a chicken nugget in his mouth. “But I guess I’m gonna have to face it one day.” He said with a mouthful of nugget.
“Matt.” I whispered after a few moments of silence. I twirled a strand of hair between my fingers and he looked up at me, “I think I have a crush on you... a big one.” He stayed quiet but his smile was the only answer I needed.
“Holy cow, I’m crazy over you y/n!” He put his hands over his face to cover his smile as I awed in response. “When you kissed me, I felt like the luckiest man alive. It felt like a dream and when you rushed off I kinda expected to wake up but when it sank in I knew I had to chase you.” We chuckled together once he stopped nervously rambling.
“Do you think we could like each other for a while?” I asked shyly after taking a big bite out my burger.
“Y/n, as long as I get to appreciate your crazy butt, I’ll do whatever you want.”
I like to consider this night our first date. It was so authentic to our relationship, nothing had changed, we spoke about our feelings and decided we’ll give it a few days for our mutual crushes to sink in before we acted on them in terms of getting into a serious relationship. As we scoffed down food and watched Disney movies in my living room I couldn’t help but think that this was always what I had wanted. I threw popcorn at him and shared ice cream with him and everything was just perfect. My heart fluttered every time I thought about his feelings for me and I even double checked a few times to see if he was being serious and not pranking me.
“So you really like me huh?” I accused and pointed an ice cream spoon at him.
“Obsessed.” He winked then chuckled at me. “Y/n when I become your boyfriend I’ll be loving you so hard. Take you on millions of dates and treat you like my little queen, just wait.” He grinned wide and gave me a squeeze when I turned away blushing.
He left a while after, almost as if he was trying to spend as much time as he could with me. He even leaned against the door frame to my front door and flirted with me for ages before he let me shut the door for him to leave. I could tell he was feeling far more confident about himself now that he was certain I liked him and I can only foresee way more goofy flirting and cheeky banter between us.
“I’m gonna get going, unless you want me to stay?” He winked and burst into a laugh when I elbowed him. He got up and cleared all the rubbish before giving me hug. “See you later Angel.” He smiled before backing out and closing the door behind him.
Tags: @eleganttrashloverprune
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Hollywood Babylon - Dean Winchester Imagine
Requested: in s2e18, hollywood Babylon, sam and dean go undercover as PA's on a haunted film set??? id love to see a dean x reader where dean is a PA and the reader is a retired hunter who knows something up but is a department supervisor for the movie?? id love the boys to come across the reader and be like 'huh why are you familiar' (maybe John hunted with reader's dad when they were kids??) and like. shit goes down, the reader comes out of 'retirement', happy ending w dean and reader ???
Warnings: spoliers s2e18, injuries, accidents, death
———————————–
You’d been assigned the department supervisor ever since the incident, getting pulled from one of the nearby sets to now supervising a different set. Your hunter instincts kicked the second you heard the story of what happened. You started to put in “over time” staying after the day was over to make sure there’d actually been a case to work on. There was nothing to be found, but you assumed it was due to you being rusty. That proved to be so when two familiar brothers showed up the following morning.
Just like you remembered, Dean was already causing trouble with the bigwigs. You decided to just watch from where you were standing, a smirk forming on your face when you saw Sam having to clean up Dean’s mess. You quickly composed yourself when they started walking your way, and the moment they passed you you cleared your throat.
“You boys belong here?” You asked in the most authoritative voice you could manage.They both stopped dead in their tracks, turning around to face you.
“Of course, we’re P… A’s? We’re new.” Sam explained making you laugh and nod.
“Sam, Dean, stop pulling my leg. I know you’re here for the case. What’d you two get caught up in over there?” You nodded behind them. They stared at you in shock, but it finally seemed to click for Dean.
“Y/N? You’re working the case here too?” Dean asked, making you shake your head.
“I retired a few years back. I couldn’t find anything that shouts case though, I figured I was a bit rusty.” You explained, before smirking. “Now I’d do what you were told before they realize you aren’t real PAs.” You laughed making Dean groan.
“The smoothies? Where are they?” Dean asked and you pointed. “Thank you.” Dean nodded before they both walked away making you shake your head.
During your break you were at the snack table, jumping when you felt someone’s hand on your shoulder. You gave him a small smile, trying to finish chewing the food in your mouth faster so you could say something, but luckily for you Sam walked up and they started talking.
“Well, I think being a PA sucks, but the food these people get? Are you kidding me?” Dean explained, starting to ramble about the food making you roll your eyes and laugh. “What’d you find out about the dead crew guy?” He asked once you finally started paying attention.
Sam started explaining everything he knew, and you couldn’t help but furrow your brows. Before you could say anything Dean walked away and shook your head. You started making small talk with Sam, trying to catch up on everything you missed over the years, and you didn’t like John, but part of you felt the need to give your condolences when he told you what had happened.
“I know who the guy was, come on.” Dean explained when he came back. Both of the boys were about to start walking away when Dean saw you still standing in place. “Aren’t you coming?” He asked, making you shake your head.
“I could lose my job. You guys go get what you need, and I’ll try to help the best I can here.” You explained making both of them nod.
“We’ll see you.” Dean winked, causing you to blush and smile softly.
The rest of the day had been going just like any other, you did your best to make sure everything was intact and even had time to watch some of the filming to make sure everything was up to par. You didn’t expect for an accident to happen right in front of your eyes, let alone have it get taped. You quickly made your way to a secluded area pulling out your phone and dialed Dean’s number.
“Hey Dean, it’s Y/N. There was just another accident. The guy’s dead, but there’s just something off about what happened. Hurry back, I have to call this in.” You started to explain when you got his voicemail. You shook your head, trying to figure out what to do once you’d sent everyone on their way home. You knew you should’ve gone too, but after you’d called Dean you figured you should wait in case they decided to come back.
The following day you’d hardly talked to the boys, but you couldn’t help but notice that Dean was getting into his “role” a little bit too much. You’d been in the middle of working when Dean pulled you off to the side, dragging both you and Sam to the sound guy to show you the feedback that was being recorded with each tape. You each took turns listening, and that’s when you heard your name get called.
“Listen, I’d love to help really, but if I lose this job, you both will probably get caught with not actually working here. I’m too rusty anyways, I wouldn’t really be much help. Just tell me what you guys find out and I’ll help if I can. Hey maybe even later we can hang out, just give me a call.” You explained, patting Dean on the shoulder before getting back to work.
They had called you that night, but it wasn’t to hang out. You hadn’t salted and burned bones longer than you’d been retired. You couldn’t help but get a bit weird when Dean handed you a shovel.
“What brought you guys to California anyway?” You asked while you all started to dig.
“It was supposed to be a vacation, but of course Sam had to find a case.” Dean explained making you nod. “What about you? Why’d you give up hunting? From what we remember, you were good at it, especially with your boyfriend. How’s he doing by the way?” Dean asked, making you freeze.
“Um, he died… on a case. I guess that’s why I stopped.” You shrugged, looking down as you continued to dig.
“Y/N sorry I didn-” Dean tried but you cut him off.
“It’s fine, really.” You shook your head giving him a small smile.
“What made you become a department supervisor anyway?” Sam asked after you were all done, trying to change the subject.
“I’ve always had a passion for it I guess.” You explained before you all finished. “It’s good to see you both still hunting, I mean someone has to right?” You asked, earning a soft smile from Dean.
The following morning there had been an accident, and you just knew that the work was no where close to being over. Luckily for the three of you everyone was getting out of there which meant no more incidents and time for you to actually figure it out. It had started with you all watching whatever had been filmed already, and Sam couldn’t help but notice how close you and Dean were. He’d kept it to himself, and you missed the look he’d given to Dean.
“Those incantations are real.” You observed out loud, everything finally clicking in your head.
“So we go pay a visit to the writer.” Dean explained and you nodded your head.
“Maybe we shouldn’t. It’s Walter, they rewrote everything, so he probably is trying to get back at the, for it.” You explained, getting up trying to look for the original script. You all read over the script, finding even more incantations than in the final script. “We need to go back to the studio. The writer, he’s working late today. If Walter is getting everyone back for ruining his script, this is the perfect time for him to do it.” You explained putting the script back on the table.
The whole night you’d spent trying to fix the mess, trying to get everything back to normal. It seemed that throwing you back into the hunting life wasn’t as hard as you thought it would be. You and Dean shot the salt pellets while Sam dealt with everything. You couldn’t help but feel accomplished once you were done, and it made you miss hunting. The following morning Dean has even brought that up.
“You should come with us, it’s obvious you miss it. We have room for one more.” Dean explained, leaning against Baby, giving her a pat on the roof.
“Dean I don’t know...” You trailed shaking your head looking back at all the sets. “It’s been so long, I don’t want to slow you guys down.” You explained.
“We couldn’t have done it without you. It was great seeing you again, and… well if you don’t come I’ll probably never see you again.” Dean explained awkwardly, making you blush.
“So you’re asking me to live with you?” You smirked. “I didn’t take you as that type.” You joked, and it was Dean’s turn to blush. “I’d love to come with you.” You admitted, leaning forward to give Dean a small kiss.
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Tag List:
@mathletemadison
#supernatural#supernatural imagine#supernatural x reader#spn x reader#spn imagine#dean#dean winchester#dean x reader#dean winchester x reader#dean imagine#dean winchester imagine#s2e18#2x18
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Where You Go - 9
After a run-in with some hitmen, you find yourself with a new protection detail.
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader
Word Count: 1248
Warnings: angst, a little bit of violence
A/n: tag list is closed for @sunmoonandbucky
Bucky could tell that Y/n was acting weird, she’d been acting weird all week since the dance. He was afraid that he’d crossed a line but she kept insisting that it wasn’t that at all. But he couldn’t just ignore the signs.
She was only being weird around him and the students were catching on too. Andrew and Rachel (who seemed to be dating now which confused Bucky because he thought that Rachel was a lesbian but he really doesn’t understand kids these days anyway) cornered him about it.
They interrogated him on what he did to Y/n at the dance. It was the first time he’d been nervous in an interrogation, he had a fleeting thought that they should bring in teenagers to interrogate bad guys because he had no doubt they could get results.
But Bucky had no idea what was wrong or how to fix and Natasha was being no help because she claimed not to know and Sharon just shrugged at him when he asked her. He really didn’t want to ask Sam because Sam was going to make fun of him for it. But the universe left him no choice.
“What up Buckaroo?” Sam greeted him over the phone. Bucky rolled his eyes and forced himself to not instantly hang up the phone.
“I have a question.”
“Is it about the mission? Because I was told that you knew what you were doing,” Sam said.
“Not exactly-”
“Ooh, it’s a question about a girl. I’m assuming this girl is Y/n because I’m not sure you’ve talked to any other females outside of work.”
Bucky held the phone away from his ears closing his eyes to compose himself.
“Yes. It’s about Y/n.”
“Have you tried, I don’t know,” Sam paused dramatically, “apologizing?”
“Yes!” Bucky almost yelled. “And she keeps saying ‘oh it’s fine’ or ‘it has nothing to do with you’ and I feel like she’s lying to me but I can’t tell.”
Sam started laughing loudly.
“What?” Bucky demanded.
“Dude you’ve got it so fucking bad,” he said and continued to laugh.
Bucky didn’t know how much more of Sam he could take without needing to rip his hair out so he hung up the phone.
The Saturday morning a week after homecoming Bucky knocked on Y/n’s door. Normally she would’ve answered the door almost right away, but today she wasn’t answering the door. Instead of knocking again, like a normal person, he kicked down the door.
The thought that Y/n would absolutely make him fix that later only lasted a second as he tore through her apartment looking for her.
When he didn’t find her he called her phone.
“I swear to god, Y/n, if you don’t pick up,” he muttered while the phone rang.
“Hello?” She answered.
“Oh god,” he sighed.
“Bucky, what’s up?” She asked casually.
“Wha- what’s up?” He scoffed. “Are you fucking kidding me? Where the hell are you?”
“I’m fine, there’s no reason to worry.”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said ‘Where you go, I go’ I wasn’t fucking around where are you?”
“Bucky,” she said in a soft fond tone, “I’m fine. I’m with Natasha.”
He let out another sigh of relief. He nodded his head even though no one was around to see it.
“Ok, well, next time just let me know if you’re gonna run off with Natasha or whoever, you scared me,” he admitted softly.
“I will, I’m sorry I scared you. I’ll see ya in a bit ok?”
Bucky didn’t know why, but the sentiment made his heart flutter and his cheeks flushed with warmth.
“Yeah, ok. Bye.”
“Bye,” she said before hanging up the phone.
Bucky slid his phone back into his pocket. He walked back out into the common area and stared at the door.
“I should probably fix that before she gets home,” he told himself. He walked back to his apartment to get his tools and get to work.
~
Y/n hung up the phone after typing something into her phone she slid it into her zippered pocket.
“What did he want?” Natasha asked.
“He was just wondering where I went, so I told him I was with you and he calmed down.” Y/n shrugged and Natasha laughed. “What?”
Natasha met Y/n’s eyes with a shit-eating grin on her face.
“The two of you are the biggest idiots on the face of the earth,” Natasha muttered shaking her head.
“I don’t know what makes you think that but go off I guess,” Y/n said under her breath but she knew Natasha heard her.
The two women were in a quinjet they may or may not have ‘borrowed’ from the compound, along with Sharon.
A few days after homecoming Natasha found the people who’d come to the school and their employer, who’s real name was Jeff Smith. Natasha and Sharon double-checked every reference at least three times to make sure that it wasn’t a fluke.
It was a really stupid name for a villain and Y/n would be lying if she said she hadn’t been hoping for something a little more inspired.
The plan was the have Y/n walk in the front door of the house where they were hiding to distract them while Natasha and Sharon worked their way through each level taking out as many of their people as possible.
And it was going great. Y/n walked in and was instantly grabbed and dragged up the creaky stairs to Jeff’s office where he sat her down and started rambling. She wasn’t on coms so she couldn’t hear how things were going on Sharon and Nat’s end but she knew something was up when Jeff smiled at her.
“Young one do you know why I started hunting you?” He asked as he walked around his desk to lean against the front of it.
“Is it because you had a creepy gross infatuation with me when I was a child?” Y/n asked keeping her bored expression as neutral as possible.
“No,” he said in a dangerously low voice as he got really close to her face, “it’s because you ruined EVERYTHING!” He bellowed and as he did so he spat all over his face.
“God, did you ever learn how to not spit while you talk?” Y/n asked as she wiped her face with her sleeve. Jeff looked at her confused. “People might take you more seriously if you didn’t spit in their faces while you talked to them.”
One of the men that was flanking her coughed, she grinned up at Jeff who was glaring at the person to her right.
“You think this is funny?” Jeff demanded.
The bodyguard that had coughed next to her cleared his throat. “No, sir.”
“Take her to the others.” Jeff waved his hand in a tired manner.
“What others?” Y/n asked.
“Oh,” Jeff looked at her with a smile that Y/n would love to slap off his face, “You’re little friends, I knew you would come after our little stunt at the school and I figured I’d capture you and whoever you brought. I’m surprised you didn’t bring the Soldat but Natalia will do just fine.”
“What do you plan to do to us?” Y/n asked keeping as calm as possible as the guards dragged her away.
“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” he called after her as the door closed.
#Bucky Barnes x Reader#Bucky Barnes Fic#bucky x reader#bucky barnes x you#bucky imagine#bucky barnes imagine#1.5kconstellationswritingchallenge
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Tall Blonde with One Sugar 3/?
“Yes, I guess so,” Levi deadpanned, entering the apartment. “Damn, it’s fucking cold in here.”
“He has the thermostat turned way down,” Hange answered. “Probably couldn’t afford the heating bill.”
“Erwin?” Levi called again.
“Oh lookie, I’ve got guests!” Erwin giggled as he stumbled through the dimly lit apartment, clearly drunk. “I would offer you a beef, no beber-, no, shit, a drink! I would offer you a drink, but I just ran out.”
“I believe you have bigger problems. I think you’ve been robbed,” Levi claimed looking around the nearly-empty apartment.
“What? Really? Oh shit!” Erwin drunkenly stumbled down the hall to his bedroom, Hange and Levi following closely behind. “What did they take? I don’t notice anything mis-mis-, I mean gone. There’s nothing gone. Except my drink. It’s all gone. I drank it all.”
“You drank it all?” Levi asked cautiously as he picked up the empty fifth of Wild Turkey.
“What I didn’t spill. See, I spilled some of it over there. I was going to get a towel when you came to visit.”
“Thank fuck,” Levi murmured as he looked at the puddle in the floor.
“I’ll get it,” Hange announced as they rushed from the room to get the towel.
“You need to sit down before you fall down. I’m not picking up your giant, drunk ass if you pass out.” Levi grabbed Erwin by the shoulders and eased him down to his futon pad as Hange returned with a towel.
“Oh, hi Hange. You don’t have to do that, I’ll get it.”
“Erwin, you’re drunk,” Hange reminded.
“Yup,” Erwin said, popping the P loudly before dissolving into a fit of giggles. “I haven’t been drunk since undergrad. Damn, I’m boring.”
“You’re not boring, just focused,” Hange said gently with a smile.
“Fuckus, fickedis, dammit, focused? Why? What the hell do I need to be focused for? It’s never gonna matter anyway.”
“What the hell are you rambling about,” Levi snapped.
“This. That’s just the beginning.” Erwin held out a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. Levi took it from him and cautiously smoothed it out. It was an eviction notice.
“Erwin, why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t make rent?” Hange asked.
“I’m not your responsibility, Hange. I missed my interview at the fish market, and funerals are expensive. My job at the library is only part time and minimum wage. My savings is wiped out. I’m going back to Karanes.” Erwin laid down and curled up into the fetal position.
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Levi remarked.
“His father died last week.”
“Ah.”
“You want to hear something really fucked up,” Erwin sniffled. “Nursing homes put liens on houses. My dad’s insurance didn’t cover but the first two months. Two months! He was there for almost two fucking years!”
“Erwin, what are you saying?”
“I’m homeless, Hange,” Erwin said, sounding a little more sober. “I have to be out of this apartment in two weeks. The nursing home is going to auction off my dad’s house to recoup their costs. So, I’m going back to Karanes. I already talked to Mr. Reeves. He said I can work at the hardware store, but it’s only part time until Christmas. He worked out a deal with the owner of the Econo Motel, and I don’t have to pay them until I get my first paycheck.”
“Erwin, no. You can’t. That place is disgusting.”
“It’s better than living on the street.”
“You can move in with Moblit and I. Finish school.”
“I can’t afford it, Hange. Even with your help.” There was an audible catch in his breath. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine. You’ll see, Hange.”
“But, Erwin-“
“Listen, I have to go to work, and he doesn’t need to be alone right now,” Levi whispered.
“I’ll stay with him.”
“Good.” Levi stood time leave. “He’s not going to listen to reason right now. Let him rest. He will think more rationally in the morning.”
“Okay. Thanks, Levi.”
Levi nodded at Hange before taking the time to study the beautiful younger man laying in a heap of drunken misery. If there was only something he could do…
——
It haunted him all through his shift. He needed to help Erwin, but how? He was coming out of an emergency surgery with an idea so outrageous, so impossible that he wondered if sleep deprivation had finally caused him to lose his mind. So he did the only thing he could think of, he made a phone call.
“Hello?”
“Mike?”
“Levi? What the hell? Do you have any idea what time it is?” Levi looked at his watch.
“Sorry, I just got out of emergency surgery. But since you’re awake…”
“That’s debatable, and entirely your fault.”
“I have a question.” Levi held the phone tighter to his ear.
“Okay, fine,” Mike huffed.
“How does one become a sugar daddy?”
“Levi, what the fuck? Have you lost your mind? I don’t think I’m awake enough for this conversation. In what reality are you even Sugar Daddy material?”
“I’m serious.”
“Oh, I’m sure you are, but have you thought this through? I mean, I know it’s been a minute since you got laid, but resulting to paying for sex…”
“It’s not about sex, Mike. I just want to help him out. You know, Erwin. He really needs someone. I’m in a position to help, so I want to.” Levi scratched at his head. “He’s a good kid.”
“And he’s not bad to look at,” Mike chuckled.
“Well, that is definitely a bonus,” Levi admitted. “But seriously, I don’t care if he ever feels the need to...repay me.”
“Like hell you don’t, you perv. You’d tap that ass if given half a chance.” Mike sighed into the phone. “But how do you know he will go along with it? You need a game plan.”
“That is why, against all my better judgement, I called you at the ass crack of dawn. Unfortunately, I need your help in appearing accommodating, but not creepy.”
“Too late for that, Doctor. You’re creepy as hell, but I’ll try my best to run damage control.”
“You ass-“
“When’s your shift over?”
“Assuming no other emergencies happen, 10 minutes.”
“Meet you at your place. I’ll tell Nanaba and get dressed.”
“Wait, Mike-“ It was too late. His friend had already hung up. Levi supposed that he better swing by the convenience store on the way home and buy more coffee. He was probably going to need it.
——
When Levi returned to Erwin’s apartment later that afternoon, the door was still unlocked and Erwin and Hange were still asleep. How both of them were able to fit on that pitiful excuse for a futon pad, he would never know, but it had to be because Hange was mostly laying on top of Erwin. Levi could only roll his eyes and shake his head.
“Get up! We have things to do today,” Levi practically shouted while clapping his hands.
Hange jerked awake with a snort, and hit Erwin in the nose with their head. Erwin cussed and groaned in pain before grabbing his nose and rolling over, dislodging Hange.
“Levi? What the hell?” Hange practically growled as they rolled onto the floor.
“We have a busy day, today, children. Hange, you may tag along if you wish, but Erwin doesn’t get a say.”
“Wait, what? How did you get in?” Erwin rasped as he attempted to open his eyes and look at Levi. He immediately shut them again with a pained noise on his lips.. “I’m so hungover. God, this is why I don’t drink. Not worth it.”
“I don’t feel the least bit sorry for you. You should have hydrated. Now get your giant ass out of bed and take a shower. I brought food and painkillers.” Levi nudged Erwin with his foot for good measure.
“Why are you here?”
“I’ll tell you when you get out of the shower. Now go. You smell.”
“Fine,” Erwin spat, slowly rising from the floor. “One would think that I was inconveniencing you.”
“Not at all. We’re on a tight schedule, and don’t have time for you to wallow in bed all day.” Levi turned to leave. “Come on, Four-Eyes. Give the man some privacy so he can shit, shower, and shave.”
——
By the time Erwin showered and dressed, he felt a little more human, and not quite as nauseous. He was surprised to see that Levi and Hange were still there, sitting on the living room floor with a spread of food on his crappy little coffee table.
“Sit down, eat. It will help with the hangover.” Levi pointed at a plate.
“Not to be rude, or seem ungrateful, but why are you here? I mean, if it’s to help me move, all I have is some clothes. I was going to give you back the laptop and backpack. The sorry excuse for furniture is staying. That leaves two duffles of clothes and a shoebox of memorabilia. Not really a three-person job.”
“Of course you’re leaving this shitty excuse for furniture. I forbid it in my apartment,” Levi snarled in disgust. “It’s the shopping and unloading all the new stuff that is going to be a three-person job.”
“Your apartment? New stuff? I’m afraid I’m not following.” Erwin rubbed his temples, clearly still suffering. “Do you need help shopping? You getting new furniture or something?”
“Yes, and yes. You have to pick it out first. I refuse to let you sleep on that sorry excuse of a mattress one more night.”
“What does my mattress have to do with your furniture?” Erwin asked as he gently chewed some dry toast.
“Nothing, if I have any say about it. Hurry up and eat. You have an interview in the morning, and you need a new suit.” Levi stood and stretched. “We’ll go by the tailor’s first. They may have some ready made items that fit you for the most part. Then, we need to find a decent bed. On a frame. With a real mattress. And maybe a decent desk-“
“Wait a minute. I’m still not following. I have a job interview? Where? How?”
“My friend Nanaba knows Judge Pixis’ law clerk, Rico. He is in need of a student assistant to handle everyday grunt work that most interns handle. Copies and shit. You have an interview with him tomorrow morning. It pays better than most jobs, and he’s willing to work around your schedule. We’ll have to update your resume…”
“What?” Erwin squeaked.
“What?” Levi echoes.
“Even if I do get this job, where am I going to live? How am I going to get to work? A job interview doesn’t magically fix everything. Not that I’m not grateful, I am-“
“Are you not listening? You’re moving in with me. Hence the furniture shopping,” Levi explained, almost bored.
“Live with you? But what if I still can’t make rent?”
“Did I say anything about paying rent. I make my rent payments just fine, thanks. What I need is someone who can do mundane things like laundry and grocery shopping. With the hours I work,it’s almost impossible to keep up with that shit. So, if you’re willing to wash my clothes and run to the grocery store, then consider us even. I’ll even let you use one of my cars.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Is that all you can say? You’re supposed to be a grad student.”
“Why? Levi, why are you doing all this for me?” Erwin looked at Levi, big blue eyes bloodshot and weary.
“I told you. I need a housekeeper.”
“That’s it? You just need a housekeeper? So, you’re just going to buy me furniture and clothes, and find me a job because, what? You need help with the dishes?”
“Well, there is one more thing…”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“How do you feel about fundraisers?”
“Have I mentioned how much I hate shopping?” Erwin whined as he followed Levi past a rack of waistcoats.
“You need a decent suit. The one you have is on its last legs. Not to mention the cut isn’t quite right on you.” Levi held up a jacket in a deep navy three season wool. “We actually need to get you two suits. The second one for more formal occasions.”
“I can’t afford one suit from this place, let alone two. I’m sure I can find something passable at the department store.” Erwin grunted as Levi flung another jacket his way.
“Did I say anything about you paying? No, I don’t think that ever came up in conversation.”
“I have every intention of paying you back, but it will take a couple of decades at this rate.”
“Let’s settle this right now, Blondie. You are not paying me back. Let someone do something nice for you for once.”
“But Levi-“
“Would you like a dressing room?” The shop attendant greeted. “Mr. Arlert is with another customer right now, but maybe you can get a head start on cut and style.”
“Yes, he needs a dressing room. And could you point me toward your more formal styles?”
Erwin sighed. He knew he had just lost this battle, especially since his opponent seemed perfectly content to ignore him.
——
“Really, I’m fine with another futon.”
“Really, I’m not.” Levi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was this kid being so damn difficult?
“I’ve been sleeping on a futon just fine.”
“No, you’ve been sleeping on a glorified dog bed. You’re over six feet tall. You need a bigger bed. Besides, I refuse to allow that sad excuse of a shipping pallet inside my apartment. Real futons do not look like this.”
“But Levi, if I pick a frame then there is going to be mattresses and sheets and-“
“Yes, you will have adult furniture. Welcome to the dark side,” the older man deadpanned.
“Levi, I can’t afford this! Probably ever.” Erwin looked around the furniture store, trying to find something, anything, cheaper than what Levi was looking at.
“I keep telling you that you don’t have to afford it. I’m buying it.”
“And I’m not going to take advantage of your kindness.” Erwin ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Look, can’t we just go to IKEA or something? If I’m doing this, I’m doing this on a budget.”
“You’re missing the point here. I’m the one who determines the budget. It’s my money.”
“Well, I don’t like anything here.”
“You’re lying,” Levi accused.
“You don’t know that.”
“Erwin, there has to be something here you like.”
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Park Bench | Reddie
Read on AO3
Rating: E
Pairing: Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak
Word Count: 3,331
Chapter: 4/8
Past Chapters: Chapter 1 (AO3), Chapter 2 (AO3), Chapter 3 (AO3)
Next Chapters:
Summary: Recently divorced and ‘incapable of love’, Eddie Kaspbrak moves to Los Angeles for work and a small, small hope of a fresh start. Broken up and never dated again, Richie Tozier tries to get back into love with help from his love of music. Quickly meeting eyes and one concert later, they think that maybe love isn’t that bad. So they try it one more time.
Chapter 4: Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak In The Rain, Eddie Kaspbrak Meets Maddie And Walter Tozier, Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak Move In Together
Tags/Warnings: Angst / Unhappy Ending / theres only one sex scene but this is explicit anyway / Bisexual Richie Tozier / Gay Eddie Kaspbrak / Post-Divorce / Implied/Referenced Cheating / Inspired By Remembering Sunday (All Time Low) / Inspired by The Book Ninja by Ali Berg / Implied/Referenced Child Abuse / Implied/Referenced Abuse / Implied/Referenced Manipulation
Tag-list: @richietoaster , @s-s-georgie , @mikeuris , @gazebobullshit , @that-weird-girls-blog , @tozierking , @thoughtfullyyoungduck , @s-onora , @bellarosewrites , @lermanslogan , @ambitiousskychild , @ghostnebula , @vanillaredvelvet ,
(Ask if you wanna be on the tag-list!!)
Chapter 4
Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak With The Rain
Richie rang the doorbell, leaning at the side of the door. ‘Be cool, Tozier. This is how you get the guy.’ Eddie opened the door, pressing down a laugh, “dude you look like a douche,” he mumbled, walking past him, laughing. ‘Maybe not.’ Richie nodded to himself, following Eddie.
Eddie didn’t actually know where he was going, expecting Richie to have planned. He stood by the staircase at the edge of the porch. “So, why did I wait for you?”
“We’re going out,” Richie smiled.
Eddie blushed, “what?”
“Oh! Uh- no, no, no, I mean, we’re going out, like you and I are going somewhere outside, together,” Richie tried to save himself, “well- well I mean, if you want, we can go out,” he mumbled.
Eddie’s eyes were still wide and he was still standing as still as a statue, “sure,” he mumbled back.
“‘Sure’ to what?”
“Where are we going?” Eddie changed the subject, trying not to embarrass himself any more than he thought he has.
Richie opened his mouth to say something but thought else of it and said, reaching his hand out, “do you trust me?”
“I- I guess?”
“Did- did you not get that?”
“No? What was I supposed to get?”
“You’ve never watched Aladdin?”
“What?"
“You don’t know?”
“How was I supposed to know that?” Eddie rolled his eyes.
“Everybody does,” Richie replied jokingly, Eddie just rolled his eyes again.
“Just- don’t ask questions. I have a plan and it is going to go great," he told Eddie, though, it felt more as if he were telling himself
“First, I don’t believe you planned, second, you sound like you're trying to kill me...” Eddie kept rambling, the ways he could die, the similarities between Richie and a serial killer.
Richie liked how Eddie rambled, he would but in sometimes, catching the perfect set up for a joke. Richie liked how Eddie used smaller hand gestures than he did when he spoke, yet they felt bigger. Richie liked how Eddie’s expression would change every few sentences. Richie liked how Eddie would mention small things about him, how his hair sometimes curled around his glasses, how sometimes his glasses would tip sideways and he wouldn’t fix them, and he would say how he felt about it. Richie liked how Eddie said what he felt about things. He also hoped that Eddie would tell him how he felt about him.
As oblivious as he believes he isn’t, Eddie notices the little glances Richie takes at him. He doesn’t find it weird or creepy, he liked it. Was that selfish of him? He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of many things— with him being trapped away from almost everything throughout his life—but he was sure of this. At least, he hoped he did. Richie was different. That was the only way he could describe him. And, for now, he assumed that was enough.
“I feel like I’m being driven to my doom,” Eddie said after a moment of silence.
“You aren’t. Couldn’t kill something as cute as you, Eds,” Richie smiled, eyes on the road.
“Don’t call me Eds. Its really annoying,” Eddie shook his head despite laughing.
“Anything you say, Eddie Spaghetti.”
“Thats fucking worse,” Eddie shook his head. Richie smiled at him. Eddie smiled back.
~~~
“Look what I got you,” Richie grinned as Eddie opened the car window. Richie had stopped and left Eddie in the car —something that Eddie kept in mind the next time he was going to talk about how similar Richie and murderers are— and came back with… ice cream cones. Richie shoved both of them into Eddie’s hands as he went back to the driver's seat and drove off.
“What- what the fuck?” Eddie asked.
Richie didn’t reply, instead of driving into a slot of an abandoned car park nearby —another thing Eddie listed— and opening his door. He reached out for one cone and Eddie’s hand and led them outside. Richie climbed up to the hood of the car, patting the space beside him. “No, that’s so dirty.”
Richie rolled his eyes and took off his jacket, balancing the ice cream cone between his hands, and placing the jacket on the spot beside him. “Seriously? Thats still really-“
“I can clean the jacket, sit with me.”
Eddie climbed up beside Richie, needing assistance to do so. Eddie wanted to ask why the two were there, but thought better of it, choosing to silently enjoy this instead. “What flavour did you get me?” Eddie asked looking at the cone in his hand.
“Vanilla. With rainbow sprinkles,” Richie smiled, tracing little circles above Eddie ice cream. Eddie lightly laughed. “How uh, how long are you even staying here?”
“I’m not so sure yet, actually,” Eddie replied, looking at a pebble on the ground. He left out the part about Sonia and Myra and about not wanting to go back to New York and face the city where he fucked everything up.
“Does that mean I can spend more time with you?” Richie smirks.
“If you play your cards right, maybe,” licking at his ice cream. He glanced at Richie’s and he was already halfway done. The two sat in silence while they ate, Richie holding Eddie’s hand little by little.
“There’s a park a few ways over there,” Richie said after a few minutes of stroking his thumb over Eddie’s hand, "we should go.”
Eddie tiredly nodded. Richie let go of his hand and pulled out his guitar from the inside. “You think someone is gonna break into your car and steal it?” Eddie snickered.
“Yup. Thats also the reason I’m bringing you along,” Richie winked (which confirmed to Eddie whether or not the comment was an insult about him being short.) Richie walked over to Eddie taking both his hands and helping him down, causing Eddie to fall onto Richie’s chest. Richie took his hand again after they’d pulled away and walked over to the park.
Eddie was wordlessly enchanted by the trees and the lights and the pathway twisting around the park. It was around 7 (Eddie wondered how time moved that quickly) and it was pretty empty. “Tell me about you,” Richie nudged him.
“Uh well, I work for-“
“I don’t want your résumé,” Richie laughs, “lets play a game.”
“We’re not doing 20 questions.”
“Lets play another game. Uh, one of us says a random word and the other says the first thing they think of. I’ll go first, music."
‘You. Seeing you sing around in Ben and Bev’s house with a smile on your face. You with a smile on your face because you looked so cute and handsome and I really, really like you.’ “feelings. Uh, morning.” Eddie replies.
‘Having that breakfast with you and watching the sunrise. With you. And how you lazily laughed at my jokes because it was too early.’ “Breakfast. Okay, uh, New York,” Richie said.
‘Crying. Pain. Mother. Divorce. Myra. Sonia. Gay. Mistake. Divorce.’ “Divorce,” Eddie mumbled, not thinking he said anything.
“Oh, I- were you? I’m so sorry,” Richie fumbled with the words., letting go of Eddie’s hand in the process.
“No, no! Its fine. I’m fine. But, I- uh. Yeah. I did.”
“Oh shit. I’m really sorry.”
“Its fine. She and I never really worked out,” Eddie said shaking his head.
“Oh thats, uh, sorry,” Richie mumbled, embarrassed at all the hand-holding and the early morning breakfast, and this.
“No, its fine. I’m gay, it wasn’t gonna happen anyway,” Eddie said, his speaking speeding up. Richie lightly sighed.
“You… wanna take a seat?” Richie asked, pointing to the bench facing a small lake.
“sure,” Eddie nods. Breathing a little steadier (he actually hadn’t even known when it had quickened.) “Why is it so empty here?” Eddie asked looking up the dimly lit sky.
“Probably the weather.”
“The what?” As if on cue, rain fell from the sky softly. “Fuck!” Eddie shouted putting hands over his head as if it would do something. He stood up heading back from where they came, but a hand tugged at his arm.
“Wait,” Richie said, trying to make Eddie stay. The rain was a bit heavier, but it wasn’t unbearable. At least, it wasn’t for Richie apparently.
“Are you fucking crazy? You know how sick we could get if we stayed out here in the rain?”
“Just a little while,” Richie said, not letting go of Eddie’s arm. Eddie huffed but sat back down beside him, wincing at the now wet spot he was sitting in earlier. Richie pulled out his jacket again and put it over Eddie’s shoulders, putting the hood up as well. “There,” Richie said, pointing forward. Eddie wondered how he hadn’t seen it earlier. The sky was all shades of red and orange and yellow and all the colours in between. The lake reflected all that was in the sky and that made the sight more astounding. The raindrops hitting the lake made little sounds and it shook the water a little, making the already watery-looking sky seem more like a reflection than real life.
“I was really sad one day and wanted to be alone so I went out while it was raining. I went to this park ‘cause,” Richie gestured to the emptiness of the park, “there’s no one here. Sat down, saw the sky in the lake. I thought I should show you.”
Before Eddie could even think of anything, he pulled on Richie’s shirt and brought their faces close. He didn’t kiss him, he just looked into his close eyes as asking permission. Richie pushed their lips together lightly. “You know, I may live with my best friend but I actually do have a place,” Richie joked, still very close to Eddie.
“Why don’t you live there?” Eddie asked. Richie’s heart rate sped, but when Eddie kissed him again it melted away. He already forgot Connor, he doesn’t need to remember, he can stay here, with Eddie.
“Its nothing, baby,” Richie said looking straight at Eddie, “Get in the car.”
Eddie Kaspbrak Meet Maddie And Walter Tozier
“Mads! Walt! C’mere!” Richie called, opening the door. He looked back apologetically to Eddie, “If you regret this, don’t blame it on me, its on you,” he slightly laughed.
Eddie shook his head fondly. It was Saturday, Eddie had indefinitely moved into Richie’s apartment, and was promised a date today. After staying over at Richie’s house the Tuesday, small kisses, take-out, and falling asleep (oddly enough, fully clothed) the two had agreed to a date. Eddie wondered though, why Richie was so worried about asking, why he needed to repeat the question so much. But he let it be. Richie didn’t plan Eddie meeting Maddison and Walter, Richie didn’t even want to talk about it, but Eddie insisted to drive over to their house after being mentioned while on their way.
“Hi, uncle- who are you?” Maddie brightly said opening the door.
“This is Eddie,” Richie replied, leaning on the doorway.
“Okay! Hi, Eddie! I’m Maddie, and my brother, Walter, is upstairs,” she leans more into the house and shouts, “and won’t help me with my painting!”
“I said I’d help you when I was done with mine! Mom just got me new watercolours and I need to try them out first!” Walter said walking down the stairs. He stood a few steps from the ground and stared at Eddie for a while.
“Thats Eddie! Uncle Richie’s boyfriend!” Maddie said a little to loudly and made Walter flinch. Richie nervously looked over at Eddie, who was just smiling at the brother and sister.
Richie smiled with confidence, “Go get you’re shit, we’re going to the arcade.” Eddie raised an eyebrow at him while Richie winked back.
“Don’t swear,” Maddie shook her head as Eddie snickered. She walked up the stairs with her brother running up with her. “Walter and Maddie?” Eddie said as if in question.
“He’s seven, she’s six, and they’re basically polar opposites.”
“Ah,” Eddie nodded, “They’re adorable. Where are their parents anyway?”
“My sister is a single mom,” Richie lightly shrugged to seem lighter.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Nah, its all good. These two are alone a lot though, I take care of them when my parents aren’t.”
“Don’t kiss! Mommy says not to close eyes in the stairs!” Maddie shouts (again) from the top of the stairs running down. Dressed in a bright pink dress, she jumps onto Richie’s leg, Richie picking her up as she giggles. “You good, Walt?”
Walter nods and Richie walks over to the car. “Seatbelts!”
“Check!” Maddie grins widely, tracing a big checkmark on the air.
“There’s no checklist but check!” Richie laughs, pulling out of the driveway. Eddie watched as he drove and talked with both kids (mostly Maddie) and smiled fondly. Richie was loud, and a bit annoying, and an absolute foul-mouth. But, with these two, despite still swearing at a handful, he’s different. Its clear that all he wants to do is make them smile. Its pretty effective, not just on them, on Eddie too.
They walked into the arcade and Maddie challenges her brother to a racing game, leaving Richie and Eddie alone. “You basically asked for these kids to crash our date,” Richie jokes, taking Eddie’s hand and leading him to a line of games.
“Its fine. They’re good kids,” Eddie smiles looking behind him as if they were there, “shouldn’t we keep an eye on them?”
“Walter is more mature than I am, he can do everything. They’ll be fine, plus, they’ll know where we are,” Richie grins cheerily, raising his hands to present, ‘Street Fighter.’
“Really?” Eddie sighs.
Richie nods and places both of Eddie’s hands on the buttons. “You’ll never beat me,” Richie smirks.
“We’ll see,” Eddie nods preparing his hands properly on the buttons.
“That was the best!” Maddie exclaims jumping up and down once Richie puts her down. She’d shot a ball into the hoop (with Richie’s help) in the basketball game. They’d challenged one another, Eddie against Richie and Walter against Maddison, the children going first. Maddison wasn’t cheering about making a shot in her game though, Richie had asked for her help. Eddie, competitive as he is, asks Walter if he could help him out. Eddie and Walter won.
“We won, we won!” Maddie cheers and Walter just puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head. “What?”
“They won, kiddo,” Richie says ruffling her hair, as she swats his hand away, “its alright because I’m buying ice cream!” Maddie cheers and raises her hands up for Richie to carry her again. Walter walks with them as Eddie stands in the back for a little.
Richie was so good. Eddie didn’t know what he meant by that but he assumed he just was. Maybe it was because his mother would never let him play in the arcade because, as she would always tell him, ‘there are so many diseases there, so much dirty children, you could get sick, Eddie-bear.’ At first, he really thought it was that, but after seeing Richie stop Madison from crying after dropping her ice cream, listing to every soft word Walter would say, all the effort he puts into just making them (and him) smile, he thought that he was most probably in love.
Richie Tozier And Eddie Kaspbrak Move In Together
“Thats the last of the boxes, Eds!” Richie calls out, dropping a large box by the side of the door.
Eddie walks out of a room and smiles, “Thank you, Richie.”
“Can’t believe you chose my shitty apartment that was abandoned for fucking years over the Marsh Mansion,” Richie joked kissing Eddie.
“Marsh Mansion?” Eddie laughed, “of course I chose you, I swear it was haunted in there. Plus, too many couples.”
“You're dating me.”
“Yeah, but I’m not living with you,” Eddie says playing with Richie’s hair while his arms rest on Richie’s shoulders. (Yeah he was struggling since Richie was so much taller, but it was cute.)
“Can’t believe you wanna live with me.”
Eddie rolled his eyes, not wanting to debate, “well you better start fucking believing.”
“Thats not too hard,” Richie joked, kissing Eddie again. And again.
“We should get these boxes,” Eddie says dropping from his tip-toes and walking over to the pile of boxes left by the front of the door. “These are such a mess.”
“We’re gonna unpack them anyway!”
“Yeah, but its gonna be so hard to get everything!”
“Exactly, because we’re emptying the boxes.”
“You’re taking all of these to each room,” Eddie puts his hands up taking one of the smaller boxes and bringing them into the bedroom. Richie quickly slaps Eddie’s ass as he walks which earned him blush and glare from Eddie. That was a win in his book.
There wasn’t much in the bedroom yet. There was a queen-sized bed (Richie asked for a twin-sized mattress and told Eddie it was a joke; Eddie didn’t get it) an almost full closet (most of it being Eddie’s clothes, surprisingly), another table (though, neither wanted to call it that; Richie would call it table number three and that just rubbed off on Eddie) and two small tables on either side of the bed, Richie’s with a lamp and his book of Jokes, Reminders, Notes and Sex Positions (he called it his JRNSP. And, yes, Eddie constantly wondered if the sex positions part was a joke or if it was real. Whenever he would ask Richie would reply with, ‘really wanna find out?’ suggestively) and Eddie’s side having just a lamp.
Eddie set down a clock on his table. It was Stan's, originally, then given to Richie. Eddie still hasn’t met Stan, but from what he heard Stan is a really good person. He and Richie have known each other for years, as he Richie describes, they can be fairly different. But, he realizes, who really is like Richie? Which just made Eddie smile more, because he had him.
“Spagheds! Do you wanna paint this wall or not?” Richie called from the living room.
“Coming!” He called, setting the box down on the bed. The two had agreed to paint a wall that was horribly stained by… whatever that is. They think it was maybe a leak that stained the wall, but who really knows? “I’ll change first!”
“Can I watch?” Richie asks jokingly. Eddie ignored it. He slipped into an old shirt and a pair of shorts that he no longer wears, walking towards Richie. Richie, who was putting in yet another vinyl into his new phonograph (yes, Eddie finally learned what it was called) jokingly swaying his hips.
“What the fuck?” Eddie said, monotone.
“Eddie My Love.”
“Its- are you talking about me or is that the title?”
“Both,” Richie smiled slithering his hands around Eddie’s waist until his hands held themselves behind Eddie's back.
“We’re supposed to be painting a wall,” Eddie says despite his arms wrapping around Richie’s neck as he rests his head on Richie’s chest. (These are the times that Eddie is grateful that Richie doesn’t work out. He’s really soft.)
“We will. Later,” Richie says softly, kissing the top of Eddie’s hair, craning his neck down to touch his own chest to do so.
“Eddie my love, I love you so,” Richie softly sings along. His heart twists, what if Eddie didn’t want this? He didn’t want to rush anything again. He couldn’t. He doesn’t want to lose this.
“You okay Richie?” Eddie asks looking up at him, “you stopped moving for s bit.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Richie smiled weakly, “Do you- do you want this? Is-is this weird to you?” he worriedly asks, loosening his grip on Eddie’s waist.
“This is. I like it,” Eddie fondly smiles, “why?”
“Nothing, we can keep dancing, if you want.”
“Yeah, that works for me,” Eddie says getting at the tips of his toes to kiss Richie’s lips.
#reddie#reddie fic#it#it chap one#it chap two#remembering sunday + the book ninja au#enjoy the last few chapters of your fluff yall#*evil laughter*
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Willing To Ride | Izuocha
Summary: Izuku and Ochako spend an afternoon at the fair together.
*****
Inko Midoriya ignored her son’s tears of pain as she dampened his hair with a spray bottle full of water, “Do you know what you guys are going to do at the festival tonight?”
Using a hairbrush, she tugged at her son’s tangled mop of hair with all her might, determined to brush out a stubborn knot. Izuku’s face was locked in a painful grimace as she pulled. With a hard plunk, she successfully defeated the knot, then opened a tub of gel and scooped some out with her fingers.
“Erm, I’m not sure. I think we’re just gonna walk around and probably shop or something,”
That evening, a local winter festival was taking place. Mr. Aizawa had told Class-1A that a number of hero agencies would be appearing there with seminars containing information about the pro hero business. He also told them that they would get extra credit if they attended the event and wrote a paper about what they had learned. Upon hearing the idea, Ochako Uraraka giddily invited Izuku to tag along with her since they were both free that weekend. Excited about the prospect of hearing from the pros, Izuku agreed to come.
“Ooh, sounds fun! Remind me again, who are you going with?”
“Uraraka,”
Oh, right!” she stopped for a moment to smile to herself, “Your little girlfriend,”
“G-girlfirend?!”
“Well, isn’t she?”
Izuku opened his mouth to respond immediately but found himself making incoherent noises.
Inko gelled up one of his curls and smoothed it down with a comb. With great care, she continued to work on his hair until it was slick and handsome-looking. It took quite a lot of work considering the amount of hair on top of his head, but in her eyes, it was worth the effort. He went from looking like a green nappy mophead to a classy, groomed boy that even Best Jeanist would be proud of. Satisfied with her work, her eyes gleamed as she watched him check his reflection in the mirror, commented on how handsome he looked, then suddenly rushed to find the extra hold hairspray she had forgotten to use.
Izuku’s face contorted a bit as he inspected his mother’s work. It wasn’t necessarily an expression of disgust, but he felt that it may have been a tad too formal for the occasion. For some reason beyond him, his mother decided that he should dress up before meeting with Ochako that night, rambling something about the importance of making a good impression on a girl when taking her out, looking like a gentleman, and so on and so forth. Heat rose in his freckled cheeks. He had never been invited out by a girl before, especially one as charming as Ochako Uraraka. Her smile had a radiance that lit up every room she walked into; it also had a tendency to ignite a spark within Izuku’s chest that made him feel sort of uneasy, but, in a good way. He gently tapped his fingers against his hair. Smooth and damp. Without his mother’s hairspray, he was sure that his disobedient curls would eventually pop right back out before the end of the night. As he turned to inspect the side, another thought popped into his head. What would Uraraka think about it? Not that it truly mattered in the grand scheme of things. His mom was the one who assumed they were going out on a date, not him, nor Uraraka. Right? Right. Of course. There wasn’t any reason for him to assume it was a date. Furthermore, there was no reason for him to be worried about her taste in men’s hairstyles. But it was a thought that came into the forefront of his mind anyway.
Ding dong!
“Oh! That must be her, I’ll get it!” Izuku saw his mother scurry past him with a can of hairspray and excitedly open the front door.
“Hello, Mrs. Midoriya! How are you?”
Ochako’s unmistakable voice could be heard from the doorway. Almost immediately, the realization of her presence in his home froze him in place. He didn’t dare to turn around, acting as if looking straight at her would set him ablaze. So, he stayed put and pretended to be invested in his reflection, sneakily stealing glances at the other two through the mirror. From his position, his mother blocked out most of Ochako’s figure, so all he could see was the swish of her brown hair.
“Oh, Deku! There you are,”
She came up from behind and circled around in front of him.
“Sorry I’m late. It took a little bit longer than expected to get ready, so I missed the first bus here,” she went for her bag that she brought with her and began to search in it for something.
Izuku took advantage now that she was distracted and actually looked up at her.
She had on a purple coat that was somewhat snug around her form and whose sleeves were a tad too short. It was most definitely something she was quickly growing out of. She probably couldn’t afford to buy a newer jacket with her tight budget, so she made due. There was also a cute black scarf wrapped neatly around her neck to match her black leggings. What stuck out the most to him was the cherry hue to her lips, which was either from some kind of lipgloss or a result of spending a little too much time at the mercy of the crisp, fall wind.
Seeing how nicely she dressed put him somewhat at ease, but not enough to take away his self-consciousness about his hair.
“It’s no problem,” he said.
“Oh, by the way, here’s your ticket!” Uraraka pulled out a stub of paper and handed it over to him. “I saw that they were selling them online, so I just decided to get them so we don’t have to wait in line.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t have to do that! Izuku could have bought his own ticket,” Inko said.
Uraraka waved her hand and bashfully responded “Oh don’t worry, it’s my treat,”
Coming up behind Izuku, Inko placed her hands on his shoulders. “Well, isn’t she sweet?”
Sensing that his mother was about to say something that would embarrass him, Izuku stood up and put the ticket in his pocket.
“Well, I think we should go. It would be a shame if the lines for the rides got too long.” As two teenagers made their way out, Inko waved them off with the usual parting message of “Be safe!” and “Don’t stay out too late!”
About 20 minutes later, when they stepped off the bus, Izuku and Ochako were completely bombarded by the liveliness of the festival. Glimmering fluorescent lights buzzed in competition against traditional paper lanterns. A loud, roaring hum of festival-goers, moving parts, footsteps, chirps and barks and meows, and squeals. The scent of fresh, piping hot street food filled their chilly noses as the wind blew harshly against them. Filing through a crowd of people, they found themselves at a loss of what to do first. Should they go straight for the rides? Eat a snack? Watch one of the local street performers?
“Okay…let’s see what we’ve got here,” said Ochako, scanning with a hand placed over her brow. “We’ve got two immediate options: In this direction, we can play some games or grab a snack. But if we go this way, we can go straight for the rides….ahh, such hard choices!” she said, shaking her head. Then she wrinkled her face and stared at the ground for a second, and after that, she turned towards him.
“By the way, how come your hair looks like that?”
“Hm? Oh!” Izuku’s hands shot up to his hair and he patted it, remembering what it looked like. “I-it was my mom, she thought that I should something different with it…s-so,” his cheeks reddened. He was suddenly reminded again that a huge part of Ochako’s personality is her tendency to say exactly what’s on her mind, regardless of whether or not she was aware of it.
“Oh. Well, it’s definitely an interesting change, hehe.” she smiled at him before turning to walk towards a map of the festival grounds a few yards away. Izuku followed closely behind, and as they passed a food truck he stopped at one of the windows to fluff his hair back in its usual curly state.
They eventually decided to tackle the rides first, then loop around until they reached the main stage, where the hero agencies would be holding their seminars. It seemed the most sensible plan because it allowed them to grab a bite to eat without worrying about puking it all up on a rollercoaster. First, they hopped on some teacups as a starter, then a wood coaster that felt a little too old to still be in use and which threatened to crack under its own weight at any second, then a spinning vortex ride where the riders stuck to the walls, which Izuku claimed was his favorite so far, but gave Ochako the same nauseous feeling she got when overusing her gravity quirk.
They decided that they needed a break from all of the adrenaline, (and agreed that if Uraraka were to ride anything else in the next ten minutes, she would puke) so they decided to head towards the main stage where the hero seminars were taking place. When they stopped to scan the bleachers for an available seat, an excited, manly voice called out to them.
“Yo! Midoriya!”
They two whipped their heads around to see Kirishima running up to them with a toothy smile; his face was lit up both with excitement and the six glow stick hanging off of his neck.
“Hey! I didn’t know you were gonna come today! Gee, you must have had a lucky streak all day today, huh?” said Uraraka, motioning towards the bundle of stuffed and blown up prizes clutched in Kirishima’s arms.
“You bet! Check this out, this one’s my favorite.” He revealed a small plush Sumo wrestler.
“Oh, it’s Bakugo!”
Silent, blonde, and obviously grumpy, Bakugo strutted his way over to Kirishima with his eyes fixed to the floor.
“It took a lot of convincing, but I got him to tag along last minute,” Kirishima threw an arm around his friend’s shoulder.
“Get your hands off me, broom head!” Bakugo barked.
“Oh shut up and eat your taimaki,”
The boys waved them off (well, Kirishima did, Bakugo completely ignored them) and went to go sit down. Ochako discovered that another one of their classmates, Tsuyu Asui, was sitting by herself near the middle. After determining that the seats on either side of her weren’t taken, Izuku and Ochako went and sat with her. Not long after, the seminar started. It was set up as a sort of panel with a few heroes from different agencies sitting at a table to take questions from the crowd. Of course, Izuku was one of the most engaging audience members, raising his hand every other minute or so and piling notes upon notes into a notebook that he carried along with him. At some point during the seminar, Ochako’s attention drifted from the heroes on the stage and she became fixated on her friend. The way that his hand shot up in the air when another question popped into his mind was incredibly amusing. His beaming, goofy smile and the spark in his eyes sent a flutter in her chest. There was something magical about it, the way he broke free from his shell and let his inner confidence shine through every time he got the chance to talk about heroes. It was strangely intimate, almost like she was peeking at him through a window during a moment of privacy. It felt dangerous. And yet at the same time, she saw herself in the room with him. Absorbing every word he said with genuine excitement and attention. And then, maybe, his hand would fall onto her lap. And as he spoke, his mop of forest green hair invited her, dared her, even, to run her fingers through it.
Then all of a sudden he was facing her. Ochako quickly swung her head away from his direction and focused her eyes to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him look her up and down for a brief second before turning his attention back to the stage. Her face burned horribly. Although it was just a quick glance, just the thought of him possibly catching her staring at him was enough to make her flustered beyond belief.
“Erm, Tsu, could you come with me to the bathroom?”
Once the girls left the crowd and turned the corner around a food truck, Ochako let out a sharp exhale out of exasperation. She threw her face into her hands.
“Gah, I feel like throwing up,”
“Then go to the bathroom.”
“What? No, no I don’t actually need to use the bathroom,”
Tsuyu turned her head inquisitively.
“One moment I feel fine, and the next I can’t think straight. And I try so hard to not do that, but every single time it just…comes out of nowhere!”
Tsuyu brought her finger up to her chin and tapped it a few times as she formulated her words in her head, then turned back to Ochako.
“Well, if you bury everything inside you’re just bound to explode,” she said in her usual matter-of-fact tone. Tsuyu always spoke with a laidback, thoughtful presence, and everything she said always seemed well thought out and reasonable. This quality of hers garnered her much respect from her friends and came in handy when she found herself in precarious situations.
Her words seemed to rattle something within Ochako, and suddenly there was a glimmer of recognition behind her eyes. She jolted upright and took on an expression of a mix of shock and embarrassment. She met Tsuyu’s eyes with a pleading expression as if asking if she knew, to which Tsuyu returned a confirming look. Ochako’s cheeks colored.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“If you’re comfortable, just talk to him. It’s better, to be honest than to keep anything a secret, especially if it involves your close friends, ribbit!” said Tsuyu, “Besides, the worst thing that could happen is that he doesn’t feel the same way. And if that’s the case, at least you’ll be able to move on,”
Ochako’s face contorted as she processed Tsuyu’s advice. Pushing down her feelings certainly didn’t work, and as time went on it became harder and harder to maintain her emotions for Izuku. Her friend was definitely right in what she should do. But it’s not that easy! How would she even begin to explain such a thing to him? Especially after all the time they had known each other; her feelings have only grown stronger day by day. She had been burying them inside and piling them up for months on end. And with this combination of burying and piling, they mixed and twisted into something incredibly foreign to her, something so much deeper than just a schoolgirl crush. What if she found herself at a loss for words trying to express herself? Or worse, overwhelming him with her feelings?
The panel had ended while the girls were still “in the bathroom,” and as the crowd dispersed, they made their way back to find Izuku. The three chatted about the seminar for a few minutes, and then Tsuyu parted ways to head home early. Checking the seminar off their list of things to do, Ochako and Izuku went back to strolling around and amusing themselves with the diverse array of activities that surrounded them.
After a while, they passed by the giant Ferris wheel, which towered over everything else in the park, save for the giant spinning swings. Ochako immediately lit up at the sight of it, encapsulated by the bright, rainbow lights decorating the spokes, which flashed in crazy patterns in sync with the music being played by some speakers attached to the base.
“Ooh! Let’s go there!” she said, grabbing Izuku’s arm and dashing towards the line.
After they had gotten on the ride, Ochako leaned forward a bit to lean against the protective bar, pulled the cuffs of her coat up to cover her cold hands and gave them a blow of warm air from her lips before resting her face on them. Izuku watched her do this with odd fixed attention. Her puckered lips were still as cherry red as before. For some reason, he felt the urge to start a conversation with her, but as his mouth moved to form words, he realized he didn’t have anything interesting to say. So, he bumbled a bit and spat out something along the lines of
“s’cold, isn’t it?”
Ochako turned towards him and the expression on her face told him that she didn’t catch what he had said. He colored.
“...Ya know, I know that this was kind of an assignment for class, but I’m really glad you came with me today,” she said.
“Oh. Really?”
“Yeah, really. It’s funny, I wasn’t expecting you to actually come. Well, actually I was, but I wasn’t at the same time. Yeah I know it’s confusing, gah!”
Ochako turned away and hid her face behind her hand in a motion that made their seat swing a little bit. Startled, the two quickly grabbed onto the seat in an effort to stabilize it. In doing so, their hands touched each other accidentally as they clasped the protective bar. Ochako quickly snatched her hand away, then did a double-take at him.
“Woah, your hands are so warm!” She said, clasping his right hand in between both of hers, like a hand sandwich.
“Are they?”
Izuku pretended to be unaware, but he knew that the cause of it was because he had been in a nervous sweat the entire evening. It was actually a relief to feel her cold touch against his burning palm, at least it was for a few seconds. Because he felt them get clammy as he noticed how long she had been clasping it. Finally, she let it go.
“I wonder. Do you think Todoroki has warm hands or cold hands? Or both?”
“I’m not sure,” he replied. Then he went on to contribute to the thought, only to be interrupted by a sudden commotion from below. There was the sound of a gross, manly screech that echoed from some unknown origin. Startled, the two looked around themselves, then on the ground below, and couldn’t find a thing. There was a beat of silence. Then they looked at each other, and then they both broke out into laughter. For some odd reason, the strange noise provided the catalyst for a release they both desperately needed. And they laughed hard, until the point where their sides hurt. Ochako had a hand on his shoulder and was grabbing it to keep herself from falling out of the seat. Their cheeks went sore from smiling for so long and for a moment it seemed like they had forgotten what had even caused them to laugh in the first place, but they didn’t care.
Izuku wiped a tear from his eye, then looked ahead and beamed as he realized that they had finally reached the top. Ochako followed his gaze. Since they had arrived, the time had droned on in the background, and at that moment they just realized that the sun had finally set and it was dark outside. So, the lights and lanterns that shone wild colors were even brighter than before. It was mesmerizing. A draft of cold wind snuck up on them and licked at the back of Ochako’s neck. She shivered harshly and pulled her slightly undersized coat tighter around her. Noticing that it hadn’t really given her much relief, Izuku asked her again if she were cold. This time having understood him, she nodded with a grimace. He then, with a quick moment of hesitation, scooted closer to her and tried to reach and put his arm around her.
KaBOOM!!!
Before he could touch her, the ride trembled in the shockwave caused by a sudden explosion. Their seat swung violently and they were thrown into each other. Screams of terror emerged from other riders and Izuku himself. He looked about and saw a commotion a couple of yards ahead. Twenty yards across was the stage where the hero seminar was held, although now it was set up for some magic show and there was a gust of smoke on stage from which a figure in a maroon cloak and an animal mask emerged.
“Oh ho ho! I admit, even I jumped a little with that one,” the cloaked figure’s voice boomed through a microphone.
Izuku’s mouth hung open in disbelief and he clutched his heart. Ochako was holding her mouth shut in an effort to contain her laughter. She turned and cupped his cheeks with her hands, making sure to keep both pinkies off of his skin in case her anti-gravity quirk activated.
“You’re such a dummy,” she said.
His mouth curled into a crooked shape and he shrunk down. His nervous sweats came back full force as his cheeks turned into red blotches.
The ride was over and once they hopped off they decided that it was time to leave. On the way out, Izuku bought Uraraka a snack from one of the food trucks as a treat and a thank you for inviting him along. Then they boarded the bus and rode it all the way to Uraraka’s street. They hopped off and walked until they found her apartment complex.
When they reached her door, she turned towards him. She let her hand fall upon the side of his bicep and she gave it a friendly squeeze.
“I guess this is where we part ways,” she said.
Then her hand traveled down until their fingers met. In an impulse she took the opportunity to fully grab onto his hand, first cupping it, then intertwining her fingers in between his. His hands were warm. She smiled.
“Goodnight,”
She kissed his cheek, squishing her lips against his cool skin for what felt like the blink of an eye.
A jolt went through Izuku’s body and once she pulled away he immediately reached up to touch the spot her lips touched. Blood rushed into his face as the sensation lingered.
The slight stickiness confirmed that she was, in fact, wearing cherry red lipgloss.
He opened his mouth to say something but she had slipped into her apartment and closed the door before he could.
For a moment he stood there alone with only the sound of the wind blowing by. His heart fluttered inside of his chest. And he forgot to breathe for a few drawn out seconds. He eventually broke out of his shocked stiffness with a very slight, almost unnoticeable smile. A light chuckle escaped his lips and he shook his head as he quickly walked off in a stupor.
((Hope you guys liked it!! This is my second BNHA fic and I really liked how it turned out. This may have a part two, idk yet. Hope you enjoy!!))
#bnha#my hero academia#boku no hero academia#midoriya izuku#mha#deku#uraraka ochako#izuocha#dekuraka#bnha fan fic#bnha fanfiction#mha fanfiction
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“please don’t be afraid of me i can’t bear to be abandoned again”
—
some g/t chat noir/ladybug ramblings i needed to get out of my system APPARENTLY
tags: growth, anxious big, bit of fearplay, marichat
—
fighting an akuma
Chat gets HIT with a beam or ray attack but as he’s knocked back by it he detransforms?? identity’s safe cause him and ladybug were knocked back into another room from the blast and it’s just them in there
now-adrien comments on feeling VERY weird before detransforming as ladybug has her back to him and is like “JUST GET OUT OF HERE CHAT it’s okay I’ve got this” and shrugs off his concerns and says whatever happened to him will be fixed with Miraculous Ladybug anyway
Adrien attempts flirting but is basically kicked out of there so ladybug can finish the job
———
next time Adrien transforms, he’s found the akuma-of-the-day first and has jumped to the rescue of some citizens, inside a building
The weird feeling returns as soon as he transforms but he ignores it and shields the citizens and then turns around to check on them
sudden realisation they’re smaller than they should be
Chat diffuses the tension the way he does best, by making sharp quips and laughing it off
But then suddenly he hazes out, and only snaps back to when his head hits the ceiling
a citizen screams
It’s not funny anymore
—
Ladybug was on her way when she catches the news on the billboard plasmas
A building is being destroyed from the inside out. She can hear it cracking from here
Frightened citizens are interviewed in snippets, babbling about chat noir and that something's wrong with him and he’s the danger not the akuma
Ladybug pales. She told her partner he’d be alright. Her last words to him were words of beration
Ladybug reaches the building as it half collapses, but there is a sudden flash before the rubble falls. Ladybug thinks it’s familiar; it’s the flash of a detransformation. If Chat was in there, he’s not now.
———
Ladybug is missing her partner all week. More guilt piles in her gut. What happened to him. Will her last words to him really be “Stop worrying Chat, now get lost!”
To top it off Adrien seems extremely on edge and distant, as if she needed more to worry about
———
Marinette is out by the forest’s edge** when the newest akuma appears. It’s singled her out. She can’t break its line of sight, she can’t transform like this
(**I KNOW THEYRE IN THE MIDDLE OF PARIS BUT THERE NEEDED TO BE TREES & COVER)
The akuma now has her cornered; marinette is almost ready to transform in front of them as they raise their weapon up at her
Suddenly his voice rings out. “TRANSFORMEZ-MOI!”
“Chat!” He’s blocked the attack. He’s standing in front of her, baton drawn, teeth gritted. Marinette gapes at him from behind; she’s never seen his shoulders so tense
The akuma taunts him with a sharp laugh, but then chat has grabbed her and leapt back into the trees as the akuma launches attacks after them
They slip and fall down a sheer hill; chat wraps himself around her and takes all of the scrapes and knocks
———
“Where have you been??” Marinette gets out as they steady themselves at the bottom of the hill. “I’ve been- uh- all of Paris has been so worried!”
She stops when she sees his face. She’s never seen Chat look scared like this
“Marinette- I can’t- I’m sorry- please don’t run-” his body is trembling
He’s holding her shoulders. She’s about to ask what’s wrong. Then suddenly his hands are holding almost all the way around her
She jerks as he whispers to her, frantic reassurances, and within seconds she has to crane her head back to still see him, and he shifts down onto his knees to try and make himself smaller for her but he continues stretching up and looming bigger and bigger
His shadow completely casts over her. his head reaches the treeline and he crouches even more. his whispering stops for a moment and is replaced with a groan, and it rumbles so loud that marinette can feel it through the ground under her feet. His hands are almost as tall as her
She’s stepping back now as his head fills all her vision, and it seems to slow, maybe stop, but there’s so much of him now how can she even tell at this point
His head is down. his hands are still cupped loosely around her. he’s breathing deeply, every inhale & exhale sending shivers through the earth and, through her
Then trembling, his head rises, and his eyes blink open, terrifyingly huge. She can’t help it. She runs.
———
She thinks he says “no!” but all she really hears is how loud the voice is
She can see the hands shift to close around her and she scrambles faster. This is too much
She’s not fast enough. The hands block her route;
There’s more urgent whispering from behind her, “marinette please don’t go” “I can’t let anyone find out” “i promise I won’t hurt you” but the presence is overwhelming and she yelps and quails from him
The whispers stop, the hands are shaking; but then they pull back and the path is clear. She hesitates.
Then runs again.
———
woof that last section got detailed. ANYWAY
Marinette runs away chat noir is extremely distraught, but then
Other parisians have heard the akuma & commotion and marinette can hear them approaching where chat noir is hunkered down
She manages to snag their attention and misdirects them away
After they leave marinette GETS HER BEARINGS and is like (oh my god you actually just ran away from him. first you tell him to go away and feel awful about it but then next time you see him and he needs your help YOU JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE)
RUNRUNRUN BACK TO CHAT NOIR
Surpringly hard to find now what is this he was like fifty feet tall for god’s sake where did you go
“Chat? Chat Noir?” Gently calling his name into the woods. She apologises over and over. She just got so overwhelmed but she promises she’s okay now
To the sound of a branch breaking, her head whips around. She stares for a moment, but it’s only when he shifts ever so carefully that her eyes adjust to how much of him she’s seeing
He’s lying down on his stomach now, to hide under the tree line. Even this big he can still melt into the shadows. That’s her Chat Noir for you
She carefully approaches through the trees. He keeps his arms tucked well in and away from her. His huge eyes aren’t terrifying now; just filled with terror.
-
Chat explains to her that something hit him during the last akuma attack but because he detransformed it didn’t take effect. Now every time he transforms, this happens
Is it what the akuma intended?? Is it an overload of energy sources?? We just don’t know
It’s probably energy-related bc when it happens he feels overwhelmed as well & can’t focus/gets really hazy and detransforming is like, EXTREMELY difficult, he gets stuck like this for a little while and it takes real effort and focus to detransform now
Marinette, absolutely horrified that he hasn’t asked her for help: Why haven’t you gone to Ladybug??
After nearly collapsing a building the last time, Chat doesn’t want it happening in the midst of Paris again, but also the only place that Ladybug appears is in the midst of Paris when fighting an akuma. He doesn’t know who she is outside of that so he can’t exactly find and meet with her later
Marinette: (hdkadjakdfjsjjd)
“Also….I’m so afraid of scaring her….I don’t want her to look at me like you just did I couldn’t bear it,”
Marinette: (HDJAKDJAKFJSJJDSJ)
———
ITS LIKE 2AM AND I DONT HAVE MUCH MORE THAN THAT BUT IF I NEED TO MAYBE I’LL ADD MORE LATER,,,,,,,,
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You made me ship Lunya T.T but as a Allison stan this kind made me ship her with Diego... headcanon about the neglected couples? :O
Tbh, there are a lot of ship possibilities that could be seen as neglected couples since there are 7 main people who could be thrust into about 21 ship dynamics - not counting poly ships and not counting ships that aren’t sibling ships - like Klave or Vanya/Helen or even still incest stuff like Gracexthe sibs.
So you see, endless possibilities but there are only about 4 ships who are really popular? Klave, Kliego, Fiveya...maybe Horrance? And even then, most Horrance or Fiveya shippers still see their ship as a rarepair because compared to Klave or Kliego it more or less is.
Which may have to do with the fact that if you’re an anti but wanna ship something you have pretty limited options, so Klave it is.
So you probably want some Allison/Diego hcs but I’m gonna do a little more because Allison is less popular in general so her ships are not that often talked about.
I’ll leave out Alluther because I did some OTP asks about them, but y’all know I ship them because it’s the sweet story of childhood sweethearts meeting again and falling in love all over again and it’s just...*sighs dreamily* lots of possibilities.
Allison/Diego: A fun ship! At first you’d probably say: ‘We have a pretty much functional adult with a child and a guy who eats raw eggs to seem edgy’ so it’s easy to fall into a Hermione/Ron relationship interpretation where you have a dumbass and someone done with their shit - and I can see it being like that occasionally but not always!
When I think about them I mostly think about teasing. They totally do some competitive shit just because they wanna best each other but where that same dynamic could quickly turn into arguments for Luego I can see it staying mostly light-hearted with Allison/Diego.
(Quick question, do they have a ship name? Asking for tagging purposes).
And Allison would take none of Diego’s shit. Oh, Diego has one of his mood swings and tries to be an emo boy and pull that ‘I don’t need anyone shit’? Boy, Allison is a single mother who’s been through a divorce already, she doesn’t have time for your angst.
Lmao, Allison being like: “We’ll sit down and talk about our feelings now” after a fight and Diego complains the whole time but sits down like a good boy.
Also, Allison would do the vigilante thing from time to time because she may pretend to be an adult and above that kinda stuff but it’s fun and they definitely argue over who took out more people.
Give me that power couple pls.
Allison/Klaus: One of my favourite ships! Can be real whole-hearted or angsty depending on the angle you take.
Like, Allison who keeps busting Klaus out of prison with her status and her rumours and who pays for his rehab stay every single time, at first still telling him that she’s gonna fix him with that Hollywood ‘You can do it’ attitude - slowly getting more and more annoyed by her no-good brother, feeling like a babysitter - maybe even refusing to keep indulging his brother, to keep giving him money he’s only gonna use on drugs anyway.
And Klaus who despises Allison’s glamour lifestyle, her polished image and her nuclear family - we could even throw some biphobia in there because Klaus remembers their talks about how pretty girls are but Allison pretends that never happened because it wouldn’t do her career much good. (Just like being seen with her junkie brother, “isn’t that why we can’t meet anywhere that isn’t a back alley? Why you can’t talk to me without sunglasses and a hat? Why you keep your voice down even when I scream at you?”)
Plus, some added angst: Patrick telling Allison to just drop her brother already, he’s just gonna self-destruct and take her with him and that creates tension between the two of them, could even be one of the many reasons for their divorce.
And just like that, Allison loses all of it. And Klaus is there with a cheap bottle of Tequila, already high and grinning at her: “Welcome at the bottom, sister dearest!”
*insert the 30k story about the two of them slowly learning to understand each other and finally being able to heal - with the help from the other but also because they wanna change for themselves. I vote for added bed sharing and sleepovers and them doing each other’s nails but also them fucking once and not talking about it because they were both really hurt and not really thinking when it happened but it staying in the back of their minds until they realize that they could actually work together*
This got angstier than it was supposed to be, sorry! I love them, I swear!
Allison/Five: Probably the least popular one out of all the Allison ships!
I have to admit that I don’t think about Five ships much? Which probably has to do with the whole child body thing but I’m not opposed to ships involving them! (Especially when they’re enby, y’all know my brand).
Allison/Five would be that kinda snob couple who knows they are superior to you and they’re not above showing you. Lots of quibs, lots of sarcasm.
But also probably one of the more mature ones? I can see Allison being unsure at first because Five is- no, looks like a kid and who knows when that will get fixed? And maybe it’s because she’s a Mum but sometimes she just treats them like a child and Five hates it.
(Five probably has to do a lot of courting before Allison considers a relationship. Which is bullshit. They both know there’s tension there, why the fuck is Allison drawing back from that? Just because Five’s trapped in this body? Does Allison think they want that?)
Five aggressively flirting while Allison to herself is like: ‘Hoe, don’t do it.’ but eventually giving in.
And of course, depending on your take of Five’s body, things are gonna be weird. Like, a popular hc is to have Five in a 20ish body but even then, just imagine the headlines.
Allison Hargreeves, world star, dating a guy 10 years younger!!! Is she getting over her divorce with a boy toy?
(Not to mention the pseudo-incest part).
They’d get a lot of shit I’d say.
And Five would be furious about that. How dare they imply that their relationship with Allison is just some fling? They’ll show them. So they make a game out of proving the paparazzi wrong. Makes it their mission to treat Allison as right as possible.
(Also I have feelings about the whole Five - Claire - Allison thing. I mean, just Five mentioning wanting to meet Claire? Knowing her name? I am soft).
And I know I am rambling a little but whether you think Patrick was/is a nice guy or not (I personally think he is), I can see Allison being so obsessed with seeming flawless and having the picture perfect family - as opposed to her own family - that she felt like she could never really be herself? Like she had to hide a lot of her more ‘ugly’ sides to be desirable.
And Five doesn’t care about that shit. Five also doesn’t care about courtesy. Five will jump into her room at the beginning of their relationship, watch her scramble around to try and change into something nicer than her pajamas and apologize for her messy hair and her pimples- “I just woke up, I didn’t have time to put on my make up, can’t you come back later Five?”
And Five’s like: “You look like someone who just woke up. Your hair is sweaty and you have a pretty big pimple on your nose. Also, your morning breath is horrible. Can we cuddle now?”
(Five is the first partner Allison burps in front of. It’s pretty freeing).
Five on the other hand has someone they can be insecure in front of. Where they don’t have to pretend they know all the answers. Be dismissive with. (They’re trying to let all of their siblings in but it’s a process, okay?)
I’m sorry, I’ll stop now but I gave myself feelings.
Allison/Ben: This feels like an easier couple. Like, more normal, lmao. Just a couple of adopted sibs falling in love the old-fashioned way - after one of them gets brought back to live and they survive a near apocalypse their sister caused.
I like to spin some tale of being in love as kids (like with Alluther) but for me the two of them really work better as just being friends as kids and then once Ben comes back, Allison realizes how much she missed him and she’s like “What is this???? Am I....crushing on him??” (imagine the Beauty and the Beast song where they realise they like each other while playing in the snow).
Just...some good and nice slowburn. Maybe some added angst with Ben thinking Allison is confusing her relieve of him being alive with being in love or believes she’s looking for a rebound after her divorce.
Or maybe he believes he’s just touch-starved and that’s why he clings to Allison?
(Imagine the two of them chilling at the mansion together, just picking up where they left off, pretending to still be kids. Allison all excitedly showing Ben what he’s missed during all those years and what he only gets to experience now - let’s be honest this mostly boils down to Allison making him eat a bunch of stuff, not even waiting until he takes a bite himself but just putting it in his mouth because she wants to see whether he likes it).
(I hc that Allison can’t cook for shit but Ben has no real frame of reference unless you count blurry memories of what food used to taste like so it’s heaven to him and Allison is giddy).
They’re just cute, okay?
Allison/Vanya: ANGST. GAY ANGST. I mean, the guilt over what happened, Allison feeling like it’s her fault and treating Vanya all nice but Vanya stilll flinches everytime she sees the angry red scar across Allison’s throat. Plus, if Allison still can’t speak and will never speak again and Vanya tries her hardest to learn ASL with her so she doesn’t have to write down everything all the time.
Young Allison/Vanya with Vanya realising she’s queer and sneaking glances at Allison and immediately feeling guilty because she shouldn’t be looking, it’s wrong and dirty and Allison will hate her and-
Whereas she is completely missing the way Allison is looking back.
Also this ship can easily turn toxic with either of them - or both - getting overbearing after all that happened. And tbh, that’s just as exciting to write/think about.
That’s all I got for now but you’re welcome to talk more Allison/Allison ships with me!
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What If I Told You (4)
Characters: Jensen x Reader; Jared Padalecki; SPN Cast members
Summary: You and Jensen have been the closest of friends for years after meeting on the set of SPN, but what will happen when you and Jensen have a kissing scene?
Warnings: Cursing; divorce; break up; angst-ish at times, but mostly fluff.
I consider this an AU, as Jensen is divorced from an unnamed ex in this fic. This is completely a work of fiction, and I wouldn’t want his reality to be any different, this is purely for entertainment.
A/n: Here it is!! The kiss! But... This is not the last part!!!! There will be more. This is just the beginning *evil wink*
Read previous parts here! Or check out my Masterlist here!
“Dean? What’s going on? You’re scaring me.” You confessed, widening your eyes as you took a few steps forward.
“Look, I don’t know how to tell you this...” He began, placing his body in front of yours. “I—Sam and I aren’t supposed to be here... We were brought here by something. We’re from a different world, where we live in an underground bunker and hunt monsters for a living.”
You let out a short snicker, thinking he was starting some sort of joke before you took in the sincerity of his eyes, effectively shutting your mouth as he pursed his lips. “What are you talking about, Dean?” you asked, growing nervous at his exploits. This was your Dean, the man you’d been with for 7 years; through college and adulthood, single life and married. “Are you on something? Seriously? Are you drunk? Wh—what are you even talking about?” you stammered.
When he exhaled heavily, frustrated, you continued, pacing and running your fingers through your hair, “I mean, I knew you were acting different the last few days, but this is going a bit too far. If you’re trying to play some sort of trick on me, I’m not enjoying it, okay?”
“Its not a trick, sweetheart.” He said softly, pain evident in his features. He was in a world without monsters, without loss, and with you, but he couldn’t stay. His eyes glazed slightly when you backed away from him as he stepped closer, a fear and panic in your gaze. “I’d never do anything to hurt you, I swear. Not the you here or the one back home. And trust me, I’d never lie to you about something like this.” you blinked up at him, trying to decide if the man you love had literally gone insane as he rambled, “God knows its hard for me to say this... But Sam and I have to go back; we have to go back to you and our life there. Its important. We’re important there.” he said, a slightly bitter tone on the edge of his voice.
“But you’re important here too, Dean!” you exclaimed.
He nodded slowly, placing his hands on your shoulders, “I know this doesn't make sense to you, and I’m honestly not sure what’s going to happen here when we leave, but I need you to do something, okay? This is very important and I wouldn’t make you do this if it weren’t absolutely necessary, alright?”
Your nerves were palpable in your stance and the slight mist of your eyes, but you nodded anyways.
“I need you to destroy your grandfather’s pocket watch.”
“What?” you breathed in shock, “Dean, that's all I have left of—“
“I know. Really, I do. I’m so sorry, but you have to do it or something bad could happen… to me. And to the rest of our family.”
You looked at him wearily, but conceded.
He moved closer, his glorious bowlegs carrying him swiftly towards you, narrowing the distance between you to only a few inches. “But listen, Y/c/n…There’s something I need to tell you though; something I could never tell you before, in my other life, because—well, because I’m not brave enough…” he paused, reaching to brush a stray wisp of hair behind your ear.
You tried to concentrate on maintaining your character’s façade, which was sort of easy since you were supposed to be a mixture of scared and desolate, but you couldn’t help the quiver that shook through you when his fingertip traced your jaw, a ragged breath fleeing your lips.
Shit, that’s not in the script.
If Jensen noticed, he didn’t let on. A fleeting emotion swept through his gaze as he swallowed thickly, moving his arm to slide sensually around your waist as his hand cradled your cheek.
“I need to tell you how much you mean to me. I—“ he choked. “I love you. I always have, from the day that we met. I don’t dare cross this line in my real life, but I don’t know that I’ll get another chance to tell you. I love you, Y/n. I’ve always loved you.”
You knew you were supposed to speak. You’re next line hung from your tongue but went unspoken; instead, all you could manage was a strangled incoherent word, your mouth slightly parted as you gazed into your best friend’s eyes, speechless.
Jensen felt his chest tighten as he held you and felt the smoothness of your skin beneath his fingertips. The scene was supposed to progress. You were supposed to deliver another line, calling him crazy and backing away from him before he spun you towards him and planted a kiss to your lips passionately.
The script actually said passionately. Damn those writers.
You weren’t backing away, though. Your y/e/c eyes were boring into his as your chest heaved with your shallow breaths. He could easily seal his lips with yours; trace every curve of your mouth with his. His whole body begged for it, and when your eyes left his to glance at his lips, he unconsciously ran his tongue along his plump lower lip.
Your heart pounded furiously, screaming for the man in front of you. The feeling of being in his arms tore your soul into a million pieces, and when he licked his lips a flash of heat coursed through your body.
To top it off, he wasn’t backing away either. If anything, he closed the distance between the two of you further, tightening his hold around you.
Jensen waited for you to move. When you didn’t, he softly ran his thumb along the curved edge of your mouth. Slowly, torturously, he leaned down and gently grazed your lips with his.
Your eyes fluttered shut as you carefully kissed him in return. After a feather lite touch, he pulled back, keeping a strong hold of you but searching your eyes, almost desperately asking for permission.
A quick, barely noticeable nod was exchanged between the two of you before he was pressing himself against you, gripping the back of your neck with fervor as he snaked his hand into your hair. He kissed you with more need, but tenderly, allowing you to feel the strength and softness of his build as you held him to your body.
Jensen’s tongue ran across your lower lip, opening you to him as you gasped into his mouth, the warmth of him flooding your senses as you grasped his shirt in your fists. His hand traveled along the hem of your sweatshirt, lifting it slightly to press his palm into the small of your back, creating chills as the heat sunk into your skin.
Suddenly, you both pulled away slightly, chests heaving in sync.
Still in each other’s embrace, faces mere inches from each other, neither of you spoke for a moment but slowly studied one another. Jensen’s large hand remained twisted in your locks when he took in your features, the flush of your skin and your kiss-swollen lips made his head swim in fog.
His eyes shone with an emotion you couldn’t place as he tried to decipher his next move. He could continue; sweep you into his arms and trace your curves with his hands—silently confess what he’d been denying existed deep within him for fear of loosing your friendship.
You breathed a thin breath, and released your hold on the tails of his shirt, still relishing in the feeling of the fabric against your skin. His freckles danced in the dim light of your small apartment, but they couldn’t hide the shadow of rosiness that was splayed beneath them.
Speaking finally, your voice hoarse and shy, you stuttered, “I, um… I think that works—for the scene.”
Unmoving, he replied, “Yeah.” a gruffness present in his voice that made your knees go weak. “I think your right.”
.......
It wasn’t until later that night, lying awake in bed, that you’d realize that it has been your name that left his lips earlier that day.
<Series Masterlist; Part 5>
A/n 2: I received an anon ask when I was looking for fic ideas(see below) for a Jensen x actress!reader fic a while ago, but recently got hit with a spark of inspiration. This is based off of the song “What if I Said” by Anita Cochran and Steve Wariner and will be a short mini-series. Thanks to @our-jensen-ackles-love for being my bets, and my favorite. Also there is a wife mentioned, but I purposefully left this person nameless as to not insinuate anything for Jensen’s real life.
Anonymous said: Hi! Just saw your post about looking for fic ideas. I’ve had this idea that I really like where reader is an actor on Supernatural and is friends with Jensen. They have a scene where they have to kiss or even just have to be right up in each other’s space and it makes them realize they like each other. It’s probably a common thing to write about, but I thought I’d ask anyway. Thanks!
Tagging: (this is my experimentation with my new tag list - if you don’t see your name here and have asked to be added to one of these lists, please send me an ask and I’ll get it fixed.)
What If I Told You:
@pretty-fortune @jamielea81
Forevers:
@akshi8278 @acortez82 @atc74 @berrygutz @blackcherrywhiskey@caitsymichelle13 @daydreamingintheimpalareturns @deanssweetheart23 @deanwinchesterswitch @destielshipper88 @empyreanwritings @gh0stgurl @heyitscam99 @iopenthegates @jackburtonsays @jensensjaredsandmishaslover @jfrank1048 @jotink78 @maddiepants @mrswhozeewhatsis @nerdstackular @nerdysandwichqueen @okay-okay18 @our-jensen-ackles-love @samsgirl93 @sandlee44 @spnbaby-67 @tardis-is-mine @winchester-writes @xtina2191
If you would like to be tagged in my work, please read this and send me an ask!
#Jensen#Jensen Ackles#Jensen x You#jensen x reader#jensen x y/n#jensen ackles x you#jensen ackles x reader#jensen ackles x y/n#jensen ackles supernatural#jensen fanfic#jensen fluff#jensen series#what if i told you#jensen ackles fanfic#jensen ackles fanfiction#jensen ackles fic#jensen ackles fluff#SPN#SPN RP#spn rpf#spn reader insert#supernatural reader insert#dean winchester#dean winchester fic#Supernatural Dean Winchester#dean winchester fan fiction#dean winchester fanfic#dean x reader#dean x you#dean x y/n
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