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themusicaldesk · 1 year

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The Truth About a Legend

By Leonard Bernstein

One day in 1962, I received a call from Glenn in Toronto. He was to play Brahms' D Minor Concerto with me and the New York Philharmonic the following week in Carnegie Hall. He said, "Oh boy, have I got some surprises for you; I have made such discoveries about this piece." I thought, "Well, wonderful." Any discovery of Glenn's was welcomed by me because I worshipped the way he played: I admired his intellectual approach, his "guts" approach, his complete dedication to whatever he was doing, his constant inquiry into a new angle or a new possibility of the truth of a score. That's why he made so many experimental changes of tempi. He would play the same Mozart sonata-movement adagio one time and presto the next, when actually it's supposed to be neither. He was not trying to attract attention, but looking for the truth. I loved that in him. A week before he was to come to New York, he made that call to announce that he had some really new ideas about the Brahms, and to prepare me for them. I said, "Along what order? You're not making a big cut? You're not taking a huge repeat that Brahms didn't write?" Because he had made it sound so extraordinary I didn't know what to expect. He said, "No, it's just a matter of tempo here and there, but I just want to warn you because you might be a little shocked." I told him nothing he could do would shock me because I knew him too well by now, and I was almost unshockable.He arrived and set forth three unbelievable tempi for the three movements. In the first place, they were so slow that the first movement alone took about as much time as it should take to play the whole concerto. It was all in six—the whole first movement had to be beaten in six. There was no sense of alla breve, which, of course, is the point of the movement—or, rather, there was no sense of that fine line between 6/4 in two and 6/4 in six. It's a kind of tightrope which you walk so that at any moment you can veer toward one side or the other—be more flowing, or be more sostenuto, whatever—according to the needs of the music. This, however, was no tightrope. This was having fallen off the tightrope into the safety net called adagissimo—and this for an allegro, mind you. I said I was perfectly willing to go along with it, pour le sport, so to speak, as maybe he had something there. . I also said that I thought we'd have an empty house before we got to the slow movement. Glenn laughed. "Wait till you hear how the slow movement goes, which is also in 6/4. It's exactly the same as the first movement's 6/4. It's just like repeating!" That was his major discovery: the two movements were really both aspects of the same movement, and therefore both—6/4's had to be the same. After an hour of this, we finally got to the finale, which is a 2/4 Hungarian thing, and no matter how much you hold back in the Hungarian manner, you can't possibly do it in four. It's a 2/4 thing, and you can subdivide or hold back all you want, but you can go only so far. I did forewarn the orchestra a little about this. I said, "Now, don't give up, because this is a great man, whom we have to take very seriously." There were some very odd looks when we began the rehearsal, but they were wonderfully cooperative and went right along with it. Of course, they did get tired: it was very tiring. After the rehearsal I asked him, "Are you sure you're still convinced about the 'slowth' of this piece ?" And he said, "Oh, more than ever; did you hear how wonderfully the tension built?"In those days, we had our first concert of each weekly series on Thursday night, which was a kind of dress rehearsal in which I talked to the audience. It was a chic night, the night to be there. You could never get a ticket for Thursday night. I sometimes had a piano, and illustrated points about the music being played as I do on a television show, all in order to bring the audience closer to the music. That night I thought, "What am I going to talk to them about?"—when obviously the main subject of the evening was going to be our performance of a Brahms concerto and Glenn's interpretation of it. So I said to Glenn backstage, "You know, I have to talk to the people. How would it be if I warned them that it was going to be very slow, and prepare them for it? Because if they don't know, they really might leave. I'll just tell them that there is a disagreement about the tempi between us, but that because of the sportsmanship element in music I would like to go along with your tempo and try it." It wasn't to be a disclaimer; I was very much interested in the results—particularly the audience reaction to it. I wrote down a couple of notes on the back of an envelope and showed them to Glenn: "Is this okay?" And he said, "Oh, it's wonderful, what a great idea." So I went out, read these few notes, and said, "This is gonna be different, folks. And it's going to be very special. This is the Glenn Gould Brahms concerto." Out he came, and indeed he played it exactly the way he had rehearsed it, and wonderfully too. The great miracle was that nobody left, because of course it had become such a thing to listen to. The house came down, although, if I remember correctly, it took well over an hour to play. It was very exciting. I never loved him more. The result in the papers, especially the New York Times, was that I had betrayed my colleague. Little did they know—though I believe I did say so to the audience—that I had done this with Glenn's encouragement. They just assumed that I had sold him down the river by coming out first to disclaim his interpretation. It was, on the contrary, a way of educating the audience as part of Thursday night's procedure. All this was not only misunderstood, but repeated and repeated and multiplied exponentially by every other newspaper that wrote about it. Then Harold Schonberg, the ex-chief critic of the Times who wrote the infamous review, wrote a Sunday piece in the form of a letter to "Dear Ossip"— Gabrilovitch, I assume. "Dear Ossip, you vill nyever guess vat last night in Carnyegie Hall hhappent!" sort of thing. The piece was based on this notion of betrayal. He has never let that notion die, and because it's so juicy it has undergone a kind of propagation all over the world. However, the "juicy" part is what did not happen. (For me, the juicy part is what did happen.) Of course, a defense is very weak, once a legend is born. It's rather like the Radical Chic Black Panther legend, which I can never seem to set straight. I have the feeling, even now, that trying to make this story about Glenn clear by telling the truth can't really erase the now legendary, but false, version. Glenn laughed about it. He has that kind—had that kind of ... (I can’t get used to this idea of putting him in the past tense)—Glenn had strong elements of sportsmanship and teasing, 'the kind of daring which accounts for his freshness, the great sense of inquiry which made him suddenly understand Schoenberg and Liszt in the same category, or Purcell and Brahms, or Orlando Gibbons and Petula Clark. He would suddenly bring an unlikely pair of musicians together in some kind of startling comparative essay. At some point, early on—I think when he was doing the Beethoven C Minor Concerto with me—Glenn and I were going to do some work at my apartment, so I invited him to dinner first. This was the first time Felicia, my wife, had actually met him. As you know, Glenn had a "cold complex." He had a fur hat on all the time, several pairs of gloves and I don't know how many mufflers, and coat upon coat. He arrived and began taking off all, or at least some of these things, and Felicia met and loved him instantly. "Oh," she said, "aren't you going to take off your hat?" He had a fur astrakhan cap on, and he said, "Well, I don't think so." At length, he did, and there was all this rotting, matted, sweaty hair that hadn't been shampooed in God knows how long. It was disappearing because it was so unhealthy. Before I knew it, Felicia—before "Have a drink" or anything —had him in the bathroom, washed his hair and cut it, and he emerged from the bathroom looking like an angel. I've never seen anything so beautiful as Glenn Gould coming out of that bathroom with his wonderful blond clean hair. There was a marvelous relationship that sprang up instantly between Glenn and Felicia which lasted through the years. I remember when during the summer of 1955—several years before we met Glenn—Felicia was waiting to give birth to our son, Alexander. The doctors had miscalculated, so we had an extra month to wait. It was June; there was a heat wave in New York; she was in her ninth month and very easily tired and disgruntled. One of the great sources of comfort to us during that month was Glenn's first recording of the Goldberg Variations which had just come out. It became "our song." Of course, the haircut Felicia gave Glenn didn't change his lifestyle at all. I remember we had a recording session a week after the dinner, and he had the fur cap and gloves back on along with all the rest of it. He'd whip the gloves off, record a few bars and then whip them on again, or he'd stop suddenly in the middle of a take and race downstairs to the men's room to nm his hands under hot water. He'd come back, gloves on, and start again. He was very unpredictable, but always very approachable. He had a strange combination of dogmaticism and great humor, which don't usually go together. The humor never, to my knowledge, went away. The one time I saw him on his own turf, so to speak, was when I was making a Canadian tour with the New York Philharmonic, and we stopped in Toronto. Naturally I had to call up Glenn. I went to see him at his apartment, which was a shambles— months of mail stacked up along with newspapers and test pressings. You had to pick your way between piles of things. There he was in the midst of all this, at his special Chickering piano, which he had prepared to sound rather like a fortepiano, or as much like a harpsichord as possible. I wanted to see his apartment and said, "Oh, this must be the bedroom," but he wouldn't let me go in—apparently it was an even worse mess. In any case, he said, "Let's go and do my favorite thing." So we went down and got into his car, he being wrapped up in all his furs and gloves and hats, with all the windows up, the heat turned on full blast, and the radio turned on to a good music station, also full blast. We drove around the city of Toronto, just listening to the radio and sweating. I couldn't stop sweating, but he loved it. I said, "Do you do this often?" He said, "Every day." This was a man who was fascinated by the Arctic and the North Pole. In fact, at that very time he was making the incredible documentary about the North. He'd been there twice and was just about to go again because he was so fascinated by it. For this man, who was so afraid of the cold, to be attracted to the cold, is a paradox that only twelve Freuds could figure out. Here was a man you could really come to love. We became very close friends, but when he stopped playing in public, I saw less and less of him. I regret that, because it was a real relationship, based on a mutual appreciation of the sense of inquiry. He had an intellect that one could really play against and learn from. He was about fifteen years younger than I, I think, but I never felt that he was my junior, in any sense. He was a real peer, in every sense. When he died, l just couldn't bear it. ©1983 Amberson Holdings LLC. First published in "Glenn Gould Variations – By Himself and His Friends", edited with an introduction by John McGreevy, Publisher: Quill, New York.

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hitnran · 3 years

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OBSESSIVE EX (gender neutral! reader)

how they deal with you having an obsessive ex

includes: ran, rindou

CW: obsessive behavior, cursing, stalking (ran), phone harassment (rindou), the haitani brothers lowkey kinda scary here (not to the reader) 💀 but i’m just trying to make it fit within their character

— RAN HAITANI

Getting into a relationship with someone like Ran, half of the charismatic brother duo that ruled Roppongi, almost means guaranteed safety wherever you go. His title itself is one that is feared when murmured. Whenever you two leave, he always has an eye and a hand on you. Ran knows well that even if he is feared, he can also be challenged and the last thing he wants is for you to get involved — you would make an easy target for his enemies.

You two were out together on a stroll around the city. Although there was nothing neither of you needed, Ran’s favorite thing is showing you off. Sometimes you start to feel similar to his younger brother, thinking that you’re just a shadow and only known as ‘Ran’s partner.’ But Ran’s intentions were opposite. He wanted everyone to know that it was him that belonged to you and it is him that people would have to deal with if you were ever tested.

As you two are walking, Ran noticed your eyes consistently checking itself to the side. He took note of that and eventually brushed it off since you stopped. But then he noticed that you were being especially keen and scanning the whole area.

“Are you okay, love?” Ran slightly hunches down, getting your attention as your face turns his way. He lightly smiles at you. “Did you see something you liked?”

You swallowed down hard. You could’ve sworn you saw a familiar face, but after trying to scan the area numerous times for the past few minutes, you thought it was just you being paranoid. The last thing you wanted was to worry Ran and cause a scene.

“I’m okay,” You shook your head, returning a light smile. You grabbed on his arm, this time a little tighter. “Let’s turn into this corner.”

Ran knows when you’re lying. He knew something made you uncomfortable, but he wasn’t going to force you to tell him. Instead, he’ll make it his own problem too and deal with it himself.

This area was his territory and everyone knew it. It was almost as if Roppongi, a city known for liveliness, calmed down ever so slightly if one or both of the brothers were out. Everyone’s gaze wound be kept low and their conversations would go mute as they walk by.

At that moment, Ran could feel a pair of eyes staring your way. He won’t make it obvious though.

“Love,” Ran called out to you. You looked up his direction and he placed a hand against your lower back. “Rindou’s gonna throw a fit if I don’t bring back food for him. How about you go into the restaurant and order first while I call him and ask what he wants?”

You felt at ease hearing that you two were finally going to be in somewhere indoors, but it made you nervous that he would be separated from you for just a little while.

“Don’t wanna bring something back he won’t like and have him complain,” Ran lightly laughed, trying to ease your clear discomfort. He placed a hand over your head. Taking out his phone to add to his act. “I’ll be quick.”

After some hesitation, you gave in. It was a public space after all, so it shouldn’t have been anything to worry too much about. He watched as you entered the place before turning around, sending chills to the person who had been following you two around this whole time.

“Would be a shame if I left them alone for too long, wouldn’t it?” Ran gave off a sinister grin, slowly walking towards the person. “Wouldn’t want anyone to take them away…especially someone like you.”

Ran knew who this person was. He was an obsessive ex of yours that just would not leave you alone and accept the separation despite it being years passed. He gulped hard, nervously stepping back, not thinking that he would get caught.

“You were so bold to even follow us in the first place, why so shy now?” Ran smirked, hiking up the sleeves of his sweatshirt. “This is the first time you’ve heard of me or something? I should introduce myself to you well and hard then.”

Almost ten minutes had passed since you’ve been waiting for Ran. You sat patiently and waited. Your best guess as to what’s taking him so long revolves around Rindou. Maybe he was complaining about how he wanted food from a different place or being picky about menu opinions. Just as you were about to raise yourself from your seat to check up on Ran, you saw him enter.

“Did I make you wait too long?” Ran appeared, seating himself in front of you. The worse case scenario you had in mind was that he got into a fight, but in front of you, he looked just as how you last saw him. “You know how Rindou is.”

Your chest became relaxed and you gave a small smile, shaking your head, “What did he want from here?”

“I didn’t even listen to what he said,” Ran teased, opening up his menu and leaning back against the chair. You felt his legs sandwich your calves from beneath the table. “He can order it himself. All my money is going to you today.”

And that was how Ran liked it. Although Ran wanted everyone to know that he belonged to you, he knew how important it was for others to know that you belonged to him too. The image of the face of your ex is burned so clearly into his brain — face all bloodied up, mauled almost, as he failed to even whisper for forgiveness.

“I think there’s only one way I’m gonna let you outta here alive,” Ran kicked his body down with force, hearing something shift in his jaw. He couldn’t give half a damn about it. “Do you know what that is?”

Your ex was visibly beaten and weak now, barely able to even blink or properly form a sentence. Though, with his adam’s apple slightly moving from fear, Ran took it as a response.

Grabbing him by his hair upward, Ran bent down, looking straight at him, “You’re gonna leave them alone and never show your goddamn face again. If it wasn’t fucked already before, it sure is now. I promise you I’ll know if you’re even barely visible or a mile away, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Ran thought it was so disgusting how someone like you could ever have your time wasted on someone low like this ex of yours. Even if Ran saw him and his brother above everyone else, he always put you above him.

“Maybe even after this, I’ll send one of my men to go and beat the shit out of you every day so you could suffer for as long as you’ve tried to bother Y/N.”

— RINDOU HAITANI

Rindou can’t even remember what it took for you two to even reach this state of your guys relationship. He convinced himself that it was Ran, his older brother who wouldn’t shut up about how he was going to take you if Rindou didn’t make a move.

It genuinely surprises himself even whenever he looks your way, observing every detail and soaking in the idea that you are someone he can call his.

You two were watching a movie, or rather, supposed to. Rindou was too focused on side-eyeing you every now and then. You caught him a few times, but he would brush it off with comments like “this movie is boring” or “I’m just checking to see if you fell asleep.”

He would snap himself out of a trance after hearing your phone ring beside you. You eyed it once, looking at the caller ID and ignoring it. It wasn’t enough to cause Rindou to worry - it’s not his problem if you just didn’t wanna answer a call, it was your guys’ time anyway.

But then it rang once more again. Your ringtone dragged itself out halfway through before Rindou slightly raised his hand from your hip, pointing to the phone on the side of the couch.

“You not gonna answer that?” He asked.

You shook your head, eyes focused on the TV, “It’s fine. It’s an unknown caller ID.”

Rindou shrugged, ignoring it once again, but after a few more calls and your phone receiving back to back text messages, it was starting to irk him. He was close to just grabbing your phone and answering the call himself, but you were quick to act before him, just shutting it off.

“It must be spam or something,” You sighed, sitting back down.

“Yeah, well whatever it is, good thing you shut that damn thing off. That shit was annoying,” Rindou sighed, curling his arms around you again. “Let’s change the movie too or something. This one is boring.”

One thing about dating Rindou is that he seems uninterested in absolutely everything he does. Although you avoid thinking like that when it comes to your relationship with him, you always remind yourself that Rindou is someone who deeply cares for you. He shows it very differently compared to others, but you know.

He can recall a memory from a few weeks ago where you kept getting calls in the middle of your guys’ date. It annoyed him, but not as much as it annoyed you. You’ve pressed the red decline button at least five times now, stressing over it and spilling out everything about your previous ex.

At the end of your rant, Rindou grabbed your phone, picking up the call and saying words as simple as “leave them alone.” It was so simple, but for the next few weeks, it was silent. You finally thought you were free of harassment thanks to your boyfriend, but recently, they’ve been coming back as unknown caller IDs and more frequent than before.

Halfway through the movie, Rindou felt your body become more loose and relaxed beneath him. Your breath became slower and more steady. You had fallen asleep. He thought it was ironic to have someone as angelic as you in the arms of someone like him - a gang member always involving himself in trouble, even just for fun.

He stared at your phone just a reach away and then back at you. The last thing Rindou wanted was for you to be uncomfortable, or really, anything that isn’t where you aren’t happy.

When you woke up, the TV was shut off and you felt a blanket drape over your body. You realized you had fallen asleep from earlier, but you were expecting to find your boyfriend with you as well. That was when the door swung open and you were greeted with Rindou.

“Rindou?” You slowly let out, still adjusting from waking up. “I didn’t know you left.”

He raised a bag up midway in the air, it’s a bag from a bakery you often bought from, “You kept murmuring about it in your sleep. Didn’t want you to wake up all grumpy.”

“I don’t wake up grumpy!” You protested, watching as he took his seat next to you and unpacking all of your favorites.

“Yeah, okay,” Rindou joked. He listened to you puffing out before wrapping yourself around his arm.

“Thank you though,” You murmured out of embarrassment - maybe he was half right.

“It’s nothing,” He replied, softening his face into a grin. “Must’ve been hungry though if it got you talking in your sleep and drooling on my arm.”

You didn’t even know about half of the things he does for you, but he didn’t mind it, because if you were happy, then that was all that mattered.

It made Rindou feel guilty to turn on your phone and look through it. It wasn’t something that he ever felt the need to do - he trusted you and it felt wrong if you weren’t aware that he was using it. Though, at this time, he felt like it was for the better.

While you were silently sleeping, he browsed through your texts. It’s that same person - your ex back again to bother you. Rindou scoffed, making sure it wasn’t loud enough to wake you up, but he was angry. He clicked his tongue whilst composing a message.

Rindou knew you would never be so stupid as to meet up with someone like this, especially not after already experiencing it once. It was a good thing that it was just Rindou posing as you though. How delighted your ex felt to have finally received a response to you - ‘Let’s meet up here.’

Rindou thought it was so pathetic. This guy had no idea what he looked like, let alone that you even had a boyfriend. So when Rindou’s immediate reaction upon seeing him was to throw a punch, he was shocked.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Your ex cried out, trying his best to dodge his attacks but failing in between his words and attempts.

“Me?!” Rindou snapped, pushing him to the ground and twisting his arms. “Speak for yourself.”

The man beneath him screamed in pain, “I-I’ll call the cops on you and have you arrested!”

“Yeah? You think they’ll give me less time if I tell them I was just trying to teach a creep a lesson?” Rindou pulled back on his arms a little harder, tendons and muscles stretching themselves out of place.

“T-The hell are you talking about?!” He stuttered out.

“Don’t bitch around. Might end yourself up in there if you keep this act of yours up - I’ve been once before,” Rindou smirked, pulling back more and more on his arms. “It was fine for me. My big bro and I even got some respect while in there, so what’s gonna happen when they hear about your name from me? You’re fresh meat to them.”

“W-Who even are you?!”

Rindou scoffed, “The same guy who warned you once to leave Y/N alone. I should’ve honestly went to find you myself personally and beat the shit out of you, but I hate wasting my time.”

Your boyfriend let the man go. If his arms weren’t all bent out of place and dislocated, he’d be crawling away by now. It was a sight that Rindou would laugh at. Upon seeing that his phone had fallen out of his pocket, the same phone used to consistently harass you, Rindou stomped down hard, breaking it into bits and pieces.

“Don’t waste my time again. Next time you do, call the cops, I promise you I won’t care if they catch me killing you,” Rindou turned his back around.

#tokyorev x reader #ran haitani #rindou haitani #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers x y/n #ran haitani x reader #rindou haitani x reader

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chuuyrr · 2 years

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Hello! I read your entire scarlet witch reader master list and I fell in love! Could we have a scenario with older reader comes from another dimension where Gojo actually is her bio dad and Gojo and the first years help her get back to her own dimension while bonding with her at the same time? Sorry if it’s very specific lol 😆

scarlet witch! older! other version! reader with dad! gojo & first years

jujutsu kaisen x reader

masterlist of the series

warning(s): possible spoilers about wanda maximoff and the multiverse, mentions about the multiverse and the tokyo revenger universe

i'm glad that you're loving the series, your feedbacks mean a lot :D i know i keep saying this but all of you really send in the best requests! there's also no need for you to apologize my dear anon, i don't mind getting specific requests at all! i really appreciate it and it reallys helps a lot because sometimes i have trouble coming up and figuring out how to write a said request, ok enough me talking lmao, happy reading <3

before you read: you will be taking older reader's pov, instead of baby fushiguro's and i made the brief mention of your significant other neutral :)

gojo had just left his kikufuku in tsumiki's care as it was the older sister fushiguro's turn to bond and hang out with her.

without his kikufuku around, he decided to spend some time with his students and treat them sushi for a job well done on their recent mission.

"ah, i can't wait! i can't believe we're going to eat at that sushi-place again."

"me too! me too!"

nobara was ecstatic as yuji was. anything that involved food and travel was enough to excite the two young teens. megumi, on the other hand, doesn't really mind, but he kinda missed his baby sibling. (he may or may not be lowkey jealous of tsumiki taking her out for a sibling-date)

as the four of them made their way towards the restaurant, a portal had appeared out of the blue and the next thing they knew—a figure had just fallen from the sky and straight to them.

gojo and the first years were confused. it was understandable because who the hell just falls from the sky out of nowehere like that?

"who.. who are you?"

you lifted your head, stroking the back of your head and you instantly recognize the first years and most especially, gojo. the moment you locked eyes with them, you couldn't help but tear up.

the first thing they noticed was your striking resemblance towards gojo and at the same time—you looked just like megumi's half-baby sister except older and probably a few years older than the first years. but what really caught their attention was your battered state, you looked like you had gotten beaten up.

"i'm [name].. gojo, [name]."

with that, you faced a shocked gojo and tackled him in a tight hug.

as the first years proceeded to process this piece of information, gojo instantly knew you weren't lying. not only because you resembled just like him, his intuitions told him so the moment you embraced him and there was just something about the longing in your eyes and your battered state that made his fatherly instincts kick in.

first things first, they got you patched up and took you with them at the sushi-place. the moment you sat down, you practically inhaled the food gojo and the first years ordered you. clearly, you haven't been eating any decent meals from your action alone.

once you had gotten enough energy from the food you ate, that's when they began asking questions and exchanging pieces of information with you.

you told gojo and the first years how you came from another universe, and in that universe—you weren't related to the fushiguro's at all or let alone a toddler. instead, you were related to gojo and you were in your young adult years. and being an inexperienced witch who's still learning, you made a mistake and somehow lost your way and ended up in this particular one instead.

not only did you lost your way, but you ended up getting hurt and attacked along the way.

"i don't know how i'm going to be able go back to my own universe." your face falters into a frown, feeling another set of tears pricking against the brim of your eyes.

"please don't cry!" nobara exclaims, waving her hands in the air as she and the others watches tears roll down your cheeks.

"we'll figure something out for sure! don't lose hope [name]." yuji says to you in a hopeful as megumi nods his head in agreement.

"it's going to be okay kikufuku." gojo reassuringly smiles at you and places a hand on your shoulder to comfort you.

a smile breaks through your face, "even in this universe, that's still my nickname, huh?"

after eating a hearty meal, gojo and the first years wasted no time and began their research to help you get back to your own universe. they searched books left and right, any articles as gojo recalled the old lady's words about you having different versions of yourself and the existences of other universes.

in order to lighten your situation, gojo and first years talked to you about their version of you as you told them about you.

"so, what am i like in this universe?"

you asked with interest as you made use of your magic to try and navigate your way back by retracing your steps with their help.

"well.." the four of them glanced at each other.

"our [name] is energetic! she's always running off to who knows where and she tends to pop out in the most random places." yuji explains, retelling the story of how they lost you and first found out of your powers.

"but our [name] is sweet, kind and very clingy too, especially with her dad and gumi-nii!" nobara exclaims enthusiastically.

"even though gojo-sensei is not our [name]'s biological father, he loves her very much as much as she loves him." megumi says with a small smile gracing his lips.

"i love my [name] to bits, even if she can be a handful sometimes. she's the best thing that had ever happened to me!" gojo agreed with megumi's statement. "she will always be my chaotic and precious little kikufuku, blood related or not."

"what about you, erm, [name]-san? what were you like?" nobara asked, "and what is gojo-sensei like?"

you tapped your chin in a thinking manner before answering with a smile, "your gojo-sensei is actually the same as mine. he's loving, sweet and supportive. i grew up with a very close relationship with him and his students—erm, you guys. my mom died giving birth to me, so all i have is my dad and you three." you explained to them, frowning a bit as you mentioned about your mom.

"we're sorry for your lost, [name]." megumi told you sympathetically.

"it's okay, i don't mind not having a mom. i still had a pretty fun childhood because i got to grow up with my dad around and you three as my siblings. i also ended up enrolling at jujutsu tech and joining your team." you continued.

"you went to jujutsu tech? that's awesome!" yuji pointed out. "imagine if our [name] goes too."

"our [name] is too young for that, itadori." megumi sighed, shaking his head with a chuckle. "our [name] is still a baby, a toddler."

"yeah, and i can't have my baby growing up fast!" gojo told his students with a childish pout. "i can't have [name] going around dating boys, sneaking out and doing teenager stuff just yet."

a light bulb popped on the top of the first years' heads, "say, [name].. are you dating anyone?"

a faint blush spread across your cheeks at the question and your reaction alone was enough to send gojo and the first years into a frenzy about your love life. even if you weren't 'their' [name], they still felt obligated for you.

gojo ended up almost crying at the thought of his own baby being all-grown up and dating. nobara and yuji had to comfort their gojo-sensei while megumi's older brother instincts kicked in and bombarded you with questions.

like was your significant other treating you well? he had to know if your significant other had any red flags. but apparently, much to his relief—you were happy with your current relationship and that you were in a healthy one too.

however, they couldn't accept the fact that you ended up dating a gang member. they found the universe you came from to be bizarre. not only were there cursed spirits and sorcerers, but there were also gangs.

time passed by, you ended up bonding with this universe's gojo and first years. they enjoyed listening to ramble on how you were able to shape and improve your powers as a witch, and the same time, make your own domain expansion. they didn't think it was possible, but the thought of it made them proud and excited for their own [name] being able to accomplish that when she gets older.

and eventually, you had finally figured out how to return home. nobara and yuji were a bit teary eyed since they had so much getting to know you.

you gave them all a hug and a bone crushing one, especially to gojo. you haven't seen your own dad in a long while and being able to see him in this universe brought you hope. (time works differently so in your universe, you were missing for a week now)

"take care of yourself, okay kikufuku?"

gojo ruffled your hair lovingly as you looked up to him with a smile.

"i will." you hummed, burying your face onto his chest with a sigh. "thank you for everything, dad. you're always there for me, even in this universe. even if we aren't related in this world."

"no need to thank me, baby. i've always got your back no matter what!" gojo kissed the top of your head before pulling away.

you said your goodbyes to the first years and gave them your thanks as well before casting the spell you needed to back home. you gave them one last look before you disappeared into a red vapor of psionics.

gojo sighs in relief knowing that you were finally going gome but the thought of you dating and being all grown up? it was messing with his head.

"thank god our [name] is still a baby." gojo pinched the bridge of his nose. "i'm going to get a heart attack when i find out kikufuku has a boy.. or girl. that's it, no dating for kikufuku not until she's thirty!"

"gojo-sensei, you're barely thirty and you're—a hand clasps yuji's mouth.

"but [name] will get there eventually." nobara claims, causing gojo to get all sulky at the thought of it.

"they'll have to go through gojo-sensei and me first." megumi huffs.

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letstalkaboutshtufff · 2 years

Note

Hello! I like your idea of Gojo x student reader! (Thank you for making it platonic!)

Can I request Gojo seeing his precious students fight (not in the playful banter they usually do, I’m talking real animosity and beef) with each other and him stepping in and IMMEDIATELY shutting it down. Cause 1. No fighting in his classroom, and 2. He hates seeing tension between his babies!

I can see him being the mediator, and calming everybody down. De escalating the situation.

Warnings: Mentions of death, curses. Language.

"You should've tried harder" that was it. The spark that was needed to light the oily rags of tension in the room. A failed mission. Dead innocents. Devastated students. Emotions were bound to explode at some point.

"What the hell did you just say?"

"I said" they stood up, their whole body tensed in a way you'd never seen before.

"You should have fought harder! If you did maybe those kids would still be alive!"

"Y-you YOU THINK I DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH?! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO SAY THAT HUH?!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE BLAMING ME WHEN YOU WEREN'T EVEN THE ONE THERE"

"Guys stop! Fighting like this isn't going to solve anything!"

"Tch, always the level head huh, it pisses me off you know, sometimes I wonder if you even care, or just putting on an act!"

"What?! How can you say that?! Of course I care!"

"If you care so much, how could you let something like this happen huh?!"

"Do you think you blaming us is helping?! You weren't there how could you possibly understand what it was like fighting that curse!!"

"I UNDERSTAND THAT IF I WAS THERE I WOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN UP!"

"GIVEN UP?! WE DIDN'T GIVE YOU YOU ASSHOLE WE WERE BEATEN DOWN AND ALMOST DIED!!"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE FOUND A WAY, THATS WHAT BEING A JUJUTSU SORCERER IS ALL ABOUT, IF YOU CAN'T EVEN PROTECT A COUPLE KIDS WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO EVEN BE SORCER-ACK"

*Punch*

"!!"

"YOU THINK IF YOU WERE THERE IT WOULD'VE MADE A DIFFERENCE?!, YOU'RE JUST LIKE THE REST OF US, SO GET OFF YOUR FUCKING HIGH HORSE AND STOP RUNNING YOUR DAMN MOUTH"

"YOU REALLY PISS ME OFF YOU KNOW THAT!"

-Rears arm to punch.

-Theres a whooshing sound but no one is paying attention.

"Enough" a deadly and calm voice suddenly ordered.

Dangerously serious eyes.

Eyes that made everyone pause.

A rare moment from Satoru Gojo.

His students could do whatever the hell they wanted except one thing. And that was fight amongst themselves.

He was hardly serious for anything in his life. But he wouldn't tolerate this, so the moment he overheard what was going on, he intervened.

And all it took was a few words.

"Enough, go back to your rooms. Now. We'll talk tommorow" perhaps if his eyes weren't sending piercing arrows, someone would have argued. But no one did.

Instead they withdrew with sunken forms and left. Tommorow he would talk with them all. Explain that it was no ones fault and that fighting amongst each other placing blame was never a good idea. Tommorow he would be back to his silly self, and buy them food after the serious discussion. But today? Today he was serious Sensei Gojo who wouldn't tolerate fighting. After all, your comrades are often the only family you'll ever have...and to be honest, he hated seeing his babies fight...

***********

Hope this was ok! I wrote it in a bit of a different style, that way u can imagine who is saying what. It was lowkey funny writing the yelling lmao

Please lemme know what you thought! And also don't be shy to request more xoxo💕🥰

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Note

CQL-Verse: Wen Ning did a whole lot of risky stuff saving JC and the bodies at Lotus Pier. What if NMJ hears and gets talked into helping protect him and the Wen remnants by the Jiang bros, because even if he's a wen, he still 1. whole ass poisoned wen chao 2. straight up commited treason and was punished for it to protect sect heirs and 3. is extremely baby brotherable. you can fit so much h/c into this bad boy

ao3

Untamed

Wen Qing was angry about the trials, but Wen Ning thought they made a reasonable amount of sense.

After all, how was the rest of the cultivation world supposed to know what they did in the war without a proper trial? It was only reasonable for them to make certain assumptions about them based on their surname, the same way everyone assumed that those surnamed Jin were rich, those surnamed Lan were beautiful, those surnamed Jiang were bold to the point of arrogance…

The Nie were supposedly known for their tempers, but Wen Ning hadn’t seen much evidence of that so far.

In fairness, his only experiences with a Nie were, firstly, with Nie Huaisang at the Cloud Recesses, which he was fairly sure didn’t count, and now, during the trial, with Nie Mingjue.

Nie Mingjue laughed the entire trial.

“You poisoned the wine,” he sniggered. “At their own celebratory feast…! And then you just went straight to Yiling, where your sister was in charge. And it still took him how long to find you?”

“Weeks,” Wen Ning meekly admitted.

“Can we go back to the bit where you saved Wei-xiong from the giant dog beast using stolen needles?” Nie Huaisang asked.

“No, we cannot,” Nie Mingjue’s deputy – a somewhat long-suffering looking man that they all called Meng Yao – said. “He’s already gone over it four times, Huaisang.”

“But –”

“No.”

“Spoilsport! Look at how much fun da-ge’s having; it’s not fair.”

“He’s the sect leader. If he wants to hoot like a shrieking monkey, he’s entitled to it.”

“I’m not hooting,” Nie Mingjue protested. “I am recognizing talent.”

“Talent.”

“Exactly. Talent.”

“At…what, exactly?”

“Causing trouble,” Nie Huaisang volunteered. “I recognize it from Wei-xiong, I could spot it anywhere.”

“Could we possibly proceed with the trial?” Meng Yao asked, obviously deciding not to continue with that discussion. “We have six more to finish today. Can I assume that given the evidence of Wen-gongzi’s subversive activities and his subsequent imprisonment throughout much of the Sunshot Campaign, he is absolved of all crimes and allowed to go free?”

“You spoilsport,” Nie Mingjue said, rolling his eyes at him. “Yes, I think so. Wen Qionglin, you are free to go your own way – though if you wish to stay here in Qinghe as a guest cultivator, we would be glad to have you for however long you wish.”

Wen Ning thought that sounded all right.

The Nie sect were known for their tempers, and justly so, but Wen Ning quickly figured out that he didn’t need to be afraid of Nie Mingjue’s occasional outbursts (quickly roused, quickly doused) or Nie Huaisang’s temper tantrums (petty) and occasional grudge-holding (rarer but much more dangerous).

No, Wen Ning figured out very quickly in his first weeks that the one to be afraid of was clearly Meng Yao.

Wen Ning had been weak and sickly his whole life in a sect that valued strength above all; he had survived hiding behind his sister, but she couldn’t always be there for him, no matter how she tried. He’d soon learned that surviving on his own meant being quiet and obedient, never making trouble or drawing attention to himself, and it also meant being extremely attuned to the minute expressions that might signal the difference between Wen Chao being angry enough to throwing a teacup at his head and being angry enough to order him to be taken outside and beaten until unconscious.

The same skills helped him in the Nie sect, where people were very often angry. Wen Ning could tell the difference between Nie Mingjue raging to let out steam (moderately common and generally innocuous, easily ignored) and being actually upset (typically only dangerous to the furniture, which was a nice change, but more worrisome in the sense that he might go and do something stupid afterwards), and he could tell that Nie Huaisang’s true anger, so rarely triggered, tended more towards the cold and hidden (definitely a sign he was going to do something, but unfortunately for everyone involved it’d invariably be far more malicious - enough to make you long for stupid).

He could tell that Meng Yao was, despite all his smiles, very often angry.

Like Nie Mingjue, Meng Yao’s temper was easily roused to the point of fury; like Nie Huaisang, his anger lasted a long time and usually called for some malicious action before it could be properly assuaged.

“Senior Meng,” Wen Ning tentatively said one day when his curiosity got to be too much for him. “Could I ask a rude question?”

Meng Yao’s temper, hidden deep in his eyes, flared at once, preemptively, and Wen Ning shivered and looked down at the ground. He had known what he was risking, but he hoped that asking permission in advance might allow him to get the question out with minimal reprisals – cold meals for a few days, perhaps, or being assigned to the training yard only when the most sadistic training-master was supervising, but only for a week or so.

“Of course, Wen-gongzi,” Meng Yao said, and he sounded nice and pleasant and like no question could possibly be rude enough to cause him any disturbance. It was a little frightening how good he was at that. “I can’t imagine what you would want to know that would be rude.”

“Are you related?” Wen Ning blurted out. “To Sect Leader Nie, I mean – his family –”

Meng Yao stared at him. His mouth was slightly hanging open.

“…it’s a stupid question,” Wen Ning concluded, feeling ashamed. Of course Meng Yao had been promoted entirely on merit; it was only his imagination getting away from him. “I’m sorry. I’ll go –”

“No, wait,” Meng Yao croaked. “Related – to the Nie sect – forgive me. How did you reach that conclusion?”

“I mean, you’re obviously treated as part of the main family,” Wen Ning pointed out. There were plenty of Nie cousins that weren’t treated anywhere near as well; both Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang were not only protective but almost possessive over Meng Yao’s time and dignity - surely by now everyone knew that the surest way to get them each angry in their own ways was to slight Meng Yao. “You wear Nie braids like them – you wear clothing like them – you have a temper like them –”

Meng Yao started laughing.

“…did I miss something?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t go to the Lotus Pier after you’d been absolved,” Nie Huaisang said, tapping the weiqi piece on the board a few times before making a move. “Given your fondness for Wei-xiong and all that.”

“Wei-gongzi’s very nice,” Wen Ning said vaguely, staring down at the board. He’d played a lot of weiqi in his life – including against Wen Ruohan when the man had still been remotely sane, mostly because he’d been the only one stuck back at the palace with him more often than not – but playing against Nie Huaisang required all of his attention. The first time he looked away, he’d get lured into a trap. “Very kind.”

“And yet you stay here,” Nie Huaisang prompted. “In Qinghe, with us, when even your sister picked the Lotus Pier.”

Wen Ning had never been without his sister this long before. He knew that she still expected him to come to the Lotus Pier. She hadn’t expected him to last the week without her; she’d said as much when she first went, huffing at him for being ridiculous – a Wen as a guest cultivator in the Nie sect, of all places? – and telling him, in between reminders to take his medicine on time, that she’d prepare a place for him there so that he would be comfortable when he arrived.

Her letters, in the weeks and now months since that time, had never overtly asked when he was going to finally get around to moving there, and had recently developed an almost quizzical tone, as if she’d finally realized that he wasn’t.

“I like it here,” Wen Ning said, and moved his piece.

Nie Huaisang moved his own almost immediately in response, which meant that Wen Ning had made a horrible mistake that played straight into Nie Huaisang’s hands. Not an uncommon occurrence.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “We like having you here, too.”

Surprised, Wen Ning looked up.

Nie Huaisang was smiling at him – he smiled nearly as often as Meng Yao, but unlike Meng Yao, he never smiled if he didn’t want to, so his smiles were actually sincerely meant each and every time. He had a wide range of smiles: nervous smiles, cheerful smiles, devious smiles…

Wen Ning was good at reading expressions, but he had to admit he’d never had to work as hard at it as he did with Nie Huaisang.

“We’re a very nice sect, really,” Nie Huaisang said, and even seemed to believe it. “We’re always open to people who are like us. The only thing we can’t tolerate is injustice and betrayal; as long as you stick with us and put us first, you’re ours, and we’re yours.”

That sounded nice, Wen Ning thought, and moved a piece blindly. “You think I’m like you? My sister doesn’t think so.”

“I think you fit in very nicely,” Nie Huaisang said, and his smile had teeth to it. He moved quickly, again. “You’re angry and resentful, but you don’t let it get in the way of what you want - just like us. Your sister probably doesn’t think that about you, either, but then again, that’s why she’s in the Jiang sect, with their heads in the air, dreaming of the impossible. I bet she never even noticed that you had a temper.”

She hadn’t. Wen Ning had been her baby brother and nothing else for a long time; he never had to defend himself as long as she was around.

He’d never had the chance to defend himself.

(He didn’t resent her for that. He didn’t. She was his big sister, his favorite person, and he loved her so much that he didn’t mind the way that all her fussing sometimes made the world feel cramped and small, as if he were being forced into a place that he’d long since outgrown.)

“Do I have a temper?” he asked, and moved another piece.

“Oh, yes,” Nie Huaisang said. “You’re like me – slow to boil – and like Meng Yao, hiding it behind your eyes. You’re even a bit like da-ge: you don’t need to be the one get the frustration out as long as something deals with it, but if nothing does, it nags at you and wears at you, like a thorn stuck in your flesh, until you can’t be silent any longer. Until you have to do something, or else you’ll explode.”

That sounded about right, Wen Ning thought. He’d never really had a chance to explode in the Wen sect, out of fear of what they’d do to his sister if he did, and he’d been sick with it – he’d limited himself to little rebellions, nameless pranks, right up until he met Wei Wuxian, who was kind to him, and couldn’t stop himself from helping him. He sometimes thought, in the days he’d spent in the dungeons, that if he died he’d come back as a fierce corpse, soul-calming rituals or no, and he’d might even enjoy it if only for the opportunity to finally vent his feelings – to finally pay back every single injustice that he’d ever seen, each one marked down in his heart in an indelible list of regrets.

Maybe Nie Huaisang was right.

Maybe that was why he stayed here, in the Nie sect, the sect of do not tolerate evil instead of the Lan sect’s chivalry and righteousness or the Jiang sect’s attempt the impossible.

Maybe he wanted to fight back for once. To have a temper, to have rage, to be something more than Wen Qing’s shy, stuttering shadow.

“I like it here,” he said again, but if his words were the same then the flavor was different: he meant it this time.

He understood, this time, what he meant by it.

Nie Huaisang smiled at him and moved another piece. Winning the game, Wen Ning noticed.

“Good,” he said. “Now move over – sit in front of the mirror. I’ll show you how to do your hair right.”

“Really?”

“Really. Also, Da-ge’s been practically champing at the bit to teach you saber, and Meng Yao has been making grandiose plans about redoing the way we recruit and train doctors with you leading the charge, so if you’re not up for either of those, now’s the time to say something.”

Wen Ning settled down in front of the mirror.

“No,” he said. “Those sound good to me.”

#mdzs #wen ning #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #meng yao #my fic #my fics #be happy #plotdesigner

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wpdarlingpan · 3 years

Note

hello, just wanted to tell you how wonderful your work is, keep it up and keep rocking :) I was wondering if you could do a yandere Peter Parker x reader oneshot where the reader has powers and she's completely badass? But she kinda has self esteem issues and thinks her feelings aren't important. I'm sorry if I made you sad TvT

I will try my best! And thank you so much for the compliments ♡

Silent Shadow. That’s what she was. At least that’s what it was before the Avengers came. She was a assassin for a group called Hydra. Hydra was all she knew and that’s all she thought there was for her. She was there strongest asset, she was even able to rake down the Winter Soldier. She had beaten every hydra agent in a fight and she had many skills. You’d think she would just run away since she was able to overthrow them but Hydra made sure she would have no one to go to outside of them so they killed her parents and took her. She was alone. At least that was until she grew a relationship with her partner. A platonic one. She thought she had no one.

Until the day they showed up.

“Cap, how’s it looking out there? Need Code Green?” Bruce said from inside the quinjet.

“No, I think we are good Bruce. Tony is taking out the rest alongside Thor. Guess this base wasn’t as important.” Cap replied through the coms. It was true. It was a pretty easy mission, that was until they went towards the cells.

Bucky Barnes alongside Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver got rid of every Hydra Agent in the cells. At least the thought they did until they reach the very end cell with a complex lock. Bucky nodded at Wanda and she quickly used her powers to undo the lock.

Once inside they see a girl. She looked around 16 years old. Bucky froze.

Another assassin.

He knew her.

He rushed to the cyrochamber and opened it to the dismay of the team. They didn’t need another Hydra Soldier to deal with but he was not going to leave her in there. Steve walked into the room and saw him opening the chamber.

“What are you doing Buck?”

“I’m getting her out of here.” He spoke leaving no room for arguments.

“What if she’s dangerous?”

“I know her. She was my partner. She never wanted this. She always fought.”

“How do you know she will still fight?”

“I don’t.”

and finally it was open and he grabbed her then made his way back to the quinjet. The team that didn’t go to the cells were already there.

Tony was the first to notice Barnes carrying a girl.

“What do you got there?”

“...” Bucky didn’t respond. He wouldn’t explain back at the compound. He just wanted her to wake up. He wanted his little sister back.

Back at the compound

Her senses slowly came back to her and she woke up to her hand resting in somebody’s. She opened her eyes and saw.... Bucky! She lightly shook his hand making him shoot up.

“Doe!”

(I thought Doe would be a cute nickname since it forms from the only name they know which is Shadow.)

“Snowy!” She said happily. She was free. She was with her older brother. Everything would be okay.

And it was. For awhile. They took a blood test from her and found out she was Tony’s missing sister who was taken after the car crash with her parents. Her name was Y/N but some still called her Shadow or Doe in Bucky case. She didn’t blame Bucky but he sure blamed himself but he wouldn’t let himself cut her out of his life because of guilt. She developed relationships with the team. Tony and Bucky were her protective older brothers, Steve, Bruce, Clint and Thor were like uncles. Natasha was her aunt. Pietro and Wanda were like siblings. Then there was the day she met Peter. She had finally worked back up her courage and bravery, not to mention her cunningness. She was herself again, just more confident than before the accident. She walked around in stride, almost matching up to Natasha. She would work on her powers with Wanda and then make sure to spend time with her family.

He had come over to the tower after hearing about the new person at the tower from Tony. He had invited Peter to come over and meet his sister, Peter being addicted to pleasing his idol said of course and made his way over.

He was of course expecting a older woman since he knew Tony’s parents had died many many years ago, he was not prepared to see her.

Peter made his way up the elevator of the expensive tower after telling Jarvis what floor he wanted to be on. The elevator opened and there the team was in all their glory sitting on the couch waiting for him and the other guest to be ready.

“Hello Man of spider!” Thor boomed loudly as Peter stepped out of the elevator. Peter waved shyly at Thor and the others followed with their hellos. After a little more waiting Tony was impatient and called his sister to come down.

“Alright, Alright I’m coming! I didn’t even take that long! It would take longer to say your full title thing you like to say about yourself. Isn’t Genius, Billionaire Playboy, Kiss ass?” She smirked as she walked into the room. Peters eyes widened.

She was Tony Stark’s sister?

“Who’s did you want me to meet?” She questioned her brother as she smiled at him cheekily after forgetting the name of the person for the billionth time.

Tony rolled his eyes but he couldn’t stay mad at the sister who came back miraculously from the dead.

“Peter meet Y/N my little sister and Y/N meet Peter Parker aka Spider-boy.” Tony introduced and Peter stepped forwards almost in a daze and held out his when to shake formally.

“Nice to meet you.” Y/N said cheekily as he continued staring. He lightly shook his head and blushed embarrassedly.

“Nice to meet you too.”

She was more confident now away from hydra and he liked her personality.

And it truly was because that was the day that started his obsession with the one and the only

Y/N Stark.

He always came over to the tower to hang out with her as they had grown to be friends but Peter wanted more. Sometimes he came over and stalked her outside of the windows. Peter had hacked the tower from the inside to not detect him as Spider Man on the outside of the tower. Whenever he was in her room he’d touch everything he could and he secretly undid the latch to her window. He snuck into her room every night just to watch her sleep, watching as her chest raised and called from her steady breathing . He took pictures of her whenever he spied and had a secret collection of them filling his closest. He had even entered the room when the other Avengers had decided to run to the store for groceries dressed in their typical jacket, sunglasses, and baseball hats disguises. He cuddled into her blankets and breathed in her scene as he held into her pillow.

He was undeniably in love with Y/N Stark.

And he wanted her to be his.

His plan was soon put into action. He knew her schedules, wasn’t too hard she was required to stay at home as it was too dangerous because of Hydra.

One day he just got lucky, the team had to go out on a mission and she was required to stay home but Tony didn’t want her by herself so he called his trusted intern, Peter Parker. He was asked to go over to the tower to keep Y/N company and he immediately said yes.

And the day started off as usual for Y/N. She woke up and had breakfast, then sat by the tv watching her favorite show Once Upon A Time. She always like watching it because the character Jefferson reminded her of Bucky. She was halfway into episode 16 when Peter arrived in the Elevator.

“Hey Peter!” She called from the couch. She didn’t even look at him. It made him slightly mad. He should be her one and only. Not the stupid tv show.

“Hey Y/N.” He replied after he got over his anger.

“What do you want to do?” She questioned looking at him with a eyebrow raised.

“There are so many things I’d like to do.” He thought to himself but restrained from saying.

“It’s up to you.” He replied shortly continuing to think through his plan. He was confident it would go right if he followed each direction.

They went to the gym and she began to work on her powers while Peter watched her intently. He needed to know her powers if things were to go south with his plans. She first turned invisible then made force fields.

She continued to make the force fields bigger and Peter had to continue to back up to avoid getting hit with it. He began to get too far away. He also didn’t want her to thing that she could push him away like this.

“Y/N stop. You need to get food in you before you continue practicing. Your low on energy.” He faked looking concerned in order to manipulate her to feel bad. Of course she was usually defiant but she just wanted Peter to be happy. So she gave in.

“Alright.” He nodded in praise at her giving in. He knew how to get her now. She needed to please others. Probably a side effect from Hydra but it could be used to his advantage.

They then began baking... well more like Peter while she watched he made her sit down after he was worried about her burning herself. She needed to be taken care of. He also didn’t need her catching onto his plan, taking a pill out from his pocket and crushed it onto the cupcake he was going to give her. It looked like sugar. After being at hydra you’d think she would check her food before she ate. But she didn’t. She had to trust Peter of course. That’s what her brother wanted from her. She felt bad not being able to help around the tower. She felt as if she wasn’t contributing enough. Y/N thought it would help if she did what she thought was expected of her, not what she wanted. She wanted to bake. But if Peter didn’t want her to then she couldn’t deny it.

Then they watched tv but Peter hated it because again her attention was somewhere else. Halfway through Star Wars he turned off the tv and waited for it to work.

Just as he looked at her he could see her eyes be going to droop.

“Oh Y/N are you tired?” He questioned with fake concern.

“Oh, I am. Just a little bit. I slept well last night-“ she was cut off by a yawn. “I don’t know why I’m so tired. I’m sorry Peter. I knew you came over to hang out.”

“It’s fine Y/N. Just got to sleep.”

Just as he said that her eyes shut and he smiled victoriously. She was his. And she wasn’t ever going to leave.

He picked her up bridal style and took her into her room and sat her down on the bed while he changed into his Spider-Man uniform and packed her some clothes. They wouldn’t be coming back here. After packing clothes into a small back pack he picked her up once again and they went swinging out of the tower with Jarvis not even alerted because of Peter hacking it before to not detect his suit.

He arrived at a small house in the middle of the woods and carefully opened the door and brought her inside. Peter glanced around the rooms just in case then sat her in the bed, attaching a chain to her ancle. The clasp part of the chain had a little padding so it wasn’t hurting her but it did keep her there. He kissed her on the head and quickly changed out of his suit. Then got into the bed wearing boxers climbing in next to the sleeping girl. He wrapped a arm around her waist and sighed content.

She was finally his.

The Avengers got back to the tower and saw no one there. No struggle. Nothing.

Tony Lost his sister. Again.

Bucky lost his little sister. Again.

And

Peter had taken the love of his life to be all his.

At least until they check the tapes.

Sorry it’s taken me forever to write this. This was my first shot at a Yandere and I hope it’s good. Sorry if I should have done less back story and more Peter but I hope you like it. Anyways thank you for the suggestion. ♡

#peter parker #yandere peter parker #bucky barnes #tony stark #spiderman #peter parker imagine #peter parker x reader #Peter Parker x Stark!reader

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unabashegirl · 3 years

Text

Pax Romana; Part I

Author’s note: Hey everyone, here is the first part of this mini-series. I hope you like it! Let me know if you want to be on the tag list. Also, REQUESTS ARE OPEN only for H.

DISCLAIMER; I DONT KNOW ITALIAN! (only English, French and Spanish) I clearly used a translator. I am aware their translations are SHIT sometimes. Therefore I am sorry if I butcher it! I didn’t mean to!

masterlist

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Harry Styles, can still recall the first day he was enthralled by her conspicuous beauty. At first, he reckoned he had done the unavoidable. He had moved to Italy for the summer, and he had managed to fall in love with an Italian girl; that he had never spoken to. He had only observed her from afar — too shy to ever think of approaching her. Nonetheless, the young woman was a sight to behold. He promised himself that he would only watch from afar. It felt forbidden and somewhat illegal. The feeling that bubbled within him was enough reason to continue his study of her.

After his first visit to Italy, he had fallen in love with the country. Hence, why he had rented out a house in a coastal town. The country’s natural and effortless beauty inspired him to write new music for his upcoming album. The beautiful sunsets, the sunny mornings, the art, and the food brought peace and tranquility to him. It was the perfect place for him to hide — for a while. It was on one of his morning runs; he first noticed her.

She wore a bright yellow bikini that exposed most of her olive skin to the sun rays. She sat on a striped towel that she had laid out on the hot sand. Her hair was slicked back and wet after she had dipped in the ocean to refresh her body.

Of course, she never caught sight of his dilated pupils or the way he had leaned forward — lured by her beauty. Her attention was preoccupied with a hardcover of Pride and Prejudice; that she had brought along as a source of entertainment for the day. The young woman appeared too indulged in the printed words to notice his existence.

He watched her for a few hours. Now and then he would remind himself of the hundred reasons why he shouldn’t approach. He had even managed to take a few steps towards her. Harry eventually removed himself as soon as it became too much. He had beaten the temptation.

The first time he spoke to her was at a local restaurant. Harry had taken himself out on a late lunch date. He had dressed up nicely and had walked to the bistro. He noticed her presence after taking his first sip out of his freshly served Chardonnay. She sat on the table across from him. This time she wasn't submerged in a book. He could finally admire her natural beauty up close. The fullness of the apples of her cheeks, her long dark eyelashes, her red-tinted lips, and of course light sunburn on her upper cheeks and across the bridge of her nose.

A few minutes later, her order had arrived. It was ricotta and mushroom stuffed ravioli in a black truffle sauce. She was stuffing her face when they made eye contact. Harry’s lips curved upwards creating a lopsided smile as she scrambled to clean the creamy sauce off her face. He hadn't said anything to her, but she already felt embarrassed.

”Sono deliziosa?” He had done it. He couldn’t just watch her and pray she’d take the first step. It was time to put his Italian to the test. He had been practicing his Italian and even though he already had a few weeks on the Amalfi coast; he still struggled to comprehend. Harry only hoped she would be able to understand him.

”E molto deliziosa” She smiled at him for the first time. She beamed, radiating an intoxicating wave of warmth and happiness towards him. Her lips parted open for a split second but before she could utter a word the waiter approached.

“Hai bisogno di qualcos’ altro?” He was asking her if she needed anything else. She understood what he was asking, but she couldn’t remember how to say cheese.

“Fuck” she said under her breath. “Queso. Fromage. Cheese” She had forgotten how to speak. All her languages had mixed in one and the wires had crossed. “How do you say it?” She whispered under her breath, her cheeks warmed in embarrassment as the waiter tried to comprehend.

“Formaggio. Ha bisogno di formaggio parmigiano, per favore” Harry interrupted, noticing her uneasiness and her inevitable embarrassment. He knew that it wasn’t his business and he shouldn’t have been listening to the conversation, but he had to help her.

The waiter turned his attention to the young celebrity. He was also a bit surprised that Harry had spoken for her. He had seen that Harry kept to himself. He usually attended dinner on his own and hardly even bothered to use his phone. “Inmediatamente”.

“Thank you” She thanked Harry as soon as the waiter had left in search of the parmesan cheese that she so craved. Harry’s excessive focus on watching the server carrying out her request had prevented him from realizing that she spoke perfect English. He had to stop himself from gasping when processed her delicate voice. She had an accent. Slight. Gentle. Barely-there and it wasn’t Italian. He would later learn that her R’s made it more prominent.

“It’s alright. It happens” She instantly recognized who he was. Her heart raced for a minute or two, but she restrained herself from making a huge scene. After all, it was Harry Styles. Whom she considered, the most stylish man of her generation. The man could wear a curtain and still pull it off. “I am Harry” He rises a bit from his seat, extending his right hand.

“Catalina” She shakes his hand with a smile. “So, what brings you here?” Even her name was attractive — he wondered.

“Is’not obvious?”

“Not really. Enlighten me” The stranger gives him a small smirk while placing her napkin over her lap after crossing her legs under the table. Harry purges his lips as he uses his index finger and thumb to slightly tug on his bottom lip.

His whole plan to stay away from her had failed. Did he regret it?. Hell no! He just hoped he had chosen wisely.

“The art” He reveals as he watches her cut one of her ravioli before putting it in her mouth. She responds by only nodding; too indulged in the explosion of flavors within her mouth.

“Music?” She hums as she brings the glass of wine up to her mouth. “ I thought you were more of a dolce far niente type of man” her mouth curved into a smile. Dolce far niente means pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness. Harry instantly identified the phrase from Julia Roberts's famous movie — Eat, Pray, Love. She remembered reading somewhere that he was a rom-com fan.

“Are you?” He shot back. There was no doubt that he was intrigued by her.

“Si” She shrugged as she pushed around some ravioli.

“Then we have more in common than I thought, Catalina” Her name rolled off his tongue without any strain. It was as if he had been practicing for months. She had never heard her name sound so attractively. Sure, he had an accent, but it was still beautifully pronounced.

Harry’s order arrived moments later. He had ordered the classic spaghetti bolognese. He grabbed his fork and knife and right before digging into the plate, he looked up at her. Catalina had been watching him since silence had fallen upon them. His smirk grew into a soft chuckle as their eyes met. She giggled at him and first noticed his dimples. She now understood everyone's obsession with his smile.

“Would you join me?” Catalina spluttered after a few minutes of mentally debating with herself. She felt her heart beating in her throat and her hands dripping with sweat as other parts of her body. It was all very hot.

Catalina wasn’t the type of woman to initiate conversation. She rarely even texts first!. Her excuse is usually that she doesn’t want to bother or interrupt. In reality, she is scared shitless to make a fool out of herself. Therefore, she was quite surprised by herself to have asked him to have dinner together.

Harry cocked his head with his lips pursed. To her, he looked very pensive as if he was making a big decision. She didn’t blame him. He was on vacation and the last thing he wanted was to be photographed with a random girl and for questions to be asked. Although, he had already agreed in his mind. He just couldn’t come across as desperate. Even though he was. Harry wanted to know more.

His fingers tucked his clothed napkin into the collar of his shirt. A chuckle left his lips as he pushed his seat back and raised on his feet. He held his plate and utensils with one hand while his glass of wine with the other.

“So, where are you from?” Harry was first to ask, as he twisted his spaghetti around his folk. Catalina leaned back on her seat, her fingers clenching around her wine glass as she finished swallowing. “I am English” he laughs as if his accent didn’t give it away.

“Really? Bet my life you were Italian” Catalina bantered

“What gave it away?”

“The facial hair and the good head of locks” Harry grinned covering his face with his hands, feeling his cheeks heating up. He felt ridiculous for blushing at such a minuscule compliment. “But anyway, I was born in South America, but raised in Spain by my aunt”. She revealed playing with the small droplets around the cup of ice water that had been forgotten.

“And what are you doing here?”

“I study here” She had just finished her first semester. “Well not here, but in Rome. I am majoring in art history”.

The not so strangers sat for hours and indulged in one more bottle of wine. Harry encouraged her to pick but she politely refused. She said that she hadn’t spent enough time in Italy to know what was best.

She told him about her parents. Her father had walked out on her mother after she had told him that she was expecting. Catalina also shared with him how she felt after losing her mother to cancer when she was only ten. She was quite surprised at herself. She had never shared so much with anyone. Let alone, someone she had met that same night. Harry brought her some kind of comfort that she had no idea she needed.

Harry listened to her. She hadn’t finished speaking and answering his previous question and he already had another one formulated. He liked hearing her speak. She allowed him to pick at her brain and he liked what he saw. She was driven, independent, somewhat lonely, but incredibly smart. Catalina was also unbelievably wise for her age.

“What about you? Is fame all you thought it would be?” Catalina asked moments after they had been kicked out of the restaurant. They eventually had to close. Harry held what was left of the bottle as they walked down the isolated streets.

“That’s a heavily loaded question” He chuckled, “It’s way more complicated and difficult. I think I expected to never feel lonely by the continuous abundance of people around me. But in reality, sometimes it feels lonelier than when I was just Harry” Harry shrugged, masking the pain that the vulnerability that he suddenly felt.

“I get it. The screams and faces don’t match the number of people close to you” Catalina was not famous but she could understand where he was coming from. Sure, her aunt had raised her, but she had felt lonely for most of her life. Her mother's death had felt a gaping hole in her life that no one has ever been able to fulfill.

“M’not ungrateful for my friends but I do feel lonely. I guess I haven't found what I am looking for” Harry flashed her a reassuring smile as they walked down to the main road. “Let me help yeh” He had seen her struggling to walk over the cobblestone streets. She wore low heel sandals that complemented the white satin dress that she has opted for. Unfortunately, the heels were thin enough to slip through the stones making her overly cautious where she stepped.

Harry switched the bottle to his other hand and offered his hand for her to take. She stopped momentarily and stared at his massive hands. They were bare. His famous rings were missing as if they had gone on a vacation too. She took his hand and was slightly surprised at their softness. She had expected them to be rough but they were quite the opposite.

“Thank you”

“No problem” He wanted to spend more time with her. He wished that the night wasn’t ending. “I would invite you for some gelato, but it’s quite late. I doubt there is any place opened”

“How long are you staying?” Catalina asked as she noticed them approaching the entrance of her hotel.

“A few more weeks” the splendor of the lights of the entrance of the hotel illuminated her features. Harry couldn’t help thinking how lovely she looked.

“I’ve had a lovely time. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“M’not planning on goin anywhere” Catalina reached up, resting a delicate hand on his shoulder, she kissed his cheek.

“I’ll see you around then” She gave him a little wave as she walked her way through the doors. She would later realize that she hadn’t only kissed him because it was part of her culture and tradition but because he managed to ignite a flame within her — that one had ever done before.

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themaribatpit · 3 years

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Jasonette July Day 17: Crime Boss

Written by: The Maribat Pit @jasonette-july-event

Prompt: Crime Boss

Rated: M (Canon-typical violence, sexual innuendo, but also the Ventriloquist dies horribly in this one)

Ladybug’s knees collided painfully with the hardwood floor, there was maybe a very thin threadbare carpet to soften the blow. The more she struggled, the more the handcuffs started to bite and chafe at her wrists. She could really use someone with Cataclysm right about now, but she left that someone behind and took his ring with her. She came to Gotham to get away from her life in Paris, away from the trials and tribulations of her teenage years. By day she was a design student at Gotham University, and she wasn’t doing much else by night. One night, tonight of all nights, she walked past a teenage boy being beaten up on a street corner. The teenage boy in question was her neighbour, Leon. She sometimes took care of him when his dad was busy. She just could not resist calling upon Tikki’s help to stop them. Now here she was, with a bag over her head, about to meet her maker at the hands of a formidable crime lord. She had heard whispers about “The Red Hood” and how he had done away with Black Mask and crowned himself as his successor. She started to wonder if leaving Paris was a good idea after all.

Just as she was pondering this, the bag covering her head was ripped away and she was torn away from her thoughts at that moment. She found herself looking up at a figure dressed neck to toe in leather and Kevlar. He sat in the armchair with his legs leisurely sprawled out, his gloved hands gripping the armrests as he leaned forward to get a better look at her. Ladybug saw her frightened expression reflected in a shiny, scarlet helmet, with two white spots that looked like eyes. Ladybug could have sworn that he was squinting at her behind the helmet, closely watching and waiting for her next move.

“So, why did you bring me another costumed vigilante?” He asked, the mask was muffling his voice, but she could clearly hear what he was saying.

“We were taking care of some business and she got in the way,” the henchman to her left informed him. He leaned in closer to whisper to me, “not so tough now, are you Sweetheart?” he laughed as Marinette tried to lean away from him. Was every man determined to invade her personal space every chance they got?

“I’m asking the questions here, I will decide what to do with her.” Red Hood snapped at the henchman, he leaned back in his chair as the henchman backed away.

“Don’t know if she’s from around here, Boss.” The henchman to her other side remarked. “The little lady spoke with an accent when she tried to stop us”, Ladybug glanced over at the other Henchman before turning her attention back to the faceless man in front of her.

Red Hood looked at the two Henchmen before looking down at the girl kneeling in front of him. The costume was a bright red bodysuit with black polka dots, and she had a matching domino mask to hide her identity. Her dark blue eyes were frantically trying to read the men surrounding her, there was no mistaking the fear in her expression. Something was amiss, why would they bring him someone whom they could easily have overpowered? Maybe they thought it would be funny to see him shoot her brains out of her pretty little head. He noticed one of the henchmen had faint red welts around his arm, almost as if someone tried wrapping wire around it. The lines were too thin, compared to the more sturdy grappling wires he used. His other Henchman had a bruise on his cheek that was probably going to go from a plum colour to a sickly yellow in the days to come. If the girl was another one of Bruce’s pet projects, then she might send the old man right to his doorstep. If she wasn’t, she would have fit the bill anyhow. With her dark hair and blue eyes, how she apparently just leapt into action to save a complete stranger from being beaten up. She wasn’t armed to the teeth with gadgets, and he’d have heard something if Bruce had taken in another protégé.

“So, can you understand what I’m saying?” he asked, she simply nodded, not saying anything in response. “What happened?” he tried to keep it simple, no sense dancing around the topic, “Who are you?”

“Your two men were hurting someone, I couldn’t ignore them” she explained, her fear morphing into a show of defiance. Red Hood shook his head, so a vigilante no one’s heard of just leapt in to stop his men from hurting someone. She was either very foolish or had been doing this for a very long time.

“That someone was a little punk who owed us money” one of the Henchmen explained, “we gave ya a chance to walk away girlie, even after you whipped out your little toy.” He chuckled.

“Who owed me money?” Red Hood asked, the men suddenly went very quiet. Something still wasn’t right, and his men weren’t talking. He turned his attention back to the girl, time for a different tactic. “Did you know who they were hurting?” he asked, Ladybug thought for a moment before shaking her head. So she jumped in to save a complete stranger? He couldn’t say he was surprised, what she said next would make this much more interesting.

“He was just a boy,” she explained, trying not to stutter as she looked up at him. “He-” she began, she looked up to see the henchmen were ready to lunge for her.

He raised a hand to stop them, “go on” he told her.

“He said he owed your men money because he bought drugs from them” she said, now trying to get the words out before someone could stop her. “He was just a boy, he’s around 14 years old, he needed help”. His hands reached for his pistols. “Woah boss, you can’t seriously believe what this girl is saying, right?” one of the henchmen called out.

Red Hood ordered his men to shut up. “So what’s the boy’s name?”

Ladybug gulped, “Leon” she answered.

Red Hood glared at his men.

One man spoke up, "Punk owed us money, still hasn’t paid us for the goods, that’s why we gave ‘em a beating.” The man immediately covered his mouth. “What did I tell you, scumbags?” he asked in a low, harsh voice. “Look, we-” “My one rule.” he reiterated, Ladybug swallowed hard. This wasn’t going to end well for any of them. “No dealing to children,” the henchman told him, “we weren’t, we were dealing to some old guy who happened to have a kid...as a courier.” he explained. Ladybug thought it was their word over hers, she looked back up at him. If that was his one golden rule, then it was one they had undoubtedly crossed. She had to play her cards right, if she wanted to appeal to his humanity. “Ask anyone in the area, and they’ll tell you he’s just a kid,” she said, “His dad barely leaves his living room, never mind the apartment.” Ladybug noticed Red Hood reach for the guns, she shut her eyes tight and ducked as if that would save her from the two gunshots she heard.

Ladybug waited for the pain of the gunshot wound, maybe even numbness from where she had been shot. There was no guarantee that Tikki was able to protect her from gunshots, but she didn’t feel anything. She slowly opened one eye to look up at the tall, imposing figure in front of her, who went back to reading his book. She opened her other eye and slowly got up to find the Red Hood leisurely leaning back in his armchair, while the two henchmen lay dead on the floor. He put his guns back in their holsters before picking up the open book next to him. Ladybug looked around at the two men, dead on the floor with blood dripping from their foreheads. “Y-you killed them,” she stammered, before she cursed herself, as if stating the obvious was going to stop him from putting a bullet in her.

“I have one golden rule, and they broke it.” He explained, he lowered his book as he stared her down. “Still, what am I going to do with you?” he wondered aloud.

“You can start by letting me go,” she spat, she stood up as she looked right into the glowing white lights on his helmet. Her hands were still bound by the cuffs, but she still had her legs. Her mind raced with all the things she could do if he tried anything. She could kick him away or use the handcuff chain to choke this man if he tried anything. What she should be doing is running for the exit or finding a way to break the handcuffs. Instead, the man put the book down and grabbed the handcuffs by the chain. The Red Hood could just about see the gears turning in her head as she tried to find a way out of this situation.

“Well, if the accent is anything to go by, I’d say you’re probably French? Maybe Belgian. Eitherway, you’re a loose end I really can’t afford right now,” he explained as he pulled her closer to him. “So, tell me mon amie, what are we going to do with you?” he asked. Marinette tried to pull away, but his grip held her in place without too much trouble.

Red Hood obviously didn’t plan on killing the girl right then and there, it wasn’t her fault that a couple of henchmen wanted to cover their asses for doing the one thing he told them not to. The problem was, she didn’t know that. As far as she was concerned, she was unlucky enough to wind up on her knees in front of an up-and-coming crime lord. He pulled the chains towards him. “Consider this a favor, I’ll come and find you when I’m looking to cash it in.” He stood up and put the bag over her head, still holding her by the handcuffs.

Ladybug though he was surprisingly a little more gentle with her as he led her away from his hideout. All she could hear were gentle reminders to watch her step, as he led her down steps and into what felt like a cool breeze outside. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, but there was no answer. After a few steps of literally blindly following a stranger, they stopped. He pulled the bag off her head and Ladybug had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the sudden rush of light to her eyes. She looked around and saw that she was at the pier, watching the sun rise over Gotham Bay.

“Hold still” was all she heard, as he jerked the cuffs forward and unlocked them one by one. Ladybug looked up and only just realised that the Red Hood absolutely towered over her.

Ladybug rubbed her chafed wrists with her hands, “Thank you” she muttered, avoiding eye contact with the person in front of her. She didn’t know what to make of him, so she wasn’t sure how she felt about owing him favours. On the one hand, he was a formidable crime boss who had just killed two of his own men without a second thought. On the other hand, he killed them because he drew the line at harming kids and selling drugs to them. Seeing as she was an 18-year-old crimefighter, did he have any qualms about hurting her? She could not be certain, though she was also cursing herself for thinking that there was something intriguing about the crime boss with an altruistic side. “This favour…” Ladybug began, trying to look him in the eyes and ask about it.

“I’ll come and find you when I need you, I have eyes and ears all over the city now” he explained, “no offense Pixie, but you kinda stick out like a sore thumb”. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, “if you want to make it easier on us both, meet me in Crime Alley in a week’s time”.

“And I won’t tell anyone that their city’s big bad crime boss has a sense of humour” she joked. She took out what looked like a yo-yo and launched it towards a lamp post and swung away.

Jason was used to people not trusting him, least of all his adopted family, and now there was the plucky young crimefighter dumb enough to take on two men twice her size. She had guts, he had to admit, and if she kept this up it wouldn’t be long before Batman took notice. Jason tensed up at the thought, he had just met this girl, but he wouldn’t wish what he or the others went through on her. He wondered how long she had been doing this. The idea that someone put her up to this from a young age made him even more tense. If that was the case, he might feel a little sorry for her. Alternatively, if she had been doing this for a long time, and was put through the same crucible as him only to emerge from the other side unscathed…what did that make him? He had to see what she was made of, and for that, he needed to test her limits. He asked her to meet him in Crime Alley, the place where it always began.

In the days leading up to their little reunion, he had been asking around about the costumed vigilante. Seeing what his contacts knew, under the guise of asking if she was going to cause him any trouble. Going through his dead henchmen’s burner phones, he managed to contact the kid that she had saved. He sent him a message:

“We need to talk, the guys who gave you a hard time have been taken care of. Need to ask about the girl who saved you. Meet me outside the diner tomorrow, the one near Gotham stadium. – R.H.”

He wouldn’t be surprised if the kid didn’t take the bait, after all he was probably shaken up by what happened. He would be remiss as a former protégé of The World’s Greatest Detective if he left stones unturned. He also thought maybe a burger and milkshake would sweeten the deal, the kid had been through enough. He got a reply from the kid, it read:

“How do I know you’re not about to ‘take care’ of her? Or me? I don’t want any trouble. ”

He smiled, bless his little heart for trying to protect her. He would just have to let this kid know that he was someone who could be trusted, that he had much bigger plans for his savior.

“My men crossed a line, the girl told me about what happened and I let her go. I just want to know what you know, I’ll throw in a burger and milkshake. – R.H.”

The next day he waited, he had hoped wherever the kid was, he was one of the many teenagers finishing school around this time. There was no guarantee that the kid would show up. At around 4:30pm, sure enough a scrawny little teenager was looking around for the mysterious Red Hood. Jason noticed the kid was wearing sunglasses, probably in a feeble attempt to hide the bruising on the side of his face. “H-hello?” he spluttered to no one in particular, Red Hood emerged from the shadows with a brown paper bag.

The kid rushed towards him, and he held it open so that he could see what was inside. “You’re the kid who got beaten up a few days ago?” he nodded sheepishly, Red Hood put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Listen, I took care of them because they crossed a line selling the stuff to you, I’m sorry.” He handed him the paper bag.

“It wasn’t for me…the drugs I mean. My dad, he-” that just made Red Hood’s blood boil even more, but he had to focus. “My neighbor, Marinette, she’s a fashion student at Gotham U. She looks after me sometimes, she’s really nice. She grew up in a bakery in Paris, so she’s always making bread and cakes whenever I come over.” As he explained this, Red Hood calmed down a little at the thought of someone looking out for this kid. He took a few bites of his burger, and a mouthful of the chocolate milkshake. “I owed those guys money, usually my dad gave me money to pay them but lately he hasn’t. So, my piggy bank was starting to run a little dry, and I guess one day they got sick of waiting.” He explained, Red Hood tried to steer the conversation towards the girl saving him.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, just tell me what happened when the girl showed up” he told him in a soft voice.

“I thought I saw a pink light in the distance, and when I looked up, a girl in a red polka-dotted suit was trying to save me. One guy was about to punch me when she used a yo-yo and wrapped it around his arm to pull it away from me. I don’t know what that thing was made of, but she managed to pull the guy towards her and away from me.” He continued to gush about how happy he was that this costumed heroine stepped in to save him. As he described the fight, that first part lined up with the marks he saw on the henchman’s forearm. “She just told me to ‘run’ and I didn’t really question it”, he explained.

“So, a girl in a magic costume saved you by using her magic yo-yo?” He asked, “did you see anything else?”

“Nope, I did what I was told and ran like hell. I tried to see if my neighbour, Marinette, was home, but she was probably at the library or something” he told her. This neighbour was a student, probably pulling an all-nighter somewhere working on a project.

“You did good kid.” He stuffed a couple of hundred into the kid’s pocket. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Please, don’t hurt her, she didn’t do anything wrong. She was just trying to help me,” he pleaded.

“Relax kid, like I said, the two guys won’t be bothering you anymore”, and with that he turned and walked away. “Go see your neighbour, Marionette or whatever, she’s probably worried sick about you”, with that he disappeared into the shadows once again.

Marinette made it home safely that night, and had spent the last few days trying not to think about what this crime boss had planned for her. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it right then and there. Maybe he planned to drag this out and torture her, she had no way of knowing what he had in mind. “There was something strange about that man”, Tikki mused when she finally powered down.

“How so?” she asked as Tikki nibbled on the cookie she kept in her bag on the way home.

“You should probably take Plagg with you next time, I could feel something strange in his aura” Tikki told her. “I could sense my own magic, but his magic might be mixed in there too”, she explained.

“Did you and Plagg know who he was? Did you grant a wish for him?” she had been the Guardian since she was 13, any wish they granted before then would have been a long time ago.

“I can’t recall, but somehow he came into contact with our magic”, she explained. Marinette decided to take her advice and bring Plagg next time, she could use Cataclysm if he tried anything.

For the next few days, Marinette had been going about her normal, civilian life. She was going to classes by day and working in her apartment by night. Wednesday night, Leon finally paid her a visit and Marinette was shocked to see the bruise on his face. Marinette decided to drop everything and give the boy some hot chocolate and cake. He was surprisingly happy for someone who was being beaten up a few days ago. Leon gushed about the girl who saved him, and how cool she was, and how he got to meet the Red Hood.

Marinette froze, “Um, what’s he like?” she asked, she was surprised to hear more gushing.

“Awh he’s the best, this guy bought me a burger and a milkshake, he just wanted to know about the girl who saved me.” He was cheerfully rambling on before he noticed a slightly concerned look on Marinette’s face.

“Maybe don’t take food from strangers next time” she told him, “But what’s he like? Sorry, I haven’t lived in Gotham for very long”.

“He fights crime, just like Batman. He also looks really scary but is actually a nice guy- and I probably shouldn’t be telling you all this” he suddenly looked very sheepish.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be our little secret” she said with a wink, as she placed the warm mug of hot chocolate in front of him. So? She was dealing with a crime boss with a VERY altruistic side, so much so that he’s considered a hero. She should have known that, given that he shot those men for what they did to Leon. It saddened Marinette that she couldn’t do more for Leon, but she was just a university student, she wasn’t really in a position to be his full-time guardian.

“You make the best hot chocolate, Marinette, how do you do it?” he asked.

“Well, where I’m from we have it for breakfast.” she told him, he looked as though she told him that she communed with unicorns every morning. “It’s true, even Marie Antoinette started her day with a cup of hot chocolate.”

“The lady who said ‘let them eat cake’?” he asked jokingly.

“Yes, but it was originally believed that she said ‘Let them eat brioche’” she told him. The two of them laughed and watched movies together, but eventually he had to return home later that night. Considering all that she went through, Marinette felt lucky that her own family always loved and supported her. Her father was always a gentle giant, and where her mother lacked in height she more than made up for in personality and wit. They might not fully understand why she wanted to leave Paris of all places, to pursue a career in Fashion Design, but they supported her.

What would they say if they could see her now?

The week came and went, and Marinette decided to show up to Crime Alley as Lady Noire. It was a dark and damp place, enough to give Plagg the sense that so much death and misfortune happened here. She looked around and listened for any footsteps or figures, but the mystery man she was looking for still managed to take her by surprise.

“Surprised to see you here, Catwoman” she looked up to see the Red Hood looking down at her from a fire escape balcony. “I’m sure Batman will have something to say about the new hair,” he remarked. There had to be some mistake here, and he seemed to realise it too when he climbed down and gave her a swift once over. “Wait a minute…nice try poser, you’re a little short to be the real Catwoman.” he remarked, “Who are you?”.

“I’ll give you three guesses...” the girl was trying to be coy, but the accent and short stature gave it away.

“What brought on the costume change?” Red Hood asked.

“You don’t like it?” she pouted mockingly “It makes my job a whole lot harder if you’re resembling someone who takes cat burglary a little too literally”, he told her. Now he had to rethink his plan, “why the costume change anyhow?”

“Well, you didn’t specify what your favour was. For all I know you enjoyed the sight of me kneeling in front of you in handcuffs a little too much”, Red Hood was thankful that the helmet hid the absolutely mortified look on his face. He’d also be lying if he said he didn’t think she was cute, but he had some self-control.

“Okay, should’ve probably said something about that. So that’s what brought about the costume change?” he asked, “Was it laundry day for the other one?”

“Let’s just say, this one has a different set of skills. This one comes with a staff, and night vision too.” she explained, “If you didn’t plan on ‘that’ kind of favour, what did you have in mind?” Red Hood had a feeling she could do a lot more than she was letting on, but he decided to leave it for now.

“There’s a shipment of firearms weaving its way into Gotham as we speak, I plan to intercept it before Batman can find it.” He explained.

“Why? So that you can use them instead?” she snapped.

“Since you’re probably new here, trust me when I say you could do a lot worse in a place like Gotham,” he growled. “This is also tame compared to how I would usually do things. If anyone else got ahold of these guns, people can and will get hurt.” he told her, “Two-face, Penguin, the damned Clown Prince of Crime, none of them would think twice about mowing down innocent people to get what they want.” he took a few steps closer to her and she was trying to put on a brave face as she looked up at him. Somehow, he got the sense that this might be out of her wheelhouse.

“So what do you want me to do?” She asked, hoping he couldn’t hear her heart pounding in her chest. There was something about the Red Hood that Marinette couldn’t quite put her finger on. He made it clear that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with, and that she would be foolish to underestimate him. Yet in other ways, she could just about see the faint outline of something resembling a moral compass. It was certainly one that was cracked, but she could just about glean where it was pointing.

This was also the moment she realised she was way out of her depth. She had been doing this for a few years, but she was used to people who were being controlled by Hawk Moth or Mayura. Akumas and Amoks prepared her for a lot of things, this wasn’t one of them.

“All right, follow me.” commanded the Red Hood as he grappled up to a roof, Lady Noire jumping from ledge to ledge to follow. The two jumped across the rooftops of Gotham until they arrived at the docks. The two stood at a rooftop across a warehouse, Red Hood perched on the ledge waiting. Red Hood points to a few small speed boats racing towards a warehouse. The speedboats quickly dock and a large group of mobsters come from the warehouse to begin unloading. As the crew quickly unload the smuggled weapons to trucks in the warehouse, the boss of the group shouts at them. “All right, hurry up and load the goods into the trucks.” spoke Scarface.

Lady Noire could hear a light growl from Red Hood, “Damn, it’s the Ventriloquist. Ready for a fight?”

Lady Noire nodded and the two jumped down to the docks. They crash landed on a couple of mobsters, knocking them out instantly. Lady Noire used her staff to fight them off, while Red Hood ran off towards the warehouse, presumably to get the smuggled weapons.

The Ventriloquist turned around and Scarface roared, “Shoot her!” and fired his tommy gun Lady Noire. She spun her staff quickly, creating a force field deflecting the hail of bullets coming her way.

As the torrent subsided she heard the mob boss yell. “Help me reload ya dummy” commanded Scarface. “Yes sir,” Wesker meekly replied.

Lady Noire took this opportunity to finish off the remaining goons in the area. Just as she knocked out the last mobster, a baseball bat cracked along the back of her skull and sent her to her knees. She then felt hot metal placed on the back of her head and a howl of laughter. “Gotcha now ya dumb broad!” Scarface laughed.

At that moment Lady Noire panicked, she cast Cataclysm and took a swipe at Scarface. This sliced Scarface in half, however the disintegration continued. Lady Noire watched in horror and disgust as she saw Cataclysm burning away the Ventriloquist's arm. His cries of pain and begging for mercy forever etched into her mind. She felt faint and began hyperventilating as she watched the man slowly dissolve. She fell to her knees and held her other hand to her mouth, feeling the bile rise up. She wanted to reach out, to apologise, but it was too late. She could not bear to watch anymore. Her vision turned to black as she fell to the ground.

Marinette woke with a start to find herself somewhere strange. Someone had laid her down to rest on a mattress. She could hear the sound of keys tapping away on a computer, and moments later the sound of someone saying “Welcome back to the land of the living, Pixie Pop.” Marinette looked around at her surroundings, she had no idea where she was. On the other side of the room, a boy who was only a year or two older than her turned in his chair to look at her. Marinette sat up, her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to make sense of what had happened. The boy stood up and came over to see if she was all right.

“Where am I?” she asked, “What happened? Who are you?”

“To answer your questions, you’re in a decommissioned bomb shelter that I use as a hideout. What happened is you took out one of Gotham’s crime bosses. Not bad for baby’s first arms deal, “ he explained. Marinette was still trying to remember how she ended up here. “had to get out before Batman and the others got there but couldn’t find you, that was until I saw a flash of black and green light.”

It was all coming back to her, she remembered what transpired the previous night. She remembers how the cries of agony and the horror of watching a man slowly melt with the power of Cataclysm. Marinette hadn’t used Lady Noire very often, and she was starting to wonder how Chat Noir managed all those years with this power.

“Hey, Pixie? Still there?” the boy asked, slowly reaching out to touch her shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” she yelled, her hands shook as she remembered what she’d done, “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

“First of all, it was awfully nice of you to leave out the fact that you could use magic” he told her. Jason wasn’t angry in the same way Bruce would have been, Bruce didn’t trust magic users like Constantine further than he could throw him. Still, when you’re trained by the World’s Greatest Detective, magic becomes the ultimate wild card. He tried a different approach, the last thing she needed was to be lectured about how an arms dealer deserves to live more than her. “Second of all, the way I see it, it was you or him. He could have killed you, then what?” He asked.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” she spat, “maybe you’re used to this but I’m not! The people I was up against were always being controlled by someone else! They were ordinary people who let their negative emotions rule them!” Her voice was shaking with rage and she looked away, there was no way she was going to let him see her cry. “I didn’t even plan on continuing to be a hero, I have been doing it since I was 13. When...I saw that poor boy in the alleyway I just...I’ve done what you asked now leave me alone.” she turned away and hugged her knees as she curled up on the edge of the mattress.

Jason realised what made her so upset in that moment, telling her it was a matter of survival was pretty cold comfort for someone who’d just killed someone for the first time. The fact of the matter was they had both been at this from a young age. The difference was he had been trained to fight superpowered murderers and madmen, people who were evil of their own volition. He didn’t enjoy seeing her like this, but she made it clear that he didn’t have a clue what her world looked like. It was probably a hell of a lot sunnier than his outlook, it probably literally smelled like sugar, spice and everything nice. “If he had killed you, and he could have, I would have made him suffer a lot worse than you did. Only difference is I know how.” he said there was no use sugarcoating the truth.

“Why?” she asked, “am I just some pawn in your little game against Batman?”

He walked over to the bookshelf shelf, filled with his own little souvenir collection. A copy of the Art of War, The Prince, and many other books were nestled around them. Among them was a photograph he took back with him on one of his trips back to Wayne Manor. He tried to keep his frustration in check, tried to remind himself that she was just shaken, even if she had acted in self-defense. He took the framed photograph off the shelf and handed it to her. As far as they knew, the boy in that picture was dead and in many ways he still was. “Look familiar?” he asked as he sat back down on the mattress, propping himself up on his arms as he leaned back.

Marinette looked at the photo, there was no mistaking that as Batman, standing there with a stern and serious expression. The boy next to him was dressed a lot more colourfully, Marinette almost wanted to make her own adjustments to its design. By contrast the boy had a cheeky smile, as if he was ready to take on the world with Batman at his side. She also noticed the person next to her had a white lock of hair framing his face. “Is that…'' she asked, she had stopped crying but now she was working out what he was trying to say. She looked at the boy in the photo and back to him, his features were a little sharper now but she could just about see that boy beneath the surface. “What happened?” she asked, there was no sense asking questions she knew the answer to.

“What could have happened to you.” he told her. It clicked in Marinette’s mind at that moment, in his own way he wanted to protect her. Her heart was pounding at the thought, she was so used to shouldering the responsibility of protecting everyone. Yet, here she was getting excited at the thought of someone doing the same for her. Maybe Ladybug reminded him of the boy in the photograph, brimming with hope that they could make the world just a little brighter. What happened to him and how it happened was a story for another day. She felt a comforting hand hovering just over her shoulder, she gently took his hand and held it to her. They sat there for a long moment, just two people enjoying each other’s company. “What’s the boy’s name?” she asked as she turned and handed the photograph back to him. She wiped her tears on her sleeve before smiling at him.

“Jason, Jason Todd, yours?” he asked, giving her that same smile as the boy in the photo. “No one calls me “Jason Peter Todd” unless I am in seriously deep shit”, he joked.

“Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng” she told him, “I’m the guardian of magical items called the Miraculous. It’s my job to keep them out of the wrong hands, for…well now you know why.”

It suddenly made sense to Jason why she leapt into action to save that boy without a second thought. Not just because she was his neighbour and cared about him, but because that’s just what she did, and has been doing for a long time. The whole magic thing was still going to take some getting used to, and he had to guess she had many more tricks up her sleeve. Still, he had to admit they made a pretty good team last night. She hadn’t been put through quite the same trials and tribulations as him, so who could say if she would end up just like him? As long as he was around, no one would get that chance. He stood up, taking his hand off her shoulder and holding it out to help her up. “Need a ride?” he asked, Marinette smiled brightly up at him before she took his hand.

#jasonettejuly2021 #jasonette #maribat #ml x dc

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kurowrites · 4 years

Note

“I hit you with my car and was the only one to visit you in the hospital” AU Prompt for Wangxian, if you like?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

---

When Wei Ying woke up, he had to blink a few times to adjust his vision to the bright glare of the lights overhead, momentarily blinding him. Something was weird. This definitely wasn’t his own bedroom, whose lighting was rather dim and most definitely off when he was sleeping.

He blinked a few times more and then turned his head to examine the room he was in.

It took him far too long to understand what he was seeing, but once his brain actually started processing it, there was no doubt. He was in a hospital room, complete with barren walls and the strong smell of disinfectant. But he had no memory that could explain why he would be waking up in a hospital bed. In fact, now that he thought about it, he had no idea what he’d been doing before he’d woken up here, or even what day of the week it was.

Impatient to have his questions answered, he tried to wriggle around and slip out of bed, but his body felt oppressively heavy, and his vision started to swim as soon as he lifted his head off the pillow.

Exhausted and distressed, he fell back into bed. What the hell had happened to him? Why was he feeling so terrible?

Just that moment, the door of the hospital room opened, and a nurse stepped in.

“Oh, you are awake,” she said. “Good.”

She moved up to the bed and started to check his vitals – or harass him, Wei Ying couldn’t really tell which one it was. She was probably around fifty and had a distinct aunt-y vibe that made Wei Ying lay still on danger of getting stabbed with a needle.

“Do you know why you’re here?” she asked, after she had apparently determined that he was conscious and held it together enough for conversation.

“No,” Wei Ying croaked, and immediately started coughing. His throat felt terribly dry.

The nurse went to his bedside table, where a cup and a pitcher of water had been placed, and filled the cup for him. Then she made him drink.

“You’ve been in a traffic accident,” she told him without ceremony. “You got hit by a car and had to be brought here in an ambulance.”

Shit. Could that be true?

He didn’t remember any of that.

“I don’t remember,” he told the nurse.

“Honey, it’s probably better if you don’t,” she said, patting him on the arm absent-mindedly. “That’s your brain protecting you. You’re also on painkillers right now,” here, she pointed at one of the drips that went into his arm, “and they tend to make your brain a little foggy. You only need to focus on getting better right now.”

That wasn’t particularly comforting to Wei Ying. He’d been lying here, doing–

“My work!” he suddenly remembered.

“Oh, don’t you worry about that!” the nurse said, shaking her head. “I think that nice Mr. Lan has taken care of all that.”

She checked her watch.

“It’s almost time for him to visit, too. Such a nice young man, if only youngsters nowadays were a little more like him.”

She sighed, patted Wei Ying’s arm again, and then left, hopefully to tell someone else that he had gained consciousness again.

Wei Ying sighed and stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t sure what the nurse had meant with “that nice Mr. Lan,” because he didn’t know anyone with the last name Lan. Certainly no one who would visit him at the hospital. Had she gotten his visitor’s name wrong? He tried to think of a different possibility, but couldn’t think of anyone. Wen Ning was away. And Jiang Cheng still wasn’t speaking to him, not to mention that no one in their right mind would ever call Jiang Cheng a ‘nice young man’ if they had spent more than 30 seconds in his presence.

He wasn’t kept in suspense about the identity of his visitor for very long, though. Only minutes after the nurse had left, the door opened again, and through came a man that Wei Ying had never seen in his life. He would have definitely remembered meeting him, Wei Ying was sure, because the man was a devastating combination of tall, handsome and well-dressed. Very memorable. Even in his current drugged-up state.

The man hesitated for one small moment when he saw Wei Ying looking at him, but then continued his progress through the room with a measured pace, finally arriving at Wei Ying’s bedside. He did not speak, but silently placed several items onto Wei Ying’s bedside table. Wei Ying saw a book, what looked to be some healthy snacks, as well as… his phone? It looked terribly beaten up, but a traffic accident might do that to a phone. He should probably be glad if it still worked.

The stranger must have noticed the direction of his gaze, for he finally opened his mouth.

“I have taken the liberty of contacting you place of work.”

“Thank you,” Wei Ying said, sending the stranger an ironic smile. “What I’d rather like to know, though… who are you?”

The stranger bowed slightly, as if to apologise for his rudeness.

“Lan Zhan,” he said. “I was the one… who hit you with my car.”

“Oh, I see,” Wei Ying said, several things suddenly becoming clear to him. “This is a ‘I’m feeling guilty’ visit. Don’t worry about that. It’s fine. I’ll be out of here in no time.”

The stranger, Lan Zan, frowned at Wei Ying’s words.

“It is not guilt that has made me come here,” he said.

Then he was silent again. Wei Ying waited for a moment, but when nothing else happened, he raised his eyebrows at Lan Zhan, encouraging him to go on. Lan Zhan looked as if he’d rather do anything else than open his mouth again, but eventually, thanks to Wei Ying’s pathetic wheedling, he conceded.

“The one responsible for your accident was the driver who suddenly came out of a side street and nearly ran you over,” Lan Zhan explained. “You ended up in front of my car because you were trying to escape his path of collision. He also crashed into my car, nearly hitting you a second time. I have no guilt to speak of, but I am grateful that you survived. I was worried, however, when your family could not be contacted.”

“Oh, uh, well,” Wei Ying stuttered. “Honestly, that shouldn’t be any concern to you. I’ll be fine. My family… well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Your family should care for you if you are injured.”

There was a stubborn set around Lan Zhan’s mouth, and Wei Ying suddenly found himself smiling. He wasn’t sure if he should call it fortune or misfortune, but this Lan Zhan was clearly an incredibly stiff man with very strict notions of propriety, to the point where he involved himself into the affairs of others.

“Ah, Lan-gege,” Wei Ying sighed. “Not to say I’m not very grateful for your help, which I am, but let me assure you that you have officially fulfilled your obligations and are free to leave. You have already done more than I can ask for. If it is as you say, I have no ill feelings towards you. Feel free to go on with your life, and sorry about the car. I think I need to sleep again, I feel very tired.”

He was, in fact, feeling very tired, and it was getting harder to keep his eyes open by the minute.

Lan Zhan seemed to realise that that was the case. He said his goodbyes, but before he left the room, he announced, “I will come again.”

Wei Ying wanted to object, but Lan Zhan was already gone, and Wei Ying’s eyes were closing.

---

The next few days passed in the monotony of sleeping, check-ups by doctors and nurses, terrible hospital meals, and occasional visits from Lan Zhan.

As handsome as he might have been, at first Wei Ying really didn’t want Lan Zhan to come back again. He quickly learned to be grateful for his frequent visits, however. Staying in the hospital was extremely boring, even with the books that Lan Zhan brought him, and everything was much better once he trained Lan Zhan to bring him spicy snacks.

After a few excessively boring days in bed (more than he cared for, certainly), he was finally allowed to walk around a little in order to regain his strength, and Lan Zhan would take him outside into the garden whenever he visited. Wei Ying was extremely grateful for that, since the nurses didn’t allow him to go alone.

Wei Ying quickly learned on their little excursions that Lan Zhan rarely spoke, but was an extremely attentive listener who would prove said attention in the most unexpected moments. It was almost shocking sometimes; Wei Ying would ramble on about something, and Lan Zhan would suddenly say one thing or another that made clear he had been paying attention when most people would have tuned out already. It was… flattering, to say the least. To have someone pay attention to him so much. Definitely something Wei Ying could get used to.

Lan Zhan was also very attentive to Wei Ying’s physical state. More than once, when Wei Ying felt his own strength lagging, he suddenly found Lan Zhan’s hand at his elbow, steadily and unobtrusively making sure that he didn’t fall over his own clumsy feet. Lan Zhan seemed to know that he needed support almost before Wei Ying himself realised it.

Normally, he would complain about being thought a weakling, but if Wei Ying were honest, he would admit that sometimes, he really needed the support. And well… he couldn’t really bring himself to mind being spoiled by a handsome man. If he were really honest, he would confess that he simply liked Lan Zhan’s hands on him, and any excuse that provided him with an opportunity was good enough, even if he had to play up his weakness.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said when they were on one of their garden excursions one day, eating little cups of mango panna cotta that Lan Zhan had brought with him today on a bench. “I will be released tomorrow. You don’t have to visit me here any longer after today.”

“Hn,” Lan Zhan agreed. “What time?”

“Around ten, I think? Why do you ask?”

“I will pick you up.”

Wei Ying sighed deeply and swallowed the last spoonful of dessert.

“Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan. I can ask a friend to pick me up. You shouldn’t do so many things for me. If you are too nice, people will end up misunderstanding. Well, I will end up misunderstanding. You wouldn’t want that to happen, now would you?”

He directed his best salacious grin at Lan Zhan.

“Nn,” Lan Zhan replied noncommittally. “I will pick you up.”

Wei Ying stared at Lan Zhan for a moment. Could it be that Lan Zhan was that thick? That he didn’t realise what Wei Ying was getting at? Did he have to spell it out for Lan Zhan? That he meant misunderstanding in the sense of kissing and possibly getting naked with each other?

“Lan Zhan, I’m serious,” Wei Ying complained, tugging at Lan Zhan’s sleeve to make him look at him properly. “I will misunderstand.”

Lan Zhan looked at him, and it struck Wei Ying again how beautiful Lan Zhan’s eyes were. He had thought that Lan Zhan was pretty much expressionless when they first got to know each other, but that had been patently untrue. His perpetually serious eyes were the source of so much deeply felt emotion. Everything Lan Zhan felt, he felt with his entire heart. So when Lan Zhan looked at him, Wei Ying automatically felt his pulse speed up and his cheeks start to grow hot. That was the effect Lan Zhan had on anyone he really directed his attention towards.

“I will pick you up,” Lan Zhan repeated once again. Stubbornly, insistently. Mulishly.

Without breaking their line of sight even once. Just serious. And steady.

“Oh,” Wei Ying whispered.

Oh. Lan Zhan didn’t want him to misunderstand. Lan Zhan wanted him to understand.

Wei Ying shot up from the bench they had been sitting on and walked over to the trash can close by, to throw away his empty cup of panna cotta. Lan Zhan followed him, throwing his own cup into the trash. As he did it, he looked about as disquieted as Lan Zhan ever did, but right now, Wei Ying was unable to handle anything.

Could he be right? Did Lan Zhan – that Lan Zhan –

As he stood there, he slightly tilted to the side – and there he was, Lan Zhan was right at his side, steadying him. But right now, Wei Ying didn’t want to be steadied. He leaned further into Lan Zhan’s side, putting most of his weight on Lan Zhan right until his head a found a home in the crook of Lan Zhan’s neck.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” he sighed. “Taking advantage of the weak and injured, I see. Do you always flirt like that? Picking people up at the hospital?”

He looked up at Lan Zhan and smiled.

Lan Zhan didn’t answer, but one of his arms most definitely found its way around Wei Ying’s waist, holding him securely to Lan Zhan’s side. It was… intimate.

It was answer enough.

“This is the part where you’re supposed to say ‘No, Wei Ying is the only one for me,’” Wei Ying pouted.

“Wei Ying is the only one for me,” Lan Zhan intoned seriously.

Wei Ying had to bury his face in his hands and scream a little.

“You can’t say things like that out of the blue!” he complained. “My poor, beaten body won’t be able to take it!”

Then he peeked out between the gaps between his fingers, up at Lan Zhan.

“Say it again.”

(When Lan Zhan picked him up the next day, he received a kiss for his efforts.)

(One kiss, or many.)

(Who was going to count.)

#kuro writes #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mdzs #mdzs headcanons #well not really #sweat #enter21

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aurabird · 3 years

Text

Haunted Dreams

Sausage just wants to sleep...but trauma weighs heavy on the mind.

Tw: Nightmares, blood/violence, brief disassociation

Also on Ao3

---------------------

He walked through Mythland, a casual stroll through the streets of his empire to see it in all its restored glory now that he’d removed the corruption that had overun it. His citizens greeted him as he passed and he made a point to at least try and speak with as many of them as he could.

Then the sky grew dark, thunder echoing as lightning split the heavens and suddenly, the citizens around him were gone, as if they’d never been there to begin with.

Sausage knew what the storm meant and he ran; fear in his heart and panic in his mind. He needed to get away, he needed to hide. He was fooling himself, there was no hiding from the harbinger of the storm, no matter how much he wished there was.

He ducked into a building as he was inflicted with a blindness spell, cowering in a corner like a frightened animal. Maybe...maybe if he pretended they weren’t here like Joel did then they’d go away. Positive thinking right? That’s what Gem always told him.

“Hello, Sausage.” Xornoth said with a wicked grin as he came into view, “You and I have much to discuss.”

“No! G-Go away! I don’t work for you anymore!”

The demon laughed, “Oh Sausage, did you really think I’d leave you alone? You will never escape me!”

The next thing Sausage knew was been teleported, now on a netherbrick floor where familiar crimson tendrils were quick to bind him.

The blindness spell wore off and he felt his blood run cold. He knew where he was, he’d been here before when he was still under the influence of corruption. Even now he could almost hear the agonized cries and pleas of those he watched Xornoth torture...that he himself even tortured. Sausage could almost see Fwhip, Gem, and Kathrine bound and helpless, their blood still staining the ground.

“Its a new perspective isn’t it? Being on the receiving end of something you once enjoyed?” Xornoth questioned, twirling a dark, bloodied dagger in his hand as he walked “I cannot let your insolence go unpunished, Sausage.”

Suddenly, the demon was in front of him, its gaze meeting his own. “I wonder how easy you’ll be to break.”

Sausage jolted upright with a cry, pain radiating in his right arm. He quickly looked at it in panic, expecting to see pulsating crimson veins. Instead, all he saw were the web-like scars where corruption had once been seared in his flesh. His gaze followed them from where they started at his wrist, and ended right over his heart.

He grimaced at the permanent reminders of what he’d done and averted his gaze to the room he was in. It wasn’t a dungeon where he would be tortured, it was his bedroom...in his keep...in Mythland.

There was no storm outside, moonlight shining brightly through the window and casting a gentle glow on the floor and walls.

A nightmare...that’s all it’d been. A remnant of the trauma he’d gone through. Still, there was no going back to sleep, not after that. Maybe...maybe he could go on a midnight walk to clear his head?

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, going over to his wardrobe and grabbing a simple undershirt, pants, and a cloak. It was a casual attire, much different than what he would normally wear, but it’d work.

Once he was on the cobbled streets he began his walk. Mythland was stunning at night, lanterns lit the paths and fireflies flickered in the air. The sound of night wildlife was therapeutic as it was joined by his quiet footsteps.

The bleating of blood sheep made him smile, with the corruption tentacles gone the symbols of his empire’s culture had come out from hiding, no longer afraid.

All was fine until Sausage could have sworn he saw a shadow move in the darkness. When he turned to look, it was gone.

Just a nocturnal animal he told himself before continuing down the path towards one of the residential areas.

He’d helped design some of the houses here himself and the sight of them made him smile. Light shone dimly through closed windows, alerting him that the residents were safe.

Then, in one of the alleys, he caught sight of a shadow, but it disappeared seconds after he made eye contact with it. A stray dog or cat he thought, that was all, there was no one out on the streets at this hour other than him.

As he continued he noticed that the sounds of the night had gone quiet, his footsteps echoed by another set behind him. He turned, but saw no one, not even the particles of an invisibility potion.

He was tired, that was all. He was tired and just imagining things. He was alone out here...he should probably head back home to rest.

Countless times more on his way back did he swear he was hearing footsteps, close enough to be in earshot, yet far enough away to be unnerving. He also could have sworn the shadow he kept seeing was following him. He knew it was just paranoia, once he was back in bed he’d be fine.

Soon, his home came into view and he went inside, climbing the stairs back to his bedroom.

He discarded the cloak, hanging it on the railing to put away in the morning and made his way over to his bed, not even bothering to get undressed again.

As he passed the mirror by his wardrobe though he froze, the reflection in it drawing his attention out of the corner of his eye. The second he turned to look, he recoiled with a yelp.

In the glass was a man that looked like him, a man dressed in black and grey with piercing red eyes and black veins marring their skin that had a faint crimson light flickering underneath. A sinister grin crossed their face as their gaze met his own.

“Look at you.” his reflection began in a distorted version of his voice, “Pathetic and weak once more. You were so powerful Sausage, you were feared. Don’t you miss it? The strength flowing through your veins, the magic at your fingertips. You could have had so much more too, if you’d stayed.”

It clicked then who the reflection was, it was someone he never wanted to see again, someone that terrified him. “I’m not you. I’m not a puppet for someone to order around.”

His reflection vanished and for a moment, Sausage thought he’d beaten his subconscious. He’d been wrong as he felt a sword go through him, the blade dripping with ink black blood as it protruded from his chest.

“You’re right,” came the voice of his doppelganger once more, “Because I am what you should have been.”

The sword was yanked back out, and Sausage fell to the ground, hacking and sputtering as the life drained from his body.

“All I have to do, is kill you and take your place.”

The black blade of a corrupted netherite axe tore through the flesh of his neck.

Once more he awoke with a cry, his hands instantly flying up to his throat instinctively in panic. Once he realized that his head was still attached did he dare open his eyes.

Sunlight came through the window and lit up the room, birds sung outside and the wind rustled the leaves of trees. In the distance, he could hear the faint sounds of his people going about their lives.

Tears formed in his eyes and he began to cry, ugly sobs coming from his throat at what he’d witnessed in his nightmare.

Then it dawned on him...what if he was still asleep? What if he’d just passed into another part of the illusion his traumatized mind was inflicting upon him?!

What if...what if he wasn’t really in Mythland? What if he’d failed in the spirit realm and as punishment he was left to suffer a nightmare for eternity?!

Who was he? The King of Mythland? The servant of evil? The condemned spirit left to be forgotten by those he cared about?

The mental turmoil was maddening and Sausage clutched the sides of his head, “Stop...make it stop...” he pleaded quietly.

A knock on the door snapped him from his spiraling thoughts, bringing him back to what he hoped was reality.

“Sausage are you home? I know you said you wanted to rest but I’m worried about you.”

Gem’s voice was music to his ears and Sausage quickly regained his composure as best he could before heading down the stairs to open the door for her.

“Hey, Gem.” he said with what he hopped was a happy tone, he didn’t want to worry her any more.

The wizard’s smile faded, “Sausage you look horrible, I thought you said you were going to get some sleep and recover!”

“What are you talking about Gem? I feel perfectly fine!” he countered casually, “I’ve been resting like I said I would after all!.”

Gem wasn’t convinced, “Sausage, have you looked at yourself in the mirror?”

The question had been an innocent one, but the nightmare from the night before quickly flashed before him. “N-No, because I’m...I’m afraid of what I’ll see.” he admitted as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"What do you think you’ll see?”

Sausage grit his teeth, his body beginning to shake, “Him, Gem...the corrupted puppet of Xornoth...”

"He isn’t you, Sausage.”

“No...he’s not...” because he’s who I was supposed to be...

Gem broke the momentary silence that followed, “You’ve gone through a lot, Sausage and while I still don’t know if I can fully trust you yet, if you need to talk about anything then I’ll be right over alright?”

Sausage nodded and wrapped his arms around her just to make sure she was real and not another trick played by his mind, “Thank you.”

He had spent the next several days working, doing everything he could to keep himself from falling asleep, afraid of what would await him. He’d dozed off a few times and had found himself in several scenarios.

Sometimes it’d been in the arena, the other rulers falling to his blade over-and-over again, bathing him in their blood while he smiled in sadistic pleasure.

Sometimes he’d be running from a shadow that would always catch him, its claws digging into his mind to puppet him around once more

Sometimes he’d see the wicked grin of his twisted doppelganger as they drove a blade through him, their words poisoning his thoughts and filling him with doubt and fear.

Sometimes he’d be laying helpless as Xornoth tortured him. Trying countless painful methods to ensure that this time the corruption taking over his body would be permanent.

And when night fell he’d just lay in bed awake, guilt and trauma weighing heavy on his mind. The things he’d done were horrible and now that he was free, he would be hunted relentlessly by the one that had controlled him and the hybrid that still followed them.

Sausage was scared. He needed sleep...he needed help...

That had been the one word shakily scribbled onto the paper he’d tied around a raven’s leg before sending it to the Crystal Cliffs.

A knock on the door the following morning forced him to get out of bed and go to open it. Sausage’s movements were sluggish but he managed to succeed in his goal. Gem stood in the doorway, her expression morphing into a grimace once she saw the sorry sight he probably was. “Oh Sausage...what have you been doing to yourself...”

He collapsed into her, unable to hold back tears any longer, “I can’t sleep Gem! Every time I close my eyes the nightmares come, even if its just for a minute. Please Gem, sleeping potions...or even some kind of sleeping spell...just something, anything to help me fall asleep peacefully!”

Gem couldn’t think of any way to reply, only held the broken person in her arms.

“How about we get you inside? See what we can do?”

A distressed but agreeing sound came from Sausage and Gem helped maneuver him upstairs and back into his bed. The Mythland king looked terrible, his clothes disheveled and his face pale enough that the dark circles forming beneath his eyes were extremely noticeable.

“Tell me everything, Sausage. Tell me about the nightmares and anything that is bothering you.”

So he did. Sausage spilled every detail about his nightmares and paranoia, about every little thing he feared and pondered. Gem listened intently as he spoke, never once interrupting, just letting him get his thoughts out.

By the time he finished Sausage felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, it was...nice.

The last of his energy had been sapped from his venting and the clutches of sleep tried to bring him into their hold.

Gem stroked his head, her sympathetic eyes meeting his own tired ones. “Go to sleep, Sausage.” he coaxed, “I’ll be here to wake you if I sense something is wrong.“

Sausage only gave a sigh, his eyelids slipping shut and lulling him into darkness.

But, for the first time in an unknown amount of days, the nightmares didn’t come. Sausage was at peace, finally able to rest.

#empires smp #empiresblr #empiressmp #My writing #mythical sausage #geminitay

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dragon-in-the-watery-bowl · 2 years

Text

Guilt

Time for some Utsuro angst (Ghost AU)

Everyone was sleeping in the rooms that the Future Foundation gave them. Kyoko and Byakuya only accepted the deal they gave them because of Makoto needing medical attention, something that the Foundation could give them easily.

That didn't stop the scrutinizing glares of some of the Foundation heads when they saw the luckster.

After all, how can they trust someone who has the ghost of a ex-member of Ultimate Despair haunting him all the time, even if he was the one who had finally beaten Junko Enoshima?

Utsuro was floating around Makoto's room, while the luckster was sleeping. The place was completely empty, beside the bed and an small closet at one side. There was two guards stationed at the room's door. They were there to protect Makoto, or to make sure that the ghost didn't do anything? Utsuro felt that it was the latter.

As a ghost, he didn't needed to sleep. Even if he tried, he couldn't, so he stayed up all night long, or watching Makoto, or lost in his thoughts.

He sometimes has gotten himself thinking about the last four remaining members of class 79.

Sometimes he thought about Tsurugi, whom "Yuki" had saved from a self-inflicted shot in the head with the Divine Luck, and how Junko told him, and the class 78's survivors, how everyone who was blessed by it were suffering after his death.

But the thing was that he knew that Junko was the type of person who would twist the truth and hide the details, if the lack of information could give her the chance to cause despair, and, combined with Makoto's hopeful speech to him, made it hard to him to trust her.

After all, he died because he saved Akane with the Divine Luck.

The Divine Luck would do everything he wanted, and him being dead meant that she was alive and well, and she could fix any damage his death could have caused.

Right?

He started to try to drown the feeling of his lungs burning and being unable to breath with thoughts of her living a better life than he could give her.

He felt a pang in his chest at the thought of Akane being with another person.

He didn't knew why, but the idea of her being with someone else made him angry. He wants her to be happy, but somehow, his chest hurts every time he thinks of her being with people that aren't him.

A voice in the back of his mind mocks him, using his own voice against him.

"Look at yourself, revolted at the idea of Akane Taira being happy without you"

He covered his ears, but he knew that it wouldn't work at all.

"I bet you now regret saving her, that you want her to be dead, for her to be all yours" The voice said before ending in a cackle that it was too familiar to him.

Monokuma's laugh.

He couldn't hear the voice anymore, but his words were still circling around his mind. He was right, and that was making him feel worse.

Akane was the first person that was always there for him, not because of his Luck, but because she genuinely cared about him, to the point she became a member of Despair and ruined so many lives together. All that because she loved him, and he wasn't even able to notice it.

The idea of not being able to be together again was too painful. The idea of her forgetting him was too much.

He started to laugh. Well, "laugh" wasn't the correct word, it was more like a hysterical cackling.

Who was he to demand for her to stay with him? He should have convinced her to not join him as a Despair, he should had stopped the Killing Game test that Junko ordered them to do when she asked him to, he should had moved when that Monokuma lunged towards Rei...

His laugh had started to become sobbing even before he even noticed the tears.

"I'm a horrible person"

---

Makoto had woken up because of a nightmare, but hearing the soft crying at his side made him stop.

He looked at the clock. 4:59 am. It was too soon to get up, but that nightmare made it impossible for him to go to sleep again. Also there was the fact that Utsuro was crying, and he didn't knew what to do.

He waited for him to calm himself down a bit before trying to talk with him.

"Utsuro?"

He could hear him make a noise and, when he turned his head to the side, Makoto could see him drying his tears with his arm.

"Makoto Naegi" Even now and then, Utsuro still had the habit to call him by his full name when he was feeling a little unwell.

He looked a the clock. "A bit to soon to be awake"

The comment made Makoto laugh sheepishly "Sorry, I had a nightmare, and now I can't go to sleep again"

He tried to say something else, but a yawn interrupted him.

Utsuro rolled his eyes "That sounds to me like you're still tired, Makoto"

The luckster got up and went to grab the crutches that the Foundation doctors gave him. His leg wasn't completely healed still, so it was a clear necessity.

"I guess you're right" The luckster said, not getting a response.

Makoto felt like a minute pass when he heard Utsuro talk again.

"Do you think I'm a bad person?"

Makoto stood quiet for a moment, thinking his words.

"I... know you did horrible things as Enoshima's follower, and that they're things that couldn't be forgiven, but I also know that you are atoning for it regardless of that, and that you're trying to be a better person. I don't think a bad person would do that" He finishes his talk with a small smile towards the ghost.

Before opening up the room's door, he glances at Utsuro again.

The ghost's expression is still troubled.

#my writing #Dangan Ronpa #danganronpa #trigger happy havoc #danganronpa fangame #danganronpa another #super danganronpa another 2 #sdra2 #dra #makoto naegi #utsuro

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arigatouiris · 4 years

Text

animal instincts // inosuke x reader

Author’s Note: Another draft pick hahahahah. I headcanon that Inosuke is like this when he’s in love~ My poor misunderstood rough boi who deserves nothing but the world! I hope ya’ll like this, I put some effort into this one hahahaha. Thanks for reading!!

Word count: 4069

Pairing: Hashibira Inosuke x Reader

Warnings: fluff, slight spice (things get a bit heated here UwU) idk, slight angst, SPOILERS FOR THE KIMETSU MANGA

Zenitsu had a question plaguing his mind ever since (y/n) (l/n) came into his life. Not that he didn’t try wooing her and asking her to marry him, no, she turned him down rather decently and kindly, which forced him to think of her as a good friend. She was a demon slayer herself, having hailed from the same training that Kanao went through.

As sweet and loving as she was, (y/n) could be just as violent; albeit, Zenitsu and the gang had only seen this side when she fought demons. Her violence was through a silent battle that she knew she would win, and her swordplay was fascinating to the eye. Her mother was a dancer, somewhat similar to Tanjiro’s father, and her mother had taught her everything she needed to know about dance.

However, life wasn’t too kind. (y/n) lost her mother when she was 12 and had been training under Shinobu to become a demon slayer since. She had learned the breath of the flower from Shinobu, but developed her own style scheme by performing different moves through dance. It was, to say the least, impressive.

(y/n) and Inosuke shared a rather weird relationship.

The first time they met was in between their missions. All four of them were surrounded by a total of seven demons. Inosuke stepped in wanting to be the one to take down everyone, but quietly, (y/n) held him back (almost yelled at but the second Inosuke’s gaze met hers, he grew strangely quiet, which was unlike him).

“We need to plan this out. When you’re cornered, you don’t attack head-on. That’s suicide.”

She turned to Inosuke’s mask and grinned, “You’re better alive than dead, right?”

Zenitsu didn’t miss the fuwa fuwa that came out of his boar friend right then, but he was shitting his pants for something else entirely. It was after that did she introduce herself, rather peppily, and seemed like the most happy-go-lucky person they had ever laid their eyes on. Inosuke seemed particularly soft with her, which was very unlike him, but no one made any comment about it.

“So Inosuke, why did you become a demon slayer?” (y/n) asked, with a chirpy voice.

Zenitsu and Tanjiro watched as the white puffballs around Inosuke grew in number but the male grunted and walked away, leaving (y/n) there with a confused but happy smile.

“What happened?”

Zenitsu hit himself on the forehead.

The thing that Zenitsu’s mind was plagued with was this: How would Inosuke behave if he was in love with someone?

For this, he’d need to understand how animals behaved. When an animal finds a potential mate, the male of the species would perform a series of activities in order to impress the female of the species. Like, in birds, the male bird would perform a wide range of dance moves or hops to impress the female, who would display her interest by signalling in and chirping accordingly.

Cut to what they were doing a few weeks ago. They were at the butterfly estate, all four of them, and Tanjiro and (y/n) were talking about him selling charcoal for a living. She was a good listener, and for Tanjiro, it was nice to be heard for a change. Perhaps, in Inosuke’s mind, Tanjiro was another male boar, showcasing his skills (Zenitsu wondered if ‘kindness’ can count as a skill) and (y/n) was considering him. Inosuke however, had a better skill—brisk loudness, and the ability to have anyone’s eye on him for longer durations of time because he was just that distracting.

“(y/n)!”

Ah yes, he also never forgot her name for a strange reason, but she only thought that was because he didn’t deem her a threat.

(y/n) were right, in a way.

She turned her head toward Inosuke who was holding his two swords near the courtyard. Zenitsu stood a few feet away from where (y/n) and Tanjiro sat, and watched with an unimpressed expression on his face. This wasn’t amusing in the slightest for the blond, for he had seen men pile up over women and behave in a way they otherwise wouldn’t do. But, in Inosuke’s case, it was definitely...weird.

Upon receiving (y/n)’s attention, Inosuke flipped his blades around in the air and did a few stunts, causing (y/n)’s eyes to widen with absolute amusement. Tanjiro smiled a tad bit, before turning to a disgruntled Zenitsu, and understanding thus what was going on.

“Whoa, that’s amazing, Inosuke!” (y/n) said, clapping her hands together.

Tanjiro noticed the white fluff balls come out of the boar boy’s head as his actions suddenly stopped. He might have been raised an animal, but Tanjiro’s heart melted at the realization that Inosuke craved the feelings of attention and kindness from people around him, just as much as he wanted to prove himself superior. Inosuke felt a range of things with the two of them, but with (y/n), he certainly felt softer. And whatever the reason might be, Tanjiro believed his friend deserved it—the boy was pure at heart.

Coming back to the theory Zenitsu had. Tanjiro approached the boy that evening before having a quick word with him over Inosuke’s obsession with impressing you. Both of them knew that it was more than a crush, but it was also quite out of character. While Tanjiro could swallow Inosuke’s need to be softer with her, Zenitsu thought Inosuke believed it was a competition.

“Well,” Tanjiro pondered, “It might be, in his head. That was how he was raised and that’s how he thinks? Maybe, if we don’t prove a threat to him, he’ll learn better on understanding how to communicate his feelings.”

Zenitsu scoffed, “That idiot won’t know what feelings are if it hit him on his face like a brick. He thinks like an animal!”

Tanjiro chuckled, “Doesn’t mean animals can’t love,” He turned to spot Inosuke and (y/n) in an animated conversation about butterflies, “Most often, they love better than the rest of us.”

Therefore, the two of them decided to watch Inosuke. Zenitsu did it for his own amusement, but Tanjiro enjoyed merely understanding his friend’s nature. There were three things that Inosuke had to fall under if he were in love with (y/n)—and this was all based on observation. Tanjiro knew how animals thought and behaved to a fair extent, and with his knowledge, analysing Inosuke’s behavior around her seemed like the perfect study.

#1. One mate is territorial over the other.

Zenitsu approached (y/n) one evening, wanting to call her over for dinner. She turned to the blond before waving at him, and having him sit beside her.

“Hi, Zenitsu-kun. Is there something you need?”

He wondered where his boar friend was at that second. There was no point to this exercise if Inosuke wasn’t around. Not that he minded having a conversation with (y/n), she was sweet. He turned to her after realizing Inosuke wasn’t around and wondered what she thought of him.

“So, Inosuke,” She blinked at his words, “He’s weird, right?”

“Not at all. I think he’s really sweet.”

Zenitsu blinked, “Really? Even though he doesn’t understand a lot of social cues? It’s because he was raised in the mountains—”

“I find that bit fascinating, actually. Even though he was raised in the mountains, he’s so kind.”

“How is he kind?” Zenitsu grumbled.

(y/n) blinked at the blond’s question.

“Do you...not like Inosuke-kun?”

Zenitsu shook his head, “It’s not like that, I just think he’s too much sometimes. Abrasive and rash—it’s like taking care of a loud kid!”

She giggled, “I like that about him! Keeps things lively.”

Zenitsu wasn’t sure now on who the weird one was. With (y/n) defending Inosuke like her life depended on it, it was certain that even she had a soft spot for the boy. But, he couldn’t tell if it was built out of sympathy or romantic feelings like he had. She was just kind, maybe, she defended Zenitsu behind his back (although this thought made him swoon on the inside).

“Where is he anyway?” (y/n) grumbled, frowning a bit.

It was at that second when Tanjiro came to the courtyard. (y/n) greeted the brown haired boy before blinking up at him.

“Tanjiro-kun, have you seen Inosuke-kun?”

Tanjiro hummed before saying, “Hm, I think he left with Kanao-chan somewhere?”

Zenitsu ‘ah’ed before understanding where the boar boy had gone now. Kanao and Inosuke had been training together for a bit, it wasn’t strange since Inosuke always wanted to get stronger than the others. With Tanjiro having beaten Kanao in that little game, Inosuke wanted to do the same. The boy thought everything was a competition.

“Oh?”

Tanjiro almost didn’t notice it, but it was good that he was great at capturing certain scents. Growing up with so many siblings had him understand how to differentiate between the scents of various emotions. When (y/n) stood up, waved to them and left, Tanjiro chuckled, catching Zenitsu’s attention. He wasn’t always certain about a lot of things, but he was sure that he had caught the right scent here.

“What’s so funny?”

It was the scent of jealousy, he thought before shaking his head.

#2. One mate tries to impress the other by being the best they can be.

Zenitsu hated missions, and he especially hated them when he had to go with Inosuke. However, the only thing holding his sanity together was that (y/n) had offered to tag along—since her crow was nowhere to be found. Inosuke was thrilled and secretly so was the blond, because now Inosuke seemed controllable. He didn’t know how it worked, but he was glad that it did.

They were to head to a village to find a demon behind a few missing people. Apparently, these people headed to work one day and never returned—and this being near a river, there were chances that this demon resided under water.

“Can you swim, (y/n)-chan?”

“Yes, actually. I didn’t learn it the easy way, though. Shinobu-san basically threw me into the river and forced me to learn the hard way.” She said, dejectedly.

“When you’re about to drown, your body learns to float!” Inosuke yelled, catching your attention.

“Y-Yeah, I mean, I was the first one to learn too! Inosuke, I also know what plants you can eat from under water!”

“You can eat underwater plants?!”

“Yes! I’ll show you someday! When they’re added into your food, it’s so delicious!”

He couldn’t understand where the fuwa fuwa was coming from now—Zenitsu noticed that the fluffballs were everywhere. He wasn’t sure which mate was trying to impress the other here.

Tanjiro, Zenitsu thought, who exactly is the animal here?

He normally never did this, but Zenitsu was curious beyond belief! Therefore, he shut his eyes, paused for a brief moment and let his ears do the detective work. All he could hear were sounds of two hearts fluttering in harmony, an image stuck to his brain that he couldn’t wipe off (and if he was a softer, more mature individual, he would admit that the image was a rather sweet one), but Zenitsu being Zenitsu hated the fact that his mountain boy friend was in love with a sweet crackhead like (y/n)—who in retaliation was in love with a mountain boy as well.

#3. A manner of softness not seen anywhere else.

It was strange to see Inosuke being quiet—it was either only when he was in deep sleep or deep thought (which was very, very rare indeed). However, the mountain boy grew quiet a lot these days; especially because (y/n) hung out a lot whenever the boys were around. He’d watch her, observing her movements, trying to replicate whatever ‘decent’ moves she made like trying to eat with chopsticks or not wearing the mask as much when she’s around.

In all honestly, it was quite evident that Inosuke tried being a human being around her and it was sweet, Tanjiro noted, that he’d try so hard to accommodate to (y/n).

However, Zenitsu didn’t think it was sweet. He wanted to vomit inside his mouth each time he thought of the boar boy being in love, particularly because it was the sort of love that was rare even for civilized people. The blond always had trouble finding people who accepted him for being who he was, and here was someone like Inosuke—whose personality was somehow revered instead of being shunned.

What the hell is going on? He thought, grumbling, as he witnessed (y/n) crawl over to Inosuke, as if to sneak up on the boy. Normally, Zenitsu would have yelled and alerted his friend, but he just didn’t care anymore—it was comical, and he’d let it be.

“Inosuke!” (y/n) pounced on the boar boy from the back, tackling him to the ground, surprising him.

Inosuke blinked, his face a dark red, before screaming in playful anger.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Fight me!”

Inosuke’s eyes widened just for a brief moment before he growled and tackled her back, causing her to giggle and try to escape the boar boy’s advances. Now, he was chasing her around the estate, something little animals do when they play with one another. Tanjiro smiled at the sight before Zenitsu noticed fluffballs come around him.

I’ve had enough of this.

Walking over to his boar friend, he grabbed the boy from the back of his mask before yanking it off in one go. Inosuke would never mind beating the living daylight out of his blond friend, but the expression Zenitsu had just then caused him to still his movements. (y/n) paused before blinking up at Zenitsu, tilting her head slightly at the sudden halt.

“Zenitsu-kun? Is something wrong?”

“You two are what’s wrong!”

Inosuke growned, “What? You wanna—”

“NO! I don’t want to fight! Do you honestly not see what’s going on here?!”

(y/n) giggled before saying, “Inosuke and I are just fooling around—”

“I thought we were fighting—”

“We are, but it isn’t a fight where we hurt each other.”

“Yes! I was thinking the same thing!”

Zenitsu slapped his forehead. He pointed to Inosuke and then pointed to (y/n). Tanjiro approached them before placing a calm hand on his blond friend.

“You are clearly in love with her and you are clearly in love with him!”

Inosuke didn’t look like he understood what Zenitsu had blurted out, but (y/n) was civilized where Inosuke wasn’t and just then Zenitsu had called her out rather harshly—but, it was the kind of harsh that was perhaps justified. Her eyes widened and she turned to spot Inosuke grab the blond and put him in a choke hold, but her movements stilled. She looked up to Tanjiro who gave her a kind smile before she bit her lip.

Of course she knew she loved Inosuke. Of course, she wasn’t blind. Ever since she first laid eyes on the beast boy, her mind was picked, her heart was his, and her body did things on its own—wanting to impress him, wanting to stand out and make sure Inosuke remembers her name instead of anyone else’s; she wanted to be special to him, and from all her tries, she was bound to know that her feelings for him were nothing short of romantic.

However, could he perceive romance? Could Inosuke know what these feelings were and could he act on them? Was she the only one making the effort here? She turned to spot Inosuke fighting with Zenitsu the same way he was fighting with her and she began to wonder, ‘What if I’m actually no different?’

Tanjiro smelled the sudden hesitance radiating off of her, but before she could get anywhere, he approached her.

“(y/n)-chan, I’m sure Inosuke feels the same way—”

“Tanjiro-kun,” (y/n) wasn’t sure where the sudden hesitance grew inside her. “I just... I need to figure some things out on my own before I...” She turned to spot Inosuke taking off his mask, growling at the blond.

She gave him a soft smile, confusing the hell out of him, before walking back inside the estate.

“Where’s she going?” Inosuke asked, blinking at her retrieving figure.

Tanjiro turned to his friend, curious.

“What do you feel for (y/n)-chan, Inosuke?”

“HAH?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to get him to talk about! But he keeps tackling me!” Zenitsu yelled from the background.

“What feel for her? She’s (y/n)!”

Tanjiro’s eyes widened almost comically at how Inosuke remembered her name so accurately.

“Why do you remember her name so well?”

“She’s important!”

Tanjiro blinked some more, “Important how?”

Inosuke growled, losing interest in this conversation, “(y/n) is...” He couldn’t find her and that bothered him. He looked to where she had gone off to before frowning some more.

“Inosuke,” Tanjiro’s soft voice broke his reverie. “Do you love her?”

He didn’t know what love was, but there were a few things Inosuke was sure of. Whenever he saw (y/n), he wanted to be around her more—just like the pair of wolves he had come across as a child. The male wolf would wind its neck under the female’s whenever it was cold, and it was something Inosuke saw himself doing with her, and no one else. He remembered the swans dancing around in the water with one another, attaching themselves by every inch of their feathers and Inosuke wanted nothing more than to learn how her skin felt against his.

He recalled the group of monkeys that was led by a strong male and a fat female, which was fat because the male had given her his babies. One day, Inosuke dreamed of having little Inosuke babies with (y/n).

If this was what love was then what Inosuke felt for (y/n) was much, much more.

Growling, he ran off to where (y/n) might have gone, and noticed you sitting by the engawa. Taking off his mask, Inosuke sat beside her without warning, and noticed her red face. His eyes widened when he saw that expression on (y/n)—and all the thoughts he had were starting to vanish. Sure, the animals looked happy and did things he wanted to do, but no animal could compare to how beautiful she looked right then. He gulped before leaning closer to her, smelling her face—unsure of what to do at a time like this. Inosuke didn’t want to scare her, but he was confident that she would not be scared.

Zenitsu did not count a fourth thing that Inosuke would fall under if he was in love. The ability to change and adapt for a certain someone.

“Inosuke, do you... do you know what love is?”

He didn’t, and he sure as hell was scared to tell her that he had no idea.

“What I feel for you... I want to be around you all the time. I want to hold your hand and... and hold you in my arms and touch your hair—”

Inosuke grabbed (y/n)’s hand forcefully before placing it on his hair, but paused when he noticed her wince.

“Did I hurt you?”

(y/n) smiled warmly, her heart beating rapidly as she shook her head, “I’m not sure if you know what love is, Inosuke...”

He frowned, “I don’t know what to tell you.”

He was an animal, born and raised in conditions that other people could have perhaps not survived. There was very little he knew about the ways of how human beings displayed affection. However, there was one way he was sure of—one way that could perhaps show her what he felt. Prove to her that whatever this love emotion was, it had nothing on him.

Because what Inosuke felt for (y/n) was far, far stronger than some stupid emotion.

He leaned forward and kissed her, grabbing the back of her hair. (y/n) had no idea where he had learned how to kiss, and even if he knew what this meant, but a second later, Inosuke’s tongue darted downwards to her neck, biting it lightly, marking the texture of her soft skin. His hand was firm behind her head and he pulled lightly, pressing her to him—before leaning back and capturing her lips again.

(y/n)’s eyes were wide and she was almost breathless; unsure of how to react, her hands slowly travelled to his hair and she buried her fingers in his hair, marvelling at how soft his locks were. She kissed back slowly, and did not miss the passion Inosuke brought forth with what he was doing. Once again, he pulled away before reaching her collarbone and biting lightly. The second (y/n) let out a soft moan, Inosuke stopped.

“Do you feel warm?”

Her face rivalled a spider lily. Of course she felt warm!

Inosuke looked at her and smirked, “A male marks his female, in the mountains, this is how beasts mark their mates.”

(y/n)’s eyes widened. Mate? She blinked before grabbing his face and studying it, almost enthralled with what she had learned.

“Inosuke, there is so much you need to learn!”

But, the second she thought of how his tongue travelled to her neck and collarbone, maybe, he didn’t have to learn much after all.

When Inosuke’s firstborn son turned out to be a bit timid, Inosuke acquired the ability—acting out on empathy. (y/n) watched him, hold his five-year old son after the boy had fallen off a small tree and hurt his knee.

“This is going to sting,” Inosuke said, before putting some pressure on to the little boy’s wound, along with a raw medicine he had made to prevent any infection.

The boy cried instantly, which caused Inosuke to turn to (y/n), who was cradling their third born daughter, with a smile on her face. He wouldn’t reveal to a great many people that watching his son wince and cry hurt his chest more than anything ever had, but watching (y/n) smile back at him, as he sat there with a smile on his face made him appreciate everything that was soft in the world.

He had stopped asking people to fight him because honestly, it turned exhausting. After having three children, Inosuke had had enough—he wanted to mellow down and sit back, smell his wife’s hair and watch their children grow. He often wondered how Tanjiro and the others were doing, and he thought of how the life in the city was not one for him at all. He hoped that their paths would cross one day, but turning to (y/n), as their youngest daughter cooed in (y/n)’s arms, Inosuke was at peace.

“What are you staring at!? Fight me!”

Inosuke narrowed his eyes and turned to his three-year old girl, whose expressions and personality rivalled his own. He heard (y/n) chuckle from the back before ignoring her and getting up, grabbing the little girl by her ankle and having her dangle upside down.

“This—”

“Stop it, runt.”

Oh, but he would not deny how much he adored that feisty little spirit of hers. She growled before pinching her father’s hold, causing him to abruptly let her go, as she landed on the ground with a ‘thud’. She got back up and rushed to her father, hands around his neck, Inosuke grumbling before picking her up. If only he had understood that his cries ‘fight me’ were a sign of being touch-starved, he’d have avoided a great many unnecessary fights.

“Let me go—”

“Shut up.”

Inosuke’s hand wrapped around his small daughter’s form before running it up and down on her back, calming her down. The child’s eyes widened before she quieted down, and returning her father’s embrace.

A small tug at his sleeve made him look at his son now, who gave him a needy look as well. Inosuke knelt down and picked up his boy, before hugging both of them, standing like a tree in the middle of the house.

“Never thought you’d turn into such a softie, Inosuke!” (y/n) giggled, before expecting a shout or a loud comeback.

Instead, her eyes widened when she saw him smile at her, each hand cradling his children, as he watched her, with the softest eyes he could conjure.

Honestly, she could never let down the way he told her he loved her each day, not through words, not through mindless actions, but merely by looking at her like his entire life belonged to her. For a man raised in the mountains, Inosuke knew how to love better than the rest of humanity itself.

If only Zenitsu could see the man now, she thought, chuckling.

#inosuke hashibira #inosuke x reader #inosuke #inosuke hashibira x reader #hashibira inosuke x reader #hashibira inosuke #kimetsu no yaiba x reader #tanjiro kamado #agatsuma zenitsu #inosuke fluff #inosuke x y/n #kimetsu no yaiba spoilers #inosuke hashibira x y/n #demon slayer #best boy inosuke

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flying-nightwing · 3 years

Text

Throne of Blood (2/3)

It’s ya local simp back again with the praise/devotion kink sweating out of this series in waterfalls. I set this on three parts, and potentially a bonus chapter *wink wink*.

This is still marked NSFW for the same reasons as part 1, so minors still DNI

Part 1 in masterlist (Bio + pinned)

Pairing: Jason Todd x fem!reader x Roy Harper

Word count: 4919

Warnings: Same as part 1 babes

“I still don’t believe it”

The sky was clear and the sun was high, reflecting on the crystal white of the snow covering the land. A cold wind blew over the western watchtower, reddening Roy’s cheeks in a similar tint to his coat. He looked down to you and grinned.

“Say what you may,” He replied, pulling slightly the string of his bow twice. “I’m hitting that target, darling”

“So smug” You sighed, twirling the arrow in your fingers before handing it to him. “Let’s see, my dear. One chance, gotta hit the mark”

He only winked and armed his bow, carefully drawing his bowstring. He paused there and closed his eyes, feeling the force of the wind and calculating his aiming angles. You could see in the distance the Wayne Kingdom’s guarding post and a small dot pacing around. Roy reopened his eyes and angled his bow to the right, then up. As he breathed out, he let the string go.

First thing you knew, the little dot fell over the ledge of the tower.

“I…” You mumbled, your jaw going just a bit slack. You couldn’t stop staring at the guard post.

“That’s right!” He laughed, pumping his fist in the air. “I told ya I was gonna make it”

“Well, I know to admit when I’m beaten” You sighed again, looking back at him. His eyes were shining with pride and mischief. “How many golds did I owe you again? 4?”

“Mhh, forget the gold” His cold hand trailed up your neck to rest behind your ear, tangled in your hair. “That baffled expression on your face is more than enough to satisfy my ego”

“Are you sure?” You teased further, letting him invade your personal space. “Your ego is pret-ty big sometimes”

“You’re right” He breathed out, rubbing your temple he was so close to you, his lips were almost on yours. “Maybe there is something you could do for me after all”

“Name it” You said, smiling. “I owe you one, after all”

He didn't answer, only closed the short distance between you two. His cold, chapped lips met yours in a soft kiss as his other hand snaked around your waist. You could feel his bow digging into your back, but you didn’t care. Your hands went around his neck to pull him even closer to you, letting him shield you from the harsh wind. He was so warm, you wanted to stay against him for hours more.

“Did we ever do it on the western tower?” He asked as he pulled back to breathe.

“On the south tower, we did” You nodded, panting. “There was also this one time with Jason on the north balc-- Fuck”

Your eyes shut as he bit the skin of your neck, then sucked on it. “So we never did it on this watchtower” He hummed against you. “Right, because that guard definitely had a field glass. But now he can’t spy on us”

“My Lord, my Lady”

You shut your eyes, trying so hard not to snap at the boy. You could never have a moment of intimacy in this castle, it seemed. Roy recomposed himself first, straightening his back and facing him. He didn’t even look shameful or bashful at all, instead, he was pretty relaxed.

“Yes?”

“His Majesty requires your presence in the throne room” He said, his cheeks slightly pink in embarrassment. “It seemed pretty urgent”

You both shared a concerned glance. Without another word, you swerved passed the boy and walked straight to the throne room. You were a bit far, but you believed you set your record on how fast you could cross the entire castle. Your strides were long and purposeful, and your hands were not far from your weapons.

You ended up in the large room sooner than later, your eyes scanning for any imminent danger. Instead, you found a small crowd of seven people in front of the throne’s pedestal. One of the men caught your attention--and everyone else’s probably--by his looks alone. Tall, dark hair, wide blue eyes and one stunning armor. The blue bird on his chest contrasted the black of the armor, sticking out from the silver gray of his guards. His posture was tensed, but not as much as Jason’s on the throne. You and Roy slowly took your place on his side, finally making you be seen by the handsome man. His eyes found Roy first, and they exchanged a long glance. Then, it was your turn. He studied you for a moment before he turned to Jason again.

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble” He said, holding his hands up. “I’m only here to warn you”

“You could have sent another message if it was that important” Jason sneered. So this was his brother.

“Jason, I’m serious” He rubbed his nose. “Father is done and through with this will he won’t he. He is determined to stop you”

“Let him come” He snorted. “I know his every move, Dick. He can’t touch me”

“He knows that,” He argued, frustrated. “That’s why he issued capture warrants for both of them, effective as we speak”

Jason froze as his brother pointed at you and Roy. His face betrayed no emotion, but you knew a sensitive chord had been hit. You didn’t like how his own father tried to hurt him that way, and it made you angry. How dare he try and hurt your Jason.

“He’s not gonna kill us” Roy spoke, but even he had a subtle uncertainty in his voice. The mighty King Wayne didn’t kill, but this moral guideline might have wavered if Jason had pushed him far enough.

“He won’t” Dick replied. “But it doesn’t mean pain won’t be involved”

“If he even tries, I’ll kill him myself” Jason grumbled. “He’s not ready for--”

It happened fast. Your attention was divided in between the two brothers, so much that you failed to do a visual sweep of the room. You missed the two shadows on the higher balcony, or the draw of a bow that was aimed in your direction. It was the quiet sound of the arrow flying through the air that tipped you off, making you turn on the side by instinct to protect yourself. You felt the sharp steel of the tip pierce your shoulder--instead of your heart--and you fell on your knee. Before you could touch the ground, Roy fired and dropped the two shadows from the balcony before they could shoot anyone else. In a blink, Jason was over you and Dick was barking orders to his men to stand down.

Then came your scream of pain.

“Hey, hey, look at me” Jason called, bringing your attention to him. Your breathing was shallow and you wanted to pass out from the pain. You could feel the arrow tear and burn your flesh at every muscle contraction, and the hot blood slowly and steadily flow down your back. “You’ll be okay. Don’t pass out just yet, stay with me”

“I’m sorry” You rasped out in between two shallow breaths. You were pretty sure the arrow had been barbed by the pain that was pulsing through your entire upper body. "I didn't see him sooner. That was a rookie mistake"

“No, this is on me, not you” Jason’s beautiful face was twisted with guilt. “I-- I didn’t see him, I should have known-- Fuck”

His hands started trembling around the arrow he was holding steady. His hands were red already and you were getting drowsy; you had no more feeling in your right hand already, your entire arm hanging limp from your body. Black dots veiled your vision that was becoming blurry by the second, only dissipated for an instant when Roy appeared in front of you.

“Dick and Commander Garret got it” He told Jason before holding your head in his hands, forcing you to focus your attention on him. “You’ll be fine, but we need to move you. It’s gonna hurt. A lot”

“Can’t be worse” You joked, your voice slightly slurred and your smile resembling a grimace more than anything else. His expression turned sorry while he offered you back a pity smile. Oh, it would be a lot worse.

And he was right. They lifted you easily, both their strength more than enough to support you, and carefully made their way to the side room. You bit your cheek hard enough to draw blood so you wouldn't scream again with every step they took. There, with one swipe of his arm, Jason threw everything off the stone table in the middle of the room, sending flying some probably priceless items on the floor. He didn’t care. They laid you face down, then rushed to stop the blood flow.

“The doctor is on her way” You heard Roy say as you felt fabric pressed around the shaft of the arrow. You tuned in and out of the conversation, unable to keep focus on their voices for more than a few seconds at the time. A nap seemed so good right now.

“How did we not see them--”

“Don’t start blaming yourself again--”

“Well, it’s pretty much my fault if--”

“Jay, we are your guards, we knew--”

“Still! I’m the one who’s supposed to--”

“If you want me to take out this arrow, you’ll need to stop arguing and start helping me--”

“Yes ma’am”

“Sorry ma’am”

Some doctor she was. If only you could see their faces. You felt them working around you, something cold on your skin, followed by the arrow being pulled out of your shoulder. At this point, everything felt the same. Your pain was just everywhere, but now you knew at least the arrow was out. You heard the doctor shoo out Jason and Roy, then you passed out.

---

The tremble in Jason’s hands went away when Roy closed the door of the room behind them. His eyes turned as hard as steel as he faced the throne room, and without looking back, went straight for it. All heads in the room turned at the sound of him coming in again, and he had an idea why they kept staring. Your blood was still on his arms, reddening his skin up to the elbow. His hair was a mess and his eyes read violence. He stopped in front of the still moving body of one of the assassins. Roy’s arrow went through his cheek, but he was still alive. He glanced briefly at the other body, still with two arrows in the throat, then back to the one at his feet. Nobody else dared to move, not Roy, not his brother, not the guards around him watching the scene unfold in front of them.

Roy had a similar posture. Despite shooting in a reflex, his rage had left him guide his aim in the fire of the action. He had known in that split second that the man who fired the arrow didn’t deserve a quick death, that an arrow to the chest like his friend would be a mercy. Instead, he had gone for the painful shot that would leave him alive for the wolf the devour. Besides, it wouldn’t have been fair for Roy to have them both to himself.

Jason bent down and grabbed the man by the back of the neck, dragging him along with him. The man couldn’t talk, only moan in pain as he was forced to follow Jason’s angry pace. Roy wasn’t far behind, eager to see what would happen next. Jason wasn’t a predictable man, especially not when angry. And now, it would be an understatement to say he was furious.

Jason dragged the man through the room, then out of the castle and across the stone bridge. He stopped only when he was out of the fortified gates, where the towns citizens passing by eyed the scene with horror. A crowd gathered around, and Jason waited until there were enough people around to speak. He must have looked insane like this, bloody and disheveled, unhinged and on the edge. He usually wouldn’t have gone in public like this, but he needed to pass a message.

“This man has committed a crime against the crown” He began, and silence fell over the crowd. The man writhed in his hand, but he was too weak to escape the iron grip on his neck. “He snuck into the castle and attempted to kill my personal guard and advisor under a mandate issued by a neighboring Kingdom. If anyone has any idea to follow in his footsteps, this is what will happen. No one trying to claim the bounty will end up any better than him. Somebody fetch me a rope. A sturdy one”

It didn’t take time for one of the guards to come back with a thick rope and give it to him. He kicked the man down and held him there with his foot, ignoring his moans of pain as he worked on a noose. He looped it around the man’s neck and pulled him back on his feet. The sound of his sword sliding out of its sheath was deafening, and even more so the footsteps he took to stand in front of the man.

“Death is too kind for your crime” He muttered. “But it’s what you’ll get today, because I don’t want to see your face ever again. Tell the devil I said hi when he pulls out your guts”

With a quick movement of his sword, he sliced his stomach deep enough for his insides to spill on the pavement. Jason stood there, watching him for a minute before he walked away. He only paused when he was shoulder to shoulder with his guard.

“Hoist him up the gate” He instructed, but there was no place for arguments and the boy knew it. “So he can serve as an example for the rest of them”

Then he kept walking.

---

“Your progress is impressive”

You looked up from the gourd you were drinking from, your chest still rising quickly after the effort you just made. You had stopped outside a little road town and set camp in the woods. Like always, you’d take an hour or two to train with Jason. You had a lot to learn to even get close to an acceptable gap between your skills and theirs, but they were patient with you.

“Thanks” You nodded as you closed the gourd again. Night was setting in soon, announcing the end of today’s training session.

“I think you are ready to choose a weapon of your own” He said as he put back his sword in its sheath. “One’s choice of weapon is personal, and it can be quite telling about its wielder”

“Choose a bow and arrows” Roy called as he came back from the woods, dinner in hand. He had caught four rabbits and a bird. “There’s nothing quite like it”

“See, Roy chose a bow,” Jason explained further. “This tells us that he’s an idiot”

You laughed as Roy rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “Ha ha” He laughed dryly. “You’d look like a clown if I wasn’t your long shot”

“I’m not gonna choose a bow” You shook your head, chuckling. “I’ll leave the exclusivity to you”

You turned around as they kept bickering, looking over to the small bunch of weapons your party carried. Swords, curved blades, barbed sticks and one sharp looking spear were staring back at you, but nothing caught your eyes. That was until you spotted the two bodies laying a few paces away from your camp, reminding you of the two mercenaries who tried to ambush you earlier to catch the reward for your heads. Tried being the keyword, because the two amateurs had no idea who they went up against. Despite their sharp battle axes, they were taken down in a blink. You wandered toward them and picked up the two weapons beside them, then came back.

“I want these ones”

They both turned to you, surprised by your choice. Jason stepped closer to you, gently pushing up your arm so he could have a good look at one of the axes. The double edge was kept sharp, and it seemed balanced. He looked back at you.

“Those are quite heavy weapons. Warrior type, devastating things” He hummed. “You need quite some strength to wield them precisely and inflict damage. Are you sure?”

“You think I can’t do it?” You raised your eyebrow in challenge. He smiled.

“Oh no, I know you can do it. I even think the axes will suit your style” He chuckled, holding your stare. “All I’m saying is you’ll need to put the work into it”

“I’m ready” You lifted your chin up. “I don’t want to feel powerless ever again”

“With these, you won’t” Roy said as he passed behind you. You could just hear the grin in his voice. “Whoever will stand in your way will have no idea what came for them”

---

Jason already hated meetings, but this one had been particularly long. Not only because he was worried for you, but because he was alone. Roy was with you, making sure nobody got to you while you recovered, which left Jason off to bear the entire meeting without at least his favourite people by his side. But it was crucial for him to be there, because it was when he decided the counter offensive to adopt. His troops had been sent across the border, blocking all the roads to his territory. No army could march in without being met with resistance. He was well aware he was escalating the tensions tenfold by doing that, but his father deserved everything that would come his way.

The sky was cloudy, but the weather was nice for winter. He stepped outside, spotting the man in black and blue observing the frozen garden with little interest. At the sound of Jason approaching, Dick faced him.

“Well, you got a grip of yourself quicker than I expected” He hummed, noticing the lack of blood on his hands and his combed hair. He had changed to his black and red armor, leaving behind more formal wear for the time being. “I’m surprised”

“Don’t be” Jason snorted as the two men began slowly walking side by side. “I am aware I have a duty that I must do, no matter what happens”

Dick eyed him without commenting on that matter. “I suppose I am not allowed to leave just yet”

Jason smiled without humor. “That’s right”

“You know I could easily escape on my own”

“And you know if you did I would drag you back here by the neck”

“Obviously” Dick rolled his eyes. “What about my men?”

“Escorted out of my territory with the soldiers who are heading east” He replied.

“Why are you doing this?”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Why, to make our dear father sweat a little” He shrugged. “His golden son close enough for me to strike down quickly if he even thinks of pulling that shit again”

Dick remained quiet for a moment, his head down. He was aware his brother was watching him, looking for any sign of guilt or responsibility in that matter. “You know I would have never let those men tag along with me, right?”

“Do I, now?” Jason hummed. “They used your presence here to sneak in. I’m sure you know how this looks like”

“Jason” Dick sighed. “I don’t want to see you fall. I might not agree with some things you do, but there is a reason I came here to warn you”

He didn’t answer.

“Besides, I would have never tried to hurt the woman you love. I wouldn’t have done that to you” He added. “To you and to Roy”

Jason’s head snapped up, his wide eyes setting on Dick. How did he know?

“It’s quite obvious. Both your reactions were one of love, and there is clearly no competition between you two. It wasn’t very subtle” Dick explained. “And no, you did not say that out loud, but your face did. You forget sometimes I know you both better than you want to admit it”

Jason sighed. Of course, Dick would see it instantly. It’s not like he was ashamed of his relationship, on the contrary, his staff already knew it all about it judging by the number of times they barged on them in compromising situations and he did not worry about them knowing. But he knew decorum frowned upon it and a lot of people who already had something against him would only use it to further their case. He wanted to protect his family more than anything.

“You’re lucky to have them, and they’re lucky to have you” Dick spoke again after a moment. “I hope she’ll be okay”

“I hope she’ll be too, for your sake” Jason turned serious again.

“What does that mean?” He grew wary, straightening his back. Keeping him here was one thing, and he’d quietly stay if it could appease his brother to have him somehow prisoner, but he wasn’t sure he’d accept being threatened.

“Whether or not it was voluntary, you brought those opportunists here” Jason didn’t back down. “If she doesn’t make it, I will rain hellfire on everything Bruce loves, starting by his most prodigal son”

The two men stared at each other in confrontation, shoulders squared and the tension so tight it could be cut with a knife. And that knife was apparently named Roy.

“I think it won’t be necessary,” Roy said carefully, breaking the heavy silence. “She has been awake for a few hours, the doctor is changing her bandages. You should go see her”

Jason looked in between both men, then nodded at Roy. “I guess you two have things to talk about. I’ll leave you to it”

He walked away without looking back, and instead focused his thoughts on you. His feet guided him to the infirmary while his mind was far away from this reality, spiraling down what ifs and worst case scenarios. He paused in front of the door, then knocked and pushed the door open.

“Ah, King Jason” The doctor greeted as she washed her hands. “Just on time. I’ll leave you two in a second”

“Is she okay?” He asked.

“Ask her yourself” She smiled before wiping her hand on a rag and leaving.

You blinked slowly as the voices registered around you. You were feeling tired, but you wanted to stay awake a bit longer to speak to him as well. Roy had spent the majority of the day with you, well past sundown. You turned your head and smiled at him, easing just a bit of concern off his handsome features.

“Hey” Your voice was weaker than usual, and you had no doubt you looked paler too. According to the doctor, it was possible to make a full recovery if nothing got infected before the wound healed at least a little bit. She’d have to check in inflammation as well, but it looked not so bad so far.

Jason couldn’t help but smile back as he reached you and sat on the chair left beside the bed. He brushed hair away from your forehead with the back of his hand, relieved he couldn’t feel the heat of a fever coming out of you. “How are you feeling?”

“Just peachy” You chuckled, then flinched at the pain in your shoulder. “Ow”

“Take it easy” He soothed, caressing your uninjured shoulder. His touch was so comforting, you wished he’d never take his hand away. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner”

"S'okay" You replied. “I know you must have had a lot to do after this shit show”

“Still” He sighed. “I should have just--”

“Don’t start blaming yourself” You frowned. “None of this was your fault. I don’t want to see this expression on your face anymore, now”

He snorted. “Roy said the same thing, you know?”

“Well, he was right” You smirked. “You should listen to him sometimes”

He rolled his eyes playfully. “Of course you choose this time to gang up on me”

“I dreamed about you” You changed the subject before he could find a new way to blame himself. “Well, I don’t know if it was a dream or a vivid display of a memory. Everything was too hazy to make the distinction”

“What was it about?” He asked, rubbing his thumb in circles on your shoulder.

“When I chose my axes” You answered. “It’s a good memory. It did make me feel better”

“If I recall correctly, it was also the first night I kissed you” His tone turned teasing. “First night Roy kissed you as well. Beside the fire as the summer began, right after wiping out the guild members on the edge of the Kingdom of Blüdhaven”

“Hmm, I recall we did more than just kiss”

The soft glow of the fire, three naked bodies intertwined as they moved in sync, breathless moans and wandering hands. Jason had to chase that perfect picture away from his mind before it could lead him somewhere inappropriate for the situation, no matter how he wanted to close his eyes again and let the memory play out in full. You did it on purpose, he knew that much, probably to cheer him up or pull his mind further away from the less than pleasant reality.

“You’re going to kill me one day” He grunted, and you let out a little laugh, careful not to pull your stitches. Your hand found his and you squeezed it lightly, making him look down briefly at your locked fingers. He took a deep breath and sighed longly.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Doesn’t matter” He shook his head, but you didn’t back down your stare. Finally, he caved. “The assassins. They’re dead, and the one that did this to you is… Well”

You could only imagine his death was nothing short of horrible and painful. You didn’t know if finding satisfaction in this made you a terrible person, but you took comfort in the fact that he suffered more than you did. You only wished you had been there to see it.

“But my father, I…” He gulped. “He’ll know what happened here. If he strikes, which will be most likely the case, I’ll need to be ready. He won’t take you, not on my watch”

“I won’t let him take me, or Roy for that matter, away from you” You reassured him. “I’ll be out of this bed in no time and back at your side, just watch”

A small smile stretched his lips. “Always the warrior spirit” He leaned down and kissed your head. His lips lingered on your skin and your eyes fluttered close to prolonged contact. “But you’ll need to take it slow to recover. You need not to rush for me”

“I’ll always rush for you, my King”

You noticed the hitch in his breath and the adoration in his eyes. The crystal shine of tears gave them an innocent glow, one you rarely observed on his face but appreciated every single time you had the chance to. It was easy to forget how young he actually was under all the weight that has been put onto him, he always seemed so much older and stern. You reached your hand for his face despite every single of your muscle screaming against it, and he leaned into your touch, softly closing his eyes. He allowed himself to relax just then, finally convincing himself that you would be okay. You had this gift with him, how you always managed to sneak into his heart and mind and bring him peace. He had been bewitched from the moment he met you, he had known right then and there he was already yours. And the fact that this connection transferred so easily to Roy, that you could make equal space in your heart for both of them only amplified his affection for you. You were their missing piece, and he would do anything--anything for you.

“How did I get so lucky?” He whispered, gently taking your hand on his cheek and kissing it.

“It’s not luck” You smiled. “You took care of me when I needed you the most, I’m only returning the favor however I can”

“She’s quite a woman, isn’t she?”

You and Jason looked up at the new voice joined in, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at Roy’s wide grin. He walked closer and gave Jason’s shoulder a little squeeze, sitting on the arm of his chair. Your shoulder hurt but now that you had them by your side, everything seemed better.

“So, what are we going to do now?” He asked, eying you both. Jason took a deep breath, repeating Roy’s question in his head a few times. He didn’t have much time to think about something concrete, but it wasn't the ideas that were missing.

“Well, this seems to me as a pretty clear declaration of war” He said, slowly trailing his eyes from yours to Roy’s. “We should react accordingly, don’t you think?”

“Hit ‘em hard and fast at the source, won’t matter if they see it coming or not” Roy nodded in approbation. “This is what you were thinking, right?”

A sinister smirk appeared on Jason's lips. It was thrilling and frightening all the same, promising a terrible retribution. “My loves, we’re going to war”

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imagine-loki · 3 years

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What About Trust, Chapter 5

TITLE: What About Trust CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 5 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki owns a bookshop on Midgard. He had to do something there to try and avoid getting any attention. But he’s not fond of having customers, is rather grumpy and guarded. But then he meets a bright, bubbly and trusting young woman who doesn’t recognise him. To his dismay, he finds himself becoming rather fond of the mortal. RATING: M

Cleo was outside Loki’s shop at exactly eleven am, Loki was just coming out the door when she arrived.

‘Ah, perfect timing.’ He said as he locked the door.

‘It’s very rare I am on time, so you best feel honoured that I actually managed it for a change.’ She smiled.

‘Well, I am very honoured.’ He chuckled.

They fell into step together and headed down the road. Loki had a place in mind that he thought she would like, if she hadn’t been there before that was.

It was down a quiet street, off the beaten track. But Cleo was in utter awe when she saw it, she couldn’t believe she had never been there before.

It wasn’t just a coffee shop, it sold some records too and had good music playing. It wasn’t overly busy, but had a few people in there.

‘Oh, wow!’ Cleo’s eyes were bright as she looked around. Then she saw what was for sale along with different types of tea or coffee… Fancy looking brownies that looked to die for.

Loki ordered them both coffee and also triple chocolate brownies with caramel. He motioned for her to go upstairs, when she did she almost died in excitement. It was nicely laid out, with some beautiful plants and a long window ledge seat. To the right just off the stairs there was a set of wooden swings that matched the place perfectly. The tables were all made to look like large vinyls.

‘My god, this place is freaking awesome.’ She squeaked excitedly as she took a seat at one of the vinyl tables, Loki swiftly joined her, pleased that she liked the place.

‘I had a feeling you’d like this one.’ He said rather smugly. ‘I’m surprised you of all people haven’t already been here before?’

Cleo laughed. ‘Yeah, I am too actually. I’ve not seen anything about it online before, and I’ve just never been down this way.’ She shrugged.

‘I don’t think they’re much into tech, quite old school and quirky. No online presence.’ Loki said as he started on his brownie, he couldn’t wait any longer.

‘Yeah, makes sense.’ Cleo smiled and started on hers too. ‘Ohhhh my god!’ She moaned and closed her eyes after her first bite. ‘Wow, now that, that is better than sex.’

Loki almost choked on his coffee, he looked over at her and laughed. ‘I am sure they will simply love that kind of review.’

Cleo giggled. ‘Yeah, maybe I will need to re-think that one.’

Loki found himself unable to stop smiling while he was with Cleo. There was just something about her that was really getting under his skin. She was a breath of fresh air to be around, so optimistic about life and bubbly. She was a delight to be around.

‘So, what do you think of the music I gave you?’ Cleo asked as she licked her fingers clean, an action that Loki tried very hard not to look at. His thoughts going elsewhere.

He cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with a napkin. ‘Well, you seem to have guessed my taste rather well. I enjoyed them all. And you’re right about lyrics, I really should listen to them more often instead of just taking in the outer layer.’

Cleo grinned brightly. ‘Some lyrics of songs are just a load of bull. But a lot are really meaningful and wonderful to listen to. The great thing about lyrics is you can interpret them in whatever way you want, they can have different meanings for different people.’

‘That’s a nice way to think of it.’ Loki nodded in agreement. ‘Though those so-called rappers are quite ridiculous, just on about sex and drugs.’

‘Oh no no, I know some do. But some of the best lyricists are rappers.’ Cleo said quickly.

Loki raised an eyebrow at her.

‘Seriously. I know some of them can be difficult to actually listen to, but I’ll look out some for you. Just give them a proper listen, you will be pleasantly surprised.’

‘Hmm, that you will have to convince me of.’

‘And I will most definitely prove you wrong.’ Cleo teased.

‘I am never proved wrong.’ Loki drawled and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.

‘Oh yeah? Well, it’s a good thing I love a challenge, isn’t it?’

Loki chuckled at her determination. He would give her the benefit of the doubt, for now.

‘I know you said your brother lives here too, what about your parents?’ Loki enquired.

‘They live back home in Inverness. It was just my brother who decided he wanted to move down here too.’

‘Do you see your parents often?’

Cleo shrugged a little. ‘Not a lot, but sometimes I’ll go home and visit for a holiday. On occasion they come down here, but not often. What about you, are your parents around or do they stay in Norway with your brother?’ She asked.

‘No… I uhm. My parents have passed.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ Cleo said sadly.

‘No, don’t worry. It was a long time ago. Though they were my adoptive parents, they adopted me as a baby. I know my biological father died, I never found out about my mother.’

Cleo was warmed that he was opening up to her. That he was starting to let his guard down a little with her, which made her feel really happy.

‘Do you wish you knew her?’ She asked.

Loki pondered on that question for a moment. ‘No. My mother who raised me, she was a wonderful mother. I loved her very dearly, we were… close. I never saw eye to eye with my father in the same way. But I wouldn’t change her for the world.’ He said fondly.

‘That’s really sweet.’ Cleo smiled.

Loki nodded. He felt a little pang of hurt within him when he thought about Frigga. She would have loved Cleo, that much he knew.

‘So, do you… have a boyfriend, or a husband?’ Loki asked, slightly uncomfortable. But it was a question that had been eating away at him, he wanted to know.

‘Nope, definitely not married and no boyfriend. I think I scare guys off when they see my flat filled to the brim with books and records, they assume I’m old-fashioned and have my head in the clouds.’ She laughed.

‘Well, you may live with your head in the clouds but you are certainly not one to run away from.’ He winked at her.

She blushed a little bit at that and smiled. ‘How about you, do you have a special girl in your life?’

Loki shook his head. ‘No, not at the moment. As I’m sure you realised, I tend to keep myself to myself for the most part.’

‘Yeah, I did notice. Grumpy book shop owner always hidden away in his shop… with not the best reputation of being friendly, I saw a few reviews online.’ Cleo grinned.

‘Well, most mortals just come in and mess up my shop.’ He grumbled.

‘Mortals?’ Cleo burst out laughing at his choice of words.

Loki shrugged. ‘Hooligans, mortals, puny humans, whatever.’

‘You do have a funny way with words sometimes… But I guess that’s part of your rather alluring charm.’ She smirked.

After they left the coffee shop, Cleo couldn’t believe that three hours had passed. They had just talked and talked, not caring about time or anything else.

‘Wow, look at the time.’

‘Was I keeping you from something?’ Loki asked as he straightened his jacket.

‘If keeping me from something counts as just lazing around at home reading or listening to music, or binge watching the telly, then yes.’ She elbowed him playfully.

‘You mean you don’t do something productive on your days off?’ Loki chastised playfully.

‘Hell no. The only productive thing I normally do on my days off is watering my plants.’

‘You have a garden?’ Loki queried.

‘Oh yeah. A little plot outside the block of flats. I have a mini greenhouse, too. I love growing some vegetables and have some flowers.’

Loki couldn’t believe it. Not only was she a bookworm, enjoyed music, but she also enjoyed some gardening? How could a mortal be so perfect? It was sickening!

‘I am surprised you can keep them alive.’ He joked.

‘I am too, to be honest. With my scatterbrain sometimes. But I actually do a not too bad job.’ She said proudly, holding her head high.

‘That’s good to hear. For the plants’ sake.’

Cleo laughed. ‘Well, thank you for the coffee and brownie. I really enjoyed it.’

‘Thank you for the company.’ Loki winked at her.

‘I’ll see you soon, Luke.’ She smiled widely at him and patted his arm, then reluctantly headed off.

Loki watched her walking away, he didn’t take his eyes off of her until she had turned the corner. He leaned back against the wall, breathing in deep he looked up at the sky.

‘Why didn’t I just tell her my real name at the start?’ He grumbled at himself and pinched the bridge of his nose.

#Loki #Lover #Submitted fic #what about trust #chapter 5 #fanficshiddles

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