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a-simple-imagine · 4 years

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Run Away With Me

Synopsis: Every moment shared with Charlie Weasley is an adventure all it’s own. How you wish to spend every moment together and all it takes is to run away.

Pairing: Charlie Weasley x fem!reader

Words: 6.3k+

A/N - Every year I post a story on my birthday and today’s the day I turn a year older. Usually these stories are pretty sad but this year I wrote something a little softer so here is my birthday present for you guys, I hope you enjoy it.

1. A Stolen Kiss

A bright-eyed and clueless young student, excited to be attending a school of magic. Nobody else in your family had magic so it was a big surprise when you received a letter alongside a weird lady who looked like she just stepped out of the early 1920s. Sat between your parents, the older woman explained the entire situation much to your excitement and your parents' confusion.

Diagon alley had been your first experience of all things magical; it had been like stepping into another world instead of just any old street in London. There were book shops lined with all kinds of books, some were bigger than your head while others were tiny. A shop that sold weird and kinda gross jars full of who knows what. There was a place that only sold brooms but according to the list you had read like a hundred times, first years weren't allowed their own brooms. You spent what felt like a lifetime at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions getting fitted for robes. Your parents were utterly fascinated by all the different styles and kept asking questions that made the experience so much longer than it really needed to be. You'd never had a pet before, but after a lot of begging they let you pick out a cat; he was a small Persian cat. Not quite a kitten but not quite fully grown. Checking off each item as you went along, you were exhausted by the end of it. There was even enough time for a trip to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where you had enjoyed a cone of strawberries and cream with sprinkles on top. All that was left on your list was a wand. Peeling gold letters rested over the door of a shop that read: Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. Stepping inside it was a tiny little store with no costumers. Thousands of narrow boxes lined the walls all the way up to the ceiling. It didn't take long for the weird old man to give you a wand that felt warm in your hand. Unlike the other disasters that came at the result of you waving various wands, a stream of red and gold sparks shoot out the end of this one like a mini firework. The wand chooses the wizard whatever the hell that meant. All ready and packed for Hogwarts, you were really giddy to go. Your mother cried as she waved you off to boarding school but you couldn't sit still. The train ride took hours and it was a little lonely considering you didn't know anyone but as soon as you entered the castle you knew it was exactly where you were meant to be. The building was massive and practically oozed magic and mystery through each brick. The pictures, much to your surprise, were moving on their own. Hogwarts had four houses and each student had to sit on a tall stool, put on a funny talking hat which would decide ultimately where they belong.

The very first friend you made was Nymphadora Tonks but only because she was in all of your classes and by some twist of fate you always ended up seated together. She was a sweet girl with pink hair and a talent for mischief. There was never a dull moment with you two. Then there was Charlie Weasley. Ever since that brisk day in October when he had ridden in clumsily on his white horse to save the day, the two of you had been the best of friends. You were still getting used to all your different classes. Potions class, however, was proving the most difficult. Too many ingredients and types to get used to. Not to mention Snape was just... mean. The task had been to prepare a simple Wiggenweld Potion; a powerful healing potion that can be used to heal injuries, or reverse the effects of a Sleeping Draught. The book was open on the desk as you carefully followed the instructions until.... poof. All the confidence you'd gained since arriving disappeared as Snape scolded you in front of everyone for messing up. Charlie had swooped in to take the blame landing himself in late-night detention. On the other hand, you got to leave with your tail between your legs and a few house points shaved off the total. And yet even his small act of kindness wasn't enough to capture your affection at least not at first. For the little version of yourself was infatuated with another Weasley. An older Weasley.

The nerves of a handful of students could be felt by anyone sat in the great hall for breakfast. Tonks is sat beside you running butter over a piece of toast. Stifling a yawn, Charlie takes a seat across from the two of you sporting a jumper of Gryffindor red and gold.

"Good morning," You flash your cheeriest, half-asleep smile bringing your spoon of Cheeri Owls to your lips. "Nervous?"

"A little," He was looking especially pale today suggesting he was more than just a little.

"You should be," Tonks perks up. "It's only the last game of the season and all hope rides on the seeker,"

"No pressure then," Charlie huffs out a dull laugh. The boy excelled in his position as the Gryffindor seeker but there was no way to determine how he'd play today when he was carrying the hopes and dreams of his teammates and entire house.

"You should eat something," You suggest, pushing a bowl of assorted fruit forward. There was little you could to make him feel better except take his spot but that wasn't allowed. You also probably wouldn't be that good. "Might make you feel better?"

"I'm too nervous to eat," He insisted but he still took an apple; rolling the red fruit between his palms.

"Win or lose you're still number one in our heart, right Tonks?" Elbowing her gently, you shovel another spoonful of 'O' shapes into your mouth.

"Sure," she shrugs. "If you want we can jinx the other team's seeker? I've been practising."

"Or... how much time do we have? I can get one of the older students to brew some Felix Felicis." You play along. "Nothing like a little liquid luck to win a game."

"You both know that's not allowed," Charlie took a large bite of his apple.

"When has Tonks ever cared about rules," Sometimes you wish she did care, you probably wouldn't have ended up in detention so many times alongside her.

"Thanks but no," he took another bite. "We have to win fair and square."

The conversation drifted from nerves to lost spells and planned practical jokes. Charlie seemed to relax a little the more he spoke. Maybe all he needed was a distraction to cheer him up.

"We need to take a trip to Hogsmeade" Tonk announces. "I'm out of dungbombs."

"Urgh- you and that silly joke shop." You can't help but roll your eyes but it was all good-natured. Despite hardly ever buying anything yourself, you spent an awful lot of time at Zonko's infamous little joke shop. "I could do with a trip outside the castle though. You should come too Charlie and maybe... you could ask Bill if he wants to come?"

"You're still gushing over Bill," Now it was Tonks turn to elbow you playfully, her lips curling up into a tantalising smirk.

"I do not gush over him," you state firmly, brows knitting together in a frown. You didn't appreciate being made fun. Bill was older, wiser and always made time to show you kindness. He made your little heart flutter whenever you saw him and Tonks took every opportunity to tease you about it. "I just thought It'd be nice is all. Wouldn't you agree, Charlie?"

"If you want him to come, ask him yourself." He responds, taking a large gulp of his juice.

"She won't because she has a crush."

"I don't have a crush Nymphadora- stop it," It was infinitely more embarrassing talking about this with Charlie sat at the table. "Don't ask him then, I don't care."

"Yes you do," Placing her arm around your shoulder, she pulls you into her side. "Because you're in love-"

"I am not!" You snap, pushing out of her grip.

"I'll see you guys later." The two of you share a look as Charlie disappears without another word. It was probably just pregame nerves.

"You know what? I think I'll get some frogspawn soap too and put it in the prefects' bathroom." Typical Tonks.

You'd come to learn through your time at Hogwarts that Quidditch was the most popular sport among wizards. And each house had their own team who compete for a trophy and bragging rights. Today was the final game thankfully. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Apparently, it came down to these two a lot. As the Gryffindor team filter out of the changing rooms, you slip inside to find Charlie sitting on a little bench.

"Guess who?" You sing-song, slapping your hands over his eyes but only briefly. He turns to look at you with an almost sour expression.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to support you," you reply soft, offering a smile he couldn't even see as he turned away.

"You're not supposed to be in here," Had you done something to upset him? Surely not. This was the first time you were seeing him since breakfast so there hadn't been a moment for you to mess things up and yet, his voice held an icy chill.

"Guess Tonks is rubbing off on me?" You jest, looking around the room. It was empty apart from you two. Bags and clothes scattered across benches or half shoved into lockers. A chalkboard stood in the corner with drawings you couldn't understand. "I just wanted to see how you were doing before the big game, is all. We were worried about you."

"You were worried about me," He repeats slowly, looking up at you. "I thought you hated quidditch."

"I still do," Your shoulders rise in a little shrug. "It's silly. Doesn't matter how hard the team works or how many goals it's pretty much all decided by how good the seeker is so why even have goals?"

"Score enough goals before the snitch is caught and anyone could win," He perks up. "You just don't understand how good and exciting it is."

Your lips curl up in appreciation for Charlie Weasley and his love for quidditch. It didn't possess the sparkle that came along when he talks about dragons but it was still nice to see him liven up. "Then go out there and show me how exciting it is,"

You stand under the spotlight of his gaze as he seemingly takes in your choice of attire; wearing the Gryffindor colours with pride to show your support. You even let Tonks paint your face after she promised not to draw genitalia. "Do you really think we're gonna win? What if I mess up and everyone hates me?"

"Then you mess up and everyone hates you," You shrug a little. "But that's not gonna happen and you know why?" His head shakes slowly. "It's because you're the best seeker at this school Charles Weasley." You place your hands on either side of his shoulders. "And I believe in you."

"How does that help me?" With your index finger under his chin, you force him to meet your eyes.

"Because I'm never wrong."

"That doesn't sound right." He tries to look away but you stop him.

"But it is," You offer a reassuring smile; one full of determination. "You've got this Charlie. So come on before you miss the game entirely."

The cheers outside were seemingly growing louder by the second. With a deep breath, Charlie stands up, grabbing his broom. "You're staying to watch, right?"

"Of course. Tonks is up in the stands too." Taking his hand, you lead the way out of the tent. "Consider us your good luck charms." Charlie brings the both of you to an abrupt stop before you even reach the opening of the tent, pulling you back to him. "What's up?"

The peppering of freckles that covered Charlie's face was even more vibrant against the rose pink blush. You squeeze his hand a little hoping it makes him feel better. And then it happens. The crowd grows silent in your ear but only for a moment as Charlie's surprisingly soft lips crash clumsily against yours. "For good luck," his whispers; his hand slipping from yours as he leaves you dumbfounded.

"He okay?" Tonks asks as you return from your trip.

"Yeah... still nervous," You reply, sitting down beside her. "It's his first big game after all."

"Are you okay?" The crowd erupts into cheers as the Gryffindor team flys in first. You're almost too embarrassed to look for Charlie; worried about what you might find so you keep your head down. "You look like you've just seen a troll or something?"

"Mhmm," you hum, forcing yourself to watch the Slytherin team as they enter. Why had Charlie kissed you? Did it mean he liked you or was he just messing around? Your head swirled with possibilities.

"You want a sweet?" Your friend offers as the game finally starts. It takes you a second to register but you smile, reaching into the little bag she was holding only to come to a stop.

"They're not gonna burn my tongue off or something are they?"

"No," Her chuckle sounded a little too innocent but you trust her for some reason. Taking a piece of confectionery out of the paper bag.

"Charlie... kissed me." You announce, throwing the sweet into you mouth; face scrunching up when they turn out to be sour. Ten points to Slytherin as they take the lead.

"He what?"

"He... kissed me."

2. Together

Who was Bill Weasley but a distant playground crush after that day. And your time of classrooms and magic lessons came swiftly to an end; how bittersweet it felt to leave a place you loved dearly. A once naive little girl stepping into the unknown now called the Wizarding World Home. Now you would go on to be a healer which was simply a magical doctor although your parents strongly disagreed with the comparison. However proud they were of you there would always be some part of them that wished you had chosen to become a lawyer or 'real' doctor.

Bathed in the warm embrace of the setting sun, you ponder the tranquility in a bed of green grass. The youngest Weasley lay beside you, struggling to keep still as often children do. She was similar to her brother in that way who now paced back and forth a mere few steps away. The invitation had been for dinner but you arrived a little early. The burrow was always such a welcoming place like stepping into a home you used to live in many moons ago; it was cosy and warm and there was no doubt that many lived there. You found your house to be almost the opposite, it always looked like nobody lived there. Immaculate. Polished. Cold.

"Will you stop pacing, you're making me nervous." You call out to your boyfriend, opening your eyes only to squint at the bright light. "What's wrong with you?"

Charlie comes to a stop as you sit up; Ginny mimics you in sitting up but the boy's eyes stay on you. The longer he stared, the more the pit in your stomach grew; what exactly hid behind his blank expression. He normally possessed such a playful warmth but it seemed to have vanished as of late. Plucking a stray purple flower, you enclose it in the palm of your hands. "You know I love dragons right?"

"Of course," Since meeting him, he had probably managed to slip dragons into every conversation you had ever had. It was at a point where you knew far more about dragons than you ever really cared to know. Many found his obsession annoying because that's what he so obviously was, obsessed but you found it enticing. Charming, even. Opening up your hand, a small butterfly with deep plum-purple wings flutters into the air and onto a giggly Ginny's nose. The innocent glee of a child; how those days were gone for you. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Promise you won't be mad?" It would be foolish to make such a promise when there was no way to guarantee your reaction. Whatever it was must be bad, if he was this worried. Your shoulders rise a little then fall.

"I make no such promises- just tell me."

Charlie took a breath that travelled on the wind to your ears before he blurted out. "I'm moving to Romania."

"Okay," Is your first reaction while your brain tries to make sense of something it didn't want to hear. "Wait- what?"

"Charlie is moving away to work with big scary dragons," Ginny announces playfully, baring her little hands like claws.

The once small pit grew into a mighty black hole of uncertainty and sadness that threatened to swallow you whole. There had been conversations shared between friends of Charlie wanting to move away to a foreign land, just to finally see a dragon but you had never taken it at face value. Always so convinced it was but a dream rather like those of when you were little and you wished to be a vampire. Technically back then you didn't know they actually existed but still, even now it was never going to come true. Eyes cast upon the second eldest Weasley, he kicks up the grass with his hands buried in the pockets of his pants. "It's the nearest Dragon reserve."

That was something you already knew but it didn't make the decision, at least in your eyes, any less confusing. Instead, it prompted water to well up in your eyes for this was something that affected not only him and his family but your life too. "I... I don't know what to say,"

"Hey Ginny, can you go check if dinner's ready yet?"

"No- why can't you do it?" The bark behind her words was very in character for the fiesty young Weasley. Blinking away the tears, you plaster on the best smile you can muster.

"If you go check on dinner I promise we can play a game later, okay? Exploding snap maybe?"

"Really?" She eyes you suspicious probably because it was a promise you had broken before. Not always for the right reasons but this time it was genuine. Charlie clearly wanted this to be a private conversation or perhaps he was just saving you for the inevitable moment where she asks why you're crying. Ginny scrambles to feet when you nod and skips off towards the gravity-defying house. It still amazed you that the building hadn't fallen yet. Rising to your feet you brush yourself off.

"You know I want nothing more than to work with Dragons and this is the only way I can do that," There was no mistaking the serious tone that came along with his words. It didn't matter what you said there was no changing his mind but you wouldn't do that anyway. It seemed cruel to even try to get him to give up on something so precious and you would never want to do that to him. "I have an opportunity to do something I love and I won't waste it to get some boring job at the ministry."

"I don't expect you too..." You wanted nothing more than to tell him to stay; beg him even. You were fighting against the selfish little devil that was stabbing you in the heart. It was a dull, deep pain in your chest. You wanted Charlie to follow his dreams, you just never expected them to not include you. "It's just a lot to take in."

"I know," The red-headed boy walks ever so slowly over to you, taking both hands in his. His hands had always felt a little rough ever since Hogwarts. You used to complain back then and insist he needed to moisturise but over time you had grown fond of the familiarity. How you wished this tender moment could last forever because it very well might be your last. You're caught off guard when he yanks you forward. You stumble into his chest where he wraps his arms around you like the big teddy bear he was. You breathe in every inch of him like it was the last time. The intoxicating aroma of an early walk in the woods; that fresh earthy smell that really makes you appreciate where you are. You could almost picture the pine trees.

"I feel like I'm losing you," Your words but a whisper, lost on the breeze.

"You're not," His grip around you tightens and suddenly your in the air, spinning around. "You could never get rid of me that easily.

"Charlie," You fight back a smile as you return to the ground; burying your face in the nook of his neck. "What's gonna happen to us?"

"About that-"

"Because I don't know if I can do the whole long-distance thing? So do we break up?" The tears threaten to fall once again as you pull back to get a good look at him. You never wanted to forget the emerald of his eyes or each and every freckle that called his body home. The unusual scare that adorned his eyebrow that was always amusing to look at. If that was his true purpose to break up with you then there would be no stopping the tears when they finally burst through the damn.

"No, I-"

"Because that's a little mean Charlie, you could have at least waited until after dinner. Should have done it first actua-"

You words become mumbled by the palm of his hand which he's placed over your mouth like a seal of protection. "Shush for a minute."

It's hard to resist so you simply don't; sticking your tongue you deliberately lick the palm of his hand but it seems to not phase him whatsoever.

"I'm not breaking up with you, silly," You meet his gaze. "I was kind of thinking you could come with me?"

Reaching up, you yank his hand away. "To Romania? You've got to be joking."

"Why not?"

Did you even know how to answer that? There were so many reasons why one should not just up and leave to go live in a completely different country with the boy they dated through high school. "I can't just up and leave my family- my mum will be devastated."

"I'll talk to her about it," Charlie hums softly, placing a delicate kiss upon your forehead. "Your mum loves me and she wants you to be happy."

"Dinner's Ready," For such a small girl, Ginny had one big mouth. There was no mistaking her call. However, this whole situation now felt a little... off. Could you even sit through dinner without it all becoming weird?

"We're coming," Charlie yells back; offering up his hand which you reluctantly take and he leads the way back to the house. "You want to be a healer right? You could do that in Romania."

"I guess," You weren't exactly worried about not finding a job.

"You don't have to decide right now," He tells you before you have a chance to speak up again. "Just think about it. I mean the invitation is there and for what it's worth, I'd really like you to come."

3. Creeping doubts

It took a lot of convincing but despite everything you decided to follow Charlie into the Unknown. Your parents weren't thrilled with the decision but they respected it; they were just worried about what would happen if something went wrong. And as their only child, they would obviously miss you. A lot of time was spent at the burrow that summer before moving to Romania; you were beginning to feel like an honorary Weasley only with the experience of having been a muggle for the first eleven years of your life. It was but a three-hour flight to Romania and your mother had sobbed at the airport. It made you think back to your first time stepping onto the Hogwarts express, leaving your parents behind to go to a magical boarding school in Scotland. It was a peculiar thought but a nice one. One you wished to cherish. Now in a foreign land with no support system behind you other than a boy you had been dating for years, you were ready for a new adventure. And there was officially no doubt in your mind that you would do just about anything for Charlie Weasley.

"It's not much," Charlie sets his suitcase down on the table. "Best I could do, for now, I'm afraid."

"It's fine," It was an old apartment in a building full of what you assumed were muggles. There was a small living room area with an ugly pea-coloured couch nestled against one wall. Beside it was a small coffee table and on the other side of the room was a TV, you weren't convinced actually worked. Then there was the kitchen which was attached to the living room. It had a fridge, a cooker and some cupboards. The only other room was a bedroom that literally only housed a bed in at the moment, then there was a door that leads on to the bathroom. It definitely wasn't much but a crappy apartment was just part of the experience, right? At least that's what you were telling yourself. "it'll feel like home soon enough," You had everything you needed to make this place feel like home right in your suitcase; oh the joys of magic. Patting yourself down, you search for the key to easy unpacking. "Uh... have you seen my wand?"

His head shakes and wears an amused grin. "You remembered to bring it right?"

"Yes," you huff. "I was gonna unpack," Falling back against the wall, you slide down onto the floor which you imagine hasn't been cleaned in a while considering the dust. "It's gonna take so long without my wand- which may actually be in the suitcase now that I think about it."

"Did you forget I'm a wizard too?"

"You do it then," You drop your head back against the wall. "I'm starving."

"actually have you seen my wand?"

You giggle to yourself "You're an idiot,"

"Hey- you lost your wand too." His shadow lingers over you as he comes to join you against the wall. Taking up a seat beside you, your head falls to rest against his shoulder.

"Can we get pizza? I saw some of those leaflets when we came in so we could order some?"

"Whatever you want, my love."

As time ticks on the pizza box is left discarded in the kitchen as the two of you retire for the night. Who knew not actually unpacking but simply thinking about it while eating pizza on the dirty ground could be so much work. You struggle to hold back a yawn as you snuggle up to him trying to absorb as much of his body heat as you can. All that lay across the two of you were a blanket and this building was next exactly the warmest. "Do you think we'll be okay? "You ponder aloud; it was a question that had been on your mind since agreeing to follow him to Romania. For not many people stay together with their high school loves. What if things fall apart now that you're in the 'real' world? What if this was all just a huge mistake?

"What do you mean?" Always such a simple boy; you wonder how he deals with his anxieties. Did he actually not know what you meant or was he merely putting on a brave face? A once proud Gryffindor suggested that he always looked to be brave above anything else.

"Do you think we'll be okay?" You repeat as if that somehow answers his question but it must have done something because even in the darkness you can just tell he's smiling.

"You worry way too much." Charlie laughs.

"You don't worry enough,"

He lays a kiss upon the top of your head, his hand moving up and down your arm. "It used to be the other way around."

"I was young and reckless back then. "How you missed the days where you ran around the halls of Hogwarts with reckless abandon. Well, not entirely reckless that was more Tonks but things had definitely felt simpler back then.

"You're still young and reckless now, I just have to hear you stress about it afterwards." Charlie taunts, pinching your arm. You recoil at the sharp pain.

"Shush."

"Being in Romania doesn't change anything," He expresses; his voice sounding louder in the quiet darkness. "I loved you back home and I still love you now. I'm really glad you decided to come with me."

Hoping to distract yourself from every worrying thought that clouded your brain you decide it's time to change the subject. "Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"Getting to work with Dragons all day every day? that's like dream come true."

"A dangerous one," Dragons were perhaps the most vicious creatures around other than humans. As captivating as they were and as much as charlie adored them, you couldn't help but worry about his safety. It seemed no matter the topic this evening you'd find a way to stress yourself out.

"I'll be fine, I'll have you there to patch me up," That he will for you had taken on the role as a healer willing to help out with all the injuries that inevitably come from dealing with dragons. You wouldn't admit it but you weren't quite convinced you were up to the task; you had never actually dealt with dragon-related injuries so this was like diving headfirst into the ocean when you only just learned how to swim in a training pool. "and if not- well, we had a good run."

"Don't joke about that," Nuzzling against his chest, you finally let your eyes close. Today was the start of forever with the one and only Charles Weasley and here he was joking about his ultimate demise.

4. The perfect day

It's peculiar how life can just fall into place. Your odd little world of dragons and leaky apartment buildings just became the norm. You had come to love your work at the reserve, Dragons were actually incredibly cool up close. Not to mention getting to see Charlie work with them after years of never shutting up about them was truly a sight to behold. Every day, it was like taking an excited little boy to his first day of school. His eyes simply lit up whenever he was at work although it was hard explaining his injuries to the neighbours when they were being nosey. You also had to be careful when using magic since you were basically living with muggles and it would be a headache if they ever found out.

With your site blocked by a thin piece of fabric, Charlie guides you carefully forward with his hands skillfully placed upon your arms to steer. This was the first day off the two of you have shared in a long time. Little information was given about your destination other than it being a surprise. With Charlie that could mean just about anything which wasn't always a good thing but you trusted him enough to believe he wasn't leading you into a dragon's den or something. A gentle breeze nipped at the skin of your neck and the ground felt soft under your feet. The gentle singing of a symphony of birds filled the air and the sun beamed down with remarkable easy. All this suggested you were somewhere withdrawn in nature. Charlie had always been one for the great outdoors. There were countless times you had found him sneaking in or out of the forbidden forest back at school.

"Am I going to like this surprise?" You inquire; your anxiety building with each step. You would much prefer to simply know what was going on rather than experience some dramatic reveal especially today of all days. Every year the boy seems to forget that he agreed not to make a big deal.

"I sure hope so," You practically slam into him as she comes to an unexpected standstill. "Because I don't think I can return it."

"Return what? Oh god- can I take my blindfold off?"

As the flimsy fabric skims the length of your face to settle loosely around your neck, your eyes take a minute to adapt. You don't know quite what you were expecting but this was not it. Before you stands a small cottage surrounded by nothing but a wide-open field full of a rainbow of wildflowers. It was a beautiful little house with as much charm and beauty you'd expect from a place out in what seems like the middle of nowhere. It could be described as the perfect place to settle down.

"Surprise!" He was redder than a cherry tomato when he stepped into view. Both arms in the air as a sign of celebration but you were just rather... confused? Whose house was this and why had he brought you all the way out here?

"I don't get it?"

"We've been here for a while now so I thought we should get our own place or like, a better place. One where we don't have to worry about anyone else." His confidence appeared to develop with each word but his face was still powdered in a deep shade of pink. S this was your house? He'd decided to up and move without even consulting you? "So I got us a little cottage in the middle of nowhere. It kinda reminds me of the burrow only, y'know, smaller."

"It's ours?" His excitement is clear on his face and he quickly takes your hand. Pulling you along with him. "And that's not all."

"There's more?" Surely a whole house was enough. You were quite proud of Charlie for picking such a beautiful little place. Come summertime, you could already see yourself sitting among the flowers painting little pictures. You also wouldn't have to worry about muggles. Coming up on the front door, your boyfriend delivers you a little golden key. And with just a tiny degree of fear about what could be on the other side you unlock it. Much to your astonishment and disappointment, nothing is behind the door except the hallway leading inside. Charlie enters first and even as you follow, you half expect someone to jump out.

"I know I agreed not to make a big deal but how could I not?" He opens a door at the end of the hallway that leads to the kitchen. It's not a massive space but it's assuredly not small either, the whole place was already furnished but you recognise the surprise was truly what sat on the table. It was a two-tier cake covered in blue frosting including the words Happy Birthday scrawled across the top followed by your name.

"You... baked?"

"Mum sent it actually," Charlie chortled lightly as he wanders up behind you. Tossing a package of red with multicoloured polka-dots onto the table. "Sent this along too. Reckon it's a jumper or something."

"That was nice of her," You weren't sure of how to react to it all. Birthdays had never really been your thing but you appreciated that Mrs. Weasley had gone out of her way to make you something special.

"And from me..." He trails off and the sound of tiny tracks echo off the walls attended by an adorable yelp. Up to your feet slides an ash grey puppy who was more legs than anything else. It had bright blue eyes and floppy ears.

"You got me a dog?"

"I got us a dog- thought we needed a pet around here. I debated getting a crup but that'd be a disaster if your parents ever decide to visit." Crups were notorious for their dislike of muggles. You never understood why but he was right in his decision. The gesture was sweet but rather odd all things considered but still you smile. It was hard to be mad at something so cute and you weren't just talking about the dog. The puppy sits at your feet, wagging its little tail a mile a minute. There was no denying how adorable it was and at least it wasn't a dragon. Or a murtlap for that matter, those things were ugly. "You don't seem happy... do you not like him? I can take him back?" Kneeling, your hand drifts over the soft fur of the puppy's head. In response, the dog jumps up in an attempt to lick at your face. Your smile grows as you try to get away. "I think he likes you."

"What's his name?"

"Whatever you want? He's a Great Dane by the way." The puppy had calmed down a little and you stare as you ponder the perfect name for an ash grey Great Dane. "How about... Arlo?"

"Arlo?"

"Mhmm," You hum standing up straight. "And I'm plenty happy if not a little overwhelmed. You know how I feel when it comes to my birthday."

"I do," He nods casually. His palms snake around your waist drawing you flush against him "But I never want you to forget that someone cares about you- that I care about you so bloody much."

"I know you do," You give him a quick peck on the lips. "And I'm thankful for that and for all of this."

"Arlo is the perfect name, Happy Birthday" Your lips connect in a beautifully slow embrace that fills your body with warmth and as he pulls away, his forehead comes to rest against yours. The dog barking as it explores the kitchen. "I'm just so grateful that you decided to run away with me."

#Charlie Weasley x reader #Charlie Weasley #charlie weasley imagine #hogwarts mystery #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction

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starryeyes-darkestnights · 3 years

Text

The City

The second part of the O’Knutzy au where Leo and Logan are still playing for the Lions, but Finn is a musician they met by chance on a roadie to Montreal.

I still don’t know what to call this story! But you can find part 1 here.

Also, this is kind of long, it got away from me :)

The song referenced in this part is The City, by Sam Fischer.

These beautiful characters and their world belong to the incredible @lumosinlove

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

Leo

When Leo and Logan stepped off the plane in Gryffindor painfully early the next morning, their phones buzzed in unison.

Finn: Hey guys! It’s Finn. Just sending my number. I hope your morning wasn’t too bad after the late night. Mine was excellent, I slept all the way through your entire flight 😇. Anyway, let me know you get this, and I hope you were serious about getting together when we’re all back home. My dancing legs are ready.

Leo heard Logan snort under his breath and looked over to see him smirking as he typed out a response.

Logan: Our morning was awful, thanks for asking. Your dancing legs better be training before we get together again, because I can confirm that as of yesterday, they are not, in fact, ready.

Leo rolled his eyes affectionately, typing as he moved toward the baggage claim.

Leo: Tremz is just grumpy he didn’t get to limbo. Don’t listen to him.

He heard Logan let out an offended sound somewhere behind him and bit back a smile, restraining himself from turning to see Logan’s face.

Finn: Haha, sorry not sorry Logan. Also, if that’s how it’s going to be, then the competition just got real. Bring in the judge. We’ll see whose really got the moves. Spoiler alert, it’s me.

Logan: Challenge accepted. Though I would caution you to reconsider.

Finn: Back down from a dance contest?! Never! THIS. IS. SPARTAAA!!!!

Leo let out a surprised laugh at that. It would seem that Finn shared Logan’s love of a challenge.

Leo: … oh my god.

Finn: You know you love it Leo.

Leo: I do not.

Logan: He does, I can literally see him laughing.

This time Leo did turn around, just in time to see a smirking Logan flipping him off. Leo shot him a glare.

Leo: Traitor!

Finn: Hahahahah

Logan: Ok our ride is here. I’m gonna go pass out.

Leo: Have a good holiday Finn. Let us know when you’re back in town.

Finn: You too guys. Talk to you soon.

Leo clicked off his phone with a smile and grabbed his bags.

One Week Later

Finn

Finn: Hey guys, just letting you know I’ll be back in Gryffindor tomorrow. I’ve got a late flight in.

Leo: Really? That’s cool. I thought for sure you’d be in Montreal until after the New Year.

Finn: Nah, I’ve got some stuff to do for school, and I have a gig the day after tomorrow I need to be back for.

This was at least 50% a lie.

Which meant, Finn had reasoned with himself earlier as he used the exact same line to explain to his family why he had moved his flight up almost a full week, that the other 50% was the truth.

Finn had been messaging with Leo and Logan since they left Montreal, and when he had found out two days ago that they had only had a three day break with their families over Christmas and that they were now back to work in Gryffindor, he hadn’t hesitated before looking for excuses to get back there himself.

As a result, he really did have a gig scheduled for the day after tomorrow that he had to be back for. He may have begged his way through his contacts list for the past two days to find that gig, but it was real. And even though he didn’t have a single thing due for school, if he now had to go back for the gig, he could totally get a head start on something. Which was kind of the exact same thing. So really, it was more like 75% truth. If you rounded, that made it 100%.

Logan: Sweet. Let us know the time and place, we’ll come and see if you’re any good without us 😉.

Finn scoffed at his phone. He dropped a pin with the location of the gig, took a selfie of himself shooting a rude gesture Logan’s way, and grabbed his guitar.

He prided himself on always putting his best into every show, and if Leo and Logan were going to come to this one, he needed to be a little extra prepared. He hadn’t been able to get either one of him out of his mind since the night they met, evergreen eyes and a sweet dimpled smile flashing behind his eyes every time he tried to play. It was going to be impossible to focus when they were right there in front of him, so if he didn’t want to make an idiot out of himself, he needed to get practicing.

---

Logan

Two days later, Logan was waiting for Leo outside of a coffee shop in downtown Gryffindor.

It was a chilly evening, starting to snow, and he shivered lightly as he looked up at the flakes floating gently in the light of the coffeeshop windows. He picked one and followed its path through the sky, trying to distract himself from the weird knot that had settled in his stomach earlier in the evening. The one he told himself had nothing to do with the visions of freckles and sinfully long lashes that he was trying desperately to keep from flashing through his mind unbidden.

“Whatcha looking at Tremz?”

Logan had been so focused that he nearly jumped out of his skin when a calm voice sounded just beside him.

His hand flew to his chest as he looked up to see Leo smiling down at him, his cheeks flushed from the cold, and a streetlight behind him lighting up his golden curls. Logan’s pulse stuttered. Fuck. He hated being caught off-guard.

“Mon dieu, Nutty.” He choked out, putting a hand to his heart, which was now pounding against his ribs. “Learn to make noise when you walk. You scared the shit out of me.”

Leo just laughed, “If you were paying attention you would have seen me coming. I’m not exactly easy to miss.” He gestured at his long limbs.

He had a point. Logan made a face at him and turned toward the door, looking up at the sign above the entrance as he tried to pull himself together. It read ‘The Burrow’.

“Come on,” he grumbled, his pulse beginning to calm, “let’s get a drink before Finn starts playing.”

When they walked in, Logan was surprised at what they found. The Burrow was much bigger than it looked from the outside. The brightly painted walls went back further than expected, and a second level ran around the perimeter of the room, giving patrons a view down onto the main floor, where a permanent stage was set up in the front corner. The back wall was taken up by a dark wooden bar, several baristas moving gracefully around one another in quick, practised, movements as they mixed and delivered drinks. The rest of the space was filled haphazardly with tables, and those tables were already filled with people, the low buzz of their conversation filling the room.

It was warm, and bright, and it smelled like chocolate and coffee.

“Wow,” said Leo, looking impressed, “This is… not what I expected.”

Logan hummed his agreement, eyebrows raised as he looked around, impressed at how cozy it managed to be despite its size. His eyes landed on an empty table halfway back from the stage and he nudged Leo. “I’m gonna go grab us seats over there. Will you get drinks?”

Leo agreed, and as he headed toward the bar, Logan started to make his way across the room. He was halfway there when he caught a glimpse of red hair in his periphery. He stopped in his tracks as his stomach made an unexpected flip. Finn was standing near the stage, talking to an older woman who seemed to be helping him with some cables. He was laughing, and even from a distance Logan could see the way his face lit up with it, his wide brown eyes glowing in the warm lights of the coffee shop. Logan was suddenly gripped with the desire to be the one eliciting that laugh, the one who got to be right there to experience it.

He pulled in a sharp breath and stopped himself. This was why he had been trying to block those visions from his mind. It could never happen. Not so long as he was playing in the NHL. Logan had chosen this career knowing it would mean hiding this part of himself away, very deeply, for as long as he wanted to play. He had been doing so well with it, hadn’t even slipped up with Leo. He could shut this down too. Stop it before it had a chance to start.

He took another a deep breath and pulled his gaze away from Finn, moving more quickly now until he was able to slump into the chairs he had targeted. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to get his thoughts back under control. When he opened them again, it was to find Leo right behind him, full lips turned up in an amused smile at catching him staring straight up at nothing for the second time that night. His stomach flipped again at the unexpected sight. Damnit. He needed to get his feelings under control, and he needed to do it now.

“I would ask what you’re looking at again, but it didn’t go so well the first time.” Leo joked as he pulled out the chair across from him.

Logan forced out some kind of noncommittal response and straightened to look at the cups in Leo’s hands, desperate for any kind of distraction from his thoughts.

“What’d you bring me, Nut?” he asked, trying to keep his voice upbeat. But Leo was a goalie, and a good one. His observational skills were well-honed, and he knew Logan. His gaze shot immediately to the older boy’s face, soft blue eyes flickering over his features intently. His eyebrows furrowed and Logan tensed under his gaze, silently praying for him to leave it alone. Whatever Leo saw in his face, he must have decided to let Logan have it, as he gave him a final once-over and then slowly pushed something that looked iced and sugary in his direction.

“I will never understand why you like these things,” he said carefully, “but I picked the most sweet-sounding one they had.”

“I like them because they’re delicious.” Logan replied, grateful to him for letting it go. “You just have no taste.”

Leo narrowed his eyes, “Strong words coming from – “

A voice interrupted him, “Logan Tremblay?”

Logan looked up to find a very pretty girl standing beside their table.

“And Leo Knut.” added a girl standing beside her.

Logan felt relief wash over him at their timing. This was familiar. This was a distraction he could work with.

---

Finn

Finn had just finished setting up the stage when he finally let himself look for Leo and Logan. He leaned against a wall and cast his gaze around the room, smiling at the comfortable familiarity of the space- one he had performed in dozens of times before. He was stoked to be introducing the boys to this place. He loved the Burrow, and the people who filled it. He had been coming here religiously since his freshman year of college, after falling in love with the strange way it managed to be both big and bright, and cozy and warm. He had been delighted by the contradictory nature of the place on his first visit, and had immediately turned himself into a fixture. After a while he had gotten to know the baristas, and through them, the owner, Molly.

Molly had become somewhat of a second mother to Finn over the years, and, due to their similar fiery red hair, was often mistaken by customers for his actual mother- something Finn found hilarious and she found… not so hilarious, given that she was only ten years older than him. It had been Molly who had helped him overcome his stage fright, had set up his first ever show here at The Burrow way back when. She was also the one who had come through when he was pleading for gigs earlier that week, and even though he was suspicious of the fact that she had, uncharacteristically, not questioned his last-minute request, he had been very happy to see her that evening when she had popped by and helped him untangle a mess of cables.

Now, though, there were only two people Finn wanted to see, and he was hoping to catch them before he started playing. His eyes skimmed across the crowd of cheerful patrons and quickly caught sight of Leo’s tousled blonde curls moving across the room, a head higher than almost everyone else. His smile gave way to a grin as he watched the younger man sit down at a table and pass a drink to Logan. Excitement thrummed in his veins as he pushed off the wall toward them, only to be stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two girls approach the hockey players. He watched as they introduced themselves, and his stomach twisted as Logan sent one of them a cocky, flirtatious grin, pulling out the chair next to him. The girls joined the table and leaned in, and Finn’s smile turned rueful. Of course. He didn’t know what he had been expecting from this reunion exactly, but as he watched Logan flirting shamelessly from where stood, he realized that he had been hoping they felt what he felt when they first met. That they had experienced the same sparks. Now, as reality came crashing down around him in the form of two beautiful girls, he recognized how ridiculous those hopes had been. They were NHL players for fuck’s sake. He was an idiot for thinking either one of them could have been anything more than a friend. He gave them one last look and changed his trajectory to the washroom instead.

---

Leo

Leo was worried. He had noticed something was up with Logan as soon as he saw him outside the Burrow earlier that evening. He had been distracted; his eyes distant. By the time they had sat down inside, he was completely in his own head, and the tension in his body was visible. Leo had wanted to ask him about it, but after seeing the panic that flashed across his features when he made a move to do so, he had decided it was best to leave it alone for the time being. Give Logan the chance to bring it up himself.

But now Logan was flirting, openly and brazenly, with this random girl who had recognized him from the Lions, and Leo couldn’t leave it alone anymore.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t used to seeing Logan flirt — Logan was gorgeous, girls were constantly coming up to him at bars. But he didn’t usually encourage them this boldly. At least not when he was sober, and never if they recognized who he was. They had had more than one lecture from Coach Weasley about power dynamics and taking advantage of people who looked up to them, and Logan took them seriously. This wasn’t like him.

After politely cutting off the conversation he had been trying to hold with the girl now seated beside him, Leo cleared his throat and spoke loudly enough for Logan to hear.

“Hey Tremzy, I think it’s time to go grab that snack.” He sent a bright smile to the girls. “It was really nice to meet you both. I’m glad to hear you’re fans of the team. Maybe we’ll see you at a game sometime.”

He kept that fake smile plastered on his face as he pushed his chair back from the table, catching Logan looking up at him with annoyance clear in his expression. Leo raised an eyebrow and prayed he would go along with him. He didn’t know what was going on with Logan, but what he was doing here was not okay, and it needed to stop.

Logan held his gaze for a moment before he huffed out a breath through his nose, his expression softening as he nodded. The tension he had built up since walking into the coffee shop seemed to bleed out of him as his shoulders dropped. He turned to the now confused looking girl beside him and gave her the same line Leo had used, shaking her hand and standing to follow Leo to the bar.

Leo waited until they were out of earshot before stopping and turning to Logan.

“You want to tell me what that was about?”

Logan sighed in response, pulling his hat off his head and running a hand through his hair before replacing it. “I don’t know. I wasn’t going to take it farther than that, I swear, I just…” He looked down at his shoes. “Look, I’m sorry. Can we just forget about it?”

Leo just watched him, waiting patiently until Logan’s eyes met his again. He reached out and rested a steady hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ok, Tremz? You seem… out of it, tonight.”

“What? No. I’m fine. Really. Just tired.” Logan tried his best to look it, but Leo saw right through him. He had spent the better part of the past year trying to pretend to himself that he didn’t want to learn everything there was to know about the beautiful man in front of him. He had failed, miserably. He knew Logan, and he knew something was still bothering him.

He briefly debated whether or not to push it this time, but even though Logan was clearly not yet fine, getting called out seemed to have helped. He did seem more like himself than he had five minutes earlier. So Leo settled on trying to cheer him up instead, resolving to follow up later when they weren’t in public.

“Alright,” he nodded at Logan, letting him have his excuse, “but you know I’m always here if you need me.”

Then he switched to a teasing voice. “You want me to order you another disgusting excuse for a coffee? Maybe that’ll wake you up.”

Logan let out a small laugh at that, and his smile finally seemed genuine. Leo nudged his shoulder and started moving toward the bar again.

“Come on. Finn’s gonna start any time, and I was serious about the snack. I need cake.”

Leo didn’t need to look back to know that despite the eyeroll he was certain had occurred, Logan would follow him to wherever there were baked goods.

---

Finn

Finn had given himself an excellent pep talk in the washroom, telling himself it was good he had come to his senses about the boys now, while he was alone, instead of embarrassing himself in front of them later. The disappointment he felt was still settled deep in his chest, but he knew himself well enough to be aware that he worked through his feelings best on a stage. And luckily for him, that was where he was currently headed

From the moment he started the show, Finn let himself get lost in the music, feeling his spirits lift back up as he watched the energy of the room rise and fall with his, letting the tempo of the songs he played encourage their dancing or their calm swaying. He had managed to sneak one of his own songs into the set list, and he played it for people for the first time, watching for reactions and not holding back his smile when people seemed to like it. It was a hard one for him to sing, bringing back some not so great memories. He didn’t look for Leo or Logan again, but he knew they were there, and he put in his best effort to make sure they were entertained. By the time he started his final song, his mind was blissfully clear again. Thank god for music.

After wrapping up the show with a grateful thank you to the crowd for their support, Finn started once again looking forward to reconnecting with the two men he suspected would become important to him. He may not be able to get rid of whatever these decidedly non-platonic feelings were, but he was confident he could push them to the side to make room for their friendship.

He had just hopped off the stage – buzzing with post-show energy, sweaty, and looking for water – when a familiar French-Canadian accent sounded from behind him. “Ok, you win. I admit that you are still incredible, even without our help.”

Finn spun around to find a head of dark curls bowing dramatically in front of him, Leo a few steps back with his eyes closed and a hand over his face, as if hiding from Logan’s antics. He threw his arms in the air and grinned at the two of them, genuinely happy to see them. “Guys! You made it!”

That brought a smile out of Leo. “Of course we did,” he laughed as he and Logan both moved in to give him congratulatory high fives, “your show was incredible, by the way. These people really liked you.”

Finn smiled sincerely at that. “Thanks, Leo.”

Leo handed him a bottle of water. “Also, we thought you might want this. You were looking kind of sweaty.”

“Oh my god, you absolute gem of a human,” Finn moaned as he cracked open the bottle, “I was just about to go hunt one of these down.”

Logan watched with an amused smile as he downed the whole thing in one go. “Glad to be of service.”

Finn wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shot them both a grateful look “So much better. Thank you, guys.”

He looked back toward the mess he still had to pack up from the stage. “I need like twenty minutes or so to get this all cleaned up, then did you guys still want to head down to the bar?”

The three of them had previously planned to head out to a place down the street after Finn’s set, and Finn was looking forward to releasing some of the evening’s adrenaline on a dance floor.

“Ya, for sure.” Leo responded, eyes flicking up to the stage. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

“Nope! Cleaning up is a lot easier than setting up. You guys go enjoy yourselves, I’ll be done here quick.”

Leo and Logan looked at one another, and Logan looked like he was about to object, so Finn started shooing them away. “Go!” He encouraged them, waving his hands to guide them back toward the tables. He wanted them to enjoy themselves, not be stuck helping him clean. “It’s fine, I do this all the time, I have a system, I promise. Get a nice drink and relax.”

Logan put his arms up in surrender, green eyes sparkling with laughter as he watched Finn flap. “D’accord, ok, we will go. Put your crazy hands away. Just let us know if we can help, ok?”

Finn agreed, and then watched them head back over to the bar with a smile on his face. He was surprised, he thought to himself as he started looping up cables, at how the interaction left him feeling. He had expected to be a little nervous and awkward, especially after the way the evening began for him, but instead he found himself immediately feeling the sort of comfortable ease that usually comes from being around people you’ve known your entire life. It was like they belonged together.

As friends, he reminded himself. Only as friends. He could totally do this.

---

Logan

Logan leaned against the bar, playing with the strings of his hoodie as Leo once again ordered drinks for them. He was feeling much better now, the knot that had taken up residence in his stomach earlier that evening finally gone. There had been something calming about watching Finn move across the stage, singing familiar covers with an energy that was uniquely his own. He had poured himself into it, connecting to the songs in a way that drew the audience, including Logan, along with his every move. It had been fascinating, seeing that version of Finn. His grin was still mischievous, his movements still wild, but he was also… purposeful. Less dorky on stage than he had been on the dance floor. Logan had been mesmerized. Sitting there next to Leo’s steady, grounding presence, letting Finn’s charisma pull him out of his own head, Logan had slowly unwound. By the time Finn had finished his final song, something unfamiliar that Logan had made a note to download later, he felt much more like himself.

“Hey, Nut,” he nudged Leo’s arm, “ask them what Finn likes. We should get him something for when he’s done.”

Leo looked over as the barista dropped three drinks on the counter in front of him, a stray curl falling in his eyes. “Already on it, Tremz.”

Logan ignored the way he wanted to reach out and push that curl back, and looked down at the drinks, surprised. “Oh shit. You’re fast.”

“Yes, Logan. That’s what happens when you don’t run through the entire list of drinks and their ingredients before you order.” Leo responded drily, standing as he wrapped his long fingers around two of the beverages in front of him.

“Well, how else are you supposed to know which one is going to taste the best?” Logan picked up the third cup, his own iced coffee, and sucked at the straw happily.

Leo huffed out an affectionate laugh. “You get the same thing every time anyway! Why does it matter?”

Logan shrugged as they headed back to their table. “I switch up the flavours sometimes. It’s not my fault nobody’s come up with anything better yet.”

They were still bickering about the pros and cons of knowing every component of your iced coffee when Finn pulled out the chair next to Leo and flopped into it with a grin. “Hey guys! Thanks for waiting.”

Logan looked over at him, definitely not noticing the way the warm lighting brought out the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose. “Finn!” He cried, pointing at the redhead. “We have a drink for you, but first you have to pick my side in battle.”

Leo’s jaw dropped, affronted. “Logan! You can’t bribe your way to a win!”

“Watch me.”

Finn looked between them, amusement spreading across his face. “Hmm. Well, I don’t know what this battle is, but before I decide whether to help Logan cheat his way to victory, I need to know if the drink is worth it. What’s in it?”

There was a startling flurry of movement as Leo groaned loudly, dropping his face into his hands, and Logan jumped up from his chair with his fists in the air, letting out a victorious cheer. “Aye!! Right answer Finn!” He high fived the redhead and sat back down, feeling triumphant.

Finn laughed, looking startled and confused but accepting his drink from Leo’s outstretched hand anyway. He took a sip as the taller boy fold his arms on the table, dropping his head to hide inside of them.

“Hey! This is my drink. How did you know?”

“We asked the barista,” Leo’s muffled, grumpy, voice came from where his face was still buried in his arms. “She knew.”

“Chin up buttercup!” Logan crowed, leaning over to ruffle Leo’s blonde curls. “It’s ok to lose sometimes. As long as you’re not me.”

Leo lifted his head, eyes narrowed at Logan. “I am not a buttercup.”

Finn couldn’t help laughing at his disgruntled face. “Do you prefer daffodil?” Leo turned the withering glare his way. Finn tried again. “Marigold?”

Leo just dropped his head again.

“Meh, I’ll call that a win. Marigold it is.”

Logan chuckled, deciding it was time to offer up an explanation for the scene Finn had walked into. “Leo doesn’t think it’s important to ask what’s in a drink before you order it. We were discussing why he’s wrong.”

Leo’s head shot back up as he glared at Logan again. “That is NOT what—” He stopped himself, sighing and closing his eyes as Logan just looked at him, face gloating. “You know what. No.” He opened his eyes again and raised his hands in surrender. “It’s fine. I accept my defeat.”

“Good man.” Finn clapped him on the shoulder. “Way to be the bigger person.”

“Thank you, Finn.” Leo smiled at the other man before turning to Logan. His intimidatingly blank goalie face slid perfectly into place as he looked Logan dead in the eyes. “I will get you back for this.”

Logan, used to Leo using this tactic to try and throw him off on the ice, simply met his gaze and grinned back cockily, straw between his teeth. “I look forward to you trying.”

“So,” Finn jumped in, changing the subject, “did you actually like the show?”

Leo turned to him, a genuine smile returning to his face. “We did! You didn’t tell us you wrote original music.”

“Is that what that song was? The last one?” Logan asked, surprised.

“Oh, ya. I don’t always play my own stuff at shows like the one we had in Montreal, but I can usually get away with sneaking a couple in at places like this. It’s part of why I like playing here so much.”

“I really liked it,” Logan complimented Finn, watching a red flush creep across his cheekbones again, “I was actually going to ask you what it was so I could download it. It reminded me of when I first moved to Gryffindor.”

Finn looked at him with an unreadable look on his face. “Seriously?”

Logan nodded, worried that he had said the wrong thing.

“That’s… I wrote that song about Gryffindor. About what it was like when I first moved here and didn’t know anybody. Before I made friends, before I discovered this place.”

“You really captured it.” Leo said softly.

Finn looked flustered, his calloused fingers rubbing the back of his neck in a way that made Logan want to take their place.

Leo, ever intuitive, noticed Finn’s discomfort and changed the subject, “You mentioned you were in grad school, are you studying music?”

“Nope! English Lit.” Finn looked relieved for the new topic, his features brightening. “But I did double major with music in undergrad.”

Logan sat back, content as he listened to the boys across from him talk, first about music and Finn’s connection to the Burrow, then about hockey, chiming in from time to time with questions or stories of his own as they moved smoothly between subjects. The time flew by as they chatted animatedly, and by the time Logan thought to check his watch, it was close to 1 am.

Surprised, he looked up at the room around them and realized it was nearly empty. He hadn’t even noticed people leaving. One of the baristas was sweeping the floor. He waited for Finn to finish a story about the time he had accidentally adopted his neighbours pet (“I helped her look for her cat for almost two weeks before I realized it was the one I had been feeding every night. Embarrassing does not begin to explain.”) to point it out to them.

“Uh, guys, I think we’re about to be kicked out.”

Leo and Finn both looked startled, turning to look around the room the same way he had, and Logan realized he wasn’t the only one oblivious to what had been going on outside of their bubble. The thought made him feel strangely happy.

Finn looked back at Logan, surprised. “Huh. I had no idea. What time is it?”

“Almost one. I know, I didn’t realize either.”

Leo checked his watch. “So it is.” The corners of his mouth turned down a bit, “I guess we aren’t going to the bar then. Sorry guys, I should have been paying attention”

Logan shook his head and reached over to nudge Leo’s shoulder. “Not your fault, Nut, none of us were paying attention.”

“Plus,” Finn added cheerfully, “now we get to add ‘closing down a coffee shop’ to our list of accomplishments as a trio. We already had the bar checked off, so no loss.”

Leo met Logan’s gaze across the table, blue eyes twinkling. “We’ve started a list?”

“Yes.” Finn stated, his voice confident. “We have. Which means we now need to make a plan to cross off the next item on it.”

“Okay,” Logan conceded, leaning his elbows on the table, fingers steepled, “I’ll bite. What’s next on the list?”

Finn looked at him, aghast. “Logan. That is not how the list works. The list is clearly unlabeled. We must first have the adventure, and then name it.”

Logan regarded him for a long moment. He had to give him credit, Finn could hold a straight face when he wanted to. But eventually, a twitch from the corner of his mouth gave him away and Logan dropped his arms and leaned back in his chair, laughing. “You are full of shit.”

Finn grinned in return, all hints of seriousness disappearing as he stood to grab his coat. “Maybe. But either way, we should get together again soon.”

“For sure, drop your schedule in the group chat. I’d love to see you play again, and I’m sure Logan would too.” Leo said as he led them to the door.

Finn’s face lit up at that, and Logan smiled softly at how adorable it was. He felt light and happy as they said their goodbyes, and when he saw Finn’s schedule dropped into their group chat on his cab ride home, he found himself already looking forward to when the three of them could do this again.

#sweater weather lumosinlove #lumosinlove #o'knutzy #I'm still not convinced I know how to do tags right but I am trying my best I promise :(

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seokiloquy · 3 years

Text

The Language of Flowers Pt 3 - Tsukishima Kei

AU: Gang/Organized Crime

Requested (kind of? multiple people + myself lol)

Tags/Warnings: FEM! Reader, innuendos, mild swearing, mild (ish?) violent descriptions/use of guns

*Note on the poem* I found this on Google and tried to find out who wrote it but I couldn’t. So, if you recognize this and know who wrote, please let me know so that I can give credit. Also, I added an “and” :)

Word Count: 16k+

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3

Love’s Flower

It started with a budding friendship between two lonely souls,

And a cautious relationship of two former foes.

The blossoming of love’s flower covered in delicate thorns.

We nurtured and tended it and it soon grew

Into a blossom of love sweet and true.

My precious flower, I am so blessed that I found you.

“Again,” said Tsukishima.

Padded mats covered the practice room floor, providing a thin layer of protection from the hard ground below. (Y/N) groaned and rubbed their eyes before melting into the ready stance that Tsukishima had taught her. Across from her, Hinata stood head-to-toe in protective gear and a pair of punching mitts in front of him. Both of them were panting heavily as sweat dripped down their foreheads. They’ve been at this for hours.

It had been four months since (Y/N) had found out about Tsukishima’s leadership of the Karasuno gang and the incident happened—Tsukishima was shot and (Y/N) was injured.

During that time, she would come over each week, give him flowers, and then he would make her train for a bit—teaching her to defend herself and ways to fight back if necessary. (Y/N) had been a little apprehensive for Tsukishima to even train her, especially during his recovery, so they started small.

Most of the time, it would just be her, Tsukishima (sitting on a chair), and a punching bag; other times they were joined by another Karasuno member so that she could practise against another person.

Today, Hinata had drawn the short straw, but even so, anyone who was curious came to watch. Then, each time after training, without fail, she would fuss over Tsukishima for getting out of bed for too long. (Y/N) tried to hold back as he got better, but she would remind him that he was still recovering; not just physically, but mentally too. (Y/N) didn’t care that he had gotten shot before or had suffered the worst injuries, it would still take a toll on him over time whether he believed it or not. The least she could do was protect him in her own way.

(Y/N) had been a ball of fire at that time. While Sawamura and Ennoshita dealt with most of the business end of Tsukishima’s life, she made sure everyone rested and ate in her time of taking care of Tsukishima.

Even now, he was sitting down now per (Y/N)’s request. (He was always reluctant, but she had told him that if he didn’t ‘sit his ass in that chair’ she would leave). The Karasuno members took much joy in that.

They held off going into in-depth conversations while Tsukishima was still recovering; however, they did decide earlier on that both of them wanted to continue their relationship. It was one of the first things they spoke about.

Then, once he was out of the wheelchair, he and (Y/N) spent a lot of time talking about their relationship. Some were short, like whether or not she wanted to know about what they did in full—that was a hard no on her end, except if it concerned her directly (which she didn’t think would happen)—and some were much longer and still ongoing, like the one they had about safety—that one led to a huge argument.

Despite that argument, (Y/N) liked the training she was being put through. She felt stronger and more sure of herself. In a way, she was thankful for the training, but she was definitely not letting Tsukishima know that; though, a part of her felt like Tsukishima already knew that, the way he did with most things.

(Y/N) also knew that she was getting pretty good at it regardless of Tsukishima’s grunts and hums of disapproval. Every now and then, when she caught a glimpse of him, there would be a faint smile playing on his lips—the one where if you were to blink, you’d miss it.

“This seems like a cruel and unusual punishment,” Hinata mumbled, but slipped on the punching mitts and fell into a back stance, bracing himself.

(Y/N) ran through the routine one more time. Hinata was a lot stronger than he looked, small but packed a powerful punch and deflected her hits with ease.

“Good,” Tsukishima announced, standing up and stepping onto the mat.

(Y/N) made a face. She would have believed his claims more if she didn’t notice the little limp in his step and the flinch in his face when he stood up.

(Y/N) pushed her feelings aside and looked around. She saw hints of pride on the other Karasuno members faces. She had grown close and comfortable to the group within the few months, learning their names slowly and small personal things about them. They were the ones who dropped her off and picked her up at her flower shop; and the ones who were stationed outside of said flower shop, which was an entire other argument between (Y/N) and Tsukishima.

At first, she was angry at him for assuming that she needed any form of protection. She had lived by herself for a while now and nothing bad happened. (Y/N) didn’t know why Tsukishima heavily insisted upon it and every time she would ask, he would give half-answers. Ones that were true, but never gave the full information.

But she also saw how much it relaxed Tsukishima once she—begrudgingly—agreed to both the training and the Karasuno members were trailing her. It was like a weight she couldn’t see was lifted off his shoulders. This was something that I could sacrifice, (Y/N) thought, this was something that I could control that kept everyone a little safer.

That also led to the Karasuno members spending a lot of time in her shop, cleaning up and organizing the flowers while they were there. Most of the time, they asked her for things to do like they weren’t used to sitting still. (Y/N) didn’t mind having them around. Maybe she should ask them to help repaint the shop.

Everyone around her had come to love flowers, and she had come to love everyone around her.

Tsukishima was by her side in a moment. He looked at her fondly and reached up to tuck some loose hair behind her ear. He was hesitant to show affections like this in front of Karasuno, but as their relationship grew, he seemed to let his guard down and do it almost automatically. “You did well, (Y/N).”

(Y/N) unconsciously wrapped an arm around his waist. She felt the subtle lean of his weight and compressed a smile.

“Hey!” Hinata protested, taking off his protective gear. “Why don’t you ever tell me that when I train! I never got my hair tucked behind my ear with affection when I did well.”

(Y/N) laughed.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and turned his attention back on (Y/N). “Are you going to stay for a bit? We can order food.”

“She gets food too?” Hinata exclaimed, throwing down his gear dramatically. “Unfair.”

(Y/N) looked over at Hinata and smiled. “It’s food for everyone.” She looked pointedly at Tsukishima. “Right, Kei?”

Tsukishima huffed and tugged on a piece of (Y/N)’s hair. “I guess.”

“Oh,” she added, “thank you for helping me Hinata.”

Hinata beamed and patted his chest proudly. “Anytime (Y/N)!”

“Do you want to shower before we eat? You can use the one in my room if you want,” Tsukishima said.

(Y/N) smirked and arched an eyebrow. “Why? Want to join me?”

Tsukishima froze, heat rising to his cheeks. His mouth kept opening and closing like a computer glitching.

“I like it when you’re here, (Y/N),” said Kageyama, coming to join their little group in the center of the mats. He crossed his arms and had a smug look on his face. The semi-crowd around them had dispersed and everyone went to do their own things, taking up their own training. “When you’re here, Tsukishima is always a little speechless. It’s amusing.”

Regaining his composure, Tsukishima grumbled, “You’ve been spending too much time with them, (Y/N). They’re bad influences.”

(Y/N) giggled. She leaned into Tsukishima ever so slightly, resting her head against his arm. “I’m just joking Kei. And yes, I would like to shower.” She nudged him in the direction of the door. “Walk me?”

She twisted back just enough to high five Kageyama before walking off with Tsukishima through the door. He had pulled away from her and interlocked their hands instead.

Though she had been in and out of the building for a couple of months, (Y/N) still got confused in the hallways; someone always had to lead her to the correct doors, exits, and entrances. Every turn looked the same and all the doors were unmarked. The walls were a dull off-white colour that made (Y/N) frown whenever she looked around. The flowers that used to line the hallways died once Tsukishima got injured and couldn't tend to them. Maybe she should teach the other members some flower etiquette and caretaking.

“Can I put flowers in the halls? I keep getting lost….” she asked. It would add some much-needed colour to the place and mark the hallways like landmarks.

Tsukishima smiled. “You can do whatever you’d like.”

“Great!” she said, turning the corner with Tsukishima, which led to a dead-end with an elevator. Tsukishima hit the up button. “I was thinking of putting red roses that lead to the elevators and hallways that lead up to your room. Oh! And maybe some sunflowers near the common room. It’s always so dark in there. I’ll need tables or more podiums—”

Tsukishima laughed, his shoulders shaking as he did.

She frowned. “Why are you laughing?”

He shook his head, grinning brightly like sunflowers. “I just—I really love listening to you talk. It’s like music.”

(Y/N) looked away, heat rising to their cheeks, as the elevator doors opened. He led her inside and hit the button to the top floor. Once the door closed, he turned so that he was facing her, leaving barely any space between them.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.”

“You shouldn’t be walking.”

He smiled. “I shouldn’t?”

“Yes. I read that if you don’t rest properly during your recovery, then you could worsen your injuries and—”

“(Y/N),” he said gently, “we talked about this.”

She let out a puff of annoyance. “I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

Tsukishima raised his hand and brushed her cheek gently with the back of his fingers. He traced her jaw down to her chin and placed two fingers under it, tilting it up slowly. “I don’t want you to get hurt, ever.”

(Y/N) closed her eyes. She had seen him train before. He fought with full force, fiercely like a lion. She had seen him knock someone to the ground with little force—the night they had met. And she had no doubt he was capable of more, more that she didn’t want to know and couldn’t imagine. That was another conversation they avoided, one that she never wanted to bring up.

She couldn’t see Tsukishima, the one in front of her, the one that held her hand, the one who whispered bad jokes in her ear and wanted to know more about flowers, hurt anyone. It was the only part of herself where she allowed such ignorance.

“You shouldn’t tease me in front of everyone,” he said in a voice low.

“Really?” (Y/N) smirked, moving closer so they were touching. His heart pounded against her chest. She could feel the rise and fall of his breath. “I thought you said I could do whatever I’d like.”

Tsukishima matched her smirk. “Maybe we should renegotiate?”

Before she could answer, Tsukishima lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers gently, as if he was asking for permission to kiss her. In a quick motion, (Y/N) wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips fully against his.

He smiled into the kiss as he slid his arms around her, bringing her closer and holding her tighter. His lips were soft against her own. (Y/N) moved her hand to cup his cheek. She heard the ding of the elevator and was about to pull away, but Tsukishima only turned his head to deepen the kiss, his hand slipping down to her waist. (Y/N)’s hand slid up into his hair.

Someone cleared their throat loudly.

(Y/N) jumped back, her face burning. Tsukishima remained composed, though, she noted, a light dusting of pink rested on his cheeks.

(Y/N) turned and saw a half-amused, half-embarrassed Sawamura on the other side of the elevator holding a file.

“Who’s speechless now?” Tsukishima whispered in her ear.

She glared at him. “Shut up.”

Sawamura cleared his throat again. “Sorry to, uh, interrupt. But I need to borrow Tsukishima.”

(Y/N) stepped out of the elevator and gestured for him to take her place.

“You know your way there right?” Tsukishima asked, straightening out his glasses that had become skewed. “And you can add all the flowers or podiums you like, (Y/N), anywhere.”

She clicked her tongue and then smiled. “I guess I’ll have to make do without you in the shower.”

Sawamura’s eyebrows shot up but he didn’t say anything.

The corner of Tsukishima’s lips tugged up. “Wait for me in the room after your shower, okay? I won’t be long. I’ll take you to your store and we can look for flowers to bring here.”

“Take your time,” she said. “I’ll wait for you.”

“Don’t,” Tsukishima said once the elevator door closed.

Sawamura smirked and pressed an elevator button. “I didn’t say anything.”

He handed Tsukishima the file wordlessly. Tsukishima had sent Sawamura to gather information about the shooting three months ago. Random shootings didn’t just happen, not since Tsukishima had become the leader of Karasuno.

The blond opened the file.

“It took some time, but we found the car,” Sawamura said looking forward, crossing his arms. Tsukishima noticed he did that a lot, like an automatic defensive pose. “It was abandoned in another prefecture, completely trashed, no license plate either. Just a one-use type thing. No way to trace who it belonged to. I double-checked with Nishinoya and he thought the same thing I did.”

“That it belongs to her?”

Sawamura sighed. “There’s no way to prove it, but yeah, we think so.”

Tsukishima nodded. “Yamaguchi was right then.”

Sawamura barked out a laugh. “The kid knows his stuff. It’s a wonder how he’s still alive.”

“He’s only alive because she wants him to be. The moment that stops…”

“I know.” The light tone faded out of Sawamura’s voice. He didn’t like the situation any more than Tsukishima did. Though he was one of the last members to join, Sawamura had become one of Tsukishima’s most trusted people. Tsukishima didn’t realize how much he relied on him until one day when Sawamura was injured and took some time to heal. That was the most hectic two weeks of his life since becoming a leader.

Sawamura cocked his head to the side as the elevator opened. The two stepped out and headed toward the common room. “From what you told me about her, Yamaguchi’s former boss, I think you should tell (Y/N).”

Tsukishima gritted his teeth. “It doesn’t concern her.”

Sawamura pivoted so that he was standing in front of Tsukishima. They were just in front of the common room doors. Tsukishima could hear Nishinoya and Hinata’s loud voices carry through the hallway. “I think you’re wrong.”

Tsukishima narrowed his eyes. “Watch yourself Daichi.”

“Kei. You have a personal connection to this person. The person who knew where you and (Y/N) had your date, the person who killed Yamaguchi’s sister,” Sawamura shot back. His voice was unwavering against Tsukishima.

“What’s your point?”

“How is what she did any different from how you’re retaliating against her? Or how Yamaguchi wants revenge and how we’re helping him achieve it,” he continued. “The easiest path to revenge is through the people they care about and that includes the person who is currently taking a shower in your room. It may not concern her now, but it will eventually.”

Tsukishima bit his tongue.

“You see it, don’t you? Somehow, they are watching what you do, Tsukishima, and who do you spend all your free time with?” Sawamura paused and took a breath. “I have a bad feeling about it and I haven’t been wrong before, you know that.”

“I’m not telling you this to be an ass, okay?” Sawamura sighed. “I’m telling you this because you seem almost in denial about everything. I’m telling you this because (Y/N) deserves to know what she’s getting into. Fully. Not just the pretty little things.”

A silence filled the hallway. Tsukishima took a deep breath. He had promised not to lie to her, not to keep secrets and to tell her when things involved her. He had never broken a promise before and he wasn’t going to start with (Y/N).

It would be a tough conversation. He knew that once he told her, he would have to face all that he feared; the blood on his hands, the things he had to do and was never proud of.

Tsukishima couldn’t imagine how (Y/N) would react. A part of him didn’t want to tell her, to lie to her for the rest of his life, to keep her as far away from this as possible. It would be wrong if it began to involve her. Would he be able to live with himself if he didn’t tell?

“I’ll tell her the moment her name comes up,” he agreed.

“Good.” Sawamura nodded and placed a hand on the door handle. “What do we do now, boss?”

Tsukishima straightened his back. “What we always do. We plan and stay alive. You say they’re watching me? Maybe we should give them something to watch.”

Sawamura chuckled and patted Tsukishima on the shoulder.

“You really care about her don’t you?” said Sawamura softly. He turned back and gave Tsukishima a small half-smile before opening the door and stepping through it to join the rest of the members.

Tsukishima watched as he entered the room. The Karasuno members smiled at Sawamura and gathered in their usual way, around the table that sat in the center of the room. The room fell hushed but welcoming and warm. They respected him and he respected them.

“More than anything,” he whispered and stepped through the door.

Yamaguchi felt a lot more scared than he wanted to be.

The sad part was that he woke up that morning feeling pretty good. He had been left alone for the past couple days and was able to catch up on school work and visit his sister’s grave—the place where he had buried her ern, beside her favourite tree in the park they used to play in as children.

Tsukishima was warming up to him too; Yamaguchi could feel it. Tsukishima was never unkind, but he looked at Yamaguchi as if he had committed a crime and was kept at a distance. If only he could find out what that was about, then he’d be good to go.

The meeting they had three months ago lasted hours. Tsukishima had questioned and questioned him until his throat hurt from talking so much. Sure, Yamaguchi was a traitor, spilling the secrets he knew of his former gang, but he really couldn’t give two shits about it.

His sister was dead. He knew who did it. And he couldn’t do anything about it.

But Tsukishima could.

He even offered Yamaguchi to stay at Karasuno’s Headquarters until things settled down, somewhere far away from the heart of the building, but still a safe and warm place. However, he had wanted to stay as close to his apartment for as long as he could. Luckily, the neighbour next to him allowed him to sleep on their couch until the lease was up. She was a nice old lady that had known the both of them since they moved in. She didn’t know the details, one that his sister was found dead in their apartment.

Yamaguchi thought that he could still live there, his sister loved this place even if it was just the two of them. But it felt haunted. He couldn’t sleep in his room, wake up and then walk into the living room where he found his sister.

He closed his eyes. He should have listened to her when she told him not to take the job.

It still didn’t feel real. Sometimes he would sit on his neighbour's couch and found himself looking at the door expectantly like his sister would walk through the door with ice cream in hand.

Yamaguchi had felt grief before, and it wasn’t something he expected to feel in a long time. So, he put all his energy into the one thing he wanted: revenge.

The day took a steady decline when he opened the door that afternoon and saw a bouquet of flowers wrapped in a pale yellow paper with a letter neatly placed on top of it. Yamaguchi hesitated. How long have they been there? He hadn’t opened his door since yesterday night. That left more than 12 hours open for someone to place them.

He grabbed his keys off the table near his door and shoved on a pair of shoes. Yamaguchi looked from left to right slowly, in case it was a fresh placement.

He picked up the flowers. They were dark purple, almost black in the centre with light green specks stemming out from it. The dark purple travelled to the edges of the petal-like veins of blood as the petal itself until it gradually turned lighter, becoming a pure white.

Yamaguchi tucked the flowers carefully between his elbow and chest and opened the letter.

Dearest Yamaguchi,

I hear you’ve found a new group to give your talents to. Exciting. I wonder how long you’ll stay with them. You weren’t with us that very long either, so maybe you weren’t meant to stay with anyone. A little birdy has told me that you’ve been spilling our secrets. I guess it runs in the family.

But go ahead. Tell them everything you know. It doesn’t matter much to me. You’ve never known much.

I hope you have fun running around for Kei. How is that bastard? Well? Breathing? Always doing the same thing?

How am I, you ask? I’ve spent a lot of time thinking, planning. Maybe that was one of his traits that has rubbed off on me. Maybe another would be my liking towards flowers. There's beautiful poetry to them, don’t you think? Some mean happiness and love while others are dangerous and resentful.

Anyways, I hope you find something new in your life. We both know that you don’t have much at this moment because…Well, you already know, don’t you? Would it hurt if I said it?

Love always,

Yukiji

P.S. The flowers aren’t as pretty as the girl who wraps them. Aren’t I right, Kei?

“It came with these,” Yamaguchi said through the silence. He held up the flowers.

When Yamaguchi had read the letter outside his apartment, it jarred him. Yukiji was mocking him, mocking his sister’s death. Mocking Karasuno and Tsukishima.

The same shattering silence and uneasy feeling that Yamaguchi had felt continued into the room once Sawamura finished reading the letter out loud to Karasuno. Everyone in the room stared at Tsukishima, ready to do anything at his word, but Tsukishima only looked at the flowers in Yamaguchi’s hand.

Yamaguchi eyed Tsukishima weirdly. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides and his jaw was tight. A fire burned in his eyes.

Without a word, Tsukishma walked over to Yamaguchi and asked for the flowers in his hand. Tsukishima turned them over delicately.

“Are those from…?” Nishinoya hesitated and swallowed. “Are those—”

“Yes,” Tsukishima said absentmindedly. He took the thin wrapping paper between his fingers. “It’s from (Y/N)’s shop.”

“Who?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Do you think she knew?” Hinata asked. His voice had gone low and his eyes grew dark. “All the times I’ve been at (Y/N)’s store, Yukiji has never been there.”

The Karasuno members nodded in agreement.

“When did (Y/N) wrap the flowers? This week? This morning?” said Kageyama, glaring at no one in particular.

“I don’t know,” Tsukishima whispered.

“Does (Y/N) know who Yukiji is?” Azumane said, looking nervously between Tsukishima and the flowers.

Sawamura glanced at Tsukishima from the corner of his eye. “She doesn’t. . .”

Tsukishima shoved the bouquet back into Yamaguchi’s hands and took the letter from Sawamura. “Excuse me,” he said, and then dashed out the door.

Yamaguchi looked around wildly. Everyone seemed on edge, jittery like they didn’t feel safe. He was used to Karasuno’s secrets being kept from him. He would still need to do a lot to gain their trust, but if this (Y/N)-person had something to do with Yukiji and his sister’s death, then he needed to know.

That was a part of Yamaguchi’s and Tsukishima’s deal. Any information that could prove that Yukiji had murdered his sister—not that Yamaguchi needed proof it was her, he knew it was, he wanted her to admit it—would go through him as well.

And yet, everyone seemed to know something that Yamaguchi did not.

“What’s going on?” Yamaguchi asked. None of the other members met his eyes. “Who’s (Y/N)?”

The moment Tsukishima left the common room, he broke into a run, down the hallway and up the stairs to (Y/N). A part of him ran faster, scared that she wouldn’t be in his room, that she had left.

He had spent enough time at her store to know how flowers looked like when they were freshly wrapped. She would have had to do them this morning right before he came and picked her up.

He stood outside the room willing his heart to beat slower. He wasn’t gone long, only an hour or two. Whenever Karasuno had meetings, they always ran long. He didn’t want to barge into the room frantic and tongue-tied.

Tsukishima unfolded the note and read it again, and again, until he memorized it. He tucked it into his inside jacket pocket and laid a hand on the door handle.

Relief flooded through Tsukishima when he opened the door and saw (Y/N) sound asleep, lying in his bed. A pillow was tight in her grip and she laid slightly in the middle of the bed.

Tsukishima walked over to her slowly and sat on the edge of the bed. One of (Y/N)’s hands was resting face-up on the mattress, the same hand that Yamaguchi had cut. Sugawara said that it had healed nicely but a scar still remained.

He took her hand in his and ran his fingers over the scar.

(Y/N)’s hand squeezed around his finger.

“Kei?” Her voice was tired and rough.

“Hey,” he said.

She dug her head further into his pillow. “Are you done?”

“Not yet,” he said softly. “There's something I need to tell you though.”

(Y/N)’s eyes fluttered open at the tone of his voice. She lifted her head and started to blink profusely, as if trying to wake herself further, which created an odd expression on her face as she did.

Tsukishima laughed and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

(Y/N) furrowed her eyebrows, a small pout on her lips. “Why are you laughing at me?”

Tsukishima smiled. “Nothing,” he said.

He locked eyes with her. They were still droopy from tiredness, but clear and comforting. Tsukishima remembered the day he first saw them; he couldn’t meet her gaze then, but now all he wanted to do was look into them. He knew then, that he couldn’t lie to her. Everything that was happening and everything that was going to happen suddenly became real.

At his hesitance, (Y/N) frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Tsukishima moved closer to her. He swallowed and tightened his grip on her hand. “You know that I adore you, right?”

A small smile tugged at her lips, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Kei, what’s wrong? You can tell me.”

Tsukishima looked down and focused on her hand, rubbing it gently with his thumb. “I remember feeling really lonely when I grew up even though I had my family—I loved them, they loved me, and nothing was wrong—but that didn’t change anything for me. So I just learned how to be alone and accepted it.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He returned his gaze to (Y/N). “What?”

“I’m sorry that you were lonely,” she repeated sincerely. (Y/N) hesitated momentarily, then said, “It makes me sad to think of you alone.”

Tsukishima smiled to himself. He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it gently. “I have a lot of reasons to be with people now and want to be with them. I didn’t even realize the lonely feeling faded until it became nothing but a memory.”

His voice was barely above a whisper but stayed steady as he continued, “You know, I have always loved this neighbourhood. I never thought that I was one to grow attachments to parks and streets. But, this is the place where my parents met. This is the place where I made a new family too, everyone inside this building, whether I admit it to them or not. They know. And I love it even more now because this is the place where I met you.”

“Kei…”

“I never thought that I would end up doing something like this,” he added abruptly. “Something that has such a close relationship to death.” Tsukishima didn’t know why he felt like he had to justify his choices, but he wanted her to know. Even though (Y/N) wasn’t irrational or would judge him, he felt that revealing more about what he did for Karasuno would drive her away.

“Why did you?” There wasn’t a hint of malice or acid in her voice. Some of the uneasiness went out of Tsukishima.

“My parent’s business was going under and I wanted to help. But no one would hire me. That is until one of the former Karasuno members came up to me and offered me a job as a low-level member. Since I was young, I would just walk around and gather information about other gangs or just people in general. My parent’s business survived, did well since then, and I slowly made my way up the ladder from there.”

(Y/N) bit her lip. “Why did you continue?”

“I had to stay a bit until my parents were stable, but by the time there were, I had already moved up a bit and I liked what I was doing.” He shook his head. “Karasuno was different from other gangs from here. All of the things I overheard were how other gangs wanted more money and to gain more power. They would do—they would do a lot of unspeakable things to get it. They still do. There are some who do the same thing as Karasuno, who we have alliances with, but they're farther away from us.

“I want Karasuno to still be like the one that I knew, trying to help anyone who needed it, to make this place feel safe. The people here aren’t stupid, they know what goes on. If I can help make the place that I love safer, then I want to. That’s why I continued.”

“Even if it means...hurting people too?” she asked.

Tsukishima closed his eyes and let out a breath. When he opened them, (Y/N) had moved closer to him, leaning forward from her spot. Her eyes were wide, more alert than before, and locked onto his.

“I’ve tried other ways before (Y/N), I really did. Someone has to do it, and that someone just happens to be me. I told you before that I hate doing it—I hate myself for doing it. If, at the end of the day, my actions help someone who needs it or didn’t even know they needed it, then I can live with all I’ve done wrong so that no one else has to.”

(Y/N) didn’t say anything. She grasped their held hands and pulled him closer. Carefully, he laid down beside her, his head rested in the crook of her neck as she brought her arm around to hold him. She turned, planted a light kiss on his head, and then rested her head against his.

He could hear the rhythm of her breathing along with the notes of her heartbeat. He hid a smile. This could be a strong contender for his favourite song, coming only second to her voice.

“I know,” she sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I understand why you ask.”

“Thank you for telling me, Kei.”

“That isn’t what I wanted to tell you, actually,” he said.

(Y/N) sank further into the bed. “Tell me later. I think I need a longer nap.”

Tsukishima groaned internally. As much as he wished he could, he didn’t want to. He allowed himself another moment like this, comfortable and safe in her arms. He wanted to kick himself as he pulled away and rested his on the pillow beside hers. They were untangled from each other now but remained facing one another.

(Y/N) sighed. With her eyes still closed, she said, “It’s important, isn't it?”

“Yes.”

“Go on.”

He took a deep breath. “When it was time to pass on the leadership of Karasuno, I was one of the candidates—”

“Obviously,” she muttered, opening her eyes ever so slightly.

Tsukishima laughed. “I was one of the candidates,” he repeated, “but I wasn’t the only one.”

(Y/N) arched an eyebrow. “I’m guessing this has something to do with that person then?”

“Yes.”

She pursed her lips and then said slowly, “Does this have anything to do with me?”

Tsukishima offered her a small smile. “It does.”

A calculating look formed in (Y/N) eyes, one that unnerved Tsukishima slightly. She sat up, and he followed suit. “Please continue then.”

“Her name is Yukiji Kumiko. We joined Karasuno around the same time and we were—” He broke off. Tuskishima hadn’t thought about Yukiji until Yamaguchi brought her up. It had been such a long time since he had last seen her. He wondered if she would look into his eyes with the same fiery hatred that he remembered.

(Y/N) tilted her head. “Together?”

He shook his head. “No. We were really good friends, maybe even best friends at that time. We practically grew up together in Karasuno. She was still here when I first became the leader and she was happy for me. I would have been happy for her if she got it, too.”

“If the two of you are on good terms...then why do you seem so sad when you talk about her?” (Y/N) asked.

“Do I?” He chuckled mirthlessly. “I guess that would make sense.”

“What happened?” she said softly.

“The passing of leadership is very strange. Some of our alliances—other gangs we would work with—were fine with the change, but others said that they were loyal to our former leader, not to me. So I went with Yukiji, her brother, and a few other members to go over things with one of them to see if we could keep the alliance in any way.

“It started okay. Then...things were said and it went downhill, like straight downhill. Most of us barely escaped with an inch of our lives, but her brother got injured pretty badly and didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry,” (Y/N) said.

He swallowed. “You didn’t do anything. But, apparently, I did. We had an argument after and she blamed me and left Karasuno shortly after. I wanted to talk about it more to see if I could do anything, but I couldn’t find her. I haven’t spoken to her since.”

“I hate to ask,” she said, glancing up to meet his eyes, “but did you have anything to do with it? I mean, I don’t know how meetings like that are supposed to go, or what was said, but is there a reason she blames you?”

Tsukishima paused. He had thought about it thoroughly when it happened, replaying the conversation over and over again, every action and breath, and always came up short. “She told me that we should have just let the alliance go when they questioned Karasuno’s change in leadership, and if we never went then her brother would still be alive. But I had to at least try, I didn’t think that it would go so terribly.”

(Y/N) took his hand. “It isn’t your fault, Kei. You couldn’t have known.”

“Maybe I should have.” Tsukishima gritted his teeth. “I’m their leader, (Y/N), they expect me to think about these things, to give them instructions and help them, to know better.”

“Perhaps,” she sighed, “but doesn’t anyone who goes into this life know the risks? You told me before that this is a dangerous job, anything could happen, anyone could—anyone could die if one thing goes badly—you, Hinata, Sugawara—how do you enter this world without knowing that and already halfway accept it?”

Tsukishima's eyes widened. Please don't say that; he wanted to say. The words died on his lips.

He wanted to reassure her, tell her that everything was going to be fine and then they were all going to live until they were old and grey. But how could he talk her out of something that he didn’t believe himself? It would be a losing battle against himself.

(Y/N) shook her head dismissively. "It’s not your fault, okay?”

He nodded numbly.

A nervous smile took over her face. “So, uhh, what does this have to do with me?”

Tsukishima blinked. His hand went to his pocket. “Remember the night you were attacked?”

“I do,” she said. “It’s the day I met you.”

Tsukishima flushed.

“What about it?” she pressed.

“Those have been happening for a couple of weeks before you were attacked. We had just met, but I wanted to know who did it, not just for your sake, but for everyone so we’d be able to stop them. We traced your attack back to this kid, Yamaguchi. But by the time we found out, I had been shot and Yamaguchi requested to meet with us.”

(Y/N) shifted uncomfortably in her spot. “What did he want?”

He took the paper out of his pocket. “He worked for the person behind the attacks and when he reported back that I stopped him, he found his sister dead in their apartment a couple of days after. He believes that his former leader did it. Yamaguchi wanted us to help him prove that it was her in exchange for information about the attacks and anything else we’d like to know. We’ve been looking into it for the past couple of weeks.”

“Her? Yukiji?” (Y/N) asked.

Tsukishima nodded and handed her the note. She looked at him quizzically before reading it. Once she was done, she handed it back to him.

“She came to my shop to buy flowers?” (Y/N) asked. She looked away, knitting her eyebrows together.

“There was a bouquet of flowers, along with this letter, in front of Yamaguchi’s door,” he said. “He just came with them right before I came here. I know that you don't want to be a part of this life, but you said that if it ever concerned you, then you would want to know. I’m sorry.”

She was silent for a moment, then said, “Can I see them?”

“See what?”

“The flowers.”

“If you want to,” he said. He stood up from the bed. “They’re downstairs in the common room. Everyone’s there too, including Yamaguchi. Is that going to be a problem? I can ask him to leave.”

(Y/N) stood up after him and straightened her clothes. “It’s fine. I think I would like to meet him, actually.”

Tsukishima nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Does everyone know about Yukiji?”

He opened the door and they began to walk to the elevator. (Y/N) was right, if he hadn’t lived in this building for most of his life, he would definitely get lost. “Yeah. Once we found out that she was Yamaguchi’s former boss, I told them.”

The elevator doors opened. Tsukishima flushed remembering the last time they were in an elevator. He was about to say something about it, but saw her eyes set forward and the small frown on her lips and decided against it. (Y/N) still needed to process everything that he told her and it didn’t help that she had such little time to do it. So, they rode down in silence.

They arrived at the door of the common room. As always, Tsukishima could hear the loud voices through the walls. (Y/N) reach of the door handle, but Tsukishima placed his hand on top of hers.

“Wait,” he said.

(Y/N) laughed nervously. “There’s not more to the story is there?”

He shook his head. “No. It's just—I’m so sorry, (Y/N).”

“About what?”

Tsukishima took a deep breath. “I’m sorry that you have to do this—being dragged into something you don’t agree with, something that you never wanted because of me.” He paused. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said.

“It’s not,” he said forcefully. He drew her away from the door and shoved the palms of his hands to cover his eyes. “How did we get here? I feel like I’m condemning you to a sad ending.”

(Y/N)’s face was blank for a moment. “Are you saying this because of what I said earlier? About going into this world—your world—half-accepting death?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Do you know why roses are red?” she asked.

Tsukishima blinked quizzically. “Is this a riddle? Like ‘why is the raven like a writing desk’?”

“No,” she said and then smiled, the one that showed her teeth and made her eyes light up. Tsukishima’s heartfelt lighter looking at her.

“In Greek mythology,” she continued, “all roses were originally white. The flower itself came up from the water with Aphrodite. Much later in her life, the other gods laughed at her pride and vanity claiming that she could make anyone fall in love with her. Then, as a joke, they made her fall in love with a human. Ares, upon hearing that, became jealous and sent a boar after him. As Aphrodite ran to save him, she pricked her foot on the thorn of a rose bush. Since then, roses were red because they run with the blood of the goddess of love.”

“Oh,” he said stunned. "Was she able to save him?"

"No, she wasn't."

He frowned. “Is that real?”

She shrugged. “If you believe it to be. Even with the tragic ending, I’d like to believe it's real, to find curiosity and meaning in mundane things in life makes it a much more enjoyable world to live in.”

A look crossed his face. "Maybe we should stick to happier stories."

"It could be happy if you want it to be."

A dull silence filled the hallway.

(Y/N) locked onto his gaze. A determined look flashed through her eyes. “I don’t look at death the same way that you do,” she said slowly. “You have different experiences with it—but if I look at you, knowing what kind of life you lead, I can’t see or delude myself to believe that you are invincible. I would hurt too much if I believed something like that and then have you slip away from me. I don’t want you to think I said that because I think you will die, I said in hope that you don’t.”

Tsukishima let out a ragged breath, his voice was barely above a whisper. “I won’t die.”

Her voice cracked. “But you don’t know that, do you?”

Tsukishima took a step closer and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He pressed a kiss into her hair. “I won’t die,” he repeated. When he heard her about to protest, he continued. “I won’t die because I have you now. What type of person would I be if I left you here?”

She held him tighter. “A shitty one.”

He laughed, his body shaking as he did. (Y/N) pulled away from him and rubbed the back of her hand against her eyes.

“How did you know about that story?” he asked lightly.

“When you work with flowers for most of your life, you learn things.”

“I think...I want to believe that their love carried on through red roses,” he inquired, walking back to the door and placing a hand on the knob. “If roses are red now, then their love must still exist.”

(Y/N) raised her eyebrows and stood frozen for a moment. She moved to the door caught up to him before he could open it. “I told you that with a different purpose in mind, actually.”

His smile was back on his face. “What for then?”

(Y/N) bit her lip and then rested her hand on top of his. His hand was rough underneath her fingertips. “If roses are red because of love, then, mystically, what if blood is too? Forget about science for a moment, humour me. That would mean our blood is red with love, that people are made to love each other. That’s how I know you can never condemn me to a sad ending, Kei. We were made to love each other.”

She broke off. Her thumb rubbed carelessly against his knuckles. Tsukishima was speechless. How did they get here? He thought. What did he do to find someone like her? He didn’t think he should question it; he should just accept it and discover all the ways that he could remain by her side as long as she allowed him to.

“Any ending with you is going to be a happy one,” she said and opened the door.

Kageyama eyed Yamaguchi. He was standing away from everyone else, farthest from the door of the common room and kept his head down. He still held the flowers delicately in his hands. All of the times that he had come to the Karasuno headquarters, they made sure that (Y/N) was at her flower shop. They didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, nor did they want her to think they just let any person come in and out of their building with ease.

In a strange way, (Y/N) had been integrated into Karasuno in a way Kageyama never thought was possible. Oddly enough too, he enjoyed her company.

Kageyama didn’t want to say it out loud—he never had much luck saying things the way he wanted them perceived—but he didn’t understand why Yamaguchi was so on edge around them. No one at Karasuno was going to jump him.

He only spoke to Tsukishima comfortably but Kageyama felt that was going to change too. Once Tsukishima had left the room to see (Y/N), Yamaguchi asked repeatedly who she was. Everyone had shared looks around the room, silently debating what they could say. Everyone at Karasuno already knew, so there wasn’t anything to hide here but Yamaguchi was neither an outsider or a member.

In the end, all eyes had fallen onto Sawamura.

Sawamura cleared his throat. He placed a firm hand on Yamaguchi’s shoulder. “Tsukishima can tell you.”

Tanaka barked out a quick laugh.

Sawamura smiled crookedly. “Do you remember the person you attacked? The night you met Tsukishima?”

Yamaguchi squirmed. “I do.”

“Her name is (Y/N).”

Yamaguchi’s eyes had furrowed and then morphed into a mixture of realization and astonishment. Slowly, he said, “Does she have anything to do with my sister?”

“Your sister?” Sawamura asked. “No, she doesn’t.”

“But you said that she wrapped the flowers that were in front of my door. Wouldn’t they have worked together or something?”

Hinata shook his head, a serious look took over his eyes. “(Y/N) owns a flower shop. When you attacked her, Tsukishima was there right? That’s how they met. Yukiji probably went there when none of us were to get them, but it doesn’t mean that (Y/N) knew who she was or tried to help her. Yukiji probably just went there because she knew that it would bug Tsukishima.”

Yamaguchi blinked, cocking his head slightly. “Why would that bug Tsukishima?”

“Because they are so sweet on each other that it makes me want to get all my teeth removed,” Kageyama muttered.

Ennoshita smacked him on the shoulder. “Kageyama!”

Kageyama rubbed his shoulder. His eyes widened and his lips tugged downwards into a frown. “What? He was going to find out eventually. It’s not like they hid it in this building. Plus he's not going to tell anyone.” He turned his glare to Yamaguchi. “Right?”

Yamaguchi winced but nodded his head vigorously.

“Plus,” Kageyama added, “if this goes where I think it’s going to go, then it really doesn’t matter who knows what. What matters is who’s going to be alive after this ends.”

Sawamura clutched his jaw. “We already know that, Kageyama. Let’s just take a breather, okay? Yamaguchi, I’ll answer the questions you have, but let’s just wait for Tsukishima to come back before we go jumping to conclusions.”

Everyone nodded meekly and dispersed into the room. Yamaguchi drifted over to Sawamura for a bit before drifting off into the far corner of the room.

“How long do you think they’ll be? (Y/N) and Tsukishima?” Hinata asked, scratching his head lightly.

Kageyama scoffed. “Who knows. I guess it depends on what Tsukishima decides to tell her and what she chooses to do with it. It’s a lot to take in.”

“Do you think that she would leave?”

Kageyama shook his head. “I don’t think she would. I’ll be right back.”

“But I have questions!”

“Ask someone else.”

Kageyama made his way over to Yamaguchi. He was picking at the petals of the flowers and mumbling to himself.

Kageyama sighed and clicked his tongue. “If you keep pacing you’re going to create a draft.”

Yamaguchi stopped abruptly. “Oh, sorry.”

“I didn’t mean—look, are you okay? Because we probably have a long night in front of us and I don’t know how much help you’ll be if you look like someone in here is going to murder you.”

“Sawamura said that there’s a good chance that (Y/N) would be coming down with Tsukishima. I just...don’t think I made a good first impression. With anyone.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Kageyama asked, raising his eyebrows.

Yamaguchi shrugged. “I was worried that everyone in here hated me, but at least I know why everyone looks at me strangely. Are all of you close to (Y/N)?”

Kageyama hesitated. “We’re used to having her around.” After another pause, he added, “Don’t worry about first impressions. When all of us first met (Y/N), we pointed our guns at her.”

Yamaguchi half-smiled. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the door creaking open caused him to stop. Everyone’s attention was trained at the two people who were walking in: (Y/N) looking at Tsukishima and Tsukishima smiling at (Y/N).

He heard Yamaguchi swallow.

Tsukishima took note of the room and straightened his back, turning his attention to the rest of the room. His stare landed on Yamaguchi and hardened. A look of indifference settled on his face.

(Y/N) looked around the room briefly. She smiled lightly to everyone. “So, uh, how is everyone?”

It was easy for (Y/N) to spot Yamaguchi. He held flowers in his hand and had been speaking to Kageyama in a low voice.

When Tsukishima had said that he was a “kid”, (Y/N) didn’t expect him to be a literal teenager. He was scrawny but clearly strong. She remembered the determined nervousness in his eyes when he had turned her around and slashed a knife across her. She remembered when she collided with the lamp post, her hand stinging and throbbing, and the way he had looked at her: terrified.

She was scared then, but she wasn’t now.

(Y/N) had told herself on the way to the common room that she would not forgive this person. She wanted to hold onto the grudge and loath in it. But where would that lead her? To hold onto a piece of herself that was angry and scared? To always have a part of herself be stuck at that moment in time?

She walked up to them, shoulders back, gaze steady. She smiled at Kageyama and then focused on Yamaguchi. He was frozen, eyes widened and mouth slightly ajar.

(Y/N) gestured to the flowers. “May I?”

He nodded stiffly and slowly placed the flowers in her hand, careful not to touch her. (Y/N) turned, opening herself up to the room, and then looked down at the bouquet.

“Petunias,” she said, pushing the wrapping aside to get a better look. “I think I put this together last night, maybe this morning. They mean anger and resentment.”

“Fitting,” Kageyama muttered.

“They could also represent the feeling of hope and desire,” (Y/N) added. She caught Tsukishima’s eyes and bit her tongue. “Though, I don’t really think the latter definition was the intention.”

Sugawara sighed. “That only tells us what we already know.”

“Well, they clearly know where I work and live. That’s not exactly comforting.”

Nishinoya narrowed his eyes. “They would have to be tailing you or Tsukishima. We thought about that, but why just buy flowers? All of us had been on rotation at (Y/N)’s shop, so they chose a moment where we weren’t there. They could’ve just done something worse instead of just buying flowers.”

“To send a message?” Hinata suggested.

“A bigger message would’ve been spent if they just took (Y/N) or something,” Kageyama said. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Sheepishly he added, “No offence.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I understand. Kind of, at least. This is still very strange to me.”

Tsukishima crossed the room to her side. He took the flowers out of her hands and tossed them aside. He interlocked their hands gently as he said, “We have a rough plan of what to do. We were talking about it earlier, but since they are following us, I think that we should give them something to watch.”

“Like lure them out?”

“Yes,” he said. “I think that if we could—”

Yamaguchi coughed awkwardly.

Tsukishima raised his head and glared.

“Is something wrong?” (Y/N) asked.

Yamaguchi looked as if he had been shocked by electricity. “Uhh, yeah, I—” He cleared his throat. “I think they were trying to scare you.”

Sawamura folded his arms across his chest. “Go on.”

“Well,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “You—Karasuno—are known to be isolated from everyone else since Tsukishima became leader. You didn’t cut ties with all of your alliances, but you did with most of them. Word gets around.”

Yamaguchi looked at Tsukishima, chin up, eyes set. (Y/N) recognized this look, the same determined nervousness. “You seem to make plans and follow through. If you were threatened or attacked, you’d lay low for a bit and then counter attack. You fall into a pattern. I think that Yukiji, especially if she knew you before this started, would get used to it and anticipate it. I think that she purposely did something, like buy flowers at (Y/N)’s shop, to scare you into a reaction.”

“So we’re supposed to do nothing then?” Tanaka tsked. “That seems worse.”

Yamaguchi shook his head. “You do something that they wouldn’t expect, something that you wouldn’t do or wouldn’t have even thought of, but you make it look like what you would do.” He looked around expectantly. “I can try to fill in the blanks of what Yukiji would do, but I don’t know how much that would help. I wasn’t exactly a star player in their game.”

(Y/N) felt Tsukishima go stiff by her side. She glanced at him. His mouth was set into a line and his gaze was locked onto the floor. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking and even if she was a mind-reader, she probably wouldn’t have understood it, not in the way the other people in this room would. Is there always going to be a closed-off part of him that she wouldn’t be able to open?

“I know what Yukiji would do,” he said at last. (Y/N) felt the back of his hand brush against hers lightly. She closed her eyes as the weight of his eyes fell on her. “And I know what I need to do, but it involves you.”

There it was. The one thing she wished he wouldn’t say because she knew that if he asked, she would say yes.

(Y/N) opened her eyes and was grateful to see that most of the Karasuno members were looking away or giving her half-clam looks. She knew that none of them would resent her for her decision. She didn’t want to do it, but now it became much more than herself. She was a part of it, maybe even more than she knew about, but Yamaguchi had lost his sister, innocent people and Karasuno were being threatened. If she could stop that, put an end to unnecessary hurt, she would.

Tsukishima whispered next to her ear in a low voice, “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, but if you choose to do it, I swear that nothing will happen to you.”

She felt like she had this conversation before. You can’t promise that, Kei.

(Y/N) turned to him and smiled. “What’s the plan?”

He smiled back at her, but his eyes were unsure. Guilt. “Well, I make a phone call.”

Yamaguchi looked around (Y/N)’s shop and understood why everyone liked being here. It was warm and had a lingering scent of earth and floral perfume in the air. It felt a home away from home.

He watched (Y/N) as she walked around her shop. It wouldn’t open for another ten minutes, but she had spent more than half an hour aligning pots and inspecting each flower, picking out the ones that looked wilted and sometimes regrouping bunches of flowers altogether.

Do not let her out of your sight. A cold shiver travelled up Yamaguchi’s spine thinking about the words Tsukishima had told him. He had pulled him aside once all of the pieces of their plan were put into place. You want forgiveness from me? Do this one thing and you have it. Yamaguchi wasn’t sure that Tsukishima meant what he was saying, maybe he just said it because he knew it was what Yamaguchi wanted to hear.

He wasn’t entirely sure why Tsukishima had trusted him with (Y/N). For the sake of the plan? But he wasn’t going to betray him. Making sure that everything on his end of the plan went smoothly was the least he could do for Tsukishima, (Y/N), and Karasuno. Still, something gnawed inside of him, slowly taking away pieces of his innocence and replacing it with guilt.

(Y/N) was kind to him—but he had learned that she was kind to everyone, so that wasn’t much to go on. She had let him into her shop when he arrived, smiled at him, and offered him something to drink. Soon after, a lull carried over the shop. He didn’t know if he should ask her if there was something he could help her with. Would she even accept my help after what I did?

Every time she turned her hand, baring her scar, he resisted the urge to flinch. A permanent mark.

He checked his watch. Time was quickly ticking away. They all knew that every plan meant taking a calculated risk on their lives.

Yamaguchi cleared his throat. “(Y/N)?”

She peeked over her shoulder, placing down a basket of flowers. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

Her back still turned against him, he saw a slight hesitation as she picked up a flower and turned around. She balanced on the edge of the table, twirling the stem of a flower in her hand. “About what?” she asked.

(Y/N)’s face was unreadable to him.

“I’m sorry that I attacked you,” he said. He took a deep breath. “I don’t have any excuses; it was something that I chose to do at that moment. You don’t have to forgive me or even accept this as an apology, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”

The corner of her lips quirked up. “You won’t attack me again?”

“Anyone, at all.”

(Y/N) sighed. She took a step closer to Yamaguchi. “I’ve been receiving a lot of apologies lately.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “I got one from Tsukishima earlier, and now one from you; both because of something that was in your control and completely out of it.”

Yamaguchi tilted his head to the side. “What?”

“I was sorry to hear about you sister.”

“Oh,” he said. He focused his gaze on the floor. “Thank you.

“Tsukishima told me about what happened.”

Yamaguchi winced. “I’m not blaming her for what I chose to do. I hurt you before my sister died.”

“I know. You only joined Yukiji’s gang because of your sister, right? To make ends meet? That’s how Tsukishima joined Karasuno. I don’t think that I can fully blame you for trying to survive. Did you hurt anyone else before me?”

Eye wide, he shook his head.

(Y/N) head up her hand. The scar was glaring across her palm.

He looked away.

Carefully, like a winding branch, she said, “I don’t forgive you, Yamaguchi.”

His heart fell. A part of him knew that if (Y/N) wouldn’t forgive then neither would Tsukishima. It was selfish to think about it, but without forgiveness, he would never be a member of Karasuno, and without them, he didn’t know where he would belong. It was an odd partnership, but one that he could see working out at the end. He didn’t want to be alone again.

“I can’t forgive, yet,” she continued, “I don’t know you. But if everything goes...well today, then I can try to forgive you. I don’t want to hate you, Yamaguchi.”

Yamaguchi looked up. The tension went out of his shoulders. There were millions of chances in the world; the one that he took when he picked up the knife that scarred (Y/N)’s hand and the one he was given now. This would be a choice that he would not regret. “I would like that very much. Thank you, (Y/N).”

She walked towards him, the flower stretched out in front of her. He took the flower and rolled the stem between his fingers.

“About the hand,” she started, wiggling the fingers of her scarred hand, “I think we’re even from when I punched you in the face.”

Yamaguchi laughed. He touched the bridge of his nose. “On cold nights, I can feel it burn.”

(Y/N) grinned. She stepped away, unlocked the front door, and flipped the sign to say the shop was opened.

“After what happened, with me and your sister, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to hurt anyone. But I learned that if you want this job, live the life you’re living now, hurting people will be inevitable,” she said, making her way back to the counter.

“I know,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt people unnecessarily. What I did, that only spread chaos. I want to do something better. Even if I only help one person.”

“I think that you and Tsukishima would make really good friends.”

“Maybe one day. If he decides to forgive me. I doubt that would be anytime soon.”

“It might be closer than you think,” she said. “He’s a softy.”

“I think I doubt that even more.”

(Y/N) laughed as she looked through the clear glass of the front door and shop windows. She propped up her elbow on the counter and rested her head in her hand. “Do we just wait?”

“Wait for what?” a voice said behind her.

(Y/N) jumped. Before she could even turn around, the shape of a gun hit her hard on the head and she crumbled to the ground.

Yamaguchi flinched, drew his gun, and aimed it at the figure. The figure stepped into the light. Their dark hair gleamed in the light and her eyes were sharp and cunning. She held a gun in her hand and raised it to meet Yamaguchi’s.

He glared at the women that stood where (Y/N) once stood. “Yukiji,” he growled.

“You should drop your weapon, Yamaguchi.” Her lips curled into a cutting grin.

He tightened his grip on the handle. “You should drop yours.”

“I outnumber you.”

Yamaguchi opened his mouth to ask what she meant when he felt the cool barrel of a gun pressed into his back. He let out a breath but didn’t lower his gun.

Yukiji smirked. “Ready to die? So soon? You don’t want to live for Karasuno now?”

The barrel pressed harder into his back. “I died when my sister did.”

Her smirk grew. “How about I change the game?” In a quick motion, her gun was trained on (Y/N). She looked smugly at Yamaguchi, almost daring him to take the shot.

Yamaguchi froze. He was so consumed with rage once he saw Yukiji that he forgot that the person he was supposed to be watching laid defenceless on the ground. He had one job and he screwed up. If Tsukishima didn’t smack him if they got out of this, he would smack himself.

Yukiji placed her finger on the trigger. “How about I ask you again. Drop it.”

A second passed before he crouched down and placed his gun on the floor. With his hands raised, he stood up straight, his eyes never leaving Yukiji’s. He was going to tear her apart limb from limb.

“That’s better,” she said. She looked down at (Y/N) and tilted her head. “She is very pretty. Tsukishima must be happy. I plan to change that.”

(Y/N)’s a lot more than pretty, Yamaguchi thought, but you wouldn’t know what that's like, would you know. “What do you want?”

Yukiji snapped her head up. “I didn’t expect you to cave so soon, Yamaguchi. I gave you one job, caused attacks and panic in Tsukishima’s territory, but you couldn’t even do that. And then you ran to him without a second thought. Pitiful.”

Yamaguchi gritted his teeth. He wanted to scream at her. He wanted her to live with a wound that would never heal. Not yet, he told himself, not while she has a gun in her hand. Soon.

“I don’t like traitors; people who turn their back on others. You going to Tsukishima might have been good. I get to kill birds with one stone.”

He shook his head. “All you’re doing is adding fuel to the fire. Even if you kill me and Tsukishima, it wouldn’t do anything.”

“Actually, I think that it would help me a lot.”

Yamaguchi thought of his sister. When her nose would scrunch up when he would tell her a joke. When she brought him ice cream every week when he was younger. When she would hug him and he fell while playing, scraping himself bloody.

“It will heal and the pain will go before you know it,” she would tell him.

Yukiji had replaced all of that with the image of her lifeless body on the floor of their apartment, never to laugh or smile again.

“Haven’t you lost someone?” he asked.

Her grin faded. Her lips pressed into a hard line. She nodded to the person behind him. “A brother.”

Yamaguchi felt a sharp pain on his head and then nothing.

Yukiji prided herself in the way things had worked out. She now had two hostages, both people that she knew Tsukishima would come after. Actually, she wasn’t sure about Yamaguchi—how close they had gotten or if Yamaguchi meant anything at all, but it was better to take all that you can get than leave something important behind.

With her feet up on the dash of their car, she glanced at the rearview mirror to the trunk. Yamaguchi and (Y/N) had laid on the floor of the trunk, their hands and ankles tied. She could have had someone else in her gang come for them, but she wanted the job done right. They would only get one chance that this and she’d be damned if she let some low-level member mess this up.

Yukiji had waited to strike back at Tsukishima for a long time. She had no doubt in her abilities to hit and take down Karasuno as a whole, she could plan for that within a week without blinking. She knew Tsukishima cared about everyone there, but she wanted something more, something that would hurt him like a well placed stab wound—a pain that would only grow and remain until the only thing left was a pool of blood and a body.

She heard Yamaguchi stir in his sleep as they pulled into her building’s hidden garage entrance. Her driver must have heard him too because he parked the car, turned to her, and asked, “Should I hit him again?”

“No. He won’t be doing much of anything once we’re done with him, so let him have his fun.”

Two people emerged from the building and her driver came around the car to open the trunk.

“Take them both to the basement and put them on opposite ends of the hallway,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Yamaguchi woke with a start, cold water soaking through his clothes and hair making him shiver and cough. He was sitting on a chair, his wrists were bound behind him and his ankles tied off together. He looked around frantically.

The room was almost too dark to see anything in the distance—he couldn’t tell where the room ended or started—and the only light came from an exposed light bulb that hung above him, shining down only a circle of light that enclosed him and the edge of a table. His best guess was the basement, the only floor in the building that didn’t have any windows.

He couldn’t see (Y/N). Panic filled his chest. Damn it.

“You don’t like her too, right?” a chilling voice said. Yukiji stepped into the light. She held a baseball bat in one hand, leaning on it as if it were a cane. “That would be sad.”

Yamaguchi frowned. He pulled at the rope that held his wrists. “I made a promise.”

“Some promise-keeper you are.” She held her chin up and took a step closer to him. Yukiji swung the baseball bat in a high arc and rested it on her shoulder. “I meant what I said. I despise traitors.”

Yamaguchi kept his mouth shut. From what Tsukishima had told him, he learned that Yukiji had a thing for theatrics. She would make a show out of all of the things she did to gauge a reaction. He just didn’t know how long she would keep up the show before she called a curtain call.

Yukiji circled him. “Do you like your head?”

He took a deep breath.

“Should I take that as a no?”

She came back to stand in front of him. Her eyebrows pinched together as she pursed her lips. “Maybe I’ll ask (Y/N) the same question. From what I know, she and Tsukishima talk a lot. I wonder if she’ll remember all those flowers if I bash her head in.”

Yamaguchi gritted his teeth. “I do, in fact, like my head.”

Yukiji smirked. “You’re so easily riled. It reminds me of someone else that I had in this chair a couple of months ago.”

“Why do I remind you of this person?” He played along.

“You might know her,” she said, “liked ice cream, and lived in an apartment.” She eyed him up and down. “She kind of looked like you too.”

Yamaguchi stilled. His body felt like lead; his blood slowly drained from him. “Shut up,” he said in a low voice.

She laughed. “You sound so much like her. Stubborn. She didn’t scream that much though, so it wasn’t as fun. I had to end it the quick way”

Yamaguchi bit his tongue, holding back all of the words he wanted to scream at her. Just a little longer, he told himself, just a little longer. He let out a breath. His mind flashed back to the letter Yukiji had sent. “I guess it runs in the family.”

“I guess it does.”

“What did you do to her,” he spat.

Yukiji lifted the bat from her shoulder and pushed the end of it into Yamaguchi’s chest. “It’s not what I did to her, it’s what she did to me.”

She balanced the bat in her hand, holding it as if it were a mighty sword, and swung.

(Y/N) heard footsteps and...gunshots? She couldn’t tell. All she could think of was how her head pounded and that opening her eyes made it worse. Her head rested on the floor and her arms laid behind, but by the way her wrists burned, she could only assume that they were tied together at one point.

She closed her eyes and tried to sit up. The human body was definitely not made to be hit in the head. (Y/N) thought back to her conversation with Tsukishima.

They had been back in his room after they finalized their plan. He had raised his hand to brush against her cheek, hesitating only a moment before dropping it. “There’s a good chance that they’ll knock you out.”

“You can’t really prepare for that, can you?”

He shook his head. “We’ll be right behind you.” He paused. “It’s not too late to back out. Everyone would understand if you did.”

“It wouldn’t end if I do.”

Tsukishima took a step forward, closing the gap between them. He hugged her tightly. “Then I need you to do three things for me.”

She nodded and rested her head against him. “If they want to know things about Karasuno and they try to...hurt you for it, tell them whatever it is. It’s not worth you.”

(Y/N) stifled a flinch. “Okay,” she whispered.

“The second,” he continued, “if there’s a chance where Yamaguchi could kill her, and you’re not putting yourself in harm's way, then try to stop him. If you can’t, then don’t.”

She furrowed her eyes together and took a step back. “Not to sound morbid or on the side of death, but why not?”

Tsukishima sighed. “When Yamaguchi brought Yukiji back to our attention, we tried to find all the information we could about her, the people she had dealt with, and the building she operates out of.”

He went to his nightstand and pulled out a photo. “Another gang that we work with, Neokoma, they’ve been tailing Yukiji for a bit because she’s been messing with their area too, probably as a way to gain more territory. Taking out someone big is a good way to have a strong reputation.

Tsukishima handed her the photo. Two girls stood outside a black brick building. One of them had pin-needle straight dark hair—Yukiji—and was viciously yelling at another person who had their head turned in the direction of the camera with their gaze on the ground, ashamed.

(Y/N) squinted and brought the photo closer. “The other girl kind of looks like Yamaguchi.”

“It’s Yamaguchi’s sister.”

(Y/N) blinked. “But I thought that she didn’t know anything about what Yamaguchi did, that she died because of what Yamaguchi did.”

Tsuksihima shrugged. “That’s what Yamaguchi said, but I asked my friend about it, and he said that she had been spotted with Yukiji for almost two years. Yamaguchi only joined a little more than six months ago. Maybe a part of her death was because of what he did, but it looks like she had a hand in her own death, too.”

“Have you told Yamaguchi about this?”

“No.”

“Kei, you know that you should.”

“I can’t,” he argued. “He already wants her dead. If I tell him this, then it’s going to make him doubt every single thing that his sister has done. And he can’t doubt and still do his part.”

She shook her head. “Has withholding information ever been a good thing?”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a good thing. He can hate me, but he has to be alive to hate me. With this information, it would make him reckless and unreliable. It could get him killed and you killed.”

(Y/N) handed the picture to him. “Why does she need to be alive?”

“She has the answers to all of the questions that Yamaguchi could have and if he kills her because his emotions clouded his judgement, he won’t realize that until it’s too late.” Tsukishima took the picture back and put it back on the nightstand. “And I think that killing her wouldn’t benefit him at all, it might make things worse for him.”

He reached out for (Y/N)’s hand. “Don’t tell him, okay? There might be a chance that Yukiji will throw it in his face, but I don’t think she’ll do much besides dangle it in front of him like bait.”

She sighed and tightened the grip on his hand. “You’re willing to risk that?”

“No plan is perfect. Sometimes we have to improvise.”

“And the third?”

“Please be careful. Please.”

The ringing in her head stopped. The noises outside the door grew louder. She couldn’t tell how much time had passed or if she had been going in and out of consciousness, but she did know that she didn’t want to stay here like a sitting duck.

She wanted to find Kei. If the footsteps outside were what she thought it was, then he could be here. She got up slowly, not wanting to risk the chance of standing up too fast and feeling light-headed. She took hold of the doorknob and leaned closer to the door, waiting for a lull of silence. When one came, she twisted it.

Nothing happened.

(Y/N) tried again and glared at it. Of course, it would be locked dumbass.

She heard a close gunshot and jumped back. The room she was in was completely bare, nothing to help her break out or defend herself with if someone came into the room—there weren't any windows, just the door.

(Y/N) walked back into the center of the room. She froze as she saw the doorknob jiggle. If it was someone with a gun or a knife then she didn’t have much of a chance. Tsukishima only taught her how to defend herself when someone was attacking her. But if Yukiji wanted to kill her, she probably would have by now.

The door moved again. As quickly as she could, (Y/N) laid back down on the ground where she originally woke up. If it was someone on Yukiji’s side checking on her, they’d just look in close the door again. If it was someone else, then they would have to come closer to her and if they touched her, she could try and handle it from there.

Tsukishima said that once they were inside the building, someone would come to find her and bring her out. But she couldn’t be sure that the person on the other side of the down was trying to prevent her death or make it happen faster.

She heard the creak of the door. The gunfire had stopped, distance shouting had taken its place. The footsteps neared her and stopped in front of her. She felt their breath on her skin as they placed fingers on her neck.

Her eyes flew open and met a pair that she didn’t realize. With surprise on her side, she turned her body, hooked her ankle around his, and pulled. The man fell on his back with a groan.

(Y/N) got up and bolted to the door.

“Wait,” he called, “Tsukki sent me.”

She stopped. “What?”

“Yeah,” he said, getting up. He rubbed the back of his head—a messy black head of hair. He was a little taller than Tsukishima and despite the hard fall, he had a lazy grin on his face. A read jacket clung to his body. “I probably should have led with that. Sorry. I’m Kuroo from—”

“Nekoma,” she finished. Tsukishima had told them that they were getting help from someone he knew. If Yukiji expects us to do it alone, then we don’t. “Tsukishima sent you? Where is he?”

Kuroo shook his head. “I’m supposed to take you out of the building. He was very clear about that. And if he’s going to not kill me for throwing him a surprise birthday, I’d like to be in his good graces.”

He strode up to her. “Come on.”

(Y/N) backed away. “No. I’m going to find Kei. So, you can either come with me or let me wonder on my own.”

Kuroo laughed. “I like you. He’s at the other end of the hallway.”

“Is it...safe? To go out?”

“As safe as possible. Tsukki was right, there weren’t many of them, but we still have some people checking the rest of the building just in case.” He shrugged, walked to the door, and opened it for her. “There could be an axe murderer lurking around the corner though.”

“Good luck with the birthday party,” she said, peeking her head through the door and to either side of the hallway. (Y/N) spotted Kageyama, Hinata, and a boy with dyed blond ends peering through a door on the opposite end. “I’m sure he’ll love that.”

Tsukishima stepped in front of the gun. “Yamaguchi. Don’t.”

He had been right about Yukiji. From the intel he gathered, along with Neokma’s, he knew that she was bluffing. Sure, she had a smart mind, making her gang seem as though it was bigger than it was—grouping the same people together and splitting them up, making them think as though they were a specific team and there were more groups like them, but in reality not having more than twenty-five people.

He was certain that she would take them back to the building she occupied and not some other location. The resources that Tsukishima had came from time and connections and a new gang like Yukiji’s couldn’t afford a secondary location.

The one thing that was less predictable was Yamaguchi. He couldn’t control how much Yukiji could tell him or how Yamaguchi would react. Tsukishima could only assume that he would react either badly or really badly.

It was a calculated risk.

Tsukishima couldn’t be sure what rooms they would be held in either. He directed Kuroo to take the end closest to the garage while he took the other.

He hoped that he would find (Y/N), but finding Yamaguchi might have been better.

Kageyama, Hinata, and himself took care of the guards at the door. Once Tsukishima found the key on the guard’s belt, he ordered the two to stand guard. He saw Yukiji standing over a slumped body in a chair with a half bloody baseball bat in her hand.

Tsukishima raised his gun and fired. Yukiji dropped her bat and gripped her shoulder. He ran towards them, making it just before she could reach her own gun. He grabbed her area and twisted it. She shouted and he brought the butt of his gun down on the back of her head.

He turned and focused on Yamaguchi. It looked like he took some hits to the body and maybe a punch to the face. His shirt had droplets of blood on them, but he looked otherwise okay.

Tsukishima untied his wrists and ankles. “Yamaguchi?”

Yamaguchi’s head raised. “Did you know?”

He didn’t have to specify.

“Only the bare bones.”

“You should have told me.”

“I’ll tell you after we get back to Karasuno and find (Y/N).”

Something like a growl came from Yamaguchi. He tackled Tsukishima to the ground and grabbed his fallen gun. Yamaguchi stubbled up, leaning chained the chair he was tied to for supposed. He aimed it at Yukiji. Yamaguchi's hands were shaking, causing the gun to make a rattling sound. He looked drunk, but to Tsukishima he only looked unpredictable and dangerous.

Tsukishima got to his feet. “Yamaguchi.”

“She killed my sister. She was about to tell me something about her and then she started hitting me with that.” He jutted out his chin to the fallen bat. “I want her gone.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

Yamaguchi glared at him, his hand stilling for a moment.

Tsukishima raised his hands and stepped in front of the gun. “Yamaguchi. Don’t.”

“Tsukishima,” Kageyama called warningly.

“It’s fine,” Tsukishima said. He met Yamaguchi’s gaze. “I can’t let you kill her.”

“Why the hell not.”

“Please, don’t,” said a soft voice from behind them.

(Y/N) walked into the room with Kuroo behind her. Tsukishima let out a breath. She’s okay. Her eyes were wide and trained on the gun that was in between himself and Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima glared at Kuroo. “You’re supposed to talk her back to Karasuno.”

“You didn’t tell me how scary she was,” Kuroo countered. “She tripped me when I found her and then lectured me all the way down the hallway. She also threatened to wander around the building by herself. What was I supposed to do? Tackle her?”

“Yes.” Tsukishima could feel himself smiling.

“Yamaguchi,” (Y/N) said. She threw an irritated glance at Tsukishima and took a step forward. “Put the gun down.”

Yamaguchi shook. “My sister would have—”

“Your sister is dead,” (Y/N) said firmly. Yamaguchi whipped his gaze to her and so did Tsukishima. What was she doing?

“Your sister is dead,” she said again.

“Stop saying that,” Yamaguchi shouted.

“You told me that the choices you make are your own. I’ve never met your sister, but would she want to have your conscience burdened with killing someone?”

Tsukishima looked down.

(Y/N) took another forward. “You told me that you wouldn’t hurt anyone unnecessarily. I know that you hate Yukiji, but her death is unnecessary. It will hurt Tsukishima because I know he’s going to try to stop you. It will hurt me. And it will hurt you. Don’t let Yukiji control your life anymore.”

Yamaguchi looked back at him. Tsukishima nodded once, confirming that he would try to stop him even if he was the one with the gun. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, but as I said, I only know the bare bones of the situation. The only person who can answer all of your questions is Yukiji. Once she does that, you can choose what we do from there.”

Yamaguchi looked at (Y/N) again and then threw the gun across the room. “I expect you to keep that promise.” He turned around and walked out.

After everyone was back at Karasuno, Sugawara took it upon himself to check everyone. Only Azumane and Kinoshita had major injuries—Azumane with a gunshot wound to the shoulder and Kinoshita with one to the leg. Everyone else only had minor injuries.

Once he checked (Y/N), he told her that she looked okay, but to take it easy just in case—not heavy lifting or strenuous brain activity and to get lots of rest. If she felt even a little bit sick, she was to go to the doctor or come see Sugawara again.

“You can stay here if you want,” Tsukishima offered.

(Y/N) hesitated. “Thanks, but I think I want to sleep in my own bed.”

Tsukishima nodded. He felt like something was off; he couldn’t put his finger on it though. He drove her back to her shop, stopping a few blocks away from it. Yukiji might not be a threat anymore, but he didn’t want to give anyone who might be watching them any ideas.

“Walk with me?” (Y/N) asked.

“Of course.”

“Exciting day,” Tsukishima said, opening the car door for her.

“More like a terrifying day,” (Y/N) suggested.

“Like I said, exciting.”

Silently, they walked hand-in-hand down the street. Occasionally, she would bump her arms against his playfully. They were a little bit away from the store when (Y/N) stopped. Her eyes were shadowed and shiny.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t want to lie to you, but I feel like I am.” (Y/N) took a deep breath. She took his other hand.

“(Y/N)—”

“Wait,” she said. “Let me finish or else I’m never going to say it.”

He nodded slowly.

“When I was in there, I wasn’t worried because I knew you would come. Plan or not, I just knew. I thought that I would be scared, but nothing was as terrifying as seeing Yamaguchi hold that gun to you.”

He swallowed. “He wasn’t going to put the trigger.”

“It doesn’t matter. I know what I want, Kei,” (Y/N) said, “and I want you. But I can’t live knowing that you are going—or could—die at any time. It makes me feel so scared all of the time. I thought I could do it, but I can’t.”

“I could quit,” he said quickly. “I’ll quit and let Sawamura take over.”

(Y/N) smiled. “You can’t and we both know that. You love what you do and I know you can’t hand it off like it’s nothing.”

Tsukishima didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to tell her that she was right. He couldn’t give up something that he’d spent most of his life bundling up to. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. “You’re breaking up with me then?”

(Y/N) let go of his hands and smiled. “If you ever decide that you want differently —truly want differently— and you could live with yourself without the inevitable violence or putting yourself in harm's way, you know where I’ll be.”

“(Y/N),” Tsukishima whispered. “Please.”

(Y/N) sniffed and hastily wiped the tears off her cheeks. She took a step forward and placed her hands on either side of his face. She looked at him for a moment. Tsukishima saw a lot in her eyes. Sadness and happiness. Clarity and uncertainty. He saw his future before him; far away, but it was there, like a street light at the end of a dark road. Small, but something that he could work towards.

She tilted her head up and placed a final kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes. He wanted to remember every breath and touch, every moment that wouldn’t happen until he found his way back. Please don’t let this end. Please let me stay here. Please.

(Y/N) pulled back. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “Take care of yourself, Kei.”

She walked a few steps away.

“I’ll wait for you,” he said, “until I’m ready and you’re ready; I will wait.”

(Y/N) turned back and smiled. She shook her head. “No. Don’t do that for me. If you can be happy, then be happy. I don’t want you to miss out on anything life has to offer you because you deserve too much to let it go.”

“I didn’t say that you have to.” Tsukishima laughed. “But I will,” he said, “You’re worth the wait.”

Tsukishima watched her go.

Epilogue

Tsukishima sighed and opened the file in front of him. When he took this job, he didn’t expect there to be so much paperwork. He expected no paperwork, but, at the time, he clearly didn’t understand how hard it was to put up a good fake business.

He missed (Y/N). She made everything seem lighter and easier. He drove to her store sometimes, waiting at his usual spot a few blocks up the street. He wasn’t sure about no-longer-in-a-relationship etiquette, but he was sure that showing up at her store was not the way to go.

Even after the first week passed, he thought that the feeling of missing her would go away, but it never did. Tsukishima waited another month, and the feeling only grew.

His gaze drifted to the empty vase on the corner of his desk. If she were still here, there would be flowers in that vase.

“Tsukishima?” Sawamura stood at the door, his hands behind his back.

“Is he still down there?”

“He hasn’t left.”

They had taken Yukiji back to Karasuno. She was in one of the old rooms that they used to hold people in before they got their secondary locations. The few times they tried talking to her, she had only smirked and looked away.

Yamaguchi hadn’t left the guarding door, the one that led to the compartment of rooms that Yukiji was in. It was as if he was afraid of her getting away. He wanted answers and the only person who could give them to him wouldn’t say anything.

Tsukishima might have to talk to her. He avoided that part of their building. Maybe he could make a deal of some kind and get her to talk. Maybe it would ease Yamaguchi’s mind.

Sawamura walked up to his desk.

Tsukishima looked up at him. “Sawamura?”

“Yes?”

“How would you feel about leading Karasuno?”

Sawamura’s eyebrows jumped up. “Really?”

“Not today, maybe not even soon, but one day. I still have to finish some stuff here. You have everyone’s respect, you have mine, and you practically run this place anyways.”

Once the shock was off, Sawamura looked steady at him. He could see the wheels turning in his brain, wondering why he was offering such a job. But if he noticed anything, he didn’t say it.

“I would be honoured.”

Tsukishima nodded. “Good. Did you need something?”

Sawamura smiled and brought out a bouquet of flowers from behind him. Tsukishima stilled. Red roses.

“These were in front of the hidden entrance. It’s addressed to you.”

Tsukishima took them and turned them over in his hand. He could picture (Y/N) making them, sitting behind her counter and carefully wrapping them.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Sawamura said and left the room.

Tsukishima flipped over the note. He smiled at the familiar loops of (Y/N)’s hard writing. He looked back down at the roses on his table and reached over towards the empty vase that sat on the corner of his desk.

Maybe he would consider his retirement as the leader of Karasuno earlier, just to hear her laugh, see her smile. He promised her that he would take his time and maybe he would too. Either way, he got up and went to fill up the vase, knowing that whatever he chose to do, a happy ending was waiting for him.

Red Roses

Love runs through our veins to our heart

And my heart is always opened to you

(Y/N)

Hi :) I’m bacckk

Maybe I’m on a Taylor Swift kick (with the release of love story and soon fearless (fearless is probably out by the time I finish) but I always think/listen to Sparks Fly (“my mind forgets to remind me that you’re a bad idea”) when I write this lsdkjfla anyways….

Did I name the character Yukiji halfway through writing this because I finished Kamisama Kiss? Yes, yes I did. Do I absolutely adore Tomoe? Yes, yes I do.

Also: to anyone who has requested something in early September (?) to November (?) ish (maybe even earlier) and it fell into my portion of requests, I’m so sorry for the wait. They will be up before the end of summer though or hopefully sooner, but I’ll take special care in writing them so that they can be the best they can be. Summer will be full of writing.

Thank you for waiting.

I hope that you enjoyed this last bit of the story. Even if it was written over a long period of time (sorry if it doesn’t feel continuous or feels weird (?) this is the first thing I’ve written for a while that’s not academic so it might not be the best...)...I’m not sorry about the ending through kdjfs I think that it would be too easy if everything had a clear-cut happy ending, but if you ask me, they do end up together fully in the happy ending they created for themselves. They just need a bit more time. Sorry about the info dump too...I’m working on that...and if it felt like it fell flat? It felt like that to me...

I had the most fun writing these ones. My knowledge of flowers has grown exponentially and I kind of love flowers now -Kiwi

Ahhehehe Downcline. Now I have to beet Kiwi again for the longest fic TT. though I know just the one that might do it ~Bacon

I would laugh but I would be the one to edit it skjdfk - Kiwi

Posted: 02/05/2021

#tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei x reader #Haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #x reader #oneshot #oneshots #haikyuu oneshots #haikyuu reader insert #reader insert #aus #haikyuu aus #fluff #haikyu #haikyu x reader #anime x reader #anime

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imagine-loki · 3 years

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Triple Threat, Chapter 1 (Sequel to Trust)

TITLE: Triple Threat CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 1 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki kidnaps Darcy Lewis, in hopes of getting the tesseract in return for her. Imagine his surprise when he grows rather fond of the mortal, finding that she understands him better than anyone else ever has. RATING: M

SUMMARY: Darcy and Loki were enjoying their life, still annoying the Avengers. But one day, Loki from another timeline appears. After causing some mischief, he tells them that Jane is compromised with the aether and under Thanos’ control. And he needs their help.

Now Darcy not only has TWO Loki’s to deal with, but also a deranged and tortured Jane who’s much more powerful than she should be.

But they have to find her first.

Darcy was late. Ohhh so late.

She ran as fast as she could out of the compound with her bag over her shoulder, Thor, Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Loki were waiting at the Bifrost site.

‘Sorry! I’m sorry! I couldn’t find my contacts and got up late.’ She said out of breath as she slammed into Loki’s side, he slipped his arm around her waist to steady her.

It had been almost six months since Loki and Darcy realised they couldn’t love anyone else. Although, whilst they tried going on proper dates together, they found it wasn’t really them. The whole romance thing.

The Avengers didn’t really know what to make of them both. Loki and Darcy didn’t like it when they were called boyfriend and girlfriend, and to the team they were just like they were before. Mischievous and a bit annoying. But the team knew that no one else would get a look in at either of them now, that was for sure.

Did Darcy love Loki? Yes, she did. She wouldn’t ever hesitate to say she did. And Loki felt the same. They already had a strong foundation built together. Had they added very regular sex to the mix? Hell yes! Did Loki want to kill every man that even just looked at Darcy in a flirtatious way? Of course!

But they were comfortable and happy with what they were. Whatever it was.

‘You’re late.’ Loki drawled.

‘Well, someone failed to wake me up!’ She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes.

‘I’m not your alarm clock, it’s not my duty to wake you.’

‘It is when you’re the reason I was up most of the night. I was walking like John Wayne when I got up. It would’ve been polite to at least wake me.’ She huffed.

‘Eww. Too much information!’ Tony said as he pulled a face.

Loki just looked very smug.

‘Exciting night, huh?’ Natasha smirked at Darcy.

‘Hell yeah!’ Darcy grinned.

Loki chuckled and squeezed Darcy’s side, just as Thor called for Heimdall to open the Bifrost. Whisking them all up to Asgard.

Asgard and Midgard were working together, sharing science and technology. Tony and Bruce were able to take their inventions to completely new levels, while Asgard learned a thing or two from the scientist mortals.

So trips to the golden city were quite regular. Darcy went along whenever Loki went. Frigga was always so happy to see her, even Odin was starting to warm up to her, too. He was also trying with Loki, attempting to make amends for not being a great father. Loki didn’t make it easy, but Darcy kept telling him off and told him to try and at least be civil.

When they arrived, horses were waiting for them on the Bifrost. Tony and Bruce couldn’t get used to riding the horses, they were worse than Darcy had been her first time. They stuck to a very slow walk and took forever. Natasha was a natural rider, which didn’t surprise Darcy or Loki.

Darcy ended up having a favourite horse, a lovely grey mare, she was a gentle giant. Loki always helped her up, often flinging her too far so she would fall off the other side. That would usually end up with Darcy withholding sex for a day or two.

Luckily, he didn’t do that this time. He winked at her as he got onto his horse and the two went galloping ahead as normal. Thor and Natasha raced up after them with Tony and Bruce slowly lagging behind.

‘Hey, Birger! How’s it going?’ Darcy asked when they reached the stables and Birger was on duty just outside.

‘Good morning, Darcy.’ He took hold of the reins for her while she dismounted. ‘You’re getting better at riding, I see.’ He grinned.

‘Yeah it’s getting easier. Soon I’ll be bale to beat this one’s ass.’ She smirked and motioned to Loki who came up beside her.

Loki poked her side playfully. ‘Unlikely.’

‘You never know, My Prince. This mare is one of the fastest in the stables.’ Birger laughed.

Loki narrowed his eyes at Birger and then Darcy. ‘You’re turning Birger to the dark side. Stop!’ Loki put his hand over Darcy’s face with a chuckle.

Birger took Darcy and Loki’s horses from them, just as Thor and Natasha caught up with them. They knew the other two would take forever, so the four of them went inside and headed straight for the banquet hall.

Sif and the warriors three were there. They were pleased to see everyone, more so Thor. But Sif had a soft spot for Darcy, they got along well after they first met when Darcy and Loki visited for a week. Sif was secretly giving Darcy some fighting lessons, she wanted to surprise Loki.

Darcy had remembered when Jane told her about Sif, how she seemed stuck up and rather snippy with her. But Darcy had a feeling it was because Sif had a crush on Thor. So of course she would have been jealous of Jane.

‘Where’s the science dudes?’ Sif asked as everyone sat down to eat.

‘Probably still halfway across the Bifrost.’ Loki smirked.

‘Perhaps we should get them a carriage next time. Or take one of the ships.’ Thor suggested with a mouthful.

‘What are they hoping to achieve this trip anyway?’ Darcy asked as she filled her plate up with various meat and vegetables. She LOVED the food on Asgard.

‘Weren’t you listening in class?’ Loki rumbled, raising his eyebrow at her with a playful smile.

‘I was probably too busy staring at your ass.’ She shrugged.

Loki laughed while the others rolled their eyes.

‘I believe they’re hoping to finally get some of the magic from the healers into some kind of containment, so they can take it back home and study it properly. Change into something we can use. It would help speed up healing so much.’ Natasha said.

‘At least she listens in class.’ Loki teased Darcy, who then proceeded to stick her tongue out at him.

‘So childish.’ Loki tutted at her.

By the time Bruce and Tony joined them, the rest of them had stuffed themselves full and went to their chambers to get unpacked.

‘I’m gonna hang out with Sif while you are doing science with the others.’ Darcy said to Loki once they were sorted in his chambers. She was tying her hair up in a bun at the mirror.

Loki walked over to her and slipped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head as he looked at her in the mirror.

‘What do you two get up to together? Hmm?’ He asked.

‘Girl stuff.’ Darcy shrugged.

Loki raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. But he took her to meet Sif before heading off to the healer’s room himself to meet Natasha, Tony and Bruce.

As soon as Loki was out of sight, Sif took Darcy outside to the training area. She kitted her out with some basic armour, a shield and a sword.

‘Have you been practising the steps?’ Sif asked as she took out her own sword.

‘Yep. Well, whenever Loki is out of the way.’

‘Have you heard from Jane lately?’ Sif asked when they started doing some simple blocking moves, Darcy was able to step away and use the sword or shield to block any attacks from Sif.

‘Nope, nothing. It’s like she’s just vanished off the face of the earth.’ Darcy sighed.

‘Weird. I thought she was in love with Thor, she always seemed head over heels for him when they visited. Have you asked Heimdall to check in on her?’

‘Nah. She was such a bitch towards me and Loki ever since I was kidnapped by him in the first place. It’s up to her to come to me, if she wants to make amends.’ Darcy then took a jab towards Sif, surprising the female warrior and hitting her chest armour. But she was impressed.

‘Ohh, sneaky. You’ve been practising more than just your steps.’ She grinned.

‘Sure have!’ Darcy said triumphantly.

‘When are you going to show Loki your new skills?’

‘Tomorrow. I want to surprise him by asking him to teach me some moves. Speaking of which, can we work on tackling? I want to try taking him down.’ Darcy said as she stopped to catch her breath for a moment.

Sif laughed and put her arm around Darcy’s shoulders. ‘You really think you’ll be able to knock Loki down?’

Darcy shrugged. ‘I’m hoping the element of surprise will help me.’

‘Good luck with that. Loki is the champ of deception and he is NOT easy to take down, even though he doesn’t look very strong.’ Sif said.

‘Tell me about it. He can lift me with ease with one arm, uses me for weightlifting practice.’ Darcy huffed.

‘Sounds just like the old Loki really is back.’ Sif laughed.

‘Did he hang out with you guys when you were little?’ Darcy asked, they took a seat on a bench for a while to chat.

‘Not often. He was more into books and his magic. A bit of a loner. But I guess we didn’t help the fact by teasing and making fun of him, he was Thor’s little brother, that’s how we saw him. I feel bad now, knowing about his true heritage and everything he’s been through. But there were times his mischievousness shone through and he would join in sometimes.’

Darcy nodded. ‘He did tell me that he struggled because you would all fight with brute strength more than anything. While he prefers more skilled combat, using his magic and tricks.’

‘He is a highly skilled sorcerer, always has been after Frigga’s teachings. I think in a way, we were probably more intimidated by his skills than anything, which likely made things worse. There aren’t many people like him out there.’

‘There certainly isn’t. Which is probably a good thing, one Loki is enough to deal with.’ Darcy laughed and hopped back up to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s fight!’

That night, Darcy was getting ready for bed.

‘Hey, Loks. Can you poof me up my toothbrush? I forgot to pack it.’ She said as she rummaged through her bag.

‘Already in the bathroom.’ Loki said, he was in bed already, reading a book.

When Darcy headed into the bathroom, she smiled as she saw it was indeed there. Next to Loki’s in a little cup by the sink.

‘I used it to clean the toilet when we arrived.’ He called through to her when she started brushing her teeth.

Darcy popped her head round the door to look at him, brush sticking out of her mouth. ‘Yeah? Well I used yours to clean my ass. So guess that makes us even!’ She grinned and disappeared to the sink again.

Loki rolled his eyes and chuckled. ‘You can be so disgusting sometimes.’ He said loud enough for her to hear.

‘Right back at you!’ She shouted through.

He had just put his book down when Darcy came through to join him in bed. She jumped on top of him, he chuckled and let out a fake oomph.

‘Have you put on a little weight?’ He asked as he poked her sides.

‘Hey! That’s not a very nice way of flirting.’ Darcy scowled at him.

Loki smirked and ran his hands up and down her upper arms, squeezing her biceps. ‘You’ve got more muscles…’ He hummed. ‘Why have I not noticed this?’

Darcy rolled off him to the side. ‘Maybe because you’re too focused on other aspects of my body.’ She grinned and started un-buttoning her pyjama top, hoping to quickly get his mind off her new muscles.

‘Mmm… indeed.’ Loki purred and rolled on top of her.

#Loki #God of Mischief #Submitted fic #submission #triple threat #chapter 1 #fanfichiddles

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franklyshipping · 4 years

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Practice Makes Perfect ~ A Markiplier Ego Fanfic

HERE WE HAVE ANOTHER WONDERFUL ANON PROMPT THAT INCLUDES ONE OF MY FAVE HEROES EVER AND SOMEONE THAT I HAVEN’T WRITTEN IN A WHILE! LET’S DO THIS!

TAGGING: @silvlee-shepherd

Harold B. Darrensworth liked to think he was in the know about a great many things. Colour co-ordination, how to be punctual without fail, how to hoover and dust correctly, and especially when it came to the laws of the land. However, there were still so many things that he wanted to know and understand, especially now that he lived with this strange myriad of a community wherein half of the people had the same face that he did. They were a very social bunch, and slowly but surely Harold was trying to be social too, and there was one particular activity that bonded this community more than anything else. Tickling.

Now unfortunately, Harold didn’t have much experience when it came to social cues and experiences and the like, tickling included, and he desperately wanted to learn about these things! Mainly, he wanted to learn how to tickle someone properly so he could partake in making his fellow egos happy….as well as to maybe persuade them to do a few extra chores around the manor. So Harold had decided to seek out someone who he figured would be an expert, someone who had been on the receiving end of every single tickler in the household. The great hero himself, Silver Shepherd. Harold decided to head to the hero’s room first, and luckily the hero was in, lying on his bed and just relaxing his day away. Harold took a light breath, before knocking on the door.

‘A-Ahem, Silver? It’s Harold, might I come in?’

Silver sat up with a smile, and called out.

‘Yeah of course! What’s up bud?’

Harold smiled at how jovial Silver was as he entered and shut the door behind him, and he beamed gratefully when Silver patted the bed, inviting him to sit. Harold sat by him as he replied.

‘I am very well….but I am in need of some help with something, and I think that you may be the only person who can assist me.’

Silver’s eyes widened in curiosity, and he immediately perked up, giving Harold his full attention. Whenever anyone needed help, they always became Silver’s top priority.

‘Of course, what can I help with? Whatever it is I’ll do my very best to do whatever I can!’

Harold smiled, because Silver never ceased to be the most selfless person in the room. Harold took a breath, before replying.

‘I require help….with tickling.’

Silver’s face went a little bit pink from hearing that ah….word, but he tried to keep his cool as he cleared his throat.

‘Uh ti-….t-tickling?’

Harold nodded, and cleared his throat as he elaborated.

‘Yes, tickling. It has become incredibly clear to me that tickling is the most prominent social interaction that we, the egos, tend to be involved in with one another. Now, I know that I do enjoy it, but I have very little experience when it comes to actually administering tickling on somebody else. I want to learn how I can tickle properly so that I may interact with people more, since even though practically everyone is a disorganised, lawless mess, I do enjoy everybody very much.’

Silver’s expression softened a he listened, and he almost felt ready to cry at how Harold wanted to put so much effort into interacting with people properly and being more social, because he knows how daunting that can be for someone who hasn’t been used to people for a long time. Silver beamed at him encouragingly, because he so badly wanted to help.

‘That’s such a sweet goal, and I really want to help! What is it that you’d like me to do?’

Now, Silver was expecting Harold to ask him to perhaps tickle him and show him different tickling techniques….but Silver’s blush ended up darkening when Harold replied with his suggestion.

‘Well, logically if I am to be an adept tickler I must practise on somebody. This person must be incredibly ticklish, enjoy being tickled, and have had experience receiving tickling from every potential other tickler in the household. You, Silver, are by far the most tickled ego by my calculations, so I can think of no-one better to hone my skills upon! I believe you will be able to properly advise me on my techniques and warn me against doing anything that is accidentally inappropriate or not part of tickling etiquette. Will you help me by letting me tickle you?’

Harold was looking at Silver hopefully, fidgeting with his shirt sleeves as he watched Silver gape and descend into thought. Well, in truth Silver was trying to just process all his flustered feelings that had arisen from the unintentional teasy things that Harold had said to him. Of course though, Silver was certainly not going to say no to being tickled, especially since it was for such a good cause! So, after a few moments, Silver smiled bashfully and nodded, and tried (and failed) to keep his stammers at bay.

‘W-Wehell I-….I-I’d l-love to help…..o-of course you can t-….tickle me Harold.’

Harold gasped, and practically started wriggling with elation as he replied in a frantic, excited manner.

‘Oh-thank you! Thank you so much! You won’t regret this! Ah, how do we begin, can we begin now?!’

Silver giggled endearingly at Harold’s cute excitement, before replying with an excited smile of his own.

‘Yeheah yeah we can, o-okay so uhm….I-I’m going to lie down, a-and you should probably just sit on my legs so uhm….s-so you have a good vantage point….’

‘Okay!’

Harold eagerly replied, and waited for Silver to lie back down properly before he took off his shoes and then carefully perched himself on top of Silver’s thighs. Harold got himself settled, before looking down at Silver brightly.

‘Is this comfortable for you Silver?’

Silver smiled and nodded up at him.

‘Yeah, yeah it’s good. Also that’s really good of you, asking after my wellbeing, that’s a-always really important.’

Harold beamed at the fact that he’d already done something right, and made a mental note of the factor, before Silver continued.

‘But the uh, the most important thing is actually knowing when to stop, so that the whole thing stays fun and perfect. So, generally the person being uh….t-tickled will choose a special word. A short word that, i-if they say it, is the point blank sign to stop, no matter what. B-Because a lot of the time t-ticklees will say the word “stop” r-reflexively, without a-actually meaning it.’

Harold happily nodded along, taking in all the new information with great interest and care, since he was so eager to learn.

‘That makes excellent sense, prioritising safety in the situation, I like that very much! What is your special stop word?’

‘Mine is Red.’

Silver replied with a giddy smile as Harold nodded, before Harold started rolling up his sleeves.

‘Red, noted! So is there a certain place I should begin at, or may I start to tickle at any place I choose? Also, are there any places that you do not wish me to touch? Aside from obvious intimate areas of course.’

Silver replied with a bright giggle.

‘Yohou can start wherever y-you want uhm….there’s nowhere that makes me uncomfortable a-as such but ah, i-if you decide to g-go near my navel y-you need to be extra c-careful. If you’re t-too rough then i-it can be really unpleasant.’

Harold smiled in understanding, he understood very well that some tickle spots can be so hyper-sensitive that anything other than a feather touch can be horrible. He replied in a caring voice.

‘Since I am as of yet inexperienced I shall avoid your bellybutton, so there is no chance of me making you uncomfortable. Okay….hmm…..where to start where to start….’

Harold spoke reassuringly, before trailing off with a murmur, and Silver now started to squirm as Harold’s analytical eyes gently flicked over his body. Harold took a good few moments to think, just because there were so many potential tickle spots on the human body that it was very hard to pick where to start! Then though, Harold decided on a simple methodology, and smiled and clapped his hands.

‘Alright, I shall simply start from the top and work my way down!’

Silver let out a gasp when Harold then reached for him, and started stroking up and down the sides of his neck experimentally with his fingertips. Of course, with Silver being Silver, he started to giggle immediately.

‘O-Ohohoho my g-gohohosh….’

Harold beamed at Silver’s reaction, his eyes lighting up at the fact that he’d already made Silver giggle and they’d barely freaking begun the tickling!

‘My goodness, you’re already giggling! So you’re ticklish here?’

Silver nodded, nibbling his lip bashfully as he replied.

‘Y-Yehehes I-I ahaham….’

Harold kept up the gentle tickling at the sides of Silver’s neck, and cocked his head down at the hero as he commented happily.

‘Your giggles are very sweet Silver, I can see why the others tickle you so often!’

Silver squeaked with flustered embarrassment and spluttered cutely.

‘H-Hehehey d-dohon’t tehease mehe!’

Then, in a similarly cute fashion, Harold furrowed his eyebrows in confusion down at Silver.

‘Tease you? I didn’t mean to tease you, I only meant to compliment you.’

And for Silver, that made it even worse, knowing that Harold hadn’t even been trying to tease him. Silver scrunched his neck as he whined through his giggling.

‘C-Cohohomplimehents lihike that ahare teheheasy!’

Harold blinked in surprise at this revelation, but knew that teasing and tickling very much came hand in hand, and therefore that teasing was a good thing! He smiled and had mercy on Silver’s neck, before replying matter-of-factly.

‘In that case, I shall tell you some more! Did you know Silver, that you have incredibly endearing dimples when you smile?’

Silver yipped in surprise, and hurriedly hid his face in his hands, grinning as he stuttered.

‘H-Harold sh-shuhush!’

‘I most certainly will not! Did you also know that the way you blush so fast is incredibly cute and unique?’

Silver then started whining incoherently into his hands, which made Harold gently laugh. Harold found that he was enjoying teasing Silver just as much as he enjoyed tickling him, using his words to fluster him so much was incredibly enjoyable, which meant he continued to eagerly croon.

‘And I especially think it’s sweet how your tummy twitches when you laugh.’

Harold poked Silver’s tummy gently as a way of emphasising his point, which ended up making the hero yelp. Harold noticed of course, and grinned at his discovery of the new tickle spot….and decided that it would be the next perfect place to continue honing his skills.

‘In fact, I think I’ll tickle this tummy of yours!’

He stated brightly, making Silver hold his breath in giddy nervousness, before he let it out in a splutter as the hero descended into loud, airy laughter. Harold had started experimentally skittering over and poking Silver’s tummy, and by his mirth Harold surmised that the hero was incredibly ticklish there.

‘OHOHO MY GAHAHAD HAHAROLD!’

Harold chuckled gently at Silver’s exclamation, keeping up the tickling as he replied.

‘You seem much more ticklish here than you were at your neck, is my analysis correct?’

‘Y-YEHEHES-OHO FRIHIHICK!’

Harold giggled in amusement, especially when Silver’s hands started to flap about, and Harold commented on it playfully as he kept up the tummy tickling.

‘What are you doing Silver? Are you attempting to dance or to fly, I can’t quite tell.’

Silver snorted cutely, and spluttered with indignant embarrassment through his laughter.

‘D-DOHOHON’T BEHE CHEHEHEEKY!’

Harold grinned at that, and now scratched specifically at the sides of Silver’s tummy as he replied in a half-nonchalant, half-teasy tone which Harold thought would fluster Silver immensely.

‘But being cheeky seems to make you blush more, and besides, I fail to see how you can stop me….you seem to be at my mercy Silver, would that be fair to say?’

Harold was right of course, his tone of voice and wording really got to Silver. Needless to say, Harold was one of the best amateur ticklers ever, and Silver had to admit that he was certainly at Harold’s mercy right now. Especially since the sides of his tummy were monolithically ticklish and had him squealing.

‘EEEE-OHOMYGOHOD YESYES OHOKAY I AHAM!!’

Harold beamed, feeling very proud that he’d managed to get Silver to admit it aloud, and he was feeling oh so happy and confident with his tickling abilities. Then, he raised an eyebrow down at Silver, still tickling him as he spoke.

‘Would you say that I am a good tickler then? Based on the fact that I have you at my mercy?’

Silver snorted again with embarrassment through his laughter, his dimples fully on show along with his sweet smile as he nodded and wriggled about, trying desperately to stay strong and not fight back instinctively.

‘YEHEHES YEHEHEHES!!’

Harold was thoroughly enjoying tickling Silver like this, and decided to move his scratching fingertips down to Silver’s waist. Harold let out a chuckle when Silver yelped and bucked, before throwing his head back with mirth.

‘Gohoodness Silver, is there anywhere you’re not ticklish? You must have the most unruly nervous system in humanity.’

Silver hit his bedcovers with his fists as he writhed, laughing hysterically now as he got happy tears in his eyes from all the tickling….Harold was just too freaking good!

‘IHIHIHI DOHOHOHO NAHAHAHAT!!!’

‘Oh I beg to differ! I’m not even tickling you intensely and you’re so hysterical! It’s adorable!’

Silver tossed his head about as he laughed, his face and neck a furious red from his flusteredness from all the surprisingly effective teasing and tickling. As a result, Silver had now reached the end of his tether for the day, and called out giddily as his face scrunched up cutely.

‘REHEHEHED REHEHED!!!’

Harold gaped and immediately stopped, looking down at Silver with a half-smiled. He was elated from tickling Silver, but also a little anxious to see if he was okay after saying his safe-word. Harold fiddled with his fingers as he cleared his throat.

‘Are ah…..are you a-alright Silver?’

Silver was panting and giggling residually, and of course didn’t hesitate to nod as he smiled up at Harold so damn happily.

‘Haharold Daharrensworth…..yohou are the b-best ahamateur t-tickler ehever!’

Harold gaped and went pink with happy bashfulness, letting out a laugh as he felt his heart swell at the compliment. He’d done good. On his first time, he’d done good, he’d done the right things and kept it all happy and fun…..he was a good tickler after all. Silver had loved it, and so had Harold. Harold slid off of Silver’s legs, and cleared his throat again as he smiled at Silver.

’So ah….what do we do now?’

Silver smiled, and made Harold yelp by pulling him down next to him and wrapping his arms around him.

‘Now, we cuddle, which fyi is completely mandatory.’

Harold giggled at that and happily snuggled Silver. Harold felt so happy. Because yes, the one on the receiving end of the tickling is the person being made to smile and laugh….but never underestimate how happy someone can become when they lovingly coax out that laughter. It is one of the most fulfilling things in the world.

WOOOO HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THIS FIC LEMME KNOW IF YA DID WOOOO LUV YOUS XX

#markiplier #markiplier egos #silver shepherd #silver #harold b darrensworth #harold darrensworth #harold #sfw #prompt #platonic #ego fic #ego fanfic #tickle fic #tickle fanfic #tickle #tickles #tickling #ticklish #luv these bois

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vajranam · 3 years

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Milarepa

The story of how Jetsun Milarepa followed Marpa of Lhodrak.

In the region of Ngari Gungthang, there lived a rich man by the name of Mila Sherab Gyaltsen. This man had a son and a daughter, and it was the son, whose name was Mila Thopa-ga, "Mila Joy to Hear," who was to become Jetsun Milarepa. When the two children were still small, their father died. Their uncle, whose name was Yungdrung Gyaltsen, appropriated all their wealth and possessions. The two children and their mother, left with neither food nor money, were forced to undergo many hardships. Mila learned the arts of casting spells and making hailstorms from the magicians Yungton Throgyal of Tsang and Lharje Nupchung, and brought about the death of his uncle's son and daughter-in-law together with thirty-three other people by making the house collapse. When all the local people turned angrily against him, he caused such a hailstorm that the hail lay on, the ground as deep as three courses of a clay wall (about 3 meters).

Afterwards, repenting his misdeeds, he decided to practise Dharma. Taking the advice of Lama Yungton, he went to see an adept of the Great Perfection by the name of Rongton Lhaga, and asked him for instruction.

"The Dharma I teach," the Lama replied, "is the Great Perfection. Its root is the conquest of the beginning, its summit the conquest of attainment and its fruit; the conquest of yoga. If one meditates on it during the day, one can become Buddha that same day; if one meditates on it during the night, one can become Buddha that very night. Fortunate beings whose past actions have created suitable conditions do not even need to meditate; they will be liberated simply by hearing it. Since it is a Dharma for those of eminently superior faculties, I will teach it to you.”

After receiving the empowerments and instructions, Mila thought to himself, "It took me two weeks to obtain the main signs of success at casting spells. Seven days were enough for making hail. Now here is teaching even easier than spells and hail-if you meditate by day you become a Buddha that day; if you meditate by night you become a Buddha that night-and if your past actions have created suitable conditions, you don't even need to meditate at all! Seeing how I met this teaching, I obviously must be one of the ones with good past actions."

So he stayed in bed without meditating, and thus the practitioner and the teaching parted company.

“It is true what you told me," the lama said to him after a few days. “You really are a great sinner, and I have praised my teaching a little too highly. So now I will not guide you. You should go to the hermitage of Trowolung in Lhodrak, where there is a direct disciple of the Indian siddha Naropa himself. He is that most excellent of teachers, the king of translators, Marpa. He is a siddha of the New Mantra Tradition, and is without rival throughout the three worlds. Since you and he have a link stemming from actions in former lives, go and see him!"

The sound of Marpa the Translator's name alone was enough to suffuse Mila's mind with inexpressible joy. He was charged with such bliss that every pore on his body tingled, and immense devotion swept over him, filling his eyes with tears. He set off, wondering when he would meet his teacher face to face. Now, Marpa and his wife had both had many extraordinary dreams, and Marpa knew that Jetsun Mila was on his way.

He went down the valley to await his arrival, pretending to be just ploughing a field. Mila first met Marpa's son, Tarma Dode, who was tending the cattle. Continuing a little further, he saw Marpa, who was ploughing. The moment Mila caught sight of him, he experienced tremendous, inexpressible joy and bliss; for an instant, all his ordinary thoughts stopped. Nonetheless, he did not realize that this was the lama in person, and explained to him that he had come to meet Marpa.

“I’ll introduce you to him myself," Marpa answered him. "Plough this field for me." Leaving him a jug of beer, he went off. Mita, draining the jug to the last drop, set to work. When he had finished, the lama's son came to call him and they set off together.

When Mila was brought into the lama's presence, he placed the soles of Marpa's feet upon the crown of his head and cried out, "Oh, Master! I am a great sinner from the west! I offer you my body, speech and mind. Please feed and clothe me and teach me the Dharma. Give me the way to become Buddha in this life!"

"It's not my fault that you reckon you're such a bad man," Marpa replied."I didn't ask you to pile up evil deeds on my account! What is all this wrong you have done?" Mila told him the whole story in detail.

"Very well," Marpa acquiesced, "in any case, to offer your body, speech and mind is a good thing. As to food, clothing and Dharma, however, you cannot have all three. Either I give you food and clothing and you look for Dharma elsewhere, or you get your Dharma from me and look for the rest somewhere else. Make up your mind. And if it's the Dharma you choose, whether or not you attain Buddhahood in this lifetime will depend on your own perseverance.”

"If that is the case," said Mila, "since I came for the Dharma, I will look for provisions and clothing elsewhere.”

He stayed a few days and went out begging through the whole of upper and lower Lhodrak, which brought him twenty-one measures of barley. He used fourteen of them to buy a four-handled copper pot. Placing six measures in a sack, he went back to offer that and the pot to Marpa. When he set the barley down, it made the room shake. Marpa got up.

"You're a strong little monk, aren't you?" he said."Are you trying to kill us all by making the house fall down with your bare hands? Get that sack of barley out of here!" He gave the sack a kick, and Mila had to take it outside. Later on he gave Marpa the empty pot.

One day Marpa said to him: "The men of Yamdrok Taklung and Lingpa are attacking many of my faithful disciples who come to visit me from U and Tsang, and stealing their provisions and offerings. Bring hailstorms down on them! Since that is a kind of Dharma too, I will give you the instructions afterwards."

Mila caused devastating hailstorms to fall on both these regions and then went to ask for the teachings.

“You think I'm going to give you the teachings I brought back from India at such great cost in exchange for three or four hailstones? If you really want the Dharma, cast a spell on the hill-folk of Lhodrak. They attack my disciples from Nyaloro and are always treating me with downright contempt. When there is a sign that your spell has worked, I shall give you Naropa's oral instructions, which lead to Buddhahood in a single lifetime and body."

When the signs of the success of the evil spell appeared, Mila asked for the Dharma.

"Huh! Is it perhaps to pay honour to your accumulation of evil deeds that you are claiming to want these oral instructions that I had to search for, never considering the risk to my own body and life-these instructions still warm with the breath of the dakinis? I suppose you must be joking, but I find this a bit too much. Anyone else but me would kill you! Now, bring those hill people back to life and return to the people of Yamdrok their harvest. You'll get the teachings if you do-otherwise, don't hang around me anymore!"

Mila, utterly shattered by these reprimands, sat and wept bitter tears. The next morning, Marpa came to see him. "I was a bit rough with you last night," he said."Don't be sad. I will' give you the instructions little by little. Just be patient! Since you're a good worker, I'd like you to build me a house to give to Tarma Dode. When you've finished, I'll give you the instructions, and provide you with food and clothing as well.”

"But what will I do if I die in the meantime, without the Dharma?” Mila asked. “I’ll take the responsibility of making sure that doesn't happen," Marpa said. "My teachings are not just idle boasting, and since you obviously have extraordinary perseverance, when you put my instructions into practice we will see if you can attain Buddhahood in a single lifetime." After further encouragement in the same vein, he had Mila build three houses one after the other: a circular one at the foot of the eastern hill, a semicircular one in the west and a triangular one in the north. But each time, as soon as the house was half finished, Marpa would berate Mila furiously, and make him demolish whatever he had built and take all the earth and stones he had used back to where he had found them. An open sore appeared on Mila's back, but he thought, "If I show it to the Master, he will only scold me again. I could show it to his wife but that would just be making a fuss." So, weeping, but not showing his wounds, he implored Marpa's wife to help him request the teachings.

She asked Marpa to teach him, and Marpa replied, "Give him a good meal and bring him here!" He gave Mila the transmission and vows of refuge.

"All this," he said, "is what is called the basic Dharma. If you want the extraordinary instructions of the Secret Mantrayana, the sort of thing you'll to have to go through is this... "and he recounted a brief version of the life and trials of Naropa. "It'll be difficult for you to do the same," he concluded.

At these words Mila felt such intense devotion that his tears flowed freely, and with fierce determination he vowed to do whatever his teacher asked of him. A few days later, Marpa went for a walk and took Mila with him as his attendant. He went south-east and, coming to a favorably situated piece of ground, he said, "Make me a grey, square tower here, nine storeys’ high. With a pinnacle on top, making ten. You won't have to take this building down, and when you've finished I'll give you the instructions. I'll also give you provisions when you go into retreat to practise.”

Mila had already dug the foundations and started building when three of his teacher's more advanced pupils came by. For fun, they rolled up a huge stone for him and Mila incorporated it in the foundations. When he had finished the first• two storeys, Marpa came to see him and asked him where the stone in question had come from. Mila told him what had happened. "My disciples practising the yoga of the two phases shouldn't be your servants!" Marpa yelled. "Get that stone out of there and put it back where it came from!"

Mila demolished the whole tower, starting from the top. He pulled out the big foundation stone and took it back to where it had come from. Then Marpa told him, "Now bring it here again and put it back in. " So Mila hauled it back to the site and put it in just as before. He went on building until he had finished the seventh storey, by which time he had an open sore on his hip.

"Now leave off building that tower," Marpa said, "and instead build me a temple, with a twelve-pillared hall and a raised sanctuary.”

So Mila built the temple, and by the time he had finished, a sore had broken out on his lower back.

At that time, Meton Tsonpo of Tsangrong asked Marpa for the empowerment of Samvara, and Tsurton Wange of Dol asked for the empowerment of Guhyasamaja. On both occasions, Mila, hoping that his building work had earned him the right to empowerment, took his place in the assembly, but all he received from Marpa were blows and rebukes and he was thrown out both times. His back was now one huge sore with blood and pus running from three places. Nevertheless, he continued working, carrying the baskets of earth in front of him instead.

When Ngokton Chodor of Shung came to ask for the Hevajra empowerment, Marpa's wife gave Mila a large turquoise from her own personal inheritance. Using it as his offering for the empowerment, Mila placed himself among row of candidates but, as before, the teacher scolded him and gave him a thrashing, and he did not receive the empowerment. This time he felt that there was no further doubt: he would never receive any teachings. He wandered off in no particular direction.

A family in Lhodrak Khok hired him to read the Transcendent Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses. He came to the story of Sadaprarudita, and that made him think. He realized that, for the sake of the Dharma, he must accept all hardships and please his teacher by doing whatever he ordered.

So he returned, but again Marpa only welcomed him with abuse and blows. Mila was so desperate that Marpa's wife sent him to Lama Ngokpa, who gave him some instructions. But when he meditated nothing came of it, since he had not received his teacher's consent. Marpa ordered him to go back with Lama Ngokpa, and then to return. One day, during a feast offering, Marpa severely reprimanded Lama Ngokpa and some other disciples and was about to start beating them. Mila thought to himself, "With my evil karma, not only do l myself suffer because of my heavy faults and dense obscurations, but now I am also bringing difficulties on Lama Ngokpa and my Guru's consort. Since I am just piling up more and more harmful actions without receiving any teaching, it would be best if I did away with myself."

He prepared to commit suicide. Lama Ngokpa was trying to stop him when Marpa calmed down and summoned them both. He accepted Mila as a disciple, gave him much good advice and named him Mila Dorje Gyaltsen, "Mila Adamantine Victory Banner."As he gave him the empowerment of Samvara; he made the mandala of its sixty-two deities clearly appear. Mila then received the secret name of Shepa Dorje, "Adamantine Laughter," and Marpa conferred all the empowerments and instructions on him just like the contents of one pot being poured into another. Afterwards, Mila practised in the hardest of conditions, and attained all the common and supreme accomplishments.

The trials that Milarepa had to undergo before receiving the teachings from Marpa, as well as being a purification of past Karma, an accumulation of merit and a psychological preparation, also had a bearing on the future of his lineage, each detail having a symbolic significance which, by the principle of interdependence would affect Milarepa’s own future and that of his disciples.

~H.H. Patrul Rinpoche from the text Words of My Perfect Teacher.

#wisdom #spirituality #mindfulness #meditation #religion #buddhism #zen #self care #visualization #tibet

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kitakitsune · 3 years

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we could try

kita.s

genre: kitaxreader { fluf }

warnings: none

Having a crush with the cold-hearted volleyball captain of your school is hard, not to mention he is your senior too. You often find your self-hiding behind the gym door, watching as he and his members practising or sitting only two tables away from his team in the cafeteria. You always try to get close to him but never been bold enough to give him your love letter. In fear of the embarrassment and rejection, you admire him from far away.

And here you are today, peeking your head over the door, watching the team playing seriously. You never take your eyes off from Kita, the way he keeps his composure and seriousness is something to you. Getting lost in your thought, you didn’t realise someone was calling your name.

“Oi (y/n). What are you doing in there?” your classmate, Suna Rintarou called you. Being startled by the sudden noise and attention, your eyes meet Kita and for the first time, you stare directly into his eyes. “Eehh!!! Um... i-i’m sorry” Blushing like crazy, you bow and runs away.

“Who’s that Suna? Is she yer girlfriend?!” ask Atsumu curiously, and here Osamu making an assumption, “I think so too, I’ve seen her almost every day, always watching us practice.” feeling annoyed Suna reply to the question “What? Of course not. She is my classmate, and her name is (y/n).” he remembers you were the girl who sits right behind him.“Really? She’s kinda cute, do you have her phone number?” Atsumu asks Suna playfully."Go get it yourself Atsumu, I don't have her number."

Kita, who has been watching them finally decided to speak up “Suna, can you ask her to be our assistant manager?” Everyone went silent, waiting for the captain to explain his sudden request. He continues while picking up the volleyball they use, “If she comes to watch us practice every day, it might be because she’s interested in volleyball, we also need an assistant manager for the team. Ask her to join our club tomorrow.” Suna can only answer with a nod, still wondering why he would let her be the new assistant manager.

The next morning, just as you place your bag in your seat Suna came and told you what the captain has request yesterday. “Kita-san told me to ask if you’d like to be our assistant manager” he said while rubbing his head. “But I don’t know anything about volleyball” you were confused as to why would he ask you to be their assistant manager.

“It’s all right, I will teach you. You’ll get used to it” he said with a small smile and told you to come to the gym after the class ends. “I’ll introduce you to the team.” Having a fashback from yesterday, you don’t think you will meet them so soon, but you nod your head as a yes and prepare for the lesson.

Time goes so fast and finally, school is finished for the day. Trying to buy more time while preparing your heart from meeting the team you slowly walk towards the gym. You know quite a little bit about volleyball. Seeing Kita plays almost every day got you interested. You never really try to play, but you did pay attention to P.E. class and learn basic things.

You finally reach the gym as you about to enter, a familiar group of boys already waiting inside. “Are, Is this our new assistant manager?" A tall boy with a blond hair snapped you out of your thoughts and approaches you. "Ah! Yes, I'm (y/n). Nice to meet you” you smile while you enter the gym and Suna introduce you to the team.

After getting to know each other, the boys start practising and Kita called for Suna. You didn’t know what to do, so you were watching the team plays, no matter how much you saw them it still amazes you how great their teamwork is. “(y/n), because Ren-san went home early Kita-san will tell you what you need to do as our assistant manager.” Suna told you while putting away his phone and getting ready to practice.

“Shall we start then?” Kita looks at you with a warm smile and starts explaining what you need to do. You can’t remember much about what he says because you keep looking at his face. His voice is so warm and calming. “(y/n)-san, are you listening to me?” Kita said to you. “Yes...just a little bit”

“You don’t need to be nervous. You will be doing this routinely” he tries to reassure you wich works a little. You continue to pay attention to him and start doing your task. After the boys finished their practice, you give them their water bottle and they thank you. Not long enough the practice finished and you all went home.

It's been a few weeks, you and the team getting along very well. Kita seems to be close to you too. Now you realise that despite his cold and strict persona, he is caring towards his members. Which makes you fall even more for him. Every time he plays, you are always amazed at how much he put his efforts in the game.

Once the coach told them to take a break, you approach Kita and gave him his water and towel with adoration in your eyes. This didn't go unnoticed by Suna and Aran. They encourage you to confess your love because it is his last year of high school and you might not see him again for a long time.

“You might want to think this (y/n).” Aran told you while you two sit together at the bench. “I know, but I don’t think he will accept it Aran-san. I’m afraid of getting rejected, I think I would be fine just being a manager.” he looks at you and say ”If you did confess your love, you will either be accepted or rejected. But if you did not confess, then you will get nothing.” Aran stod up and smile while rubbing your head and went to the locker room.

Practice ends and you went home. You think about this for a long time. You love Kita and if there’s a chace then might as well take it. You musterd up your courage and take your love letter from your drawer then put it in your bag. tomorrow you will give your love letter to him.

It’s already luch time, Suna told you that Kita was in the gym and you went there to give your letter. You’re so nervous and scared, what if he reject you? how will you faced him? you can only hope no one was there. You find Kita cleaning the gym alone and went up to help him. “Hello, Kita-san. Do you need help?” Kita stoped and greet you with a smile. “ah! (y/n), Thank you. Can you please collect the balls and put it in the store room?” you nod your head and start to work.

After you finnish cleaning the gym, Kita handed you a milk box “Drink this, thanks for helping me” he sat beside you, so close that you can smell his colonge. How can he stay fresh everytime? You can feel your heart beating so loud. This is it, you are going to confess now. “Kita-san, I’m-” you hear a buch of noise outside the gym. “Oy Samu. WHat are ye doin’ there?” you whiped your head to look at the door, only to find the Miya twins and Suna in their jacket.

“Shut yer crap Tsumu, can’t you read the situation?” Osamu slaped Atsumu’s head “Don’t mind us, we were just passing by just continue what you were about to do.” Suna said and walk away with Osamu. Atsumu rubs his head and glare at Osamu. “You too Samu, come with us!" Osamu drag him by his collar.

“So, what were you about to say? (y/n)” Kita looks at you and wait patiently. “umn, It’s nothing Kita-san. Just forget about it” He look dissapointed "Really? Then there's something I wanted to tell you." He keeps staring at your eyes

"I like you (y/n)"

You're speechless "K-kita-san, please don't joke around." you can't believe what he said, It's unlikely for someone like you to be so lucky like this. "Since when did I joke about my feelings? It's true that I like you. I know that you're trying to get close to me and I find it interesting."

You were embarrassed and trying to hide your red face and feel a gentle pat on your head "Ah, you're so cute (y/n). Say, do you like me too? " Looking up you're face to face with him and finally say "Yes Kita-san, I've always adore you!" he smiles and hugs you. "Thank God, I thought you'd be scared and rejected me"

"How can you say things like that?" he chuckled and say "Well, maybe it's because I wasn't sure about your feelings?" oh please, you were head over heels for him. "Then I will make sure to show you more about my feelings!" he give you his charismatic smile.

Little did you both know, a group of boys were listening to your cute moments outside the building. "Young Love..." Aran sigh of relief "I thought (y/n) will confess first." Atsumu was dissapointed because he loses the bet with his brother "No way Kita-san would let her confess first. Samu, we've made a deal before, don't forget about that" Atsumu dropped his head "Yeah, yeah whatever"

-end-

Note:

Hello, I hope you enjoy my first story. Kita is one of my favorite character from Haikyuu and I wanted to give him more love by making this ff. Since this is my first time writing a fanficton I know it was not the best but I'll try to improve my self and my English. Thanks!

#haikyuu #inarizaki #Kita #kita x reader #x reader #miya osamu #miya atsumu #suna rintarou #aran ojiro #haikyuu fluf #kita shinsuke

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with-love-anu · 4 years

Text

Desiderata: Revelations

PART: 7

WORD COUNT: 1.6

PAIRING: Sirius Black x Reader

SUMMARY: You had been best friends with James, Remus, Sirius and Peter. Read your journey of love, friendship and jealousy through your wonderful years at Hogwarts. Enjoy!

SERIES MASTERLIST

Sirius POV;

Sirius walked along with the marauders. Y/n had said that the club would have friends and friends of friends from different houses. Remus knew most of them but both had refused to give out any names. Sirius could sense Y/n’s excitement. She had spent the whole week talking and planning. He couldn’t help but be a little proud. She was after all his best girl.

She was practically skipping making her hair flip around as she walked with a huge smile on her face. Sirius couldn’t deny that she had changed over summer. Not that she wasn’t beautiful before, but now, she looked… breathtaking. She had stopped wearing those t-shirts and jeans and whatever she put together now highlighted her looks. She had started to carry herself with an elegance he had come to love. He couldn’t keep out the time she had flirted with Moony. Was he missing something? Did they like like each other? NO. That couldn’t happen, could it? Sirius shook away the thought. But they did seem interested… What if they start dating? No. No. No. Just, no. Sirius shrugged. He didn’t want them to date. In fact he had never thought about Y/n dating anyone. It made his stomach churn. Weird. He had already spent enough time glaring at his classmates who had started to give Y/n extra attention or look at her in a less friendly way.

“We’re here!” Y/n chirped as they reached the room of requirement.

Sirius was surprised to see such a big crowd waiting for them. There were students from all houses, even Slytherin? As they all went inside, Y/n made everyone introduce each other. The room had transformed into a huge hall. There was a big shelf filled with books on the corner, pillows and fluffy cushions perfect for practicing and even a table on the side which was loaded with energy drinks and chocolate. It seemed Y/n knew everyone. Trust her to be the most friendly person you could ever meet. Sirius still remembered the first time he met her. She had opened up immediately and made him feel comfortable.

“Hey guys!” She said after everyone had introduced each other. “I have planned the meetings of this club in detail. I made a list of things you all would like to teach each other according to what you all told me and recommendations from the teachers. I would like you all to remember why you all are here. Each one of you will get the chance to help others. I request you to not get your egos in the way. It will be best for all of us to have patience to learn what someone teaches. We are here to assist others with what we know best and learn the rest. For today, I have planned for all of us to learn a bit of defense because of the high energy I know everyone has right now. Remus here, is one the people I know to be well versed in defense. So, he would be the one taking over the meeting today. Even if you know everything I can guarantee you to learn a thing or two from him.”

“Hi everyone!” Remus greeted as Y/n motioned everyone towards him. “Okay, I thought a lot about what to do and settled on the disarming spells for today. I know they are very basic, but when we are getting ready to fight we must have all the tools and know how to use them. Expelliamus may seem simple but it can save your neck in very tense situations. So, let’s get into pairs and start practicing!”

There was a lot of murmuring as everyone chose their partners. Sirius immediately turned towards Y/n and was happy to see her coming towards him too. He was walking towards her when Marlene came up. She placed a hand on his chest and asked, “What do you say Sirius, practice with me?” She batted her eyes and gave him a flirty smile. Sirius smirked.

“Sure. Can’t say no to you!” Sirius said. She was hot and not clingy like others. He knew that he would enjoy his time with her. Sirius sent an apologetic look towards Y/n gesturing towards Marlene. Surely, she would understand.

Sirius was surprised to see everyone practicing diligently. Remus took rounds every now and then, correcting people and giving them tips to perform better. Sirius practiced (and flirted) with Marlene. She was definitely interested in him. He looked around as Marlene went to grab a drink. James was practising with peter, Remus was helping the girl named Grace and Y/n was practising with the guy who introduced himself as Sebastian. Sirius narrowed his eyes. They were chatting a lot. Why the hell was Y/n giggling around him that much? Y/n and Sebastian continued to talk as they tried to disarm each other. Why was he feeling like this? Y/n could talk to anyone. Except he didn’t like that it didn’t seem that they were just friendly.

Y/n successfully disarmed Sebastian and caught his wand. Sirius smirked. She had managed to make Sebastian fall in the process. She went to pick him up, smiling. She gave him her hand and he snatched it making her fall over him in the process. Sirius frowned and clenched his fists. Both Y/n and Sebastian rolled out laughing and giggling. Why the hell they weren’t attempting to get up? All they did was sit in the same position and laugh. Come on! Enough with the jokes get away from each other! Y/n wrapped her hands around his neck and- that’s it!

“Y/n!!!” Sirius called out, startling her.

“Should we wrap up? I mean everyone is tired.” Sirius said wishing they got up as soon as possible.

“Of course! Can you make the announcement?”

Sirius nodded and called for everyone’s attention. Giving in details for the next meeting, he thanked everyone for coming. As everyone started to leave he waited for his friends. Sebastian was still talking to Y/n.

“Sirius come on, let’s go.” James said waiting for him.

“Yes… I was just waiting for Y/n. Hey Y/n we’re leaving! Let’s go!” Sirius called to her wishing to maybe punch the boy she was being so interested in.

Y/n said-“Coming!” turning around to Sebastian to whisper something in his year as they both laughed and high-fived. Sirius clenched his jaw.

Y/n came towards them and gave Sirius a curious look.

“Why are you all sour-puss?” She asked.

“I think its because he couldn’t land a date with Marlene” Remus piped in.

Everyone laughed. Y/n rolled her eyes.

“I’m very hungry and tired. Lets just go for a snack and I’ll just plop into my bed.” Y/n said stretching.

***

Sirius spent the evening laughing and talking with marauders. Y/n had magically made Lily agree to sit with them after she made James swear he wouldn’t flirt with her. Sirius couldn’t stop laughing when he saw James raise arguments against it. Lily wasn’t that bad, and she definitely wasn’t as innocent as everyone deemed her to be. Y/n was right, he thought. He hadn’t believed her when she had told him the same. Sirius was amused to see James struggle not to compliment Lily and becoming a shuttering mess when she actually addressed him. He was deadly tired by the time they reached the dorm. As he changed and got ready to sleep James called for him.

“So, Sirius, care to explain why you were shooting daggers towards Sebastian today?”

“I was not” Sirius huffed.

“And James did not try his level best to impress Lily today” Remus said with a knowing expression on his face.

God, he hated when Remus gave this look. He really couldn’t himself understand why he was suddenly feeling so weird when he saw Y/n talk to Sebastian. All he could think about was breaking the guy’s nose so he stood away from her.

“I don’t know, okay? And who is this Sebastian anyway? Did you see he the way he was acting around Y/n? Looked like a complete idiot to me. Wonder how he was placed in the smart house. He-” Sirius stopped rambling on hearing Remus and James snort.

“What?”

“I don’t know Pads… maybe you’re a bit you know?” James said prompting towards him. Sirius furrowed his eyebrows.

“Jealous?” Remus said.

“Pffftt.. No, I wasn’t” Sirius said.

“Okay.” Remus said raising one eyebrow. “So you wouldn’t mind if you… I don’t know… see them dating, snogging each other in the common room?”

“What!?!” Sirius said angrily. ”Why would I see them dating? Y/n would tell me,right? I don’t like Sebastian at all. I don’t think Y/n should date him. I’ll tell her that when I meet her. He’s-“

Sirius stopped to see both of his friends smirking. Oh my god he thought, he was jealous. When did he start liking Y/n? She was his best friend goddamn it. He was screwed.

“I am jealous.” Sirius said in a small voice. He hated when Remus flirted with her. When Sebastian was too near her and it was worse hearing Remus talk about them dating.

“About time Pads.” James said patting his shoulders.

“So, you guys just knew?” Sirius asked.

“Ever since the 1st year. We used to ship you both.” Remus told him.

Sirius gulped. “So, what do I do now?”

“You tell her!” James said as if that was the most obvious thing.

“I cannot just tell her!” Sirius exclaimed at the ridiculous advice.

“Why? You know she likes you.”

“As a friend.”

“No she doesn’t.” James told him. “she has always liked you.”

“Can we please talk about this tomorrow?” Sirius said becoming frustrated. It was too much to handle right then. As they all went to sleep, Sirius was in a predicament. He loved her. Before he even knew about it. But what if she didn’t like him that way? What if his confession destroys their friendship?

#sirius #sirius black #sirius imagine #sirius black imagine #sirius x reader #hogwarts imagine #desidereta #my work

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swellwriting · 5 years

Text

Datapads and Love Letters - PT.2

Fandom: Star Wars

Pairing: Reader x Armitage Hux

Warnings: this contains Smut

A/N: HERE ITS IS finally part two, took me a while because its a little longer but I hope it pleases you all. I love love love writing for Hux so expect more of him in the near future.

Word Count: 5.3k Part Three

You both ignored the summons from the Supreme Leader, you figured there were other things worth doing and walking with Armitage to his office proved more time worthy. You could only ignore the Supreme Leader for so long though, you had to train with him in ten minutes, taking into account the 8 minute walk and that you usually always arrived early. You felt your thoughts nagging you to leave but as you stood in Armitage’s office doorway watching him organize his papers that Millicent had knocked over, the way he gently pet her with his free hand, you never wanted to look away.

It was him who looked at his wall clock and then at you with a concerned brow perked up on his face. “You're going to be late.”

“And for once I don't really care.” You replied with a shrug of your shoulders, the fear of being in trouble a mere tiny thought in the back of your head right now.

“He's already angry enough, you want to make it worse?” He asked, the fear of his superior evident in his voice.

“He has no right to be angry, I'm my own person.”

“You’re his apprentice, who he adores, and I'm the general that he hates, I'm sure he wants me as far away as possible from you as to not distract you.”

“He doesn't really get a say in what I do in my personal time, or who I spend it with.”

“He does get a say when he kills me for being even more of an inconvenience to him,” Hux argues as he sits down, Millicent jumping into his lap trying to calm him down.

“Then he would lose his beloved apprentice, besides he wouldn't kill you, I've seen you use a blaster, you’re quite skilled don't downplay your strengths, especially against a man with so many weaknesses.”

“The Supreme Leader has no weaknesses.” Hux points out with disdain rather than admiration.

“Sure he does, you just have to train with him for months on end to find them, luckily I have done exactly that and I can tell you each and everyone.”

“That's a conversation for another time, I don't want to make you late, you should really go.”

“A conversation for another time, like later tonight?” You ask as he walks towards the door, beginning to push the door shut until he hears your proposal.

“Tonight?” He asks, his voice unsure all of a sudden.

“Yeah, make me dinner General, and I’ll give you all my top-secret intel.”

“Oh-okay,” he stutters as his cheeks glow rosy pink yet again.

“Okay, see you at 7.” You declare a time so confidently and then lean up on the tips of your shoes and kiss him on the forehead. He smiles bashfully before realizing anyone walking by could have seen that and then he closes the door. He rests his now hot forehead against the cold metal of the door frame, exhaling slowly to calm himself down as Milicent weaves between his feet.

“You're late.” Kylo declares as you walk into the training room, without even turning around to face you.

You point at the wall on the clock, using the force to press the buttons on the side messing up the time and setting it back five minutes.

“Actually, I'm two minutes early!”

“Haha very funny. Fix the clock, and sit down,” he says sarcastically.

You fix the clock with ease and then sit on the mat in front of him, assuming the position to meditate, mirroring his own.

“Sorry for missing out on a bit of meditating, a few lost minutes would set me back so far in my training I'm sure.”

“You need to learn to focus.”

“I am focused,” you argue.

“Learn to focus on the things that matter, no distractions.”

“Oh, here we go.” You tease and he drops his hands and gives you a pointed look. He begins to speak but you hold up a finger to silence him, “Don't.”

“So you're telling me what to do now?” Kylo asks looking taken aback, “please remind me which of us is the Master and which is the apprentice.”

“I mean technically, I am the level of apprentice in the backwards mix of Jedi, Sith and general force training situation we have here, but technically you’re a padawan still.”

“Y/n,” he warns closing his eyes in frustration. You may be inferior to him, almost as strong but not as skilled and practised as he is, but that doesn't mean you bow down to him, you give him the attitude he deserves, and you live to annoy him since nobody else has the guts to.

“Kylo,” you tease, but in your mind, you really think about calling him Ben which he reads easily since you didn't try to hide it from him. One of his strengths is reading minds, digging into people’s thoughts. He prides himself in how good he is at it, he has only ever been stumped by the “girl” and you.

“You let me read that thought, but how did I not know about your relationship or romantic feelings.”

“I think it has been established that I'm very good at tuning you out, though I'm not the first.”

He exhales loudly, clearly getting annoyed by your attitude and rowdiness today, and you haven't even started training.

“I have a personal life, though it's near impossible on this floating piece of space junk, covered in the blandest shade of grey paint and metal finish, and I like to keep that to myself.”

“You question me about my personal life all the time.”

“I have to, you have nobody else to talk to about it, I'm your only friend on this ship.”

“We are not friends,” he argues, trying to act stern, his relationship and training with Luke and Snoke were nothing like this, he was such a better well-behaved student compared to you, but he couldn't deny that he liked you, he admired your strength, he needed you and he couldn't help but become friends with you, especially because nobody else bothers getting close to him. He doesn't want to lose this part of the Master/ Apprentice relationship he has with you over some stupid general.

“Are too, you're the Supreme Leader you don't have any code you need to worry about breaking, you make the rules and the rules can say that you are allowed to be friends with me, dare I say care enough to die for me in battle,” you say standing up and getting in a stance to practice your fighting.

“So I can make more rules for you to break?”

“Well, rules don't apply to me, I'm one of a kind. Unless that Rey girl decides to switch sides and become your apprentice but I don't see that happening anytime soon, I think I’d kill her first anyways.”

“Words and empty threats you can’t fill.”

“Maybe I can if you get up off your ass and start training with me instead of worrying about any relationships I may or may not have.”

“Oh she barks like a Corellian hound but can she bite like one?” He teases as he pulls his mask over his head, you mimic his action, turning your heal and bending your knee preparing to outmatch his strength with your speed and agility. You pinched every one of his nerves in the five minutes of meditation before training, he wouldn't be going easy on you today.

A few hours of training later and some bruises and scrapes waiting to be tended to and a shower that was calling your name all waited for you behind your door, you anticipated the sweet feeling of being in your own personal space so much so that you basically had tunnel vision. Your fingers twitching you to use the force to press the buttons once you were closer but your mind lost focus at the sound of your name.

An officer you often work with is walking down the hall with General Hux by his side and a few troopers, as the lower officers you're familiar with usually do, he says hello.

“Good afternoon General Y/L/N.”

You nod with a weak tired smile, the blood dripping down from your nose, thanks to Kylo’s elbow. Hux gives you a concerned look as he turns his neck to keep looking over your appearance, your tattered clothes, and messy hair, if it wasn't for the blood dripping down your face he would be looking at you with pure admiration.

You give him a wide smile to help him see you are truly okay and his worried expression fades to his usual stern one before he looks away from you and replies to the officer he's walking with.

Hux should be finishing up his work for the day soon, there is no way he's working late today especially when he has to shower, make himself look presentable and then manage to cook dinner for you without even really knowing what you like.

He knows you well, as well as any coworker would, but he doesn't know you like a friend, the way Phasma knows you or as much as he hates it, the way Kylo knows you better than anyone.

You shower, wipe the blood from your face and braid your damp hair so it’s both out of your face and effortlessly wavy for later. Since you have time to kill and you are too lazy to get ready now you sit in your bed still wrapped in your towel and lose your mind to whatever interesting things you can find on your datapad.

You don't really care that your sheets might be getting a bit damp from your towel, or that you should be spending time perfecting your appearance for Armitage. Not to say that you aren't going to put the effort in, but he just saw you looking like you crawled out of a garbage compactor and aside from your bloody nose he still looked at you like you were dressed for the Canta Bight casinos.

One of the dressed in the back of your closet, reserved for political parties and undercover intel missions, that hadn't been worn yet would be perfect. It was this dark grey colour, sheer fabric with a silk underlying that was stark black, it was elegant and far fancier than it needed to be but you wanted him to see you in something different than your usual black tight pants and black cape type shirt thing with the oversized hood you always wore. You really needed some more colourful clothing items.

You planned on wearing a regular set of black lacey underwear and no bra as the silk underlining of the dress was tight enough to keep things mostly in place.

Owning such lavish expensive things was new to you, but the first order had money, and being a general and apprentice to the Supreme Leader meant your pay grade was well above the normal officer. Before the first order you were poor, so going from wearing dirty rags and stolen clothes to fancy sheer dresses and lace underwear was quite the upgrade.

Comparing washing up in a cold lake to your personal black tiled ferrocrete shower was otherworldly, literally.

You put your datapad down and for a moment imagined what Hux’s room actually looked like, you had barely seen the entryway as you had been too busy either staring at his face or kissing it to take notice.

You wondered how much it mirrored yours, if he had any windows, if he kept it cold but had fuzzy warm blankets like you do, what his bed looked like and how much you wanted to be in it with him.

Maybe this was all too presumptuous of you, based on stories you've heard of relationships from officers who like you enough to dish about their love life to you, since Kylo and Phasma were not the best people to give you any sort of relationship insight.

You assumed Hux was inexperienced, his father was strict, the academy was strict and now he was so strict himself, so busy upholding his position as general that you had never seen him being close with anybody, you couldn't imagine him inviting an officer to his quarters for dinner. You hoped he had never looked at anyone the way he looks at you, never blushed so cherry red the way he does because of you, never cooked anyone else dinner like he was doing right now for you.

Hux was probably rushing around his kitchen, stressed beyond belief and trying not to trip over a Milicent who had never seen him move so fast around his quarters except when he was chasing after her.

This was so strangely new to you too, you had spent your whole life fighting to survive, not trusting anyone to let them close enough until now. You couldn't help but hope he was as inexperienced as you were.

You crawled out of bed and dropped your towel to the ground, slipping on your underwear and looking at yourself in the mirror hoping that what you saw in the reflection was something he would like, running your hands up your thighs to your hips, across your stomach and then doing a spin before walking to the closet to grab your dress, it was easy to slip on and after pulling your hair free from the braid and slipping on your sandals you only wore indoors on the ship, you walked your way to Hux's door.

Knocking just as you had earlier, still just as nervous, the queasy feeling in your stomach had returned and before you could knock a second time Hux opened the door, face already pink and blushed at the thought of you, his face heating up the longer he looked at you before grabbing your hand and inviting you inside.

Hux was wearing his uniform, though it somehow looked neater as if he had pressed it more than usual which seemed impossible, his hair gelled back the way he usually does it and he looks so professional, exactly how you would expect.

When he sees you, with your hair down, a sheer dress and sandals, no cape or lightsaber to be seen, something Kylo would highly disapprove of, he feels underdressed. He wishes he had something more for this occasion, but he always had to wear his general uniform, he didn't have fancy suits to wear to galas and he never had to go undercover. He wished he could be more for you.

You walk up to him and his hands quickly fall to your sides holding you close as he waits to see your actions.

Your hands travel up the front of his smooth uniform, the cold pins brush against your fingertips as you make your way up. You may be the same rank as him but he has so many accomplishments marked with pins and patches, more than you could ever have. Even if you had no feelings for this man you would argue forever with Kylo about how no one else could do Armitages job, no one as skilled as him existed in this line of work, the First-order was thriving because of him and Kylo could deny it all he wanted but it’s the truth.

Your hands slide up his neck and his cheeks, they are baby soft without a stray hair of facial hair at all. He hoped for a moment that you would kiss him, pull him by his cheeks and meet your lips to his.

Instead, and much to his dismay, you fingers continue their travel, sliding between his hair and his scalp and pulling gently messing up the prim and proper hairstyle with a shake of your fingers.

He frowns and is about to complain when you pull his hair gently, bringing him closer to you and finally give him the kiss he was hoping for. It's forceful and messy as you continue to ruin his hair, which is an improvement in your eyes.

By the time you pull away his lips are red and he seems to have forgotten about his appearance.

“Hungry?” he asks, still holding you close.

“Of course.” You reply sweetly as you make your way to the table.

“How was training with Ren?” He asks as he brings you a plate and sits across from you.

“Rough, but worthwhile. I talked to him about us, I think he was most angry about the fact that he didn't see it coming, that I hid my feelings from him for so long.”

“How long?” Hux blurts out, instantly wanting to know how long these feelings have existed for.

You tried to hide your amused smile as you spoke, “The exact moment of realization and acceptance of my feelings for you is hard to pinpoint to a specific time, but I suppose I had thoughts about you, different from anyone else on this ship, that I felt I had to hide since I first met you.”

This admission was too much for Hux's heart to take, he tried to think about the first time he met you, how he had also been enamoured with you since that very moment, trying and failing to keep his emotions concealed until he geniusily wrote them down for the entire ship to get their hands on and be made aware of.

“And I hid them well until you decided to write your feelings down and manage to let the whole ship in on it.”

Hux smile faded, clearly missing the joking sweet tone of your voice, “I'm sorry about that,” he was mentally punishing himself again.

“Oh, don't be stupid Armitage, if you hadn't I wouldn’t be here right now, eating dinner with you, I wouldn’t be able to mess up your hair or kiss you. I wouldn't be here patiently waiting for you to ask me to be your girlfriend so we have a title to tell people when they inquire about us,” you tease and he looks up at you from across the table, he stands and walks over to your chair kneeling beside you so your faces are level.

“General Y/L/N, will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend, an official title to add to your many others.”

“Mhhm it does sound like it will be my favourite of them. Not quite as much as when I steal your last name but it will do for now.” You tease knowing the thought will make him perfectly flustered.

“So that's a yes?” He asks nervously holding your hands in his.

“Only if you kiss me.” You say with a wide smile, as he leans closer and kisses you.

You’re not one to wait around, now that feelings and titles have been established you might as well act on how you feel and what you want, you’re in a floating piece of space junk that could be blown up any second so risks were something you took often.

Right now all you wanted, or felt as though you needed, was for him to be closer, to touch him in every way you ever thought of late at night. You grabbed his shoulder pushing him away from you, half using a bit of the force so he would be pushed to the floor. You crawled onto of him, straddling him and feeling the cool tile of the floor against your knees, your dress bunched up and your lace panties pressed against the growing tent in his pants.

When Hux was making dinner, getting ready for tonight, he never thought he would wind up in this position with you. He's thought about it before, but it didn't seem realistic to him that you would want him this way. He knew what he wanted, but he had no experience with any of this to think up and accurate timeline. How do two people confess their feelings, establish a relationship, mention marriage and do whatever this is or whatever it ends up leading to, all in one day?

Maybe it was the feelings being held back for so long, the mutualness of it all, the similar feeling of need and impatience, the trust they had already established with one another, that made everything so easy to click into place.

He isn’t sure what to do next, he wants to touch you but he's shy and he isn't sure what he is allowed or not allowed to do so he settles on keeping his hands on your waist where he knows he's allowed to.

You lean down and kiss him feverishly, your hands sliding up his chest and messing up his smooth uniform, running your fingers through his hair and tilting his head back against the ground so you can kiss down his neck and around the collar of his pressed shirt. You kiss and bite and lick the soft skin of his neck and he stares up at the ceiling, finding it hard to breathe, his hands squeeze your hips to stop him from moving them. He tries to focus on the feeling of your lips on his skin instead of how much wants to touch you but it only makes his fingers dig into the skin of your hips harder, pushing against the silk and sheer fabric he wishes wasn't there.

You feel his fingers, you stop your kisses for a moment to see his face and his eyes are screwed shut which makes you worry that you're doing this all wrong.

“Am I hurting you?” You ask quietly hovering over his face.

His eyes open up wide, like that's the most ludicrous thing you have ever said.

“Oh kriffs no, not at all I'm just...I’m...I don't know what I'm doing.”

Though the hold on your hips isn't as tight his hands are still there so you take his wrists in your hands and bring them to your knees on either side of him, sliding them up and underneath the materials on your dress until he’s holding your hips again, only a faint trace of lace against his fingertips and your soft supple skin.

“You can touch me,” you say softly as you take your hands away placing them on the ground to support your weight as you lean down and begin to kiss up to his neck again, “however you'd like.” You finish as you grind your hips down on him making him almost bite his tongue trying to hold in a moan.

He clearly wasn't expecting that.

You continue your movements against him in a timed rhythm grinding up and down against him as he slides his hands under your lace underwear grabbing at your ass pulling you down harder against him.

This time you moan as you kiss under his ear and the sound is so sweet he feels like he couldnt melt at this moment. You kiss him heavily, tongue and teeth clashing in the messy attempt of making out while both of you are only half focused on kissing and mostly focused on the feeling of you grinding against him.

“Armitage,” you whisper into his ear, a sultry tone, “take me to your bed please?” You ask and he quickly fumbles to get up, removing his hands and flattening down his uniform out of habit. You giggle to your self at this, him tidying himself up as if you aren’t about to take every piece of that uniform off of him. He looks at you for a moment before you jump into his arms, he quickly grabs the back of your thighs holding you in place and you hold yourself up by wrapping your arms behind his neck.

Kissing up his neck and using one hand to start unbuttoning his uniform as he tries to walk to his room placing you on his bed, he goes to let go of you but you pull him down with you by the back of his neck. The buttons are intricate and you don't want to rip them, so as he kisses you, his hands sliding up under your dress again, making it pool at your hips that were wrapped around his waist, you use the force to undo his buttons one by one until you can push the uniform off his shoulders and throw it onto the ground, he pauses for a moment to see his uniform in a piled mess but you place a hand on his cheek and direct his attention back to you.

“Take mine off now,” you tell him and his hands that were at the sides of your stomach continue their journey, his fingers tremble when he feel no lace or material across your ribs, meaning your only wearing lace panties underneath. He manages to continue with shakey fingers until your dress is easily pulled over your head. He barely gets a moment to admire you, careful not to touch yet even though he has your permission before you grab his undershirt pulling it over his head and begin to unbutton his pants, pulling at his belt.

He helps you a bit, kicking off his pants until he’s just in his underwear. You dig your heal into his back pulling him flush against you, grinding as you had done before.

“If you keep doing that, I'm gonna, I mean I'm not gonna be…” he struggles to find the right words, a man with the vocabulary like his and he can figure out how to tell you your about to make him come in his underwear.

You just smile up at him mischievously and he's so nervous he can’t even smile back. “So you're telling me to just get on with it then, stop messing around?” You ask, completely ready to have him inside you but his eyebrows furrow.

“No, not rushing you I just, I wanna touch you a bit first?” He asks.

“Well, how can I deny a request like that?” You tease and bring him down for a kiss as his hands brush against the skin of your ribs before he cups your breasts in his hands, his fingers travel across the skin tickling you and making you smile into the kiss. His thumb brushes against your nipple and you can’t help but arch your back into him.

He takes that as a sign that he's doing good so he copies your earlier ministrations and moves his kisses to below your jaw, down your neck, sucking and biting lightly just as you did. His kisses a trail down further than you did, kissing around your collar bone and then down to your chest where he licks shyly testing what you like and don't. When your head tilts back and you grip his hair harder between your fingers he gets his answer.

While his mouth continues kissing your breasts his hand travels down sliding under the front of your lace underwear not really sure where to go after that. You grab his wrist with one hand and guide his fingers as he slides two inside of you, his palm rubbing against your clit making you close your eyes and bite down on your bottom lip.

When you grab his briefs and begin to pull them down he stops and pulls your underwear down too, sort of hopelessly following all of your actions to try to get this right.

You offer him an awkward but sweet smile before pulling him closer, kissing him and then guiding him between your legs. You grab his hip and push him in slowly, it’s easy even though he was larger than you thought he would be, he had you soaking before you even made it to his bed. The feeling is strange though, he stretches you blissfully inch by inch as you pull him in by his hip.

Once he's fully in you wrap your legs around him and he slowly and nervously begins to move his hips in motion, he stops kissing you, his sweaty forehead now placed against yours and you watch his delicate face, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and his cheeks red and flushed. You watch as his look of frustration is taken over by a look of pleasure and bliss before he hides his face in the crook of your neck, attempting to kiss your skin but doing too many things at once is very hard when he feels this good, sliding in between your legs like this.

It's slow but filled with pleasure and love and need. He doesn't last long but neither do you, it isn't long before you're squeezing around him, causing a groan to escape his throat and the air leaving his mouth the tickle your neck.

You let out a series of moans as well, a mixture of pitchy sounds and murmurs of his name. You can tell he's about to whisper something into the skin of your neck as you feel him twitch inside of you, your stomach twisting tighter and tighter with each thrust. He doesn't manage any words though he just moans agaisnt your neck as he comes, you pull his hair as gently as you can manage as you do the same.

His hands slide underneath you to hold you close as he keeps his face hidden, perhaps a little embarrassed about the whole ordeal. You only move away to pull him out of you and let him pull you both onto your sides instead of him lying on top of you.

He still doesn't look at you, he is sort of frozen, holding you tightly is all he knows how to do right now. He isn't sure what comes next, he knows you're his girlfriend now, that was established before all of this happened, but he doesn't want you to leave and he fears if he let’s go that you will.

You are not frozen at all, completely content being held in his arms as your breathing calms, you gently play with his hair, and scratch his scalp, your fingers glide over his back tracing circles and shapes, trailing his shoulder blades and spine with tiny tickling touches. This helps him relax and you can feel that the way he sort of becomes less rigid and slumps in your arms.

“We should get up,” you say quietly and he holds you tighter.

“I don't want you to leave,” he whispers against your neck.

“Who said I was leaving, I just said we should get up.”

“What if I don't want to?”

“Well, if you don't want me to leave and you don’t want to get up then that leaves me having to shower all by myself and that doesn't seem much fun does it.

Armitage moves back and looks at your face for a moment before asking, “You want me to shower with you?”

You smiled and kissed his slightly swollen pink lips, “well we can have a bath if you'd prefer that, I assume your refresher is equipped with both like mine?”

“Yes it is, and that sounds rather nice,” he says and then smiles against your lips.

He watches as you stand up and walk over to the kitchen instead of the direction of the refresher.

“It’s that way,” he says loud enough for you hear before you walk back into the room with the bottle of wine from dinner and two glasses.

“Oh I know,” you say with a smile before gesturing for him to follow you.

Meanwhile, Kylo is sat in his room, brooding, he can sense that you’re in Hux’s chambers, that you feel very happy and so does Hux, and he hates every second of it.

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