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hibisha · 4 years

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Hello, a friend of yours said you might be able to recommend some radiodust fanfics, and it can be anything im not picky

RadioDust fanfics you say? Alright *cracks knuckles* here we go.

1.) The Charismatic Cannibal’s Guide to Self Care

Rating: E

Summary: Alastor chuckled around a hand. Angel would never get over how shark-like he could look. Fangs were the norm here, but Alastor’s had a certain animal quality that fit strangely in a humanoid face. Too big and too many. And right now they were tinged with a hint of red from his choice of drink.

“So what,” he said, “would liven up the place for you, sport?”

You might assume that Angel Dust is the bad influence in every situation. You would be wrong.

The Radio Demon has plans for Hell, and plans for Angel. And they aren't pretty.

Will contain gore/cannibalism/murder and plenty of fun, bad people. Please read the tags and content warning. Plot now, smut to follow.

Personal thoughts: It only one chapter so far but I really like the premise.

2.) Their Arrangement

Rating: E

Summary: Alastor and Angel Dust have come to an agreement after Angel pushes the Radio Demon's buttons a little too far and inadvertently awakens the long forgotten urges buried under decades of bloodlust.

Personal thoughts: One of my literal favorites. Alastor and Angel’s evolving relationship from sex friends to ‘oh shit I have feelings’ *chef’s kiss*.

3.) Absolute Territory

Rating: E

Summary: Angel Dust is an absolute terror for Absolute Territory.

Alastor never knew he had a thing for stockings until Angel decides to flaunt a pair, matched with a pleated skirt and an oversized sweatshirt.

Personal thoughts: Have some good ol’ smut.

4.) Heart Between His Teeth

Rating: E

Summary: So maybe there are better things to life than being drugged and fucked so hard you can't even think for yourself.

Personal thoughts: OMFG. I CAN NOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS FIC.

5.) Angel Dust’s Not So Illustrious Life

Rating: T

Summary: Alastor isn’t sure why he’s become Angel’s primary target, but the more he attempts to dissuade Angel’s advances, the more fervent they seem to become.

And maybe Alastor likes that...maybe...Yet it seems there’s more to Angel than innuendos and a quick romp.

Personal thoughts: I kinda love this fic a lot where Angel and Alastor respect each other’s boundaries.

6.) Caught In His Own Web

Rated:E

Summary: "So when the devil wants to dance with you, you better say never. Because the dance with the devil might last you forever."

Redemption is hard when you don't want to do it. Redemption is even harder when a certain Radio Demon keeps enabling your sinful behavior.

Personal thoughts: My favourite trope, bad people being worse together.

7.) I Thought I Knew You

Rated: M

Summary: Angel Dust can't ruin the hotel's reputation if he can't go outside. Or, at least, that's what Alastor says. Of course, it's all a ploy to torture Alastor's least favorite spider demon, but maybe he doesn't know Angel Dust as well as he thinks he does.

Personal thoughts: I really like this one especially since it feeds into my “Alastor is a dick in all AUs.”

8.) Sex, drugs and radio host

Rating: E

Summary: For some ungodly reason, Alastor decides to keep Angel safe and sound - meaning no sex, prostitution and certainly no drugs. Of course, this wild idea is met with more than a little resistance. But... no one ever cared if Angel was safe. And sometimes, all he would like is a hug. Sex sure is nice, but he is more than willing to explore the possibilities.

The trouble is, it doesn't seem like Alastor is offering anything specific. Keeping things strange and vague is not helping, especially when a new guest catches Alastor's attention.

Personal thoughts: Its cute and theres feelings involved is all I’m saying.

9.) Gentleman's Wager

Rating: None

Summary: Sick of listening to Angel Dust's crass and vulgar language, Alastor makes a bet with him. If Angel Dust can remain absolutely silent for one whole week, he'll give in and kiss him.

Personal thoughts: *inhales* JVKJGCHJCHJCVJHVJHGCJHCJHCGFD I LOVE THIS SO MUCH PLEASE READ IT.

10.) Triggered

Rating: None

Summary: Angel Dust had never really thought too much about the static hum surrounding Alastor wherever he went... until now anyway.

Personal thoughts: It's a very good fic about ANgel dealing with PTSD. Def check it out.

11.) Dinner and Drinks

Rating: None

Summary: Alastor and Angel Dust can barely tolerate each other and Charlie seeks to fix that.

Personal thoughts: Again, a slow development of Angel and Alastor’s relationship.

12.) You Do Something to Me

Rating: T

Summary: Alastor's radio signals go both ways, and for the past few decades he's tuned into the most beautiful voice. What a surprise to find the source in the Happy Hotel right under his nose.

A relationship that grows through music.

Personal thoughts: AGAIN, PLEASE READ THIS IT IS CUTE HECK AND WILL CLEAR YOUR SKIN. Also, its part 2: No One Knows Anything But Us

13.) 1932

Rating: M

Summary: The 1930s are the for perfect time to nurture any up-and-coming radio host or serial killer alike. Alastor is no exception.

Set in New Orleans in 1932, Alastor is living his best life. Broadcaster by day and home chef by night, he's learned that Jumbalaya is best served with a side of human liver and a still beating heart. That is until he brings the wrong meal to his table, a member of the Italian mafia, and ends up biting off more than he can chew.

With his latest meal escaping the table and his identity running the risk of being found out, Alastor faces his biggest hunt yet. The streets of New Orleans are his forest and this time, it's his head on the platter.

AKA Alastor screws up and now has to fix his mess in Dixieland while balancing his day job, cannibalistic hunger, and learn how to be a decent human being for once along the way. Should be fun.

Personal thoughts: I absolutely adore this fic. Please give it a shot.

14.) Contracts and Deals Series

Rating: E

Summary: Angel Dust, Hell's number one porn actor.

Alastor, Hell's most renowned overlord.

The two cross paths.

Angel makes a deal with Alastor to get out of his contract with Valentino. One thing leads to another.

Personal thoughts: It’s a good series that eventually gets really fluffy.

15.) Good Management

Rating: M

Summary: Alastor thought he had Angel Dust filed away into his niche box in the Hotel. He was wrong. But he's a good enough manager to fix his responsibilities.

Personal thoughts: Its AngeliaDark. You know it’s good.

16.) Anything for you

Rating: M

Summary: Valentino faces the consequences of hurting someone that Alastor deeply favors

i.e. Val fucking dies

Personal thoughts: Any fic where Val dies is a good fic.

17.) Predator and Prey

Rating: M

Summary: Every couple of years, Angel Dust goes through a change that makes him a lot less tolerable to be around, for many more reasons than one. The staff of the Hotel are about to learn that the hard way, none more so than Alastor.

Personal thoughts: Okay so, slight dubcon, would recommend checking the tags before going into it. Though I love how it tackles on the story of Alastor being a deer which is technically a prey animal and Angel being the predator for once. Absolutely love it.

18.) Good Tidings

Rating: T

Summary: A Christmas party in Hell isn't the big selling point for the Happy Hotel (For Hazbins), but Charlie feels that the holiday season is just what her friends need to open up to and help one another.

So what better way to do it than with a Secret Santa?

When Angel Dust draws none other than his crush, the Radio Demon, he knows he has one shot to not eff it up.

Personal thoughts: Really fluffy, a good read. Highly recommend it.

19.) Vanilla Bean

Rating: T

Summary: Alastor decides to try his hand at pet names and inadvertently offends Angel Dust. Rated T for swearing and there's suggestive content if you close one eye, tilt your head, and squint.

Personal thoughts: Okay so i loved this one because of how badly these two handle communication.

20.) For Auld Lang Syne, My Dear

Rating: M

Summary: Alastor's solitude is interrupted by Angel Dust who has just escaped a rough client and the two spend the last moments of 2019 together.

Personal thoughts: Love love love this. I just love Angel and Alastor dancing together okay.

21.) I Like It Better When I'm With You

Rating: M

Summary: Angel deals with feelings. Alastor deals with feelings. Just a whole lot of pining.

Personal thoughts: Summary says it all.

22.) Technical Difficulties

Rating: M

Summary: The hotel is running relatively well. Relationships between Alastor and the rest of the staff are budding surprisingly smoothly. And then the rainfall starts up, threatening all of it.

Alastor's out of tune.

Personal thoughts: I love how this is written. Slowburn but worth it.

23.) Lurking in the Shadows

Rated M

Summary: 5 instances where a curious and head-over-heels shadow follows Angel Dust around and 1 time where Angel decides to follow it instead.

Personal thoughts: It’s very cute how Alastor’s shadow pines after Angel.

24.) Crossroads

Rating: M

Summary: A mafioso’s and a murderous radio star’s paths collide in New Orleans in the winter of 1933.

Personal thoughts: OKAY SO I REALLY LOVE THIS BECAUSE HUMAN AUS ARE MY JAM AND THEN ALASTOR AND ANGEL BEING TERRIBLE HUMANS TOGETHER IS EVEN BETTER.

25.) Needle Through a Bug

Rating: E

Summary: Angel wakes up in a hospital after a party. His doctor is very strange, worryingly so. Still, he can't help but be intrigued.

Personal thoughts: Doctor AU. Alastor is insane. I love it because Alastor manages to be as creepy as possible while saving lives.

26.) My Roommate's a Demonic Deer

Rating: M

Summary: Don't you hate it when you "accidentally" summon a demon to fix a problem within your home, only to find out that they don't do that, so now you're stuck with a cannibalistic demon that constantly tracks blood onto the floor, brings other unholy beings into your apartment, and makes amazing jambalaya? It's amazing insanity!

Personal thoughts: Lmao I love demon summoning gone wrong so this was really an amazing read. Angel being a true himbo is always the best.

27.) Human Hazbin Roommates AU series

Rating: E, M

Summary: A series of porny RadioDust one-shots depicting modern human AU roommate life.

Notes:

Glimpses into the human lives of insufferable roommates.

(AKA This was supposed to be a practice at writing present tense smut and it devolved into sex and feelings)

Personal thoughts: Dive in for the smut, come out with the feels.

28: Darker Side of Hell series

Rating: E

Summary: Follow Charlie and later Alastor as part of my Story for the Hazbin hotel... It ain't pretty, so enjoy!

Personal thoughts: Not everyone’s cup of tea so i suggest reading the tags but I really love this series a lot. Angel being awkward and in love is the best shit ever. Its an amazing series.

29.) Scorched, Uninhabited, Rejected

Rating: M

Summary: When Hell suddenly loses all working functions, and angels start dropping from their overhead perches to attack the underworlds population, Charlie has no idea what to do before she's suddenly face to face with a Archangel. Though something, clearly, isn't right about the air the angel assures her to keep those who are dear tucked tightly by her side as the disaster struggles to fix itself.

But nothing is as it seems, Overlords' powers are dwindling and even her own is becoming strained as she struggles to protect her beloved hotel and friends from the Exterminators outside.

Personal thoughts: *vibrates* Can’t say much without spoilers so I’m just gonna beg ya all to read this.

30.) The Thin Line

Rating: None

Summary: Studies say it takes fifty hours of interaction before you consider someone a casual friend and two hundred to be a close friend. Alastor and Angel Dust manage to skip right past close friends to something more without either even noticing they've crossed the line.

31.) La Vie En Rose

Rating: G

Summary: Alastor learns that Angel is afraid of thunderstorms, and Angel in turn learns about the Radio Demon.

32.) falling

Rating: M

Summary: "You're hot as fuck, be my boyfriend."

That was perhaps the worst thing he could've possibly said from that standpoint.

A college setting where Angel gets suddenly awful at flirting when it comes to the face of his crush, a cute library assistant that goes by Alastor.

Personal thoughts: COLLEGE AU COLLEGE AU.

33.) Old Habits Die Hard

Rating: G

Summary: Angel decides to bring back a little habit of his after having a rough time.

Personal thoughts: Hella soft, please read.

34.) Handwritten

Rating: None

Summary: Alastor imagines Angel must be lonely in heaven, he writes to keep him company.

A series of letters addressed to Angel.

Personal thoughts: Hi, do you like crying into your pillow at 2 AM? You do? The look no further, this is the fic for you! Now, with extra heart wrenching feels!

35.) Relapse and Recovery

Rating: T

Summary: Going clean was never going to be easy, but easy was something Angel Dust never expected going into this anyway. At least he has a good support system to help him along the way.

Personal thoughts: I just really like AngeliaDark’s fics okay.

36.) Catalyst

Rating: T

Summary: All couples have their downfalls, and an event that should have been celebrated only drives Alastor and Angel Dust apart.

Personal thoughts: Love love love this. It’s very well written, reads easy and you’ll feel fluffy for days.

37.) Dinner Date: A RadioDust Tale

Rating: E

Summary: Angel Dust finally finds a way to get Alastor to agree to a 'date'. After all, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Sometimes literally.

Personal thoughts: One of my favourite stories about RadioDust.

38.) This One's Dedicated to [static interruption]

Rating: M

Summary: A couple of years since the hotel's opening, the residents have settled down into a fairly tolerable routine. Recently, some of them have begun experiencing peculiar symptoms which become more noticeable as time passes. To his dismay, the Radio Demon finds that he is not immune.

A chance encounter with Angel Dust propels the two demons together as they attempt to answer what's behind the unusual phenomena, while rediscovering all the things they thought dead and buried along the way.

Personal thoughts: Slowburn but definitely worth it. I love the story and how it’s progressing with a certain mystery surrounding the whole plot.

Also slight self plug I guess:

39.) 14 ways to say “I Love You”

Rating: T

Summary: Just a collection of small drabbles I’m writing on based on single word prompts.

Please check it out if you’re a fan of odd AUs.

Wowee, that’s a lot. I’m gonna call it a night and say that’s all for today. I hope you enjoy these!

#hazbin hotel #radiodust #alastor #angel dust #fic rec #ask

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ladybugsfanfics · 4 years

Text

The Case of the Blue Sweater | Tom Hiddleston

Pairing: Mob!Tom Hiddleston x cop!reader

Style: one shot

WC: 10.7k

Warnings: crime, alcohol, drinking, implied sexual content (very much so), uhh, theres no blood, also NB: THIS STORY IS INCOMPLETE AND I WONT BE THE ONE TO FINISH IT! (story is also unedited to please dont hate me for any mistakes)

Summary: Hey so I read your Mob!Tom x reader and it got me thinking.. Could you write a Fic where Tom is in the mob but the reader is a cop? And like they’re secretly dating but technically the reader has to make it look like they’re hunting him down but they really aren’t? (If that makes sense) Idk I feel like I just need this in my life rn 😂😂

A/N: i got this ask back in january i think and i jumped on it right away, but at some point tumblr deleted it so i cant tag who asked (and i know this wasnt anonymous bc i remember but i never put it in the doc annoyingly). anyways, i started writing it, got to 10k words and lost motivation and never finished it. i really like the AU but nothing ever really happened.... im so sorry. I hope you enjoy what i have ^_^

A loud ringing paired with the loudest on and off buzzing from your phone vibrating on the nightstand is what pulls you out of your slumber. The sounds screech in your ears and you reach over to stop it, to just slide the button over so that your ears can stop bleeding. However, as you lean out of the arms wrapped around you, their grip strengthens and you’re dragged back into the chest of the man sharing your bed.

“Tom,” you say. A smile plays on your lips, the set of events not unusual for an early morning.

He nuzzles into your hair, places a wet kiss at the base of your neck. “Five minutes,” he mumbles into your skin.

You shake your head slightly, as much as you can with the limited space. “Can I at least turn the sound off?”

His grip slackens, making you able to reach the little way over to turn off the blaring alarm. The silence that comes with is welcome in every way, but the relief isn’t long-lasting when Tom drags you back into his chest, his nose quickly nuzzling back to where it was.

Two seconds is what it takes before he’s pressing kisses to your neck. Rough, slender fingers graze up the side of your body until they reach your neck, where they brush away your hair. With Tom’s easy access, the soft kisses slowly turn into something more, something rougher, and the use of his tongue causes a slight tickle to trail through your body.

“Tom.” You shift a little where you lay, taking away his access as you turn your head. In the shift, the man easily moves to trail kisses up your jaw, and as you whisper his name again, his lips connect with yours.

It’s a hungry kiss. He sucks at your bottom lip and his hand grabs your jaw, holding your head in place. You lean into him, kissing him back with equal fervor, however, you’re quickly dragged out of the bliss, when your phone goes off again.

There is no mistaking the death glare Tom sends the mini-computer. You chuckle slightly and push him off you to reach it. This time, it’s not an alarm, but a phone call.

Your boss’s call ID lights up the screen, and you give Tom a stern look as you press to accept the call. With the phone to your ear, Tom shrugs and moves under the covers. His hands trail down your body, teasing you as his fingers trace up your inner thighs.

“Y/L/N,” you say.

A grunt is heard from the other side first, then, “I need you to come in ASAP.” Your boss’s voice sounds urgent, desperate.

You check the clock. “I’m not supposed to come in in another hour,” you reply. “Is it that important?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t have called you otherwise.” It’s like you can hear him nod and roll his eyes at the same time. “We got a lead in the case.”

“What kind of lead? And which case?”

As your boss answers, you can feel Tom’s tongue on the inside of your thigh. In surprise at the feeling you barely manage to suppress the squeal that works up in your throat, and you miss your boss’s reply. (You don’t miss Tom’s smug laugh from under the duvet, nor how he continues to work his way closer to your clit.)

“Y/L/N?” comes from the other end of the line when you gain back… well, really some of your dignity, but mostly your mind.

“I’m here, sir.” You sigh. “Just something that happened that caught my attention. Cat nearly knocked down something made of glass.”

(You don’t have a cat, why was that the first excuse you could come up with? Your boss doesn’t know that, though, so it’s safe.)

“Didn’t know you had a cat, but that could happen to the best of us.” Your boss clears his throat. “The lead’s pretty good, but can’t say it over the phone so you gotta come in. It’s on the case about the Blue Sweater.”

You roll your eyes at the nickname of the case. One of the major criminals you were trying to take down is often seen wearing blue sweaters, and at a briefing you’d offered it as a code name; who knows who listens in on phone calls―they do seem to have a knack for being one step ahead of you, too.

But you don’t mention that to your boss. “Alright, sir, I’ll be on my way as fast as I can.”

“Make it less than half an hour and we’re good.”

“No problem, sir.”

Your boss is the one to hang up, and as you throw your phone down on the bed, Tom peeks his head up from under the covers. You send him a glare. “You should be happy you didn’t get started whilst I was on the phone.”

Your boyfriend smirks up at you. “Oh, you wouldn’t have liked that?”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t like it.”

Tom shrugs. “You got time, right?” Though before you can answer he slides back under the cover, uses his hands to steady your hips and dips his head low. God, if only you had more time.

The moment the elevator door opens and you step out into the crowded office space of the police station, you hear your name being called. You wish you weren’t the head detective on the, currently, biggest case pertaining to crime bosses. Just once you wish you could come to work and not have at least five people at a time want to ask you a question or pepper you with information you already have.

You kind of wish you weren’t the head detective for another reason, too, but that’s a minor detail. Actually, that might be the reason you need to be the head detective; way easier to steer an investigation when you’re leading it.

Nonetheless, you have no choice in which cases you lead or not. And that’s usually the reason why there’s three people cluttering your desk as you sit down. You’re not entirely sure that’s the reason today.

You plop down in your chair and stare up at the talking men in front of you. The three of them notice you quickly (after all, it was them that yelled your name) and the chatter dies out.

“I’m here half an hour early and I would love to know what made me skip my morning shower.” (It would have been morning shower sex, and you are a little very annoyed that you had to skip it.)

Your boss coughs, gaining your attention. “Briefing room. Five minutes.” The man looks slightly uncomfortable, but that’s not a big surprise. You’ve been told many times that you have that kind of face that makes people squirm; just something about you is, apparently, intimidating.

“Okay.”

And he walks away.

“You two doing at my desk then?” you ask your coworkers. The two men are your right and left hand in most cases, but this one especially. You wouldn’t even be half the way you are now if you didn’t have them. (Though how much that says, you’re not sure, because you really have nothing.)

“Well…,” starts Mackie. His hand goes up to scratch his neck. “...really we just naturally gravitate here.”

You squint at him, and divert your gaze to Evans (who you know is a shitty liar). Even though you’re not opening your mouth to say anything and he isn’t looking at you, you can see the big man trying to make himself smaller.

“We were gonna try and see if you’d left a hint to who you’re sleeping with,” he says, and despite the way he doesn’t meet your gaze, he says it so casually you’re actually taken aback.

“Excuse me?” You let out a huff, and shake your head. “My sex life is my sex life. You two” ―you point at both of them― “have no business with it.” You stand up from your chair and shake your head yet again. “And if you really think I’d leave evidence lying around, I gotta figure out how to let you know that’s not something I’d do.”

(And if you had, well, your career would for sure be over. If not worse.)

But with that out of the way, you make your way to the briefing room. Captain Cheadle, your boss, stands at the head of the table. In his hand, he holds a wireless presenter, and a few papers are scattered on the table in front of him. You take your place at the table, and as you do, your phone buzzes to signal a new message.

The captain gives you a shrug and that’s all the permission you need to fish your phone from your pocket and check the text.

[08.38] twh darling, you left something at your flat

[08.38] you you talking about yourself? that doesnt count

[08.39] twh that too but no, you left your keys

[08.39] you you doing anything today??

[08.39] twh you know i am, but i can get them to you

[08.40] you gtg but yes please or there are other solutions…

You let out a slight groan knowing you’ll have to figure out how to get your keys without actually meeting Tom. You can’t meet in public, and there are few places where you can meet without being discovered; there’s a reason you’re always at your apartment and never at his house. (well, you’ve been there once, but that was with work and it doesn’t count.)

Whatever his reply is to the latest text you sent, you don’t get to read (though you do feel the vibration on your thigh). Captain Cheadle has called for your attention, Mackie and Evans having seated themselves in the room as well, and you can’t do anything but pay attention to your boss.

“The tip we got is an inside tip.” The captain steps aside to let the projector show a photo of the biggest crime boss currently in New York City, Tom Hiddleston. As with every other photo he’s in, he’s wearing a fucking blue sweater. “The source is reliable, as we know of their work with Hiddleston, but we’re not sure if the tip is.”

He clicks to another photo, which is of the same man getting into a car. Only, he’s getting into the driver’s seat, something that is unusual for someone that has his own driver. “We can’t know if the tip is true or not, but we’re guessing there’s some truth to it.”

You roll your eyes slightly (not enough for the captain to notice). “Can you tell us what it is yet?”

Captain Cheadle nods. “There’s been a mystery woman in his life. None of his men know, but based on a lift in spirits and an increase in nights gone from his own house, they believe he has to be seeing someone. Rumor amidst his men, according to our tip, is that it's been going on for a few months.”

A knot tightens in your gut. A few months is a little less than correct, but yeah… It’s been six months since you started dating Tom Hiddleston. Off work, on a weekend, you met him in a bar, you got drunk and your mind didn’t work in any other way than tell you how hot he was and how good he made you feel. There was little persuasion needed for Tom to get you in a bed, naked, and screaming out his name. And so far, he’s managed to do it most nights since.

(The case had been assigned to you a month after your first encounter. You’d known his name well before you met him, but that hadn’t stopped you. And, even as his girlfriend, you had no evidence on him whatsoever.)

Yet, after six months of no one knowing anything, you’d been fairly certain you’d get away with it. At least until either one of you got enough of pretending. Tom has enough money for you to quit your job should it come to it, the only problem being that you don’t want to because you love your job.

“Did your source say anything about who the woman could be? Where to find her?” asks Evans.

You wait patiently for the reply. Your gut stirs with the thought that they’d know, that just your face (usually a poker-face no one could read no matter how much you panicked on the inside) would reveal you. But you aren’t revealing anything but being deep in thought, as you can feel Mackie’s eyes on you as your own flicker across the room and a frown has pronounced itself on your face.

“The tip was slight, but the source believes that there might be something to check at a bar. It’s one Hiddleston frequents, High Rise.”

Oh, if only the name didn’t chime with recognition at the back of your mind. There isn’t much to do but accept your fate and follow up on the lead, only try your best to avoid being recognized as the girl who left with Tom Hiddleston half a year ago. That could be rather easy, seeing as the bar was dark and you’d been wearing more make-up than usual and the dress you wore hadn’t stood out in any way, and it being six months ago.

You nod at captain Cheadle. “Anything else we should know?”

He nods slightly. “There came one more thing with the tip, but this wasn’t a written message.” He roams around his papers for something and eventually fishes out an evidence bag. Inside is an envelope and something small you can’t see from far away. He slides it across the table to you.

Your heart skips a beat at the sight of what lies in the bag. The envelope easily recognizable as one you’d written yourself (though you’d used a typewriter―fancy―so there isn’t any handwriting to check), and the content a barely visible silver and gold wristband inscribed with a phrase Tom has whispered time and time again in your ear (the most intimate you’ve been outside of sex); my safe spot is with you in my arms.

Your fingers graze over it as you look at the inscription. “That’s pretty intimate,” you say, and an agreed murmur comes from your captain.

“You traced it?” asks Mackie.

“Untraceable. Paid in cash, no receipt, and might even have been done illegally.”

At least you know that that’s not true, and if they’d tried just a little bit harder, it wouldn’t be that hard.

“Fingerprints?” you ask, though not sure exactly where it comes from. (Or, well, it comes from the fact that you’ve touched the wristband on several occasions and that, unless wiped, there should be fingerprints all over it.)

You look up from the evidence bag to see captain Cheadle shake his head. “A few around the clasp, but none enough to make a full print, and any other we could find are only Hiddleston’s. The envelope’s the same”

“The question is whether Hiddleston sent it to someone or if someone sent it to him.” Evans motions for you to slide the evidence over to him, and you do.

“He’s the biggest crime lord in New York, he’s gotta be real smitten if he’d make that to send to someone.” Mackie shrugs, not sold on the idea that Tom Hiddleston, crime boss extreme, could be sappy enough to send it apparently.

Well, if only you knew what Tom would do for the one he loves, if only you knew.

“Well,” you say and clap your hands together, “seems we have more to do today than reports.”

A slight chuckle comes from the three men in the room with you.

“I want you, Mackie, with me on a trip down to High Rise. Captain, is it possible to talk to our source other than written communication?”

A nod.

“Then I want you, Evans, to have a little chat with Hiddleston’s ex-buddy. Let’s see if he doesn’t have more information, and if you can’t get much, try a little harder on the wristband. There’s gotta be something to look for there, maybe mention it to our source?”

“On it.” Evans gives you a thumbs up, grabs the evidence and walks out the door. You and Mackie move to do the same, and on your way there, you fish your phone out from your pocket.

[08.41] twh i’ll have to get back to you on that, but you can probably count me in have a good day, darling

[09.27] you sounds great but, on some not so good news, you got a snitch amidst you and i have smth that belongs to you in evidence

You don’t wait for a reply, certain he’s busy and also because Mackie is a nosy asshole and you’re not gonna get caught on a text message.

“You know where High Rise is?” asks Mackie as you make your way to your desk.

“GPS exists, but I have a hunch,” you say as you grab your jacket. Unfortunately, that hunch is more a hunch that your relationship is getting threatened by your work.

(“A hunch. Yeah, right, you’ve probably been there.”

“Careful what you say there, kiddo.”

“I’m older than you!”

“And yet, I’m driving.”)

[09.53] twh name? and what might that be?

[11.16] you i didnt get one but one of my guys is questioning him smth i bought you

[11.17] twh ill figure it out, and that has to be my wristband. how?

[11.17] you you tell me

Mackie nudges your arm with his elbow as you make it inside the bar. It’s mostly deserted, highly unlike the life that was there the last time you set foot in the place. A man sits in the booth in the back sipping what looks like whiskey based on the glass and the brown liquid inside. By the entrance, a woman and a man sit across each other at a table. Each of them have a beer, though only the man looks to have touched his, and the woman doesn’t look too happy with him.

However, you turn your attention to the bar, and the bartender behind the counter. Fortunately, he’s not the same one that was here when you were. Making your way over, you note the exits (the one you came in through, a backdoor in the kitchen, and―one you noted the first time you were there―the window in the ladies’ room). You also note the man sitting at the edge of the bar counter, back hunched over and an old fashioned placed in front of him. Untouched.

“How can I help you?” asks the man behind the counter. A bushy beard covers his chin, ruffled brown hair the top of his head, and tattoos cover his upper arm, visible where his t-shirt sleeve ends. In his hands he holds a cleaning towel and a glass, but as you sit down, he slings the towel over his shoulder and puts the glass down. “Guessing beer for you, sir, and maybe a scotch on the rocks for the lady?”

You shake your head, and roll your eyes at Mackie’s almost nod. You’re at work, you’re not gonna drink. “Sorry, mister, but we’re here on other business.” You pull out your badge and give him a peek.

The bartender’s eyes go wide. “Sorry, ma’am, didn’t know. You could've fooled me.” He holds out a hand. “I’m Tom Hardy, co-owner of this shithole.”

“Shithole?” Mackie eyes the man.

“Can’t say there’s a lot of good going on in here, really. Nothin’ illegal, though.” Hardy winks at Mackie and you roll your eyes. The last thing you care about is the tiny illegal things going on at the bar. “What can I help you with? There’s not been any complaints, right?”

Mackie shakes his head. “Relax, man, it’s got nothing to do with you. We’re looking for information on a man, also named Tom, but with a different last name. Hiddleston, heard of him?”

The scoff Tom Hardy comes with is barely audible, but you catch it and cock your head to the side.

“Who hasn’t heard of Tom Hiddleston? Supposedly a big mafia boss, but the police has got nothing on him.”

“We got word he frequents this bar. That true?”

Hardy nods. “He’s by at least once a week, sometimes more.”

You try to drown the ache that falls over your heart knowing he still comes by. “You know what he’s here for?”

The bartender shrugs. “Don’t get into that shit, but I know he has a deal with my co-owner, Luke Evans.”

Mackie pulls out a pad and a pen and writes down the name. “Hiddleston ever leave here with a girl in the last few months?”

Hardy shakes his head. “Nah, leaves with the same men, though he has gotten different. Before he used to indulge a little more with the women, but now he seems to not want to. They want him, though.”

The ache fades a little at that. He’s loyal, he’s trustworthy, he’s yours. “Did he use to leave with girls before?” you ask.

“Dunno. He’s usually here when Luke works, only some shifts we got together.” Hardy shrugs. “Though the times I have been here, he’s never left with a girl. He’s followed some into the bathroom, but never left with one. Gotta be some special girl for him to leave with her.”

You suppress the smile that tugs at your lips. “Thank you, mister Hardy. Could you get us in touch with your co-owner? We wanna have a little chat with him, too.”

“He works tonight. Sorry, can’t give you anymore.” The man picks up a glass again. “But if we’re done here, you’re gonna have me excused. I have a job to do.”

“Thanks for the cooperation,” says Mackie and pushes away from the counter. “We might come back for more.”

You say a small goodbye as you follow after your coworker. On the way to the door, your eyes stray to the man in the back of the bar. Something about him seems off, and even more so when he holds up his glass and tips it your way with a slight hint of a ‘cheers’. The creepy smirk that places itself on his face sparks no comfort, and you let out a sigh as you walk through the door Mackie holds open for you.

“Something wrong?” he asks.

“Got a weird feeling from one of the dudes in the bar. Might be nothing, might be something.” You shake your head, slowly, as your thoughts whirr around in your head. “Doesn’t matter. If he’s here tonight, I might check into it, but it’s probably nothing.”

Mackie shrugs. “We didn’t really get that much here either, though. Hope Evans got better luck.”

“Yeah, gotta hope. But I have a feeling our source might’ve changed his mind on talking.” You open the car door and get in, Mackie following your lead. “I have a feeling Evans might not have been very lucky.”

“You thinkin’ we might end up with… homicide?”

You shrug. “Can’t be sure, but wouldn’t be surprising. Don’t believe we’re gonna be able to connect it to Hiddelston, though.” You start the engine and pull out on the road. “Don’t believe we’re gonna have any connection other than the guy’s snitching.”

“Good enough to talk to him.”

“Good enough to blow what we have if we do.”

The police station became a place of chaos in a matter of seconds. One moment, you’re talking to Evans on what he could find (the source had disappeared without a trace), and the next, it’s like the station is on fire.

Evans, Mackie and yourself are out of the loop. You lean against your desk, your coworkers leaning against the neighboring ones, and look at the chaos erupted around you. People run from one place to another, screaming for help or otherwise.

Then silence consumes the crowd as someone turns up the sound of the TV in the background. You turn to see the screen. On it, there’s a picture of a fire and countless dead bodies, burnt crisps until there is nothing recognizable left to see.

“In just a few minutes the house, that belongs to the infamous crime boss Tom Hiddleston, went up in flames. Whether the man himself was in the house or not, we do not know. Police have yet to arrive at the scene, and the firemen are doing their best to put out the blazing fire. So far, we have no witnesses and no way of knowing what caused it. We’ll be back soon with more updates.”

You lock eyes with Evans and Mackie.

“Our source was in that fire, wasn’t he?” Mackie makes a grimace, and then shakes his head and throws his hands up in the air. “You called it. You fucking called it.”

“I didn’t want to call it.” You shake your head. “And we’re not the force to go out there either, so we’re gonna need someone to talk to Hiddleston about this, about his source, without it being suspicious.”

Evans gets up from his place. “I’ll ask Sebastian.”

“That buddy of yours?” you ask.

“This is the kind of case he gets called out on.”

“Go ahe―”

“Y/L/N!” You’re cut off by the sound of your captain yelling your name. “You’re going out with the team. Take one of the boys. Don’t alert Hiddleston, but he’ll know why you’re there.”

“You got it, sir.” You turn to Mackie and Evans. “Looks like we got some luck after all. Which one of you wanna join me?”

When you pull up to the scene, the fire has been put out. But the fire that is the press and the countless people that’ve decided this is something they need to see live, that has yet to be handled.

You and Evans walk up to the police barricade tape and shove it aside. An office tries to stop you, but you easily walk past after a flash of your badge. The head officer on the case is easily recognizable where he commands what looks like some junior officers.

“What’s the deal?” you ask.

He turns to you, and there you find Evans’s and Mackie’s friend, Sebastian Stan. He smiles at the two of you. “Got five casualties, one critically hurt on his way to the hospital. Medics think his fate’s been sealed. Other than that the fire’s been put out, and the owner of the house arrived about five minutes ago.” Sebastian points to a male figure pacing up and down the sidewalk. “Don’t know if I’d wanna talk to him though.”

You swallow a lump in your throat. “We haven’t got much choice.” You’re about to walk from the officer, but you have one last question. “You got any identities on who died?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing, and so far it seems the fire was an accident. No fuel used of any kind, nothing weird about the source, and the six that were in the house weren’t close to it. Three of them were asleep.”

“Didn’t the house have a smoke alarm?” asks Evans.

Sebastian shakes his head. “Nope. And you’re not gonna believe what they, as of now, believe to be the source.”

“What?”

“A hair dryer. Wasn’t turned off.”

You frown. “A hair dryer? Nothing else? It’s a pretty big house. Seems like a long shot.”

Sebastian shrugs. “So far we’ve ruled out arson, and seeing how annoyed the owner is over there, safe to say he wasn’t planning on burning his house down.”

Don’t say that. He wouldn’t care, seeing as that isn’t the house he uses mostly―that’s just the public one.

Even Evans knows that, and you give him a look as you move away from Sebastian and towards said owner of the house.

“Hiddleston,” you say as you near him.

The man turns around. His expression is curious rather than angry, but something tugs at his lips as his gaze flickers over to Evans. “Miss Y/L/N, what do I owe the lovely pleasure?”

“Your house burned down. Five of your men dead, and a sixth one just holding on. We’re thinking he’ll die, too, medics said it was critical.” You shrug. “But you already knew that, right?”

Tom smiles, and takes a step closer to you. You have to hold out a hand to stop Evans from coming in between, knowing you have somewhat of a bodyguard in the man. “Darling.” Tom’s hand comes up to cup your cheek and you have to fight the urge to lean into his touch. “How could I know that? No one wants to tell me a bloody thing.” His voice changes fast at the last sentence, the annoyance creeping in.

“Did you set the fire?” asks Evans.

You roll your eyes. “He doesn’t mean to ask that. But we would like to know if there are any of your acquaintances missing?”

Tom nods. “There’s one I wanted to talk to. Name’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Haven’t been able to contact him since last night, and that’s unusual.”

“You think he was in the fire?”

The male shakes his head. “I don’t believe he was there at all, but I do believe he would do this. I got the impression he isn’t quite happy with me, or my decisions lately.”

He’s the snitch.

“We’ll let you know if he was in the fire.” You use your hand to push Tom’s hand away from your face, his touch lingering a little too long to be a play (but you weren’t going to complain.) “I have one other inquiry.”

“Go on.”

You take a deep breath before the words leave your mouth. He should be prepared, considering you told him what was in the evidence bag, but you can’t be sure. “Any girlfriends or women in your life we should know about?”

He smiles (god, that smile). “Other than you, love?”

Smooth. You can practically hear Evans roll his eyes behind you.

“Yes, other than me.”

“Then no. I have a far too busy life to deal with girlfriends,” he says, and winks, “though you shouldn’t hesitate to contact me.” Tom leans in close, his lips grazing your ear and his hand taking yours―something cold grazes your fingers. “I can give you a night you won’t forget.”

You don’t let the hitch in your breath show, and when he places a kiss to your cheek, you only stare at him as he pulls away (and let your hand find comfort in your jacket pocket where you let go of your keys).. “Don’t leave town, Mister Hiddleston.”

“I won’t, darling.”

And then you walk away together with Evans. He keeps glancing behind him, and the confusion is written on his face.

“Just ask,” you say as you reach the car.

Evans opens the door. “How are you not fazed by that?” he asks.

You get into the car and shrug. “Because I don’t let it. He thinks it’s fun to play with me because I don’t have a reaction―” (ehehe, yeah right) “―I think it’s fun to let him. Eventually, something has to slip and we’ll be able to catch him on the spot.”

“But you gotta allow yourself to be harassed to do so?”

You chuckle. “I wouldn’t call it harassment, hon. I call it work.”

Evans frowns as you start the engine and pull out of the parking spot. “What do you mean?”

“Haven’t you noticed? When it comes to sexual harassment, Tom Hiddleston is the least of my worries.”

It’s supposed to be a brief stop; get into your apartment, change into something that doesn’t drag attention at a bar on a Thursday night (probably not going to be too crowded anyways), and get out.

But when you walk in through the door, you see a pair of shoes kicked off in the entrance hall. A coat lies draped over your living-room armchair―a coat easily recognizable.

You hurry to close the door, and kick off your own shoes. The trail of clothes leads you further into the apartment. A dress shirt folded together and placed on the cupboard in your living room. Pants lie discarded on the floor in the doorway to your bedroom. And the man who it belongs to, you find tangled in your sheets, buck naked with the exception of the tie around his neck.

“What do you want?” you ask him, an amused smile plastered on your face as you shake your head.

Tom lifts his head a little. A smirk colors his face and he shrugs. “Thought I could surprise you a little, before I have to get going.” He checks the wristwatch on his arm (which you first now noticed he hasn’t taken off either). “But you’ve used quite a lot of time to get here, and now we barely have time for anything.”

You shake your head, smile gone. “Sorry, babe, but I haven’t got the time.”

“What? You have plans for the evening?” There’s a teasing lilt to his voice, but it still slightly hurts seeing as you barely get out of the apartment when you get time off. Really, six months ago was a chance meeting unlike any other.

“I have work.” You move to open your wardrobe. “But if you want, you can help me figure out what to wear.” You turn your head to cast Tom a glance, eyebrow raised.

He turns a little, enough for the sheet that had covered him to fall off and leave him fully exposed. And with just the tie as a piece of clothing, you have to turn back around. God, what that man can do. You grit your teeth as you open the door and file through the few dresses you own, patiently waiting for his response.

“What is it for?” he asks, and his velvet smooth voice does nothing to ease the growing arousal in your gut, not with the image of him and that tie the only thing on your mind.

You swallow before you reply, but you don’t dare turn around. “Gotta talk to the owner of a bar, and don’t wanna drag attention with people there so we agreed to act less like police. Might have to have a drink or two.” You sigh, and close your eyes. “You should have waited with this until then.”

“What?” His voice is in your ear, warm breath fanning your neck. You bite down on your lower lip, hard. “You don’t like it? You’re not enjoying it?” His hands find the hem of your shirt. Fingers graze up along your skin and you find yourself complying when he makes a move to drag it off.

“Tom,” you whisper. You lean into him, into the fingers tracing along your bra and the way his lips ghost over the skin on your shoulder, up your neck. “I don’t―” You shudder as he presses a kiss to your jaw. “Ba― Babe, I don’t have―”

He tips your head back and his lips find yours. Barely touching, you close your eyes, and the image of Tom in bed and you using the tie to drag him to you has you swallow, almost succumbing to the pleasure you know you’ll get. His voice is low when he speaks. “Don’t have what?”

You don’t answer as your hand shoots up to press his head closer to yours, to push your lips together. Everything you can think about is him, your boyfriend, and in a matter of seconds your clothes are off as well, and you sink into the mattress as Tom throws you down on your bed. Your eyes open briefly, to see him study the contours of your body and, even as you do give into Tom and your desire, the haste is still on your mind.

With determination etched into you, you drag him to you with the tie and capture his lips in yours. There is no limit to what this man does to you, and there is no limit to what you let him.

With the already extra time you used with Tom, you didn’t have the time to shower. You’d tried your best to fix your hair and do something extra with your make-up, but Tom didn’t have it in him to let you dress and time was wasted.

Evans and Mackie pick you up outside your apartment complex in Evans’s car. As you approach, the two of them lean against it, deep in conversation. They barely notice you coming, but when they do, both give appreciative looks.

“Looking good,” says Mackie, eyes travelling up and down your body. Evans remains quiet, the way his eyes dance over you the only comment you get (and you have to admit, you’re not really complaining.)

You’d opted for something nice, but nothing too much. A skirt that stops mid-thigh, knee high boots with a thick heel, and a slightly revealing shirt. (You’d also opted for a thigh holster so that you could still bring your gun.

“You’re wearing that.” It’s more a statement than a question from the naked man resting on your bed.

You nod, and glance his way. “Problem?”

Tom’s eyes graze over you, hunger evident in them. “I would certainly like to take it off.”

You lift the hem of your skirt, revealing the thigh holster with your gun. “This too?”

“Yes, and right now.”)

In your hand, you have a clutch and you’re also wearing a coat to keep some warmth in the cool evening air. “Shall we go?” you ask.

And the two men both get off from where they’re leaning against the car. Mackie easily offers up the passenger’s seat to you, even though whenever it's him and Evans fighting over it, it’s first come first serve. You smile a thanks and then you’re on your way.

Evans parks a few blocks away from the bar (his expensive Audi with tinted windows certainly drags some attention), and you use the walk there to go through the course of action.

“Mackie’s the cop-cop. He’ll talk to Luke Evans, try something else. We try to talk to some of the people there. Whether that’s as a cop or not, I don’t really care. All we really need is a lead. If anyone sees any of Hiddleston’s associates, please alert the others.”

The two nod. “Sure, but before we go in there, you have to fix your hair.”

You raise your brow at Mackie. “Excuse me?”

“You got sex hair.” He gives you a ‘sorry’ smile and a shrug. “Like, we’re not judging you for having it, but if you’d told us you had a visitor we would’ve waited to come to give you more time.”

“Fuck.” You shake your head and stop. “One, help me fix my hair. Two, I wasn’t planning on it. I was ambushed.” Something that isn’t really that far fetched, it’s not like you knew Tom would be there when you came home.

Evans stops in front of you and asks with his face if he can help, and you nod. His hands move to brush a little through your hair, and fix a little on what probably stands out.

“How could you get ambushed?” asks Mackie.

You roll your eyes. “I got home, there were some clothes lying around, I followed the trail to a naked man in my bed and seeing as it’s the guy I’m currently seeing it wasn’t a bad sight. I tried to tell him I didn’t have the time, but he can be quite persuasive.”

As you talk, Evans tugs a little harshly on your hair and you let out a pained sound. He apologizes, but continues to try and fix your hair.

Mackie shrugs. “How long have you been seeing him?”

You shrug. “Few months.”

“How many months are a few?” asks Evans, his hands letting go of your hair and an approving smile on his face. He steps away to get Mackie’s blessing and the man nods affirmative.

“Uhh, six.”

Both Mackie and Evans stare wide-eyed at you.

“You’ve been dating a dude for six months and not told anyone?!” If you didn’t know better (and you’re not always sure you do), you’d think there was a layer of accusation in Mackie’s voice, but you don’t believe there is.

You shrug and begin to walk again. “What does it matter? It’s not like there’s a need to know about those things.”

“I thought we were friends.” Mackie shakes his head, a small friendly glare sent your way.

“What made you think that?” you ask, but the same friendly feel to your words as there was to his glare. “But can we let it go? I don’t want to talk about my private life.”

Evans nods. “We’re here anyways.”

And you sure are. You look up to see the blinking neon sign of the bar. The bass from the music drifts to where you stand by the door, and with a quick glance inside, you can see it’s fuller than you expected for there to be another work day of the week left. Though you do notice the age of the people; it's possible the college kids don't have class tomorrow, or don’t care.

The three of you make your way inside, gaining a few glances as you step in, but everyone quickly turns back to their own lives. You give a small sign to the two men you came with and move away from them.

It’s easy to step up to the bar, and you easily recognize the bartender as the one who was there when you met Tom. You’re guessing he’s Luke Evans, and you take a breath before you signal him for a drink. Hopefully, you won’t be recognized.

“What can I get you?” he asks.

“A whiskey, thanks.”

He pushes away from the counter, and easily grabs a glass and a bottle and pours. When he puts it down in front of you, his gaze lingers. “Have I seen you before?”

You shake your head. “Has to be somewhere else than here in that case.”

“First time?”

You nod.

“Recommend not drinking a lot. We get some sleazy people in here.”

“I hear you also get crime bosses. This the place to meet the Tom Hiddleston?”

Luke chuckles. “Hon, if you want to meet Tom Hiddleston, I suggest you start being careful what you wish.” He nods to the back of the bar. “Best luck is sitting down in that reserved booth. It’s his usual.”

You cock your head. “He’s coming here today?”

The bartender nods.

“Ain’t I lucky,” you whisper and smile at him. You easily get away from the counter and make your way to the empty booth in the back.

Sure enough, a sign reading reserved is placed on the table. Who it’s reserved for doesn’t say, nor is there a time stamp. You make for sliding into it, but a hand grasps your wrist and pulls you away.

As you fall into the chest of the stranger, you turn your head. The man who you’d seen earlier today is the one holding you back. Up close, you notice bags under his eyes and he reeks of alcohol. You pull away from his grip and raise a brow his way.

“I wouldn’t sit down there if I were you,” he says, and slides into the same booth he had earlier.

“Why?”

He shakes his head. “Tom Hiddleston isn’t a man to mess with.”

“And how do you know so much about Tom Hiddleston?”

The man pats the seat next to him. “Sit and I’ll tell you.”

You hesitate, but eventually slide in. You leave room between yourself and the stranger. If anything were to happen, you do have a gun.

“You got any relation to Hiddleston?” you ask (you have to admit, no matter how much you want your boyfriend not to be caught, you wish you knew more about what he did do).

“Name’s Aaron.” The snitch.

You motion for him to go on.

“I was hired by him three months ago. He felt the cops were gaining and wanted something, or someone to try and put a stopper to it.”

“So, Tom Hiddleston hired you to snitch on the cops?” You want to laugh, seeing as you snitch enough for Tom to never know exactly what you know, but enough to cover his tracks.

Aaron shakes his head. “He hired me to snitch on a cop. A specific one.”

You frown, sure if he was hired to snitch on you you’d know and he would have recognized you. Perhaps he had.

“The cop’s here today.” Aaron’s gaze travels into the crowd of people in the bar. You see where he looks. Evans. “His name is Chris Evans.”

“Why did he want you to spy on him?”

Aaron shrugs. “He never said. And eventually, I got sick of it. The guy’s obviously not a threat to Hiddleston and his business. Y/N Y/L/N is, but it’s impossible to find out anything about her. Don’t even know what she looks like.”

You try not to let it show that you flinched at the mention of your own name. And you find it weird that he can’t find anything on you. Tom did so, easily. But there’s no need to dwell on that. You glance at Aaron again, unsure how to ask.

“You say you got sick of it. What did you do? Just stop doing his bidding, or something else?”

A smile colors Aaron’s face. “Snitched to the cops. Left a message. Anonymous, but I gave them a way to contact me for more information.” He shakes his head. “Got contacted today, but never replied. But I saw you here this morning, talking to the bartender.”

You cock your head. That could be an easy way to draw the connection to you as a cop, not necessarily as Y/N Y/L/N, but you had been seen with Mackie, and usually Mackie and Evans were seen with each other.

“I have a proposition for you,” he says. “One that means getting close to Hiddleston, and that includes spying on him. Mics, cameras, whatever. I need him in jail.”

“I’m gonna have to say no. I was just hoping for a night, a friend of mine told me he was real good in bed.” You shrug. “But if you have angered him, I got told by the bartender that Hiddleston comes in today.”

Aaron smiles. “You’ll have to excuse me, then. I hope you don’t anger him with only the intention of a one night stand. Based on how you look, I’m pretty sure you’re his type.” The male slides out of the booth, downs his drink in one go, and waves goodbye. You watch as he moves to the restrooms, and you roll your eyes when he winks.

[10.47] you snitch is alive, in the restrooms hiddlestons supposed to come in today

[10.48] evans no snitch in the restrooms, window’s open tho guessing it was the guy that slipped past me just now

[10.48] you guess so mackie u got anything from the bartender

[10.50] mackie that hiddlestons coming in that their deal is just renting of the venue from time to time

[10.50] you well just have to do the best of it then im sitting in his booth so if he comes hell notice

[10.51] evans sure thats a good idea??

[10.51] you would very much like to know why he put someone to spy on you evans snitch was hired to keep tabs, got annoyed he wasnt keeping tabs on me

[10.51] mackie dam i wanna know that too be careful

You look up and meet the gazes of your coworkers. Evans looks uncomfortable, worried almost, judging by the crease between his brows. Mackie gives you a look of understanding and a pair of thumbs up.

You down your drink, try to cover the hiss as pain sears down your throat, and make to sit down in Tom’s booth. On the way in, you knock over the reserved sign, making it fall to the floor. Now, it’ll look like you didn’t know.

[10.57] mackie Incoming

The front door opens slowly. Heads turn to look who comes through, and unlike when you arrived with Mackie and Evans, everyone’s eyes stay on the man who weaves his way through the crowd.

Tom stops by the bar, has a small chat with the bartender and turns his head to look your way. A smirk grazes his lips as your eyes lock, but he quickly turns back to the man he was talking to.

You swallow. You have to steady your beating heart, have to shove the thought of the night’s previous events to the back of your mind, and kill the deep swirling feeling in your gut at the sight of Tom in that blue fucking suit. God, if there was something Tom Hiddleston was made to do it’s wearing suits.

The blue color suits his very being. It’s tailored to fit him perfectly; long legs encased in blue fabric that shows off his bum, suit jacket that fits his shoulders and back in a way that has you swallow. You can see his broad shoulders and some of the tightness that drags at his muscled arms. What you can’t wait to see, is how well the shirt underneath fits him. You simply can’t wait for him to pull off the jacket.

Thankfully, you don’t have to wait very long. With two drinks in hand he makes his way up to where you sit. He doesn’t say anything as he places them on the table, nor does he say anything when he pulls up the reserved sign from where it lies on the floor. He places it back on the table, eyes you warily, and sides into the booth.

Long arms grasp for the drinks. He pulls them in and pushes one to you. “Can you drink, darling? You’re working, right?”

You take the glass and swirl the liquid around inside it. “I can, actually.” And you take a sip. “But I won’t drink a lot.”

Tom moves closer to you, knocking his thigh against yours. You take a deep breath at the touch, the only one you can return―Tom flirting with you whilst you work is no news, but it would be quite different if you did the same. “Have you been waiting long, darling?”

“No, I haven’t. I managed to preoccupy myself.”

“Oh, can I hear?”

You shake your head. “What good would you have of that?” you ask. When you get a shrug in return, you roll your eyes and take another sip of the whiskey. “I have a question for you, though.”

Tom cocks a brow.

“Why did you need someone to spy on Evans?”

Your heart beats fast as Tom moves even closer, lips coming up to ghost across your cheek. You can see that the two in the crowd of people keeping a close eye on you flinch, but you don’t make a gesture to show any discomfort. “Have you not noticed, love?”

You push him away by placing a hand on his chest. “Noticed what?” You try to pull your hand back but Tom places his over yours and keeps your touch on him. A small hint of the love he usually offers you shows through the blue of his eyes.

“The man likes you, darling. A little too much. Can’t have another man try anything with my woman.” Tom’s gaze flickers out to the crowd, and as you follow it, you see how it lands on Evans and how your coworker squirms. “Now, if only I could show him.”

“Tom,” you say, voice bordering on affectionate. His eyes flicker to you in surprise; he’s only ever been Hiddleston in public. “There’s nothing to worry about, and if you try anything, anything at all, you will have a gun to your head.”

Tom chuckles. “Are you threatening me?”

“You know where the gun is.” And the hand that travels up and under your skirt, grazing by the thigh holster, has you swallow. You take a deep breath as his hand travels a little further, and the only way to stop him is to grab his hand. “I didn’t say you could check.” You push at him a little, creating more distance between you two (even though you would like to sit close to him).

“I didn’t think I needed permission, love.” He smirks and you shake your head.

You smile innocently at him. “Usually you don’t.” You go to slide out of the booth. “Bye, Hiddleston.”

Tom grabs your arm and pulls you back to his chest. “Have you really made that big a dent in the case of the Blue Sweater?” he whispers in your ear. You writhe in his grasp, but a firm hand turns your head to him and his face draws closer to yours. “Tell me what I need to do to have the lead again, darling. I’ll do anything.”

And you can’t stop the sound of surprise that escapes you when Tom presses a chaste kiss to your lips. The surprise is so big you only stare wide-eyed at him, not able to kiss him back (and good is that seeing as you’re in public), and when he pulls back, you push away from him and shake your head.

“You’re an idiot,” you say (no teasing or play in your voice), and then you walk away. You rush out of the bar, feel Evans’s and Mackie’s eyes on you, and when you get out of the front door you lean against the wall. Your heart hammers in your chest. You’re panting, and you can feel the rush of adrenaline making its way through your body.

You may like to play with fire, letting him flirt and show affection in public, but you wouldn’t ever go this far. You wouldn’t ever think he’d even risk it.

“Are you okay?” comes a voice from next to you. Evans and Mackie have made it outside, and you push off the wall to start walking to the car.

“We’re not talking about it,” you say.

Neither of them make a move to say more, and you can hear them follow after you. Tom might be the worst person in history to be in a secret relationship with. Or maybe the best. You haven’t decided yet.

It’s no surprise to see the people surrounding your desk when you get to work. Your two usual pests sit at their own, and though not a part of the group waiting for you, they shoot you glances as you sit down.

You try not to glare at the group, but when they all just quietly stare at you, the anger bubbles. “What?” you ask.

A small murmur goes through them, until your impatient glare becomes too much and one voice squeaks out, “did Tom Hiddleston kiss you?”

He has more than once, you think.

You don’t reply, only giving them an unamused look in return. They quickly scatter, and you can hear the chatter that bubbles up amongst them.

Not only do you not have the patience for stupid pestering (and annoyance at Evans and Mackie for spreading the word), but your morning was the worst in a while. It’s almost become a usual for Tom to sleep over, whether because he falls asleep after sex or if he just wants to cuddle, but when you came home yesterday, there was no Tom.

And no Tom means no morning cuddles, or a goodbye kiss as you leave out the door. On top of that, he hasn’t texted either. No saying why he didn’t show. No explaining why he risked a kiss in public.

A text you did get in the morning, was a journalist asking for an interview. Especially interesting was the lack of respect for an ongoing investigation, and the bold way to ask whether or not you were secretly helping Tom not get caught (you want to know how they would even guess it. That’s a pretty bold assumption to make about the lead detective on a case).

Tired, you rest your elbow on the desk and lay your head in your hand. You massage your forehead slightly, and there’s no mistaking the groan that leaves your lips as your thoughts swirl.

A knock on your desk pulls you out of it. You look up to see Mackie leaning against it. “You okay?” he asks.

You shake your head. “It doesn’t matter. We gotta talk about what information we got, though. But I don’t trust… I don’t want to talk out here, so, briefing room in five minutes. I don’t know if Evans heard, but make sure he did.”

Mackie scrunches his nose slightly and presses his lips together.

“What’s wrong?”

“Briefing room’s occupied.”

You curse under your breath and shake your head. “We got a meeting room, that occupied?”

Mackie shakes his head. “Not that I know.”

“We’ll meet there.” And as he gives you a thumbs up, you get up from your desk and move to the captain’s office. With a knock and a mumbled ‘come in’ you walk into the room and close the door behind you.

Cheadle looks up at you. “I heard what happened.”

You nod. “Yeah, but there’s something else I’m here about.”

He quirks a brow. “Oh? Important?”

You pull out your phone, ignore the new message you’ve gotten and find the text from the journalist. You hand the captain your phone. “Got this this morning. I want to know how they got my number, what made them think I’m colluding with the guy I’m trying to catch, and what the hell made them believe I’d ever talk to a news source about an open investigation.”

“That is weird.” Captain Cheadle hands you back your phone (just in time, too, because a message chimes in from twh). “When you have time, come back in here. I know you’re gonna talk to the guys now, but I’d like for it to be soon. And check if they haven’t gotten the same one.”

“Yes, sir.” You sigh and walk out again. You head for the meeting room and on your way you pull open your text thread with Tom.

[08.18] twh darling we need to talk i think i have some information you’d like to have

[08.23] you gonna talk about smth else too or just your problem??

[08.23] twh im sorry, darling, i got caught up in work we can talk about both tell me when you have time and ill show up at your flat

[08.23] you tonight, 8

The reply goes by you as you open the door to the meeting room. Evans and Mackie already sit down, Evans with papers in front of him and Mackie with his phone out on the table. You frown, but sit down across from them.

“I don’t know who wants to start.” You look between the two men, and when neither say anything, you shrug. “Guess I’ll go then.” You take a deep breath. “Our snitch’s name is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the man Hiddleston mentioned yesterday when we questioned him about the fire. He isn’t dead because he was in the bar. He says he was hired a few months ago to keep tabs on Evans, but he got sick of it because, according to him, you’re not the threat. On the other hand, I am, but he didn’t know he was talking to me.”

“Did you find out why Hiddleston got him to spy on Evans?” asks Mackie.

You shake your head. “Hiddleston didn’t answer that. Snitch didn’t know himself, but he said he tried to keep tabs on me, too, only he couldn’t. He didn’t have anything to go on, no information, no way to know what I look like. And I find that interesting. Why would Hiddleston go out of his way to make sure they couldn’t do anything to make me a culprit or anything?”

“Maybe because Hiddleston has the biggest crush on you?” asks Evans, and there’s no mistaking the hint of spite in his voice as he says so. “Or, he finds you that big enough a threat he can’t have his guys going around doing stuff to hinder you because you’re smart enough to be able to connect it to him?”

“I hope the last,” you mumble. “But there was definitely something he wasn’t telling me. He seemed to know more than he let on, but I couldn’t push like I usually do because then he’d know. I want to see if we can contact him again, because he knew we tried yesterday without luck.”

“We’ll try, but I don’t think we’re gonna get much either.” Evans nods, and all three of you let out sighs.

You motion for them to start talking instead. Evans slides you a piece of paper. Not much is on it, but the words are clear. You look up at him.

“There were some regulars there that have witnessed Hiddleston many times. The man I talked to said that.” Evans coughs. “‘He’s always alone, at least when he sits, but he leaves with men. Never has a girl around him unless they come up to him, hasn’t had one in a long time. Only once did he leave with one. She was pretty, looked rather intimidating, actually. Don’t think it lasted.’ The man also went on to ramble about how after that, Hiddleston hasn’t been seen with a girl. Well, before you.”

“So he has left with a girl once.” Mackie confirms. “Luke Evans said the same thing. A pretty little thing that edged in on the man unlike no one he’d seen before, and that surprisingly got to leave with him. He’s never seen the woman again, and he found that odd. He doesn’t believe Hiddleston’s got someone in his life, though.”

You bite your lower lip. “Well, that is something. Any descriptions?”

Both shake their heads.

“There is one thing I noted, though,” says Mackie. “If Hiddleston does have someone he likes, is with, whatever. He so openly flirts with you that that woman has got to be furious, and he probably wouldn’t have kissed you either. I think the wristband was sent to him, not from him.”

You nod. “I believe you’re right there.” You know he’s right, but that’s details you’re not sharing. “But I have something more interesting.” You fish your phone out of your pocket (ignore the new messages from Tom) and open up the one you got this morning.

“What’s going on?” asks Evans as you place your phone in front of them on the table. They read over the text and cast eyes up to you. Something in the look both send, they’ve seen something similar before.

“Got it this morning.” You snatch your phone back, seeing the almost pop-up about a new text and not risking who it’s from. “I need to know who believes I’m colluding with the enemy.”

Mackie nods as he opens up his own phone and slides it across to you. “We got the same text, though slightly altered. They’re asking if we know anything about you colluding with Hiddleston.”

[06.53] unkown Hi, I’m a reporter from New York Times. I was wondering if there would be released more information pertaining to the Hiddleston case, and what you know about Hiddleston and Detective Y/L/N’s relationship to the man. I heard last night that they kissed, and maybe the reason you haven’t caught him yet is something entirely else than him being good at what he does.

“Fucking hell,” you mutter. You slide Mackie’s phone back to him and let out a loud sigh.

Things are not looking very bright.

A/N: thats what i have. if you want to, reblog this with a continuation, but please dont steal any of this and act like it’s your own. i worked a lot on this when i still had motivaton but i wanted to at least share it even if i wont finish it, to which im deeply sorry

would always want to know what you guys think...

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #twh #thomas william hiddleston #reader insert #x reader #unfinished #tom hiddleston imagine #imagine

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frostmarris · 4 years

Text

Day 7: Knights, Dragons, and Druids

Pairing: Shikamaru Nara/Sakura Haruno/Kimimaro Kaguya

Rating: Teen & Up

Content Warning: some peril I guess but thats about it

Additional Tags: Medieval Fantasy, Plant Magic, other magical creatures, sakura is stubborn

Summary: Sakura makes a discovery that probably should have been left a secret.

Notes: ok i lied, one last entry for the @naruto-fantasy-week

I've had about 1k of this written for months and months and it just so happened to fit the last prompt almost perfectly. Sakuras not a druid but theres def some plant based magic going on

This is TECHNICALLY the first chapter to a multichapter fic, but im just gonna leave it as a oneshot for now and maybe come back to it one day

Enjoy!

Violet Lines

The morning sun barely reaches over the top edges of the stone wall surrounding the castle gardens, daybreak just beyond and peeking into view. Birds chatter and sing as they welcome the sun and, if she listens closely, she can almost hear the sounds of the morning market far, far behind her on the other side of the palace.

The castle is already awake and bustling, but there's no one else out in the gardens just yet - at least no one who might stop her.

Sakura spares a moment to watch the first few rays of daylight make their arrival before she continues onward, glancing over her shoulder only a handful of times as she passes between rose hedges and meticulously maintained trees, winding her way through the garden on a path she'd long-since memorized. The skirt of her gown drags over the grass and the toe of her riding boots occasionally peek out from under the fabric as she walks, her steps light and leaving the earth as undisturbed as possible.

She spies one of the groundskeepers pruning a bush of peonies and ducks behind a tree despite knowing he's unlikely to try to deter her.

(It's even less likely that he knows where she's going.)

Waiting until his head is turned, Sakura hurries forward and passes more flower hedges, smiling to herself at the scent of the blooms and the way a breeze makes them dance and bow to her. She's almost to her destination, close to the wall and the more open expanse of the garden behind her. Ducking under a low hanging branch, her fingers trail over the bark of the tree until her hands meet a ripe peach, gently plucking it free with a pleased hum before she carefully slips it into her satchel - a treat for later.

As the vegetation grows more dense and the sounds of the castle seem to become more muted, Sakura finally arrives at the cluster of cherry trees, low branches almost braided together with how closely they're entwined, creating a twisted wall of tree and leaves. Undeterred, she reaches out to gently brush her fingers over one of the branches, politely stepping back as the trees seem to shudder.

There's a low groan and a rustling of leaves as the trunks twist and turn outwards towards her, the branches untangling and bowing away to reveal the curtain of ivy covering a sturdy oak door, set into the stone wall. The vines and leaves raise on their own, pulling away from the door to allow her access and bunching up out of the way. Smiling, Sakura reaches for the smooth, golden handle, the finish unfaded despite how many times she'd traced her fingers over the curve and delicate filigree over the years.

The door opens easily and silently, a cool breeze gently blowing her hair back as it travels through the passage to meet her. Hitching up her skirts, Sakura assuredly steps inside, the ivy and cherry tree branches returning to their prior positions as she pulls the door shut behind her.

The cobblestone path is covered with patches of thick moss that creep up the sides of the walls, the passage just wide enough for her to reach her hands out on either side of her body and her fingers just barely graze the stone. More vines and branches arch overhead, lining the domed ceiling of the passageway and nearly fooling her into thinking she's merely walking under a canopy.

But no daylight permeates through the foliage and her hidden path would be bathed in darkness were it not for the fluorescent mushrooms that dotted the ground and walls here and there, bathing her way in a soft blue light.

The space does not match what should be on the outside, her path straight for much longer than the width of the stone wall, but she's long since stopped trying to make sense of it.

As she walks, Sakura begins to gather the skirt of her gown in front of her then awkwardly tuck it between her legs, miraculously managing to not trip all the while before she reaches behind her to grab the two halves. Bringing the fabric back around to her front, she ties it off and successfully girds her loins, revealing the brown leggings she wears underneath. By the time she starts folding her long sleeves up to her elbows as well, the path begins to slope downwards slightly, just barely at first before the cobblestone path becomes steps as the decline increases.

It's silent save for the sound of her breaths and her footsteps, her boots occasionally meeting stone rather than moss. The path levels out after a minute or so and Sakura pulls a ribbon out of her satchel, beginning to tie her long, loose hair up and out of the way. The braided plaits at her temples help keep her hair back, but it's the golden circlet that stops her bangs from falling into her eyes.

By the time she's satisfied, her ascent begins, more cobblestone steps appearing in front of her as the passage takes her upwards once more. The path levels out again after a couple of minutes, the steps ending just feet away from another oak door. Several clusters of those glowing mushrooms grow around the doorframe and Sakura simply reaches for the handle, easily pushing it open. Daylight greets her as she exits the secret path, entering a small clearing in the forest.

A thick ring of trees and underbrush surround the large cherry blossom tree in the center of the meadow and a branch lowers towards her, offering Sakura a handhold as she steps through and out of the door embedded in its trunk. She knows she's fairly deep in the woods, far deeper than anyone in the castle or the town dare enter, but she greets the forest with a smile, closing the door behind her. Moonflower vines move to cover the door once more, having pulled away as they sensed her approach, and the large leaves spiral around the trunk of the cherry tree so thickly, the bark is almost invisible.

The tree stands alone, no wall or path behind it, and leaves no suggestion of the passageway it hides. It's a mystery she's simply chalked up to magic, no longer concerned with its origin or purpose after years of using the hidden doors to visit the woods. She knows it's her own secret treasure - why else would her namesake hide the doors?

Listening to the rustling of leaves in the wind and the singing birds above, Sakura continues onward through the clearing and into the forest, fairly certain of her destination. The tall bushes and shrubs that create a makeshift wall between the ring of trees shake and pull away as she approaches, creating a clear path for her.

"You're worrying your lady in waiting sick, you know."

She'd only made it about five steps out of the clearing and into the trees when the familiar voice greets her and Sakura can't hold back her surprised gasp, turning sharply to the right. She spots him almost instantly, the sunlight that's broken through the canopy glinting off of his armor as he leans against a nearby tree with crossed arms.

He's not wearing his full set, just the breastplate and pauldrons, so his tired expression is on clear display as he eyes her with an almost disapproving look.

"And you, Sir, shouldn't be sneaking up on a lady on her lonesome in the woods." She cuts back, turning on her heel to continue onwards. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Shikamaru sighs, running his gloved hand over his hair, pulled back high in his usual style, as he pushes off from the tree and follows after her.

"You shouldn't even be out here, Sakura." He calls after her, delving slightly into that rather inappropriate air of familiarity - as he always did when they were alone. "Especially not on your own."

She doesn't reply, but does slow her pace slightly to allow him to catch up to her, listening to the sound of his footfalls on the forest floor - heavy and loud compared to her own.

Sakura doesn't question how he managed to get here before her. The walk through the hidden passage always takes much longer than it feels, but she's surprised he's finally managed to find the exit after all this time. She used to be able to make it to the woods and back without seeing hide nor hair of the captain of her personal guard, but he'd been getting better and better at finding her over the years.

"What are you even doing out here?" Shikamaru asks, at her side but just a pace behind her. He's eyeing what she’d done to her dress, obviously disapproving but not making any comments in regards to it.

"Running errands," She replies, his arm held out for her to hold as she climbs over a raised tree root.

"What errands could a princess possibly have in the middle of a forest?"

"I just need to grab a few morels," Sakura states matter-of-factly, smiling as she spots a pair of nightingales flit down to lower branch closer to them. "There's supposed to be a really good patch of them out this way."

"Mushrooms? " Shikamaru asks incredulously, rubbing a hand over his face. "That's what all this trouble is for? Mushrooms that I'm sure the kitchens already have on hand?"

She doesn't answer and simply picks up her pace, very pointedly not looking at the knight.

Groaning in frustration, he follows after her and easily catches up, his frown deepened after a moment.

"Wait a moment ," Shikamaru says suddenly as it seems to click. "This is for that witch isn't it?"

"She's been sick the past week and mentioned them the last time I visited, so I thought I'd surprise her," Sakura avoids addressing the part where he said 'witch', acting as if she was just out getting a gift for a friend - which she was.

"Sakura."

"Just because she lives outside of the town and she frequents the forest and she makes the occasional potion and everyone avoids her, doesn't mean she's dangerous!"

Shikamaru is in front of her in a few large strides, reaching out to rest his hands on her shoulders.

"But it does make her a witch." He says, his expression both concerned and disapproving.

But she simply gives an annoyed huff and pushes past him, obviously done with the conversation.

"Are you going to accompany me on my troublesome errand for my wretched, evil friend, or not?" Sakura calls back, ducking under a particularly low-hanging tree limb.

Sighing with all the weight of the world, Shikamaru takes off after her - uncomfortable with how deep into the forest they were heading, but not about to leave her anytime soon.

The further into the woods they went, the more it seemed to come alive. The canopy shakes and dances in a breeze that blows over the treetops, high above, and the creatures of the forest call and chatter, their voices and footfalls echoing through the trees.

Sakura's expression lights up as the first small, glowing creature appears and approaches her, leisurely flying in her direction and stopping just in front of her. It's body is almost indecipherable through the bright yellow glow, lost in the light like a firefly in the evening. But the pixie's wings are much easier to spot, long and thin like a dragonfly.

It circles her head a few times as she walks, chattering on in a voice that sounds like tiny bells, and a quick glance behind her confirms that Shikamaru is still following her in blissful unawareness.

Unable to either see or hear the pixie, he sends Sakura's back a confused look when she whispers something to herself and is completely lost to the fact that she’s asking a tiny flying creature for directions.

Sakura, however, can easily understand the tinkling bells of the pixiespeak and smiles brighter as it leads her further into the woods, more colorful, glowing pixies appearing through the trees to join them. They fly around Sakura with a chorus of happy, ringing bells, some moving in to land and rest on her head or shoulders while others curiously inspect her guard.

A few occasionally pinch or prod at any exposed skin or tug on the hair at the nape of his neck, their laughter ringing louder whenever he reaches to swat at what he thinks are bugs.

Shikamaru glances around in confusion more than once, trying to find the pesky mosquitoes that seem to be more interested in him than the princess. But he can't spot any pests swarming around him and doesn’t even hear buzzing near his ear when something stings his earlobe, his grimace growing with every moment.

Fortunately for him, they soon arrive at a large, moss-covered boulder, a huge cluster of morel mushrooms circling around the base of the stone.

Grinning and whispering a quick thank you to her pixie guide, Sakur moves to crouch down next to the mushrooms and opens her satchel, pulling out a small knife and a large handkerchief. She begins cutting and collecting several of the edible mushrooms, placing them carefully on the handkerchief and vaguely hearing Shikamaru move to lean against a nearby tree.

"Did you steal that from the kitchen?" He asks with a sigh when he notices the knife, sounding more tired than chastising.

"I'm only borrowing it," She answers, rolling her eyes but still smiling. A few of the pixies leisurely fly around the large stone while others move to land and sit on some of the mushrooms, pointing out the best ones for Sakura to harvest. Before long, she has a plentiful collection and carefully ties up the ends of the cloth, packaging away the fungi and slipping it all back into her satchel.

Before she puts the knife away, she grabs the peach from earlier and cuts it in half, digging out the pit and tossing it off into some nearby shrubbery before cutting a few small slices off of one of the peach halves. She sets those on a flat patch of moss on the boulder before carefully slipping the knife back into the satchel pocket.

Straightening up, she tosses the full half to Shikamaru and starts eating the remainder, a chorus of happy bells behind her as most of the pixies move in to enjoy their treat.

He catches the peach half easily and sends her a raised eyebrow before taking a bite, not noticing the slices she'd left behind.

"All finished, princess?"

Sakura nods and they move to head back the way they'd come. She takes the lead and he doesn't question how she seems to know the way back - even despite the yellow pixie quickly returning to her. They make it all of five paces before something in the brush catches Sakura's eye and she makes a detour to her left, her expression turning curious as she finds what looks to be an old cobblestone path.

It's mostly covered in moss and grass as the forest floor has reclaimed it, but, as she parts the bushes and plants, she can easily long path leading further into the forest. Sakura smiles, ignores Shikamaru's questioning calls, and begins to follow it as her curiosity overwhelms her.

She only pauses when the pixie grabs and tugs a lock of her hair, trying to pull her back towards the way home.

Reaching back, she holds out a hand for the pixie to land on and smiles down at it, Shikamaru coming into view moments later.

"It'll be fine," Sakura says, to both of them, "Just a quick look to see where this leads."

The pixie's bells sound rather reluctant but it stays perched on her hand, a few of the others coming to follow her. Shikamaru, however, has no qualms with voicing his disapproval.

"This isn't safe," He says, reaching for her elbow and glancing around the darkening forest with worry. The trees are growing larger here, with thicker canopies that only let in just barely enough light. If it were the evening rather than the morning, it would be pitch dark.

"No one ever goes this deep, Sakura. We need to head back."

"I've been coming to the woods since I was a child," She says assuredly, following the barely-visible path. "No harm will come to me."

She wasn't completely wrong. Anyone who spent a decent amount of time around Sakura has seen the way plantlife gravitates towards her and how the earth seems to look after her. No one could quite explain it, as she didn't seem to possess any inherent magical abilities, but it was mostly chalked up to the peculiarity behind her birth.

'A gift from the fairies,' the Queen had said when her daughter was born with hair the color of flower petals and eyes as green as the forest. The royal family had tried for years and years to have a child, always ending in failure and heartbreak, until, miraculously, Sakura was born.

People who have seen how fond plants are of Sakura claim that the earth itself had rejoiced in the princess' birth and must have vowed to protect her.

Shikamaru grimaces, tempted to pick her up and just carry her back to the castle. But he knows it'll be better to just let her fill her curiosity now with him there, rather than risk her coming back here alone .

The path continues on for several minutes before the overgrowth becomes thick enough to make it fade away entirely, giving no inclination of which way to head. Sakura frowns in disappointment and is about to reluctantly head back when she realizes she can see light ahead, only viewed from the corner of her eye rather than directly.

A new lead to follow, she heads through a tall wall of brambles that parts for her, a sight that makes her smile and Shikamaru wary.

On the other side is a large, abandoned courtyard.

Huge stone pillars surround the clearing, covered in moss and vines and all mostly collapsed or crumbling, and the brick floor of the courtyard is almost invisible through the grass and weeds. A few trees have managed to sprout and rise, dislodging brick and stone - their large size a testament of how long they've been there.

On the other side of the courtyard is a tall, grassy hill - a huge, lumpy mound of earth covered in waist-high plants and flowers and shrubs. It's too large to see over or even how far back it extends and Sakura and Shikamaru exchange curious looks, the latter letting out a frustrated groan when the former immediately heads toward the hill.

"Sakura," He calls, quickly following after her as she explores, "We need to head back."

"Just a few more minutes!" Sakura replies with a grin, the pixie on her shoulder and others meandering around the courtyard and into the sparse trees. "We're probably the first people here in decades!"

She starts to climb the hill but pauses at how hard the earth is underfoot and, after debating for a moment, she reaches down to clear away the grass in a small spot. She's met with carved stone under the layers of earth and she frowns in confusion.

"Or perhaps centuries..." Sakura mutters under her breath, her curiosity only growing as she continues her climb.

When she finally makes it to the top of the hill, she looks out over the expanse of the ruins before her, shocked at the sight.

"It's a castle!" Shikamaru hears her call from above, inciting him to quickly climb up to join her.

Indeed, despite the forest's attempts to take the land back, the decrepit ruins of what was once a large castle lay before the pair. The only visible stone is the upper parts of fallen towers, the building almost entirely collapsed, where the plants are still attempting to fully encase. Only one and a half walls remain, covered in ivy and vines and almost indecipherable had it not been for their shape, and what's left of a grand stone staircase is mostly obscured by a huge tree, the roots bursting through the rock and climbing up from what was likely the main foyer.

Sakura begins to climb down into the ruins before Shikamaru can stop her and he quickly follows suit, catching her arm when they reach the bottom of the hill.

"I don't like this," He says, quietly but sternly as he looks around the ruins with clear distrust. "We should leave."

She slips out of his grip and wanders towards the staircase and its tree, carefully making her ascent.

"I've never heard any sort of story about a fallen castle in the woods - how long do you think this has been here?" Sakura calls, running her fingers over the bark of the tree as she reaches the top of the remaining stairs and looks out over the ruins.

"It's a grand discovery, yes, but it could be dangerous," Shikamaru is obviously keen to leave and even the pixie's bells sounding slightly worried.

Sakura turns in a circle to take in her surroundings, marveling at how such a thing could go undiscovered for so long. Eventually, however, she sighs and finally nods, turning back around.

"Fine, fine. We'll go. But you'd better agree to come back here with me another time to explore."

Shikamaru groans and rubs the back of his neck but nods as well, unaware of the pair of pixies sitting on his head. His answer and the sight makes Sakura smile and giggle, but her expression is soon turning to one of shock as she feels the stone give way under her feet.

She gasps in surprise as a piece of the staircase crumbles and she feels herself fall backwards and even the tree's attempt to catch her with a branch isn't enough to keep her from falling several feet down the other side of the staircase.

It's a sheer drop and she hears Shikamaru shout her name when he disappears from sight. The bed of moss she lands on isn't quite cushion enough and she groans as she sits up, rubbing the back of her head.

Shikamaru comes running around the corner of the staircase and his relief is immediate when he sees her sitting there, a little bruised but fine.

"See?" He says, moving towards her. "This place is falling apart."

Sakura reluctantly nods and he's just feet away when she feels the ground shift again - and this time she screams as the earth collapses under her and she falls and falls down into darkness.

Her fall is broken by water and the impact winds her as she's fully submerged. Panicking, she instinctively kicks and swims for the surface, gasping for breath when she breaches and manages to grab onto a floating something for support.

It begins to glow fluorescent green at her touch and both the huge lily pad and the hole in the ceiling above give off enough light for her to look around in confusion once she's caught her breath. She's landed in a large underground pond, apparently, the small waves stemming from her body disturbing the surrounding lily pads and making them glow from the movement.

They're huge - large enough for her to comfortably lay with her arms and legs fully outstretched - and the one she's clinging to feels incredibly sturdy under her arms, barely even dipping down into the water from her weight. Considering the thought for just a moment, she carefully manages to climb up onto the pad and out of the water, its surface glowing brighter wherever she touches.

She hears Shikamaru's voice come from above and she looks skyward, shocked to realize just how far she'd fallen.

The light from the hole she'd made casts down onto the pond in a singular beam, a couple feet away from her current position on the lily pad. Her entry point is high above her, at least 50 feet of a sheer drop, and she sees Shikamaru's head come into view as he kneels down and carefully nears the edge as quickly he can, the yellow glow of the pixie guide perched on his shoulder.

"Sakura! Are you alright?!"

"I'm okay!" She calls, kneeling on the lily pad. "I landed in water!"

She can hear the relief in his sigh even if she can't make out his face from the way he's back-lit.

"Just stay right there!" Shikamaru calls, starting to pull away from the hole. "I'll look for a way down!"

Nodding to herself, she looks away from the light to let her eyes adjust to the darkness and fully take in her surroundings. She's in some sort of cavern, though the walls look carved and built by hand rather than natural, and she turns slowly on the pad, the movement sending more small ripples in the water to make the other lily pads glow again. Her gaze follows along the distant walls, the edge of the pond about 40 paces out in every direction, until she spots a set of stairs carved from the stone, leading up and through a passage in the wall.

"I think I see an exit!" Sakura calls, Shikamaru's head popping back into view a moment later.

"Sakura!" He shouts again, voice worried and frustrated. "Don't. Move."

But she ignores him and moves to carefully stand, taking a moment to find her balance on top of the floating plant. Once she feels secure, she looks to the closest lily pad and, readying herself and muttering encouragements under her voice, hops across the small gap of water.

She nearly falls when she lands but the pad stays mostly in place and she continues onto the next one, soon getting the hang of it and smiling at the way the lily pads light up under her feet. The glow lasts a few moments after she's lept onto the next and the one after that, leaving a small trail of fluorescent green footprints.

When she makes it to the shore, she lets out a tired laugh and looks back out over the pond, taking a moment to wring the water out of her hair and gown. The staircase passage she'd spotted is just behind her and she looks up at the hole in the stone ceiling.

She'd gotten all turned around when she fell into the pond but, if the sun had been behind them when they'd arrived at the castle ruins and if she takes the angle of the light beam from the hole into account…

"Head right from the tree, Shikamaru!" Sakura yells, as loudly as she can. "The passage leads out that way!"

"SAKURA."

He sounds furious but she doesn't want to stay stuck in one place while she waits for him. The lily pads had been helpful but, if they were able to survive in a pitch black cave with no access to light, there was no telling what else was in the pond.

She turns and heads into the passage, the stairs tall and sturdy under her boots. The stone arches over her head, just a few feet taller and wide enough for two of her.

Besides a few patches of moss and mushrooms, the stonework is clean and uncovered, not yet reclaimed by the forest. The air is damp and cold and she shivers as she climbs the steps, her soaked clothing doing nothing to keep out the chill. Eventually the stairs end and lead into a long, large hallway of stone - a straight path but with no end in sight.

Sakura knows she hasn't made enough ground to be more than a third of the way towards the surface but, since this had been the only way out of the pond's cavern, it would ultimately lead to Shikamaru anyways. Wrapping her arms around herself, she continues down the stone hall, searching for but failing to find any doors or other passages. The walls are bare besides mounted torches that had long-since gone out and the occasional patch of lichen or mushroom - no tapestries or art or any sign of life.

It's completely dark without the lily pads but her eyes have adjusted enough for her to see well enough.

Still, she almost doesn't catch herself in time when the hallway suddenly ends and drops off into a huge chasm of darkness.

Gasping, Sakura stumbles backwards and grips the strap of her satchel in tight fists. It takes her a few moments, but she can eventually make out the edge of the drop, the stone floor jagged and broken. She still can't quite see how far the drop is in the darkness and she takes another step back, her expression growing unsure and worried.

She may be stubborn, but she wasn't stupid enough to take a leap a faith over a hole that might be 3 feet long or 300.

Groaning in frustration, Sakura turns to head back to the pond when, out of the corner of her eye, she spots a vague light emanating from the other side of the darkness. It's harder to see when she looks right at it, as all things are in the dark, but it's straight ahead and seems to be at the same level of her position.

However, she's unsure if it's just small or very far away.

Shifting her weight from leg to leg as she bites her lip unsurely, Sakura eventually turns around to head down the hall slightly, managing to remove one of the old torches from its hold after a few moments of struggling. Kneeling down on the stone, she opens her satchel and searches for her tinderbox, hoping the water hadn't gotten in her bag and ruined the contents.

She fumbles with it in the dark for a couple minutes before, eventually, she's made a light and, using the handkerchief that had managed to stay dry and what's left in the metal cage of the torch, stands with the flame aloft. Sakura makes her way cautiously to the edge again and peers out over the chasm, grimacing at its size.

It has to be at least a hundred feet - some sort of collapsed chamber with a domed ceiling that rises high above her, intact despite the scene below. There's large pieces of broken stone scattered around the edges and down into the center but, the more Sakura stares at it, the more she thinks she can see a path down and back up the other side.

Grinning at the chance of a way out, she carefully begins to climb down onto the pit, the stone pieces slanted and lying awkwardly, but spaced enough for her to use them as stairs. Her foot slips only twice as she descends, but she catches herself each time and lets out a relieved sigh when she makes it to the bottom, the torch still burning as she holds it high.

It'll take a bit more effort to make her way over and around the rock scattered about her, but she is determined to reach that light and find Shikamaru. Making sure her sleeves are still rolled up, she starts forward and begins to climb up over a particularly large chunk of stone, finding her balance once she's made it to the top.

When she raises her torch just a little higher, the firelight glints off something metallic far to her right and she pauses in surprise, turning to look curiously.

She moves the torch and catches the reflected light again and, with a quick glance back up towards her exit, she decided a small detour wouldn't hurt.

Sakura carefully walks across the several feet of stone before climbing down, making her way through jagged rock towards the direction of what had caught her eye. As she climbs over the last small precipice, she finds a small patch of cleared ground, a figure nestled into the rubble.

The sight startles her and she nearly drops the torch but, after a moment of carefully inching forward, she realizes it's just an odd... statue?

Her head tilts curiously and she cautiously makes her way down towards it, more detail coming into view.

It's the figure of a man, carved from stone that might be marble, though she can't quite make out the color under the layers of dust and cobwebs. The statue is sitting in a reclined position on the ground, one leg stretched out and the other bent and raised slightly while it leans back against one of the huge stone chunks, as if it had collapsed there. One arm lays limp at its side while the other hand rests in its lap, fingers curled slightly. The head is angled down, chin to chest, and carved hair draped over its shoulders, a deep-seated tiredness permeating through the stone.

A mask covers the head, long and carved like the skull of a beast and obscuring the face, but the most peculiar part of the statue is the very much not stone dagger sticking out of its chest.

It's obviously what had caught the firelight and Sakura inspects the jewel encrusted dagger curiously, her fingers tracing around where metal meets stone. It wasn't part of the original statue, she realizes - it had actually been stabbed into the rock with enough strength to crack it.

Sakura frowns sadly to herself, wondering why someone would intentionally harm such an admittedly strange but interesting piece of art.

Her gaze drifts back up to the hidden face and her hand moves to trace her thumb along the jaw, strong and sharp, that peeks under the mask. She leans forward in interest when the action wipes away the layers of dirt and dust to reveal a stark white stone underneath, an otherwise perfectly unmarred marble.

Sakura pauses for a moment before unrolling one of her sleeves and using it to wipe away the cobwebs and dust on the statue's face, fingers tracing the curves and lines of the skull mask and revealing the astounding detail in the maker's craftmanship. When it's decidedly more clean than when she found it, she looks back down at the dagger and decides it has no place in the crafter's original vision.

She grips the handle tightly and pulls, the grating sound of metal scraping against stone sending a shiver down her spine but the knife coming out relatively easily enough. Sakura smiles and shuffles back in her crouched position, only to stumble back onto her rear when the ground shakes.

It surely must be an earthquake with how the cavern rumbles and tremors and she sends a panicked look upward, frightened of the ceiling collapsing. The shaking lasts a few moments before it suddenly stills and Sakura is met with the sound of sand cascading over stone.

She looks to the statue in alarm and gasps in surprise at the sight of the twin, pale green, glowing lights emanating from the sockets of the skull.

She's still in her seated position, knees up and arms behind her to support herself, as the white marble of the statue begins to recede, slowly disappearing to reveal very much not-stone skin and clothing.

It starts from the legs and makes its way upwards, the crack where the dagger had been slowly knitting itself back together until a very human man is sitting across from her.

Sakura stares for another few moments and shrieks when he moves.

The sound makes his head lift, sluggish and tired, and she scrambles backwards - only to find her back pressed against a chunk of rock. The green glow from the eye sockets disappears and, with the light of the torch she still gripped tightly in her free hand, Sakura can see eyes of a similar color open, shaded by the mask but very obviously looking at her.

The man sits up, the hand in his lap clenching and unleashing for a moment, as he continues to stare back at her until his gaze drops to the dagger in her other hand.

She follows his gaze down to the knife with a quick glance but, when she looks up again he's crouched in front of her, the skull mask inches from her own face.

"You..." He pauses, his voice raspy and deep. Those pale green eyes close for a moment and Sakura’s gaze darts fearfully over what she can see of his face before dropping down to his shoulder to note that, besides the skull, his hair is the only thing that had remained white.

She's startled from her thoughts when she feels something warm on her cheek and she realizes it's his hand, his thumb tracing over her cheek in a similar fashion to when she'd touched his jaw.

Sakura finds herself blushing despite the bizarre - and worrying - moment.

"You..." He starts again, his hand still caressing her cheek. "You freed me."

"I..." She takes a nervous breath, shrinking back slightly when he pulls away just slightlu and reaches a hand up towards the mask. "W-well, yes, I suppose, but-"

He removes the skull with slow movements, revealing a handsome face with sharp features. There are red markings edged around the lower corners of his eyes and above his eyebrows and his free hand moves to grip her own, his much larger grip circling around the fist clutching the dagger.

"I owe you a debt of immeasurable gratitude," He says, voice still hoarse but softer now. Sakura stares at him with wide eyes before jumping slightly as he leans forward, her cheeks burning when he rests his forehead against her own.

"My life is yours, as yours is mine." He says, his eyes closing for a moment and his skin feeling like fire against her own.

"I-I-" Her voice is barely more than a whisper and his eyes open again, holding her gaze with an intensity she's never experienced before.

"What is your name?" He asks gently, releasing her fist to reach up and carefully run his fingers through a lock of her hair.

"I-"

"SAKURA!"

They both look up at the distant shout, far off but echoing down the hall Sakura had come through. Her face lights up with relief at the sound of the knights voice and the man kneeling in front of her shifts, his lax posture stiffening.

"SH-SHIKAMARU!" She calls, hoping he can hear her. "I'm here!"

When she looks to the white-haired man again, she freezes in shock. Though his gaze is pinned in the direction of Shikamaru's voice, she can easily see how his pupils have narrowed to slits and that pale green glow has returned, his expression stoney and grim - a stark contrast to the tender look he'd held moments ago.

They hear Shikamaru's voice again and she moves to stand, the man backing away just enough to give her room before he helps her to her feet. The echoing thuds of running footsteps greets them moments before Shikamaru comes into view overhead, absolutely soaked in water and skidding to a halt as he arrives at the edge of the chasm.

He looks around frantically for a moment before his eyes fight the light of Sakura's torch and she lets out a relieved sound, waving up at him. Her call is cut off, however, and Shikamaru's expression turns furious as she feels the white-haired man gently wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back against him.

She glances back at him in surprise, startled to realize how much taller he is than her, and finds him staring up at the knight, his glowing gaze harsh and dangerous.

"Release her," Shikamaru orders, unsheathing his sword in one fluid moment. "Now."

The ground rumbles and shakes again and Sakura gasps, leaning back against him in support before she stiffens at the feeling of a second rumble growing in his chest. An inhuman growl rips through him and he starts to change, growing larger behind her as smoke begins to curl out of his mouth through bared teeth.

The cloud of fog grows larger and thicker until it obscures him from view and Sakura feels the huge, clawed hand gently move off of her waist. She's moved and tucked away in a stone alcove, lifted body off of the ground before carefully placed back down again, the fog beginning to dissipate moments later.

The man is gone but, in his wake, is an enormous bone-white beast, crouched over the scattered stones of the chasm and tall enough to look Shikamaru in the eye as they stare each other down. Its tail, lined with a row of sharp protrusions that look like rib bones, waves slowly through the air, and sharp claws dig into rock, a pair of huge white wings stretching out for a few moments before tucking against its scale-plated body.

Its head looks familiar and Sakura realizes with a start that it wears a skull mask identical to the one the man had been wearing, though this one is sectioned into pieces and a part of its body, those green eyes filling the sockets with a bright glow.

"You are a fool," The dragon says in a voice deep enough to make the cavern tremble, "If you think you can fight me."

Shikamaru looks slightly pale, but his expression is determined as he brandished his sword, his lips curled in an obvious challenge.

There's little warning before the beast strikes but Shikamaru manages to jump down and into the pit moments before impact as the dragon's maw snaps at where he'd been standing.

Stone shatters between its teeth and Sakura is already scrambling out of the alcove and up the side of the chasm to where she'd seen the light before, watching with frightened eyes as Shikamaru lands with a grunt on a large rock chunk several feet down. He leaps forward moments later and onto the dragon's shoulder, but his sword shatters against its scales when he tries to stab it in as an anchor.

Cursing, he keeps ahold of the hilt and what's left of the blade as he manages to scramble upwards, running down the dragon's back and towards Sakura. He's nearly flung off as the beast turns fast enough to give him whiplash and he loses sight of the princess, reaching out to grip one of the bony spines along its back for support. Once he's sure of his footing, he runs again, the sound of the dragon's jaws snapping at the air behind him a terrifying experience.

The massive creature curls and twists as it tries to snatch the knight off of its back and gives a ferocious roar that makes dust rain down from the domed ceiling above. Sakura, who has managed to avoid being smashed by the lashing tail, reaches the top edge of the chasm and presses against the wall of the opposite hall. She watches with wide, terrified eyes as Shikamaru dodges the dragon's jaws, his mouth set in a grim line as he searches for her.

When he spots Sakura, he takes off in a sprint, skidding and sliding down the dragon's back when it rears up on its hind legs suddenly before he leaps off with as much strength as he can muster. It's tail whips at the last moment and ruins his trajectory slightly and Shikamaru lands with a hard grunt against the edge.

His arms and shoulders are over the top of the jagged stones and the armor of his breastplate scrapes against the side as his boots search for purchase. Sakura is quickly at his side and helps heft him up over the edge, just as the dragon turns to spot the pair.

Her lips part but, before she can say anything, Shikamaru grabs her hand and takes off down the hallway, the two running as fast as they can.

"He's just going to follow us!" Sakura manages to shout, keeping up with his pace.

"The passage is too narrow," Shikamaru replies, winded from slamming against the side of the chasm.

They both glance back at the sound of scales scraping against stone and a furious roar to see the dragon's head entering the hallway, its neck long enough to almost reach them before it stops short.

"For its body, at least." The knight grunts, not slowing in his pace as they race towards the light at the end of the passage.

Its moments later when the ground trembles and shakes again and Sakura stumbles, hissing at the sudden pain in her ankle and squeaking when Shikamaru suddenly scoops her up, abandoning his useless sword. He continues running even as they hear a great commotion come from behind them, the sound of the cavern collapsing and the dragon roaring as it tries to force open the passage.

Like dominoes, stone hall begins to cave in behind them and Shikamaru grits his teeth, his eyes widening as the sight of the exit finally comes into view.

They can see daylight, but it's blocked by old wooden boards and a curtain of vines and moss, extending into the passage some feet. As they near, the plants actively retreat, pulling away from the planks and out into the open air or higher on the walls. The action casts more light into the darkness and, hearing the collapsing stone nearing behind them, Shikamaru makes the decision to keep running.

He turns slightly to shield and brace Sakura as he barrels into the barrier, his shoulder splintering the centuries old wood and breaking through to let them escape. Shikamaru stumbles and falls, but keeps Sakura from harm as he rolls and clutches her to his chest, landing in soft grass and forest leaves. They barely have a moment to rest and collect themselves, however, and the ground shakes violently and they hear an enormous crash and rumble.

Though they can't see it, they can clearly hear the dragon's roar as it echoes in the open air.

The pair look back at the way they'd come, taking in the sight of a hidden doorway set into the side of a grassy hill. Sakura's eyes grow wide and she sits up, quickly trying to rise to her feet but stumbling as pain flares in her ankle. Shikamaru scoops her up into his arms again and he looks around frantically for a moment, that clever mind of his searching for an escape path.

As Sakura looks skyward, she sees a cluster of familiar glowing colors heading towards them through the trees and she hurriedly points in the same direction.

"That way!" She insists, hearing a frantic chorus of bells calling to her. "Keep running."

"We're lost!" Shikamaru hisses even as he starts off in the direction she indicated, the sound of the dragon's roar and rampage growing louder. "We need to hide."

"Just trust me, Shikamaru!"

He growls but relents, racing into the woods that seems to part a path for them, not a single branch touching or scraping the pair as they escape. The yellow pixie is at the lead of the group as they meet them, swarming around the princess and her captain with alarmed bells and Sakura grips his arm tightly, pointing forward as the yellow ball of light begins to hurriedly guide them out.

"That way! Keep going!"

"Sakura," He says, panic in his voice, "We're lost!"

"Just follow the damn pixies, Shikamaru!"

"The what?!"

If they weren't running for their lives, she's sure he would have been giving her a look as if she'd grown a second head. Gripping her hair with a frustrated sound, she shouts into the air, pleading and desperate.

"Let him see!"

Shikamaru is about to question her, growing concerned, when he nearly trips as a dazzling display of swarming light suddenly surrounds them, the pixies having accepted her request.

They never show themselves to humans but their fondness for the princess and the desperation of her situation won over their distaste for being seen and they show themselves to the knight, the chiming bells of their voices making his ears ring.

He can't understand them but he can most certainly see him and Shikamaru doesn't realize he's stopped moving until Sakura reaches up to grab his chin, physically pull his wide-eyed gaze away from the pixies, and point to the singular yellow glow ahead of them.

"Follow that one."

Shikamaru, bewildered and rather disturbed, nods and breaks out in a sprint again, dutifully following the pixie guide.

The sound of the earth shaking and trees being uprooted grows louder and closer behind them and some of the pixies surrounding Shikamaru scatter and fly off into the woods. A tremor nearly sends him to the ground again and they can hear the roars and growls much too close back the way they'd come.

Sakura thinks she sees a flash white through the trees and she grips Shikamaru even tighter, her expression lightening slightly when she sees a familiar wall of shrubbery ahead. The yellow pixie gives a frantic chime and circles once in the air before following the rest of the swarm back into the forest. When Shikamaru makes to follow, she quickly reaches for his shoulder and points towards the hedges.

"No, no! Keep going straight!" She says, and, despite the worried look he sends her, the knight races ahead, letting out startled grunt when the bushes part for them to reveal the meadow and the singular cherry tree in the center.

"The tree!" Sakura hisses when he looks around like they'd been led to disaster, "Head for the tree!"

They're halfway there when they both glance back at the sound of a large crash and see treetops fall and crumble, the dragon's furious face bursting through the foliage. Its jaws part to reveal bared teeth when it spots them and Shikamaru runs as fast as he can, his expression determined as the beast chases after them.

The moonflower vines and leaves pull away to reveal the door as they approach and Sakura reaches out for the doorknob before Shikamaru can touch it, flinging it open. The moment they're through, she shoves her way out of his arms, lands on her good foot, and slams the door shut behind them, cutting off the view of the dragon's jaws snapping closed just inches away.

Shikamaru quickly grabs her and shields her with his body as he braces for impact, expecting the tree to be torn down around them. But, when there isn't even the barest shake or thud, he cautiously looks up and gently releases her a reluctant moment later, finally looking around their new surroundings.

While he gazes over the moss covered passage in confusion and wonder, Sakura lets out a relieved sigh and collapses back against the wall, her hand over her racing heart. She slides down to sit on the ground, careful of her twisted ankle, and leans against Shikamaru's shoulder when he joins her.

He's quiet for a full minute before he looks down at her, his expression so tired.

"What the hell happened."

#shikasaku #kimisaku #shikasakukimi #sakura haruno #naruto fantasy week #thirrinwrites #thirrinfic

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cheylouwho · 3 years

Note

irt what one anon just said, and like i kinda hold a diff opinion than you on some of this but not in such an extreme way i’d like fight u on it lmao just Would Like To Discuss/throw in my two cents for consideration, but i feel like framing matters a lot in these arguments about content. most (can’t say all as there are definitely exceptions) people aren’t saying its a direct like ‘see someone in movie kill people -> im gonna kill people now hehe’ influence when people talk about how media effects reality. its more about like why propoganda has been effective, where when you frame things as good/desirable/okay in subtle ways and that normalizes them as ideas. if a narrative is framing something as bad (ie how south park is satire and often shows lots of bad stuff but usually makes an attempt to point at how the bad stuff is Still Bad And Stupid) and just exploring the topic (such as with like. abusive/toxic/problematic ships, i dont think its fair to be like ‘none of that at all!’ bc there are interesting dynamics to explore and analyze that don’t romanticize it, and like thats totally cool!) like i have never had a problem with that. that doesn’t fall under the ‘media effects reality’ the same way because the point of that media isn’t to encourage that behaviour.

But a problem comes in when people romanticize that type of content and perpetuate bad stuff as being okay, and i’m not even saying censorship is the best answer, but if theres gonna be no censorship then there need to be a lot more safeguards to keep content like that away from kids on sites like ao3 which do also host pg content. if it was like an exclusively explicit/adult site then sure go buckwild my dudes, but when they have all ages content it really should be stricter about tagging requirements. because man i have seen so much untagged incest porn come up when looking for pg stuff not related to that AT ALL even with tags filtered (and not even for sp, ive been involved with other fandoms more recently and the one im talking about here is not even an adult-oriented series like sp is), and like I’m an adult who can deal with it but that shit is damaging for kids to be exposed to. like i still support ao3 as a website in general but i absolutely don’t think they’re beyond criticism, ya know?

Ok anon I really do respect and appreciate you come in here very calmly and opening a discussion and I will absolutely love to open a dialogue.

I will agree with you on the first part, yes it’s not black and white in any sense. I’m really fired up so I’m going to the other extreme but I do recognize that it’s not that simple. There absolutely is areas where it does become gray and it’s not as easy to say “all or nothing”. I wouldn’t say fiction Doesnt affect reality because there are aspects that do, but you are right that a lot of the time that statement is taken to the extreme and people completely equate it 1:1. Honestly I believe that as long as no real life person is being hurt and those safeguards are in place (proper tagging and warnings) like go wild. “Romanticizing” is a very opinion based statement too so it really does depend on the person on their interpretation of a work.

Ao3 does have policy about tagging works and using the proper rating system, so that is not a problem with Ao3 themselves but with the people misusing the platform. I agree, works need to be tagged properly or at least using the “chose not to use archive warnings” tag so people know things inside the fic are freegame. Ao3 *does* have the way to keep kids out, in the same way a porn site would- there is the warning about explicit content right before you click into a fic. If you click that button you are either Lying about your age or agreeing that you are okay to seeing the content. (also again my library argument, published books dont have that luxury). I don’t think it’s beyond criticism either and there are improvements being made all the time (again, it’s run by a team of dedicated volunteers) but ultimately calling for something to end that can be really truly avoided by not even looking at the website is the ultimate beef I have. I am all for improving the site and making that content easier to hide, or harder for minors to get into, but ultimately again a kid could go to the library, grab a book and read just about anything. I think in some ways ao3 is *better* in that sense. Not perfect, but something worth protecting.

#Civil discussion Yes yes yes #Anonymous

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writsgrimmyblog · 5 years

Text

Rec List #1 Theme: 2018 Favourites

One of my fandom resolutions is to rec more in 2019. I’m going to post rec lists for some of my favourite Nick fics divided up by theme/content/ship or whatever I fancy throughout the year. It seems fitting that my first rec post of 2019 should be my favourite Nick Fics of 2018. If you’re interested in my Harry Potter themed recs, you can find them over on my other blog @writcraft under the tag #writ recs where I’m undertaking the same initiative.

This is by no means an exhaustive list - I’m limiting myself to ten recs per list and it is very difficult, I could have recced many more. I’ve read and enjoyed a whole raft of terrific stories and this rec list is simply based on my personal tastes which may not be everybody else’s cuppa. Please heed the content warnings the author has flagged on AO3 in each case, none of my recs include the content tags.

#1. Ten Track Sophomore Album by @junkshop-disco

Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles | 4,228

Nick has always lived in noise, been the cause of a lot of it, but one day a boy writes him into a pop song and the whole world dissolves into static.

It doesn’t happen like that, not that easy, not that linear, but that’s the heart of it, the soul, if these things have such a thing.

My Rec: The Nick fic of 2018 is undoubtedly the final installment of junkshop-disco’s incredible Doodle of a Surface Life but that has quite rightly garnered so many recs by now if any Gryles reader hasn’t yet indulged, run, quick, what are you waiting for? I love DOASL with all of my heart, but I’m also a sucker for angst and I wanted to highlight this equally terrific fic in my rec list. The structure of this story, in which Nick loses his ability to hear music, is so cleverly done. It’s a very skilled writer that can create an entire fic around sound and make it come alive, and junkshop-disco manages it brilliantly. The fic reads like music, even as it describes the absence of it and it’s a stunning piece of writing. If you like your Gryles contemplative and angsty with confident, lyrical prose, this is the one for you. Junkshop-disco has such a terrific way with words I highly recommend reading all the works by this author. Every single one. But when you do make sure you take a moment to stop by this beautiful story and leave it all the love it deserves.

#2. Tell Me It’s The Strongest Shape by @louandhazaf

Nick Grimshaw/Elgar Johnson/Louis Tomlinson | 73,224

Nick and Elgar have it all. They’re famous, successful, and engaged to be married—and sometimes they play with others.

When uni student Louis gets street cast by Elgar for a GQ photoshoot, he's drawn into Nick and Elgar’s complicated relationship.

They've always invited mates into their bed. It doesn’t ever mean anything. Until… it does.

My Rec: This is such a great exploration of polyamory and the complexities of open relationships, and the author took a great deal of time developing the relationships between the characters and really working on highlighting some of those difficulties. I tend to gravitate towards fanfic where I care deeply about the characters, and although Elgar seems terrific I don’t have the same fannish relationship to him as I do to Nick and Louis so I was curious to know how I would respond to this fic. Basically, the author killed it. I felt such a deep investment in Elgar, Nick and Louis throughout and everything just flew by as I was reading. It’s also really fucking hot. Like, REALLY. Brilliantly done. I loved it.

#3. Let The Boys All Sing And The Boys All Shout For Tomorrow by @lunarrua

Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles | 18,429

It's February 1988. Thatcher is in power. There's a new drug sweeping through the clubbing scene. In Manchester, it's the eve of a major protest and a new musical movement. And when Nick finds Harry looking lost outside his favourite chip shop, it's the start of a weekend that will leave an indelible mark on both their lives.

My Rec: I saw the summary for this fic and actually yelled at my screen when it popped into my inbox. Gryles, set in Manchester in the 80s? Hell yes. The fic itself certainly didn’t disappoint, it’s absolutely beautiful. The author writes a well-researched, confident piece and the result is stunning. The atmosphere of the whole story is captivating and you can feel yourself transported to the heady days before the Manchester music scene shifted, the anxieties of the AIDS crisis and the fragility of the relationships formed during that period. The Harry of this fic has a transient quality which evokes the nostalgic reflection on a different time in our not so distant past. A real triumph. I loved this story with my whole heart.

#4. Séjour by @silveredsound

Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson | 6,288

It is so quiet, which should be conducive to concentration, but Nick is bored and listless and lonely. He’s been there for two days and wants to know where the helpful lady is who’ll deliver him a gamine but takes-no-shit housekeeper who he can fall in love with without words. Words are not his friend.

“Where is my Love Actually moment?” he asks the ceramic kitchen sink as he pokes holes in the cover of one of the M&S ready meals he brought over with him.

«≠»

Nick’s got writer's block. Louis is a master of distraction.

My Rec: I’ve loved a number of stories by Silv this year and I was swinging back and forth between this and others, but there’s something about this little fic that has wormed its way into my heart and has taken hold so this is the one I’m choosing. As I said in my earlier reblog rec, this has such lush, evocative prose it perfectly captures the sense of a fleeting summer. There’s a seductive quietness to it, and a lovely unfolding of the story through snippets of tasting notes left by Louis on bottles of wine and Nick feeling a little bit lost and searching for words as he struggles with writer’s block. Two boys find one another in the warmth of a sleepy French town and it’s beautiful. Really wonderfully done.

#5. Fists & Flowers ‘Verse by @jiksax

Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles | 1,613 (Make It Worse) and 2,322 (I’ll Do What You Like (If You Stay The Night)

He’s looking at Nick with that soft, terrible look in his eyes, the look that tells Nick the two of them are probably something.

My Rec: If anyone other than Jiksa had told me they were planning an angsty fisting fic series I would have been like umm really? But of course, it’s Jiksa, so naturally I found myself sobbing at the raw, devastating intensity of the story. Jiksa deftly weaves the intensity of the physical act itself into the emotional tumult of Harry and Nick’s relationship in a way that’s incredibly beautiful. A bold, brave, superb piece of hot, confident writing, rich with emotional complexity. Gorgeous.

#6. Constantly on the Cusp by @shiftylinguini

Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson | 6169

It’s 5 in the morning, and Nick’s got an alarm going off, an unexpected bed full of pop star, and a nation to wake up.

It’s far too fucking early for this.

My Rec: UNFFFFF. I love Shifty’s writing. Like, an obsessive amount. I was so thrilled when Shifty started writing Tomlinshaw I didn’t know quite what to do with myself. It’s actually hard to believe this was Shifty’s first Tomlinshaw, because everything about the fic felt like they have been writing them for years. Louis is sleepy, horny and pissed off, Nick is awake, horny and wondering what it all means, and together they have this scorching hot, sexy moment. Nick’s internal monologue gives us so much insight into their relationship and the fic offers a lovely, warm, hopeful moment at the end. Fantastically written and a sexy delight from start to finish. Loved it!

#7. this cookie’s baking by @disgruntledkittenface

Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles (Genderswap Femslash) | 8,148

Harry’s eyes flicker between Nick’s eyes and lips. “I just want to be your–”

“Baby,” Nick says softly, cupping Harry’s jaw, “you already are.”

Nick and Harry have a long-overdue conversation.

My Rec: This was the first genderswap Gryles fic I have read and I absolutely loved it. The relationship between Nick and Harry feels so perfectly them and there’s a lovely warmth to the whole story. It’s light and funny but also contains moments of real emotional depth and those first time explorations and the hesitancy of admitting to being something more than friends is handled in such a terrific way. It’s a gorgeous story with wonderful writing and I loved every minute of reading it.

#8. let’s make some new rules by @camiii

Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson | 12,743

A coffee shop, a Christmas party & a fake date to make sure no one gets laid at the end of the night.

My Rec: This was such an enjoyable read. I love camiii’s Tomlinshaw, and seeing this pop up was a wonderful surprise. Barista Louis agrees to be Nick’s fake boyfriend as he pines over an ex that definitely isn’t worth his time, and they become closer in the process. The pace of the story is wonderful, the flirting is brilliant and despite some misunderstandings and Nick’s no good ex trying to fuck things up, the ending is warm and hopeful. A lovely story, full of festive cheer. Thoroughly enjoyable.

#9. I’ll be seeing you by @daretomarvel / renlyne

Nick Grimshaw/Harry Styles | 11,481

It’s 2028, and Nick’s bought a house.

My Rec: I love Ren’s writing and this Notebook inspired Gryles is a beautiful treat of a story, in which Nick starts buying little bits for his dream house. It’s hard to believe this story is just over 11,000 words because the world the author creates is so rich, detailed, layered and complex. The relationship between Nick and Harry has all of these gorgeous details and nuggets of history as it grows and develops, seedling-like, into something that might just be everything they’ve both been searching for. It’s a warm, hopeful, beautiful story but as it’s Ren, it manages to still tug at the heartstrings in the best kind of way. I read this again as I was putting my rec list together and did so with a lump in my throat, full of feels for the Nick and Harry of Ren’s universe. Gorgeous writing with bags of emotional intensity. I loved it.

#10. All I’ve ever had are love songs by @candybarrnerd / icarusinflight

Nick Grimshaw/Louis Tomlinson | 21,688

Things are finally coming together for Nick.

Nick is the DJ of his uni's radio stations, and he passively aggressively dedicates a song to Louis.

My Rec: Icarusinflight is another author who was already on my periphery from Harry Potter fandom who wrote their first Tomlinshaw fic this year and I was so thrilled to see them writing in this fandom and I’m very excited about their upcoming 2019 projects which also includes fics featuring the 1D boys in various ship combos. I love uni AUs and I hadn't read one for a while, so this was such a treat. I loved how Louis is sharp, sassy and confident but with niggling insecurities. Harry was so affectionately humorous in this story and Nick’s voice is wonderful. This is a really well-paced, enjoyable story with a hot af first kiss that deserves a mention all of its own. The music references, the tea and the cameos from various 1D members are all terrific and the writing is brilliant. Can’t wait for more from this author this year.

Bonus Rec: I was meant to limit this to just 10 recs but I also wanted to give a quick shout out to @nightwideopen. I’ve said this in previous rec lists before, but I am constantly impressed by the quality of @nightwideopen‘s writing and the way they explore things such as asexuality and gender dysphoria which can be harder to find in a relatively small fandom. I’d particularly rec so far (it’s alright) and i’ve been thinking lots about your mouth from this year, both Tomlinshaw.

#recs #writ recs #gryles #tomlinshaw #rec list 1

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getallemeralds · 5 years

Text

apparently my brain wont let me sleep until i do this, so im sorry for any weird wording-- its 2 am (edit: now its 3) and im emotionally tired when I think about this. being vague abt ppl involved bc this isn't a callout its just me explaining what happened on my end

i guess you can reblog this if you want but please dont contact me about it, im stressed and my only thought is to just get this all over with so i dont need to think about it anymore

i was admin of a jsab discord that had a nsfw channel that could only be accessed with a role. before i was promoted, at least one minor had ended up with the role; i should've removed it as soon as i was admin, but didn't because im afraid of conflict and wasnt sure how to go about it. so, like, problem 1.

after events in the fandom (collin, minors posting nsfw art in main tags) i withdrew from jsab but stayed in the discord because i felt obligated to as an admin, and also because the other admin couldn't run it on her own. i ended up muting the nsfw channel, and eventually the server itself. i was starting to move on to other things and was engaging way less with the fandom than before

a few days ago i got a DM letting me know that an adult in the nsfw channel had been creating sexual content for a minor. i reacted really badly. for full disclosure, im a sexual abuse victim. i dont know how comfortable people would be if i went into specifics, but the situation reminded me way too much of it. on top of that, i was already stressed out and trying to recover from something that had happened with another friend totally unrelated to this. i also already disliked the person involved due to having to ask them to stop being "lewd" in the main channels but had been trying to set it aside bc they seemed nice and people liked them

i was brought into a group dm with several friends and... kind of had a total breakdown. at the time i think they thought i was just doing what had to be done after admitting id let it go on way too long, but the truth is i flew way off the handle and its terrifying to look back on. like, i legitimately haven't been that angry in a long time. it was not a state i should have been doing ANYTHING in, let alone trying to salvage a situation that was triggering me.

while this was going on, someone else was brought up in the group DM as grooming minors, and i was shown screenshots of a conversation in another server from before i joined where they were discussing an opinion along the lines of "i dont get the big deal with hiding nsfw art when minors are going to seek it out anyway" which... also made me very uncomfortable bc of my abuse. i ended up kicking them from the server as well with minimal warning.

at this point people in the server were reacting to an inactive admin suddenly kicking 2 active members and posting an announcement where i made no attempt to hide how furious i was. this part is kind of a blur to me but the group dm was reacting to it as it was going on and a person said something that pushed me over the edge. its kind of hard to describe it as "snapping" when i was already emotionally off the deep end but I pretty much exploded. the server fell apart after that

a day later i got contacted that there had been a psa in another server and people were upset at the friend who posted it because of things i said. im the one who called the people involved pedophiles. i dont think i was right to do that, but there was a lot going on in my head at the time and honestly i kept thinking about my abuse and about collin + when im that badly triggered theres not really any nuance to things

realizing that i broke apart a friend group + was leading to at least one friend getting harassed is why i left the fandom. not only did i fail at keeping people safe, i actively made it worse. i don't think the ppl in the dm are at fault for my actions or my mental state; i do feel upset about it bc of how much the situation escalated but i dont think they knew/understood what was going on with me (i wasnt exactly coherent about it) and how their cheering me on +encouraging me to take more action was making my mental state worse bc i had no opportunity to calm down or even fully process what was happening

im sorry for how i handled this entire situation. im staying away from the fandom (and from fandom discords in general), im trying to get my mental health in order, and i know this isn't a great apology to everyone that got hit by the aoe of my warpath. i just wanted to try and say my part of it because theres a lot of confusion over what happened and seeing as im a major player in it i need to say something

#txt #leo chirps

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spidyboyholland · 6 years

Text

The Boy Next Door-Tom Holland (chapter 5-stars)

CHAPTER 1/CHAPTER 2/CHAPTER 3/CHAPTER 4/CHAPTER 5/CHAPTER 6/CHAPTER 7

pairing: tom holland x female reader

summary: tom and you have been spending lots of time alone together, where will it lead?

warnings: swearing, and sexual content

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

You totally forgot about meeting up with Haz this afternoon. After all the craziness of the day you just needed to get out of school, and then the whole thing with Tom happened... it completely slipped your mind. You felt awful about it.

Texting back as fast as you could, you texted

“Holy shit Harrison Im so sorry! So much shit went down this afternoon with Noah I had no time to wait, and then Tom took me home, but I am so fucking sorry.”

Falling back on your bed you sigh, your head filled with emotions. Tom just kissed you, then Harrison started yelling at you. Should you be sad or happy? Maybe a bit of both.

Harrison quickly responds with

“Y/n itʻs fine. But Im warning you that Tom will hurt you, and I donʻt want to see that. Please be careful.”

Hurt me? Tom? He is the most gentle, sweet guy you have ever met. You brush it off thinking that Harrison is probably just being jealous, but you knew Harrison only wanted the best for you and he was just trying to look out for you.

“Thank you Haz, but donʻt worry, I can hold my own against Tom. Can I make it up to you somehow? Lunch tomorrow?”

“Sounds good.”

You put your phone down relived that Harrison forgave you for ditching him, he really was a nice guy.

The rest of your afternoon was spent trying to do homework, it was sort of hard to focus when every time you looked out your window you saw Tom in his room either doing homework or lifting weights. Extremely distracting.

Tom was so perfect to you. You couldnʻt believe that he liked you.

“Hey honey!” Your Mom said while peeking into your room

“Hey Mom, whats up?” You say while closing your English book

“Want to go out for thai?” She asks

“Sure, Iʻll be downstairs in a minute” You say while checking your phone one last time before heading downstairs.

After dinner with your Mom, you were exhausted. You plopped on your bed and passed out.

You started having a crazy dream. You and Tom were in a hot tub. He had your arms pinned above your head, leaving love bites all along your neck. You wernʻt sure if the steam was 100% from the hot tub or if some of it was coming off of you and Tom.

Youʻre abruptly woken up by a ding from your phone. You open your eyes and notice its still dark.

Looking at your phone, you see itʻs 1 am.

Who the fuck is texting me at 1 am? You say while looking at your imessage with your eyes still only half open.

Itʻs a text from Tom.

“You awake love?”

Your heart skips a beat, not quite sure if you are still asleep and just dreaming or if Tom is actually texting you.

“Now I am” You respond with a laughing face emoji

“Sorry bout that, want to go on a little adventure?”

An adventure at 1 am with Tom? Fuck yes.

“Im so down.”

“Meet me outside in 5.”

You hop up out of your bed, brushing through your hair quickly and changing into jeans and sweat shirt

Being cautious to not wake your Mom up, you tip toe down the stairs and slowly open the front door, carefully so you donʻt make any noise.

You walk out into the driveway and see Tom waiting in his car.

Once Tom seeʻs you he jumps out of his car and opens the car door for you.

“Hey y/n!” He says smiling and gives you a quick peck on the cheek

“Where the hell are you taking me at 1 am?” You ask while Tom turns on the car

“Youʻll see soon baby girl.”

You watch as you drive out of the suburban town and the scenery turns from houses and into trees.

After a ten minute car ride of nothing but the radio music playing softly and Tom rubbing small circles on your thigh with one hand on the wheel, he pulls over onto a gravel path in what seems like the middle of no where.

You guys get out of the car and stand in front of what looks like just a big forest. Tom opens the trunk of the car and takes out a big blanket.

“You better not be dragging me into the forest to murder me Tom. I would be pissed.”

He chuckles and grabs your hand leading you along the path through the really dark forest.

You finally reach a stop where he lays down the big blanket on a small patch of grass and lights a small candle he also brought.

“Is this your attempt at being romantic? Taking me into a dark forest with a blanket and candle at 1 am? “ You chuckle while sitting down with him on the blanket

“No love, just look up” he says while tilting your chin up to the sky.

Stars. Millions and billions and trillions of stars. The sky more of a purple than black. It looked like a million tiny flashing cameras in the sky.

“Holy shit Tom....” you say while still looking up in awe

“This is my favorite place to think. I figured that since you were from the city, you probably havenʻt seen a lot of stars, and not like this.”

“Are you kidding? I think Iʻve seen like 5 stars in my whole life, this is amazing”

“Y/n?” Tom says while grabbing your hand

“Yes Tom?”

“I really fucking like you. This, right now, is perfect.” He says while looking at you in the dim lighting

“I really like you too...” You say as Tom moves close to you, pushing you down so that youʻre laying down on the blanket and his body is hovering over yours by a couple centimeters. You can feel his hot breath on your face.

He doesnʻt lean in slowly, he collides his lips with yours with force, grabbing your fave with one hand and holding himself up with the other. Running your hands tightly through his hair, you roll him over so that you are now on top on him. He feel him smile through the kiss.

“Youʻre....so....fucking....perfect” He manages to say through the kiss

You feel his hand wander over your pants, and then back up to your face.

You slowly unzip you jeans and guide his hand.

Not breaking the kiss, things escalate quickly. (sorry guys Im not good at writing smut so Im not even gonna try haha)

You canʻt believe that this is happening with Tom. But before things go to far you manage to stop yourself.

You break off the heated kiss, both you and Tom are extremely out of breath.

“Tom, wait Tom, stop.”

“Whatʻs wrong?” He says pulling away from you

“I want to wait. We havenʻt known eachother that long and...”

“Love, say no more. It is fine, we will wait forever if you want. I just want you to be perfectly comfortable” He says

“Thank you so much Tom.” You say while kissing him again

You and Tom finally wrap things up and he drives you back home.

As you lay in bed you start to think, holy shit, Iʻm falling in love with Tom Holland.

authors note: okay so I donʻt know how to write smut so I kinda just skipped over that part. this was a short and lame chapter and like always theres probs lots of grammar and spelling errors but it will be fixed later! let me know if you wanna be tagged

tags:

@littlemermaid160 @casualprincess77

#tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland headcanon #tom holland fic #harrison osterfield #tom and harrison #haz osterfield #spider-man: homecoming #spiderman #spiderman imagine #avengers #peter parker #peter parker imagine #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fic #tom holland story #tom holland spiderman #tom holland scenarios

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kwonlatte · 6 years

Text

cola boy; woozi

lee jihoon;

a small, petite guy. rather deadly, 18 years old. light, blonde hair, and is too cute for his attitude. he has a love-hate relationship with oversized clothings, because while they are as comfortable as one would imagine sitting on a cloud to feel like, they made him look smaller than he actually is. his love for cola frames the basis of this story.

now, when lee jihoon is buying another extra large cup of his favorite drink, a young lady-who seems to be extremely health conscious-happens to be right behind him. having overheard his order, she taps his shoulder. "hey there, couldn't help but overhear your order, dont you think its a little too much sugar?"

timecheck, 11:24am. now, lee jihoon is not a morning person, and having someone question the amount of sugar in his favorite beverage, is definitely not his cup of tea. he glares at the lady, "and is it any of your business?"

"woah there, i was just trying to help, diabetes is no fun, maybe its time to watch your sugar intake, and to be honest, i love cola too, but at least make sure your intake is reasonable."

now meet park minhee;

a beautiful young lady, jet black collar-length hair, dreams to dye it ash grey, 18 years old. has an unhealthy obsession with korean "ulzzang" as she claims they are 'aesthetic™' her fear of diabetes adds on the basis of this story; and is also the main reason why she and jihoon would have ever met.

"im sorry, doctor, but i absolutely do not give two shits about whatever it is youre saying." jihoon flashed a mocking smile. "now, if you'll excuse me, i have somewhere to be and something to do, and that is definitely not talking to you about whatever the threats of diabetes may be."

"i understand, i may be annoying, but just look it up, please."

and there was something about her "please", maybe it was her wavering confidence, or maybe because she said it in such a small voice, that it was nearly impossible to hear it, but whatever the reason was, it make jihoon's heart soften. but not enough to make him turn around and continue the conversation.

quickly regaining his composure, jihoon gripped onto his cup tightly, and left the place.

meanwhile, minhee was worried, it was not as if she knew jihoon well, or was someone dear to her heart, she just did not want anyone to lose their life to diabetes. it wasnt that hard was it? just keeping watch of your sugar intake, it could save your life. for people like jihoon, it apparently was.

minhee has a insatiable love for cola too, but after that incident, she had learnt to control it, to ensure that her life would not be taken away too. so when jihoon had told her that he didnt care, (or rather, that he didn't give two shits about it), she had begun to worry, because no one deserves to lose their life to diabetes, no one.

everytime she had tried to warn someone about the risks of diabetes, they had all ended up listening, most of them, right from the start, but there a few who took some time before they did listen. minhee had never met someone like jihoon, who barely even gave her a chance, whether that was a good thing or not, we dont know.

but because of how he acted, it made her want to get the message across more than she ever did.

but, now was not the time, after all, she had to go meet soonyoung.

meet soonyoung; a 177cm tall boy, aged 18, small eyes that resemble the hands of a clock at 10.10. an incredibly handsome and passionate dancer with jet black hair (with no intentions to dye it). nicknamed "hoshi" by a few of his closest friends. loves hoodies and has a closet full of them. bestfriend: park minhee. relationship with jihoon? unknown.

now, the meeting location that soonyoung had given to minhee was far too normal judging it was from soonyoung, "pinwheel cafe".

minhee entered the café after a walk through the park. she looked around, hoping to spot soonyoung, but instead her eyes met with a familiar face she had seen that very morning. timecheck, 12:06, soonyoung was supposed to be here 6 minutes ago, she decided to drop him a message.

today, 12:07pm

min(¯―¯٥) »yo hoshh »okk but whr tf are u?? »its 12:07 »we're supp to meet at 12??1?1 »istg if ure still at home

soon??1?2٩(๑'^'๑)۶ »okok im sorry »im almost here i swear gimme 10

min(¯―¯٥) »10 and then im leaving

soon??1?2٩(๑'^'๑)۶ »sure i'll b thr soon so no worries.

min(¯―¯٥) »welp but do u think ure funny? »surprise! youre not !!! »so lame i might leave rn

soon??1?2٩(๑'^'๑)۶ »leave?? »bro u aint got anyth to do

min(¯―¯٥) »ok wtv shutup and just hurry

minhee pocketed her phone and decided to approach the boy from earlier in the morning, "why hello, again."

jihoon, on the other hand really didn't need another 'lecture' about diabetes, he had tried so hard for her to not notice him, yet, to no avail.

"uh... hi," jihoon chuckled, trying to cover up the fact that he was avoiding her.

"well, you work... at a cafe... i assume thats better than eating at one, working with sugar is always better than consuming them, of course."

jihoon was definitely hoping for a conversation not related to sugar, and obviously, the odds were not in his favor. upon hearing "sugar" the tone in his voice-and so had his mood-changed for the worse. "and then why are you here, at the cafe with the highest sugar content in town, miss 'watch-your-sugar-intake'?

"okay, no need to be so rude, and i'm meeting a friend." she checked her watch, 12:15, "who should be here in two minutes time, or im leaving."

"well, if you'd like to stay here even for the two minutes, im afraid you'll have to buy a beverage, or a dessert." jihoon mentally smiled at his quick thinking which could have led to a possible raise in his salary. <a/n ik it doesnt work like this but just go with the flow>

that smile quickly faded as minhee opened her mouth to react, "oh, i see, well then, i'll just be waiting outside." minhee turned to leave when a certain black haired boy dashed into the room with sweat trickling down his forehead.

"soonyoung," minhee muttered.

soonyoung checked the time on his phone, "12:16, 9 minutes, im on time." he looked up and smiled, "oh, hey jihoon!"

"technically, you're still late. we were supposed to meet at 12."minhee turned to face jihoon, and asked, "your name is jihoon?"

jihoon motioned to the name tag clipped on his apron, "well, apparently. you know soonyoung?"

her eyes narrowed a little, "was about to ask you the same question."

soonyoung walked in between the two, "and you two know each other?"

"well yeah, we met earlier this morning when she decided to lecture me about my sugar intake."

"it wasnt a lecture!" minhee added in.

the noise of a growling stomach interrupted their not-so-pleasant conversation, it was minhee's. "hey soonyoung, im starving, lets go for lunch."

soonyoung slapped his forehead lightly, "of course! how could i forget? jihoon, whats good here?"

minhee's eyes widened in shock, "what? we're eating here? no way!"

jihoon opened his mouth in mock offense, "well excuse me, miss 'watch-your-sugar-intake', but this is one of the best restaurants in town!-except that its a cafe." minhee rolled her eyes at the name, but let him continue, "and i definitely recommend the flower burger. it has everything most bugers has, but more. its as beautiful as a flower and makes your smile as beautiful as one too."

"o-oh! i want one of that!" soonyoung exclaimed excitedly.

"does it have a lot of sugar?"

"you know, if you want the dish with the lowest sugar level, just take the healing salad."

"good idea. we'll just have that and two glasses of plain water."

soonyoung pouted upon hearing that, "plain water?"

"yes, you consume too much sugar."

ignoring her remark, soonyoung ordered 'the best drink there', the beautiful highlight.

after they had settled down at a table, minhee proceeded to question soonyoung about how he had met jihoon, leading to a rather interesting conversation.

- a/n i swear theres an explanation as to why minhee is so health conscious and also to why the way she talked to jihoon after that is in such a huge contrast to her "please". pls comment lol i love comments . ok thx ily ❤

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spockandawe · 7 years

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So you’ve heard Spock is the actual literal devil

Have you heard that I’m a terrible person? A plagiarist? Have you been told that I’m only into transformers at all because I wanted to make this one random guy unhappy? If you’ve been told that, you’ve probably also been told that a year and a half later, I’m still making fanworks just to upset him. You might have even heard that shhhh, don’t disagree with Spock on anything, or they’ll hunt you down and harass you.

Right, okay. This is one hell of a saga that I will attempt to tell in as compressed a form as possible. It’s a lot. Years ago, back in HS, there was this one guy who policed the hell out of one of the character tags. I’m going to call him C. He’d pressure people not to make the content they were making, decry the hateful people reading with a malicious eye who thought the character would ever do anything bad (the character was a creep). And because being obnoxious wasn’t bad enough, if you didn’t cave to his demands, he just might do things like start whisper campaigns about how you support rape, casually out you as a survivor, cute little things like that.

This is not a story about that guy.

This is a story about C’s one-time attack dog, eventual boyfriend, and current ex. We’ll go ahead and call him R. I’ve tried real hard to avoid namedropping on my blog before, but could people find him from this? Probably. Have I stopped caring? Absolutely.

TL;DR, unsubstantiated accusations of serial harassment are a little questionable when they’re coming from someone with a years-long, extensively documented history of serial harassment and a personal grudge against me.

Cut for length.

Edit 7/2/2017: R has posted that he regrets making these posts about me, and admits that he said things that were out of line. And he’s stated that he’s going to try to do better in the future. I genuinely, truly appreciate that. I’m leaving this post up because there have been lies about me floating around for a while and I reserve the right to defend myself, but I really do appreciate that.

Oh balls, none of this makes sense without backstory (I’m so sorry)

If you think I suck or my work sucks, that’s fine! You do you, go enjoy the things that make you happy.

If you think I’m the devil because this one guy told you about my evil, evil past and all my terrible misdeeds, without anything at all to back up his words? You can ask me. I don’t bite, and oh lordy do I have receipts.

To be clear, R is totally allowed to hate me! I don't care. I don't care if he hates my writing, I don't care if he hates me as a person. But now he's escalated to spreading lies about me, and people are believing him, and I’m not enough of a doormat to let that just stand.

And I’m going to cheat a little. Here’s a memo with the cliffs notes version (not the original memo, I made a copy with C’s urls cropped out since he hasn’t attacked anyone in a long while). Warning, digging any distance into this turns up violent fantasies, violent sexual fantasies, creepy interactions with a minor, and lots more, it’s all really, really unpleasant. Evidence is thoroughly documented, please tread with care.

You would not believe how truncated that is compared to the reality.

Now, the worst of this came via C. Who has calmed down a lot these days, and I’m really happy that’s the case. Good for him. I hope his life continues in a direction where he doesn’t find it necessary to do this stuff.

Lucky for me, R was standing by to pick up the slack.

It doesn’t show up as much in the memo, which is mostly C-focused, but R was standing by C this whole time, defending his right to spread around private information about someone’s abuse history, sending nasty messages on the other guy’s behalf, and much,much more. it’s long, it’s awful, it’s unpleasant. R personally hurt people in some significant ways that I don’t want to link directly, for their sake. He expressed deep remorse a few times, but it never stuck.

Here’s my personal favorite quote from R. He’s speaking to the CSA survivor that C casually outed (with information given to him in confidence), and who they’d been running a long, long whisper campaign against, and who was understandably a bit upset over the whole thing:

oh go wank to your own tears [name]

#and get your sympathizers to help #nasty fucking people #maybe if you cry enough youll be able to go into second grade in the fall #ooc

Said, again, to a CSA survivor they outed and harassed. That person is such a sweetheart, and this screencap still infuriates me.

The first time I saw C pick a fight he had lots of friends. Shockingly, as he did things like loudly fantasize about how he wants to mutilate people and rant about how autistic people should die, those friends mostly drifted away. I know one person had a friend even help them stage a faux relationship-ending fight, so they could be sure they’d be able to completely cut and run from C. R stuck with him, though. Eventually they even started dating.

‘Spock followed R into transformers to harass him and stalks his favorite characters just to harass him more’

Then, transformers. Here, let me show you the first post (by R) that ever brought MTMTE to my attention. I spent years being aggressively uninterested in transformers, but this caught my eye

and honestly, ppl (adults too!!!) shipping someone who has the mentality of a child and is quite glaringly lacking a world of experiences and general understanding of things outside of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, with an adult, is just. very alarming and gross to me.

and honestly, the fact that there is a large portion of people who want him to become romantically (and sexually!!!) involved with either one of two fucking adults in canon, and hell, esp those defending it with ‘hes an adult too tho!!’ is really gross.

you can pretend all you want that hes ‘an adult’ because his body is, but theres no way jro didnt intent to code him as a child. stop fetishizing children lmao,

#pedophilia -/-/- #cygate -/-/- #if someone comes at me screaming ‘rule 38′ im gonna shove them in a locker

I didn’t know transformers, but I was pretty sure this was some straight-up bullshit.

(but don’t worry, he ships it now! no hypocrisy here, no sir)

It’s “really gross” to ship this adult with other adults. Mm. Given the reasonableness of the claims these guys have made in the past, and given their extensive history of harassing people over those claims, I hopped to the wiki to check it out. I read a bit about the comic and the plot, and all of it sounded so fascinating that I just had to give the comic a try.

Reader, I married it.

I shotgunned MTMTE 1-47 in two days, started doing fanworks right out of the gate, and I’ve never looked back. A lot of my art was cygate, because come on, the comic wants you to ship it so bad, my first readthrough ended with issue 47, and that was the first ship I’d ever read about for the series, even before I dove in.

Now, both these characters punch me right in the heart, in some painfully personal ways. Tailgate’s the more relevant one here, but I don’t even know if I could do justice to the emotions both of them give me.

I’m still not a fan of how R’s lies about me have edged me into needing to say this in public, but okay. I’m developmentally delayed. It’s been a rough ride. And Tailgate hits me in some of those spots so hard it just takes my breath away. I’ve got a lot of baggage over not being a real adult, and not in the funny oh-no-how-do-taxes-work way, more like an extended months-long meltdown my first year of college because I can tell that my friends are years ahead of me and I don’t know how to even start catching up, and just existing, as myself, is humiliating.

All of my relationship milestones have come painfully, painfully late. The whole thing is still one awful emotional bruise. I hate it, and I hate how easy it is to convince myself that yeah, of course you don’t actually deserve to be treated as an adult and you never will. Just look at you. So then it is unbelievably important to me that I can see someone someone who is like me, being treated as a legitimate adult, and being able to have an adult relationship.

Hearing that shipping someone like me is essentially pedophilia is the opposite of that.

But he ships it now, so everything is fine :)

Yeah, you know what? Another fucking receipt.

uGHGH im so tired of all the rabid cy// /gat// //e fans like even cy’s giving em a look like ‘leave my fucking child alone’

#i just #im hoping jro has some taste tho and doesnt make an adult date a child #and if not im hoping the outcome blows over soon bc im so tired of seeing people defend pedophilia #pedophilia -/-/-

Parental.

This continued even after JRO explicitly confirmed Tailgate was an adult.

Bonus ableism: shipping Whirl (another character who hits me way too hard) isn’t okay either. Even though there isn’t the excuse of ‘but he only lived three years--’ No, at that point, you’re saying that an adult who fails to adult correctly does not count, and isn’t allowed to have romantic relationships. It makes my skin crawl, and it is an issue which is very personally and directly important to me.

So some of my cygate was porn from the start (it’s what I write. it’s what I draw.), and some of the porn was made because I was upset over discourse that says someone like me needs to be treated as a child. I played with cywhirlgate too, because omg how could I not, and some of that was porn as well. It was ages ago, so I don’t remember the details for every little thing I made. But when I saw someone saying that Cyclonus and Tailgate had a parental relationship, I’m sure that helped nudge me in that direction. Maybe R thinks I should have channeled my emotions by starting a whisper campaign to exclude him from fandom spaces. But I think my way of working through bad emotions might have been a little healthier than that.

So when R accuses me of making cygate content to spite him? Half true. Just true enough to be real fucking dishonest. R spent a nice long time insisting that cygate was pedophilia. I channeled my outrage over that ableism into fan creations.

I didn’t attack him. I talked about him some – on a private forum, with people who’d already been aware of him and had been watching him and C hurt people for years, plural. I haven’t told people on tumblr any real details about him until now. And R still is happy to talk about how it was his toxic ex’s right to post torture/rape/murder porn vent fic about actual people.

Tell me, how exactly am I in the wrong?

Bonus pettiness: I posted some cywhirlgate porn. The next day, R vaguely whined about robot pedophilia and turned around and wrote some obviously-a-response cywhirlgate. Where it was super platonic and the text explicitly said it was super platonic and it even had platonic thigh nuzzling. With two “children” involved. Of course I turned around and wrote more fic of my own, because jesus h christ that made my skin crawl. You want to play this game? I guarantee I can write faster than you, let’s do this. (he did not follow through on that)

I’d also like to say that forgetting inconvenient little details like this is a thing with R. Hard to call me terrible for writing spitefic when you write it yourself.

A history of Spock’s personal involvement

Let’s backtrack a tiny bit. You may notice I am up to my elbows in this nonsense for no clear reason.

I was friends with some of the people C was taking shots at, and I was unfortunate enough to believe his original smear campaign about that one artist (I’m still ashamed about that). I cared about a number of people C was trying to hurt. I think one or two fanworks of mine upset him, but he already had loads of targets. I kept tabs on him and R, because anxiety is the gift that just keeps giving.

Eventually, C fantasized about wanting to put my former datemate’s hand through a meat grinder (ey wrote a fic that portrayed his fave in a negative light). And R defended his right to do that.

The person he posted about is still feeling the effects of that incident. I’m still feeling the effects of that. And it wasn’t even directed at me, just someone I care deeply about.

R has recently posted that ‘oh my goodness, C sure was awful, remember when he posted this thing about a meat grinder and how unreasonable it was?’ Thanks buddy, glad you noticed, now just go ahead and keep on blaming me for the aftereffects of what your boyfriend did, and what you defended.

After that, it was months before I could properly look away from either of their blogs.

C posted extensively about trying to track down the street address of his ~enemies~ (including the one whose genitals he fantasized about mutilating). He posted about how autistics should die. He had skype chats about wanting to do amateur brain surgery on people. All while posting very often about finding real addresses.

Yeah, it’s more than a year later, and every so often I get a stab of anxiety and have to head off to double check on what these two are up to.

I will repeat that C has been pretty chill lately. He’s got a career he’s aiming for. Good for him, go find success, please don’t slip back into being an internet bully. It’s sad and upsetting to see R echoing some of the early patterns of his ex, and it’s so strange to see me labeled as his own personal enemy.

‘Spock will totally come harass you too’ and/or various accusations of ableism

So there are some things I did in the mix in this history that I regret. Occasionally, I went out and flipped through the blogs of C and R’s friends, seeing if maybe they’d had said something in their notes, did they have any vagueblogs C liked, did they post about— It got unreasonable. I admit that. Anxiety was at the root of it, but it absolutely got unreasonable. And also it is a massive time sink, and I can’t remember the last time I bothered with it. I enjoy life much more when anxiety and paranoia issues don’t have their claws in me. This hasn’t been an issue in a very long time.

I came down hard on some of the kinfeels and system stuff too, which I do walk back a bit. C’s approach was… hahaha. It was something. And he was my intro to the kin and system paradigms. I saw R talking about C’s approach being unreasonable too, pretty recently. So that was an unfortunate bit of poison in how I processed the next people I met who did that sort of thing. I don’t do kin stuff, but I get it. And DID may not strictly apply to all systems, by the formal diagnostic criteria, but I’ve learned there are plenty of other dissociative disorders out there. And I met people who were multiples and who did kin things that weren’t these two guys. Which helped a LOT.

But the big one, hmmm. C wrote a fic. The idea was interesting, but the execution frustrated me. Everyone but the main lead felt so… flat. Everyone was constantly cruel to the main, for no reason. I saw a way to riff on the original text while staying true to its shape, and writing my bad emotions out is also a major, major thing I do to cope. Now, my big thing is that I should have asked before I remixed. I’d been thinking in terms of, y’know, transformative fanworks. Even with authors like Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice, who fought against fandom, people have still felt that it should be allowed, even against their wishes. So I wrote the remix. I gave full credit on ao3 in the ‘inspired by’ box, linked to the original with positive words, the whole shebang.

The guy was still furious, and… that’s fair. I thought I’d written a thing on self-sabotage that was pretty sympathetic and compelling, and the self-sabotage actually drew a lot on my own personal history. But I gave the main flaws he strongly disagreed with, and I didn’t ask for permission. I get why he was/is angry over it.

I’ve been a fixture on their shitlists ever since :P

It’s remarkable, even while R posts now about ‘oh my god, remember how C wrote the creepiest things?’, I’m still the one who’s the the actual worst, for being skeeved out by the creepy things and finding a constructive way to deal with it. R’s controlling ex gets full freedom when it comes to vent fic, even when it’s about wallowing in torturing, raping, and murdering an avatar for a real person (the original one they harassed!), or punching someone in the face until they agree to be your friend (another artist these guys targeted). But R’s position seems to be that only C is allowed to vent (even if it’s genital mutilation fantasies), and I’m definitely not.

Oh, and R has now expanded this remix into me totally having a consistent pattern of stealing ideas and plagiarism and so many remixes that are obviously done as revenge on anyone who pisses me off. So that’s nice.

So R hates your writing. Is that seriously why this post exists?

Ha, no. Let’s look at the concrete things R is saying. Here, let me post a little sampling of evidence.

These aren’t just things he’s shouting into the void, people have responded saying wow, I never knew that! These are lies that people are believing about me. And then yesterday, June 30, 2017, he warned a friend not to disagree with my meta, or I’d come harass them. A friend I’m aggressively leaving out of this, just as I’m leaving out other responses, because these people don’t deserve to be dragged into R’s bullshit.

Let’s have bullet points. Some of these are the silly spock-is-bad-at-writing complaints. Those are here because this whole mess is pretty fucking depressing and the ridiculous claims make me laugh, but these are all things he says.

Spock is evil – You know what, he’s not calling people pedophiles, which is a step up. I’ll take it.

Spock is a plagiarist – I remixed one fic with full credit, said only good things about the original, and linked to it in extra places so that people would have extra opportunities to click through and check it out. I arguably remixed inappropriately, but that’s not the same thing. Words have definitions. If I’m a plagiarist, so is everyone who’s ever written a fanfic.

Spock is something something mean when people disagree – I don’t even know, man. I’m actually shockingly conflict-averse. Is this because I make walls of text and explain why I hold opinions at great length? I enjoy talking about a thing I love. I’m autistic, I’m hyperverbal, and this is my special interest, so is it that I talk a lot? That’s the best I can do. I’ve talked about things I disagree with on a private forum, in which case mister pot has had a lot of fun in public on twitter, not only talking shit, but also spreading outright untruths. Maybe he wants to rethink this one.

Spock will come harass you if you disagree – You need to back the heck down, pal.

Spock’s meta/fic/characterization is bad and they should feel bad – Hahaha, fite me. He won’t, because I can articulately defend myself at significant length, and his criticisms seem to stop at ‘spock sucks’, but hey.

Spock used ableist language about Whirl - I... what? This one confuses me and makes me laugh so it stays here. Also, holy double standards, batman.

Spock is only into transformers to harass R – I checked out transformers because I was pretty sure R was being disgustingly ableist (he was). I stayed in transformers because I adore it. I had to adore it a lot to make me willing to share fandom space with these two. My god, I have better things to do with my life than spend all my time on something that bores me just to annoy one asshole on the other side of the internet. I’d ask if he thinks I spent dozens of painstaking hours cross-stitching Starscream just to bother him, but….. yep, pretty sure he does.

Spock goes after all of R’s favorite characters to upset him – R latches on to just about every interesting and/or sympathetic character that shows up. When he was dating C, they covered most of the cast between them. I don’t care who R likes best because I don’t agree with his opinions. I tend to stay away from his opinions because I don’t like reading things that bother me. This is asnine. I’m only allowed to like the characters R despises, I guess.

Spock makes fanworks for things R likes just to make him see them – Oh my god, I don’t caaaaaare. I write about things that interest me, unless I’m venting. Say, venting about the way R and his ex have deliberately hurt a shockingly high number of people I care about. ‘Spock made rodistar because I liked it--’ I made it because I wrote a thing about their parallels, and shipping was the obvious next step. R isn’t that important to me. Promise.

This is just exhausting, man. The anxiety bugs had been dying down, and it had been ages since I checked out this guy’s anything. C, who drove the whole initial blowup that led to this, has been quiet and chill on tumblr. But R has learned from his ex’s old example and has been having fun spreading lies about me.

In conclusion

Some fun history.

R was 18 when he told a CSA survivor upset about being outed and harassed to wank using their tears for lube.

He was older than that when he defended C’s right to post about wanting to mutilate someone’s genitals (for the crime of saying C’s logic didn’t make sense).

He was older than that when he complained about that person’s spouse being ‘vicious’ for reacting badly to C’s genital mutilation fantasy.

He was older than that when he nodded along as C called autistic people retards and said they should die.

He was older than that when he talked about being happy that someone he disliked was triggered, and nodded along when C fantasized about that person drinking bleach.

And he was older than that when he defended C, his twenty-something boyfriend, against the thirteen-year-old that C had been having incredibly inappropriate conversations with, despite skype log proof and everything.

And despite all this, I’m still the bad guy, because I didn’t think what they were doing was okay. I’m the bad guy for being upset by C's actions, even though... R is now upset by C’s actions. The ways I responded to C were inexcusable. My only motivation is to hurt people. Every thing I did that ever upset them still means I’m terrible, even though R is saying this while he’s busy posting about how awful C is. And this all means that he needs to warn his friends not to catch my attention, or I’ll come harass them.

So, I’m tired.

I’m very tired.

I’m glad he’s trying to grow past that history. Good. Maybe he can do that without making up a story about how I’m unrepentant villain who lives for villainy and who only takes joy in causing him pain. I’m sure it helps him, because it’s a story that brushes aside the shit he did that he regrets, and makes his past less painful to think about. But that doesn’t mean I’m okay with him telling lies about me.

I don’t know why I’m the one boogeyman he has left (I kid, it’s because I’m in transformers, and because he thinks I’m popular. he harps on it a lot, and it’s weird for everyone). I mean, whatever. I’ve aggressively avoided publishing drama details on here for a very long time. But there are two blog tags, miscellaneous other untagged blog content, three forum threads, and hundreds of pages of skype logs with hard evidence of this bullshit.

I’m pretty sure that if he tries to defend himself, one, he’ll place some blame on his ex. That’s fair. C was pretty darn controlling and demanding. But R is still absolutely responsible for his own actions, and is especially responsible for the harm he personally caused. He’ll talk about how it’s bullshit to pull up all these receipts from so very long ago. In that case, his receipts for me (whatever he even has) are equally old, so aren’t they null and void? No, because Spock is the devil. And it’s not so much bullshit if he’s clearly learned nothing, and has gone back to spreading outright falsehoods about people.

To be clear, a lot of the lies he told about me were told a while back. Weeks to a few months to a year. I was letting it sit, because I’d really, really hoped this was over. Yesterday, June 30, 2017, he warned a friend not to publicly disagree with my meta or I’d come and harass them.

It’s been three years since I first saw him doing this. I’ve watched him hurt a lot of people, and I’ve watched him admit, multiple times, that he has hurt people. I thought he’d learned to stop following these toxic patterns. Apparently he has not.

Edit 7/2/2017: To repeat the edit up above, R has said he regrets posting these things about me, and that he's going to try to avoid slipping into this in the future. I very much appreciate that.

#drama tag #abusaa tag #tw: all #i can't list them all it's too many #just tread with care

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