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stardustcatcher · 2 years

Text

First Time

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Reader

Word Count: 6.7K

Warnings: SMUT (18+ minors DNI), swearing, maybe a teeny-tiny bit of negative self image, drinking, smoking, praise, jakey’s a sweetheart, it's real fluffy smut so... (please let me know if i missed anything)

AN: this is my first time posting a fic so please be nice to me or i'll cry. all feedback is appreciated, also huge thanks to @mintysammykiszka for encouraging me to post because without her i probably never would've. okay, I'm done talking now. i hope you all enjoy :) [i found the pic above on Pinterest, so credit to whoever it belongs to]

there might be some typos and horrific grammar so sorry about that one besties

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Josh had told (Y/N) about the party he and Jake were throwing before it was really even a plan. She had started out as one of Ronnie’s friends, the pair clicking immediately since being paired together for a project in English, but Josh had seen the way his twin looked at the girl when she came over to hang out with their little sister. In her time hanging out with Ronnie, (Y/N) had been a frequent flier in the Kiszka house and soon became a favorite amongst all the residents. Kelly and Karen adored her, Sam was quick to bond with her over their love for the stars, Josh appreciated her interest in his film projects, Ronnie was happy to have a friend of her own who was a girl around her own age, and Jake—well, Jake was hopelessly enormed by the girl.

Everything about (Y/N) was perfect to Jake. She was brilliant, but in a humble way where she would never make you feel bad for not being as smart as her. She was gorgeous with an amazing body that she had grown into over the last year or so. She loved all the music that the boys had grown up with and even introduced them to a few artists they had never heard of. (Y/N) was an expert in all things literature, writing, film, and basically everything creative. Jake could listen to her talk about anything and everything for hours, there was nothing she could say that the boy would not find utterly fascinating.

The plan was for (Y/N) to head over after work, driving herself back to the Kiszka house as she usually did on Fridays. Karen and Kelly were taking Ronnie to some concert for the weekend and left the boys to their own devices, they were old enough to spend one weekend alone. But all Josh and Jake saw was the perfect opportunity for a party. Mama and Papa Kiszka lovingly asked (Y/N) to make sure the boys didn’t kill each other for the weekend before they left and she felt a little bad knowing at least one small piece of furniture would be getting torched if the twins got one too many drinks in them.

Seven-thirty on Friday evening, (Y/N) was accompanying Josh on their trip to the liquor store just outside town. Not fourty-five minutes later, the trunk and backseat of (Y/N)’s 2004 Honda Civic was filled to the brim with cases of beer, a keg, and varying bottles of rotgut. The radio was blasting, the windows all open, and Josh had his feet kicked up on the dashboard. He turned his head to (Y/N) and took a moment to admire her features, he couldn’t argue with his twin brother on the fact that she was absolutely breathtaking. From her shaped brows that framed her pretty eyes, to the delicate slope of her nose and plump lips, soft jawline and high cheekbones, and the soft looking hair that surrounded her face like an angel’s halo. To Josh, and probably all the Kiszka boys, (Y/N) was divine femininity personified.

“Why’re you looking at me like that?” (Y/N) chuckled, breaking Josh from his trance.

“Just admiring your beauty, my darling,” Josh smiled, all perfectly straight and white teeth on display. She only scoffed at him and resumed her gaze on the road ahead. Josh and (Y/N) just had that type of relationship, the one where it was unclear to people if they were a couple or just extremely close. It was the latter, Josh didn’t like (Y/N) like that and he knew she felt the same way about him. She was one of his best friends and an outlet for him to pour his affection into, a person to cuddle up to and love on without the added drama and complication of a true relationship. Josh loved (Y/N) and she loved him back, but they were purely platonic soulmates. “Y’know, this is the perfect opportunity to talk to Jake tonight,” Josh said, reaching over to where one of (Y/N)’s hands laid on the gearshift and holding it in his own. That was probably one of the things Josh loved most about (Y/N), her ability to accept and return affection without making it weird.

“Talk to him about what?” (Y/N) asked, relaxing her hand in Josh’s hold. She tried to play coy, like she had no clue what he was talking about, but they both knew she was a shitty liar. Josh let out an exaggerated groan, throwing his head against the readrest before giving her an incredulous look, always one for the dramatics. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Seriously!” the eldest Kiszka exclaimed breathlessly. “I’m talking about the palpable sexual tension that seems to magically appear every time you two are within a hundred feet of each other!”

“I thought you were going to let this go,” (Y/N) looked at him, eyebrows raised pointedly in his direction. Ever since she had started hanging around longer, Josh had been nagging her about how Jake was clearly in love with her—his words not hers. (Y/N) just couldn’t see how a boy that beautiful could harbor feelings for her, in her eyes she was average at best. All she saw was how her hair always seemed to be a mess or how her thighs rubbed together uncomfortably when she wore shorts. It’s not like she thought she was hideously ugly, she just really couldn’t see how it was possible for a god like Jacob Kiszka to be attracted to her when she was so plain.

“Not until you two confess your undying love for each other or at least fuck it out,” Josh shook his head stubbornly. (Y/N) groaned at his vulgarity but he could see her cheeks flush red. “I’m serious! We’re twins, you think I don’t know these things? Not to mention, we share a room! So I hear his little happy noises and a certain beautiful girl’s name whenever he thinks everyone is sleeping. Mark my words! You two will fuck or so help me God—”

“Okay Josh! I get it!”

People started filling the house around half past nine, it was around that time that (Y/N) felt grateful that the Kiszkas lived on a small plot of land with their neighbors a good distance away. Jake and Josh had been quite popular amongst the highschool’s student body before they graduated, with Jake being friendly with the athletes and music kids and Josh being close with his theater buddies and mostly everyone else since he was a social butterfly. Jake had already started the bonfire out back while Josh appointed himself DJ since he declared he had the best music taste.

(Y/N) wasn’t necessarily popular, she was actually quite the introvert in school, but she could get along with mostly everybody. But she mostly stuck around the Kiszkas, feeling most at ease with them by her side. She split her time talking about anything and everything while wedged between Sam and Danny, making drinks and socializing with Josh, and checking out back to make sure Jake didn’t start a forest fire or burn the house down.

As the night got colder, (Y/N) joined Josh in the backyard by the firepit. She was huddled into his side with a blanket wrapped around them as he animatedly told the story of Kelly cutting Jake’s hair off with shears after the boy said something to upset his father. Her head buzzed from the alcohol and her stomach hurt with how hard she was laughing. Both her legs were thrown over Josh’s as she leaned into him, holding her red solo cup in her hand tightly.

From across the fire, Josh could see his twin eyeing him and (Y/N) as he strummed on his guitar with some of his music buddies. Deciding that he had seen enough of the pining glaces, Josh took the hand that wasn’t wrapped around (Y/N)’s waist and began to trail it up and down her calf that was laying across his lap. She only leaned into him more, assuming it was just Josh being affectionate, and laid her head on his shoulder.

He looked down at her sweetly and asked if she could refill his cup, claiming his legs had gone numb from the cold. (Y/N) rolled her eyes at him teasingly and snatched the now empty cup from him. He thanked her dramatically, peppering small kisses across her cheeks. She pushed him away, giggling as she got up to head inside, missing the glare that Jake shot at his twin.

Weaving through a sea of people while tipsy proved to be a challenge but once she got to the counter where the liquor was housed, it was a breeze. Music thudded through the walls as she focused on filling up the cup, but she nearly spilled the whole thing when a pair of hands wrapped around her waist. (Y/N) was ready to punch whoever laid hands on her, but when she turned around and only saw Sammy, her fists unclenched. He was the tallest of his family and the movement of his gangly limbs were less than graceful being as crossfaded as he was. His pretty brown eyes were glazed over and red as hell, he was definitely stoned alright. “Sorry, (Y/N),” he smiled apologetically. “Didn’t mean t’scare ya.”

“It’s alright, Sammy,” she chuckled at him as he leaned most of his weight against her to pull her into a tight hug. “You okay, bub?”

“Yeah, I’m great,” he giggled. From the few times (Y/N) had seen Sam intoxicated, she could tell he was touchy and giggly whenever inebriated. He was touchy and giggly all the time anyway, but all that love he had in his heart seemed to be magnified when he wasn’t sober. “I’m just so glad you’re my friend, y’know? You’re like my best friend, but don’t tell Daniel,” he whispered the last half of his sentence. “When we get really famous, you’re gonna come everywhere with us! ‘Cause we would die without you, especially Jake—” (Y/N) wanted to ask what he meant but she didn’t have time to before he started talking again. “—like that time I was sick and you brought me soup and all my homework after school. You’re like a mom, but like in a good way, like a hot mom. Y’know what? For your birthday I’m gonna get you a little fanny pack for you to put important shit in, like bandaids and Advil and lollipops for when I get cranky because I don’t have sugar—” Sam rambled until (Y/N) put her hands on the sides of his face.

She knew how hyper Sam could be normally and she guessed that the mixture of weed and alcohol that he consumed amplified that, the last thing she needed was an overstimulated Sam on her watch. “Sammy, babe, I gotta get this drink back to Josh outside,” she looked him in the eye, her own vision a little fuzzy around the edges. “Come with me, you could probably ask Jake to let you throw some shit in the fire,” his eyes lit up at that suggestion and he nodded eagerly.

Smiling, (Y/N) grabbed his hand and led him back through the ocean of people and outside. The cold air hit her like a brick wall and she shivered. Sam let go of her hand quickly and unzipped the baggy hoodie he had been wearing before draping it over her shoulders. She smiled at him thankfully and led him to where Josh was. They sat down next to the eldest Kiszka and he grinned, taking his drink from (Y/N) and kissing her head as a thanks. Now she was wedged between two human furnaces and was happily content with her legs thrown over Josh and the top half of her body leaning into Sam, his arm thrown across her chest.

Josh smiled mischievously at his little brother and motioned for him to come closer. Sam leaned his head behind (Y/N) and Josh shot one more look at his twin—who was glaring even harder than before. Cupping his hand around his mouth so no one could see, Josh carefully whispered something into Sam’s ear that caused the younger boy to bark out a laugh and nod. “What’re you two whispering about back there?” (Y/N) asked, looking up at Sam when we resumed his previous position.

“Absolutely nothing, my sweet,” Josh said, his words innocent but there was an evil glint in his eyes. One that meant he was up to no good.

The party died down around three in the morning, half of the participants had left and the others—mostly inner circle—were found sleeping around the Kiszka house. Danny insisted on helping (Y/N) put Sam to bed, not wanting the girl to deal with the plastered boy alone. The pair dragged him up the stairs and into Ronnie’s room, situating him with a towel over the pillow and a trashcan next to the nightstand in case he got sick. “What have we learned, Sammy?” (Y/N) asked expectantly, helping him take off his jeans and get into some comfy clothes.

“Beer before liquor, never been sicker,” Sam hiccuped. “Liquor before beer, in the clear.”

“Good boy,” she nodded, knowing how much of a lightweight Sam could be, but it was nice to see him let go every once in a while. He had been pretty stressed over Jake being harder on him about the band so it was good for him to have a night free of inhibitions.

“Thank you, (Y/N),” the boy slurred, his face pressed into the pillow. “I love you, you’re the best.”

“I love you too, kid,” (Y/N) smoothed his hair from his face. “Now go to sleep,” by the time she pressed a kiss to his temple, he was already snoring. “Make sure he doesn’t choke on his own vomit, please, Danny.”

“You’ve got it boss,” Danny gave a little salute and laid himself on the small futon Ronnie had in her room. “Sleep tight, (Y/N),” the boy gave a dopey smile, he wasn’t as drunk as Sam but he certainly wasn’t sober either.

“Night, Dan,” she kissed his forehead quickly before closing the door and padding over to Kelly and Karen’s room. The door was cracked open and she could hear small snores from the inside. On the king sized bed, Josh was spread out like a starfish on his stomach, butt naked. (Y/N) scoffed with a smile and grabbed one of the knitted blankets from the closet before throwing it over Josh’s body. He cuddled into the warmth in his sleep and gave an unconscious grin. (Y/N) couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face as she brushed a curl from his face and pressed her lips to his cheek.

She made her way to the back patio and sat on the porch swing, wrapping the blanket that was there around her and picking up the small metal cigarette case where Josh kept his pre-rolled joints. (Y/N) lit one up and looked into the backyard, the dying fire and discarded cans and bottles in the grass, as she inhaled the smoke. “I didn’t know you were still up,” a voice spoke up as the light from the kitchen seeped through the backdoor. (Y/N) looked up to find none other than Jake Kiszka leaning against the frame, looking gorgeous as ever.

“I just finished my rounds,” she smiled, scooting over and patting the seat next to her. Jake sat down silently and she passed him the joint. “You should keep your brothers away from vodka, it makes them surly.”

“Which one,” he asked, smoke billowing from his lips in the light breeze.

“Both,” (Y/N) laughed, taking back the joint from Jake.

“You’re good for taking care of them like that,” Jake said, taking a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and pulling one out with his teeth. “I probably would’ve left Sam face down in the basement.”

“Poor kid’s gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow,” she took another pull from the joint and dared to take a look at Jake.

His hair was tucked behind his ears, not quite long enough to completely stay out of his face yet but still longer than it was in school when it swooped over his forehead in a fringe. He wore a button up shirt, it was denim and halfway undone with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of black jeans that tucked into the tops of his Chelsea boots. He truly was beautiful, all sharp angles and cords of lean muscle stretched under tan skin. He and Josh may have been identical twins but there was something so different about Jake, something that even differentiated him from Sam and Ronnie. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, quiet and reserved most of the time but still observant, or maybe it was something just uniquely Jake that she’d never be able to place. But he had this air about him that just screamed safety, he was easy to talk to and be around, never pressing for conversation. He was content in the quiet if that’s what his company called for.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Jake said, breaking the silence. “I mean, I know all these people aren’t really your thing but I’m happy you’re here.”

“I’m not a fan of most people, but I can socialize when necessary,” (Y/N) joked lightly, feeling heat flush to her cheeks at his admission. “You all make it easier.”

There was another lull of quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. (Y/N) shifted slightly, her knee moving from where it was tucked under her, brushing against Jake’s exposed forearm. Sparks of electricity shot through her skin at the contact and she couldn’t help but look at his side profile and admire his features. He looked as if he’d been carved from marble, like he belonged in the Accademia Gallery with Michaelangelo’s David.

In a burst of slightly stoned confidence, (Y/N) leaned over and pecked the corner of Jake’s mouth. A gasp escaped his lips, barely audible but loud enough for her to hear from her spot next to him. Her eyes went wide, not believing she had really just done that, and her breath was heavy in her chest. Regret washed over her, worried that she had ruined their friendship and she went to say something, anything really, but Jake beat her to it.

“I—” he gulped, his eyes meeting hers. Their noses almost touching, he could smell the perfume she wore. “I always thought you liked Josh, or Sammy. They were all over you tonight.”

(Y/N) shook her head. “Just you,” she whispered. “Only you.”

That seemed to be all Jake needed to hear before he surged forward and planted his lips against hers. It took a second for (Y/N) to actually process that Jake was really kissing her and that she needed to kiss back, but once she did, she melted into him and the hand that he had laid against her cheek.

His lips were so soft and warm and he tasted like cigarette smoke and beer, (Y/N) was drowning in his taste and scent. She never wanted to not be kissing him. It was sloppy and messy at first, Jake obviously having more experience than her, but as his hand moved to grip her hip, they fell into rhythm with each other. His fingers dug into the flesh of her hip, dull nails scraping at the skin.

(Y/N) was the first to break away, hating that she needed air. Their foreheads rested against each other’s, breathing heavy as Jake’s index finger traced over her cheekbone. “Want to head inside?” he asked in a whisper, moving to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. The idea of kissing him more inside was too good to pass up, so she just gave him a breathless nod. They untangled from each other, Jake standing first and extending a hand to (Y/N). She took it and followed him as he led her through the house and up the stairs. They stepped over sleeping partygoers, giggling and chuckling quietly as Jake stopped in the middle of the hall to kiss her again. He smiled at her as if she had hung the stars herself, such adoration gleaming in his dark eyes.

Stepping into the room that the Kiszka brothers shared, (Y/N) felt something she had never felt in that room before. She had spent many nights in that room, either cuddling up with Josh or laying on the floor with all three of the boys while listening to records. Now, here she was in the very room that she slept in more than her own, alone with Jake. Something she had never done before. She really got a good look at Jake’s portion of the room for what seemed like the first time, not cluttered with hippie shit like Josh’s or an organized mess like Sam’s. She could see the posters meticulously hung on the wall in an order that only Jake understood, and the way his end table was set up so he would actually have to sit up to turn off his alarm clock.

(Y/N) was snapped from her daze when she felt Jake’s hands grip her hips and his lips on her neck. She leaned back into his chest and craned her neck to the side, giving him more room to pepper kisses. His hands ran up and down her sides, following the soft curves and contortions of her body’s shape. Jake’s nose nuzzled against her throat and he breathed her in, smelling the scent of her shampoo and body wash. A beautiful mix of something floral and fruity. “So pretty,” he sighed against her, his entire front pressed against her back.

“Look who’s talking,” she replied, turning her head to capture him in another kiss. (Y/N) turned in his arms, wrapping her own around his neck as he backed them up to his bed. He sat on the mattress and pulled her on top of him. Her knees straddled his thighs and she followed him as he laid on his back. Jake’s hands once again roamed her sides before moving down the expanse of her back and planting them right above her ass. He kneaded the flesh there, swallowing the happy sighs she let out. (Y/N)’s hands rested on his exposed chest as her fingers traced his collarbones. She pulled back from the kiss and rubbed her nose against his.

“You okay, baby?” he asked, voice gruff yet still soft. The look of concern in his eyes and the use of the pet name warmed (Y/N)’s heart. “We don’t have to do anything if you don't want to.”

“No,” she shook her head softly as she sat up again, Jake following her with his hands still rubbing her lower back gently. “I want to, I want you. I’m okay, just savoring the moment. I never thought this would really happen. Also, I—” she paused, clearing her throat. “I’ve never done this,” she motioned between them. “I just thought you should know. But I want to, with you… If you want to.”

Jake noticed her cheeks flushing and her uncertain gaze, he smiled warmly and held her chin between his thumb and pointer finger. “Hey,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers again. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, sweet girl. I’m honored that you trust me enough to do this, I’ve wanted this for so long. We’ll go at your pace, whatever you’re comfortable with, okay?”

(Y/N) blushed once more and nodded. “Yeah okay,” she smiled shyly. Jake returned her grin and patted her thigh, telling her to get up for a second. She moved off him and watched as he made his way to the record player in the corner of the room, he thumbed through the milk crate that housed his vinyls before picking one and setting it on the turntable. (Y/N) wasn’t sure what record it was but there was no doubt that it was one of Jake’s, the twangy and gruff vocals along with the bluesy guitar. As he walked back to the bed, he stood between (Y/N)’s legs and leaned down for another kiss, but he wasn’t focused on her lips for long.

Jake’s lips carefully made their descent to (Y/N)’s jawline and down her neck, nipping and sucking at any place they could reach. He pressed a tender kiss to the skin right under her ear before grazing his teeth against the spot and sucking a deep red mark into the previously unblemished skin. Evidently, it was a sensitive spot if the way she gripped the hair at the back of Jake’s head was any indication.

She let out a soft whimper as Jake moved lower, biting softly at her throat, testing the waters. His hand moved up her front and went to rest on the swell of her chest, his palm sitting atop her breast. Jake could feel her nipple harden through the thin fabric of her shirt and he felt his pants grow just the slightest bit tighter. “Can I?” he asked, looking up at her through his lashes with desperation in his eyes.

“Do it,” she breathed in response. He stripped off her shirt, (Y/N) lifting her arms at the appropriate time, and threw it to the ground. A broken sounding groan clawed its way from Jake’s throat when he laid his eyes on her bare upper half. (Y/N) felt exposed, her whole body growing hot at being on display for the boy she’d yearned for since forever and she instinctively went to cover herself up, but she didn’t get far before Jake laid his hand on her wrist.

“Don’t hide from me, you’re so pretty,” he whispered, moving her arms out of the way and dipping his head down to take her in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the stiffened peak of her nipple.

She whimpered, her hand resuming its place on the back of Jake’s head, her fingers tangling in his brown hair. His hand focused on the breast he wasn’t mouthing on, nimble guitar fingers tweaking her nipple. He lightly pushed back on her shoulders, prompting her to move up the bed. Moving his mouth to her other breast, giving it the same attention as he had the previous one, he crept one hand under her skirt and played with the waistband of her underwear.

He could feel the growing damp spot between her legs and the heat radiating off of her. Jake kissed his way down her body, leaving small marks as a trail and paying extra attention to the dips of her hips. “Is this okay?” he asked, sitting back on his heels with his hands on the waistband of her skirt. (Y/N) nodded, her brain not being able to comprehend words at the moment, but Jake shook his head at her. “I need to hear you say it, sweetheart.”

“More than okay,” she all but whined, wiggling her hips only the tiniest bit. “Please, take it off.”

“As you wish,” he winked smugly, pressing a kiss just below her bellybutton. After pulling her skirt off, Jake discarded his own shirt since it seemed a little unfair for her to be totally naked and him being completely clothed. (Y/N) looked at him with hooded eyes, her pupils blown with lust and love. Sinking to his stomach, Jake peppered kisses up her legs, starting at the ankle and moving up to the crease of her thigh and then doing the same with the other. “You’re in charge here, (Y/N). You tell me what feels good, and if you ever want to stop you just say the word. Got it?” he looked up at her from his spot between her legs, though (Y/N) doubted she was really processing anything he said when he looked that beautiful.

“Got it, just please do something,” (Y/N) begged. Jake gave her an evil looking smirk before trailing his index finger through her folds. She gasped at the contact and arched her back when that very same finger breached her entrance.

He slowly pumped his finger in and out, letting her get used to the sensation before he added his mouth to the equation. His lips pressed a chaste kiss to her clit before his tongue licked a stripe up the length of her. (Y/N) couldn’t help the moan that escaped her, from the heat of Jake’s mouth to the slight crook of his finger, the stimulation was overwhelming. Her hand shot down and grabbed at the hair on the top of his head, making sure not to grab too tight and hurt him. But the groan that left this mouth and vibrated through her proved that hurting him was the last thing she was doing.

His mouth sucked on her bundle of nerves for a moment before he added a second finger to the first. The stretch of her walls was a welcomed burn and (Y/N) was sure she saw stars when Jake would curl his fingers just right, hitting a spot inside her that she never knew existed. He detached his mouth from her momentarily and looked up, the look of pure bliss on her face was almost enough to make Jake cum then and there. “You taste so good, baby,” Jake cooed, his fingers still moving at a steady pace. “Doing so well.”

(Y/N) whined and ground down into his hand. There was something about Jake that she just knew was different, he wasn’t doing this just to get in her pants, or for some quick fuck. Jake genuinely enjoyed making girls cum, this gave him as much gratification and pleasure as it did her. It was clear in the way he watched her movements or smiled against her when he knew she liked something. It was refreshing and different than what (Y/N) expected because even though Jake was one of her closest friends, he was first and foremost a young male. But he seemed to really care if she was having a good time, and that made him ten times hotter. “Please, Jake,” she panted, chest heaving. “Wanna cum, please.”

“I’ve got you, baby,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear before he brought his mouth back to her. He could feel her walls begin to flutter around his fingers and picked up the pace in which his tongue was licking. Strings of moans and curses flew from (Y/N)’s lips as the muscles in her thighs began to twitch. Jake moved his thumb to replace his mouth on her clit and rubbed small circles over it. “C’mon, sweetheart,” he encouraged, his voice and breath sounding just as ragged as hers was. “Cum for me, I’ve got you.”

And with a final curl of his fingers, (Y/N) came with a cry of Jake’s name. His fingers continued their work, helping her through the aftershocks of her orgasm. “Jesus fucking christ,” she panted when Jake pulled his fingers from her an sucked them clean.

She sat up quickly and grabbed Jake by the back of the neck, pulling him into a feverish kiss that was all tongue and clashing teeth. His hands immediately went to her waist and he moaned into her mouth, she could taste herself on his tongue and her cheeks flushed at the thought of it. Jake shimmied his pants off and pulled (Y/N) to sit on his thighs, she broke away from the kiss and began to nudge her nose against his cheek. “Fuck me, please,” she whispered, breath fanning over his face.

“Hold on, baby,” he nodded at her, wrapping an arm around her and leaning over to his bedside table. He opened the top drawer and pulled a gold packet out before ripping the top off with his teeth. Jake tapped her hip and she obediently lifted them for him as tugged his gray boxer briefs down and rolled the condom onto his leaking hard-on. (Y/N) only got a glimpse of it in the dark room and her eyes widened, realizing that was going inside her. Jake’s hands went back to her hips and his thumbs rubbed small soothing circles against the skin there. “Ride me,” he said looking up into her eyes. “You control the pace this way.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” (Y/N) said quietly. “Will you help me?”

“I’ll help you, angel,” Jake nodded and scooched back onto the bed, taking (Y/N) with him. He pressed his lips to hers again, one hand moving from her hip and going to cup her cheek. “You’re so gorgeous.” (Y/N)’s breath hitched, he’d called her pretty before but never gorgeous. Gorgeous felt more personal, more intimate. She felt his hand leave her face and move to grip his length by the base. He guided it to her entrance and held it there, it was up to her to make the final move now.

One last look at Jake was all it took for (Y/N) to know that this is where she wanted to be, she wanted to be in Jake’s arms, close to him in every way possible. She pecked his lips once more and braced her hands on his shoulders before sinking down onto him.

Her walls stretched and fluttered, trying to get used to the foreign object inside her, as she let out a shuddering gasp. Jake’s hand—that was once guiding himself into her—planted itself in the center of her back, pulling her impossibly closer. (Y/N)’s head dropped to his shoulder as she stilled, letting herself adjust to his size. “So big,” she groaned, it felt like she could feel him in her stomach and the angle had him laying against just the right spot.

“You’re doing so good, baby,” Jake whispered breathlessly, his hand rubbing up and down her naked back. “Doing so well. Feel so good around me, such a good girl,” he rambled, his words being the only thing that tethered them both to this earth. (Y/N) keened at the praise and gave an experimental roll of her hips, making both of them let out sounds that could make a pornstar blush. (Y/N) honestly couldn’t give less of a shit if any one of the sleeping party-goers heard them, this was the best she had felt in her entire life. She felt full, and loved, and appreciated. She never wanted to not feel like this.

(Y/N) rolled her hips again, this time more confidently, and threw her head back. Jake’s hand that was on her hip began to carefully guide her motions, helping her lift up and bring her back down. She bit her lip to quiet the screams that she felt brewing in her throat and began to move on her own accord. Jake looked up at her blissful face, the way her eyebrows scrunched together slightly, her eyes clenched shut, and beautiful full lips hung open in a silent gasp. “Fuck, Jake,” she groaned. He couldn’t help the whine that escaped him at the sound of his name falling from her mouth, the sound was straight up sinful. Jake’s hands moved down to the curve of her ass, dull nails biting into the flesh as she moved up and down much more sure of herself than before.

“You’re so hot, baby,” Jake panted. “Take me so well, like you were made for me.”

“Feel you so deep,” one of her hands moved to her stomach, right under her navel, while the other laced in the hair at the nape of his neck. She rested her forehead against his and connected their lips. She swallowed all the grunts and moans that Jake let out as her tongue licked inside his mouth. The soft sounds of her ass slapping against his thighs filled the room along with their heavy breathing. “Fuck, switch with me,” she whined and Jake immediately rolled them over now with her laid beneath him, his arms holding him up.

With the new angle it felt like Jake hit even deeper. He grabbed one of her legs and laid it over his shoulder, making her cry out in pleasure. He shifted his weight to one arm, using his free hand to rub her clit. She begged him to go faster, and with how pretty she looked and sounded, he couldn’t deny her. Jake drove his hips into hers at a punishing pace, relishing in the noises that left her. “You’re close, aren’t you, princess?” he asked gruffly. All (Y/N) could do was nod wordlessly beneath him. “I can feel you squeezing me. I’m almost there, baby. Hold on for me,” his head dipped down and sucked at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, mouth meeting the sensitive flesh he had bit marks into earlier.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she gasped, the words falling from her lips like a prayer. “Please, Jake. I’m gonna cum.”

“I know, baby,” Jake groaned, his thrusts becoming sloppy as he chased that high for the both of them. “You’re doing so good. I’m almost there. You look so fucking beautiful. My girl, my good girl. We’ll cum together, okay,” (Y/N) nodded as Jake counted down.

Three more tight circles rubbed on her clit that made her legs tremble.

Two beautiful brown eyes staring into her soul, making tears well in her eyes.

One pair of lips pressed against her own, swallowing her scream as white invaded her sight and she finally let go.

She saw Jake’s brow furrow and his mouth form a perfect ‘o’ shape when he pulled back from her, his hips stuttering and pushing into her as he worked them both through their highs. He was so beautiful in that moment, (Y/N) wanted that image in her head for as long as she lived. Jake waited for her tremors to stop before he carefully pulled out of her, his cheeks flushing when he heard her whimper at the loss of contact. He pulled the condom off before tying it up and tossing it in the trash can.

“C’mon, sweetheart,” Jake cooed, rubbing up and down her arm. “Sex 101: always use the bathroom afterwards,” he helped her stand from the bed and wrapped a blanket around her, pulling on his underwear before he walked them both across the hall to the bathroom.

While (Y/N) did her business, Jake wet a washcloth that he grabbed under the sink and nodded for her to sit on the counter when she was done. Once she sat atop the warm laminate, Jake ran the warm cloth over her, apologizing for any discomfort she felt, before he walked them back to his room. They laid down under the covers and Jake pulled (Y/N) into his chest. “Jakey,” she asked quietly, basking in the post-fuck haze that clouded her head.

“Yeah, babe?” he responded, his voice an equally quiet whisper.

“What does this mean for us now?”

“What do you want it to mean?”

(Y/N) pondered the question for a moment, not that she needed to think about it much. “Well, I really like you, like a lot.”

“That’s good, because I really like you too,” Jake smiled down at her, booping her nose lightly. “Wanna go on a date with me?”

“I’d really like that,” (Y/N) whispered, sleep quickly taking over her. “Goodnight, Jakey. I love you,” she mumbled sleepily, sounding so tired that Jake wasn’t a hundred percent certain she had even realized she had said it. But he was glad she did.

“I love you too, baby,” he smiled softly, pressing a kiss to her hair though he was sure she fell asleep before she had a chance to hear him.

#jake kiszka x reader #greta van fleet x reader #greta van fic #gvf smut #gvf x reader #gvf fic #jake kiszka smut #jake kiszka #greta van fleet #babby writes #gvf fanfiction

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prussiastronk · 2 months

Text

their Auras are always paired because…. (A Honda x Hanzo smut fic) *Might be OOC*

“Hey Musclehead.”

“Musclehead….”

“Shitty ninja.”

Honda gasped as he started to grind against the dark-haired brunette. Dark rows of teeth marks sprouted along his partner’s neck, slowly matching his own.

They had found themselves in this strange situation before a death tournament.

Honda did not know where Hanzo had been for the past two decades, but he showed up as cheerful as always, even if he was a bit worn-looking. The crow’s feet and forehead lines that dotted his face could not dampen the air of youthful vigor that the ninja radiated. Since Hanzo in his youth was a stern person, it was almost if he was aging backwards.

After dinner that night, they had started off chatting until the topic had gone to the Tonbokiri.

"You unearthed it after all these years?"

"It's like an old friend come back to life." Honda leaned back and stretched.

Somehow their noses had been inching closer and closer.

"You should show it to me."

Honda didn't know if it had been his pre-tournament nerves, some newfound reckless courage from the rebirth into the Nioh(perhaps even both) but he found his lips shoving into the other party's. His face burned from the friction of stubble (Did Hanzo always have this much?).

My lord is going to scold me for this....

Deft fingers worked at stripping off Honda's top garment. Hanzo was careful, as it wasn't right for a diamond to look grimy for his first fight in years. It wasn't easy for Honda to do the same. Apart from brushing off his robe had to also yank off a layer of chainmail. After a few clumsy tries, he finally tossed the armor aside to plant kisses across Hanzo's collarbone. Hanzo squirmed, and, in retaliation, shoved his partner lightly before planting a hard bite on his left pec. His mouthing softened and Honda felt a sudden heat shooting through his body. Hanzo's tongue was devilishly toying with his left nipple.

"F-Fuck....you shitty-" As if instinctively, he grabbed onto the ninja's ass, his left hand sliding down to feel surprisingly supple thighs under fabric. Hanzo paused as he felt himself buck against Honda's growing heat, allowing the other to hook his fingers into his pant slits and tug them down.

Taking advantage of the pause, Honda shoved him against the wall, with one hand clasping his partner's and the other undoing his own trousers to let out his own Tonbokiri, equally aching and hot.

It was like this that these two indomitable forces on the battlefield were left red, slobbering and defenseless against each other.

Their fingers melted together as the two kissed without concern about coming up for air. Hanzo was the first to untangle his left hand (after several tries) in order to lubricate Honda's index and middle finger.

"Do not tell me you're entering without a plan?" Despite Hanzo's attempt to sound critical, a mushy smile plastered itself across his face.

"Pah, what do you take me for, some bonehead?" (he indeed was about to enter without a plan).

Honda's fingers inched their way into the hole, slowly parting the walls as to not hurt the other party. The two kept pressed together so that either was able to feel the other's heartbeat pound through their chest cavities. After a half-lidded nod from Hanzo, Honda retracted his fingers and entered his partner. He propped up Hanzo's right thigh with one hand while interlacing Hanzo's left hand with the other. Despite his appearance and mannerisms, Honda kept his thrusting gentle, although he occasionally could not help piercing his Tonbokiri a bit too vigorously into his partner. Fortunately, Hanzo's sudden back arches were more out of pleasure than pain. Honda was no sadist-pleasure was exactly what he prided himself in giving. Seeing Hanzo give way underneath him gave him the appetite to resume kisses along his throat and collarbone, marking porcelain skin with petals of purple and magenta.

There came a time when Honda grew bored of Hanzo's incoherent moaning (like why does he scream "NIN" at times like these?) and decided to playfully torment the other man.

"Hey, Hattori...do you truly want to be mine for tonight?"

"W-what doth thou mean?" Hanzo gasped in between breaths, frustrated that Honda slowed down right before their climax.

"I want you-" Honda grunted before pausing his movements. "To show me."

"Hanngh.....wretched muscle head...thou art unfair...." Hanzo mewled underneath him, aching from the burning of kisses planted on his neck and fingers straddling his thighs.

"We have all night." Honda whistled, feigning indifference.

"Nnnngh...." the usually prickly Shinobi now had a face full of tears and red as a beet. Honda couldn't help but think he looked awfully beautiful underneath him as his jet black hair scattered across their snowy white sheets, a mosaic of purple and red dotting his wiry but well-sculpted frame, and warm brown eyes glistening with tears of both pain and pleasure.

"Tadakatsu...."

"That's more like it." Honda leaned down to whisper into his partner's ear as he started to thrust into him again, immediately reviving Hanzo's member.

"Nnnngh....Tadakatsu.....Tadakatsu...." Hanzo gritted his teeth as as Honda pounded into him, the larger man's rigid abdominal muscles rubbing against his rock hard cock. It was too hot in that room.

"Masanari....."

Honda appeared almost like a divine being to his partner, his pink hair haloed against the dying candlelight of the room, his body gleaming with sweat as if he was a mineral. His eyes were always a deep red, deep like blood or the sunset, or like the eyes of a Nioh in the midst of judgement. Hanzo tangled the crook of his arm around the other man's slicked neck and his fingers twisted around strands of hair, while his other hand hung onto Honda's for dear life.

"Tadakatsu...."

Hanzo would never admit it, but there was nothing he wouldn't do to satisfy this man. Honda could be fucking him into mud and choking him to near-unconsciousness and he would be happy. But deep down, Hanzo knew there would be no need to go to such lengths to prove his love to Honda-the man he devoted himself to glowed warm and radiant, just like on the day they met.

"Tadakatsu....Tadakatsu..."

However, as great of lengths as he would go to please his lover, Hanzo could not muster out the words "Tadakatsu, I love you". Even when they were locked in fervent coitus, it felt vulgar.

Tadakatsu, don't you know? I survived because we had a dream together.

Honda gave one last thrust, causing both parties to finish at the same time.

Aftercare was curt, with both parties cleaning themselves off in the backyard bath.

Hanzo made a beeline for his garments before being yanked back under the covers by Honda, who insisted that it was unfair for competition reasons that only one of them to have a decent sleep that night. Hanzo protested, his feelings of warmth now turning into a nagging pain after he was enveloped tenderly by a pair of strong arms. Alas, our Shinobi friend had almost limitless stamina in most situations, but even that failed and he eventually dozed off.

Honda awoke to see the other party fast asleep under the covers. Honda could see flecks of sunlight dancing on Hanzo's jet black locks, dotting them with amber.

"Tadakatsu...." A voice sleepily crooned to him.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Hanzo scrunched his nose before burrowing into his pillow. "Don't tell me your hearing hath gone shot too, Musclehead."

He was surprised to feel a peck on his head, before being turned over for another love bite. As hard as he might, Hanzo could not hide a sigh of contentment upon feeling the hot pricks of affection.

"I never know what you're thinking, you shitty ninja." Honda crooned into his nape. "It's dangerous."

They stayed that way until a faraway gong announced that the first round was nearing.

"I will see you at your fight, Musclehead." Hanzo kissed his hand before getting up to dress.

Honda smirked.

"You will see me win."

#tenkaichi #tenkaichi nihon saikyou bugeisha ketteisen #hanzo hattori #honda tadakatsu

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mirkwoodshewolf · 3 years

Text

Panther Princess; T’Challa x child reader

*Author’s note*

Well this was a LONG time in the making, not only cause of motivation and time schedule wise but I wanted to make sure I GOT THIS FIC RIGHT since this is my first time writing for T'Challa since Chadwick's death last year (MAY HE RIP OUR KING!!!). Hope you guys enjoy this, and I’ve decided that after a few Wattpad requests I’ll open requests up here on Tumblr but there will be some MAJOR adjustments to what fandoms I’ll do. For now just be patient with me and eventually I will open requests here on Tumblr, I just don’t want to be overwhelmed.

Warnings: Malnourishment. abuse, terrorists involved (no action but just the word), some fluff.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@soy-guey

@queen-paladin

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

______________________________________________________________

It was in the dead of night when T’Challa received word about some smugglers were traveling with some stolen Vibranium, and word has it that they were working for Klaue. Even though he had been dead, Klaue’s business was still running and forging deals with terrorists groups and anti-government parties.

Him and Okoye were flying over towards the drop-off point where the dealers were gonna be exchanging their latest steal of Vibranium.

“The dealers that Klaus’ second Lt. Rosko Lannister is selling the Vibranium to come from an Iranian terrorist group.”

“As usual we will let them make their business transaction before taking any further action. After dealing with the terrorist group and Lannister is ours, he will be put under the same crimes as we would’ve given Klaue.” T’Challa told Okoye. She nodded as the jet continued to fly towards their destination.

It was just before sunset when at an old, abandoned warehouse Rosko Lannister and some of Klaue’s old men waited for their clients to arrive. Soon enough driving in the black SUV’s and Honda trucks, the Iranian terrorist group came out of their cars. Most of them were soldiers holding their AK-47’s close to their chest while out of the head van, 3 men dressed in full 3 piece suits exited the car.

They looked exactly alike for these three men were actually brothers. Two of them were twins and the other was a year younger than his older twin brothers. Hasim, Sami, and Achmed Israeli were the three leaders of the biggest terrorist group in the world. There was even record shown that they made deals with HYDRA back in the day. Mostly smuggled weapons and potential serums for super soldiers.

After the fall back in 2014 when both SHIELD and HYDRA were exposed, the brothers decided to go underground and disappear under the radar. The US and European governments have been trying to find them ever since but they are too clever and can easily cover their tracks both physically and wirelessly.

“The Israeli brothers. I can’t tell you how honored I am to be doing business with you.” Rosko praised.

“We didn’t come for praises. We came for the Vibranium. Do you have it?” the oldest twin brother Sami demanded.

“Getting down to business. That was one thing my former associate Klaue always appreciated. God rest his soul.” Rosko kissed his finger before raising them upward. “Nah I’m just kidding he was an arsehole, I’m actually glad he’s dead.” He changed his tune.

“The Vibranium. Do you have it or not!?” demanded the younger twin Hasim.

“Patience Hasim. Let the white man talk.” Sami eased his brother. Rosko turned to one of his guys and nodded. His left hand man let out a whistle and soon two men come carrying in a large box that was filled with the stolen Vibranium that Klaue had stowed away for himself.

The men set it down before the brothers and Achmed opened the case up to reveal the Vibranium they were looking for. A small smirk came across Sami’s face and he said.

“Excellent. The most powerful material in the universe.”

“It did come at personal cost from Klaue, better him than me. It’s worth billions. Hope you also kept your end of the deal. This transaction is only fair if both parties agree.” Hasim smirked cunningly and turned to his general.

He nodded and exclaimed in Muslim and before Rosko even knew it. Every single one of his men was shot dead by the Israeli brother’s soldiers, leaving only him alive.

Every gun was now turned on him and Rosko had no choice but to raise his hands slowly.

“True. But when dealing with terrorists you should’ve also realized that there is a price to pay. Especially if you’ve been followed.” Sami said. At this point Rosko was confused.

“What-what-what are you talking about?”

“I’ve been in this game for a long time Mr. Lannister, I’ve seen everything and heard it all. Superheroes, aliens, psychotic androids, even real life wizards. So don’t think for a second that your actions hasn’t risen suspicion to the one who rules the very place where you got this Vibranium from.” Sami closed the case and patted it before his brother Achmed took it and had it put in the truck.

“King T’Challa has no idea of this Vibranium that was stashed away. He’s recovered the traces of Vibranium that Klaue kept public. There’s no way he could know about this.”

“Clearly Klaue had a better game face than you Mr. Lannister. For he wouldn’t have revealed such an important fact to me.” At that moment Rosko knew he had been played by the brothers. Before he knew it, a bullet went straight into his head and he died right there.

“Surround the area. We don’t leave till the King is dead.” Ordered Achmed to his security team. The soldiers exclaimed Arabic commands as they surrounded the warehouse with their guns outward and ready to fire.

One guard in particular heard something move behind him and he quickly turned and fired three shots but didn’t hit anything but some old crates. His paranoia was getting the best of him and that’s what gave him away. He was suddenly grabbed by the back of his robes and lifted up and beaten till he collapsed to the floor unconscious.

2 more guards heard what was going on and went to check on their fallen soldier when a flash of a figure ran behind them. They quickly turned and fired their guns when suddenly T’Challa came down behind them, quickly disarmed them and knocked them unconscious.

As more of the brother’s security came in and they open fired on T’Challa, he merely walked towards the security before sprinting forward and disarming the rest of them. His claws tearing their guns apart, and using his quick ‘cat-like’ agility, he managed to take down the entire fleet.

“Israeli brothers!” he cried out. It was then Sami came out and T’Challa revealed his face to the eldest brother.

“King T’Challa. I must say it is an honor to be in your presence.” Sami mocked.

“Did you really believe we would be unaware of this trade?”

“On the contrary, I expected this all along. It was that witless white monkey Rosko who didn’t expect to see you. But never fear, he’s out of both of our hands.” Sami said nonchalantly as he looked down at his nails.

“If you surrender the stolen Vibranium to me, we can resolve this peacefully. But refuse, and you’ll face justice of Wakanda in Rosko Lannister’s stand. You and your brothers.”

“See my brothers and I made a pact. If we can’t escape the system, we’d be—how you say, judge jury and executioner to ourselves. And rather than rot in a cell separated, we shall join together in a blaze of glory. And we’re not afraid to take you with us, suffering the same fate as your own father did.” Sami raised his arms out like he was flying and waiting for a fiery explosion to happen.

But nothing came.

He opened his eyes to reveal that nothing had happened. It was then coming into the open space were Ayo and Okoye who had Sami’s younger brothers. Both men were bruised and battered up pretty badly. The two Dora Milaje members dropped his brothers down at his feet like trash and T’Challa said.

“I told you. This could’ve been resolved peacefully. But you forced our hand, especially when you had planned to blow up the place with all of us inside.” Sami growled but nonetheless raised his hands in surrender.

As the Dora Milaje were detaining the three brothers, T’Challa retrieved the stolen Vibranium when he heard something nearby. It sounded like chains, they had defeated all of the security, Rosko and his men were all shot by the Israeli brother’s defense, and the brothers were all detained so who else was here?

“My King?” Okoye asked.

“Stay here Okoye, I want to check something out.” He told his general of the Dora Milaje.

“My king, it could be another threat we do not yet know about. Let me come with you.”

“I’m not defenseless Okoye. Now you and Ayo just put the men on the ship and let me handle this. It could be some animal or the chains fell down off of something.” Okoye nodded to her king and soon T’Challa headed deeper into the warehouse.

As he explored every bit of it, he soon noticed that there appeared to be a hidden door within the walls that was very faintly cracked open. He opened the door and could hear the sound of the chains getting louder and louder.

It was almost like they were—pacing? They kept a constant rhythm as they would move about, in a circle pattern or something close to it. T’Challa slowly walked towards the direction of the chains and soon found what appeared to be a cage. A glass cage but it was inside that surprised the Wakandan King.

Inside the glass was a child. She appeared to be around the ages of 8-11 years old. Her hair was extremely long and madded like a lion’s mane. She looked malnourished so much so that you could almost see her bones. But for being malnourished, how could she have the energy to pace so frantically like she was now? He also noticed that there around her neck, wrists and ankles were chains keeping her inside.

T’Challa slowly walked out of the shadows and into the light where the child would be able to see him. She stopped her pacing and just stared at him curiously. T’Challa disengaged his full Black Panther suit so that he was in his normal clothes.

“I am not here to hurt you.” He gently told the child. The child slightly tilted their head like a lost puppy. “My name is T’Challa, what’s yours?” T’Challa slowly and slowly got closer and closer to her cage as he spoke in that soft voice of his. When she didn’t answer him he assured you, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just want to be sure you’re okay.”

Suddenly in the blink of an eye, her (e/c) soon turned to a deep cat eye yellow. Her body shifted into a fairly young but still decent size panther and she lashed out at the cage, knocking T’Challa off his feet in slight fear. The child now standing before him as a full panther clawed and roared at the cage furiously.

“My King!” Ayo’s voice spoke in Xhosa and soon her and Okoye came in and when they saw the panther, they lifted up their spears in defense.

“Stand down!” T’Challa commanded them.

“But my king—this animal is feral. It was going to kill you.” Okoye reasoned with him but T’Challa told her.

“She is a human child. She shifted into this panther before my eyes. Look.” Soon enough the panther shrunk down and soon turned back into the young girl who was still pacing back and forth in her cage.

“What sorcery is this?” asked Ayo.

“Not magic. Science. Look closer at her arms.” T’Challa said. At the section of the arm on the other side of the elbow, they noticed dozens of needle injection scars.

“This child was experimented on.” Okoye said grimly with a horrified expression.

“What do we do my King?” asked Ayo. T’Challa looked at the child who was growling and trying to act scary even though she was no longer a panther anymore.

“We take her to Shuri. Maybe she can shed more light on the matter. Get her to the ship. But approach her cautiously. Don’t make any sudden movements.” Ayo and Okoye bowed their heads to their king and walked towards the cage.

The girl would hit her skeletal body up against the cage trying to rattle it and actually roared out a panther’s real roar, her teeth slowly growing into the large infamous canines of a real big cat. Okoye and Ayo then placed a hover bead on each end of the cage and soon the cage levitated just a few feet off the ground.

The little girl roared and began clawing at the glass but it hardly did anything as she was now being guided towards the ship.

When they reached Wakanda after dealing with the brothers, Shuri in her lab was going over the girl’s intel scan that she made of the girl from her cage with her kimoyo beads.

“So what is it you can find Shuri?” T’Challa said as he entered his sister’s lab.

“This may come as a surprise to you brother. But—she has no birth record at all. I’ve contacted some of my people in various places around the world to see if there has been any missing child and all of them have said no. My theory is that she may have been created from a test tube to look like this.”

“Any idea who could’ve made her?”

“The same organization that made the White Wolf into the Winter Soldier.”

“Hydra.” T’Challa said gravely. Shuri nodded.

“I hacked into their old files and it only confirms my theory. Seems like they wanted to create their own Cat-god or something.”

“Any records on what her powers are? She can shift into a panther but can she also shift into anything else?”

“I’m still digging through the files, there’s a lot of files that came to creating her. It’ll take time brother.” T’Challa nodded in understandment.

“Keep me updated.”

“Yes brother.” T’Challa walked away but he turned back towards the young girl and saw that she had briefly stopped her pacing to look at him once again.

A week later after finding the child, Shuri managed to dig up that HYDRA’s plan for the Child was for her to become their Agent Battle Cat. The ability to shift into a panther. She also has enhanced agility, speed, and strength.

However when HYDRA fell back in 2014, they were forced to abandon the project and she had been left alone in that warehouse ever since. Thinking about the enhancing experiments she must’ve been forced to endure or whatever genes they gave her, it allowed her to survive even being chained up in a cage for years on end until she felt like she needed to give up.

While being kept under his sister’s supervision, T’Challa also made it apparent to try and communicate with the Child, just to see if she could either understand or (in a rare case) speak in any language. The first time he had tried to talk to her well—let’s just say she ended up with broken nails and chipped teeth after trying to take a bite of T’Challa’s forearm when he activated his suit to protect his arm from her attack.

He had finally finished his royal civic duties for the day when he decided to try and talk to the Child again.

“You sure it’s a good idea brother? You did cause her to lose her nails and chipped some of her teeth.”

“I learned my lesson last time. But you weren’t there before that happened. She had actually dropped her guard and almost looked like she wanted to communicate with me. I think I’m getting through to her.”

“Okay brother. But if she attacks you again, I doubt that’ll sit well with Mother as well as Okoye and Ayo.”

“I will handle mama and the Dora Milaje. For now see to it that no one disturbs us.” Shuri nodded and told her workers to go home for now, leaving T’Challa and the Child alone.

T’Challa slowly approached her cage to see her lying down on her side licking her broken nails. Some of them had broken off by the top, while the rest had the entire nail broken leaving a bloody mess in it’s wake. She was currently licking her blood stained fingertips when she caught T’Challa’s scent.

She growled and hissed angrily at him, her canine fangs extended out and her eyes shifted into the cold, yellow panther eyes.

“Steady, steady. I’m not here to hurt you.” T’Challa sat down a few feet away from the cage and continued, “I am sorry for what happened to you. I was only protecting myself from getting hurt. It was my fault for overstepping my boundaries.” Her hissing ceased and she closed her mouth hiding her fangs but she would occasionally growl lowly, her tail coming out and twitching anxiously.

They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes when T’Challa said to her.

“You know, I’ve been thinking of a name for you. You know something to call you. I’m betting the men who created you never really gave you a real human name. What do you think about—Ariana?” the Child hissed. T’Challa chuckled, “Didn’t think so. Shuri said you might like it but now I can prove to her that I was right. Now for the real options, what about…….Nala?” the child tilted her head confused. “No? What about…..Diana?” she looked down and went back to licking her fingertips. “That won’t really help them heal. Sure it’ll clot the blood but it’s not that good for saliva to heal a wound like that.”

She looked up at T’Challa and growled lowly.

“I’m just trying to help. We have the medicine that’ll help you. I won’t lie it might sting for a brief second but it’ll help. Will you trust me with healing you, please?” the child looked between him and her fingers before slowly extending her arms out and she briefly nodded.

T’Challa then got some antiseptic and band-aids. He opened up a small section of the cage, just enough for her arms to come out.

“Thank you for your trust.” He then began to doctor her fingertips. She let out some painful roars on the stubbed fingertips that no longer had a nail anymore but at least this time she didn’t try to attack him like last time. He soothed her with calming phrases like ‘it’s okay. It’s won’t last long.’ And ‘Just relax, it’s almost over.’ After bandaging up her left pinkie finger he told her, “There, I’m done (Y/n).”

At hearing that name, she looked up at T’Challa curiously. Her tail perked up and the tip curled inward. T’Challa looked at her to see her tail fall limp to the cage floor. “(Y/n)?” her tail lifted up again and her head tilted curiously. “So you like that name eh?” She looked at T’Challa and her nose twitched as she was trying to sniff him through the glass.

Taking a risk, he slowly reached his hand into the cage once more like before. However this time he kept his hand in a downward position, so that his hand formed the shape of another cat’s nose. The Child slowly crept towards his hand and gave it a sniff, when she saw that he wasn’t moving his hand, she rubbed her head against his hand for a brief second before nuzzling underneath his palm so that it sat on top of her head.

He gently began scratching her scalp which caused her to let out soft comforting purrs. T’Challa smiled warmly and continued to gently give the child—well (Y/n) some more scritches and pets.

“Don’t you worry (Y/n). I promise I won’t allow anyone else to harm you in any shape or form.”

The next couple of months after getting her body weight back to normal and healing any other wounds she had maintained, T’Challa allowed (Y/n) to venture outside the palace with him. Thinking the city itself was too much for her right now, he decided to take her out to the Border tribe so that she could see the outside world for the first time in her life.

Needless to say she was overwhelmed but she was happy to feel the grass beneath her feet, see the beautiful landscape, and hear all the sounds of the outside world from the animal calls to some of the Border tribe members talking with each other.

“Seems she’s getting along well.” Okoye observed (Y/n) who was cautiously watching the rhinos from their pins.

“Slowly but surely she is. Walking on two feet is still a bit of a challenge but she’ll get there eventually.” T’Challa told her.

“At least she’s learned to not attack you.”

“It was one time Okoye, be nice.”

“As your General it is my duty—”

“I understand your duty General. But you must also know that there will be times you can’t protect me. And this attack was very minor compared to the fights I’ve been in before.” It was then T’Challa saw (Y/n) now focusing her attention on some birds that had just landed a few feet away from the rhino pins. Her panther instincts kicked in as she got into pouncing position, her pupils were fully blown and her shoulder blades flexed over one another as her butt raised higher and higher in the air.

Finally she raced forward and the birds immediately took off flying. She leaped well over 7ft in the air and managed to capture a bird in her claws and delivered a fatal bite. She then raced over to T’Challa and presented him the dead bird.

She placed it on the ground before his feet and backed away before tilting her head with a happy smile on her face.

“Seems she has a gift for you my King.” Okoye said. T’Challa grimaced at the gift but he quickly smiled down at her and knelt down in front of her.

“I appreciate the gift (Y/n). But—we cannot keep this bird kept within a cage. Like how I freed you, we must also allow this bird to move onto the next life.” He dug into the earth for a small shallow grave, just big enough for the bird and he placed the bird into the makeshift grave. He buried it under the earth and he sent a brief prayer to Bast in Wakandan. “Right, now let’s head back to the palace. I have a meeting with M’Baku about reforging our alliance and allowing the Jabari tribe into the council.”

Okoye and T’Challa walked ahead when they heard something behind them. At first they thought it was one of the goats but it sounded to hoarse to be one of them. They slowly turned around and saw (Y/n) with a hand over the grave of the bird and she was saying.

“Ba……Ba.”

“Is she……?” Okoye started.

“Ba.” (Y/n) was trying to talk! She was trying to say the Cat goddess Bast’s name. She managed to get out the first constant and vowel but she couldn’t figure out how to do her S and T.

“Her first time talking. She’s trying to say Bast’s name.” T’Challa knelt down and he asked her, “(Y/n), are you trying to give a prayer to Bast?”

“Ba!” she exclaimed again. T’Challa was overjoyed on the inside that the girl he had decided to take under his wing and raise was finally trying to talk. Many of the tutors he and Shuri had growing up had given up saying that she was incapable of speaking because all she did was just hiss and growl as well as throw things at them before laughing like a deranged hyena.

“Here I’ll help you say her name.” he adjusted himself so that he sat down and he placed his hand right next to hers and he said slowly so that she could see how his lips did it. “Say Bast.”

“Ba.”

“Bast.”

“Ba.” T’Challa shook his head.

“Watch me carefully. Bast.” He enunciated the t at the end. (Y/n) growled lowly before taking a deep inhale and finally exclaiming.

“BAST!”

“Yes. Yes that’s it! You did it (Y/n) great job!” at seeing T’Challa’s excitement, (Y/n) began to repeat Bast’s name gleefully as she pranced around.

“A little cocky there isn’t she?” Okoye muttered.

“Let her have this moment Okoye. Besides probably hunting and killing, this is her first real big achievement. A normal milestone.”

“I suppose so.” She agreed. Even though she might not have wanted to admit it, she thought it was adorable how little (Y/n) was finally able to speak a human language and become so happy with herself that she would prance around like a yearling antelope.

Over the next couple of years, (Y/n) continued to not only advance in her human speaking skills, but she now began to show signs of aging. She went from that small child to now almost a young adult woman in just 2 years since finding her. Seemed with the animal enhancement, it also increased her human aging with each time she grew stronger and tougher.

T’Challa continued to raise her as his own and pretty soon all of Wakanda looked at her as their young Princess. Shuri loved hanging out with (Y/n) and teaching her everything there was to know about science and technology. She even took her as an apprentice in her lab. Okoye eventually came around and soon saw (Y/n) as a member of the royal family and took it upon herself to train her like a Dora Milaje so that she could defend herself without the need of her animal powers.

For she was the Panther Princess.

468 notes · View notes

egcdeath · 3 years

Text

hook, line, and sinker

summary: steve was never meant to be anything more to you than a check, a basic mission. but somewhere along the way, things had veered from that.

pairing: steve rogers x spy!reader

word count: 1.9k

warnings: angst, bad decisions, betrayal, unhappy ending

author's note: it has been a minute since i've posted a fic! i hope you enjoy :)

you can find my masterlist and taglist here

Despite the different rooms you found yourself in, the harsh morning sun was always the first thing you saw in the morning. Its bright rays would peek through the room’s shades and land right onto your face, intruding on some of the more vulnerable moments of your life.

When you finally angled your face away from the beaming star, your tired eyes fell upon the man next to you. The man you should’ve never taken things this far with. A man on the run, who you were sent after.

You sighed softly as you became a bit more conscious, and a now slightly more awake Steve threw a large arm around you, pulling you impossibly closer to him.

“Don’t get up yet,” he mumbled softly against your ear. You nodded and relaxed further into the slightly stiff motel mattress, mentally snapshotting and framing this moment in time. Yet another to add in the five month scrapbook of your time with Steve. Time that you recognized was quickly running out.

You allowed yourself to close your eyes once more, to listen to Steve’s soft breaths as he inhaled the scent of you. It made your heart hurt knowing that within the next week you would no longer get to be in those arms. Knowing that you would have to wake up alone in a new apartment in a new country and wait for a new mission while the news on the television droned on about the nomadic Captain America being flushed out of hiding. That Steve was no more to you than a mission. That it was your fault that you had fallen so hard and so fast.

So you treasured it while you had it. Hummed contently as Steve massaged your side before peppering little kisses against your neck. Tried to absorb the stubborn tear that threatened to fall down your face at any moment.

“We have to leave today,” he whispered against your ear, sending goosebumps up your arm. “Natasha wants to meet you.”

Your eyes shot open and your brows momentarily furrowed, something you quickly attempted to play off with a wide smile. There was no way that she wouldn’t recognize who you were— despite being declared ‘dead’ years ago, you were one of the more esteemed spies in your community. What that also meant is that you had even less time with Steve than you’d expected.

“When are we leaving? Am I gonna have to get used to another time zone?”

“Probably a few. Nat’s already with Sam, but we heard there’s something weird going on in Scotland with Wanda and Vision.”

“Should I really be getting involved with this then? It sounds like some pretty intense Avenger business if the parts of the team you still communicate with are getting together. I can just stay here ‘till you guys are ready to come back.”

Steve gave you an ‘are you serious?’ look before breaking into soft laughter, “are you serious?” You nodded wordlessly in response. “Oh, you’re serious. I promise that you’ll be fine.”

“Well, things better not get weird,” you giggled right along with him, reaching out and grabbing Steve’s face so that you could look into his eyes. You took another mental picture of him. You just hoped it wouldn’t have to be the last.

——

After you prepared yourself for the long car ride ahead of you, you slipped your second burner phone out of the hidden pocket of your suitcase, you were met with several missed messages by the man who sent you on the mission in the first place.

What is the wait?

I was referred to you for a reason

Have you even found him yet?

I’m not paying for you to sit around and go to brunch all day.

Do I need to send more money for a plane ticket or something??

No, I’ve got it. He’ll be in custody by tonight.

He better be. Or else you won’t be around to see tomorrow.

You swallowed thickly. You wouldn’t be dealing with this in the first place if you weren’t so irresponsible. And if word got out that you were falling in love with your targets, your reputation would be in shambles. You should’ve known from the start that this could never end well.

Steve stepped back into the bedroom area, a goofy smile on his face at the sight of you sprawled out on your back on top of the dingy motel bed. “You ready?” he asked, sounding chipper. You assumed he was ecstatic that you were finally going to be able to meet his friends, which made your heart hurt even more.

For a moment you considered the possibility of not going through with it. Of going along with Steve, work, prestige, and that hefty bounty be damned. You would still be living life on the run, but you’d have Steve, and everyone else on his side on your side too. You’d have some semblance of a family, and maybe someday you’d have a real family and someone to grow old with.

You chastised yourself for getting soft before sitting up, “I’m ready.”

——

You weren’t ready.

You knew you had to move quickly, the sun was going down, and you’d made a promise that needed to be fulfilled, or god knew what would happen to you.

You reached for the volume dial on the radio portion of the car, and turned down the song that Steve was currently humming along to.

“We should probably get off on the next exit that has a gas station,” you prompted, “the tank’s getting pretty low.”

Steve’s eyes flicked down to the dashboard and he nodded in agreement, “you’re right. Good catch.”

Steve pulled the car off and drove you to the nearest gas station, humming pleasantly along to the music once again. Your stomach was twisting and untwisting knots with every foot you got closer to the station, knowing exactly what you would have to do once you arrived.

Somehow, this was the most nerve wracking moment of your career. Not infiltrating secret government operations, not pulling the trigger on a mark, not even seeing the message from Tony Stark asking for you to find a way to bring Steve in.

You hurried into the main building of the station, making up an excuse on the spot to go inside. You made your way into a bathroom stall, and slipped the phone you hid away earlier out of the extra pocket in your pants.

Your hands shook as you dialed the first two numbers. You took one last deep breath as your finger hovered over the final number. You had one last chance to change your mind, to go back out to the car like nothing had happened because nothing had happened. You would drive a little longer before staying in another shitty hotel, and think about how you made the right decision as you curled up next to Steve’s warm body.

But you couldn’t. You were given this mission, and you needed to complete it.

You pressed the last nine, immediately connecting with an emergency service operator. You gave them the tip that you had seen Steve Rogers pumping gas into a black Honda Civic, and provided them with your location. With every word, your voice trembled a little more. You were grateful for your proximity to a toilet, as the lump inside of your throat threatened to force the contents of your stomach up with every passing moment.

You hung up the phone and looked at yourself in the mirror for a moment. You could barely recognize yourself now, and you weren’t sure if that was from the flagrant betrayal of your partner, or the undermining of your own personal rules for the past five months of your life.

After reflecting on what you’d done for a few minutes, you made your way back to the car. You sat down in the passenger seat, lip trembling as you thought about Steve, and the fact that you’d laid a trap for someone you had such strong feelings for.

Steve sat down just a few minutes later, a smile on his face, and snacks from the gas station in his arms. As he passed you a water bottle, he couldn’t help but notice the tears slipping down your face.

“Hey, what‘s wrong? Are you alright?” he asked, dropping the rest of the items on his lap and leaning over the middle console to console you.

You began to full-on sob now, each tremble of your body filled with regret. “I’m sorry, Steve. I am so sorry,” you repeated.

“No, no, you’re okay. What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning as he wiped your tears away with his thumb.

“I- I had no other choice,” you wailed, “I’m sorry.”

His brows creased and he pulled away from you, betrayal evident in his features, “oh.”

You swallowed hard and shook your head.

“So this was the plan all along?” he questioned. Your lack of response seemed to answer the question for him. “Was any of this real?”

“All of it was, Steve,” you all but whimpered out.

He sighed deeply and leaned his head against the headrest, eyes squeezed shut. He seemed to be searching for the words, but couldn’t quite put together what he truly wanted to say. It was silent in the car for a moment, aside from your quiet sniffles.

“I loved you,” he finally said, hurt evident in his delivery. The admission shook you to your core. You almost couldn’t believe that the first time you were hearing it was after you had put him into such a terrible situation. After you turned in someone that you cared about for your own gain.

“I know,” you looked away from Steve in shame, the look of hurt on his face now permanently imprinted in your mind.

The sound of sirens began to fill the air. Not too long after, you noticed the unmissable blue and red of emergency vehicles approaching your own. It was time.

You unlocked your door and exited without another word. You refused to look back to the car, keeping your head down and your eyes squeezed shut, knowing that if you had to see Steve being taken away, you might never get over the permanent sick feeling you were currently in the midst of.

You walked right inside of the building, stopping in front of an aisle of chargers and finally looking back at the mess that you had made.

“What’s going on out there?” the clerk asked from behind the counter, peeking out the large glass windows.

“I don’t know,” you feigned ignorance and casually shrugged, ignoring the fact that the sight of about a dozen police and SWAT vehicles was tearing you up inside. What were they going to do to him?

You turned away from the scene once again, pretending to browse through the low quality electronics next to you. You heard some yelling, a bit of a struggle, then it was all over.

The coast was clear. Your mission was over.

You left the store without purchasing anything. You moved sluggishly as you got back inside of the now abandoned vehicle.

You started the car once again. This time without the radio playing overplayed pop songs, and without Steve happily humming along. You stared blankly ahead of you, feeling numb above anything else. Steve's words resonated in your mind, bouncing around in your head as you attempted to make sense of what you just did.

Guilt was beginning to creep up on you in a way that you’d never experienced before. You immediately felt haunted by the ghosts of your memories with Steve. Of every entry in your mental scrapbook, of the final image of the hurt on Steve’s face as he confessed his true feelings for you. Of all, you were left with one terrifying thought.

You loved him too.

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n #captain america x reader #captain america x you #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america fanfiction #avengers fanfiction #avengers fanfic #steve rogers angst

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biggest-stupidhead · 3 years

Text

Never Ready (part 2)

Summary: “It’s not like I’m ready to take her in.”

“And I was ready for you? Kid, nobody is ever ready for things like this. That doesn’t mean they don’t happen.” Levi is faced with the difficult decision of taking in his newly orphaned cousin. But he can't do it alone.You're a newly graduated college student looking to make some extra cash, but get more than you originally bargained for...

Word Count: 4.6K

AN: Sorry for the long wait, I've been very busy this summer but I'm trying to keep writing! Thanks for sticking around you guys :)

find part 1 here

Levi woke up early, as usual, however, he skipped his usual workout in favor of deep cleaning the house for the third time this week. Just as he was putting his broom back into the closet when the doorbell rang. He anxiously smoothed out his cotton dress shirt, tugging at the seam as he tried to tuck it into his pants.

“Hello-” His shoulders slumped when he found a young suburban housewife on the other side of the door instead of the gloomy social worker.

“Oh hi there! So sorry that it’s taken me so long but…” She held out a bottle of red wine with a neat ribbon tied around the neck.

“You didn’t have to,” Levi answered tensely as she beamed politely at him.

“I know but...it just felt like the right thing to do.” She shrugged, her strawberry blonde hair swaying, the strands just barely touched her shoulders.

“Well...thank you.” He thanked her, hoping that she would take the hint that this was a bad thing.

“No worries! By the way, my name is Petra, my husband and I live across the street.” She gabbed her thumb towards the house across from his.

“I’m Levi, nice to meet you.” He said, fighting to keep from grinding his teeth. It wasn’t that this woman was in the wrong, no it was simply the timing of her gesture. He was already on edge and he was never a fan of new people.

“Nice to meet you too! If you’re ever interested, we have a book club and-”

“Look, I appreciate the gesture but this isn’t the best time.” Levi cut her off and he felt a small pang of guilt at the way her expression dropped.

“Oh no of course! Anyway, you know where to find me.” She chuckled anxiously as she began her hasty retreat. It couldn’t have been soon enough, because a silver honda accord pulled into his driveway. Levi swallowed thickly as he watched Michelle climb out of her car and brave the icy sidewalk.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She said curtly as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and waited for Levi to step aside. When she crossed the threshold, he shut and locked the door behind her. She immediately began checking out the front room and the living room. The house had a nice open floorplan, so the first thing that anyone saw when entering was the living room and kitchen.

“Not at all,” Levi responded as she slowly wandered into the kitchen. He followed helplessly behind her as she began jotting notes down on a clipboard.

“Well, I must say that I am impressed with the hast you made these arrangements.” She complimented as she paced down the hallway, poking her head into the room that Levi had prepared for Mikasa.

“I don’t like to leave projects unfinished.” He responded as he waited in the doorway.

“Admirable.” She scribbled a quick note before finding her way back into the kitchen. Levi chewed the inside of his cheek as he waited with bated breath for her next words.

“Everything seems in great condition here. I don’t see any reason that she can’t move in by Monday.” She placed her clipboard on the counter and faced him with a tense smile.

“Monday?” Levi couldn’t hide the nerves in his tone and she smiled genuinely.

“Of course, we try to keep kids out of the homes as much as possible. Have you figured out what you wish to do for child care?” She moved seamlessly onto the next topic and Levi nodded, motioning for her to take a seat at the island.

“Uh, there’s a daycare that I was looking at. I’m also looking for a nanny.” Levi said as she settled into her seat and he sat a chair away from her.

“Excellent, my only concern with the daycare is that she has been attending the same one for some time now. It’s not far from here, I would highly encourage that you keep that the same.” She went back to her clipboard, jotting down some more notes as Levi contemplated what she had said.

“Makes sense.” He mumbled as she placed her pen down with a soft sigh.

“I got to say, I’m very grateful for your enthusiasm with this, makes my job a lot easier.” She smiled at him and Levi nodded curtly.

“Anyway, I’ll drop her off Monday morning, I believe that her current foster family uses the same daycare that she’s attending, Carla is the mom’s name. She’s made it clear that she is more than willing to lend a hand if ever needed.” Michelle jotted down a number on a scrap piece of paper and slid it across the counter to Levi who blinked stupidly down at her chicken scratch.

“That’s all I need from you.” Michelle stood and gathered her things, Levi trailed behind her to the front door and watched her leave. It was already Thursday, meaning he had less than five full days to finish preparing for Mikasa’s arrival. He felt like a tortured spirit in his own home, wandering the halls hallowly, he had never lived in such a large space. Not that his past homes had been small, but rather, he had always lived with someone.

Kenny and he had shared a small trailer all through his elementary years and well into his high school years. Then in college, he had roomed with Erwin and Mike, first in the dorms and then in shitty apartments. But now, he was alone. At least it was only for a few more days, but could you really count a four-year-old as company?

He found himself once again outside of the empty room, standing right on the threshold. The mere sight of the room made his stomach sink, from the subtle baby pink comforter to the dresser that was filled with tiny clothes. He turned and shut the door softly before marching back into the living room. The mid-afternoon sun was drifting in through the front windows and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

His phone rang obnoxiously and he scrambled to dig it out of his pocket. Hange’s contact lit up his screen and he inhaled sharply, preparing himself for whatever it was that Hange found important enough to share with him at one pm on a Thursday.

“Levi, is this a good time?” That was his first red flag, Hange was never considerate of his time when she called.

“It’s fine why?” He sighed as he began pacing the length of his living room.

“Well, I’ve got excellent news.” Hange couldn’t contain the excitement in her voice.

“What is it?” He encouraged her and she let out a muted squeal.

“I’ve found the perfect nanny for you! She just graduated last semester, I’ll send you her contact info.” Levi felt a small weight lift off of his chest, even though it wasn’t set in stone, at least he was making headway.

“She’s done this before, ever since she was a senior in high school actually. She told me over lunch that her usual employer doesn’t need her anymore so she’s on the hunt for a job!” Hange babbled on and Levi nodded along as he dropped onto the leather sofa.

“Got it thank you.” He confirmed as the ping of her sending the contact info came through his phone.

“Have her over for dinner, or maybe go out for tea. Ask her some questions and I’m sure you’ll find her more than qualified. She has no commitments so I bet if you can make her like you, then she’ll stick around for a while.” Hange chuckled deviously and Levi clicked his tongue.

“I have no idea what criteria I even have to look at to see if she’s qualified.” Levi scoffed and Hange snorted.

“Mikasa’s four years old, she has school and such, I mean as far as I’m concerned your nanny just needs to be able to drive and cook.” Hange shrugged as she flipped through her lesson planner.

“There’s got to be more than just that.” Levi bit the skin on his knuckle as he began wracking his brain for what makes a good nanny.

“Sure there is, I’m just brainstorming.” Hange chuckled and Levi rolled his eyes.

“I’ll make a list.” He concluded and Hange hummed her agreement.

“That’s a great idea, I mean in the end she’s going to be working for you so just put down qualities that you think make a good worker. Or something.” Hange seemed rather indifferent and Levi felt his jaw tick in annoyance.

“Right, well thanks.”

“No problem, catch ya later!” And with that, she hung up.

Levi stood outside of the coffee shop. He snuck one last glance at the shortlist that he had made. His brow creased when he read through it, the first point he had put down was: in-state driver’s license. Closely followed by good hygiene. Frustration bubbled into his chest as he wadded the paper up and shoved it deep into his pocket. He finally pushed through the door and approached the familiar counter. He ordered his usual and went to sit in one of the secluded booths in the back.

He had arrived a good ten minutes early, hoping to gather himself before meeting the nanny. As he watched the steam rise off of his cup of tea he savored the few moments of silence. That was until the bell on the door chimed. He knew it was you, Hange had described you in-depth when he had told her he reached out to you that evening she sent your contact.

Your hair was pulled back off of your face in a half up half down style. You wore a pair of fitted jeans and a knitted sweater. Levi watched you as you ordered your drink, you seemed so sure of yourself, the way your shoulders were pulled back and your jaw set in determination. Already off to a good start and he hadn’t even heard you speak. Levi watched you grab your drink before doing a half-turn, eyes scanning the small cafe. They landed on him and Levi knew he’d been caught staring. He did a small tilt of his head, inviting you to join him, you smiled warmly and took quick steps in his direction.

Levi stood and extended his hand to you, which you accepted with a firm handshake.

“You must be Mr. Ackerman.” Your voice was smooth and honeyed, immediately putting him at ease.

“Levi is fine.” He said as he sat back down in the booth. You slid down into the seat opposite of him, clutching your purse in your lap.

“I understand that you have some...experience.” Levi started a bit awkwardly. You nodded eagerly and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

“Of course, in the past, it’s mostly been under the table, but we can work around that of course.” Levi examined the typed-out document. A resume of your past jobs and a few recommendations from past employers.

“Under the table is fine…” He mumbled as he thumbed through the pages.

“So, Hange told me a bit about your...unique situation.” You pressed and Levi stilled in his motions.

“What’d she tell you?” He asked, grey eyes boring into you from over the tops of the papers.

“Just that you were a new parent and you needed a hand. Takes a village you know.” You chuckled a bit tensely and Levi felt some tension leave his shoulders. At least Hange had given him the liberty of explaining himself.

“She’s not wrong, I’ve taken custody of my distant cousin, I know nothing about child-rearing,” Levi admitted point blank and you weren’t sure if he was kidding or not. When his expression remained as cold as stone, you realized that he was in fact not.

“I see...I’ll admit that I don’t have much experience with...well stuff like this either.” You smiled at him in an attempt to diffuse the tension between the two of you. Levi’s eyes narrowed and he reclined back into the booth, eyes never leaving yours.

“We’ll just come up with it as we go.”

“So you’re set on me as your nanny?” You beamed and he scowled, although you were right. Levi knew from the moment he shook your hand that he would choose you.

“Yes, Mikasa arrives on Monday and I expect you to be there when she does.” Levi scoffed, lifting his teacup by the rim and taking a long sip.

“Be where exactly?” You were getting smart, something that simultaneously annoyed and intrigued him.

“My house, I’ll send you the address the day before,” Levi answered with a roll of his eyes.

“Sounds perfect.” You hummed, lifting your coffee cup to your own lips.

“What are my hours going to be?” You asked as you placed your cup back onto the tabletop.

“Mikasa goes to half days at preschool, so I’ll need you to drop her off and pick her up from that. She needs to be dropped off at eight am and picked up at noon.” Levi tapped his finger on the rim of his cup and you nodded.

“I can do that, so I’ll fix all three meals then?” You asked and Levi felt a tinge of guilt. He knew that he wasn’t completely prepared to be a parent, but he still felt ashamed for seeking help. Kenny had raised him to be independent. It had taken so much to reach out to Hange, and now he was relying on a strange young woman.

“Yes, that’s preferred. I don’t have any rules besides keeping the house spotless.” His finger was planted on the tabletop now to emphasize the importance of his only rule. You nodded in understanding.

“You can set the boundaries for Mikasa, I trust that you have enough experience in this area.” Levi continued and you tensed. Never had you ever had so much responsibility riding on a nanny position. Your employers set the rules and you enforced them, but now you were expected to be both parties. But when Levi slid a paper across the table your eyes widened. On the notepad was a range of wages that he was willing to pay. You struggled to contain your shock as you clutched the paper.

“T-This is way too much.” You squeaked as you pushed the paper back to Levi.

“Seems reasonable to me.” He shrugged and you felt your face flush.

“Well...it’s your money after all.” You reasoned as you grappled internally to regain your composure.

“But if at any time and for any reason you need to lower it that’s fine too.” You waved your hands in front of you and Levi’s brows pinched together.

“Don’t worry about it.” He assured you and set his empty cup aside.

“Was there anything else you wanted to cover?” You asked, sneaking a glance at your watch.

“That’s all from me, I’ll text you my address and get you set up to pick up and drop off with the school,” Levi said as he pulled his coat on over his shoulders. Your cup was still full so you remained seated as you watched him straighten the fabric of his jacket.

“Alright, see you Monday morning then.” You said as he marched towards the door, his posture rigid. As soon as he disappeared through the door, the doubt swirled in your chest. You had never worked this many hours and the added pressure of Mikasa coming from a traumatic past made you uneasier. But you weren’t one to shy away from a challenge, you pulled your phone out and began to dive headfirst into the internet. After about twenty minutes of scrolling through countless tabs and foster parent forums, you felt at least somewhat prepared.

You ended up ordering three more cups of coffee, by the time you were halfway through your third cup, your hands shook as you held your phone. The screen was beginning to put a strain on your eyes as you squinted at the black font. With a heavy sigh, you placed your phone screen down on the table and tossed your head back against the booth’s cushion. After a few deep breaths, you collected your things and made your way out into the chilly air, determined to continue gathering information and preparing yourself for the task at hand.

Levi did some research of his own that afternoon. Sitting in his desk chair, he clicked through tabs, a simple google search had shown him your Instagram. He had been relieved to find it public, your page seemed average, nothing too out of the ordinary. But he was disappointed to find it rather small, with not a lot of posts or followers. It seemed that you, like himself, were not too fond of posting every small movement that you made for the world to see. In fact, your most recent post was from almost a full year ago, right around spring break. The post was a compilation of photos you had taken on a biology trip that Hange had organized. He closed the tab and pulled up a new one, the official website for the daycare that Mikasa had been attending. He found the phone number and dialed it into his keypad on his phone. He needed to register you as one of Mikasa’s emergency contacts and as her primary source of transportation.

The process was easy and he was relieved to be able to check it off of his list so he could at least attempt and get some of his work done. He needed to savor these last few child-free days before Mikasa became a permanent and very prominent factor in his life.

As promised, Levi sent you a text with nothing but his address and the time he expected you there the next morning. Your sleep that night was fitful, tossing and turning well into the early hours. You only ended up sleeping a grand total of six hours before having to get up and get ready for your first day of work. You sifted through your closet in search of an appropriate outfit, as badly as you wanted to wear a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, you knew Levi would likely frown upon it.

So you ended up choosing a plush sweater and a pair of jeans. Pleased with your appearance, you then left your small apartment and made the twenty-minute drive out to the suburbs where Levi was located. The roads were icy the sky was dark with promises of more snow, by the time you had arrived a few fat flakes were already dwindling from the sky. You parked on the side of the road, careful to not block his mailbox, and trudged up the slick driveway and up to the front door. It only took one soft knock for him to pull the door open. He was as handsome as you remembered, his hair was damp from a shower and his hands were busy as he finished tying his tie. He stepped aside and walked back into his house as you kicked the snow off of your shoes.

The space was remarkably clean considering a single man occupied the space. Levi gestured vaguely with his head for you to follow him into the kitchen and you obliged. He pulled out a neon green piece of paper and handed it to you, Mikasa’s name was written in stark penmanship.

“That’s your tag to pick her up, don’t forget it.” He said as he shoved a set of keys into his back pocket.

“Is she here?” Your voice was hushed and your eyes strayed to the hallway which was dark.

“Not yet, the service worker should be here any minute now,” Levi said as he folded his collar down over his tie and finally turned to face you.

“Oh, alright. So what time are you usually off of work?” You asked, setting your purse on the island in the kitchen. Levi sighed and licked his lips thoughtfully.

“Depends...I normally stay late but technically my workday ends at 5:30 but I probably will be at least an hour later than that.” Levi said and you nodded along in understanding.

“That’s not a problem, do you have any idea of what time Mikasa goes to sleep at?” You asked, and judging by the way his shoulders tensed up, he did not.

“Not a clue, but I’ll ask the social worker.” He assured you and you nodded, allowing your eyes to scan over the kitchen. The marble countertops were so white and obviously well kept, you knew that they would give you grief, the oven and microwave looked fancy, as did the fridge. As Levi reached up for a cup from one of the deep navy cupboards, you noted that they were the kind that shut quietly. Your staring was interrupted by the shrill ring of the doorbell. Levi sat his cup aside and walked briskly back towards the front door.

“Good morning Mr. Ackerman, may we come in?” An unfamiliar voice could be heard, followed closely by the sound of two new sets of footsteps on the hardwood floors.

“Of course.” Levi’s voice was even lower and harder to make out as the newcomers shuffled in. They rounded the corner and your heart felt like it was beating out of your chest when your eyes landed on the small girl. She wore a white dress paired with a pink cardigan and a scarlet scarf. The older woman helped Mikasa out of her plush pink coat and draped it over her forearm.

“Who is this?” The woman asked, eyes slightly widened as they landed on you.

“This is (Y/n), my nanny,” Levi said vaguely and the woman nodded slowly before gently pushing Mikasa out from behind her legs.

“Honey, why don’t we go take a look at your new room?” The woman asked and the girl’s brows knitted together, but she let the social worker guide her down the hall and out of sight. Levi tailed behind them, you almost followed as well, but you feared overwhelming her. Levi hauled the small suitcase down the hall and you heard the soft chatter of the two adults. A few moments passed before they returned, the social worker shook Levi’s hand and knelt down to give Mikasa a tender hug.

“We’ll be in touch.” She promised as she showed herself out. Levi’s shoulders drooped once the woman left and he looked down at the small girl who stood near his side.

“Mikasa,” He cleared his throat and the small girl looked up at him, eyes swimming with tears and lip quivering. A rush of panic flooded his chest but you were quicker than he was.

“Mikasa, my name is (Y/n), we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” You had crossed the room to kneel before her with your hand outstretched invitingly. The girl gripped the edge of her dress and swayed it anxiously as she avoided your eyes.

“I know this is really scary and confusing, but we’re going to work through this together.” You assured her when she remained closed off. Levi watched with wide eyes as tears slid down her face and rolled off her chin. You leaned forward and swiped them away with your thumb and Mikasa whimpered unsurely.

“Tell you what, I was just about to make some breakfast. Have you eaten yet?” You asked, after a moment of contemplation, Mikasa shook her head no shyly.

“What would you like? I’ve been told that I make a mean waffle.” You smiled wryly and Mikasa’s lip quivered as it quirked up in an unsure smile.

“I wanna make cinnamon rolls.” She spoke softly and you nodded with wide eager eyes.

“Totally.” You agreed, still holding your hand out as you slowly stood. Mikasa accepted your outstretched, her small hand was easily enveloped in your own as you led her around the island.

“Hey Levi, how much time before you’ve got to leave?” You asked as you stopped to hoist Mikasa up onto the counter.

“About 30 minutes.” He said, trying to contain himself from scolding you for putting the child onto the counter.

“Want to help us?” You invited and Levi sighed, knowing it would be wrong to decline.

“I don’t have cinnamon rolls.” He said instead of answering the original question.

“Oh that’s not a problem. Do you have flour? Yeast, eggs?” You asked as you turned and began rummaging through the cabinets.

“Of course, I’m not an animal.” He scoffed and you chuckled as you pulled out a bag of flour.

“That’s all we need.” You sat the bag next to Mikasa who reached out and touched it experimentally. Next you pulled out the carton of eggs from the fridge, Mikasa opened the carton and gently held an egg. Levi could easily imagine her losing her grip and dropping the egg onto his freshly cleaned wood floors.

“Where’s your cinnamon?” You asked, back turned and arms outstretched as you held the cabinet open.

“Here.” Levi slid past you, opening the neighboring cabinet and held the spice out to you. With a smile you accepted it and added the container to the growing pile of ingredients.

“How long does this take?” Levi asked, glancing at his watch.

“Not 30 minutes.” You answered wryly as you handed Mikasa a wooden spoon, she accepted it happily. Her small hands wrapped around the handle and she placed the spoon against her cheek, basically hugging the utensil.

“What else do you need?” He asked as you perused his kitchen.

“Just yeast and sugar.” You answered as you crouched to look for a bowl.

“It’s over here.” He opened a cabinet near the one you were inspecting and pulled out a bag of sugar and a handful of yeast packets.

“Do you cook a lot?” You asked and he shrugged.

“Enough, I hate eating out.” He answered and you hummed in understanding.

Levi watched as you began making the dough and Mikasa leaned on your shoulder as you kneaded the dough. Her grey eyes widened when you motioned for her to join in. She poked the dough and you smiled as she splayed her small hands over the surface of the squishy dough.

Once again, all Levi could think about how dirty her hands were as she began kneading the dough as you had previously.

“That’s great! Now we can let it sit for a while before we roll them up!” You explained as you gathered the dough back up into the bowl and laid a kitchen towel over it.

“Want an apple while we wait?” You asked and Mikasa nodded enthusiastically as you turned to grab the fruit. Levi looked at his watch once more, he still had about 10 minutes before he had to leave. But he felt the pressure and reality of his newfound responsibility weighing heavy on his chest. So he went to get his shoes and retreat like the coward he was.

“Leaving?” You asked as he pulled his shoes on, you had already cut the apple and Mikasa was watching with curious eyes as she crunched on a slice.

“Yeah, I’ll be back before 8.” He promised and you nodded.

“See you then.” You called after him as he slipped out of the garage door, throwing up a careless wave of acknowledgment as he went. You then turned back to Mikasa and sighed exasperatedly and she giggled as you returned to making her breakfast. This was going to be a long day.

#levi snk #levi attack on titan #levi x fem!reader #levi x nanny!reader #levi x reader insert #levi x reader #levi akerman #levi ackerman x reader #levi x y/n #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman x you #hange zoe #aot fanfiction #aot fandom #attack on titan mikasa #mikasa ackerman #nanny au #modern au

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queenkrissy11-fandomaccount · 3 years

Text

Long Gone - Bucky Barnes x Reader

After weeks of a strained relationship, one fight and a surprise is enough for Y/N to run away and not look back.

By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be long gone. Don’t look for me, you won’t find anything.

You suck in a deep breath and tuck the note into the door. No turning back now.

Sure, you and Buck had your ups and downs but last night was different.

You were dealing with a depressive episode when he came home to the compound. You tried not to bother him with your sour feelings and it worked. He didn’t notice, though you weren’t sure how he could have when he didn’t wander in until well past midnight and smelt like cheap rum.

Then he had the nerve to try and crawl into your bed without a word.

“Are you joking?” You finally muttered.

“What?”

“Are you that drunk or just that clueless?” You demanded. “You left a shitty note about going to check out a terrorist threat and then ignored my texts all day. And then followed it with a trip to the bar before letting you fiancée know you’re alive? I’ve been worried sick for hours!”

He stopped pulling on the covers and rolled his eyes, “Sorry I didn't text you back, doll. I was busy saving the world. And who cares if I went for a drink?”

You knew it sounded like an over reaction but it went much deeper than that. You’d been having panic attacks left and right the past weeks over his job and he knew that. He had sat on the floor with you in his arms and assured you he’d check in when possible. Told you how he’d call you after every fight to tell you he was okay. You came to find there was no substance behind his words. They were just sweet nothings to calm you down.

“Why would Steve be returning my calls before you? I’m not worried about a stupid night at the bar! I feel like I’m losing you and you don’t care!”

A part of you knew you were looking to start a fight, to feel something from him other than indifference and annoyance. It had been a couple weeks since he’d shown any sign of giving a shit about you. You needed to know if there was anything left before you told him the latest news. You didn’t want Bucky if it was just for the baby. Sure, you knew he would step up but you didn’t know if that was for the best. An avenger for a father and parents that didn’t want to be together? You were pretty sure the baby inside you would be better off raised by a single mother in the middle of nowhere, far from the long list of enemies Bucky had.

He glared for a long second before snatching a pillow, “I’m not dealing with this tonight. I’ll be on the couch if that overbearing urge to check up on me gets to strong.” He slammed the door behind him and you broke into sobs.

You allowed yourself five minutes to be upset before wiping your tears and setting off to pack a bag. You didn’t grab much, only a weeks worth of clothes, a gun, and the running away back pack Tony had made for you. You tucked the duffel and the back pack underneath the bed.

You were faking it when Buck crept in the next morning to get ready for the job of the day. He hesitated in front of you and for a moment you were ready to throw your plans out the door. He shook his head and moved on and your resolve grew. You were leaving and it would be for the best.

Once he was gone you scribbled out the note and fiddled with the engagement ring on your finger. You knew you should leave it but you couldn’t bring yourself to take it off. You still loved him even if he didn’t love you. It wouldn’t hurt to bring one part of him with you. You glanced at your still small stomach, well, two.

Pepper didn’t bat an eye at your request to borrow a car. You snagged the keys to one of the nondescript SUVs and took off. About a mile down the road you pulled over and ripped out the tracking software on the car. You threw it in the dumpster behind a 7-11 along with your cell phone.

You drove, only stopping for gas, until you hit a small town in Virginia. You knew the town well but no one would know you. Every summer from the ages of 5 to 15 was enough to make an impact on you but not the town. You pulled into the drive of your grandmother’s old house. You had inherited the place when she died a couple years ago but due to working with the Avengers you didn’t have a need for it. The key slipped right into the deadbolt. The place looked just how you remembered it, only with more dust. The furniture was still there but you found what was all. The small knick knacks and mementoes were gone, likely claimed by other family members after her passing.

The old clock on the wall said it was 5. Plenty of time to get started on cleaning the place up.

It was a long and hard pregnancy. The super soldier serum running through your son added a couple complications. He grew fast and was much stronger than he should be. He did a number on your body from the inside but it was all worth it when you held him in your arms. You cursed your luck when he came out with a head full of dark hair and winter blue eyes.

You found work at a diner, making a living in tips. The great thing about tips is they tend to be paid in cash and it’s hard to trace cash. You were careful. No one was going to find you or your son. Andrew became the light of your life

Life was peaceful, a bit repetitive but safe. The biggest threat was your neighbor Travis. You would take a borderline stalker over Nazis any day.

“You have got to be kidding me,” You mutter to yourself when Travis saunters into the diner. He was your typical tool. Peaked in high school playing football. Can’t handle rejection. Full of himself.

“Good afternoon, table for one?” You put on a sweet smile.

“Just me, babygirl.” A chill runs down your spine but you shake it off and lead him to an empty booth.

“I’ll give you a minute to decide what you want but can I get you a drink?” You hand over the laminated menu.

“I already know exactly what I want and I think you do too.” He gives you a smirk and you have to resist the urge to jam your pen into his eye.

“Bacon cheeseburger?” You ask innocently.

He laughs it off but hands you his menu so you turn to put his order into the kitchen. You can feel his eyes on you as he walks away.

The day drags on and Travis sticks around. First for an order of fries. Then a shake. By the time that’s gone it’s late enough for a couple beers. He finally pays his tab and leaves ten minutes before closing. You’re relieved until you notice his Honda still in the parking lot when you leave.

You pat the holster in the waistband of your pants before making your way to the SUV in the back of the parking lot. The silver car tails you and it takes four right turns before you could go to pick up Andrew from his sitter.

Travis was back home when you finally pulled in. You double checked that the door was locked behind you before you went upstairs with Andy. He toddled around your room while you got ready for bed. Tonight you didn’t feel like fighting him on sleeping in the crib so you tucked him in you arms in your own bed.

Around two in the morning you woke up to the sound of glass shattering. You jumped out of bed with Andrew in your arms and grabbed the gun next to your bed.

Creeping down the stair you hear someone in the kitchen. You’re only ten feet from the front door. You take a deep breath, set Andrew at your feet, and bring the gun up. You were trained by Avengers. You wouldn’t miss the shot as long as you didn’t hesitate. You wait for the figure to come into view and pull the trigger. The deafening bang goes off and he hits the ground. You snatch up Andrew and run for the door. Travis is next to you before you can get in your car.

“What’s going on? I heard a gun?” He’s half naked and more alert than he was when he left the diner.

You’re scrambling for your keys when your front door flies off the hinges and the man you just shot steps out.

“This isn’t happening! How is it still following me?” You’re breaths are struggling to come and go. You push Andrew into Travis’ arms and aim at the man again. It doesn’t seem to do any damage. It just pisses him off. You take another shot and get the same result. You’re about to try again when a blur of a figure tackles the man. The moonlight catches on one of his arms and you’re frozen in place.

You grab the toddler and turn to run but Travis is a little too ready to play hero. He picks you up bridal style and runs.

He doesn’t make it fifty feet before a blond wall of muscle stops him. “Y/N?” Steve mutters after pulling you out of his arms. “What, what are you doing here?” Andrew begins crying louder and clinging to you. Steve finally looks down and has to take a step back.

“I can explain,” You start. Suddenly, you’re pushed to the pavement and Travis is throwing a punch at Captain America. Steve’s head turns with the force but his body stays planted. You kick yourself at the satisfaction you feel when Steve shoves Travis back. He crouches down in front of you and offers a hand.

“Let’s try that explanation now.”

You hear Bucky scoff behind him, “This will be good.” He freezes in his tracks when he takes in the site. You’re wearing a silk slip on the ground clutching a child that can’t be much more than a year old.

He stares for a long moment before shaking himself out of it and shrugging off his jacket. He wraps it around your shoulders before helping you to your feet.

You’re caught off guard by the rush of emotions when you look at him and hot tears well in your eyes, “I am so sorry Buck.”

He tries to be mad but can’t stop himself from pulling you into his arms. He buries his face in the crook of your neck, relishing in the feeling of you in his arms again. Andrew reaches his arms up and around your neck protectively, finally catching Bucky’s attention.

He steps back suddenly, “Who’s this?”

You swallow hard, knowing the storm that’s coming. “This is your son. Andrew James Barnes.”

“My what?” He looks at you in disbelief then back to Andrew.

“Let’s go inside?” You suggest.

Bucky stops inside the doorway and admires the wall of pictures. The majority of them Andrew at every stage so far. You were in a few with him but there was only a handful of just you. They’re different stages of your pregnancy. He swallows hard when he takes in the sight of you in the third month. That’s when the toll started being taken. He broke the first rib kicking right around that time. He was delivered at six months, the serum making him grow much faster. As the pictures got closer to delivery you looked more and more like a corpse. Bucky hated that he wasn’t there for you for any of it, that he didn’t even know you were dealing with it.

“He definitely takes after you. The serum is in his DNA.” You say quietly.

“Why didn’t you tell me? How could you just leave and take my child with you?” You can hear the emotion behind each of his words.

“You didn’t want to be with me and I wasn’t going to make you feel obligated to.” You knew it sounded pathetic, “And you have enough enemies to worry about. I didn’t want that for our son.”

“Our son,” He repeats quietly. “How is he so big? You’ve only been gone for a year.”

You rub and hand over his cropped hair, “His development is a lot faster than a normal childs. He’s only about seven months old but he compares to children almost twice that, but even then he’s much stronger.”

“Can I hold him?” He seems unsure of himself but you happily hand him over.

Bucky extends his fingers to Andrew in his lap. Andy curiously takes two in his small hands and you flinch, knowing how tight his grip can get. Bucky watches him, unfazed by the ridiculous strength. He holds Andrew close to him for a few minutes before Andrew tries to climb back to you.

“You’re both coming back to the compound.” Bucky stands up.

“Like hell we are! This is our home. This is where we’re safe. And I won’t let you feel obligated to take me back because we have a baby.”

He gives you a serious look, “Bullshit. That ring on your finger says you’re still mine. And in what world is this safer than the compound? An alien broke in tonight!”

Before you knew it you were in the quinjet headed back to the base. Bucky never let you out of his sight. On the bright side, the ride provided plenty of time for apologies. Neither of you were happy with the others choices but you could understand them and move past them.

#bucky #Bucky Barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky x reader #bucky x single mom #bucky one shot #bucky imagine #bucky fanfic #bucky angst #bucky fluff

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sobdasha · 3 years

Text

been thinking about the really weird dynamics of the Honda family

and the ways they parallel with the Souma family.

Tohru's relationship with Grandpa Honda has always been really inscrutable to me. It seems like Kyouko liked him quite a lot, and the feeling was mutual, so their relationship ought to be close, right? But despite relying on Grandpa around the time of Katsuya's funeral, I get the impression that Kyouko and Grandpa aren't very close after that? He takes Tohru in after Kyouko's funeral, but doesn't provide a place for her to stay during the renovations, and they don't seem to keep in touch.

I figured this was for the convenience of the plot. If Tohru was close with her grandpa, then she wouldn't have no family, no one left, after her mom died. If Tohru had somewhere else to go, it wouldn't be so vital that she be allowed to keep living in the Souma house.

I've been thinking about Shiki, though, and about Akito and Shigure as parents within the Souma estate, and I'm wondering now if this wasn't actually a parallel playing out in brilliant Takaya fashion.

Starting with a recap, because a summary of info is always useful to me:

Kyouko grows up in a family that is very much about Keeping Up Appearances and Knowing Your Place. Her dad is verbally and emotionally abusive and isn't above slapping people either. Her mother isn't affectionate and doesn't protect her, probably because she's primarily concerned with protecting herself from the fallout when anything sets off her abusive husband. Kyouko has never had her emotional needs met and she's never been socialized to see others as real people with real feelings. Before even 7th grade she's become part of the gang scene in a cry for help and attention, and because these are the only people she can kind of understand. Her father has told her she's kicked out of the house at least once prior before he finally makes good on it and disinherits her at the end of 9th grade.

Katsuya and his younger sister grow up in a family that is also very much about Traditional Values and Keeping Up Appearances. Grandpa Honda is a teacher, and he puts a big emphasis on Proper Manners (and probably also other things like Good Grades, Fitting In, and Knowing Your Place). He's stern and pressures Katsuya to become a teacher as well. We don't know what Katsuya's mother was like, but I'm assuming she was also not particularly affectionate. It's only after her illness and passing, probably when Katsuya is somewhere around 20, that Grandpa Honda reevaluates his life and what's most important to him.

From a young age, Katsuya flew under the radar by heavily masking--ie, he made a cardboard cutout of what society expected him to be, so Polite, Quiet, Respectable, Studying To Become A Teacher, while underneath it all being filled with apathy, resentment, and loneliness. His moral compass is deeply skewed--see his teasing of people, his attitude of looking down on people, his bragging admittance to using his father's influence to get away with things, his creepy expressions that are identical to those of The Root Of All Evil (ie, Shigure). He has no real interpersonal relationships--family, friend, or romantic. He's a 23 year old TA who is fixated on and marries a 15 year old girl because she's the first person he ever recognized as human--he saw her in the middle of a violent meltdown and it was the first time he was ever really struck by the realization that someone else might feel the same feelings he does.

(Which, in addition to the dubious legality and widely-regarded ickiness, is just downright pathetic. I'm sorry, but it's true. Fruits Basket itself backs me up.)

The first parallel that jumps out at me is between the stories of Kyouko and Katsuya, and Ren and Akira:

Ren is an Outsider. We don't know what her family life was before joining the Souma clan, but based on everything about her I feel it's safe to assume it was also abusive. A large percentage of the Souma family is against the marriage, but Akira is adamant because Ren is the first person he's ever connected with. Similarly, the Honda family (save Grandpa) disapproves of Kyouko and she remains forever an outsider to them.

In Kyouko's case, Katsuya is able to ditch his family and start fresh with Kyouko. Ren, on the other hand, has to live within the toxic Souma family to be with Akira. Both husbands die, leaving a grieving widow and child behind. Kyouko treasures her daughter and finds a new reason to live in Tohru, away from the rest of the Honda family; Ren, already jealous of Akito for getting in the way of her relationship with her husband (and not dealing well with being pulled even further into the Souma family bullshit with all this curse stuff), and trapped within the toxic Souma family with no one on her side, chooses to perpetuate the cycle of abuse.

The thing I've been thinking about most is the parallels between Tohru and the Honda family and Shiki and the Souma family:

As I said before, Tohru's relationship with Grandpa Honda is very strange. It's not just me--Yuki and Kyou make comments to this effect also, I'm pretty sure. But I think I can finally make sense of it now, if I think of it in light of Shiki.

I think there are a couple chapters of FBA out there that I haven't read (the one with Akito, and were there other chapters beyond volume 3?), but Mutsuki implies--and I think we should take this at face value--that Akito and Shigure hope that Shiki will leave the Souma family. They are not kicking their child out. They want this as loving parents, who have done their best to raise their child in a good home in the midst of a very toxic environment. I like to think they will do a good job of explaining this to Shiki, explicitly and clearly. Akito could have walked away from the Souma family, but she chose to stay because she had a hand in perpetuating the toxicity and generational abuse in the Souma family and she is taking responsibility for trying to end the cycle. She has finally stepped up as the head of the family. She could have walked away, but she didn't.

Shiki had no hand in making the Souma family what it is. Shiki is not obligated in any way to put up with that bullshit. Shiki can and should walk away from that toxic environment, go somewhere new, and be happy. He and his parents and all his non-toxic relatives can visit and call each other and still maintain relationships, but in healthier places, as everyone learned to do at the end of Fruits Basket.

This, I believe, is what Grandpa is also doing for Tohru. He's just less explicit and messes it up at first.

I don't know exactly why we don't see more of Grandpa's relationship with Kyouko and Tohru after Katsuya's death. Is it because Tohru, as the narrator, is prioritizing Only Me And My Mom stories? Is it because Kyouko didn't want to be a burden (is that part of where Tohru absorbed it)? Is it because Kyouko couldn't maintain a good relationship with Grandpa with the Honda Family Toxicity in the background?

The Honda family toxicity shows up in full force again when Kyouko dies. Tohru is a riceball that doesn't belong in the Honda family fruits basket. No one, save Grandpa, will take her in.

And then he invites his daughter's family, which he knows is toxic and will abuse Tohru, in to live with the two of them.

I don't know who came up with the idea--if it's Grandpa, that's a bit cold, as he should be caring for Tohru. If it's his daughter ("Dad, you're getting older, you should be living with us so we can take care of you") that does make sense, both as a reasonable social expectation (which dad raised her to adhere to) and as a power move (the Outsider shouldn't be getting so cozy with dad, and dad's inheritance, without supervision). I'm leaning towards the daughter, as I don't think the family combining was intended to get Tohru to leave. I think the remodel, though, was something Grandpa Honda saw as a good opportunity to convince Tohru to leave the Hondas.

I think "I'm having the house remodeled and I'm staying with my daughter, but you weren't invited, I could pull my weight or maybe you could find your own accommodations with a friend?" was intended to give Tohru permission to not feel obligated to the Honda family. I think it was intended to let Tohru find someplace she would actually be happy, a found family living situation where she could flourish. I think Granpda sincerely thought Tohru would move in with Hanajima, instead of into a tent, and realize that she was so much happier and fulfilled there that she never came back to the toxic Honda family and had no regrets.

Grandpa's judgment was a little iffy there but he tried.

I'm realizing that, if everyone moved into Grandpa's house because it was bigger, and it's being remodeled specifically for that purpose...the fact that Tohru is sharing a room with her cousin is very significant. Grandpa was so confident, there is no place for Tohru in that house. Tohru was never supposed to come back after the remodel.

(I don't know that much about houses so it's possible that they just didn't have room; depending on whether that's the uncle or the son, you've got to have 4 or 5 separate bedrooms, which I guess could be a lot. But this is a manga, they aren't strictly constrained to realism, and Takaya makes every damn detail count.)

Tohru isn't supposed to come back after the remodel, but she does. She does, and the family is toxic to her, and Grandpa tells her more overtly that she is not obligated to live here out of familial loyalty. If there's somewhere else Tohru is happier, even if it's a really unconventional living situation, she should feel welcome to choose that instead.

Grandpa's a parallel to Akito here. He's been becoming aware, since his wife died, that his priorities were all wrong. That he raised his children wrong. That Katsuya appeared to have no real emotions and had never connected with anyone outside of Kyouko and their daughter. (Maybe he learned to make work friends?? But I doubt it.) That his daughter is judgmental and cares more about the appearance of being proper than about not being rude.

Don't think poorly of him, Grandpa says. Deep down, they're just evil people. But Grandpa recognizes that he had a hand in creating those evil people. And instead of being like Machi's mom, who goes "well maybe I fucked up" and then throws her out of the family, Grandpa takes responsibility for the family he made. He recognizes that he raised his kids in a way that caused them to be shallow and rude and to think of people as means to an end, and he also recognizes that it would be shitty to reject his kids for turning out exactly as he raised them. He has to live with them (and his choices), he says, but Tohru doesn't.

Looking at it like that, I respect Grandpa Honda more. He seemed a bit wishy-washy before--useful for some plot and character development points, but wishy-washy all the same. But it's a tough decision, and having to prioritize people is always shitty. Grandpa not rejecting his daughter means sacrificing a stable home for Tohru. Akito staying as the head of the Souma family so she can ensure the freedom of the former Zodiac means that her child will be subjected to the same generational abuse, no matter how loving and supportive of a home life she and Shigure provide.

But they're both trying to do a right thing in a crappy situation.

And Tohru, like so many of the former Zodiac, does find happiness and fulfillment in the new family she's able to make for herself. She learns to make her world bigger, and she learns that leaving doesn't have to be the same as cutting ties. And so I'm very optimistic that Shiki will find the same.

#sobdasha fic adjacent #fruits basket #fruits basket another

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bbyreigns · 3 years

Text

Here For You.

jax teller x black!reader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of sex

My alarm rang loudly and I groaned at the idea of waking up and having such a long day ahead of me. It was a sunny day and the sunlight peeked through my blinds next to me. Reaching over, I turned my alarm off and sat up, stretching a bit. Looking to one side of the bed, I realized that once again, I was alone. It's been almost a year since my husband left me and our 1 year old daughter. I hadn't been the same since. I worked my ass off day and night to provide for my child. And I spent as much time with her as I could. I knew my husband bailing on me wasn't going to keep me from being a great mother. Rolling over to my nightstand, I saw my baby sleeping fast asleep on the monitor.

Now's the time to take a shower while I can. I thought, climbing out of bed. Walking into my bathroom, I turned the shower knob on to hot, seeing the water flow steadily. Walking over to the mirror, I looked at myself, running my hands over my face in exhaustion. As I waited for the water to heat up, I grabbed my small speaker and turned my phone onto my favorite playlist.

Allowing the water to touch my fingertips, I realized the shower was now hot enough and I stepped in. As I washed my body and let the warm water flow over my face, I thought about getting through yet another day. Quickly finishing up, I turned the water off and grabbed my towel, making my way back into my bedroom. Once I was dressed and lotioned and my teeth were brushed, I walked down the hall to my daughter's bedroom. Opening the door, my daughter smiled at me, her pacifier still in her mouth as she sat in her crib.

"Good morning, baby," I cooed, as she reached her arms up for me to pick her up. I scooped her up, kissing her soft cheek. "Let's get dressed." I opened her closet, moving her closer to her clothes.

"What would you like to wear today, munchkin?" I said, pulling a few dresses out of her closet. I let her reach out and choose one. Her little hand landed on a green dress with pink flowers. "Great choice, honey."

After I changed her diaper and got her out of her PJs and dressed, we headed out of the house. I buckled her into her car seat and we were on our way. My mom normally takes her while I work. About five minutes into the ride, my low pressure light came on and I come feel my car leaning to one side.

"Shit," I whispered, realizing I have a flat. "Looks like we're going to be late princess."

I drove to the closest mechanic, Teller-Morrow, putting my car in park. I took my daughter out of her car seat, grabbed her diaper bag from the trunk and sat her on my hip. As I walked to the door, a few men came out. One was blond, crystal blue eyes, walked with a lean. Handsome. I thought. The other was blond too and seemed nervous and jittery. Looking at their jackets, I could tell they were on their way somewhere. I knew all about the Sons of Anarchy, but I also knew that what they do is what's necessary and best for Charming.

"Hi, um I'm pretty sure I have a flat," I said, pointing to my slanted Honda Civic.

"Looks like you've got more than that," the handsome one said.

"Jesus, is it going to take a long time?" I asked.

"You're going to have to leave it here for at least a day," he replied. I sighed before texting my supervisor that I wouldn't be in today. "I can take you and the little princess home." He smiled, poking my daughter's hand. She grinned shyly and put her head on my shoulder. I nodded and said thank you and leaned against my car.

"I'm Jax, by the way," he stated.

"Y/N. Nice to meet you," I replied with a smile. He told me he had a few things to tie up before he took me home so I waited by my car until he was finished. As I waited, I played with my daughter, throwing her up a little and catching her. She giggled, clutching me every time she came back down.

"Can you give Mommy a kiss?" I cooed, holding her high again. As I brought her back down to eye level, she hummed, making that mmm sound with her lips.

"Mmwah," I said with her to meet her in the middle. "Ooohhh thank you baby. You are so sweet."

Little did I know, Jax had been watching some of our interaction.

Second Person POV Jax had gone to let the other guys know where he was going. When he returned, he saw you making faces at your daughter as she giggled and throwing her in the air.

"Who's the hot mom?" Opie asked and tapped him on the shoulder. Looking at you, Jax couldn't help but be attracted.

"Not sure yet. She is hot though, right?" Jax replied.

"For sure. You hittin' that?" Opie leaned over to ask.

"Nah, don't know her all that well," Jax stated, glancing at Ope.

"Hm. Shit, if you don't, I will," Ope chuckled. Jax smiled and nodded, making his way back to you.

Your POV "Hey, you ready?" Jax asked. I nodded, grabbing my daughter's car seat out of my car. He walked me over to his truck and I buckled my daughter into her seat, before going to the passenger's side. Jax opened the door for me and I thanked him. As he drove, I told him my address and started to make small conversation.

"I really appreciate you doing this," I said with a smile.

"It's no problem. Have you lived in Charming a long time?" He questioned.

"Almost two years. It's a nice town. Quiet. Crime kept at bay for the most part," I replied, glancing out of the window.

"Yeah, Charming PD does a good job of that," he stated with hesitation. I chuckled at his statement. I knew Charming PD weren't the ones keeping the crime low. "What?"

"We both know it's not the cops handling the crime here. It's got everything to do with that jacket you have on," I said, looking at him.

He nodded with a smile, saying "You think you know everything, huh?".

I leaned over, putting my lips next to his ear. "Not everything, but I know enough about you, Jax Teller." We pulled up to my house and I glanced at my daughter who was fast asleep.

"Pretty big house for just the two of you," Jax said.

"Yeah, um I'm divorced. So it's just me and her now," I explained. He nodded and apologized. I grabbed my daughter from her car seat and walked her to the front door, unlocking it and turning to Jax. "Come in. I'm just gonna put her down in her room."

I slowly walked her up to her room, giving her a kiss on the forehead, before shutting her door and grabbing the baby monitor on the way out. Jax stood by the front door waiting for me.

"Thanks again for the ride home. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Something to drink?" I offered, leading him into the kitchen.

"No thanks I'm alright. If you don't mind me asking, why'd you get divorced?" He inquired.

"Um it's complicated. Everything was perfect l, especially when I found out I was pregnant. We'd been trying for a baby for a really long time. Rob was over the moon when we found out were having a girl. But I'm a laywer and I was working a big case. I wasn't home much right before we found out and in the beginning of my pregnancy. He thought I was cheating on him. Started being really aggressive and it only amplified when I gave birth," I started getting choked up as I spoke. "He didn't think she looked like him. Said that maybe I was sleeping around. Although really I was busting my ass on the biggest case in my career and about to bring in much more money than I'd ever had."

Jax put his arm around me, pulling my head to his chest. "Anyway, he said he refused to take care of another man's baby. So he left us and left me with a 4 month old newborn baby," I cried softly. Looking up at Jax, I felt bad for crying. "Sorry, I just get a little emotional. I don't miss him or anything. I just wanted my little girl to have a father."

"It's okay. Everything is going to be fine. You're a great mother and you're beautiful, darlin'. Any one would be lucky to have you," he glanced down at me, making eye contact. I stared into his icy blue eyes, my eyes switching from his eyes back to his lips over and over again. Lightly grabbing the back of my neck, he brought my lips to his, kissing me softly. I slightly pulled away and Jax wiped my tears away with his thumb, before connecting our lips again. We made out, slowly as our lips melted together.

It had been a long time since I had sex and to be completely honest, I felt really needy. But for some reason, I trusted Jax. With his hand in mine, I led him to my bedroom, kicking my shoes off at the door. He assisted me in removing my pants and blazer, and lightly pushed me into the bed. The protective mother in me made me take a quick glance at the baby monitor, seeing my daughter still fast asleep. Jax kissed me again, beginning to kiss down my jawline and neck. He was extremely gentle with me, asking me if what he was doing was okay. Jax paid extra attention to making me feel good and that I finished. Multiple times. He made sure he didn't hurt me and I was grateful for that. I woke up two hours later with my head in Jax's chest. He was looking at me, kissing my forehead when I woke.

"Hey," he said softly, kissing my lips. But for some reason, I was in pure panic. Looking at the baby monitor, I saw my daughter awake but playing with the rattles in her crib. I grabbed the sheet, wrapping it around my body quickly. "Everything alright?"

"I promise I don't normally do this. I'm sorry. I think you should go," I responded. I just had sex with someone I met today. I'm so not the hook up type. "If you're looking for a fuck buddy, I promise I'm not that."He looked at me confused, grabbing my arm and pulling me down to him.

"That's not my intention, beautiful. I like you. I'd like to get to know you better," he said, running his fingers down my back.

"Pretty sure we're past the getting to know each other part. Again, I think you should go, Jax," I said, trying to get up.

"Alright," he responded, starting to get dressed. I washed my face in the bathroom, trying not to think about what I'd done. When he finished dressing, he walked behind me, placing his hands around my waist. He used his hand to gently free my neck as he placed light kisses on it, getting closer to my ear with each press of his lips. "But next time you’re lookin’ for some fun and preferably, wanna go out sometime, you know where to find me."

I looked at him in the mirror as he smiled at me, biting his lip. Damn, that Teller charm. He left my bedroom on that note and I heard the front door close behind him. I sighed, pondering why I was so into this man I'd only met five hours ago. I put my robe on and checked the baby monitor once again, seeing her still playing. A little piece of green paper was next to it, with a number and a name on it. I rolled my eyes, thinking of that handsome biker who gave me butterflies. Making my way to my daughter's room, I picked her up, giving her a kiss on the forehead. But that Jax Teller never left my mind and I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

#soa #soa imagine #jax teller #jax teller x reader #jax teller x black reader #jax teller x black!reader #sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy imagine #jax teller imagine #sons of anarchy x reader #black!reader

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ratsoh-writes · 3 years

Note

Boys reaction upon finally seeing an actual whale or dolphin?:3

Alright, fun fact: the majority of the monsters that were stuck behind the barrier were born and raised there. So these boys had never seen the ocean, skyscrapers, (non-monster) planes, and certain animals like elephants, whales and such.

It blew a lot of monsters minds the first thing they visited a zoo, or any of the world wonders.

So how about some random “firsts” for the main guys instead?

Sans: *first time seeing the planet Mars* even before the surface, sans had always been interested in astronomy. He blames it on the fifth grade text book he found in the dump as a child. Seeing the night sky after getting to the surface was amazing of course, but then frisk took him up to a vantage point with a proper telescope. Sans cried that night. It’s his and frisk’s secret

Papyrus: *first time meeting a dolphin*. After a year or so on the surface, a few places would sell tickets to monsters including this one aquarium. Of course papyrus immediately wanted to go and was entranced by the dolphin show. And even though he wasn’t in the splash zone, he still got nailed. He wasn’t the least bit mad

Star: *first time riding a horse*. Due to his cute looks and charismatic personality, Star had an easier time getting a job than most monsters. He was actually recommended to the police program by a new friend after working as a janitor at the station for a few months. In training, one thing he had to learn was to ride a horse. Especially since they’re used for SAR. He was so nervous, and kept spooking the poor things with his loud voice. Now it’s habit for Star to speak in a “whisper” whenever a horse is near

Honey: *first time speaking Spanish* most of his languages he picked up on the surface, but Spanish was one that honey was near fluent in underground. His undyne had found several old drama vhs tapes but they were in Spanish. Wanting to know what the actors were saying is what got honey into translating. He was picking up lunch for his brother when this little old Mexican lady came up to him and asked where the food goes when he eats it, in Spanish of course. Before her daughter could translate and apologize, honey replied back not realizing he was speaking the same language. The grandma was so excited to meet a monster who knew Spanish that she chatted his ear off for near and hour

Red: *first time driving a truck*. Red has always liked cars. He collected old car magizines from the dump. And he taught himself to drive illegally way before monsters could get licenses on the surface lol. He had been practicing on this junky old Honda Civic before. But after monsters could legally drive, the first thing he tested at a dealership was a huge pickup. After that red was a changed man. He didn’t buy the car, but he vowed that any car he owned he would find a way to make drive like the truck. And thus started his love for car repair

Edge: *first time in a restaurant*. After monsters were let out of the mountains, groups of them would be assigned a human guide to help integrate them. Edge’s guide was a huge foodie. The first place he took edge too was The Macaroni Factory because edge let slip that he liked lasagna. After tasting actually good food for the first time, edge was a changed man. It also helped that red made him take human cooking classes

Mal: *first time having an apartment*. Underground, mal and cash lived in an alleyway underneath a tent made from discarded fence and a tarp. Sure they sometimes had an actual room, but it never lasted any longer than a week or two at most. Between their jobs and cash’s addiction, they barely made enough to eat regularly. And the sad bit is that they were doing better than most monsters. A scholarship from the surface coupled with two back to back jobs and his brother in rehab made it possible for mal to move out and get his own place. He went a little crazy with the luxury and decorated it in any way he could without breaking the lease or his bank.

Cash: *first time having a pepper*. Peppers weren’t really a thing in swapfell. With the shortages, any food that wasn’t a basic staple or some mass produced sugar infused abomination made by napstaton was too expensive for the common people. Plus during rehab, a side effect of withdrawal was having his appetite and sense of taste basically plummet. But there was Friday’s where the institution would bring in Italian provided by a local place. And they had these really spicy pizza pies. It was the only food cash got seconds of since it was so new to him, and he developed a taste for the burn

Oak: *first time meeting a chicken*. Eggs underground were provided by the pigeons that flew in and got caught. After the famine, eggs were a thing of the past. The horrortale monsters were lucky when they resurfaced. Their humans immediately were empathetic to their plight and had volunteers coming in droves. One farmer lady brought chickens with her to keep the monsters company and to have fresh eggs on sight. And this is how oak found out about his new animal magnetism. The chickens would not leave him alone

Willow: *first time holding a human baby* the human who freed them, Aliza, was a teenager. And the frisk who abandoned the monsters was eight at the time. Way after the monsters surfaced, when the horror brothers were moving into the neighborhood, a couple of the families were helping them unpack. One mother had a box cutter in her back pocket but didn’t want to put down her sleeping kid to reach it. So she just casually handed it to willow for a second. He was too stunned by this mom just handing over the baby to some 8 foot nightmare fuel to refuse.

#undertale imagines #undertale headcanons #undertale #underswap #underfell #swapfell #horrortale #I got really into this one

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autumnleaves1991-blog · 3 years

Note

In which you see them cry for the first time: Javi, Marcus Moreno, or Frankie?

A/N: Okay, anon, this turned into a little bit more than a headcanon. I hope you like it. I chose Marcus Moreno for this one. Thank you for reading, reblogging, commenting, and liking.

Pairing: Marcus Moreno x Reader

Warnings: Alien invasion, spoilers for the movie We Can Be Heroes, and just fluff honestly.

My Masterlist

We found love in a Diner

The wood beneath your fingertips scratched as you dug them into the table, your knuckles turning pale with the effort used. Before you at the diner, the TV showed the devastation of the nation’s heroes, the Heroics, as they fought and failed to bring down an alien invasion. And in the thick of it, attached to a hovering type fan, was Marcus Moreno. Gone was the awkward dad who came in with his daughter three days a week for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. He no longer wore the t-shirt that hugged his skin and was soft to the touch or the glasses that made your heart quicken. Instead, he wore all black with a tactical vest and two katanas sheathed.

You stifle your scream as he drops from the sky and lands in a roll against an overturned car. Your manager Elaine, placing a tender hand on your shoulder, both of you watching in horror. He speaks into his watch, most likely calling Missy. At the same time, he unsheaths the katanas and jumps headfirst into the barrage of aliens.

He’s sucked in, and in an instant, he’s gone. Dead or alive, you have no idea, and your brain kickstarts into overtime. You run into the back room and grab your phone, pulling up the number for both Marcus and Missy.

Over the past year, since they’d been coming to the diner, you’ve become close to the duo. Even seeing them outside of work for dinner or a movie as friends. Missy had taken a liking to you and would sometimes spend a few hours at the library or your house reading or talking about life. Marcus goes straight to voicemail, and you want to cry. “Marcus, if you get this, please, please call me back. I saw what happened. I need to know you’re alive,” you beg before hanging up and calling Missy.

“Hello?” you can hear the echo of sniffles and your heart clenches.

“Missy? Honey, it’s me, are you okay? Are you safe?”

“They, they took him!” she cries, and you bite down hard on your lip as the unshed tears pool in your eyes.

“I know, honey, I know. Are you safe?” you repeat, and she says yes, telling you she’s at HQ with the other Heroic children. “Okay, I need you to stay there; we will figure something out, okay? We are going to get your dad back, okay?” She agrees and hangs up.

You grab your purse and coat and throw it over your uniform before running out, throwing apologies out to the rest of the staff. You turn on your old honda civic and rush to the heroics headquarters. When you arrive, you’re unsurprised to find a massive crowd outside demanding answers, and you fight to try to get in when you notice a tram from inside the building racing toward the group. Suddenly the tram leaps off the tracks, and you watch it spin as agents try to get it back—everyone watching open-mouthed at the scene.

From inside the tram, you catch a familiar curl of brown hair and scream her name over the crowd, but she doesn’t hear, and you watch in horror as the tram shoots off into the clouds. The agents, trying to stop them turn to you, and seize you before you have a chance to run. Kicking and screaming, they bring you into the headquarters and to the director Ms. Granada.

“How do you know Missy Moreno?” she’s defensive from the start, and you quickly realize you don’t like this woman.

“I’m a friend of Missy and Marcus.”

“Are you his girlfriend?” Oh, how much you wished.

“No. No, I’m just a friend. I saw what happened to him on TV and thought I could help Missy or you all get him back.”

She sneers, “Oh, and what power do you have?”

That gives you pause; honestly, what could you have done. “I...I don’t. I’m just a waitress.” Shouts of terror ring out behind you, and you catch the scream in your throat as the aliens from the tv are alive and moving towards the control room. Watching as others are tossed like ragdolls out of the way as they charge them. You run towards the side door and take off down the hall, thinking of Marcus and how he would want you to help Missy. You couldn’t do that if you were dead.

The door to the outside slams open. You run as fast as your legs will carry you away from the headquarters and to your car. Hands shaking as you turn the key and peel out of the parking lot and onto the highway. Driving for hours around the city looking for any sign of Missy or the other kids and calling her phone. Each time going straight to voicemail and leaving another message more hysterical than the last. It’s night by the time you return to the diner and park resting your head in your hands against the steering wheel. The day finally catching up to you.

Your friend Joshua comes running out to your car, smiling, “Did you see the news?!”

“What?” you unlatch the door and stand on shaky legs.

“They’re all alive! Sharkboy and Lava Girl, Miracle Guy! All of them! They were rescued by their own children,” you begin to tune out his voice as a familiar car slowly pulls into the dark parking lot.

Dropping your bag, you walk and then full out run to the vehicle. Marcus parks and gets out, running the rest of the way over. Still dressed in his heroics uniform, eyes tired, but smiling, saying your name.

“Marcus!” you shout and jump into his arms. He groans but doesn’t let go, only tightening his arms around you. The car still running and the door wide open behind him.

“I’m so sorry, I got your message. I would have called sooner, but I had to deal with work and then Missy, and then my mom showed up,” he rambles, and you put a hand to his lips, silencing him.

“It’s okay, you’re safe, that’s all I needed to know.” You can’t help the tears streaming down your cheeks, and he slowly lowers you to your feet but not out of his arms. He runs his fingers over your tears, and the rough fabric of his fingerless gloves grazes your cheek.

“I need to tell you something,” he whispers, and you see his own eyes brimming with tears. “I don’t like the food at the diner.”

You shake your head, giving him a nervous chuckle, “what?”

“I’ve eaten at that diner three times a week for the last year because, well, because I like you, baby. And after the way, you spent the day searching for Missy and me. The way you sounded on your message, I hope...no, I think you might like me too.” He sniffles, and you note how this is the first time you’ve seen him cry in the year you’ve known him.

Wiping away his tears and cupping his cheeks, you bring his lips down to yours in a warm kiss. Pouring your worry, fears, and love into him as he steps closer and deepens, running his hands through your hair and against your scalp. You pull away, and he smiles at you through the tears, “Oh Marcus Moreno, I am unequivocally in love with you.”

“Come home with me,” he whispers, kissing you again, “Missy is staying the night at her new friend’s house; let me show you how much I love you too.”

“You do?”

“Oh, baby, I really, really do.”

Taglist: @josepedropascal @mrschiltoncat @mrsparknuts @ghostwiththemostbitch @zannesmes @xjaywritesx @oldstuffnewstuff @yespolkadotkitty @heythere-mel @justanotherblonde23 @artsymaddie @anetteaneta @lunarthoughts @aellynera @lucifer- @houseofthirst @phoenixhalliwell @chicken-ona-stick

#marcus moreno #marcus moreno x reader #We can be heroes #We can be heroes spoilers #Pedro Pascal #pedro pascal character fanfiction #Autumn Writes

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vintagedolan · 3 years

Note

when koa gets in, is grayson rude to her ?? what’s his reaction upon seeing her ?

since this do be a concept train, I want to know what exactly Koa feels towards the twins. Does she know them? Des she know about them? I just know that initial meeting is going to be TENSE

(also angry Grayson is hot)

two: character profile

masterlist | request the next concept!

It only took Koa two days to unpack. She had 2 suitcases of clothes and personal belongings, and $300 worth of a haul from target down the street, which included only a few essentials.

She was lucky enough to have found a three person apartment with one vacancy, which came with the advantage of it already being mostly furnished. The air mattress she bought would have to do in her room for now - she’d spent most her money on a desk.

Writers write, they don’t sleep anyways.

She met her roommates, Harlow and Gabby. Harlow was from Kentucky, which Koa only knew from the KFC on the island back home. But she was sweet and friendly, and willing to help out wherever she could. She even gave Koa a ride to target, let her fill up the back of her honda with all of her purchases.

Gabby was born and raised in LA. And it was obvious. Her attitude, her superiority and her general lack of regard for anyone other than herself had Koa ready to call her out in the first day, but she held back, knowing she was in for the long haul.

But that attitude made her even more nervous for her meeting at 11am the third day, in Encino California. Just the fact that she’d been given a gate code was enough to put a pit in her stomach. She wondered how stupid she would look, walking up to it instead of driving.

Harlow helped her find the right bus route, and it took a minute. And by a minute, she meant a fucking hour to plan it out, and a 30 minute bus ride to get close enough to the Dolan’s house to make the 20 minute walk the rest of the way. She missed the Hawaiian breeze, the trade winds coming in off the ocean to stave off the beating sun as she made the journey with her backpack hanging off one of her shoulders up all of the hills of the neighborhood.

By the time she made it to the house, there was sweat rolling down her back, soaking her shirt and making her question every life decision she’d made to get herself there.

She typed in the code, and as soon as she walked through the gate her blood was boiling.

Five cars. There were five cars in the driveway, parked in two neat rows. The Tesla caught her eye first, plugged into its own charger in the garage.

She knew they had money. But fucking hell. The house itself was more subtle, didn’t scream rich in her face in twelve languages - from the outside anyways.

It took her a moment to settle herself, to put a smile on her face. The Dolans, it seemed, where the type of people who showed up at the shave ice stand in Hawaii on vacation - not the ones who worked it.

But she’d known that. And she tried to remind herself of exactly how their wealth was going to work in her favor, for the sales of ‘their’ book, which would increase her cut. And so, she smoothed her frizzy hair as best she could and went up to the door.

She didn’t have to knock. Instead, the door swung open, a bright young woman standing there with a welcoming smile.

“Koa?”

“That’s me.”

“Hi! I’m Adele, the twins assistant.”

Koa swallowed. Of course. Of course they had an assistant. Why wouldn’t they.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Come on in, it’s hot out there.” Adele stepped to the side, revealing the interior of the house.

It was subtle. If Koa were to write it, she’d describe the warmth. It radiated from multiple centers - the neutral woods, the simple decorations, the dark appliances, the fireplace on the far wall, and the very tall, smiling man with a tattoo sleeve by the door.

In the next paragraph, she’d talk about the cold. It came from one place, one specific spot in the living room. His back was half turned away, but his stiffness, his annoyance, radiated off his shoulders with less effort than it took him to breathe.

Koa swallowed hard again.

“Hey, I’m Ethan. It’s nice to finally put a face with the writing.” His voice was as genuine as his smile, which he tried to make wide enough for the two of them it seemed.

By process of elimination, she knew it was Grayson who stood up rather slowly and made his way over.

“I’m Grayson. Nice to meet you.” His voice was flatter than the mantle behind him. Koa smiled anyways.

They each held out a hand, and she prayed her palm wasn’t sweaty from her walk when she shook them one by one.

Ethan pulled out a chair for her at the island, metal legs groaning against the hardwood.

“You want a drink?”

“Yeah, that’d be great actually. Thanks.” The formality tasted sour on her tongue. She told herself she wasn’t going to do this, wasn’t going to make herself out to be someone more professional than she really was.

But Grayson had her on edge. Even when Ethan sat down in the chair beside her with two glasses of water, Grayson stood tall on the other side of the island, arms crossed and strong brow furrowed.

Silence filled the space with emptiness, and Koa drank her water, her rings tinkling against her glass.

“So-” Ethan started, finally breaking the tension. “This meeting isn’t anything like crazy formal, we just kinda wanted to touch base with you, get to know you a bit and figure out exactly how we’re gonna do this.”

“Yeah, no that’s great. I’m down for that, that’s a good idea.”

“We’ve never even thought about writing a book really, so we’re kinda at your mercy.” Ethan’s laugh wasn’t loud enough to cover Grayson’s scoff. Koa watched him for a moment, analyzed him. He seemed tense, and angry, and sad all at once somehow. The tension in his jaw was sharp, but there was a fear in there somewhere that she could sense. He caught her eye, and she turned back to Ethan.

“Well, this is gonna be new for all of us I think. The thing about this is I’m not writing as me, I’m writing as you two. It’s from your perspective, it’s what you want to say. I’m just here to help you say it. So yeah, I’ll help guide you all in what you want in there and how to arrange it to get people hooked and into it, but-”

“Do you usually ghost write stuff for people?” Grayson leaned against the counter, shoulder broad and wide. Intimidating. The tattoos that peaked out from under the short sleeve of his shirt were delicate lines. Gentle. She looked at those instead when she spoke.

“Uh, no. This is my first time doing it formally.”

“So what do you write then.”

“My specialty is fiction. Novels.”

“Great. Fucking fantastic.” To Koa’s amazement, Grayson was laughing. Running his hands over his face and up through his long hair. Callous.

“I’m sorry, is writing novels a bad thing?”

“No. But I’m not a character you get to make however you want.” He met her eyes then, the green of them so dark they looked brown as he stared at her. “I’m a person.”

“I figured that much out for myself. If you have an issue, I’m all ears.”

Even she was impressed with how steady her voice was. She clasped her hands lightly together and rested them on the island, the way white business men always did in movies, and stared him down.

“Full disclosure, the book was more my idea, less Grayson’s,” Ethan chimed in.

“All Ethan’s, none of mine,” Grayson corrected. “Because I know how this shit goes. You’re gonna twist whatever you need to get a story together, make us tell shit we don’t want to tell and put it out for the world to read just to get your bag. And I don’t want any part of it.”

It was Koa’s turn to laugh. “Well buddy, you’re giving me plenty of content to work with if I’m supposed to be building a character profile on you or whatever the fuck it is you think I’m here to do.”

“Uh-” Ethan barely got the syllable out.

“You know, most people would kill for this. This book will be everywhere, and you have a chance to tell the world something and actually have them hear it. Don’t throw that away so quick.”

Something in Grayson’s face changed, and it made her want to pull her words back out of the air.

“Yeah, well I’m pretty fucking sure I’ve given the world enough of myself, but thanks for the offer.”

With that, Grayson turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen.

“Bro-” Ethan called out.

“It’s fine,” Koa muttered.

“I’m sorry, really. He’s kinda going through it right now, there’s been a lot of stuff going on and he’s just worried. I’ll talk to him, we’ll figure out how to make this work.”

“Right.”

Ethan frowned. “Koa, I’m serious. I really liked your stuff, and I know you can write a kick ass book for us. I want you to, and he will too, I just gotta get him to get his head out of his ass.”

“Good luck with that one,” Koa chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m gonna go.”

“Okay. I’ll text you and we can figure out another time to figure out the details.”

“Sounds good. I’ll brainstorm some stuff.”

“Sick. Sorry, again, for all that. Drive safe.”

Koa put her backpack over her shoulder and climbed out of the chair, chugging the rest of the water in her glass, knowing she’d need it for her walk to the bus stop.

“Yeah. See you later Ethan. Like I said; good luck.”

#hydrograyson #ask #hiraeth

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waezi2 · 3 years

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Re-reading Yu-Gi-Oh (part 1)

So... I bitch a lot about Yu-Gi-Oh. When I don’t complain about it online and accuse it of scamming kid me, I ridicule the story and the many holes in the game rules.

But I actually used to love this manga with a burning passion. I bought it because I was fixated with the cards, but instead I got traumatized. In an awesome way.

So I decided to re-read the manga about the possibly best known TCG game in the world and see how it started, how it evolved, and if the story still holds up.

So, I’m reading chapter 1, and we have to talk about the art.

The art style at the beginning was chunky and sometimes downright awkward. But it was still very enjoyable. The characters were very expressive and the tone of the style could swing quickly from wacky and rubberhose like to eerie and brooding depending on the situation. It makes you forgive odd-looking legs and hands that becomes massive. It is clear that it is someone’s first project.

So, this is Yugi. Possibly the cutest and meekest punk kid who ever lived. Yugi is not an outdoor person, so he spends most of his recesses inside the classroom. He brings a ton of games to school, hoping that someone might wanna play with him, but all of his classmates prefer to go outside and do stuff like basketball. And being a short teenager who practically looks like a little boy means he is not a desirable team mate in any ball game.

This is totally just a theory, but I think Yugi’s signature punk hairstyle is his way of trying to look a bit more edgy to try do something about his cute appearance.

... Yeah, it’s not working. He still looks like a fricking Gummibear.

As Yugi is minding his own business, we meet two familiar faces.

... their names are actually Jounouchi and and Honda, but most people know them by their American names, so I will just refer to them as Joey and Tristan.

It’s so odd to see their old designs. Especially Joey since his hair is not as big and square like as it is today. And what the fuck is up with Tristan’s face?!

Anyways, while Yugi decides to play with the most valuable game in his collection, Joey and Tristan decides to mess with him. They make an interesting bully duo where Tristan is more loud and is clearly having more fun bothering Yugi who is too short to put up a fight while Joey seems more stoic and is almost annoyed by Yugi for being a pushover. He even tells Yugi to be a man about it and at least try and take the game back from him by force. So while Tristian just enjoys picking on Yugi for the heck of it, Joey seems to sincerely dislike Yugi.

Luckily, Yugi doesn’t have trouble with bullies as such since he is friends with Tea who is so tough that she actually intimidate Joey and Tristan with sheer attitude. That’s actually impressive.

... A shame she is most of the time just the damsel in distress.

Tea is the only person in class who hangs out with Yugi since they have been friends since kindergarten. And she doesn’t mind staying inside at all since a ton of the guys are jerks who only wanna play basketball with the girls since it gives them an opportunity to look up their skirts.

Yeah, there is a lot of that in this manga. Most of the males in this series are kinda horny. the humor often relies on it, which downright creepy at times.

Even Yugi finds basketball more appealing now that he knows about the skirt-looking.

Lewd panty-shot aside, I think it is a nice detail that Yugi is as pathetic as the rest of the dudes in school, he probably just doesn’t have the courage to try get a look. It makes him less of a pure hero.

Altight, let’s stop talking about Yugi being a closet creep:/

Yugi shows Tea what his greatest treasure is: A LITTERAL treasure.

Yep, this is the famous Millennium Puzzle, practically the mascot of the series. It’s an ancient puzzle found in an pyramid that Yugi got from his grandfather who runs a game store. The puzzle is extremely valuable, both because it is from ancient Egypt and it is made of gold.

... And Yugi brings it to school where Tristan and Joey pushes him around...

Yugi has been struggling with the puzzle for eight years despite being a game nerd. Even though it is a blow to his not that big ego, he keeps trying to solve it since the box says that if he will be granted a wish if he manage to solve the puzzle.

Meanwhile, Joey and Tristan makes the fatal mistake of talking about picking on Yugi while Ushio is close enough to hear it. He is the school’s hall monitor and rumor has it that he is downright psychotic and is feared by most of the students. Heck, some of the teachers are uncomfortable being near him.

And this guy has decided to become Yugi’s bodyguard, something poor Yugi doesn’t take serious when Ushio tells him that.

Joey and Tristan are unaware how screwed they are as they keep having their fun bothering Yugi without our hero knowing it. Joey managed to steal a piece from the puzzle box before Tea interrupted, and Joey decides to throw the piece in the school’s swimming pool so that the puzzle becomes worthless as it can no longer be solved. I gotta say, that is pretty twisted and surprisingly sneaky of a teen bully. It’s downright creepy.

Speaking of creepy...

This is Yugi’s grandfather Sugoroku. He runs the game shop that Yugi lives in and is a living encyclopedia when it comes to games of all sorts.

And he can’t just tell Tea that she has grown. He HAS to mention her breasts as well. Da fuck is up with all the sex talk and panty shots in this series?! Does Kazuki Takahashi(the author) have some sort of issues?!

Yugi’s grandfather notices that Yugi is STILL trying to solve the ancient puzzle and warns Yugi that the puzzle is supposedly cursed. That the archeologist and his team died mysteriously shortly after finding the puzzle and the last one to kick the bucket said something about a “shadow game” with his dying breath.

That however makes Yugi even more determent to solve the puzzle. If it really is magical then chances are that he will be granted a wish by completing the puzzle.

Personally, I would call the nearest museum and sell the dang thing before it could kill me with it’s insane cursed magic.

Speaking of insane, Yugi realizes that he should have taken Ushio serious when he said he would be his bodyguard.

Yep, the SOB has dragged Joey and Tristan behind the school building and kicked their asses through and through. Tristan is in so much pain that he is barely conscious and Joey is so pummeled that all he can do is watch as Yugi shows how surprisingly brave he is as he demands that Ushio leaves them alone, even refer to them as his friends and that they were just trying to make him a man.

Yeah, picking on someone because they are too timid and demanding that they fight you despite knowing that they hat violence is the right way to make someone a man. Hip hooray for toxic masculinity!

Yugi defending Joey and Tristan results in him getting a beating as well.

One of the interesting things about early Yu-Gi-Oh is the raw and ugly violence. We talking dirty violence where people get kneed in the chest and kicked while they lie down. Not just off-screen, we witness our heroes be pummeled, making the series a bit more gritty and frightening. And this series is not for those with a weak stomach.

Joey is stunned, partly because Yugi defends him, but way more of the short spiky-haired kid’s courage. But Yugi is anything but afraid. After all, he refused to fight Joey, but he still tried to get the puzzle back(not successfully, but he made an effort instead of just squirming).

After Ushio finished kicking poor Yugi’s ass, he tells him to bring him money as “payment” for his “bodyguard service.” And we talking 200000 yen, that’s a lot of dough.

Ushio even pulls a god damn knife(!), just to show how fucking crazy he is!

Yugi goes home to see if he has money enough to pay Ushio, but he only has 1656 yen. In frustration, Yugi decides to solve his unsolvable puzzle, just to think of something else than the brute with a knife who is waiting for him at school.

But what do you know? Yugi finally get the hang of it. He sees that some of the pieces just needs to be rotated differently and he finish it in a couple of minutes.

... Or he WOULD have. He finally sees that one of the pieces are missing, breaking his heart and making his awful day even worse.

But Grandpa has the last piece. He tells Yugi that one of his friends from school had found it and asked him to give it to Yugi. And that he was soaked despite it not raining.

As Yugi is happy about being able to finish the puzzle and returns to his room, his grandpa thinks about that the boy was Joey and that he asked him not to tell Yugi it was him that came with the puzzle piece. Joey also told him about Ushio blackmailing Yugi, so Grandpa secretly puts money in Yugi’s schoolbag so he won’t get in trouble.

And this is where it get’s freaky.

Yep, here it is. the iconic moment Yugi gets blessed by the puzzle so that he can turn into the split personality we refer to as Yami which is Japanese for “Dark”.

Yugi then calls Ushio and tells him to meet him outside school at midnight.

Ushio is surprised as he sees that Yugi is wearing some sort of costume and that he looks way more cocky than before.

Yugi tells Ushio that he has the money he demands, but he has twice the amount. Fricking 400000 yen!

But Yugi only “owes” 200000 to Ushio, so he suggest that they play about them in a dark and twisted game.

Yugi and Ushio take turns stabbing the stack of money placed on their hand. They have to stab hard enough to take more than one single bill. The winner is the guy with most yen bills.

As they play, Ushio seems to be winning... but when it is his turn, he can feel that his hand is way too eager to stab.

This is not just a weird-ass game. This is a “shadow game”, a game that shows your true nature. Ushio’s greed is now collected in his hand, and he so desperately want to win the game that he can’t control it. He realizes that if he stabs, he won’t be able to control his strength and he will penetrate his own hand. Ushio has to either A) give up and keep his hand or B) win the game with one hand less.

Ushio picks C.

Ushio tries to kill Yugi, but that was a mistake. The puzzle has made him super human and he leaps from the ground, evading the knife.

And cheating in a shadow game is a big no-go as the host of the game has authority to punish you.

Yami Yugi curses Ushio with “Illusion of Greed”, meaning he will be doomed to live in an imaginary world where he sees nothing but money everywhere.

Next morning, he is still outside the schoolyard like a drooling idiot who yells about all of his imaginary money.

Yugi has no memory of what happened but is glad he no longer has to be worried of Ushio who is a harmless nutcase. Not only that, he has finally finished his puzzle... and Joey offers him his friendship.

And that was the start of the horror manga turned card game commercial. It has a lot of charm, is very eerie and I think I prefer Yami Yugi’s first look that is more child like. making him look downright creepy.

This retrospective will continue ASAP.

Till then, I’m Waezi2, and thanks for wasting time with me.

#Yu-Gi-Oh #yugioh #yugi moto #joey wheeler #katsuya jonouchi #honda hitomi #anzu mazaki #tea gardner #tristan taylor #yami yugi #atem #manga

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duelistkingdom · 3 years

Text

you’d come back to me

chapter nine: the same fool

[first chapter] [previous chapter] [master list] [next chapter] [read on ao3]

Summary: Seto Kaiba has been presumed dead for four years after the events of Dark Side of Dimensions. His return causes both unresolved feelings of grief to be brought to the surface and the past to be dragged right back up. In hopes of helping Seto move on and reintegrate back into society at large, Mokuba asks Yugi to work on Spherium II with Seto. Never one to leave a friend hanging, Yugi agrees. Over the course of the project, Seto and Yugi both come to terms with their mutual grief and grow towards a better understanding of each other.

Rating: T

Ships: Yugi Mutou/Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba/Rebecca Hopkins, Katusya Jonouchi/Mai Kujaku

Warnings: aged up characters, grief, references to suicide

consider supporting me on kofi / battle city tiers & above get first access to chapters!

Yugi was extremely stressed out. While Seto had certainly made progress in accepting that he was working in a team, other things were certainly still just as bad as the first day. Seto still seemed to be under the belief that everyone enjoyed working all hours of the night. It was even worse now that Seto had his own apartment. Last night, Yugi and Mokuba had to work together to drag Seto out of the office and deny him a key to Kaiba Corp so he could not just go in to work all hours of the night. They’d had to lecture Seto about the new Kaiba Corp bylaws.

Even worse, Spherium II’s development got held up by legal with Industrial Illusions filing an injunction. It seemed like the issue was that Pegasus now wanted to invest and was holding back the rights to use Duel Monster likeness until something was worked out. While Yugi was somewhat flattered that Pegasus believed in the project, he was very much irked that it meant that they needed to freeze progress until a deal was struck.

He’d complained to Anzu several times about the hold up in development and for the most part, Anzu was willing to listen to Yugi’s complaints. Last night, however, she reminded him that whenever he called, it was usually during the day and she had rehearsals. Jonouchi had long ago told him that he wanted to know nothing about Kaiba Corp inner workings and Honda generally passed out after work. Mokuba had asked Yugi to not tell his family about the inner workings of Kaiba Corp due to his father and grandfather running Kame Game and Yugi honored that.

He was prepared for another day of the same. However, Mokuba was actually waiting in Yugi’s office with dark circles under his eyes. “I’ve got great news, Yugi,” Mokuba said as he held up a manila envelope. “A deal was struck last night with Industrial Illusions last night to allow Industrial Illusions distribution rights. Even better? Pegasus agreed to let you use the agreed upon Duel Monsters likenesses for your game as part of an agreement for allowing him to invest in the project. Congratulations. Spherium II’s development can move forward again.”

Yugi gave a sigh of relief before laughing as he took the envelope from Mokuba. “That’s awesome ,” he said, taking a swig of his coffee as the envelope opened in his hands. Yugi took a brief scan of the agreement. It seems Mokuba had been right - Yugi had nothing to worry about. “Really glad you could get Pegasus to agree to allow me to put Dark Magician in.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” Mokuba said. “I’ve already told Seto that the project’s able to go forward again. He should be in his office already.”

There was no doubt in Yugi’s mind that Seto was, indeed, already in his office. Seto liked to get to work as early as he was allowed and work as late as he could. He was certain that if he and Mokuba hadn’t set strict boundaries on how long Seto could stay in office, Seto would actually stay as long as he could. “Alright,” Yugi said as he tossed the folder onto his desk with the rest of the paperwork that he needed to go through. “I’ll go chat with Seto in a bit, then. Thanks for making this work, Mokuba.”

He went to turn on his computer, mostly because he knew he’d have an inbox full of emails if the deal was made last night. It’d be better to actually take care of it now rather than wait too long. Plenty of questions to be answered too, he noted as he looked at the first email from one of the team members. He’d also found quite a few more tournaments begging him to participate and he sighed. Yugi didn’t like disappointing these organizers but there was little point in competing. He wound up agreeing to another exhibition duel against Seto, however.

And well, he was certain that he’d like to see if Seto had managed to grasp the current meta at all over the past year. It hit Yugi hard when he realized that it really had been a year since Seto crashed back into their lives. Strange, Yugi thought. It didn’t feel like a year. His phone buzzed with a text from Seto, asking him what the hold up was. Yugi was about to reply when a message from saggithedarkclown buzzed in soon after. It took a Yugi a minute but there was something odd about the two messages side by side. He tried to piece together why the two messages next to each other would seem so odd and it hit him like a train. The texting style was identical.

Much like Kaiba, saggithedarkclown was stiff and just a bit too formal and a stickler for grammar. Surely this had to be a coincidence, right? Seto couldn’t be the only person in the world to type that way, after all. Instead of responding right away to Seto, Yugi sent a few messages to saggithedarkclown about the questions they’d had on his previous duel. They were about the final combo that had ended the duel and wanted to know exactly how he pulled it off. Eventually, he finally texted Seto back that he was heading over to his office now.

Yugi was not surprised when he entered Seto’s office to find him looking annoyed already. Seto was easily irritated but he supposed this time he could let it slide. He was, after all, late. “You’re late,” Seto said sharply. “We should’ve gotten started two hours ago. What were you doing that took you so long?”

“Had a few emails to the team to respond to,” Yugi said with a shrug as he moved to stand behind Seto’s chair to examine exactly what Seto had been working on. His hand came to rest on the back of Seto’s chair and Yugi noted that Seto seemed to stiffen. Still tense around him, then. “What do you have for me today?”

Surprisingly, it took Seto a moment to respond. “I saw that Pegasus has allowed us to use the likeness of some Duel Monsters,” he said, sounding even more formal than usual. “So I started to see how the program would handle it.”

“Oh, of course,” Yugi said, not all surprised that Kaiba would immediately zero in on that. He supposed if anyone could handle figuring out how to render them in Spherium II’s graphics, it would be Seto. He was the one who invented Solid Vision, after all. “I’m guessing you’ve already got an idea how to make it work?”

“Of course,” Seto said stiffly as he pulled up the specs to show Yugi. “What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

“Excellent,” Yugi said as he glanced over what Kaiba had managed to do in the past two hours and was somewhat stunned to see it was already almost fully functional. Kaiba was, of course, nothing short of obsessive when it came to a project. “How about I take you out for lunch to celebrate then?”

He’d been trying for the past few weeks already to put Anzu’s advice into motion. Every time he had offered, Kaiba rebuffed him. He was expecting Kaiba to refuse again. What he did not expect was Seto to somehow manage to find a way to get even more tense . How did Seto manage to find new ways to tense up? Yugi should probably mention to Mokuba that Seto could use a day off. “Er,” Seto finally said after a moment. “I suppose that would be fine.”

“Awesome,” Yugi said, distracted now that he’d finally managed to get Seto to agree to at least lunch. He wondered if saggithedarkclown had responded while he was busy with Seto. “I’ll see you again at lunchtime, then.”

Seto was still trying to relax an hour later. He was fixated on how casually Yugi had put his hand on the back of his chair. How was he supposed to actually go to lunch with Yugi without looking like an idiot? He’d already forgotten he had the counterpoint that they were still considered rivals by the general public. That was, after all, how he’d managed to worm out of all the other invites that Yugi had extended.. Might dampen the excitement for the upcoming exhibition match. Too bad he’d thought of the excuse just a little too late and besides, he’d have a counterpoint against the argument anyway.

He shouldn’t care this much, anyway. It was just a lunch between two coworkers working on the same project. Kaiba had been blowing it off for too long. It was inevitable that he’d wind up having to go out with someone from the team. He shouldn’t put too much thought into it. Yugi probably thought he was just being friendly.

Now why did that bother Seto? Surely he could logic his way out of this emotion. It wasn’t like Yugi was acting any differently than he’d ever had. Wasn’t that what Seto wanted? For Yugi to act the way he used to around him? It was just frustratingly confusing to not fully understand why he couldn’t just relax around Yugi. It was just lunch between coworkers. That’s all it was. He could do lunch, after all. How many business lunches had Seto done before? This was no different.

Just because Yugi was younger than most of the businessmen Seto had dealt with when he was CEO doesn’t mean that Seto had to lose his mind over it. Embarrassingly, the details of last night’s dreams of Yugi started to stir up again. He tried to push that aside. He didn’t have time to get embarrassed over dreams he could not control at work . He was at work . He was supposed to be professional, not lose his entire head. He jumped when Mokuba entered his office. “Mokuba,” he said sharply. “What is it?”

That was more rude than Seto intended. Mokuba did not seem to react to this, however. It was probably because Mokuba knew Seto well enough to not get offended when he was rude. “Just wanted to let you know that the due date on those models isn’t until next month,” Mokuba said, looking concerned as ever. “You don’t have to push yourself to get them all done today.”

“Is that all,” Seto asked, turning back to his computer. He knew the deadlines on the project. He’d fought with Yugi about them. As far as Seto was concerned, they were too spread out. Surely they could streamline it. Yugi had argued that the rest of the team didn’t want to work around the clock on the project and get locked out of leaving the building. He still didn’t see Yugi’s point. “I know when the deadline is. I’ll still have them done before then.”

Mokuba sighed. “Please tell me you’re at least going to get lunch today.”

An explanation for why Yugi might have asked Seto to lunch just arrived, hadn’t it? Of course. Mokuba probably had asked Yugi to babysit Seto, the same way Mokuba had forced Seto onto this project with Yugi. “Did you put Yugi up to ask me to go to lunch, then?”

“No,” Mokuba said, a shocked expression on his face that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. That was enough to assure Seto that he hadn’t lied. It did, however, open up new questions. “But you should go. It’d be good for you to find common ground.”

For a second, Seto started immediately wondering why Yugi would do such a thing on his own accord. Seto couldn’t help but overthink every possible motive that Yugi possibly could have. He spent too much time with Yugi taking up focus. Kaiba was sick of how often he thought about Yugi but he couldn’t seem to stop. “I already agreed,” Seto said with a shrug as he stared at his screen. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll eat lunch today.”

“Good,” Mokuba said and Seto felt a little bit guilty over how happy Mokuba sounded at this response. Seto knew that this meant that he shouldn’t be skipping lunch as often as he did. However, it wasn’t like this was a new behavior of his. Had Mokuba always been worried about Seto skipping lunch? He didn’t dare ask. “Alright. I’ll get out of your hair so you can get back to work.”

Seto was stunned to discover that Yugi had a car and that he would rather drive it to lunch than let Isono drive them. Seto had folded his arms across his chest, staring at the window as he noted all the ways Domino City was different than it was five years ago. He’d mostly gotten used to the changes but there was still that strange feeling about how much he’d truly missed. “Where are you taking me anyway,” Seto said finally, breaking the silence in the car.

“Burger World,” Yugi responded. “Another location reopened.”

“That place that a guy was set on fire at,” Seto asked in alarm. “Aren’t you worried about the type of people that hang out at a place like that?”

A brief flash of something crossed Yugi’s face before it settled into a slight smirk. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about getting set on fire there,” Yugi said, as if sharing a private joke with himself. Seto didn’t understand how Yugi could be so lighthearted about someone getting set on fire. “Besides, no one’s been set on fire in Burger World in seven years. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

It was true that the incident had to have been seven years ago now but that didn’t change that someone had gotten set on fire at one of their locations. “I think I have the right to be worried when I might get set on fire,” Seto said. “Especially when you seem to think it’s funny .”

“No one’s going to set you on fire, Kaiba,” Yugi said, sounding somewhat exasperated. “Why would anyone set you on fire, anyway?”

“Why would anyone set someone on fire,” Kaiba countered. “Why do you think it’s so funny, anyway?”

The smile vanished from Yugi’s face. Suddenly, Seto irrationally wished he could shove the words back in his mouth. Which ones? Whatever the ones were that made Yugi stop smiling. He felt like there was something he was missing. “It’s not, I guess,” Yugi said softly, not revealing anything. “Just… made me think of someone, is all.”

“Oh,” Seto said, still just as confused as ever. He wanted to know why Yugi had stopped smiling but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. “You really don’t think we’d get set on fire there?”

“No,” Yugi said as he turned into the parking lot of the restaurant. Seto was unsurprised to note that it was mostly empty. He was actually surprised that Burger World was even still open after that bout of negative press. Then again, the same could be said for Kaiba Corp after Death-T. Kaiba pushed the memory out of his mind. “There’s no risk of getting set on fire. C’mon. Let’s go eat.”

Seto was still doubtful but he did tell Mokuba he would actually go eat with Yugi. And it wasn’t like Seto could just ask Yugi to lend him his car to go get something else to eat. This left Seto with the only option of going forward. Besides… if Yugi really did seem so sure that there was no risk, then he’d have to trust him. The interior of Burger World, Seto noted, was a tacky nightmare of neon and booths and what seemed to be plastic tables. “You actually eat here?”

“All the time,” Yugi replied as he led Seto towards one of the more private booths. “I really like the burgers they serve here.”

Seto paused as he tried to figure out what Yugi was talking about. The way Yugi referred to it was as if everyone would know what it was. Rather than risk looking like an idiot, Seto merely sat across from Yugi and said nothing. Seto wondered where the hostess was and why they had to seat themselves. “How does eating here even work?”

Yugi looked at Seto as if he’d just asked how to tribute summon a monster. So much for avoiding looking like an idiot in front of Yugi. “Have you never eaten at a casual restaurant before?”

The answer to that was a resounding no. While he’d sometimes handed Mokuba money to go to a restaurant like this, Seto avoided places like this. Most of the restaurants Seto went to would be out of Yugi’s price range. However, Seto got the feeling saying that out loud would not go over well and he was supposed to be trying to work with Yugi. “There was no hostess,” Seto remarked instead, looking back over at the entrance. “How is the wait staff supposed to know there’s someone here?”

“They just do,” Yugi said with a shrug as he checked his watch. “Typically a waitress comes over in a few minutes.”

Seto was about to remark upon how he thought this was a poor business model when an overly perky blonde approached them with two menus in hand. “Sorry about the wait,” she said as she placed the menus in front of them. Yugi gave Seto a sharp look and any retort he had died on his tongue. “My name’s Haruka and I’ll be your waitress today. What can I get started for you guys today?”

“I’ll have my usual,” Yugi said. Haruka nodded and wrote something down on her notepad. “I think Seto needs to try one of the classic burgers. I get the feeling he’s never had a burger before.”

Instantly, Seto was torn from snapping at Yugi that he could order for himself and being flushed that Yugi would actually be that bold. He was surprised that Yugi had realized that Seto hadn’t ever really had a burger before. “Never had a burger before,” Haruka said, sounding surprised. “Well, you’re in luck. We have the best burgers.”

Before Seto could remark on that, Yugi gave him another glare as if he knew what Seto was about to say. He gave a soft “tch” as he folded his arms over his chest. “Fine,” Seto said, figuring it was better than trying to decide what to order for himself. “I’ll try one.”

“And what will you have to drink,” she asked.

Seto glanced at the list of things to drink on the back of the menu. He noted that the only choices were soda, lemonade, or water. “Water’s fine,” Seto said.

Yugi rolled his eyes as she noted it and left the table. “Didn’t Mokuba tell you that you’re supposed to be nice,” Yugi asked, sounding exasperated. Seto opened his mouth to point out that he’d been perfectly courteous and Yugi shook his head. “You were glaring at her the whole time. Just relax, Seto.”

Was that how Yugi could tell when Seto was about to say something? Did he really have a tell? How long had he had this tell? “I’m being perfectly agreeable,” Seto replied, well aware he sounded curt. “Can I help that you regular places like this dump?”

“Seto, please,” Yugi said, reaching out the table to cover Seto’s hand with his and once again, Seto froze. The motion was just a little overly familiar. As usual, it did not seem to impact Yugi the same way it impacted Seto. “Can you at least try to be normal for one lunch?”

“Okay,” Seto said automatically, not sure where it came from. Yugi squeezed his hand and smiled and Seto’s heart began to beat irregularly. Seto was starting to get annoyed by the random arrhythmia that being around Yugi seemed to bring on. “You and Mokuba are both massive thrones in my side, by the way.”

This didn’t seem to bother Yugi. In fact, he laughed. The stupid arrhythmia acted up again and Seto did his best to ignore it. “Good,” Yugi said. “That means you aren’t doing anything stupid any time soon.”

“I never do anything stupid,” Seto retorted, wondering what were the common causes of arrhythmia. Maybe he should be writing down when it happened? Perhaps that would better help the doctor when Seto got it checked out. “Not sure why you and Mokuba would both think that I would.”

Yugi gave Seto a strange look as he pulled his hand away. Seto didn’t know why that bothered him, either. The waitress had already come back with their drinks, setting them down in front of them. She said nothing and left quickly after. “Seto, do you really not get why people might be worried about you?”

He didn’t understand Yugi’s question. On some level, he did understand why Mokuba was worried. However, it wasn’t like Seto intended for his actions to look like… He pushed it aside. “If this is about the dimension jumping again, I already took it apart. I wasn’t going to do it again.”

“That’s not the only reason w… Mokuba’s worried about you,” Yugi said, his eyebrows furrowing as his gaze bore into Seto. Seto looked away, uncomfortable now. “Look… I… I know that none of this has been easy…”

Now he understood what Yugi was getting at. “I’m not depressed,” Seto snapped. He’d heard the same concern from the therapist that Mokuba was making him go to. He was starting to get a little tired of everyone insisting that he had to be weak . “I’m fine , Yugi. No one needs to get concerned about me.”

“It’s okay, Seto,” Yugi said and for once, Seto could actually tell what Yugi’s expression was communicating. However, Seto couldn’t figure out for the life of him what Yugi might be pleading from him. There was nothing he could give Yugi. “You really aren’t alone, okay? I… I’m here for you, Seto. I… I just need you to be open with me.”

Open? Has Yugi lost his mind? “I don’t need your help,” Seto said automatically, looking for a way out of this conversation. How had they even ended up on this topic? Must everyone be this concerned with his mental health? “Mind your business.”

Rather than seem put off by this reaction, Yugi seemed to be actually expecting it. He hated that Yugi actually seemed honestly concerned. Yugi’s head tilted, as if trying to figure something out. “Seto,” he said and it was like a gut punch. “Surely you can see that no one would understand better than me how it would feel to lose Atem. If you would just talk to me -”

Seto cut Yugi off, his heart racing as he snapped, “I don’t need your help, Yugi. Have I made myself clear?”

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. “Fine,” he said and he sounded more resigned than anything. “If you won’t talk now, that’s fine. We have the rest of this project for you to start talking about.”

This time, Yugi had the same look he had just before he’d threatened Seto. This was, in fact, a threat. Must Yugi be this insistent on being friends with him? Seto supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He’d never once known Yugi to back down from a challenge. “Don’t expect this to go your way,” Seto said, slumping back in the booth. “You can’t make me open up to you.”

“Stop acting like a child,” Yugi said with a roll of his eyes. “You know that Mokuba and I are coming from a place of care. If we didn’t care, we’d let you just push us away. Neither Mokuba nor I are going to let you do that. So you can pout, stomp your feet, act like a dick all you want. Neither of us are going anyway. Get used to it.”

Seto was taken aback by the ferocity in Yugi’s eyes. Something told him that Yugi absolutely meant it too. At this point, Seto wasn’t sure how to keep Yugi at arm’s length anymore. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

“I can’t believe you got Kaiba to try a burger,” Jonouchi remarked with a laugh as Mai passed him another gift to unwrap. “Seriously, how did he react?”

“He seemed to think that he was going to get set on fire at Burger World the entire time,” Yugi said with a shrug, leaving out the gritty details of the conversation he’d had with Seto. “I don’t think he cared much for it, either. Claimed it was too greasy.”

Jonouchi laughed even harder at this as he unwrapped the gift that Yugi had gotten him. “You know, you whippin rich boy’s ass tomorrow would’ve made a fine birthday gift,” Jonouchi remarked, looking rather amazed at the framed picture from the last tournament that Yugi ever did with Jonouchi. Yugi’s arm was thrown around Jonouchi and the two of them looked thrilled about doing a tag team duel together. “Though I will admit… this is nice.”

“Oh, I’m sure Yugi’s gonna kick Kaiba’s ass tomorrow,” Mai said with a light laugh as she leaned back in her chair and her head resting on Jonouchi’s shoulder. Jonouchi’s arm snaked around her waist as he gave her a soft smile. “Seriously, the guy’s been out of the loop for the past four years. No way he’ll be able to be duel ready in only a year. And Yugi’s only gotten better since Battle City.”

“Kaiba’s not like any other opponent that Yugi’s had, though,” Ryou remarked with a slight frown. “I wouldn’t expect this to be a cake walk. Yugi should really be taking this seriously.”

“Please, no one’s even come close to unseating Yugi in the past six years,” Honda pointed out as he took a swing of his beer. “Do we really think Kaiba’s gonna figure out how to beat Yugi now?”

“I dunno,” Otogi said with a raised brow. “Hate to disagree with you, babe, but Bakura’s got a point. Kaiba’s always been weirdly intense about Yugi.”

“Seto’s not going to win,” Yugi said confidently. While there was a point when their points may have rattled him, he was prepared. He’d been looking forward to Dueling Kaiba again. He knew Kaiba had been improving and was expecting an actual challenge this time now that Kaiba was familiar with the meta. “He’s improved his game a lot in the past year but I still know a few tricks.”

“He better not,” Jonouchi said with an easy going grin. “After all, you beating Kaiba’s your primary birthday gift to me.”

Yugi had another reason for wanting to win this Duel that he didn’t tell his friends. From previous experience, Seto was more willing to be open during a Duel. Sure, winning didn’t exactly seem to change that but he’d noticed that Seto tended to be more willing to rant when he lost. He almost felt nervous as he walked out onto the pitch, his gaze set firm on Seto. He’d barely noticed the cheers when he’d entered and only vaguely remembered to smile and wave at the crowd. He noted that Seto’s Duel Disk was activated. “Kaiba,” he said simply, carefully examining the expression on Seto’s face. “Are you ready for me to beat you again?”

“I’d like to see you try,” Seto replied, glaring at Yugi. Yugi could only assume that this was because Seto had some level of wariness when it came to dueling Yugi again. “I know it’s been four years but I assure you: I’m still going to crush you.”

As per usual, they shuffled each other’s decks and Yugi stared Kaiba down the entire time. For once, it seemed like Kaiba might not actually be as revealing during the duel. That wasn’t good. He needed Kaiba to actually start talking. Well, Yugi had a plan to start the conversation and it rested right in his deck. His first hand was perfect to make sure that he’d wind up in control of the board early. It was Kaiba’s turn first. Another advantage on his side: Kaiba was surely going to try to set up.

“I’m activating Cards of Consonance, allowing me to discard the White Stone of Legend from my hand to draw two cards,” Kaiba called out. It seemed Kaiba still had the same type of deck. Yugi could only assume it must have been updated. “I’m setting a monster face down, two cards face down, and ending my turn. During my end phase, when the White Stone of Legend was sent to the graveyard, it allows me to add a Blue Eyes White Dragon to my hand. Make your move, Yugi.”

If Yugi knew his archetypes - and he did - then it was most likely White Stone of the Ancients that Kaiba had placed face down. Its Graveyard effect would ensure that Kaiba got out Blue Eyes White Dragon fairly early. He needed to cut its effect off early before clearing the way to Kaiba’s life points. “Fine,” Yugi said as he drew, noting it was Gravekeeper’s Priestess. A precautionary card at most. If Kaiba removed Necrovalley, Priestess could act as Necrovalley. “I activate the spell card, Terraforming! This allows me to add a field spell from my deck to my hand. And I chose Necrovalley!”

“What,” Kaiba said, clearly caught off guard.

“And now, I activate Necrovalley,” Yugi said as the field around them reflected this change. The pitch’s concrete now had sand across it that felt almost lifelike as the temple pushed up from the ground. Yugi might’ve previously reacted to the Solid Vision’s lifelike rumbling and been knocked over. Now, he held his ground. “Necrovalley’s effect now takes effect! Both our graveyards have been locked down. No graveyard effects can be activated and no monster can be banished from the graveyard and no monster can be special summoned. The dead stay dead.”

The look on Kaiba’s face said everything. He’d seen that look before when he’d shown Kaiba that Atem no longer would come out from the puzzle. “You dare?”

“That’s right, Kaiba,” Yugi said as he placed Gravekeeper’s Heretic on his Duel Disk and set Spell Vanishing and Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley. “And now, I summon Gravekeeper’s Heretic in attack mode and place two cards face down. Now, Heretic will attack your facedown!” As expected, it was White Stone of the Ancients. The magic blast from Heretic sent the stone shattering around them and Yugi ducked out of the way of the blast. Kaiba, for his part, looked pissed. “I bet you were expecting that effect to activate. Unfortunately for you, you won’t be getting Blue Eyes out that easy. I end my turn!”

Kaiba gave a “tch” before he drew, narrowing his eyes at Yugi. “You dare to interfere with my plans again, Yugi,” Kaiba said, examining the card he drew. “I won’t let you! I reveal from my hand a Blue Eyes White Dragon to special summon Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon!” Yugi’s eyes widened as the Alternative’s wings spread out, a loud screech coming from her. He knew that there was no hope of saving Heretic once she attacked but he knew Kaiba just a little bit better than that. “I activate Alternative’s effect to destroy Heretic!”

“Now! I reveal my facedown card, Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley! I can activate this card whenever you activate a spell, trap, or monster effect,” Yugi said as the card flipped face up. Instantly, Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon was yanked into a coffin that sunk back into the sand. “It allows me to negate the activation of your monster’s effect and destroy your monster! Say goodbye to your dragon, Kaiba!”

Control of the board remained firmly in Yugi’s hands. Yugi suspected any other Duelist might have an actual issue against Kaiba’s formidable strategy. Yugi glared back at Kaiba defiantly, daring Kaiba to actually lay a finger on him. Kaiba’s stare became rather guarded before he looked away, a slight smirk forming on his face. “Suppose I should’ve expected you to have a counter,” Kaiba said. Yugi raised a brow at Kaiba, trying to figure out exactly what Kaiba was thinking. “Fine. Let’s see you negate this: I summon Protector with Eyes of Blue! This allows me to special summon a level one light tuner from my hand and I’m summoning Maiden with Eyes of Blue!”

Protector and Maiden both summoned out and Yugi recognized this combo. In fact, something was in the back of his head as he remembered mentioning it offhand to saggithedarkclown. It had been a hypothetical scenario. “I see you’ve gone and updated your deck,” Yugi remarked. “Maybe you’ll actually be able to keep up with me for once.”

“Oh, I’ve always been able to keep up with you, Yugi,” Kaiba said. “Now I target Maiden with Protector’s effect, sending her to the graveyard to special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon from my hand! But that’s not all, Yugi. Because Maiden was targeted, she also summons out a second Blue Eyes! Now! I bring forth Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon!”

Yugi might’ve been able to prevent Alternative from coming out but now he was staring down the duel headed Blue Eyes and she looked pissed . Yugi ran through his options. Raigeki was in his deck but there was only one copy of it so he couldn’t hope to rely on it. So far, Kaiba has already run through two of his Blue Eyes but there were still two more Alternatives and another Blue Eyes in his deck. If Yugi could ensure that Kaiba could not summon any more Blue Eyes cards, then his victory was all but assured. “Kaiba,” Yugi said, well aware that Kaiba wouldn’t listen to him. “You won’t be able to bring back your Blue Eyes once they’re in the Graveyard. They will stay there for the rest of the Duel.”

“That’s what you think, Yugi,” Kaiba said with a glare. “I will destroy Necrovalley! For now, Twin Burst will destroy your Heretic! Twin Burst Stream!”

Twin Burst launched two lightning blasts at Heretic and Yugi put the card in his graveyard. Yugi’s life points went down to 7300, barely a scratch. The Duel Disk still assured that it caused a little sting. Yugi had gotten used to the feeling of the shock going up his arm from lifepoint damage. “Well played, Kaiba,” Yugi said, examining Kaiba. Oddly guarded. “You did, indeed, come prepared.”

“Don’t you dare try to flatter me,” Kaiba said, his careful mask slipping for just a second for Yugi to notice he’d gotten flustered by the compliment. Yugi smirked slightly: there it was. Kaiba didn’t seem to anticipate Yugi being nice to him. “I’m setting two cards and ending my turn!”

“Then it’s my turn,” Yugi said as he drew, anticipating one of Kaiba’s facedowns to be a way to destroy Necrovalley. “I set a card and now I activate Necrovalley Throne! This card allows me to search out a Gravekeeper monster from my deck and immediately after, I have to summon a Gravekeeper monster!” He added Gravekeeper’s Spiritualist to hand, glancing at the cards in hand. Getting Gravekeeper’s Supernaturalist out would help him out here. He had Gravekeeper’s Oracle, which would give him enough attack points to beat over Twin Burst. This Duel could end quickly if he did that. However, if he did that, he could not make sure that Kaiba opened up. Instead, he needed to drag this Duel out. He glanced up at Kaiba before looking back at his cards.

“Are you going to actually make a move,” Kaiba sneered, a look of victory on his face. It seemed like Kaiba believed that Yugi had no out to the position he’d put Yugi in. “Or are you too scared?”

“Kaiba, you have never once managed to scare me,” Yugi remarked casually as he passed over Visionary. “I summon Gravekeeper’s Recruiter! And now I activate Gravekeeper’s Servant. This continuous trap makes it so you can only attack if you discard a card!”

“I activate the quick play spell Twin Twisters,” Kaiba declared, flipping over one of his set cards and discarding a card from his hand. “And I’m choosing to destroy both Necrovalley and Gravekeeper’s Servant!”

As expected. “I reveal my counter trap,” Yugi said, flipping over Spell Vanishing. “Sure, I have to discard two cards to activate it,” Yugi said as he discarded Gravekeeper’s Spy and Monster Reborn. He wouldn’t need either card anyway. “But once it negates Twin Twisters, it seeks out every copy of Twin Twisters in your deck and discards them! How does it feel to have your own deck destruction strategies aimed right back at you?”

Kaiba had a stunned look on his face. Yugi was certain that he was more surprised about the fact that Yugi had set Spell Vanishing in the expectation of having to negate one of Kaiba’s quick play spells. “You expected me to use Twin Twisters?”

“Of course,” Yugi said. “You never could let the dead rest, could you? Don’t worry, Kaiba. It won’t be the first time I’ll know what you’re planning to do before you even do it.” He glanced back to the remaining three cards in hand. The Duel ending combo would have to wait. “I end my turn.”

Gravekeeper’s Recruiter wasn’t going to stay out on the field long. Yugi regretted that. He felt a little bad, knowing Recruiter was little more than cannon fodder. Twin Burst would dispatch it easily. He doubted the cost of discarding a card from his deck would actually bother Kaiba. What really concerned Yugi, however, was the other set card on Kaiba’s field. It could be anything. Yugi needed to prepare to deal with whatever Kaiba could have set. “My turn,” Kaiba declared as he drew. “If you think having to discard a card from my deck will stop me from attacking Yugi, you’re wrong! I’ll gladly pay the cost if it means I can finally destroy you!”

“Do you really want to destroy me, Kaiba,” Yugi retorted, a sly smirk forming on his face as he noted that Kaiba actually seemed to get flustered by this too. Was it really that easy to throw Kaiba off his game? “You’ve been unable to ever actually beat me, Kaiba. I’d like to see if you actually could.”

“How dare you,” Kaiba said as he looked at the card he discarded from the top of his deck to declare his attack. Yugi couldn’t tell if Kaiba had lost a good card. He’d managed to get that carefully controlled look back on his face. “Twin Burst Stream!”

There went Recruiter. And down went Yugi’s lifepoints again to 6000. “When Recruiter is destroyed, I can add a Gravekeeper monster from my deck to my hand that has 1500 or less defense,” Yugi said as he added Gravekeeper’s Headman to hand. “You know that you can’t actually win, Kaiba. Your Graveyard is locked down and two of your Blue Eyes and one of your Alternatives rests there as well.”

“Then why are you down two thousand life points already, Yugi,” Kaiba said as he set another card. Already drawing this out was getting dangerous. Duels these days were decided in a single turn. It seemed like Kaiba felt so secure that Yugi could not actually destroy Twin Burst that he was not bothering to summon another monster. Kaiba was right that Twin Burst was a formidable monster. Destroying it by battle was not an option - Twin Burst would merely banish the monster that battled that had higher attack. “My Blue Eyes will return to me. I will destroy Necrovalley.”

“You have to know that life points don’t matter unless they’re 0 and that I won’t let you destroy Necrovalley,” Yugi replied calmly. Certainly this didn’t look great for him but he wasn’t concerned. “Besides, Kaiba, this duel isn’t about winning for me. It’s about getting you to actually talk to me.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you, Yugi, besides that if you don’t care about winning, then you’ll easily be crushed,” Kaiba said, glaring at Yugi. “You always want to talk, Yugi. Enough talking! Show me what your point is with your cards! I end my turn!”

“If that’s what you want, then fine,” Yugi said as he drew his next card. Raigeki. Out of all the cards to draw. “I activate Raigeki! Twin Burst is destroyed!” A bolt of lightning hit the field and vaporized Twin Burst. There went one of his problems. “Your Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon will rest in the Graveyard for the rest of the Duel, never to return to the field.”

A dark look crossed Kaiba’s face. “You’re going to regret that, Yugi!”

“I doubt it,” Yugi replied. “Now I summon Gravekeeper’s Headman! With this card, I can special summon a Gravekeeper monster from my graveyard. This effect is unaffected by Necrovalley. And I choose Gravekeeper’s Heretic!”

Gravekeeper’s Heretic returned to the field, a look of amazement on the monster’s face as he looked behind him to give a nod to Yugi. Yugi nodded back, well aware this wouldn’t end the Duel but it would definitely put a dent in Kaiba's life points and keep the crowd from getting restless. “Thought you wanted to make a point about graveyards being closed,” Kaiba said, a nasty look on his face. “Undermining your point there, Yugi.”

“I’m not the one refusing to let go of the dead, Kaiba,” Yugi said. The one thing he knew was that the dead wouldn’t come back to life. However, he could keep their memories close to his chest. He could remember Atem and honor him. “When we lose someone, they’re gone but we keep the memory of them. In that, we never truly lose them. We move forward, Kaiba, without forgetting what we had with them. We carry the lessons they teach us in our heart. Now, Headman and Heretic will attack you directly!”

Both of them hit Kaiba directly, dropping Kaiba from 8000 life points to 4700 in one swift blow. The crowd might not understand why Yugi was doing what he was doing but they seemed to enjoy seeing Yugi finally get an attack in. Yugi looked up towards the crowd and spotted Mokuba and Rebecca close to the pitch. Mokuba met Yugi’s eyes and nodded. Yugi then locked eyes with Kaiba again as Kaiba staggered upright. “You claim that you won’t bring back the dead but I bet you could if you weren’t a coward,” Kaiba spat. “You accepted the Pharaoh’s fate so easily. You aren’t the first to blindly follow destiny.”

Yugi stared at Kaiba, sighing. “I end my turn, Kaiba,” Yugi said. “This Duel will be over soon. By the end of the Duel, you will have to accept that in order to move forward, you have to accept that you cannot change that he’s dead. The past is set in stone, Kaiba. I would think that you would understand that better than anyone.”

“I don’t accept limitations, unlike some people,” Kaiba said as he drew a card. “I activate the Melody of Awakening Dragon! This allows me to add two dragons from my deck with 3000 or more attack from my deck and 2500 or less defense as long as I discard a card! Now, I bring out Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon.” Out came the second Alternative and Yugi knew that meant that the final Blue Eyes was in Kaiba’s hand. Kaiba’s deck would be rendered worthless once all Blue Eyes were incapable of being summoned. “And I activate its effect, allowing me to destroy Headman!”

“Once that effect is activated, you cannot declare an attack on me this turn,” Yugi remarked as Headman was destroyed. Yugi was surprised he didn’t pick Heretic. Headman had less attack compared to Heretic. Certainly there was a plan for this move. “So you must be planning on summoning another monster.”

“For once, you’re wrong, Yugi,” he said as he set a card facedown. “I’m setting a card and ending my turn. You can’t hope to defeat me, Yugi.”

There was only one way to assure the Duel didn’t go sideways. He drew, noting the card. “I’m activating my continuous trap, Necrovalley Temple,” Yugi declared. “Whenever I have a Gravekeeper monster and Necrovalley on the field, your monsters lose 500 attack!” That wasn’t all it did but the rest of the effects weren’t as important. Heretic still couldn’t beat over it, however. “I summon Gravekeeper’s Spiritualist!” Spiritualist twirled out. “When she’s summoned, she fusion summons out any fusion monster I have using cards from my hand and field as well as herself.”

She began to wave her staff around as Heretic was pulled in as well as Oracle from his hand. “I bring out Gravekeeper’s Supernaturalist! As long as he’s out, cards in my field zone cannot be destroyed. During the end phase of this turn, I can add any Gravekeeper or Necrovalley card from my deck to my hand. That’s not all: it gains 100 attack points for each level of the monsters used to fuse him out on top of the 500 attack.”

This made Supernaturalist the strongest monster on the field. Not only that, both Yugi and Kaiba knew there was now no real way for Kaiba to win. “You think I’m going to let your monster scare me into no longer fighting,” Kaiba asked, looking irked. “I’m not like the other opponents you might have faced in the past four years, Yugi.”

“Of course you’re not,” Yugi said, standing his ground. He had to get through to Kaiba. He needed Kaiba to understand. At this point, he wasn’t even sure what he needed Kaiba to understand. Everything about the past four years felt like a fresh wound. Mokuba arriving at the Kame Game Shop, tears in his eyes as he informed Yugi that Seto was gone. Accepting a job at Kaiba Corp because Mokuba admitted he needed help. The AI that Kaiba had built before he left that looked exactly like Atem. “Because none of them understood me like you do, Kaiba. You and I are connected by the same tragedy,” came spilling out of Yugi, desperately reaching out towards Kaiba. “No one but you understands how it felt. Kaiba, please. I need you to be willing to talk to me.”

The grief was plain on Kaiba’s face and Yugi was almost certain he’d bridged the gap between Kaiba and him. Kaiba had to understand that Yugi cared, right? It occurred to Yugi that he was wrong about wanting to force Kaiba to stay for Mokuba’s sake. He needed Kaiba here too. “I already told you that you can talk to me through your cards,” Kaiba said, annoyed. “I activate Heavy Storm Duster! I’ll blow away you, your Necrovalley, and Necrovalley Temple!”

“You think that will work,” Yugi asked as the storm swarmed around them, bent on destroying Necrovalley and the Temple that had formed on the field. It whipped around his clothes and he could barely hear the crowd anymore. “When Necrovalley Temple is destroyed, I can set a Necrovalley spell or trap card from my deck directly to the field besides Necrovalley Temple! Not only that, you fail to destroy Necrovalley due to Spiritualist's effect!” The dust settled and Necrovalley remained on the field. Yugi glared at Kaiba. “You cannot fight the inevitable, Kaiba. You are going to lose this Duel. The sooner you accept this, the better.”

“I’ll never accept that, Yugi,” Kaiba said, taking a step back as Yugi took a step forward. It was like Kaiba was trying to rapidly build walls between them, preventing Yugi from ever fully reaching him. Yugi sighed, shaking his head yet again. “Not as long as I can still fight. You aren’t the first one to tell me what isn’t possible and I’ve proven them wrong before. I’ll prove you wrong too, Yugi!”

Yugi then realized the only way he’d be able to get through to Kaiba is to actually defeat him. “As you just said, Kaiba… I’m not like the other opponents you’ve faced,” Yugi said, pointing to Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon. “Supernaturalist attacks Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon!”

Instantly, Supernaturalist pounced upwards, his staff high above his head as energy gathered at its tip. And then the attack hit, tearing through Alternative. Alternative’s cry of agony tugged at Yugi’s heart, feeling almost bad for having to destroy such a nice looking monster. Once again, Kaiba did not activate his other facedown card. Yugi was reminded vaguely of the duel they had five years ago, when Kaiba had set a card that was never activated. What could possibly be set? “You can’t keep my graveyard locked forever,” Kaiba said, glaring at Yugi as his life points dropped down. There wasn’t much time left in this Duel. “I’ll show you I can raise the dead.”

“You can’t,” Yugi said, pleading with Kaiba to understand that the dead needed their rest as he set Fiendish Chain. “I add a card to my hand due to Supernaturalist’s effect,” Yugi said as he added Gravekeeper’s Priestess to hand, anticipating on using her to end the Duel the next turn. Whatever powerful monster Kaiba brought out would not be enough to change the outcome. What a shame , Yugi thought. He thought he might be able to pull this out longer and instead, Kaiba blew through his resources rapidly, leaving him with nothing. “My turn is over, Kaiba. Take your last turn.”

Even Kaiba seemed well aware that this was the final turn. No one could say that Kaiba wasn’t stubborn, however. He drew his next card. “The final chance to end this has arrived,” Kaiba said as he revealed the final Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon from his hand. “Your defense will be shattered,” Kaiba said with a rather manic sounding laugh. Yugi, for his part, was certain he seemed bored if only because he knew for a fact how this would end. Yugi’s trap card flipped over the second the dragon was summoned and the chains grabbed Alternative, dragging her down as she yelled in shock. “What?”

“My trap card activated, Kaiba,” Yugi said calmly, realizing how much grief had felt exactly like he’d been drowning. He’d felt exactly like that - chained to his own sorrow and being dragged down and held back. Yugi was done with it. He needed Kaiba to join him in resurfacing. “Fiendish Chain activates by targeting an effect monster and negating their effects and preventing them from attacking.”

Kaiba seemed stunned by this, staring at the dragon as if he was expecting her to become unchained. Alternative struggled against the chains and yet, nothing changed. She remained chained. “You had this planned,” Kaiba said slowly. “You expected me to go through my resources.”

“Some things never change, Kaiba, and I still know you,” Yugi said softly as he examined the field. The end game was here and there was no use in putting it off. Nothing Kaiba did this turn would prevent Yugi’s victory the very next turn. “I know that’s hard to believe when so much has changed these past four years… I know. But we’re still here for you, Kaiba. That hasn’t changed.”

The only thing that reminded Yugi that they were not alone was that the stadium full of people was still cheering so loudly that it hurt Yugi’s ears. It was like wind whipping around him - easily ignored. Kaiba finally hung his head and Yugi felt like an arrow had run through his heart. “There’s nothing else I can do,” Kaiba said after a long pause, before the judges could intervene that Kaiba needed to make a move. “I end my turn.”

“My turn, then,” Yugi said as he drew, summoning out Gravekeeper’s Priestess. He was almost amazed by the fact that she seemed well aware of what was going on. The determined look settled on Priestess’s face. “I summon Gravekeeper’s Priestess. And now, Supernaturalist will destroy Alternative.” Once again, Supernaturalist’s attack blasted through the Dragon, turning it to dust on the ground. “Kaiba… Are you ready?”

It didn’t matter if he was ready. Priestess’s attack went barrelling towards Kaiba, a violent flash of golden light filling the arena. When the light cleared, Yugi could swear he saw a tear rolling down Kaiba’s cheek but it must have been a trick of the light. Kaiba’s life points hit zero as the crowd roared in approval. Yugi started to walk towards Kaiba as the holograms cleared but Kaiba turned away, walking off the pitch in a brisk stride. He barely even heard the announcer declare him the winner and still world champion. He wasn’t even sure if he was playing his part right when Pegasus’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, congratulating him on yet another win.

Seto hated weakness. He hated that he saw it in himself when he’d had to hurry off the pitch after Yugi won, desperate to try to collect himself. It was a weakness that Yugi had managed to bring him to tears and Yugi had exploited every weakness Kaiba had. Every part of him felt raw but he put that down to the Duel Disk giving him a hard jolt when Priestess had attacked. He swore he’d seen that face before. It couldn’t have been Isis Ishtar, though. It was just a trading card. He was simply unsettled by Yugi’s vicious attacks. It had completely unsettled him to the point where Kaiba pressed his foot down harder into the ground to assure that he was still on Earth.

The view of Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon chained by Yugi’s trap card remained fresh in his mind. Yugi had planned for Kaiba to run through his resources like that. He had expected Kaiba’s strategy and had known all the weaknesses to exploit. Even worse, Kaiba knew what Yugi was trying to communicate to him. “You and I are connected by the same tragedy” rattled around Kaiba’s head and once again, the entire world was off-kilter again. Yugi had made it very clear what he meant and Kaiba wanted to pretend he didn’t understand. He wanted to pretend he didn’t understand that Yugi was referring to Atem’s death and the impact it had on the both of them. He wanted to pretend that Yugi couldn’t possibly understand his grief; Kaiba couldn’t pretend anymore. He couldn’t look away from the fact that Yugi was right . He reached for his phone and called his therapist for an emergency session.

“I see,” Reiki said after Kaiba finished explaining everything that had happened in the Duel. Funny how there was a time when Kaiba would have just let this fester. Perhaps he was getting something out of these sessions with Reiki, even if it was just somewhere he could vent all his anger and frustration. “I’ll confess: I don’t know much about Duel Monsters. I only know what my daughter says about the game. However, that does sound like a rather intense Duel. Have you given any thought to what Yugi had said during the duel?”

“I’ve given it nothing but thought,” Kaiba said as he stood up and headed down the hallway now that the weight was fully off chest, images from the Duel flashing through his head. He glanced around, surprised that no one had bothered him yet. “I just keep thinking about my dragon chained down and how Yugi had been so confident about his assured victory.”

“He is an undefeated champion,” Reiki pointed out. “Just like you had been confident that you might have won because you’re adapting to the meta, he had reason to be confident in his victory too.”

“I thought you were supposed to be helping me.”

“I am,” Reiki said, sounding amused. “Sometimes help is reminding you about the world you live in. Just like how I have to remind you that Mokuba isn’t out to get you by enforcing the new rules of the company.”

Kaiba scoffed. It seemed like no one was on his side when it came to spending more time at work. “I should replace you.”

“By all means, Seto. Make my life easier,” Reiki said and Kaiba couldn’t help but grin at the familiar rib. It was becoming easier to trust Reiki. Partly because it had been months of Kaiba revealing himself and none of it showed up elsewhere. Reiki had kept his promise, allowing Kaiba to return to full time work and had been the one to sign off that he was ready to live on his own. Kaiba owed a lot to Reiki. “Though, you did call for a reason. This Duel seems to have stirred up old feelings that you wanted to forget.”

Unfortunately, part of the problem with having opened up to Reiki is that Reiki now knew him far too well. More than he was comfortable with. “I suppose,” he admitted as he stepped into his dressing room, closing the door behind him. There was no point in lying. Reiki would know. “It was… Uncomfortable.”

“Growth involves a lot of discomfort, Seto,” Reiki said gently. “Whenever you move past grief, you’re growing. And it won’t be easy. Grief has a tendency to consume and it demands to be felt.”

Seto felt tears pricking at his eyes and hated that sometimes, he couldn’t contain his emotions anymore. He locked his dressing room door, putting the phone on speaker and setting it on a dresser. He shrugged his jacket off and glanced around at the bare bones room. “I don’t want to feel grief,” Seto finally said, emotions overtaking him that he could not name. “I don’t want to feel anything.”

“No one can feel nothing,” Reiki countered. “Unfortunately, Seto, you’re human. You’re going to feel emotions, whether you like it or not. It is better you be prepared to feel emotions you don’t want to feel and have coping skills for them rather than deny you have emotions.”

As much as he wanted to argue, Seto knew he could not. Reiki was right.

#fic: you'd come back to me #myfanfic #hello chapter nine is here

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ystk-archive · 3 years

Photo

First of all, big apologies to the six people above who asked me about this song over a month ago when it came out. I understand what Nakata meant when he said he only knows a song is finished when he hits his deadline – I could’ve easily let this sit another week and came back and messed with it more lmao.

If you want the short and simple of it: it’s nice, with all that piano it’s sort of reminiscent of jelly (aside from the WOF thing which I’ll, uh, get into below), it’s great to see Toshiko in one of their MVs again (and Nakata directing which hasn’t happened since ’07) though I’m not wild about the video per se. I guess in a broad sense I would say I like it, it’s a return to form for him and infinitely more enjoyable than anything he’s done with his “officially solo” material, but I could also fully understand if someone thought it was boring.

For my actual thoughts on it...

Hikari no Disco (ひかりのディスコ; Light Disco) as a whole package is sort of unusually mired in nostalgia. It’s got all that densely layered, classic style Nakata’s best known for which has been largely absent from his other projects over the past six years of CAPSULE (god I still don’t like the all-uppercase stylization) being in live-shows-only mode. As a piece of music it has an endearing sense of comfort and awe; it amuses the listener with odd little vocal modulations (my favorite is at 2:02), pointed percussive moments, and a strong piano backbone that work in tandem to give it character and charm. It even eschews the club-ready rinse-and-repeat of Nakata’s past compositions for capsule in favor of something very traditionally pop: an actual, proper break right before the song’s climax. Maybe it’s not a stretch to say all the tiny flourishes and embellishments in Hikari are a pure reflection of Nakata finally finding some kind of reason to go back to capsule – the overly bombastic (and loud) way the track opens feels like a curtain unveiling, like somebody pointing to capsule and going “hey, look at this!”

Though there is a bit of an elephant in the room here and that would be the recurrence of the motif from WORLD OF FANTASY (the repeating pattern of twelve-ish notes) which defined that track ten years ago. For the person who mentioned him recycling material, he did say in his Real Sound interview that he deliberately sampled it, but despite my agreeing with him in that it’s a good motif I have a few issues with its reappearance in Hikari. It’s such a specific and memorable facet of a previous track in their discography that its inclusion here feels like a sister song has been created rather than an entirely new work. Not only that, but Nakata went one step further with this callback and basically reimagined the entire music video for WOF as well. He’s definitely not a stranger to self-reference within his music but it normally seems to occur under incidental circumstances, and since historically capsule isn’t a music unit that does a lot of looking back, it comes across strangely for longtime listeners. Nostalgia and sampling oneself aren’t inherently bad, the problem here is that it doesn’t do enough to transform its inspiration point into a solidly new work. I spend both the song and music video just thinking about WORLD OF FANTASY and comparing the two in my mind.

Which, speaking of new works, you probably don’t need me to tell you this brings absolutely nothing new to the table for Nakata’s standard. I’m mixed on whether or not I could call this a detraction, because on one hand I’ve believed for years that he could stand to break out of his comfort zone musically and really try wholly different things (CAPS LOCK is an example), but on the other hand I recognize that capsule’s first new track in six years may not be the place to expect that. I think my concerns right now are for an album that’ll be too self-referential and maybe too focused on being something people remember liking from over a decade ago. (I mean, even their new artist photo is a goofy MORE! MORE! MORE! reference. Love the gloves, though.)

Lyrically Hikari is even more nostalgic, verging on the same type of sweetness present in past capsule songs like FRUITS CLiPPER’s dreamin dreamin and FLASH BACK’s Eternity. I often find myself fixating on the line “この身体にまだ / 慣れてないけど” (“Though I’m still not used to this body”); it strikes me as a strange thing to say in a song that’s otherwise teeming with sentimentality and familiar words (disco, stars, sparkling, landing, lights). Is the speaker meant to be an alien that got turned into a human? Are they now a 41-year-old grappling with age? Am I reading into things here? To answer the person who asked what the song “means,” it’s really up to your interpretation and how you relate to it. For me it’s a song about the lights of the city at dusk, the lights of the club and, just maybe, the lights inside all of our hearts. (That was awful. I’m kidding.)

The music video is an anomaly in that it is apparently Nakata’s return to the director’s seat after a fourteen-year absence from helming this aspect of capsule. While video direction isn’t exactly his forté, nor has it ever seemed like a passion of his, I’ve always enjoyed the outside-the-box approach that yielded visual works like Retro Memory’s stylish, static angle lounge singer concept and Glider’s quirky portrayal of the afterlife, or something. Despite what I said earlier, Hikari is equally helped by the immediate parallel the viewer will draw between it and the music video for WORLD OF FANTASY – it’s almost as if (note: he did not say this! I’m speculating!) Nakata revisited WOF and felt dissatisfied by director Tani Atsushi’s “night drive through Tokyo but make it Blade Runner on a budget.” As someone who never particularly cared for that MV, I have to praise what Hikari does differently with the same basic premise. Here, Toshiko is shown through a neutral lens that chooses not to highlight her body as she gets into a Honda Prelude, an older car almost utterly devoid of the cool points earned by WOF’s Lamborghini. The core of Hikari’s intrigue is in anachronism: the car is from the 1980s, but the road Toshiko is driving on didn’t exist at that time, so when does the music video take place? They carefully include a shot of Tokyo Tower, a symbol of pre-2010s Tokyo, and exclude the much newer Skytree. There’s also the appearance of the cassette tape from which the single’s cover art and central nostalgic ethos are derived. Where WOF followed expectations of an ultra-sleek futuristic cityscape, Hikari is subversive in only the way something with Nakata’s direct involvement could be. It does it all with an unsteadily amateurish camera, a fixation on the unfocused glittering lights of the city, and an intense 3D-effect filter that brings to mind Sugarless GiRL, his last directorial work.

Though as charmingly set up as Hikari is, the video – and Toshiko – ultimately go nowhere. Not that capsule’s music videos were ever particularly story-driven (the animated sci-fi trilogy notwithstanding), nor do they need to be, but there’s a one-note sameness that permeates Hikari and leaves me wanting more. This is especially glaring in the way the video ends with in-car audio and prolonged silence, suggesting something is about to happen, but nothing does. As the music itself ended I found myself desperately hoping for a visual conclusion to go with it: maybe she’d answer a phone call, or arrive at her destination and get out, but the MV just sort of...stops. Legend has it she’s still driving to this day.

Overall the music video does its job better than any other capsule MV between 2010 and now, and the musical nostalgia here is a fun diversion even if it isn’t exactly introducing new ideas. I’m presently just confused about the status of the album (and whether something as jarringly old-school as Utsusemi will get tacked on there) but capsule’s not really followed consistent scheduling since they moved to Warner/ASOBISYSTEM. Maybe next time they drop something I’ll be more conscientious of the timing of answering questions about it though, lol.

#messages #capsule #Hikari no Disco #i really wrote ~1000 words about this...#and i didn't even say everything i could've said #oh well

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deejadabbles · 3 years

Text

A Thousand Songs (Atem/Yami x Reader)

Chapter Five: Hello, My Old Heart

One /// Two /// Three /// Four /// Five /// (Six coming soon) ///

Summary: You knew that you and your band could make it big. Not only that, but stay together while doing it; the five of you were family, after all. The only problem was that despite all your musical talents...none of you were particularly good at lyrics. After years of struggling to put out your first full album, the solution finally made himself know in chance meeting on an empty stage.

Rock Band AU, Atem x Reader, gender neutral reader.

You could visibly see the poor young man swallowing hard as he settled in the seat across from you and the rest of your bandmates. Try as you might to make the setting casual (cushy chairs instead of a desk, offers of soda and chips, greeting him with an ‘what’s up, my dude?’, etc.) Atem still seemed rather nervous. Not that you blamed him, you distinctly remember Honda making a joke about “oh yeah, ask the dude to come to our secluded studio by himself to meet five strangers, that’s not creepy or anything” when Yugi told you guys how he had invited the man to meet with the rest of you.

“So, Yugi said that you write songs as a hobby?” Anzu began, giving him the warmest smile she could, an effort to ease Atem’s mood.

He nodded, then started unclasping the latch on his leather messenger bag, “That’s right, I’ll admit, I don’t have too many that are finished, but that’s mostly due to boredom and moving on to a new idea, not lack of inspiration.” He then pulled out some papers divided by paperclips. “Here are the songs I think best represent my usual work, the work that’s easiest for me to write as well as what I would prefer to put out there.”

Honda grabbed the small stack and passed out songs to each of you. A bit of an awkward silence fell as you all started reading the various lyrics, but not even that could tarnish how impressed you were with the ones you were reading. Poetic, but not too over the top or pretentious, nice. You glanced up at the others, nodding your head with an impressed smile before switching papers with Yugi to look over another example (you also didn’t miss the way Yugi beamed at you). Now this song struck you, after only reading the first verse you could already hear the beginnings of a beat and chords you could put with the lyrics.

“Yugi also said you have a killer voice,” you said, shifting your eyes from the page to peer up at him.

He gave a cute little cough, “Uh, yes, I suppose I’m not a bad singer.”

You had to actively keep your mind from gushing over how sweet he was. The dude looked like a typical adonis hottie, but his shy outer demeanor just added an extra layer to him. He was wearing something more stylish than the few tabloid pics you’d seen: a long-sleeved black shirt with a silky maroon and gold vest, accessorized with a few rings, bangles, necklaces, and a pair of gold dangling earrings.

You shook the wandering thoughts on his attractiveness away; this was for business, not pleasure. “I was just wondering if you’d mind singing one of the songs for us, that way we can get a feel for the melody you had in mind.”

Again, Atem seemed to swallow something in this throat as a hand reached up to briefly play with one of the flat triangles dripping from his ears. “I suppose I could do that, but, do you mind if I play my violin with it? I’ll find it easier to sing with some music.”

“Of course,” you waved an eager hand, egging him on before handing him back the music sheet in your hand.

His eyes scanned the pages, reminding himself of what song it was before nodding his head and reaching down to the instrument case beside the armchair. Jonouchi had made a comment about Atem carrying his violin everywhere, trying to set a joking mood, but it just caused a flushed Atem to mumble about how he had just picked it up from getting its weekly tuning.

Once Atem was standing, violin in hand, he took a deep breath to collect himself. Then, after two slow heartbeats, he began to play.

The first note was a sorrowful one, long, like a quiet, mournful hum, his slender fingers pulsing to create a wave effect on the sound. Then he was singing. His tone came out like a deep, almost breathy moan, letting the lyrics flow like a story at first- before his tone rose and belted out the chorus.

Atem was captivating, pulling you in with every line, every inflection, making you want to hold your breath lest the sound of it distract from the song. He kept his eyes closed, lost in the music his hands and mouth crafted, and the longer the song went on the more he seemed to relax, to lean into his own notes.

You blinked suddenly, realizing that your mouth had been hanging open just in time to close it before Atem ended his performance on another soaring note and breathy lyric. He stayed like that for a moment, catching his breath, basking in the lingering sound of his song.

Finally, his eyes blinked open and shifted to gauge everyone’s reaction. You weren’t the only one left in awe.

“Holy shit,” Honda breathed.

Yugi’s beaming smile was at maximum sunshine as he leaned into you and whispered, “That’s the song I heard him sing at the theatre, isn’t it beautiful?!”

You nodded and opened your mouth to say something but Anzu beat you to it.

“Can you do that again?” she asked, eager, as she jumped up and walked to her keyboard.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” you asked, also bouncing to your feet and joining her.

Anzu smiled back at you, “Keeping that longer intro and adding keys to it?”

“Yes!” you turned to Jonouchi- who was still staring at Atem like he didn’t quite believe the man was standing there. “Jou, add some drums? Something steady and subtle at first, drawing everyone in before the lyrics start and-”

“-and picking up when the chorus kicks in?” he finished, snapping to attention in an instant, “You got it!”

With that Jonouchi vaulted off the back of the couch, plopping onto the stool at his drum set. Atem was still standing there, now looking a bit bewildered and amused as he watched everyone get to work, perhaps some pride shining in his eyes that his music had inspired it.

“Atem?” you asked, tone gentle and drawing his attention back to you, “Can you play that again?” you repeated Anzu’s question, seeing as how she was fully engrossed in her keys now.

Again, the man seemed hesitant, “Shouldn’t you be taking over, you’re the lead singer after all.”

“Dude, we have to keep that violin track,” you insisted, finding your voice breathy as you pointed at Atem, “It’s perfect for the song, it’s deep and beautiful and-” speechless, you gave an exaggerated chef’s kiss to emphasize just how much you meant what you were touting.

The expression earned you a smile from the violinist, a hint of bashfulness mixing with the fresh and rising pride. “Alright, if you think it will improve the song.” With that, Atem lifted his violin, took another deep breath, and started the song again.

***

It was strange how no hands had officially shaken, no one even told Atem he was hired, but that session was immediately followed up by the band asking when his next free day was and asking him to come back for another practice session. Atem had never intended on actually playing with the band, but, when they acted so enthralled with his playing, he could hardly say no.

The next time they got together (almost a week after their first meeting) Atem found himself just as nervous as when he first met them. Parking outside their studio, he found his chest heating up with some anxiety. Atem never was good around people, after all.

Hello, my old heart

How have you been?

Are you still there inside my chest?

He rubbed his hands against the steering wheel, letting out a long breath and holding it a moment, before making himself grab his violin case and climb out of the car. His feet crunching on the gravel driveway grounded him a bit and he had managed to calm down slightly before knocking on the studio door.

I've been so worried, you've been so still

Barely beating at all

He heard the sound of laughter coming closer on the other side of the door and a moment later it opened, revealing you in the doorway and more laughter echoing yours in the next room.

“Atem, there you are! Come on in,” you stepped aside and waved an inviting arm.

Atem felt the heat in his chest climb up his neck, “Sorry, am I late?”

“Huh?” You then waved your hand again as you shut the door behind him, “Oh no don’t worry, we just got here early, that’s all.”

He heard someone else call his name before he even got to the room where everyone was sitting, and by the time he did enter, the whole band was waving and greeting him. He cleared his throat before nodding back to everyone and saying a weak ‘hello’ before you spoke again.

“Come on, sit down and chill for a bit before we get started,” you waved at a beat-up arm chair even as you perched on its armrest.

Atem realized with a quick look around that there was nowhere better for you to sit and you were likely offering him your own seat. “Oh, that’s alright, I don’t want to steal your seat-”

Before his offer to sit on the floor was out, you shook your head, “Dude, we can’t have our muse sitting in a creaky fold-up chair, at least sit on the other arm so I don’t topple it!” You laughed again as Honda made some comment about how a topple would probably bust the thing in half.

His cheeks were hot now, but he took the offer with grace (or at least, as much grace as he could muster) and perched himself on the other armrest, setting his violin on the actual seat. Atem also remembered how last time, he had been offered the armchair while Anzu took the creaky fold-up chair. Everyone here really seemed to care about making him comfortable.

Hello, my old heart

It's been so long

Since I've given you away

When was the last time he met anyone who had greeted him with such...openness? Such compassion. And a whole group of someones at that...

He cleared his throat again, trying to draw himself out of his wandering thoughts. “So, are we just going to work out more of the music today?”

And every day, I add another stone

To the walls I built around you

To keep you safe

Everyone seemed to respect his want to get down to business, perhaps thinking that he had other engagements, and only chit-chatted for a handful of minutes, before getting down to their rehearsal. It went well, just as the previous session had, and Atem found himself in awe of how well the creative process of making notes together flowed. Just like that first day, everyone seemed to work off of each other so well, bounding ideas left and right, almost always being on the same page. Even when they weren’t, there were just a few goodhearted jabs and sighs before working everything out.

Again Atem found himself shaking his thoughts away. He really should stop, it wasn’t wise to get attached to this process, these sessions, these people. After all, he was just their ghostwriter, nothing more.

Oh, don't leave me here alone

Don't tell me that we've grown

For having loved a little while

He found himself smiling again despite himself, when you started throwing popcorn kernels at Jonouchi; retribution for a comment about how you needed to change the chords up in the third chorus.

“I’m not changing it,” you said with your tongue sticking out, all while Jou looked affronted at your kernel bombing. “It’s a steady beat, that’s the whole point! Right, Atem?”

At the sound of his name, Atem’s eyes went wide, “Uh- What?”

“Eh, don’t drag him to your side!” Jonouchi pouted, tossing some popcorn from his lap back in your direction.

“I’m not dragging, I’m asking his opinion, there’s a difference,” you said matter of factly, then turned back to Atem, who was sweating a bit now, “What do you think, Atem? Are the same chords during the third chorus too boring? Or does it fit the subtle, powerful nature of the song?”

“You’re leading his answer!” Jonouchi countered, again looking appalled, then squawking as you tossed more popcorn at him.

Atem was a bit distracted by the way Honda kept laughing as Jou picked kernels out of his shirt, but eventually he managed to swallow thickly and answer your question. “I actually like the way you have it now, if I’m being honest.”

You beamed at him, stuck your tongue out at Jonouchi in victory, then held the popcorn bowl out to Atem. “Thank you, my muse! Here, have some brain food.”

His face was heating up again at nickname- or, dare he say, endearment? However, even as he blushed, and took a handful of popcorn, he couldn’t keep that smile from making yet another appearance.

Oh, I don't wanna be alone

I wanna find a home

And I wanna share it with you

When everyone called the day's session to an end, Atem tried not to feel...disappointed. Stop that , he told himself again, this was not something to get attached to. As everyone packed their notes away, Honda started asking about dinner.

“Heeey if I give you a ride to work, think you can get me a discount on nachos again?” he asked, turning to you with an eyebrow wiggle.

You scoffed, “Dude, the boss was barely okay with that one time I did it, I can’t convince her again. But I can just buy your nachos if you really want.”

“Where do you work?” Atem found himself asking, far too late to stop himself from getting involved.

“Oh- ever heard of The Mark? It’s a bar downtown.”

Atem shook his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Admittedly, the only bar he had been in since college was the high-end one in his apartment building.

You didn’t seem to take notice of his embarrassment though and just shrugged, “It’s only popular to a certain crowd. Anyway,” you continued, turning back to Honda, “give me a ride and I’ll buy you nachos.”

“Okay, all this talk of nachos has me hungry,” Jonouchi groaned, “Let’s go with em, Yug.”

Anzu perked up at that, nodding to you as she said, “You know, I’ve really been craving your specialty daiquiris. Jou, got room in your truck for me?”

“Sure,” the drummer shrugged as everyone started milling towards the door.

Yugi was smiling brightly as he held the door open for everyone, “Guess it’s a band outing now! Atem, you want to join? You can follow us to the bar, it isn’t far.”

As his feet were once again crunching on the gravel drive, Atem had to stop. He looked back to the group, ready to see at least one of them giving an uneasy expression at the invitation, if not an outright protest.

Instead, he saw Anzu nodding her head eagerly while Honda locked up the studio. Neither you nor Jonouchi looked wary of the suggestion and instead just looked to him for an answer.

You must have thought he needed further prompting, because you said, “Hey, our ‘girls night’ plate of nachos is more than big enough for all of you.”

Atem had to swallow another something in his throat. All of you were already inviting him out for drinks?

Hello, my old heart

How have you been?

“I- sorry, I have to get up early in the morning. Thank you, though.” Atem could only cast his eyes to the ground during the half-lie.

How is it being locked away?

He saw something flicker in Yugi’s eyes, but he was quick to hide it with a smile. “Okay, maybe next time.”

Your smile matched Yugi’s as everyone headed to Jou’s truck and Honda’s bike, “Have a good night, Atem.”

Don't you worry, in there you're safe

“See you next week,” Anzu waved.

All he could manage was a nod as he turned towards his own car.

And it's true, you'll never beat

But you'll never break

It only took one more session to get the rest of the music figured out, and then it was time to record. Atem was interested in the process, how the five of you set up the sound equipment, what programs you used, he even asked you how you had installed padding to improve the sound quality.

The video part of the recording would be left for later, right now it was just the song to worry about- though you did make a point to tell Atem that you wanted to discuss setting ideas for the video soon. Atem felt his heart swell a bit at that. Not that he wanted to admit it, but he was glad that you wanted to involve him in every step of the song. This song in particular, this first one that had so enthralled Yugi first, was likely one of the more personal ones Atem had written.

Your voice rose with the chorus, fingers dancing gracefully against the bridge of the guitar, and Atem found himself admiring how well suited your voice was to his lyrics. A perfect fit. Though you likely had no way of knowing the background behind this song or why Atem had written it, you belted the lyrics with passion and depth, cared for every bar as if you were singing from the depths of your heart.

Maybe you were. Music spoke to more than just those who wrote it, perhaps not in the same ways, but that hardly mattered.

He heard the way the ending lyric stole your breath, and his violin hummed its final note with you in a harmony Atem had admired a dozen times during these rehearsals. When the last note ended, everyone waited a moment, seeming to hold their breaths, before daring to move. When everyone did, Jonouchi was already bounding over to the computer hooked up to the recording mics. With a few clicks and a quick look over something on the screen, the blonde gave a clap of his hands.

“We got it! That should be all we need for a high quality recording.”

Everyone cheered or hooted at that, and Yugi made a comment about finally having something new to give their fans. Atem was smiling with the rest of them, but he was failing to ignore the way his chest ached just a bit. The song was done, and, unless they asked him to join them on stage, Atem supposed this was the last time he would play with the band.

Writing songs for them was all nice in of itself, but, despite all his personal warnings not to, he would be lying if he said he hadn’t grown a bit attached to these evenings and nights with the band.

Oh, I don't wanna be alone

I wanna find a home

And I wanna share it with you

A sudden call of his name had Atem jolting back to the present, and he saw you standing beside him, a hint of concern creasing your brow. “Everything okay?”

“Uh-” he cleared his throat, “-yes, I’m alright,” he lied, just as he had lied to deny himself the after-work drinks weeks ago. “I was just thinking, we got so caught up in recording this song, that none of you got the chance to discuss if any others were to your liking.”

“What, any of your other songs?” Honda asked, and when Atem nodded, he literally waved the comment off, “Dude, I’m pretty sure we liked all the examples you gave us, right guys?”

“Definitely!” Yugi didn’t miss the chance to boost Atem’s ego (or rather, soothe any worries). “We actually looked over your other songs the other day, and all of us agree we want to record all of them. I told you you were a perfect fit for us!”

The words, as well as the wink Yugi gave, did make Atem smile, but it didn’t do much to alleviate the root of his woe. “I’m glad they fit with the band so well. If you want to know the melodies or themes I had in mind for any of the other songs as well, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

That seemed to give everyone pause.

Nothing lasts forever

Atem watched as they began giving each other looks, very pointed looks, in turns, and he couldn’t ignore the sinking sensation in his chest. They seemed to silently agree on something a moment later, because Anzu spoke up as her eyes turned back to Atem.

“Actually, we were talking about that a lot too…”

Some things aren't meant to be

Atem swallowed hard, heart starting to pound in his ears. Perhaps he wasn’t good enough, perhaps they thought him too pretentious, or maybe he had overstepped the boundaries of his role here, maybe he and his violin didn’t-

“How would you feel about joining the band for the whole album?”

But you'll never find the answers

Until you set your old heart free

Again, your voice put a break on Atem’s reeling thoughts, and he had to blink to collect himself again. “I- you mean, you want me to play for the other songs as well?”

More looks were exchanged, quick ones this time, before Yugi chimed in next. “We talked it over a lot the past week and we all agree that you gel with us pretty well! And not only that, but your violin really adds a lot to our music, we’d really love for you to record more songs with us, not just write them.”

Until you set your old heart free

Now Atem’s heart was pounding in his ears for a whole other reason. He almost wanted to smack himself when he felt the widest, most giddy grin he ever remembered smiling spread across his face.

“I would like that very much,” he said, cheeks going a bit warm when everyone was returning his smile.

Hello, my old heart

“So what are we waitin’ for?” Jonouchi jumped in, all enthusiasm and eagerness, “What song are we doing next?”

That sparked conversation, and everyone started chiming in with their votes almost immediately, Yugi and Anzu even digging out Atem’s sheet music for references. Atem could only take the scene in with a smile that was widening the more he watched them bicker good-heartedly.

And he was glad he had gotten attached to this process, these sessions, to these people.

I wanna share it with you

#atem x reader #yami x reader #yugioh x reader #yugioh band au #series: a thousand songs #atem #yami yugi

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