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matwith1t · 3 years

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A/N: More fluff!! Ahh!! And a request?! 😱 Thank you to the anon who sent it in! Please enjoy some boyfriend Mat content!! Feedback is my favorite thing in the world and I’d love to know every detail of your thoughts!! Thanks a million for all of your kind reblogs/messages/tags about my previous writings 🥺 It means the absolute world to me 🥺 Requests are still open!!! Send ‘em my way if you have any 😎

Request: Mat Barzal taking care of a sick girlfriend !!! Fluffy mat is superior… In which you’re sick and Mat takes care of you.

MASTERLIST | LET’S CHAT 🥂 | Mat Barzal x Reader

Warnings: throwing up // WC: 2.4K // Fluff

Waking up with an excruciating pounding sensation right in the middle of your forehead was less than ideal. And the sun peaking through the slits of the blinds made it even worse. But the one thing that made the headache pain––and the bile churning in your stomach––a little less dull, was the feeling of your boyfriend’s arm around your waist, his face nuzzled into the crook of your neck.

You tried your hardest to concentrate on the soft breaths that came from Mat’s slightly parted lips that fanned your neck. Tried your hardest to concentrate on his hand that slightly squeezed your waist, his telltale sign that he was waking up. And tried your hardest to keep your eyes shut as Mat slid one of his legs between yours.

“Morning,” Mat mumbled as he placed a soft kiss on the base of your neck.

But even that wasn’t enough to stop the discomfort in your stomach as you felt an increase of saliva in the back of your mouth.

Hastily, you threw the sheets off you and stumbled out of bed.

The bathroom door was left wide open and ran as fast as you could to the toilet. And once the lid of the toilet was up, your head faced downward into the bowl, you emptied out the contents of your stomach from the night before. The ugly sound of bile coming up through your esophagus was one you tried your hardest to keep quiet, but it was no use as it echoed off the bathroom walls.

Not even a minute after you bolted into the bathroom alone, you felt a presence behind you. Mat ran his fingers slowly up and down your spine, as his other hand made sure there were no loose strands of hair in front of your face. You clutched the outer rim of the toilet and he was silent as he just offered up his presence.

You felt moisture in the corner of your eyes from squeezing them so tight. But after a few deep breaths, and the wave of nausea floating away, you closed the lid of the seat and flushed the toilet. With your arms on the lid of the toilet, the porcelain felt cool on your skin.

Tilting your head to the side, so that your cheek rested on your arm, you looked up at Mat who had his eyebrows pulled together in worry, “Morning to you too.”

Mat rolled his eyes and let out a soft laugh at your late response to his morning greeting. With his fingers still stroking your spine, he gave you a sympathetic smile, “Feeling better?”

“No.”

At your honest answer, Mat let out another laugh as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of your head, “Let’s get you back to bed.”

With a groan, you told him you wanted to brush your teeth first. So he grabbed you a new toothbrush, and after you brushed your teeth, you sluggishly made your way back to his bed. The lingering pressure of your headache was still present, so you wrapped yourself up in his blankets and buried your head into the pillow he slept on last night.

You felt a dip in the mattress next to where you laid curled up, and then felt a hand slowly rub your shoulder, “Do you want anything to eat? Toast always makes me feel better after I’m sick.”

The thought of putting any food into your stomach at the moment made you even more nauseous than you were a few moments ago. So you shook your head no.

“Tea?” He offered.

Again, you shook your head.

“Water? Or––”

“I just want to sleep,�� your voice was muffled as you spoke into the pillow. But you knew Mat heard you when he squeezed your shoulder.

You didn’t want to admit it, but part of you was embarrassed with yourself throwing up in front of Mat. Sure, he was your boyfriend and had most likely seen you in worse situations, but the sudden sickness came out of nowhere. And there was part of you that wanted to be left alone––to sit with your embarrassment until it passed like the nausea––but when you felt his hand retract from your shoulder, you wished his touch didn’t go away.

As Mat stood up, the dip in the mattress was no longer present, and for the third time in the morning, he pressed a gentle kiss on your temple, “Alright.”

You heard his footsteps softly trek out of his room, and you so badly wanted to reach out and ask him to stay. Because you knew that he had the capability to make you feel like the stomach bug would pass instantly, but the logical part of you let him walk away. If he were to get sick, that wouldn’t go over so well with hockey.

Ten minutes later, you heard the door slightly creek open. You barely lifted your head up from the pillow to see Mat walking towards you with a steaming cup of tea and thermometer in his hand. He set the mug of tea down on his nightstand and sat down on the side of the mattress, next to you.

Mat tapped the thermometer on your cheek, “Open up.”

But like before, you just shook your head no, “We already know I’m sick.”

“I just want to know if you have a fever,” he whispered just as soft as the look in his eyes. You didn’t want to have your temperature taken, but when you opened your eyes more and saw his messy hair sticking up in a few directions, affectionate eyes wide in a silent plea, paired with the softest smile you had ever seen, you opened your mouth. Triumphantly, his smile widened as he placed the thermometer under your tongue, “There we go.”

The faint beep of the thermometer working to take your temperature sounded louder in the silence. But when it rang a few times, signaling it was done, you crossed your eyes to see if you could see the final temperature. But Mat had taken the stick out of your mouth and grimaced.

“One-oh-one point eight.”

With a groan, you buried your head back into the pillow, “See, I told you––”

“I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t a super high fever,” Mat spoke in a caring voice as he caressed your cheek, “I’m going to pick some stuff up from the store. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

Before he could turn away, a whine left your lips as you rolled over and took hold of his wrist, “Don’t go.”

He bent down so he was eye level with you and rested his palm on your forehead, “You’re burning up. I promise it’ll be the fastest trip ever, you won’t even know I’m gone.”

With a hmpf, you let go of his wrist and curled yourself back into a fetal position to stop the chills running through your body. You heard Mat let out a chuckle as he bent down to press another kiss to your temple as he whispered another promise to be back soon.

You tried your best to get some sleep, but with your body chills soon turning into body aches, it was pointless. And with the headache pain still looming about, you didn’t want to scroll through your phone. So you stared up at Mat’s ceiling, and tried to count up to the highest number you could.

You didn’t know what number you were on, but it was long forgotten when you heard his front door open and the rattling of bags together. And soon enough, you saw Mat in the doorway––both hands holding onto plastic pharmacy bags––and couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ll be in soon,” he mirrored your smile, “Promise.”

With a nod, you fell back onto the pillow as a chill ran down your spine. And while you wished he would’ve been back with you sooner, he didn’t break his promise. Because soon enough, Mat pushed the door open with his hip and closed it with the back of his foot. And you would’ve taken a picture of him if the harsh brightness of your phone screen didn’t cause your head to feel like it was splitting in half.

In his right hand, he held a steaming hot bowl of broth. In his left hand, he held a few packages of over the counter medication. Under his chin, pressed in between his chest, he clutched a few magazines, pencils, and word search books. And over his left shoulder hung a heavy blanket.

You felt your shoulders drop at how adorable he looked waddling over to your side of the bed. First, he set the steaming bowl of broth down next to the mug of lukewarm tea. Then, he set the medication down in a pile on the bed. After that, he brought both hands up to successfully take the magazines and word search books out from under his chin without them falling to the ground. And then finally, he shrugged the blanket off his shoulder so that it landed on your face.

“Sorry,” Mat chuckled as you pushed the blanket away. “I called my mom,” he said as he put the puzzle books on his nightstand to sit on the edge of the bed, “She said broth would help you feel better. And told me what medicine to get.”

The explosion of love you felt in your chest was stronger than the sharp pain that shot through your head.

“And I got us a few puzzle books,” he picked up a neon blue book, “I figured it would hurt to look at your phone or any screen, so no Netflix today for us.” He plopped the book down back on the nightstand as he picked up the bowl of broth.

Slowly, you pushed yourself up by your forearms and leaned against the headboard, “For us?”

Mat nodded his head as he stared into the broth, concentrating harder than any person should as they stirred liquid, “Yeah, I don’t want to do anything that would make you feel even worse, so no screens,” he looked up at you and shrugged his shoulders, “I like word searches.”

You let out a small laugh and tilted your head slightly out of admiration for the man sitting in front of you, wondering how on earth you got so lucky.

“And I saw you curl up before I left,” he directed his eyes to the blanket on your lap, “So I figured you needed to be warmer.”

You didn’t think you could love him––or any other person––more than you did in this moment.

“I love you,” you voiced the thought that circled around your mind on repeat.

Like every time Mat heard those three words from your lips, a wide and contiguous smile lit up his face, “I love you, too,” Mat affirmed his love for you as he shoveled up some liquid onto the spoon. You could see a few steam clouds from the spoon, but Mat softly blew on it to cool it down, “Open up.”

He was just as persistent with the broth as he was the thermometer. But like before, you shook your head, “You don’t need to feed me.”

Mat dropped his shoulders, as he jutted out his bottom lip, “Just one spoonful––”

You continued to shake your head, “I’m not hungry.”

Mat rolled his eyes and brought the spoon closer to your face. He let out a deep sigh as you recoiled away, “Please.” But you shook your head no. At your adamance of not wanting Mat to feed you, he let out a deep sigh, “If I give you the bowl, will you eat some?”

While you weren’t hungry in the slightest, the thought of food didn’t make your skin crawl as much as it did before when he offered you toast. Wordlessly, you took the bowl from Mat after he set the spoon in it. And to make him happy, you took three sips of the broth he made for you.

With a satisfied smile, Mat took the blanket and spread it on top of the other blankets you were already swamped under. And with a neon blue word search book, Mat climbed over you to get to the other side of the bed. Once he was next to you under the covers, he leaned his back on the headboard as he grabbed a pencil and opened the book.

Your eyebrows were raised high, an amused expression on your face as you let out a single breathy chuckle through your nose. The sound caused Mat to peer up at you and raise his eyebrows at you, “Yeah?”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”

Mat let out a pft sound, “It can’t be anything worse than what I could get in the locker room.”

Sinking down into the bed, you brought the multiple blankets you were buried under up under your chin, as you laughed so hard it caused your head to hurt. But the joy you felt course through your body almost made you forget about your body aches. And with Mat’s casual dismissal of whatever virus infected your body, he lifted his arm up for you to come right up next to him.

Happily, you rested your head on his warm chest and looped an arm around the front of his stomach the same time his arm curled around your neck. While it was a little difficult for Mat to complete his word searches, he assured you that he had grabbed the advanced copy so he spent more time than he would’ve liked to find the words.

In record time of shutting your eyes, you fell fast asleep without having to stare up at the ceiling to count up to an obscene number.

While you felt like a brand new person a week later, Mat had started to get the chills and a runny nose. And the day after his first symptoms appeared, he kicked the bedsheets off early in the morning––just like you had––and made a mad dash to the bathroom.

And when Mat called out of practice that morning, he said that he had probably caught something from the locker room.

#mat barzal fluff #mat barzal #mathew barzal #nhl imagine #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal fic #mat barzal fanfic #matbarzal blurb #mat barzal oneshot #mat barzal one shot #mat barzal writing #mat barzal x reader #mathew barzal fluff #mathew barzal imagine #mat barzal new york islanders #mathew barzal new york islanders #new york islanders #isles #vibe check?? i hate tags but i fell in love with a barista so it's okay

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topsytervy · 3 years

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Wisdom Teeth ~ JJ Maybank

Blurb: JJ takes care of you after you get your wisdom teeth out. Not gonna lie, this post is kind of a mess

Word Count: 1,890

Warnings: mentions of blood, swearing, small mention of alcohol/drinking, I think that’s it.

I’m just going to say that this is based off of my wisdom teeth experience. I didn’t get gassed or put under, my moms friend suggested me holding alcohol in my mouth cause she did that when she got hers out and it worked for her (it worked for me enough to let me sleep like the dead, and my mom kept laughing at me.

I aged JJ and the reader to 19 cause why not.

I also lowkey started thinking of JJ taking care of his kids after their wisdom teeth get pulled and thats shows in the ending.

anyway, small shoutout to @taylathornton who got me thinking about this after she said something about JJ or Rafe taking care of the reader when they get their wisdom teeth out.

~~~~

You walked out into the waiting room, gauze on either side of your mouth, your boyfriend standing by the counter as someone gave him the same rundown they gave you post-extraction.

JJ smiled as he saw you, not that you could see with the mask over the bottom half of his face, and pulled you into his side.

"Just remember that if you still feel pain while taking the prescription he gave you today, call back and he'll prescribe you something stronger." the lady said.

You nodded as you shoved the sheet filled with the instructions, prescriptions, and the extra gauze they gave you into JJ's hands. JJ said a quick thank you to the lady and then directed you to the door, every penny being covered by your insurance.

Thank God.

"How do you feel, princess?" He asked, intertwining your fingers together.

"You didn't tell me the extraction was such a violent process." You told him.

Well, attempted to tell him but the gauze in your mouth wasn't helping. The mask definitely added to muffling your voice.

JJ chuckled. "What?" He asked, unlocking the truck.

"You didn't tell me the extraction was such a violent process." You said slower, louder, and slightly more enunciated.

JJ helped you into the truck. "Didn't want to scare you, Y/N/N."

"I can do it myself. I wasn’t gassed or anything. Just numbed." You swatted his hand away as he went to buckle you in.

He held up his hands. "Alright. I'm sorry."

"Besides the lady said that I was surprisingly calm during the process." You informed him as you took off your mask.

"That's good." He closed the door and walked over to the driver’s side, climbing in as he also took off his mask. "Since you were so good during the process, how about you remind me in a week to take you to Dairy Queen and we'll get you some ice cream." He suggested, leaning over the center console and brushing some hair out of your face.

"Can I get chicken tenders too?" You asked, looking at your blonde boyfriend with the best puppy dog eyes you could muster.

JJ let out a laugh as he started the truck and began to pull out of the parking lot. "Yeah. You can get chicken tenders too, princess."

You smiled, reaching into your mouth to readjust the blood-soaked gauze only to have JJ swat your hand away. "Don't."

"But I feel like I’m swallowing the gauze every time I go to swallow my saliva." You whined.

JJ sighed. "That’s because the roof of your mouth is swollen so it makes it difficult to swallow the saliva. Just leave the gauze where it is."

You shot JJ a look before bringing your hand to your mouth again. JJ reached over and grabbed your wrist his eyes never leaving the road.

"Y/N." He warned.

"JJ." You imitated.

"I said don't touch it."

You took your wrist away from him and crossed your arms, looking out the window.

"Keep that up and you won’t get dairy queen next week. I'll get myself dairy queen and you can keep eating soup and mashed potatoes."

"You're so mean to me sometimes, J." You whispered.

"Only cause I love you and care about you, baby." He smiled, his hand going to your thigh and giving it a light squeeze.

You uncrossed your arms and took his hand in yours. "You're so sweet."

JJ shook his head. "Flip-floppy today, huh. 3 seconds ago I was mean and now I'm sweet."

You shrugged. "You're a flip-floppy guy. You threw me off the dock once when it was chilly outside and then gave me clothes to change into not even three minutes later."

"That's called being a gentleman." He smirked.

"No. It's called being an asshole with a heart."

JJ snorted as he pulled into the pharmacy parking lot, pulling into a parking space before throwing the truck in park and grabbed his wallet along with your prescriptions.

"Stay here. I’ll be back." He kissed your temple before putting his mask back on, adjusting it so it was over his nose.

You shot him a thumbs-up as you pulled out your phone, taking the time to reply to Kie and Sarah who wanted to check in on you. They both offered to come over and take care of you but you told them you were fine cause you had JJ with you.

Kie immediately replied with a 'that's why we're offering.'

You let out a small giggle before sending them an 'I'm sure JJ can handle it' before locking your phone and pulling down the sun visor to look in the mirror.

You opened your mouth and made a face as you looked at the inside of your mouth and saw the dried blood on your lips.

JJ opened the door and slid back into the driver’s seat, placing the bag with the two pill bottles in your lap. "You know, technically you’re supposed to keep pressure on the gauze for an hour so it clot and shit."

"You didn't tell me the inside of my mouth looks like it’s having its own little period. I smiled at you with my mouth looking like I took a baseball or something to the teeth." You scolded.

"Princess, and I mean this with all the love in my heart, you look like a hockey player who took a puck to the teeth." JJ laughed as he put the car in drive and made his way to the grocery store.

"JJ," you whined, not finding his comparison cute in the slightest.

"What? It's more accurate than the baseball comparison you said."

"Stop laughing at me, J. It's not funny."

"I'm sorry. You're just so whiney right now and it's adorable to me. Makes me want to bundle you up and hold you in my arms and protect you from all the evil in the world." JJ glanced at you. You crossed your arms over your chest and looked out the window. “Y/N, don’t be like this now.”

“You’re being mean to me.”

“I am not.”

“Yes, you are. I’m over here bleeding, preparing for the numbness to wear off and the pain to set in and you’re laughing at me.”

JJ grabbed your hand and pressed it to his lips. “I’m sorry, baby. Can you accept me buying you soup as my way of asking for your forgiveness?”

He stopped at a stop sign and looked over at you, giving you his best puppy dog eyes.

You sighed. "I suppose."

He grinned as he squeezed your hand lightly. “See, you can’t stay mad at me forever, Y/N/N.”

You rolled your eyes before leaning your head against the headrest. “It’s because I need you to take care of me while I’m healing.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm. As much as I love Kie and Sarah, I don’t think their cuddles can compare to yours.”

JJ nodded. “Fair enough. That’s all you need me for? Cuddles?”

You shrugged. “We’ll see.”

****

Within two hours, you were tearing up as the numbness wore off, the pain coming in at full force. You laid on the couch in the living room of the apartment you and JJ shared, a blanket thrown over your body.

JJ walked over with a glass of water and the pills you were prescribed. “Alright, here’s your amoxicillin, and here’s your ibuprofen.” He handed you the pills as you sat up.

You popped the two pills into your mouth, taking the glass of water from your boyfriend’s hand before taking a sip and swallowing the pills. JJ took the glass from you and set it on the end table as you sniffed.

“You know what might help?” JJ asked, walking over to one of the cabinets and opening it.

“What?”

“I know you’re not a big drinker, Y/N, but I remember Mr. Heyward telling me when I got my wisdom teeth out that, if you take vodka, whiskey, tequila, whatever, and kind of hold it in your mouth, tilting your head left and right, it’ll help with the pain. It almost renumbs it and because it’s alcohol, it also helps fight infections.” JJ explained, grabbing the bottle of vodka he had stashed away.

He grabbed a shot glass and filled it up before bringing it over to you.

“JJ, baby, I don’t think I should be having alcohol after taking a 600 mg ibuprofen and a 500 mg amoxicillin. Besides, I’m pretty sure that’s what the amoxicillin is for anyway.”

JJ sighed. “I know, princess, but I’m trying to help you out here. It hurts me to see you hurting.”

“And just two hours ago you were saying it was cute when I’m all whiney.” You joked.

“You are cute when you’re whiney and not in pain. Now you’re just in pain and I don’t like it.”

You looked at JJ with a frown. “How about we just cuddle for the rest of the day? Maybe take a nap because I’m all tuckered out.”

JJ smiled lightly, downing the shot of vodka before heading over to you and picking you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist as your arms snaked around his neck, him holding you up by your thighs. He carried you into your bedroom, taking one of his hands and pulling back the blankets before gently setting you down and tucking you in.

He climbed in on his side, gently pulling you into his side, putting a pillow on top of his upper arm so you weren’t resting on his arm, knowing that it wouldn’t help the pain at all.

“Comfortable, princess?” He asked.

You hummed in response, your arm draping across his stomach.

He kissed the top of your head, brushing your hair away from your face.

“I’m sorry in advance if I drool on you. I’m even more sorry if it’s bloody drool.” You muttered.

“It’s alright. You can drool on me whenever you want, bloody or not.”

You smiled. “And Kie and Sarah were worried about you taking care of me.”

JJ scoffed. “I always take care of you so Kie and Sarah can shove a sock in it.”

You giggled. “It’s okay, baby. I defended you and your ability to take care of me.”

“I would hope so. After all, I’m buying you Dairy Queen next week. I don’t buy Dairy Queen for anybody, you know.”

“I know.” You sighed.

It was quiet for a few minutes and you were almost asleep before JJ spoke again.

“You gotta eat your soup and mashed potatoes though or else you don’t get chicken tenders next week.”

You let out a laugh. “Oh my god, JJ. You sound like my dad when I had to go get shots.”

“That just means I’m prepared for when we have kids. The whole bribery part of parenting, in the bag.” JJ stated with a nod.

You nodded. “Alright, baby. I can’t wait to tell our kids how you knew you were ready to be a father because you told me a week after my wisdom teeth were removed, you were going to buy me chicken tenders and ice cream.”

JJ smiled. “And I can’t wait to be saying the same thing to them when they get their wisdom teeth out.”

~~~~~~

#jj outer banks #jj maybank #jj obx

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mrs-hilmarson · 3 years

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Run to Me (Part 5)

Pairing: Diane Sherman x Fem!Reader

Wordcount:2.4K

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4

Taglist: @fauxplant @deliacoven @escapetodreamworld @kikaykimkim

A/n: Sorry for the delay! I am fighting a serious virus and the holiday... and I may have fallen in love with the real Diane Sherman? I dunno, long story. Anyways, hope you like and Part 6 will be close behind! Love you guys! Thanks for the kind words!

Diane bobbed her head to the music, singing the song on the radio under her breath. You laid your head on the window, the cool glass relieving some of your discomfort. You felt like you were on a roller coaster, the world around you spinning one way then the next. You looked over at her, slightly jealous that she felt fine. She noticed and took her eyes off the road long enough to get a good look at you. She frowned and put her hand on your knee, caressing it with her thumb.

"I can turn around if you want. I think you need the rest," she said, drowning out the music.

You shook your head, groaning. For some reason the pounding behind your eyes grew stronger. You shouldn't have done that.

"I need to see Mandy. I need to talk to her face to face. I won't stay long, but I still need to do this."

Diane bit the corner of her lip, thinking about something. She nodded in response, removing her hand and then sticking it in her coat pocket. She pulled it back out, holding out her hand in front of you. In her palm sat two different pills. You sat up, looking over at her.

"What are those?"

"Aspirin, to help your headache," she said quietly, forcing a smile.

You picked up the pills and looked at them. One was different from the other.

"One of them isn't the same as the other though," you said, wondering if she had accidentally pulled out the wrong pills.

"One is an aspirin, the other is a stronger pain killer. A full dose of aspirin isn't enough to knock that migraine out completely, but a full dose of a pain killer would knock you out, and I know you want to be as coherent as possible during your meeting with Mandy."

Diane smiled nervously at you. You couldn't help but smile back. You knew she didn't want you to go off alone right now, but the fact that she was trying her hardest to make sure you could do what you wanted just made your heart sing. You threw back the pills and swallowed, eager for them to kick in.

Diane watched you for a moment longer and you raised your eyebrows at her, chuckling nervously.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" you asked.

She smiled and blushed, turning her eyes back to the road. Her smile remained though.

"No, just making sure you took your medication since I can't trust you to eat your breakfast," she said, her voice laced with a sassy tone.

You laughed, even though your head protested. You reached over and hit Diane's shoulder and she gasped, holding her arm dramatically.

"Watch it missy, or I'm going to have to punish you."

Suddenly the air in the car seemed thick, and she looked over at you in a way you hadn't seen before. Something was different in her eyes and her smile was curved... differently.

You laughed nervously, unsure of what to do. She looked at you for a moment longer in silence before coming to and turning her eyes back to the road. She cleared her throat and her eyes seemed to dart around the road.

"So I am going to run by the pharmacy when you're with Mandy and pick up some flu medicine. I think that's what going on with you. It wouldn't be surprising after that week you spent cramped on a bus with God knows who," she said. She said it in a completely normal tone as if what just happened, hadn't.

You slumped in your seat and nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Okay," you mumbled as you turned the other way. Diane confused you.

Diane dropped you off a block away from the coffee shop. It was a real fight for her to agree, but she finally said okay if you promised to take the mug of tea you hadn't touched with you. You told her you just wanted to stretch your legs and walk a bit, but really you just didn't want to look like you were a little kid being dropped off by your mom to a playdate. You agreed to meet her back in two hours and you went on your way.

You saw Mandy in the coffee shop window, early as usual. She always liked to be the first one to arrive, no matter what the circumstance. She was on her laptop, sipping her drink, looking beautiful and healthy. You could barely contain your excitement and your chest tightened. You quickly took a puff of your inhaler and ran inside, another sweet little bell signaling your arrival.

Mandy looked up and met your stare, her face nearly splitting in half from her smile. She hopped off the stool and ran to you. You met her in the middle and you crashed into one another's arms. You nuzzled into her hair, letting it hide your tears. You had missed her so much. It had been so long since you had seen her face. She pulled back, looking you over. Immediately her face fell.

"What happened to you? What is this cut? Why are you so pale?" she asked, her hands frantic on your face, turning it from side to side looking for more injures.

You laughed and knocked her hands away.

"Well hello to you too.. I had a little bit of an accident and I think I'm coming down with something, but truly I'm fine."

She lead you to the table and you sat across from her. You forced your face to remain normal, even though climbing onto the stool was painful. You placed your cup on the table and leaned on it. Mandy stared at you for a while.

"So, what was this accident that left a dent in my baby sisters head?"

"Someone accidentally.... hit me with their car?"

The silence between that followed was deafening. Her face was void of any emotion, unblinking.

"I'm sorry, what? Someone did WHAT?" she hissed, suddenly exploding.

You leaned back, afraid Mandy may actually smack you.

"I walked into the street without looking. But it's okay because the person who hit me with their car had medical training! They took care of me. Really, I'm fine."

Mandy looked at you, dumbfounded.

"Okay, we are gonna touch back on that later. Do you want anything to eat or drink? I'll cover you."

You shook your head and pushed the travel mug towards her on the table.

"No I'm okay. I promised I'd drink this."

"Who brings coffee to a coffee shop with them? And what is that? Why does it smell like that?"

"I promised I'd drink it. It's some sort of herbal thing, I dunno. Supposed to help with my immune system or something."

Mandy took a bigger sniff of it, gagging. She pushed it back towards you again.

"Please tell me you didn't take that from someone off the street. You don't know how to say no and Y/n I'm pretty sure that's someone's pis-"

"No! Why don't you have more faith in me? The woman I'm staying with makes it for me," you said, grabbing it and taking sip, suppressing the grimace you felt. You hated it, but she didn't need to know that.

"Ahh okay. Yeah, please tell me more about this mysterious woman who just let a random stranger into her home with no ulterior motives," she said, taking a dramatic sip of her own drink. She coughed, choking on it. You tried to suppress a smile, but you couldn't and she saw it so she kicked you under the table.

"She's not some weirdo. She's actually the one who hit me with her car-"

"OH MY GOD. You're making this up. This can not be real Y/n."

"Would you stop? You make it so difficult to tell a story! Yes, she is the one who hit me with her car. Her name is Diane and-"

"Diane what?"

You looked over at Mandy, angry for her cutting you off once again, but the look on her face made your stomach drop a bit. She wasn't playing. She was serious.

"Uh, Diane? Diane Sherman.." you squeaked, clasping the cup in your hand nervously.

Mandy shook her head violently, her face suddenly pale.

"No. No you can not go back there Y/n. She is dangerous."

"What? No she's not! She's been nothing but nice and has taken care of me."

Your voice shook. Why did Mandy have to be so negative about everything?

"Do you know her?" Mandy asked, her voice sharp and abrasive.

"She's a teacher, she lives alone, she had a daughter once, and she travelled and then settled down here."

Mandy shook her head again.

"No, she's NOT a teacher. She can't be around children after her arrest."

You sat and looked at her, shocked.

"Then, what does she do? She has a big house," you said, looking at the ground. You felt small again. So small.

"THATS WHAT YOURE WORRIED ABOUT? Did you hear me? She was ARRESTED! She didn't travel, she was in jail! Wanna know why, Y/n?"

"No-"

"SHE KIDNAPPED A BABY! She never had a daughter! She tried to steal someone elses! Right from the hospital! Went into the infant ward and plucked a random baby from a cot and tried to stuff it in a bag and run off with it! Thank God that baby was wearing a security bracelet or she could have gotten away."

You slumped in the stool, unable to keep your body up. Your head spun. Nothing felt real all of the sudden and you were sure you were going to be sick. Your eyes stung and you felt your chest tighten. You were drowning.

"No. Th-that can't be true. You're lying."

Mandy huffed and turned back to her laptop, smacking the keys violently. She clicked on something and turned it around to face you, the screen on a newspaper article.

Diane's mugshot was bright and harsh, staring back at you. Right above it was the headline "ATTEMPTED BABY SNATCHING IN ILLINOIS". You opened your mouth, but could find no words. Instead, tears fell from your eyes silently, landing on the table top.

Mandy could see your distress, taking the laptop and shutting it. She reached over and grabbed your hand and caressed it. You looked up at her, your chest aching.

"I'm sorry Y/n, but it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get you some where safe, okay?"

"But-but.. I am safe. That was a long time ago Mandy. She's changed. She's different," she murmured. You couldn't accept what Mandy was saying.

"No honey, she hasn't. I know this about Diane because she was stalking me. She seemed nice at first, but then she started following me. She'd call me nonstop, and just show up to where ever I was. I know she broke into my dorm and stole stuff of mine. Before I started suspecting something was up, I'd go over to her house for dinner and everytime would leave so sick and tired. I could never prove it, but I'm certain she was drugging me."

You shook your head. No, no, absolutely not. You stumbled out of your chair, your head pounding. Your vision was blurring, and you could feel your heart in your throat. You tried to pull in a breath, but your throat was closing. You stumbled and fell, knocking the travel mug onto the floor. You heard it shatter, but it seemed like it happened in another world. Nothing was happening here. It was just you, the cold floor, and your heartbeat.

You heard Mandy say something, running towards the bathroom. You weren't sure what she said, but you didn't try to move. You couldn't move, your body felt like stone. You gasped for air, but you began to choke and gag instead. You were scared, you were sick, and you were heartbroken.

You heard the little ringing of the door's bell in some far off land, and suddenly before your eyes was the face of Diane. You tried to move, and you weren't sure if your goal was to get away from her or to cling to her, but either was pointless. You had no control over your body. You were in one of your panic attacks

All you could do is search her face with your eyes. She looked scared, tears in her eyes, her nose running. She looked to something in the distance, her expression almost scary. She looked back down at you and kissed your forehead before leaning closer to you.

"Hey sweet girl. It's okay. I've got you. I'm gonna take you home now, but I need you to be quiet," she whispered so close to your ear that you could feel her lips on the shell of it.

You wanted to scream, to yell for Mandy, but you could not. You wondered where the coffee shop employees had gone and if they were going to get help. You looked up into Diane's eyes and she smiled desperately at you. Your heart ached. You were so scared, you did not want to go with her. Yet at the same time, part of you did. You could not believe what you had been told.

You felt Diane pick you up from the floor, leaving behind the shattered cup and rushed you out of the door, running down the block with you. She threw you into the passenger seat, not even bothering to buckle you up. You leaned against the door, slumped over. Diane got into the drivers seat and fumbled with the keys, her hand shaking. She turned the ignition and hit the gas, leaving town before Mandy even came back from the bathroom.

Diane drove fast back towards the house, biting her nails. She breathed heavily and you could only watch her out of the corner of your eye. Who was she? Why had she lied? What else was she hiding?

Suddenly Diane took a sharp turn, not breaking, causing you to fly from the seat and fall into her lap. You groaned, feeling a bit more in control. Diane looked down and smiled. Sniffling she petted your hair and shooshed you. You went to push yourself up but Diane pushed you back down. Your breathing became ragged again and you were afraid you were going to hyperventilate.

You felt the car go off road and then go into park. Diane reached behind your seat and got a first aid kit, opening it. Then, you felt a prick in the side of your neck. You gasped and cried out. You scratched at Diane, attempting to push yourself away from her body. Warmth spread through your muscles and your vision seeped away into a black mist, but not before you heard it. Her voice in your ear.

"It's okay baby. I'm here. I'm here now."

#Run to me #run film #sarah paulson #sarah paulson fic #sarah paulson x reader #diane sherman x reader

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timotey · 4 years

Text

Fic: Brave Little Tangerines

Dark Blue Kiss/Our Skyy. PeteKao. A what-if story.

For the sake of the story, let’s assume that Our Skyy takes place after Dark Blue Kiss, okay? Also, I’m no doctor so expect a lot of hand-waving and, well, creative licence.

Kao lied to Pete about the damned curse. Now Pete is tired and cranky and he wants to go home. But where the heck is Kao?! The pharmacy he went to is just a few blocks away, after all...

😧😧😧

Pete’s really, really angry. As if he didn’t tell Kao many times in the past not to lie to him. And yet, here they are again. Here there’s Pete, carrying a half-pint of a plant - still heavy, though - and punched in the face. Dammit!

And where the heck is Kao? The pharmacy he decided to go to pick up some disinfection and who knows what else - despite Pete’s stout protests - is only a few blocks away, it’s not like it’s a trip to Mars or something.

Five minutes pass. Then ten. And fifteen.

Dammit!

Pete pulls out his cellphone and calls Kao, more than ready to give his lover a real dressing down. Because he’s tired and cranky and he wants to go home and take a shower and forget this day ever happened.

The phone keeps ringing. And ringing. And ringing.

Kao doesn’t pick up. And Pete feels the first jab of worry in the vicinity of his stomach.

He smothers it with anger, though, and hanging up, he gets up, grabs the darned plant and stomps angrily down the pier and towards the pharmacy whose sign keeps blinking merrily in the distance like a beacon in the dark.

Pete doesn’t come across Kao on the way there and when he enters the shop, there’s no one inside either. Nobody but the pharmacist. He feels that bitter jab of worry again. Where is Kao?

“Excuse me?” Pete says as he steps up to the counter, and when the pretty girl there smiles at him invitingly, he continues with, “Hello, hi. I’m looking for my boyfriend? Same red shirt, my height but really pale? Pretty eyes?”

“Oh yes, he was here a few minutes ago,” the girl tells him. “He seemed rather worried. He bought some things for treating scrapes - for you, I guess?” She points at the reddened, swollen corner of Pete’s mouth.

“Hm,” Pete replies, self-consciously touching that bruise in the making. “Where did he go then?”

She frowns a little. “The way he came from? The way you came from? You can’t have missed him…”

Well, Pete did, apparently.

He thanks the pharmacist and leaves, the door clicking shut behind him. And then he stands there, on the sidewalk lit by the pharmacy’s large windows, and he looks around in puzzlement. Where did Kao go?

More than a little anxious now, Pete pulls out his cellphone once more and dials Kao’s number again, muttering, “Pick up, Kao. Pick up the damn phone!”

Then he hears the ringing, the distinct ringtone - Kao’s ringtone - whispering to him from somewhere nearby. It goes on and on and on and Pete starts walking, towards the melody that grows stronger and louder with each step he takes.

There’s a dark alley, just a narrow passage between two rundown buildings, a place where people throw away their trash when the dumpsters are too full or they’re too lazy and they don’t care. And Pete stops right at its mouth because it’s where the ringing is coming from, that dark alley - and something rattles as he kicks it accidentally.

Pete looks down. It’s a white plastic bag with the pharmacy logo on it, dropped and left lying carelessly on the pavement. There’s a bottle of disinfection and a package of sterile gauze inside it, the things Kao set off to buy. Pete swallows hard.

“Kao?” he calls out, stepping over the bag and into the alley.

There’s no answer but the ringing of Kao’s phone and Pete can’t see anything. He switches on the flashlight on his cellphone, aiming it further down the alley. “Kao? You there?” he calls out again with trepidation in his voice.

And then he sees it. Kao’s sneaker, his jeans-clad leg sticking out from behind a rusty dumpster. There, on the ground. Not moving.

Shit!

Yelling Kao’s name again, Pete drops the plant and rushes forward, towards his boyfriend who’s lying on the wet, filthy pavement, there, on his side with his left arm outstretched - reddened and already bruising and swelling heavily, clearly broken - and his right one curled around his stomach. His eyes are closed.

Pete drops to his knees next to Kao, reaching out with his trembling hand. He touches Kao’s throat - bruised, there are bruises forming on his skin, encircling his throat - to feel for his pulse and he lets out a shaky, unsteady breath, one he didn’t even realize he was holding, when he finds Kao’s skin warm to the touch and his heart beating. He’s alive, Kao’s alive!

“Kao?” Pete whispers, leaning down to stroke Kao’s pale face, so pale it looks almost grey in the harsh glare of the cellphone flashlight. “Kao, you hear me?”

A split lip, a swelling cheek - someone beat Kao up, Pete realizes and for a moment, he’s seized with fury so terrible he almost chokes on it. But then he runs his fingers over the back of Kao’s head and they come away wet, sticky and red. Bloody.

No. No no no no no!

Pete hangs up, the cellphone in Kao’s back pocket falls silent, and he calls for help. Someone needs to help them, help Kao. Because Kao’s hurt.

Kao’s hurt!

xXx

Pete holds Kao’s hand all the way to the hospital. His anger is forgotten, it’s all in the past, unimportant now, his previous irritation paling in comparison with Kao’s unresponsive pallor even more terrible now in the sharp, unforgiving light of the ambulance.

Wake up, Kao, Pete pleads, terrified and desperate, stroking Kao’s knuckles with his thumbs. Please, wake up.

Kao doesn’t.

xXx

From the ER’s waiting room, Pete calls his dad. And then Kao’s mom. It’s one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do. Afterwards, he doesn’t remember what he told her, only that he kept apologizing to her, again and again. For what, he’s not sure. For not taking better care of Kao? For letting this happen to him? For stewing in his anger while someone beat Kao unconscious? Pete doesn’t know. All he knows is that he’s very, very, very sorry.

Their parents arrive and Pete tells them what happened. Again. And then, at some point, as hours go by, the cops come and Pete tells his story again. They want to know it all, everything, every gory detail while they take notes and look bored. Pete guesses it’s probably nothing new for them, people get beat up everyday in this city. But this time, this time it was Kao, his Kao, and Pete has to swallow his anger at their callousness. Causing trouble won’t help Kao and Kao is all he has to think of now.

“So,” one of the cops, the one chewing endlessly on a sweet smelling gum, says, staring down at his scribbled notes, “he wasn’t robbed and from what the EMTs could tell us, there were no signs of a sexual assault…”

Those words, thrown out so carelessly, steal Pete’s breath and make his heart skip a beat. And then another. Because this, something so terrible, didn’t even occur to him, that someone could hurt Kao like this. If someone did, if they-if… Pete’s mind refuses to even contemplate that possibility, hitting a blank wall, again and again.

“You think he might’ve gotten into it with someone? Bit off more than he could handle?” the cop continues, looking up at Pete.

It occurs to Pete again that this men really don’t know Kao, they know nothing about him, about the person Kao is. And suddenly Pete feels the need to explain it to them, to make them truly understand who Kao is, why it is so terrible what happened to him, to him in particular.

“Kao wouldn’t do that,” Pete states with conviction. “He’s the nicest, kindest person you’re ever going to meet in your life.”

The cops exchange a look. “Right,” the gum chewing one says, voice heavy with disbelieving sarcasm. Everyone says that, remains unsaid but hanging pointedly in the air.

It makes Pete angry. “No, you don’t get it. In Kao’s case, it’s not just words. Everyone who’s ever met him, spoke to him, got to know him liked him. His students, his fellow teachers, everyone! There’s not a person in the world who would want to hurt… him.”

Pete stops. There’s no one who had any reason to hurt Kao.

“You want to be a hero?!”

Shit.

The cops must’ve noticed Pete’s reaction because they exchange another look, then they prompt him. “Yes?”

Pete swallows. “There was a man. Kao and I, we met him on the bus. He was taking pictures of some girl secretly, inappropriate pictures. I noticed and I stopped him. I punched him. Then later on - actually only a few minutes before-before what happened to Kao - we came across the same guy again, him and his buddy. He recognized me. And he punched me.” He touches his swollen mouth.

The gum chewing cop nods and writes it all down. “Can you give us a description? Would you recognize him again?” he asks.

Pete nods. He tells them what the men looked like. He doesn’t want to believe it was them. Because it it is so, if they did this to Kao, then... then this is his fault, Kao’s beating.

“You want to be a hero?!”

No, Pete didn’t. He just… he reacted. Like he always does. Because he can keep his own in a fight, he knows he can. And if the guy came after him again, Pete would’ve stood his ground and gladly so. But if that cowardly bastard went after Kao to hurt Pete, if Pete provoked him into doing that to Kao… Pete’s not sure if he would ever forgive himself.

“Alright,” the cop says, “we’ll look into that.”

Then, before they can ask Pete anything more, the doctor comes in, an older lady with her graying hair in a bun, and she asks for Kao’s family. Forgetting all about the cops, Pete rushes forward to find out what’s going on and how Kao is, if he’s alright, when he’s going to be alright because no other option is allowed, not in Pete’s opinion.

But Pete’s opinion doesn’t matter, apparently. The world doesn’t care about Pete’s opinion, about his anguish as it turns out.

“... broken arm… broken ribs… contusions to… but our main concern is the skull fracture he… intracranial bleeding… swelling… pressure on the brain and…”

There’s white noise in Pete’s ears. He feels sick and hot and sweaty.

“Coma.”

They don’t let him see Kao.

xXx

Pete’s dad drives him home. He asks Pete to stay with him at the villa, but Pete doesn’t want to. He wants to go home, to his and Kao’s home where the sheets smell of Kao’s shampoo and there’s still the cake that Kao loves so much in the fridge.

And then he remembers.

“Can we stop somewhere first?” Pete asks his dad. His father gives him a curious look but nods.

They stop at the alley where Pete found Kao. He didn’t want to come here out of some-some masochistic need to punish himself by returning to the scene of the crime, no. He’s here for…

The little tangerine is still there. The pot is cracked and someone must’ve kicked the plant over and stepped on it because several branches are bent, some even broken. But it’s still there. Kao’s tangerine. He isn’t sure why exactly Kao wanted a tangerine, why he really wanted it, he never got around to asking after their fight, but Pete couldn’t just leave it here.

He picks it up and dusts it off a little - and then he happens to look into the alley and…

He runs.

xXx

His father is reluctant to leave him alone but it’s what Pete wants. He wants to be alone. He loves his dad dearly but right now, he can’t take his sympathetic glances, his soft words. He just… he can’t take them.

But then, when his father leaves, the house suddenly feels too quiet, too empty without Kao’s laugh and his happy presence, without his soft humming and the silent scratching of his pen on paper. Pete can’t stand the unexpected vastness of their little house.

So he goes out into their garden to plant the tangerine, in a place he thinks Kao would like. By then it’s early afternoon and Pete’s trembling with exhaustion but he’s too wired to sleep. Too afraid to sleep. He wants to be with Kao, see for himself that his boyfriend is alive, but they won’t let him in, not into the ICU. Pete’s just Kao’s lover, not his family, not in their eyes, not according to their stupid rules.

When Kao’s okay again, when he’s back home again, safe and sound, they will get married. They’re going to take a trip abroad, to some country that allows this, and they’re going to marry. No one, not anyone will dare say then that Kao is not Pete’s family. And Pete is Kao’s.

With the tangerine planted and watered, Pete sits down on the grass and stares at the poor sapling, as broken as Kao. And though he tries to stop his mind from going places, it refuses to listen. It shows him that alley again, in vivid detail, the once white and now grimy wall and the rusty stain on it exactly where Kao’s head would be if someone threw him against that wall, if someone smashed his head against it again and again, to stun Kao or silence him but definitely to hurt him.

“... skull fracture…”

Pete cracks too. He cries so hard he can barely breathe.

xXx

It’s not until the early hours of the next morning that Pete falls asleep but shortly after that he’s woken up again by a phone call. It’s the police. They arrested the man Pete described to them and they need him to come in and identify him.

Pete goes. His eyes burn and his joints feel heavy from the lack of sleep but he goes. Because if this man really hurt Kao, the bastard needs to pay for it.

He recognizes the guy immediately, picks him out of a line-up without hesitation. Yes, this is him, that’s the fucker! Pete’s sure of it, as sure as he breathes. Only when they lead the man away does Pete notice the swollen knuckles on his hands. He didn’t have those when he punched Pete. No, you don’t get bruises like that from hitting someone once, Pete knows this from experience. You only hurt yourself like this when you punch a person over and over again.

Kao…

Pete swallows hard.

“The CCTV at the pharmacy caught him and his buddy following your friend after he left the shop,” the gum-chewing cop from last night tells Pete. Today, there’s no gum and the man doesn’t look bored anymore. No, he looks tired, as tired as Pete feels. Pete feels guilty for thinking badly of him yesterday.

“Can you prove that he did it?” Pete asks quietly.

The cop sighs. “All we have is circumstantial,” he admits. “We might find traces of his DNA on your friend’s clothes but to get him convicted for sure, we really need your friend’s testimony.”

Kao’s testimony. They did all they could but now they need Kao to wake up.

Pete needs that, too.

Please, wake up. Please.

xXx

It takes several days for Kao’s health to improve so that he can be moved out of the ICU and to a normal hospital room. By then, Pete’s a wreck. He knows he should be there for Kao’s mom, her pillar of strength, so to speak, but the truth is, he can feel himself falling apart, bit by bit.

He can’t get the image of Kao ashen face, the feel of his slack, unresponsive hand in his out of his mind. These impressions are so ingrained, so overwhelming that they keep him awake at night. If they at least let him see Kao…

And then they do, finally, and Pete cries.

He sits there, at Kao’s bed, holding his right hand, the one not encased in plaster, and he cries without making a sound, staring at Kao’s pale face, at the dark bruises encircling his eyes and the stark white bandages covering his shaved head. He thought he would feel better if they only let him see his lover but he doesn’t. He feels more anchored, true, like he has a purpose now - to keep it together for the man lying in the hospital bed - but at the same time, nothing changed.

Kao is here but he isn’t, not really. He’s still in a coma.

Pete comes in every day after that, from the earliest they let him in till they actually kick him out. He listens to the doctors and he learns the nurses’ names and the hospital personnel, they all come to know them too, Pete and his lover Kao, the pretty man in a coma in room 302.

And then the cops call Pete and they tell him they had to let the suspect go, the man who punched Pete and almost certainly beat Kao half to death. Without Kao’s testimony, they didn’t have enough on him to hold him. They had to set him free.

Shit.

xXx

It’s evening again and the visiting hours are ending. Another day gone. And Kao still hasn’t woken up.

Pete just sits there, his breathing is ragged and he’s hiding his face in his hands, fingers pressed hard into his eyes to push back tears. For a moment, just for a moment that day he considered what he would do if Kao never woke up. It horrified him that this thought even crossed his mind.

Rubbing his eyes, Pete takes a deep breath and gets up, and just like every day, he leans over Kao’s bed and takes Kao’s face gently in his hands, stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs. “Hey, love,” he whispers, “I have to go now. But I’ll come back tomorrow again, okay? And then you have to wake up for me because it’s getting really boring here without you.”

Smiling bravely, Pete leans down to press a kiss to Kao’s forehead, running his hand gently over the soft, fur-like short hair on Kao’s head, free of bandages now. Forcefully, he stops himself from thinking of how long it’s been now since Kao got hurt.

“I love you,” Pete tells his boyfriend, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Kao’s for a moment. Then he straightens up and with a last squeeze of Kao’s hand he goes, leaving for the day.

He says goodnight to the women clustered around the nurses’ station and he tries very hard not to see their sympathetic glances directed his way. He takes the elevator down to the lobby and he says goodnight to the men at the reception desk downstairs and he tries very hard not to see their sympathetic looks either. He’s almost getting used to them, what a terrifying thing.

And then Pete walks outside and he takes a deep breath that doesn’t refresh him at all, and walking across the parking lot, he gets into his car, one of the few left there this late. And then he sees the soft little polar bear in its silly blue t-shirt that he took with him from home that morning, a gift given to him by Kao before that Pete now wanted him to have. He forgot it on the passenger seat.

Smiling, Pete takes it in his hands and squeezes its soft belly lightly. “Get well soon, love,” the bear says in Pete’s voice. He knows it’s just a silly toy but it has such a deep meaning, for the both them, him and Kao.

And so Pete decides to take the toy up to Kao’s room despite the late hour. He knows the nurses have a soft spot for him, that they will let him in for a moment, even though the visiting hours are over by now.

Nodding to himself, Pete gets out of the car and goes.

xXx

Turns out, the silly polar bear saves Kao again.

Because when Pete sneaks down the corridor under the mock frowns of the night staff and opens the door of Kao’s room, there’s a man dressed as a nurse standing over Kao in the dark - and he’s pressing a pillow against his face, smothering him.

Hearing Pete’s “Hey!” the man shoots up and twists around instinctively and Pete throws the toy right in the would-be killer’s face. The man’s not expecting it and so he recoils, dropping the pillow, and Pete uses his momentary distraction to barrel into him.

Together they hit Kao’s bed and fall over it, crashing to the floor hard with Pete landing on top. He can hear commotion in the hallway but he doesn’t pay it any attention. He’s filled with dread - not for himself but for Kao - which fuels his anger, fury really. He starts hitting the man with all his strength, again and again, easily blocking the guy’s punches, and he doesn’t stop until the room’s flooded with light and someone grabs him from behind and drags him away.

There are nurses, orderlies, doctors even and they all stare at Pete as if he lost it. He catches on pretty fast, realizing that all they can see is a man dressed as a nurse, the apparent victim here, Pete’s victim. They’re even helping the man get up. No, no way!

“He tried to kill Kao!” Pete yells, tearing at the hands holding him back.

An elderly doctor steps in, trying to calm Pete down with an indulgent, “Now look here, son--”

But then Pete takes his first good look at the man and he freezes. It’s the pervert from the bus. The bastard whom Pete identified at the police station. The fucker the cops had to let go because without Kao’s testimony, they couldn’t actually prove anything to him.

“You!” Pete snaps. “This is the guy who put Kao in the hospital! He’s the one who attacked us back then!”

Everyone turns to the man, doubts replacing their disbelief at Pete’s actions. And when the wannabe nurse looks around covertly and takes a step forward, towards the door, those who helped him stand before now grab him and hold him fast.

Pete looks around the room. “Call the cops and ask them if you don’t believe me. No,” he corrects himself immediately, “call them in any case. Right now! This man tried to murder Kao, he tried to smother him with a pillow.” He points at the damning evidence on the floor.

And that’s when Pete hears it. It’s Kao, he’s wheezing for breath and his gasps sound so loud in the suddenly too quiet room.

“Kao…” Pete whispers, freeing himself from the orderlies’ slackened grip, and he throws himself towards the bed, lifting Kao up, propping him up against his chest to help Kao breathe. “Kao? Kao, breathe, please!”

Everybody starts moving at once then, someone rushes out to call the police, others move in to drag the attacker out, the doctors step up to the bed to check on Kao, urging Pete to let go of him, and it’s one big mess, loud and chaotic, but Pete is hardly aware of it, any of it, because he’s looking down at Kao who’s resting heavily in his arms… and staring up at him.

“Kao?” Pete whispers, uncertainly, too afraid to trust in what he sees, that Kao’s awake, that Kao’s back.

The doctors try to take Kao away from Pete but he pushes their hands away angrily, and whispering a wondrous “Kao?” again, he lifts his hand to touch Kao’s face, stroke his cheek.

Kao blinks slowly, groggily up at him and then he cracks a smile, the tiniest of smiles, really, but a smile nonetheless and his hand flops limply against Pete’s leg in a very tame attempt at patting Pete reassuringly.

And Pete? Pete kisses him.

xXx

They try to make Pete leave. He politely tells them to shove it - to see Kao scowl at him for his rudeness does Pete’s soul a world of good, it really does - and they don’t press the issue. Considering that Kao, a patient of theirs, almost got killed on their watch, Pete thinks it a wise decision.

Besides, he would love to see them try and get him to leave when Kao has yet to let go of his hand. His grip is tight and his skin a little clammy, betraying his anxiety, though Kao hides it pretty well.

The thing is, Kao doesn’t remember how he ended up here, what happened which turns out to be a real irony in itself as Pete’s favorite gum-chewing cop sums up when he arrives together with his partner to take their statements.

“If I understand it correctly,” he says, tapping his pen against his notepad, “you don’t remember anything that happened that night, when the man attacked you?”

Kao shakes his head. “S-sorry,” he stutters out, furrowing his brows in frustration.

Some words seem namely rather difficult for him to pronounce now, some sounds make his tongue trip a little, but the doctors assure them that with a little time and a thorough speech therapy, it should pass. It’s a little frustrating to Kao and it does make Pete worry - but in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing. They can deal with that.

The cop barks out a laugh. “So, we had to let that guy go because we couldn’t pin the assault on him without your testimony. And to make sure you couldn’t testify against him, he decided to get rid of you. Only for you to tell us now that you don’t remember anything. If the guy spared himself the effort, he would’ve been off to hook. Now, we’re going to nail his ass for attempted murder and this time he won’t wiggle out of it, that I can promise you.” There’s steel in his voice when he says that and Pete believes him.

Shortly thereafter, the cops leave and then Pete’s dad and Kao’s mom arrive and they both hug Kao, hard. Kao snuggles into his mom’s arms happily and though Pete’s dad’s hug surprises him a little, he appreciates it. A lot.

Then the doctors swarm in and insist on wheeling Kao away for some tests - it’s still barely light outside but an attempted murder right under their noses makes the collective staff rather hyper as it turns out - and when their parents leave again, promising to come back during visiting hours, Pete’s left alone, for the first time in hours.

And then he starts to shake.

First his hands start trembling, then he’s seized with shivers all over - and he can’t seem to make it stop. He hides in the adjacent bathroom, locking the door and sliding it down to sit heavily on the floor. Then he presses his hands against his mouth and he cries, he sobs so hard he can barely breathe.

Because Kao almost died. That man, that… bastard almost killed Kao. If Pete didn’t turn up with the toy, Kao would be dead now. He wouldn’t be undergoing tests, he wouldn’t be answering questions and worrying about his stutter, he would be dead. Gone. Lost to Pete forever.

Pete cries and he cries till he feels sick.

xXx

“I’m sorry,” Pete says, running his fingers through Kao’s short hair, rubbing the scars left behind in places where the doctors had to cut Kao open to fix him.

“What for?” Kao asks. He’s lying on his side facing Pete and holding Pete’s hand with his right one. His left forearm is still in the cast - but luckily not for long now, considering Kao keeps complaining about how much it itches.

“I got angry at you that night, when you got hurt,” Pete explains. “I’m sorry about that.”

Kao frowns. “I don’t remember. What did I do?”

Pete sighs. “For some reason, you lied to me about some stupid curse and--”

“I actually did that?” Kao’s eyebrows shoot up, then he grins sheepishly. “I did, I guess-ss.”

“But why?” That question’s been bothering Pete ever since that night.

“I wanted to s… s-s-spend s-some time with you, that’s-s-s all,” Kao replies, frowning at his stuttered es’.

Pete blinks at him, stunned. “Spend time with me? We live together! We’re together all the time!”

Kao frowns, rubbing Pete’s hand with his thumb. “Not really, you know. Now that I picked up more class-sses-s and you got a new job…” He blows out his breath. “I jus-sst miss… miss-ssed you.”

Pete’s heart clenches a little, hearing that. If he just listened that night instead of exploding with anger…

Stroking Kao’s hair gently, Pete leans closer, staring into his lover’s eyes. Damn, Kao’s eyes are beautiful, he thinks, before saying, “Next time you want to spend time together, just tell me, alright?”

“You won’t complain?” Kao asks suspiciously.

Complain? After the ordeal of the past several weeks? After living in fear that he would never get the chance to talk to Kao again, that he would never get to hold him again or kiss him again? “No, I won’t complain, I swear,” he says earnestly, sealing his promise with a kiss.

xXx

It’s a couple more weeks before Kao’s allowed to return home. His stuttering gets better, it’s barely noticeable by then. What doesn’t go away, is the tremor in his left hand, the one that got broken that night. Nerve damage, the doctors say. The more tired Kao gets, the more evident the trembling in his fingers becomes. And Pete wants to punch the bastard who did that to Kao again.

After a nap and a hearty meal, Pete takes Kao outside, into the garden, and they sit on the swing he had installed there. Back and forth, back and forth the swing goes as they lean against each other, their bare feet buried in the soft grass.

“What’s that?” Kao asks then, pointing at the little tangerine, a green and healthy sapling again, its brokenness a thing of the past now.

Pete smiles. The little tree reminds him of Kao, too tough to stay down. “It’s a tangerine. You insisted on buying it that night.”

Kao looks at him, eyebrows raised. “I did? And you planted it?”

“Yeah. By the time I brought it home, it was rather worse for wear. Some of its branches were broken and... well. But I couldn’t stand the thought it would die,” Pete whispers, his throat a little thick. He’s talking about the tree - but he also isn’t.

Kao smiles, leaning comfortably against Pete; Pete welcomes it. “But it didn’t. Die I mean,” Kao replies softly. “A brave little tangerine.”

Pete smiles too, hugging Kao around his shoulders and pulling him close. “Yes,” he agrees. “Very brave.”

#dark blue kiss #dbk drama #our skyy #petekao #my petekao fics #my fics #mé

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puffdragongirl · 5 years

Text

In Name Only - Team Really Royalty Reveal

Set several weeks after the events of Catch

After another endless day of squinting at notebooks, Ryuu closes the door to the pharmacy and turns blindly towards his quarters. He had been expecting a challenge – even looking forward to it – when he was granted the position of Wilant’s Head Pharmacist. He had imagined most of the difficulty would come from dealing with staffing the largely empty roster or interacting with the members of the frosty Northern court. What he hadn’t been expecting was the entire wing to be a disorganized mess of cabinets full of questionable contents, drawers crammed with mysterious vials, and spotty, near-illegible notes. Many days the sheer chaos of the pharmacy he’d inherited made him want to throw the poorly-kept logbooks out the window and retreat under his desk to scream into his pillow, but somehow Obi’s supportive humor and Shirayuki’s unflagging determination had managed to keep him sane long enough to get most of the supplies identified, labeled, and properly catalogued in the imminently sensible Lyrias style.

Speaking of Obi and Shirayuki, the only thing keeping Ryuu going tonight is anticipation for their weekly shared dinner. Although Obi still spends a good part of his time helping out in the pharmacy, his conscription to helping out with the paperwork surrounding Prince Zen’s permanent relocation meant he often took meals in the Prince’s office rather than the pharmacy. Not to say meals with Shirayuki alone aren’t enjoyable – they are. He just always feels that something is missing. He didn’t realize the missing piece was Obi until the fiasco with the sprained wrist a few weeks back had kept him away from paperwork (“Pens are different than knives, Miss Kiki!” he had exclaimed when Kiki had inquired about his apparent ambidextrousness, which did not extend towards writing with his left hand, “I had more pressing things to worry about at the time than writing legibly.”). Despite frequent whining about not being allowed to climb things occurring every day of those two weeks, the knight’s presence back at their lunch table those two weeks made everything feel right again. Ryuu tries not to think too hard about what the warm and fuzzy feeling being with Shirayuki and Obi means (They are not his parents. They aren’t.), but he does make a point to never miss their weekly meals.

As he approaches his rooms, the scent of roasting meats and savory spices grows stronger. Getting to eat delicious food is another benefit of sharing a meal with Obi. Pushing open his door, he follows his nose directly to the kitchen, where Shirayuki is setting places at his table while Obi stirs a steaming stirfry at the range. They are deep in conversation, although he only catches the tail end of it.

“And Master wants what, from us, exactly?” Obi asks, flipping the contents of his wok in the air to keep them moving.

“He asked if we heard anything about it in our travels,” she replies, setting a pitcher of water on the table before settling in her chair, “Apparently, one of the rumors was that the heir went North.”

“Hmmm…” Obi hums, face contemplative as he adds some last-minute seasonings to the dish, “I can’t recall hearing anything of the sort.” He thinks for a few minutes more, then shoots a sly grin across the counter, “Then again, I didn’t spend as much time with the gossips as you did, Miss.”

Shirayuki sputters, color blooming in her cheeks as she protests, “Look here, I don’t believe for a second that guards don’t gossip just as much as-”

“Gossip about what?” Ryuu interrupts, resisting the urge to smile fondly. Months on the road with the two of them taught him they would bicker and tease each other endlessly given the chance.

“Little Ryuu!” Obi calls, raising his spatula in greeting, “Dinner is almost ready!”

“Oh, Ryuu!” Shirayuki echoes, sending an unrepentant Obi a look but dropping the argument for now, “You’re just in time; we could use your help with this.”

As Shirayuki explains the situation, he wanders over to the counter, grabbing a mug from the table and filling it with water. He leans against the counter as Shirayuki speaks. It sounds like any other story of greedy nobles at first – a “missing” heir, with younger half-siblings looking to take their place – but something about the story sets him on edge.

“…So essentially, it is rumored that there is a son from his first marriage that would have the claim on the title, but no one has seen him for many years or is sure that he ever really existed.” Shirayuki frowns as she recaps the background, “I’m not sure why they didn’t try to figure this out sooner, especially since it sounds like the child would have been young when he went missing…” She shakes her head, and gets back on track, “Anyway, now that the previous title holder has passed, they need to figure things out as quickly as possible. The widow sent a petition for her child to be declared the official heir, but Zen wants to look into the claim of the older child first, to make sure the widow’s claim is valid.”

“What was the last name again?” Obi asks when she finishes, shuffling the pan absently to keep the stir fry from burning, “Ga-something, right?” He turns off the heat and starts piling the steaming dish on a serving platter, “Galirat? Galiro? Gabirin?”

He makes several more attempts at the name, and a chill runs down Ryuu’s spine, but he pushes his worries down. It had been years, nearly a decade, and it couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be…

“Gaboriault,” Shirayuki corrects, and somehow, what he feared is true, and it feels like his whole world has dropped out from under him.

His mug drops from suddenly nerveless fingers, but he barely registers the clatter of porcelain breaking against the floor. The room spins and his ears ring as panic threatens to consume him. There are gasps, voices asking if he is okay, wondering what is wrong, but he doesn’t hear anything over the pleas racing through his mind. No, no. Please no. Please don’t make me go back, not when I’m finally happy, finally me.

Overwhelmed, he flees, leaving the broken pottery and the alarmed calls of Obi and Shirayuki behind.

It shouldn’t surprise him that it doesn’t take them long to find him. He is curled up under his desk, leaning against the back wall with his knees pulled tight to his chest. After several years of growth spurts, he is perhaps too tall now for it to be a perfect fit, but he is comforted by the familiarity of the small space all the same. Barely ten minutes have passed before he hears the pharmacy door open, and although their words are too quiet to make out, he would recognize their voices anywhere.

Even colored with distress, he finds their familiar back-and-forth comforting. Shirayuki first, her concern evident in the wavering tone and rapid pace of her words. Obi next, voice deep and steady as he soothes her, but touched with the slightest hint of strain. Their voices separate, and he hears the quiet sound of footsteps echo through the room. One set, still somewhat unfamiliar given he has only heard them a handful of times despite their long acquaintance, draws close to his desk, and the fabric separating his nook from the world parts to reveal Obi’s face peering in at him. His mouth is set in that way that means he is worried, and Ryuu can’t quite meet his gaze, upset with himself for worrying them.

“Over here, Miss,” Obi summons Shirayuki to the desk and before he knows it, somehow all three of them are wedged in the space, with Ryuu pressed securely in the middle. Although he can feel their concern, they don’t speak, content for now to have found him. He soaks in the comfort to their presence, and eventually unbends enough to explain.

“You probably guessed this,” he begins, staring hard at his clenched hands, “I am the ‘missing’ son they are looking for.” He can’t help the bitter laugh that spills from his lips, “Or maybe it’s better to say, the one they are hoping not to find.”

“They told me my mom… died right after I was born,” he continues, and now that the words have started, the story just tumbles out, “I’m not sure if my father really cared about her, but I know he didn’t wait long to remarry.” Ryuu didn’t have any memories without his father’s second wife, and his half-brother was only a year or so younger than him, so his father couldn’t have waited more than a couple of months to remarry. “She was…ambitious, to say the least, and resented that her children couldn’t inherit because the orphan a dead woman was still hanging around.”

“My father was always very busy, and more often than not was in Wilant or Wistal on some kind of business,” Ryuu could probably count on one hand the number of times he had spoken with the man, “He never really had time for any of his children, so the housekeeper and maids looked after me.” He pauses for a moment, then admits quietly, “I’m not sure I even remember what my father looked like.”

“Oh, Ryuu…” Shirayuki breathes, and her hand reaches out to wrap around his tightly-clasped fists. Obi says nothing, but his arm does settle across the stiff line of Ryuu’s shoulders. Neither of them miss the implication that, even if Ryuu wasn’t neglected, precisely, he was never really cared for either.

“It wasn’t so bad,” he offers, weakly, “I spent most of my time with the gardener, and that’s how I found out about plants and herbs.” He will always remember her patient explanations of which plants were used for food, and which for medicine, and the best times to harvest them both. He tells them how, once his questions had outpaced her knowledge, she started to bring him books from the library. “And one benefit of growing up…where I did… was the size of the library. There were books in the collection I didn’t see again until the library at Lyrias.”

“One day, she brought me the old gardener’s notebook,” he can still see the notebook, carefully kept despite the decade or so since the man’s departure from the property, “I found an old advertisement looking for apprentice pharmacists in Wistal Palace inside.” The yellowed paper had slipped from its place tucked between two pages detailing a particularly grueling insect extermination. It had seemed like a salvation, a way to escape the indifference of his father, and the resentment of the woman who could have been his mother. “I knew it was crazy, but it seemed like the only way out.”

He finishes his story, describing how he packed a bag with his clothes, the pocket and gift monies he had gathered over the years, and the notes he had compiled from the gardener and the library books; the way he researched the roads to and from Wistal from some maps his father stored in his office; and finally, the way he left in the dead of the night.

“I would call it running away, but that place was never really a home to me.” Drained by the telling, he leans back into the arm still around his shoulder, and fiddles his fingers against the grasp still warm against his hands. They sit in silence for a moment, then he asks, “Are you…going to tell Prince Zen?”

The pharmacy is dark, but he sees them turn to each other anyway, communicating in that silent way of theirs. What must be only a few minutes, but feels like hours, passes, before Obi moves to face him.

“Let’s start with this,” Obi proposes, “What is it that you want to do, Little Ryuu?”

“I don’t want to go back there,” he admits, the words leaving him in a rush, “I like it here. I like the pharmacy, even if it’s a mess right now. I like having dinner together, and traveling to get plants, and complaining together about how terrible fancy parties are…” He scrambles away from them, or at least as far as the cramped space allows, and bows his head, “My home is here, with you. With the both of you, wherever you are. Please…please let me stay with you.”

There is a beat of silence, then a slender hand is reaching for his chin, tilting his head to meet watery green eyes and a wobbly smile.

“Of course you can stay,” Shirayuki assures, her eyes taking on that familiar glint of determination, “If I have anything to do with it, I hope we can stay together always.” Her gaze drifts to Obi’s, and she admits, “All of us; no matter where we go, it feels like home because we are together.”

“You heard her, Little Ryuu,” Obi grins, and reaches a hand out to ruffle his hair, “And you know wherever the Miss goes, I follow.” His grin softens to a soft smile, “I guess you’re stuck with us both for the long haul.”

If the three of them spend the next quarter hour hugging, at least two of them crying at any given moment, at least no one outside the family would ever know.

The next day, Obi reports to Zen that none of them heard anything about the missing Gaboriault heir during their travels through the North. Indeed, given the ways of the North, where rumors were just as often born of boredom than grains of truth, they suspected the heir, if there had ever really been one, was long gone by now, and wanted nothing to do with the title. However, if you were to listen carefully to conversations on quiet days in the pharmacy, when only the three of them were around, you might hear the occasional reference to Ryuu, Lord and Master of the Pharmacy. And that was one title that Ryuu was happy to bear, as long as it stayed between the three of them.

#obiyukimadness19 #championship round #really royalty reveal #I mean #this is more happy family feels #featuring somewhat OOC Ryuu?#but hopefully the obiyuki comes through too #obiyuki #shirayuki #ryuu #obi #ans #puff writes

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ronnievwrites · 5 years

Text

it’s a matter of life and death

flash fiction based on these two prompts by @writing-prompt-s

They never took a break. They never did anything but their work. There was always work to be done. As the population grew they got busier. There were periods of time when they couldn’t stop for a single moment, staying in one place, collecting one soul after another. Humans called these “war” and “plague” and “famine”, but to them it was just a busy day.

Humans mastered technology and suddenly plague and famine took less and less. But war grew stronger. Humans got so efficient at killing they wondered if maybe some human will take over their job.

Then suddenly they got very busy. They were busy for a long time and then suddenly they were not. It wasn’t just that they weren’t busy, they didn’t have any assignments at all.

At first, they were happy. It was the first time they felt such emotion - maybe the first time they felt anything at all - but it was also the first time they had time to think for themself. They roamed the earth, reading books and trying new things. They were all alone, but that was nothing new. They were always alone. But they’ve never even ran into a single human, and after some time it started to bother them. Not enough to do anything yet. They’ve never meddled in humans’ affairs, other than their one domain, of course. They’ve never really done anything, over their impossibly long existence, and they weren’t really sure how.

Until they got a case.

Infection, humans called this particular ailment. There was nothing they could do. They took the soul away.

But they lingered, watching the group of humans curiously. Humans had different ways of grieving and they’ve seen them all. This group of humans was devastated, but they were holding themselves together. They have all met Death before. They knew them, intimately. They saw them everyone.

There was only a handful of them. Death went back to roaming the earth, this time with a purpose, but they never found anyone else.

It was just them. They were the last humans on earth.

They stayed near the group. It was like in the beginning. No use straying away from the only population.

“Mom?” a young one asked an older human.

“Yes, dear?”

“Why does it smell like a hospital in here?”

Death stared at the boy curiously. They were nowhere near a hospital. The humans would love to be near a hospital, because their supplies were limited, but they haven’t been very lucky lately.

“It’s just the chemicals, sweetie,” the mother answered, but they could tell she didn’t really believe it.

They knew that hospitals reeked of them. Humans would imagine they’d sense them in cemeteries, but they didn’t tend to linger after a job well done. Until now.

“If we don’t find more medication,” said a different human, far from the small ones. “We’re going to lose someone again.”

“We’ve been walking for so long. Exhaustion will kill them just as surely.”

“We’ve already raided everything that was left here, Sam. We need to move on.”

Death got up and walked and walked and walked until they found a place that wasn’t just rubble. They grabbed a first aid kit and several bottles of the most common prescriptions. They’ve spent so much time in the emergency rooms during their long life. They knew exactly what to get.

They got back. It was nighttime now, but still the same day. Time worked differently for them than it did for the humans. They put the things down, making sure they were outside of the field of vision of the humans keeping watch. Only then did they think about what they’ve just done.

They weren’t supposed to help, were they? This job didn’t really come with an instruction manual. They didn’t exist until they were needed and they’ve only ever did one thing.

What happens to a creature with only one purpose when that purpose is over? Humans would imagine retirement, but was there such a thing for a creature such as them?

Deep down they knew there wasn’t. There would be no one to reap them. They would just cease to exist.

The morning came and the humans rejoiced. This was what they needed. They kept asking each other Was it you? Do you know who’s done this? Where did they find it? and Whoever you are, thank you.

Death didn’t think anyone’s ever thanked them. Not like this, certainly. It felt…good. Their job was one thankless task after another. They never asked to do it.

They stayed. Occasionally they’d overhear the humans talking about something they needed and they’d go out and return with it. The humans moved around, trying to find a place they could call home, a place they could live and grow food and Death left maps in their backpacks, hoping it would help.

They were just packing up their most recent camp. One of the human’s pregnancy was progressing and they needed to get to a civilization, or at least a place that used to hold a civilization, soon. “Molly!” an older human called. Molly was one of the children. She was clutching a teddy bear that Death brought back from a trip for children’s things. “That’s your pendant, isn’t it? You should pay better attention to your things, dear, we’re not coming back here.”

“I know,” she nodded, with all the wisdom of a child who’s been forced to grow up too soon. “I left it here for them.”

“For who?”

“For the one who brings us things. The one who smells of hospitals.”

The old human stared at her. He knew who she was talking about, of course.

“I think,” said an older child, one who would almost not be considered a child anymore. “That it’s the other way around. Hospitals smell of them.”

“Yes,” agreed Molly. “But we knew it as the hospital smell before we’ve started noticing them.”

The humans moved on, but death stood there. They picked up the pendant. It was made out of plastic, a terrible tacky color, but it held a great emotional significance to Molly. And she gave it to them.

They put it around their neck and continued on with the journey.

With the help of the maps and old signs along a road, they finally found a village. It was empty and barely standing, but it was a place they could stay, a place they could rebuild. It didn’t have a hospital or a big supermarket, but it had a pharmacy and gardens and cars with just enough petrol to go exploring further.

The humans didn’t need them so much now, but they stayed anyway. Kept an eye on the children when the adults were busy. One day they were looking for a lost ball with them, when they heard that the pregnant human went into labour.

They rushed to the house she was occupying with the human who used to be a doctor. “Deep breaths,” ze told her. “It’s going to be okay.”

It wasn’t. They’ve been present during childbirth so many times, but they’ve never ended well. The doctor had the right equipment and another humans helping zir, but the other humans were clueless. They’ve never done anything like this.

“Help me,” the doctor said. “I know you’re here. I know you know what to do. Help me. Please.”

“This is not my job!” they screamed, knowing no one would hear them. Their voice sounded strange, probably because this was the first time they’ve used it. They’ve never felt panic before and they found they did not like it. “This is the exact opposite of my job!”

But they were needed. The human asked them for their help. Ze talked to them. No one’s ever done that.

They helped them, not caring that all the others saw was cotton balls and scissors levitating in the air. The cat was out of the bag anyway. And after the longest five hours of their life, there was a new tiny human in the arms of the tired mother.

“Thank you,” she whispered, looking away from her child briefly to look at where she thought they were. “Thank you.”

They went outside. They didn’t bother cleaning the blood off of themself. There was always dried blood on them.

“Salma had her baby!” one human excitedly told another. “They’re both okay. Thanks to Life.”

“Life was there,” someone else said. “They helped.”

“It’s a girl!” Salma’s older child told his friends. “I have a sister! Her name is Aisha. It means life, because Life saved us.”

They watched the humans. They’ve never seen them this happy.

And for the first time in their long life, Life smiled.

#writing excercise #flash fiction #Flash Fic Friday

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chanzicoup · 7 years

Text

Runaways ( Wonwoo x Reader Gang!AU)

Make sure to read the post explaining the roles each SVT member has!

Count: 4.5k

Genre: Life on the run

Warning: Abusive Parents, Mentions of Drug and Alcohol abuse, fight scenes, mentions suicide attempt

Next Part

Madeline's POV

I wake up from my dreamless sleep to the blaring noise of my alarm clock. With my eyes barely open I lean over to my nightstand and press the snooze button out of routine. I slump back into the warmth of my mattress. Feeling even warmer arms wrapping around me, I smile when I feel my boyfriends lips grazing my shoulder for a quick peck.

"Mae..." His voice is still groggy from barely waking up. I turn towards him and instinctively my fingers start to thread themselves through his dark locks.

"Morning Wonwoo." He called me Mae, I called him Wonwoo. It was our thing. His real name was Oh Pyeonghan but he hates it to the grave. I can't blame him, his parents were probably high as hell when they named him. Only I call him Wonwoo. It's special to us. It's a way for us to be different people, people we want to be, when we are together.

"I should get going soon." He mumbled into my nape, the words tickling my skin like feathers. I look back at the clock and see that it's 5:47 in the morning. He had to be out of here by 5:50 so he could get back to his home before his parents discover he's gone.

"Yeah... I guess you need to go." I didn't want him to leave. When he leaves it's like he's taking a part of my soul with him. His arms disappear from their position around my waist and he sits on the edge of my bed. His shirtless back is revealed to me and me only. Finding his jeans and t-shirt he wore hear last night, Wonwoo changes quickly before looking back at me.

"Don't give me that look now." I hadn't noticed the slight pout on my face but I didn't change it after being caught. I sat on my knees and allowed the blanket to slide off my body. One of Wonwoo's sweaters he left here forever ago serving as my cover up that exposed my right shoulder and my thighs from being just a few sizes bigger then I am.

"But I don't want you to go..." I wanted to live in the reality we shared forever. No school, no abuse, no stress, all of that vanished into thin air even with the mere sight of him. As stupid as it sounds, my life is awful with out him. He climbs back on the bed, crawling a few inches to close the distance between our lips. He pulled away and whispered in my ear.

"I'll be back. Be strong for me, okay?" He said. I nodded as we stood, me having to look up due to our height difference. I held his hand during the walk to my bedroom window that opens to reveal a fire escape. Opening the window, the brisk air whipping our faces.

"See you later?" I asked with one leg stepping out of the window, part of my body outside while the other half stays inside.

"Do you even need to ask?" I sneered at his answer while he only chuckled. Every night without fail for the past two years either he snuck out of his home or I snuck out to his. We did it to spend all the time we could together, our families hated each other and despised the idea of their only children being together. As far as they knew, we only see each other in the hallways of school, and even that managed to piss them off. If they found out about us they'd have our heads and don't think that's an exaggeration. Yet neither of us knew why our families were feuding, but that was how things were and we never asked.

"Just checking. I love you." He smiled at my statement our hands began to slip apart.

"Love you more." His fingertips brushed mine before completely letting go. Watching him jogging down the stairs, I could already feel the beginning of the emptiness that would be lingering with me for the rest of the day until I see him at school.

Closing the window and walking to my dresser I change into a pair of black skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. My hair was messy but after brushing it out and placing one of Wonwoo's red beanies on the top of my head I left the room at exactly 6 a.m, I showered last night so I'm fine for now in that department. School doesn't start until eight but if I wanted to successfully avoid a drunken lecture from my father I had to get an early start. Heading into the kitchen to grab an apple I walk past the picture frame with a haunting memory. It was an older picture of my parents and I when things were better. The young me was in a Sunday dress and my parents were in their finest attire, it was the last picture we took before my mother died of lung cancer.

"I miss you mom." I traced her long blonde hair with my index finger. My mother came from France and met my father here in Seoul while she was studying abroad. They fell in love and less than a year later they were happily married. My mother was thrown away by her family, but she didn't care. All she wanted was my father. A short time after their marriage I was born and life was good until I was about eleven, when mom got sick. She didn't last long after that, if I remember correctly she was on chemo for three months before the doctor announced her death.

I don't know for sure what happened to my father after that. He just snapped. Overtime he became easily aggravated and yelled at me for the littlest of things. I remember on my twelfth birthday he gifted me a nasty scar on my stomach from throwing a bottle at me. He only got physical if he'd been drinking, which was pretty often. I separated myself from others, afraid of being hurt more then I should. But when I started high school I was targeted by everyone. Being a "half breed" the other students would chant slurs and insults until I cried. When I did let a tear slip they would throw trash at me, squish food on my clothes, and anything else they could come up with for laughs. It only got worse as times went on.

Going to the teachers was an option I used rarely. Every time I told someone what was going on they always took it lightly, saying the other kids were only joking and that I should relax. The bullying escalated but one day Wonwoo saved me from ending it all if you catch my drift. It was the last three weeks of Freshman year and the anniversary of my mother's death. I stood on the edge of the roof, ready to jump and soar in the air until I hit the ground and left the Hellish world I was in.

It was luck that brought Wonwoo to the roof on that day, he was reading a book while listening to music during his lunch break and with his senses shut off from the world he had no idea I was behind him. And I had no idea he was their either. The strangest feeling that made him look up saved my life. He had found me hovering one leg over the edge of the building and the other shaking under my weight, barely keeping it's balance with all of my being resting on it.

He had convinced me to come down and when I did he held me while I cried. A total stranger helped another. From that day forward he promised to keep me safe, of course I didn't find this out until we started dating. That night he walked me home , it was the first time I had truly felt happy since my mother's death, I didn't care about anything else besides that very moment. I was talking to someone who would listen and respond positively. What I didn't know was that my dad was eyeing the two of us from his bedroom window and that he was infuriated. He met us at the front door and told Wonwoo to go back to his house before gave me the beating of a lifetime from behind closed doors. Saying I shouldn't be hanging with scum like him and that it would make him look like the bad dad he really was to the public, who'd seen him as a hardworking man who lost his wife and is raising his rebellious daughter he could not control and is troubled from loosing her mother at such a young age.

No one knew what my life was like, no one but Wonwoo. Despite what my father had done to me, I couldn't bring myself to cut ties with the only person who actually seemed to care. The bruises on my arms that I thought were well hidden under my hoodies were easily noticed by him and it was also enough for him to figure out what my dad had done. Since then he promised once again to protect me at all costs, that was when our relationship had gotten stronger.

I shook my head to take my thoughts off of what happened three years ago. It's in the past now. Since Wonwoo and I began dating those awful thoughts of ending my life receded into the mysterious depths of my brain, never popping up even on the worst days. I heard my dad's bedroom door slam and I began to run back into my room, making sure I stayed as quiet as I could on the steps. The smell of alcohol could be detected from all the way up here and if he saw me know I would never hear the end of it even though I had gone nothing remotely wrong to disturb him. I grabbed my school bag and phone before slipping on a red hoodie and leaving through the fire escape. Maybe if I get there fast the day will go by even faster.

Wonwoo's POV

I didn't want to leave her. But if her father found us in bed together he'd freak. Even though we were innocently sleeping next to each other I knew what her dad was capable of and I didn't want her to get hurt. Plus, if my parents found out they'd know instantly where I was and take matters into their own hands. Possibly killing Mae because they think all of their problems can be resolved with violence.

My parents were powerful people, together they run the largest gang in Korea. Living double lives they appear to the world as simple pharmacy operators but in reality they smuggle antibiotics and illegal drugs to all the corners of the Earth, pocketing all the money they earn for themselves instead of putting it into a college fund for me like most parents would do for their only child. Then again most parents are not extreme drug dealers. My parents never cared for me, I wasn't even suppose to be born, I was just "the result of a drunken night and a mess up on my mother's birth control," and don't tell me I'm wrong because they both agree.

I always try to talk to them about it, craving for their love and affection, but they shut me out and say that they didn't raise me to be warm hearted and caring, they raised me to hide my emotions and be careless, they wanted me to be more like them in every way possible. But that clearly is not the person I am, I care about others and protect the ones I love while my parents want me to be this gang lord when I'm older. I need love like any other civil human being. 'We don't love.' My father would say before he knocks me to the floor or throws a glass vase at my back. He always lost his temper with me, it's always been like that. He claimed it as 'reinforcement' or 'disciplinary services' but legally it would be qualified as abuse.

When I met Mae on the roof I saw how hurt she was, even if I didn't know what she'd been through at that time. The look of sadness in her eyes scarred me for life, since then I've sworn to never have her like that again. I couldn't bring myself to just leave someone alone and depressed like I had been. I convinced her off of the roof, thank god. I held her while she cried and released the emotions she must've bottled up for who knows how long. I am proud to say that I have kept my promise.

On that day when I walked her home and when she thought I was gone, I stood at the porch and watched as her father brutally beat her in the living room. I wanted to kick the door down and kill him then and there, but in the end I found myself walking home with clenched fists. I should've done something, anything would've worked. I could've gotten the neighbors to call the cops, or called them myself. But I didn't and I'll regret it forever.

When I got home it was about six o'clock and after changing my clothes and showering I was out of the house by seven with my breakfast money in my wallet. Not only are my parents powerful, they're god awful with money and leave random bills laying on the tables or wedged in between the couch cushions. Every kids dream right?

I walked the twenty minute distance to school and stopped in the cafeteria to buy two muffins. A blueberry one for me and a banana nut one for Mae, since she probably grabbed an apple or something to avoid her dad. I thanked the lunch lady after she gave me the brown bags containing the food and made my way to Mae's homeroom class.

Since school doesn't start for another half hour most of the students haven't gotten here yet but most likely they would be here any minute. Mae sat alone in the class, her back facing me but I could see that she was listening to music by the way she was tapping her fingers on the desk. Knocking would be useless since she couldn't hear me, so I slid my way in without her seeing me. I sat the muffins on the desk behind her and swung one of the chairs over so when I sat in it I would he directly facing her. Putting my elbows on the desk and resting my head on my palms I admired her features as her eyes stayed closed, absorbing the music and getting lost in her own little world. Damn she's so cute. Pecking her lips she gasped and opened her eyes, surprised to see me smirking in front of her. She punched my shoulder playfully and we both chuckled.

"When did you get here?" She asked, taking out her ear buds and putting them away.

"A few minutes ago, here, I got you something." I took the bag from the desk and handed her the muffin I got for her.

"I know you probably ate an apple or something so I got you this." I explained. She rolled her eyes but unwrapped the muffin with a smile. So I was right, huh?

"You know me so damn well." She said while chewing. I nodded and began eating my blueberry muffin as well. A few minutes went by and we sat in a comfortable silence that other couples would see as strange or weird but it was normal for us. Our feelings could go unspoken.

"So how'd things go today?" I threw away our trash and sat back down in the chair.

"Dad almost saw me, but when I heard his door slam I hauled ass." She snickered. Good thing she got out in time, I don't know how I would react seeing even more scars on her milky white skin that she hid from the world underneath long sleeves and bracelets.

"I wish I could help." I said. It hurt me to see the only person I've ever loved live in fear like this.

"You are helping. Being here for me is enough." She smiled.

We continued talking until the school bell rang, signaling it was eight o'clock and classes were starting at any minute.

"I have to go. I'll be at the normal spot during lunch." I stood up, grabbing my bag before slinging it over my shoulder and pecking Mae's lips again.

"I'll see you there." She said.

Mae's POV

I watched as Wonwoo left the room and the other students filed in like a herd of buffalo. A group of boys stood with each other a few feet away from my desk, discussing what to do over the weekend before saying how much they hated their parents because they took away their phone and grounded them. I rolled my eyes and ignored their conversation, if they thought that was bad, try living with my dad. But hey I'm just people watching, not eavesdropping at all.

I took out my music again to listen to until my teacher showed up, before I even had the chance to press play they were ripped out of my grasp. I didn't need to turn my head to see who took them, I know damn well who it is and exactly why they did it.

"Thanks for the gift, moron." Said the peppy voice that belonged to Kwon Daena, a proper way to describe her would be by saying she was the snake in my rabbit hole. But if I remember correctly, I'm way smarter than she'll ever be because I have common sense.

I kept silent as a response, if I snapped back at her I'd just be giving her what she wanted. Attention. She needed it from others to satisfy her growing ego and would target anyone to get it. So far she only pestered me into being her only victim. I couldn't blame her, like I said I'm an easy target. I was the girl who has no mom, mixed racially, and has no money to her name. It made me the perfect victim for her to attack for her own well being. I mean I clearly don't have enough to deal with in life so might as well add bullying to shake things up a bit, right? Hopefully you guys see the sarcasm in my statement. She just has nothing better to do with her petty life.

Me being quiet only seemed to annoy her, which I had expected, so she slammed her palm on my desk to grab the eyes of every single kid in class. With everyone watching us, she took this as a chance to humiliate me further by grabbing a water bottle from her bag and dumping it over my head. My clothes were soaked and it didn't help now knowing her water was infused with lime or some kind of citrus fruit. I smelled like a damn lemon tree that had germinated with a waterfall.

"Look who's a wet little whore." Oh well now that's just extra, no one needed to hear such a slur from the mouth of the real whore. Wait, does that make me hypocritical if I'm talking to myself? Probably, but whatever. She continued to sneer and circle my desk while the rest of the class erupted into laughter and I sat with my head down. I've grown used to the jokes and the constant harassment so I just take it at this point. There isn't really anything else I could do, if I talked back it would only get worse. If I told anyone they will not believe me, and things would still only get even worse from there. I've learned this through experience.

I took off my hoodie and thanked the lords the water didn't sink down to my shirt. But my hair didn't seem to get all that lucky so I settled with tying it up to keep somewhat dry. The door opened and the teacher stepped in, greeting the class and apologizing for being late.

"Madeline!" She yelled. I sat quietly but turned my head to acknowledge her,

"Why are you soaking wet in my classroom?!" Her yelling only making it harder for the students to hide their laughter.

"I-it was..." I looked over at Daena and her looks alone were enough to convince me against snitching. I closed my mouth and looked back down at my hands that were resting on my lap.

"I can't just have you walking into school soaked like this! Do to the nurses office to get cleaned up and come back when you're decent." She ordered while pointing her fingers to the door. I grabbed my book bag and now lemon scented hoodie and went to the nurses office, only to find it empty and locked. I sighed and went to my locker, grabbing the spare hoodie I kept here just in case something like this happened. I threw the soiled one onto the hook to take home and wash later, if I remembered. I then went to the bathroom to rinse off the smell of lemon-lime fusion that resided itself into my scalp and used paper towels to dry my hair, which was an excruciatingly long process.

By the time I was finished it's been an hour so when I went back to class the teacher was talking about a completely different subject than the one she left off with when I left. Even if it was the same topic I had zero idea what she was even talking about. None of it made much sense to me anyway.

"Madeline, care to tell me where you've been for the last hour?" She crossed her arms and looked at me like a crow stalking it's prey.

"Bathroom." I said simply.

"I told you to go to the nurse."

"Well maybe you should have made sure the nurse was there before sending me." I snapped. Her mouth hung open in surprise and I stood tall, she was mad that I was right and she knew it, but couldn't bring it out to admit she had been mistaken. Instead of speaking kindly like how most teacher should she resorted to her lecturing tone.

"I don't like you're attitude, missy. I suggest you clear it before I send you to ACI." ACI was like in-school suspension, you sit in a room until you take a break for lunch, school ends, or until you are instructed otherwise. You don't sit there without work, of course. The classes you miss give you the work and notes you need to complete and give to the supervisor. I've been there before and it wasn't so bad, the teacher's who were suppose to supervise us 'troublemakers' would fall asleep or go to the teacher's lounge instead of doing their jobs. But that didn't surprise me.

"I don't like your attitude either so I guess neither of us are happy. Send me to ACI, see if I care, it's all you ever do. It's probably better there than here, do you even think your dumbass students know what you're talking about? Why do you teachers here never do their fucking jobs anymore?" I didn't care, why should I? It's not like being polite would do anything good for me anyway. And she disrespected me first so why should I play nice?

"That's it! Go to ACI now or else I'll get security to do it for me." She threatened while walking to the school's phone. I scoffed before speaking.

"If I'm going down I'm doing it without your stupid security guards. Also this whole thing would've been avoided if you'd listen to me when I was saying it was Daena who soaked me with water. But you won't listen because her daddy is your pimp." I murmured the last part so then the teacher didn't hear it over her agitated whispers to the principle over the phone, letting him be aware of me being sent to ACI once more. What is this, the tenth time this month? If anything I'm excited to go, it keeps me away from everyone else and makes it easier to sneak out. I stormed out of the classroom and walked down the hall and into the designated ACI room, but not without flipping off the class while they broke their characters and giggled like children on a sugar high.

Four rows of desks placed before me and no one occupied any of them. The teacher's desk was empty as well, finally some time alone. I sat in the desk in the farthest corner of the rooms and took out my notebook, doodling random things over my notes about some formulas I'm never going to use again. I looked at the clock, 9:37 a.m.. Lunch is at 12:30 so what the heck am I going to do for three hours?

It was too risky to have my phone out, if a teacher were to see me on it in ACI they'll confiscate it immediately and give me detention, which is basically ACI but on a Saturday or after school. I didn't want to be here during school hours anyway so why would I risk being here longer? I looked around and saw no signs of entertainment, just white walls and a black chalk board that hadn't been cleaned off in years. The only color of the room being the red and blue inked graffiti on the desks, some were hotlines for "a good time" and others were stupid comic strips that I had read thousands of times. Some weren't bad but those were the ones I wrote.

There was a knock on the door and through the little window I saw a girl with a pile of papers and a textbook in her hand. I stood up to let her in and she set the papers down on the desk. The pink sticky note that was stuck on the first page read, "For Ms. Madeline, homeroom teacher: Ms. Lee." Ah, my beloved ACI work.

"Thank you." I said and flipped through the pages.

"N-no problem, Madeline." She stuttered before leaving. It took me a minute before realizing that was Park JinHa, the class secretary. I've never heard her talk much in class, but who has? Everyone knew she was a genius without her ever boasting about it. Was she that shy? I guess that's why she didn't win the presidential election, she lacks in people skills poor thing.

I sat back at my desk with my papers, apparently I would be missing two tests, three worksheets and a study guide for our Economics' test. I sighed and got to work, starting with my English test.

#seventeen #jeon wonwoo #seventeen imagine #gang #kpop #seventeen wonwoo #seventeen reaction #seventeen scenario #kpop imagine #kpop scenario #kpop reaction #gang au #kpop gang au #seventeen gang au #au

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rockthistowninsideout · 7 years

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20.08. Time Period AU - Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries AU

Digimon OTP Week Part 7

Rating: Mature Additional Warning: Rape and abuse mentioned Pairing: Taichi/Sora Words: 1162

In which Sora slips into the role of Miss Phryne Fisher, 1920s Melbourne’s most remarkable private detective, and Taichi is her dutiful partner in crime, Detective Jack Robinson.

The Honorable Miss Sora Takenouchi, private detective extraordinaire, poured tea into a delicate piece of china, then set the pot aside and eyed her counterpart in the other well-cushioned green armchair.

“Inspector Yagami-“

“I thought you had transcended the stage where you called me by my last name.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t like it when people interrupt me, not even the intelligent and admittedly handsome Detective Inspector of the City South Police. But, as you wish, Taichi” she stressed his name more than was necessary “how are the investigations going? Takeru found himself quite unable to tell me the details.”

The detective coughed. He should have known that Miss Takenouchi had not invited him just for a relaxed cup of tea and an idle chat. The look she was giving him meant business. Still, he had walked in here, dewy-eyed, and had taken the steaming mug she had offered him. When he was here, he always felt like a sailor on a rough sea, and she was the siren, drawing him to her rocks, were his doom was waiting. It has never been deadly with her, though, at least not here in her grand mansion in one of the suburban streets of Melbourne.

“Well, the commissioner wants to have Mr Motomiya arrested by the end of the day as he has a believable alibi missing.”

“But Taichi, we both know that there’s also something else missing: a motive and the circumstances of when or where he could have acquired the poison. He is a simple dock worker, not a pharmacist or of any similar profession.” After the word “pharmacist”, Sora’s voice slowed and she looked at Taichi with realization dawning in her eyes. Taichi had comprehended as well and was already at his feet.

“I will call Takeru and tell him to go straight to Miss Inoue’s house. We will meet him there.” He rushed over to the telephone.

Sora hurried into the kitchen to inform her housekeeper, Mr Gennai, that they were off to catch a possible murderer. She met the detective in the entrance hall where she threw over a superbly sequined black coat and put a matching hat with feathers at the side on her accurately combed red bob. Taichi held open the door for her, they got into the police car and drove off with determination.

Sergeant Takeru Takaishi waited for them in a side alley of Miss Inoue’s pharmacy.

“She has just sent her apprentice home so she is alone in there. Do you think it has been her?” he asked his boss as they exited the car. When he saw Miss Takenouchi, he tapped his helmet and greeted her, then followed the detective to the side entrance.

“Takaishi, open the door for me. We will approach her from behind, you on one side, I will be on the other. Miss Takenouchi-“ he turned around to address her, just to discover that she didn’t stand next to him anymore. He rolled his eyes and swore under his breath.

The bell over the pharmacy entrance chimed. Miss Inoue turned away from the medication she had been preparing to greet the new customer.

“Good evening, how can I help you, Miss Takenouchi?” Her voice was warm and welcoming, but Sora’s suspicious nature, and the countless missions she had been on by now, told her that this might as well be a perfectly implemented façade.

“Miss Inoue, I was wondering if you could not recommend me a good medicine against back pain. My butler Mr Gennai, well, he’s never complaining but I can sense that he has to deal with some gruesome aches now and then.”

Miss Inoue nodded knowingly, as if she had anticipated the question. “Heat always helps. Give him a hot water bottle and some rest, then he should be good. If the pains are ongoing, just come back to me. Or maybe send him right away, if you can spare him for a while.”

Sora noticed a movement in the back room which could be accessed by two door frames that were guarded by pearl curtains. She caught Taichi’s eye and nodded, when Mrs Inoue perched behind the counter to get something. Simultaneously, Taichi and Takeru stepped into the salesroom. With surprising speed and strength, the pharmacist shot up from her crouched position, grabbed Sora by the arm and vaulted her over the counter, holding a pistol against Sora’s temple.

“Detective, did you really think I was so naïve and, above all, blind that I wouldn’t anticipate your coming or see your sergeant lingering in the street?”

She held Sora tighter and now pointed the gun at Takeru, then at Taichi.

“Miss Inoue-“ Sora began, but the pharmacist cut her off.

“Quiet, Miss Takenouchi, you’re definitely not better than those men, than all men in fact.” She nearly spat the word “men” out, then continued. “All my life have I’ve been serving men; when my Mom died I had to fill her role because my Dad was too busy drinking himself to madness. When I was sixteen he sold me off to a brothel, and there they were again, greedy men with their hands all over my body which I never wanted. I could escape, but I landed in the arms of a professor who promised me an academic career but you know what he wanted in return? You’ve guessed it, sex. Now that I finally had my own business, my own home, my own life there comes Mr Ishida and threatens to take it all away from me. I could not have let this happen, now could I?” The question was simply rhetorical, and they were all wise enough not to answer.

After a pause, Sora tried to calm her. “Miss Inoue-“

“Don’t! I’m now at a stage in my life where I cannot take it any longer.” She took the pistol away from Sora’s head and held it against her own. But before she could pull the trigger, Sora had rammed her elbow into Miss Inoue’s stomach. The gun went off, but only shot the lamp above their heads to pieces. Taichi and Takeru were at her sides now, grabbing one arm each and holding her tight between them.

Sora panted and looked compassionately at the pharmacist. “I’m sorry that this happened to you, but you now have taken away all that you’ve worked so hard for by yourself.”

The police men brought her out to the car in handcuffs.

Sora and Taichi were back at her mansion, sitting in the living room and sipping their whiskeys. After the events of today they had needed something stronger than Earl Grey.

“Taichi, I am really sorry for Miss Inoue. She’d had a hard life, one that is not uncommon, but she managed to escape. Only to be ripped of it again.”

Taichi nodded. “It is truly a shame, but murderer stays murderer. There is not really anything we could do for her now.”

@digiotpweek

#digiOTPweek #digimon #taichi yagami #sora takenouchi #taiora #takeru takai #miyako inoue #yamato ishida #miss fisher's murder mysteries #time period au

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rnjrsupportsquad · 7 years

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Arkos Pregnancy Au

here it is folks. What started out as a way of making me feel less depressed spiralled out into this beautiful au.

are you ready??? (also please keep in mind that I only did some research into pregnancy so if something is wildly inaccurate its because I'm lazy)

Pyrrha knows almost immediately. because she’s so athletic and eats healthy, when she begins to feel tired and nauseous she tells Jaune that she must be getting sick not to worry him.

One day Nora is over for lunch and so when Pyrrha books it to toilet Nora grabs her a test from the nearest pharmacy

Pyrrha immediately starts to freak out because they had not been planning this at all they are so not ready to be parents “Nora I had a glass of wine today what was I thinking” Nora is trying to tell her that nobody could be better parents than her and Jaune. She pours Pyrrha’s wine into her own glass claiming that she’s now “drinking for two”

Nora stays with Pyrrha till Jaune gets home, his arms full of groceries. Nora keeps calling him Pops on her way out. When Pyrrha tells him he drops the groceries and runs to her lifting her into the air because he’s always wanted a family and he’s just so damn happy and she’s so happy that he’s happy and their both happy and crying and the groceries are still all over the floor. Jaune has to go back to the store to grab a new carton of milk

Jaune, having been there for 4 of his sister’s births is the expert at dealing with pregnancy.

He wants her to stop going on hunts immediately, arguing he is making enough teaching at Beacon/going on hunts to support them both until after the baby is born. The deal they make is that she will take it easy and take less dangerous jobs that keep her close to beacon until the morning sickness kicks in, she keeps doing photo shoots and sponsorships and the occasional exhibition match. (the press eats up the pregnancy) They have a fight one time when Pyrrha comes home from a hunt with Nora that was supposed to be clean with some cuts and bruises. He doesn’t speak to Nora for a couple days until Pyrrha knocks some sense into him. She knows he’s just worried but she doesn’t put up with that.

Nora and Ren are over almost constantly (if it was up to Nora she would be there 24/7 but Ren makes sure that Jaune and Pyrrha get their privacy knowing that Pyrrha won’t send her away and Jaune doesn’t want to stress Pyrrha out especially as the pregnancy progresses)

Nora will have separate conversations with Pyrrha’s baby bump. (like she will sit on the floor or whatever to be at eye level with it while Pyrrha’s doing laundry) When Jaune or Pyrrha try to say something her she just shushes them saying she’s trying to have a private conversation

Jaune gets his mom to send them his old crib (its pretty sturdy to survive 8 Arc children but Pyrrha still makes him get it repaired) Pyrrha’s mom sends them her old mobile.

the baby shower is a gong show. Nora makes it a big deal even though its just her, Pyrrha and RWBY. of course

Weiss gives her the highest end baby stuff from atlas.

Nora gives her onesies, one of them saying “I’m proof my parents had sex” and other cute baby clothes from her and Ren

Ruby gets them a stuff Beowulf for the baby

Blake gives her an herbal tea that’s is supposed to help with the pregnancyYang wanted to get them a boat load of Diapers, but Blake would not let her. She gives them a baby rattle that looks like a dumb bell (is a real thing look it up)

Yang wanted to get them a boat load of Diapers, but Blake would not let her. She gives them a baby rattle that looks like a dumb bell (is a real thing look it up)

Of course, Sun and Neptune are offended that they weren’t invited and send Jaune a diaper changing survival kit (noes plugs, goggles and rubber gloves and tongs)

Pyrrha craves the weirdest grosses food. like she’ll make Jaune get her pickles with peanut butter at 3 am because of her weird cravings but he’ll do it.

her semblance becomes extra sensitive because of out of whack emotions. like if she gets really irritated or sad anything metal starts to rattle (she stays out of the kitchen for obvious reasons). Jaune’s reflexes get really good.

speaking of an emotional pregnant Pyrrha, SHE CRIES AT ANYTHING

Jaune will come home and she will be crying watching a pet food commercial. The first time it happened he almost shit himself because he woke up from a nap one day and she had tears streaming down her face. When he asked her what was wrong she simply started sobbing about a feel-good news story. Jaune still shits himself a little bit but he finds it so endearing.

Jaune 100% cries at the first sonogram when they first see the heart beat. Honestly, he’s just so happy and so in love (god now I’m gonna cry)

The bigger Pyrrha gets the more protective Jaune gets. Obvi

When they make the big announcement Jaune gets a text from yang saying “Congrats on the sex Arc” and a thumbs up emoji

being the fall maiden Pyrrha obviously has nightmares even though Salem and Cinder were dealt with years ago. sometimes she’ll wake up screaming and she’s scared that she’s putting the baby in danger. Jaune of course just holds her tightly reassuring her that nothing is going to happen to her or the baby. he promises her that he would never let anything happen to their child. she just clings to him those nights. he keeps one hand in her hair and the other against her growing baby bump telling her funny stories from his students until she falls asleep.

Jaune is trying to keep both Arc and Nikos parents at bay. Momma Arc shows up the day after they tell them with casseroles and Jaune’s baby album full of information about arc babies (some real nitty gritty stuff that makes Jaune go beat red). Jaune is still in his pumpkin Pete boxers and an old Beacon shirt and Pyrrha is still asleep. Momma Nikos video calls every day and it takes both Pyrrha and Jaune to convince her parents not to visit till after the birth.

Jaune still curses the day that Pyrrha gave his mother her mother’s contact info cause “Pyrrha they are stronger together you have created a monster”

Mamma Nikos originally wanted the child born in Mistral in the Nikos house (cause you know they rich af) but Pyrrha convinces her mother that she and Jaune both want the baby born in Vale and no they cannot get the time off to spend months in Mistral. (its more of Mom Nikos not wanting to miss her only child (who she almost lost) give birth but she sees stressed and tired both Pyrrha and Jaune are and backs off)

One night at like 4 am Pyrrha starts getting Braxton hicks and Jaune thinks is go time and gets her to the hospital in record time only to hear that she’s not in labour. He’s so tired that he bursts out laughing. falls asleep immediately when they get back.

Pyrrha is a fierce nester. She cleans EVERYTHING in their house. From scrubbing both their armour with a tooth brush “Jaune its the best way to get into the nooks and crannies” to cleaning under the sinks. Heaven forbid that Jaune wears his shoes indoor. he has been pushed out the house with a broom multiple times. Jaune begs Ren to give her cooking lessons because bless her heart the woman cannot cook and Jaune can’t eat one more burnt to a crisp dinner.

the baby is a week late. suffice to say Pyrrha is STRESSED OUT AND FRUSTRATED. she’s bloated, the size of an Ursa (her words) and is absolutely miserable. she wants the baby out. Jaune does anything he can to keep her comfortable (including keeping Nora and all in-laws out of the house and massaging her old Achilles heel injury) but nothing is helping.

Finally, the day arrives. Jaune is making breakfast and Pyrrha is brushing her teeth when her water breaks. of course he has to call in and get Ruby to take his class to forever fall for him. the ever so calm that was Jaune Arc master of pregnancy is gone. back is the old Jaune Arc who is freaking out on the way the hospital. he calls Ren and Nora as well as in-laws while Pyrrha is being examined by the doctors. Jaune realizes that his shirt is half tucked in and his tie loose around his neck. Thankfully Ren is able to bring over a change of clothes Pyrrha is in labour for TWENTY FOUR HOURS. During that time Jaune braids her hair so a) its not constantly in her face and in the way and b) she loves it and he knows it calms her. she takes the contractions like a champ. the first time she jokes about how its not as bad as an arrow through the chest. though around the 5th hour she’s not in such a good mood. it kills Jaune to see her in so much pain. when its time to push, Jaune had never been so thankful for his semblance cause with out it Pyrrha would have broken every bone in his hand. he gets flashbacks to the night with Pyrrha in the aura transfer chamber but at least this time he can do more than watch the door. Pyrrha in a moment of pain swears “Jaune Arc you are never touching me again”

Of course, they have a girl. Yang owes Nora $50. She has Pyrrha’s red hair but Jaune’s blue eyes. They name her Clementine. Nora is a little disappointed that she isn’t 100% a mini Nikos. Jaune jokes how’s there always next time. Pyrrha, who has just gone through a 24-hour ordeal, does not laugh. Pyrrha is immediately extremely protective of her daughter. she shoots Nora a glare that shuts her up saying that Clementine is perfect. Ren has to drag Nora out of the room to let the new family have some quiet time. She brought them balloons and the stuff Beowulf that Ruby got them.

Clementine is this tiny little person swaddled in pink just kinda squirming and making baby gurgles. She’s perfectly healthy, very strong. To Jaune and Pyrrha she’s perfect.

Pyrrha is exhausted. She falls asleep against Jaune’s chest and with Clementine in her arms. Jaune 100% cries cause both his girls are sleeping peacefully and its such a beautiful moment. he takes a picture before the nurse takes Clementine to the nursery until feeding.

soon the waiting room is full of Arcs but Jaune makes everyone wait until Pyrrha’s a little stronger until they see her/hold the baby. But he does take them to the nursery to see Clementine while Pyrrha naps. Jaune’s mom cries.

Because the birth was late, the Nikos parents are there the next day. Momma Nikos cries. Jaune and Papa Nikos give them some privacy and coffee from the cat (cause Jaune has only gotten a few hours of sleep since Pyrrha went into labour)

#text #arkos #pyrrha nikos #Jaune Arc #jnpr #rwby #rwby au #pregnancy au #jaune is crying #the mothers are crying #i am crying #you are crying #i love this so much #mod talks #i hope y'all like this #i worked really hard on it #yes i will want to draw Clementine

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