#so he's standing next to what clearly is a net but his fit and the emoji clearly say basketball. follow your dreams hyung sure | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-untamed-soul · 2 years

Text

It’s fire, it’s freedom (part 3)

croA/N: I will admit taking two weeks to write the next chapter is quite rude and I apologize! I let life get ahead of me. I didn’t think the bar scene fit well into this chapter but expect it in part 4! All the spears to me for the tardiness and crappy quality of this one.

Pairing: Tom “ICEMAN” Kazansky x Y/N

Music: The Greatest Show – Greatest Showman

Summary: Two volleyball matches, a new callsign and a cute moment between a Gosling and his auntie.

“Goose?”

“Yes Sprite?”

“I fucking hate sand. Remind me to tell Mr. Sandman that he needs to keep it in line.”

“……Sprite I don’t think that’s how it works.” Goose tried to keep a straight face as he gazed down at his sister-in-law. The aforementioned woman was glaring at the hot terrain, a pout causing her lower lip to jut out and her hands were crossed stubbornly over her chest.

“Well today is the fucking day. I swear to God he has it out for me since I said Pitch Black was cooler than him.” Y/N tossed her hands up to the sky and stomped her foot once before turning to meet the gaze of two amused but confused pilots. “Don’t ask. Best two out of three Popsicle Man.”

“It’s Iceman.”

“Does it look like I care? You remind me of a L’Oréal commercial so deal with being called Popsicle Man before I call you Vogue or something.”

Goose couldn’t help the snort that escaped him nor the shaking of his shoulders as he hid his face in his hands. Slider was also attempting to not meet the gaze of his pilot, staring off into the distance before offhandedly remarking, “She isn’t exactly wrong.”

“Shut up Ron.”

“Shutting up.”

A volleyball sailing past their face caused the two to turn their attention back to Goose and Y/N. The short woman tried and failed to keep an innocent look upon her face as she questioned, “Are you guys going to play or are you afraid that you’ll be chanting the Air Force song by the end of the night?”

“Hey Mother Goose? Don’t kill Iceman for taking your sister-in-law on a date. We need someone to keep Maverick from killing the rest of us and that Top Gun trophy won’t be near as fun to win if your best competition is six feet under.” Slider shared a long look with his fellow RIO as both teams got back into position. The first game had ended in their favor, but it had been a close one before Y/N decided she could no longer play nicely with Mr. Sandman.

“Moneys on Ice,” Hollywood nudged Wolfman and received a grin in return. “Easy money. Y/N looks like she is about to kill Slider.”

Y/N grimaced as she dived to return a ball and felt her side spasm in pain. The first set hadn’t bothered her at first but as time went on, her scar was starting to give her problems. Each jump sent fire down her leg and caused her teeth to clench involuntarily. Sweat gathered at her temples and her body trembled with both exhaustion and pain. It was only her sheer desire to win and prove herself that kept her standing. Y/N ignored the concerned looks that Goose sent her way, knowing that if she gave him an opening that he would try to end the game before she was ready to toss in the towel.

Across the net, Iceman’s gaze was switching between Goose and Y/N. He picked up the tension in his classmate’s face and the way Y/N was clearly favoring her right hip. He could make out the puckered skin of fresh scar tissue and it caused questions to bubble inside his head. What had caused that? Is she prideful enough to keep playing even though she is clearly struggling? Iceman almost snorted. Of course, she would. She was Maverick’s friend.

Casting a glance at his RIO, Iceman nodded once in Y/N’s direction before leaping up and setting up the ball for Slider to snag the game winning point. Y/N and Goose moved to intercept but just barely missed the ball before it slammed into the hot sand. “And that’s game. Seems like we won 2 out of 3, Y/N.” Ice couldn’t help the cocky tone that entered his voice or the automatic puff of his chest as he gazed at the woman who had snagged his attention.

Y/N could only shake her head in disbelief but also felt the initial stirring of admiration. So, Iceman was more than just a pretty face and cocky attitude of a pilot.

“So, you did, Popsicle Man. Guess I will be seeing you boys later at the Hard Deck. Don’t worry – I won’t take forever in front of the mirror AND I’ll be nice and get you something stronger than the fruity drinks I know you boys so enjoy and love.”

Iceman quirked a brow before shaking his head with a laugh, “Don’t forget that your day tomorrow is mine. Let’s see if you’re more than all bark, Tweety.”

“What did you just call me?” Y/N took a step forward, her face taking on a rosy hue and her hands clenching and unclenching as she imagined tackling the infuriating pilot. How had she admired him only a second ago?

“Tweety, short for Tweety Bird. You seem all sweet and innocent, but we all know you’re not. You’ll grow to like it. Well, as much as you can grow.” Laughter came from the gathered people and even Goose chuckled at the now dubbed ‘Tweety.’

“Vogue. You’re going to die. Not today, not tomorrow but sometime in the near future. Goose, shut up before I tell Carole you bullied me today and she doesn’t ask you to take her to bed.” A few “Ooos!” came from Hollywood and Wolfman as Y/N turned and tried to stomp away from the gathered men. She made it a few steps before her leg started to buckle and she had to grab Goose for support. As she steadied herself, she met first Goose then Iceman’s eyes before turning away stubbornly. She didn’t want to see the questions or the pity in their eyes. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Honey! Come tell Sprite to stop being stubborn for once and accept some help.” Goose called out to his wife as he watched his sister-in-law stubbornly limp upon the stairs to the house he had been provided by the Navy.

There was a sound of scampering feet before a small head of blonde hair poked around the glass door and the eyes of the gosling locked onto his aunt.��“Auntie! Are you huwrt? Did Dad push you down the stairs again? OOOOoooo you’re in trouble Da. Momma is gunna wash your mouth out with soap! And then she won’t give you any of the chocolate chip cookies and I will get more and and....”

Y/N laughed as she scooped up her nephew and hugged him tightly to her chest. “Yeah Goose. No cookies for you AND an extra helping of dawn.” y/n mocked and widened her eyes dramatically. Goose was tempted to stick his tongue out at his sister, eyes narrowed dangerously but his face cleared instantly when Carole Bradshaw appeared in the doorway.

“Did I hear Gosling say you pushed y/n/n down the stairs? With her bad hip? Nick Bradshaw! I know your ma taught you better than that!” With laughter in her voice and eyes, Carole tried to appear stern as she held one hand to her hip and the other wagging a finger at her husband.

“Daddy’s in big trwouble.”

“Yes, yes he is. Let’s make a run for it. I heard something about cookies...” Y/N whispered conspirately as she and Bradley made an escape for the kitchen and away from the scene of the crime. “Y/N: 124. Goose: 1.”

Y/N and Bradley had managed to eat four cookies apiece before a mussed Carole and Goose made their way into the kitchen. Her sister was quick to narrow her eyes at the two cookie thieves as they tried to appear innocent, crumbs littering clothes and chocolate staining Bradley’s cheek. “Did Goose get dish soap in the mouth?” y/n smirked, which prompted an eyeroll from Goose.

“He sure did. Remember that Gosling - boys who are mean to girls will get dish soap in their mouth and a good scolding!”

“Yes mama. If I be good, I get cookies. If I be bad like daddy, I get yucky soap.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad! I swear it was all Sprite this time! She bet against Iceman and lost. You know how your auntie gets when she loses.”

At this, Gosling and Carole both nodded their heads. Y/N was a horrible sore loser. Her competitiveness knew no bounds - even against poor Gosling which earned her quite the ribbing from Maverick and Goose alike.

“What did you bet against this time y/n?” Carole asked as she begin to pull out the lasagna she had been heating in the oven. Y/N was quick to narrow her eyes at Goose as she started to say “Well, I have to buy everyone a drink at the ba-” before she was interrupted.

“She has a date. Tomorrow. With Maverick and I’s sworn enemy! The betrayal. The horror! The poor fool.”

“It is not a date! I just have to hang around for a few hours, finagle some food and then run away the first moment he looks away.”

“A date?! You actually agreed to a bet with a date on the line?! Nick, tell me all about him. Y/N hasn’t been on a date in years. What does he look like? What’s his favorite color? How tall is he? Will y/n walk all over him? Does he sing? You know the Bradshaw tradition!” As Carole got more and more excited, y/n sank lower into the seat she had next to Gosling. Fucking Goose.

As Goose attempted to answer all the questions rapid fired his way, Bradley couldn’t resist putting a sticky finger to his aunt’s cheek. “Is ok Auntie. You win next time. And then we can go get ice cream and fly in Daddy’s jet.”

“Of course, Gosling. Anything for you.”

TAG LIST: @bellamy1998 @emiiarmenn @jkholmes @chaoticassidy @screechingdreamercollectorsblog @kanevill @rhemoona @callsignsmiley @verxyn-cryptic @red-ace-in-space @itsagpbro @fandomalert31 @nessrin

#top gun #tom iceman kazansky #tom kazansky #iceman kazansky #iceman #top gun 1986 #carole bradshaw #goose bradshaw #ohdear

198 notes · View notes

siremasterlawrence · 2 years

Text

Beware! The Valley Of The Dolls Part 2

Henry Cavill is proudly arrogant business buffoon who has been making utterly foul comments about me.

The frustration on his face shows by my odd and barely visual expression of difference to his attack.

He wants me it reacts and cause a scene so he can record turn it viral all over the net.

No thanks, I have plans for him and he will

wish he never went toe to toe with me.

“Whatever you are planning it will not work out.” He confidently says walking in to my room.

“What is your issue with me?” My words are firm and guarded.

“This corporation is filled with dodgy actions and advertisements.” I smile getting it.

“What are you really here for?” I ask a quick sweep to hair.

“Fuck you! You heard me.” He howls at my lack of caring.

“Fine! Please take a seat this clearly will be awhile.” I retort a pressing a button under the table.

Chris walks in to the room stunning as ever with a small device he places to the back of the room.

A mini screen projector blast onto the tiny projection screen descending down the wall.

Henry is at a loss for words watching the video it’s a comedy with a faint multicolor background.

It’s spinning in a circular fashion almost like a spiral, he can’t look away staring at it gets him hard, and he can’t help himself.

“Is something funny?“ I ask the man who is a hysterical babble of fits.

“Apparently so, did occur to you I am doing the world service?” The question pushing even my senses a bit.

“Those to find love, dominant, submissive,

dating, marriage and whatever else.” I add

“Will you stop me in my quest for ultimate control just because you lack the insight to get on this?” He lets the question linger.

“No, I will not” it’s shot but sufficient start to his demise.

“Oh well! Good we can begin your undoing.”

I say out loud.

Chris leaves the room turning off everything as I had previously left it and I ponder my own outcome.

Here is a chance to get revenge and make him a prime example of snag is possible.

Breaking this prick will ensure my own issue of pulling this off because he will be hard to do.

Henry dazzled by the screen, addled mind and nothing more can only obey my every command.

“Stand up! Remove every article of clothing” I state.

“Don’t move a inch, bend over for me and smile.” I add laughing extremely happy.

“What a pretty boi, here’s a present.” I say placing the mini chip in his neck.

“Fool! It’s always beast such as you that need to be tamed.” My voice lowers in to a whisper in his ears.

“This may hurt a bit, but who cares.” I continue fidgeting with it.

“Aaaahhhhhhhh” his screams curl mixing in to the sounds of the day.

I mind shifts to my next stage of the plan so I call Chris in to task him with setting up the brat.

Fuck him! He is hot though I think I will do before I sell him for the highest bidder I can find.

My mouth curls upward in curiosity at my instant photo image machine I can create anything for it to synthesize.

The machine comes to a hulking stop at a howling scream then shoots out a new mini mini device.

I place it on my cap turning it backwards to set up, place on my head as I walk back to the room and I think update new specks.

“Updating…Updating”

“Processing….Processing “

“Upload complete”

“Yes fuck, Henry Master Lawrence “

“Oh Master! Please”

I creep up behind him yanking my cock out in preparation getting harder by the second

Suck me off Chris is think as he reaches for my cock kissing it, licking it and sucking it.

Lick Henry’s hole I think as Chris jumps to do just that in a lustful manner and I glee

“I am ready Master”

“Please use me”

“Oh baby!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh”

“Oh it hurts! Oooohhhhhh yeah”

“Fuck! Ooooowwwwwwwwooooooohhhhh”

The end

#Hypno Dolls.

23 notes · View notes

lexosaurus · 3 years

Text

Birthmark

Phic Phight oneshot for @datawyrms: Danny Phantom's jumpsuit is hiding a secret he'd rather not reveal to anyone.

---

“Shit,” Valerie cursed, deactivating her hoverboard and gently placing the figure on the ground. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Bright green liquid soaked the ghost’s body, dripping off his waist and painting the grass in a steady stream. It was ectoplasm, something inhuman and twisted, and yet when Valerie looked down, all she saw was how closely it resembled blood.

She raised a shaking hand and attempted to brush away some of the green on her suit. But she looked more green than red at this point and all she could think of was how much ectoplasm was outside the ghost’s body.

It was too much.

They’d been ambushed after a ghost fight, the Guys in White having caught them in one of their special nets. Valerie had tried to yell out that she wasn’t a ghost, she was human, but it was no use. They zapped the net, and her vision was shrouded in darkness.

The next thing she knew, she was in a van, trapped with her biggest rival in Amity Park. Phantom was awake, but he didn’t know how long they’d been in the van for. Hours passed before the van stopped at last. But at that point, they had a plan.

As soon as an operative opened the back, Valerie was on him. She knocked him out, stole his gun, and bolted.

Apparently, Phantom wasn’t so useless without his powers either. By some miracle, he managed to find a way to remove his inhibitor collar and take flight.

But that was when all hell broke loose. Right as he’d paused to free Valerie from her inhibitors, someone landed a shot on him.

And he fell.

Valerie didn’t have time to think. She just grabbed his body, activated her hoverboard, and flew, not sure where she was going but unwilling to stop until she was sure she’d lost the agents.

“Fuck.” She threw off her helmet and looked down at Phantom’s unconscious form. There was a hole in the stomach of his suit, and ectoplasm bubbled and sparkled in the harsh sun.

He was going to die, Valerie realized. What happened when a ghost died? Could they even die?

“Stay with me,” she whispered.

She shoved a hand in her belt for her emergency supplies, but her glove was too slippery, and her hand trembled too much. She couldn’t do this. She ripped off her glove and tried again, trying to ignore the way the ectoplasm trickled between her fingers.

She had a bit of gauze, a tube of instant clot powder, a few butterfly clips, and a few large bandages. It wasn’t much, but it would have to work.

Because the alternative…

She set the supplies down and turned back to the unconscious ghost. His glow was almost nonexistent, and for the first time she could see his face clearly. All the grooves of skin, his pores, the individual hairs on his eyelashes and eyebrows. He had freckles. That tiny, human detail Valerie would have thought impossible for a ghost.

Even the more humanoid ghosts always had some slight haze to them, something that just made them more like a realistic doll than a person. But not Phantom. If it weren’t for the white hair and ectoplasm, she would have thought him to be just a regular teenager.

“Stay with me.”

She needed to take his jumpsuit off. Could she even do that? Was it attached to him? Would taking it off just hurt him more?

For a moment, Valerie knelt there frozen, unsure of what to do. She felt lightheaded, dizzy, nauseous. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of burnt battery acid and lime, and she could only stare as the Phantom’s face slowly grew paler and paler.

She pinched herself. “Snap out of it.” She’d dealt with worse, this was just a ghost. A ghost that she didn’t even like. A ghost that she’d spent the last two years chasing out of Amity Park.

She could do this.

Grabbing her swiss army knife out of her belt, she began carefully slicing through the fabric. Her damp hands were immediately filled with green goo, and for a moment she panicked, thinking that her fears were correct and that the jumpsuit acted like a second skin for Phantom.

But then she saw a black t-shirt peeking out underneath the jumpsuit, and she realized with a shaky breath of relief that the suit simply melted if it wasn’t attached to the host.

Of course, that made sense. She’d seen Plasmius rip off his cape before and it had dissolved in thin air. How could she have forgotten?

She made quick work with removing the jumpsuit, and had started on the undershirt as well when Phantom groaned.

She froze, unable to move the slightest muscle, as she watched Phantom’s drunk green eyes slowly flutter to life.

“Don’...” he slurred.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. “You’re hurt, I’m sorry.”

She tried to resume cutting his shirt, but he lazily swatted her hand away. “Don’...”

“Phantom, stop. I need to get this off you.”

“Stop...”

“I gotta do this,” she said, tearing his t-shirt. “It’s just a shirt.”

“S’ugly,” he mumbled, his eyes rolling back. His head lolled to the side, and he was out again.

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be—”

Her voice cut off, and she sucked in a breath. Tattooed on Phantom’s skin were glowing lightning figures that branched from his shoulder, snaking around his chest and stomach as if they were alive.

Valerie had never seen anything like it before, and she could have dismissed them as just ectoplasmic tattoos. But from Phantom’s reaction, she had a sneaking suspicion that these were something much more serious. Much more personal.

Something that she didn’t have time to think about right now. Something that was getting covered by ectoplasm, something that was losing its bleak glow as the aura around Phantom faded to nothing.

Time was up. She needed to act now.

Ripping off the packaging, Valerie got to work.

---

The sky was clear, glittering with thousands of stars. It was one of those rare nights where the milky way was visible, arcing the sky with its brilliance.

Valerie had never been one to care about nature. Growing up rich in the city, her focus was always materialistic. She just wanted to fit in with the other girls, so she’d been more than willing to follow along with their hobbies and model her life after their trends.

Nature? Space? Stars? She never gave them a second thought.

Until her life was turned upside down, that was. Suddenly, Valerie went from hardly spending time outside to now soaring through the sky every night, weather be damned. It didn’t take long for her to appreciate the beauty of a clear, warm, night sky.

She landed on top of a building and collapsed her hoverboard. It had been quiet thus far, with only a few ambient blob ghosts roaming around a warehouse. Although at the beginning of her ghost hunting career, Valerie had spent each night painstakingly capturing every ghost in sight, she’d grown since then. She wasn’t so angry, so vengeful now.

And aside from being completely harmless, even Valerie had to admit there was something almost cute about the tiny bulbs of ecto energy.

Her suit dinged, signaling a ghost nearby, and Valerie groaned. There really was no rest for the weary, it seemed.

She raised her radar watch to her eyes to see a familiar ecto signature reading pop up in the corner.

One that was heading towards her.

Shit.

She hadn’t seen Phantom since that day. He’d been avoiding her. And maybe a few months ago she wanted him to avoid her, but now...

That day had changed her.

It was terrifying the way the government had so easily lumped her in with the ghosts just because they detected ectoplasmic readings from her suit. She woke up not knowing where she was, where she was going, if she’d ever see her father again.

Part of Valerie had insisted that once they saw her without her helmet, they’d call her dad and drive her back. It would have all been a big misunderstanding.

But a different part of her, one deep down inside, knew she was just lying to herself.

The government operated the way she did when she first started ghost hunting. All black and white, no room for grey. Ghost were evil and all ectoplasm needed to be destroyed. Period.

After she patched Phantom up in that grassy field, she flew and flew until she stumbled across a nearby town. She hid Phantom in a warehouse and sat with him for hours, forcing herself to stay away and stand guard in case the GiW found them.

He didn’t wake up until the next morning, taking one look between Valerie and his exposed torso before panic struck his features and he simply disappeared. Before Valerie could gather her wits to hunt his ungrateful ass down and kill him again, he reappeared, suit intact, and began leading their way back to Amity on instinct alone.

Phantom refused to look her in the eye for the entire trip home. And when they finally got to Valerie’s apartment, left her with a “get some sleep” before disappearing once again.

Her watch buzzed lightly against her skin, signaling that he was close. Valerie leaned back, waiting. Seeing if he’d actually come to her, or if he’d bail and pull the vanishing act he was so famous for.

But then he appeared. Right in front of her. His glow was vibrant against the night sky, covering his body in a shimmery aura. His acidic green eyes glistened in the dark.

He really looked no worse for wear after his injury. That kind of hit would have landed Valerie in the hospital. And yet, Phantom was back the next day, full of bright smiles and puns for the people of Amity.

She wondered how often this kind of thing happened to him. Just how many times had he been nearly slaughtered only to pop back into the public eye pretending like nothing happened?

He gave her an awkward wave. “Hey, Red.”

“Phantom.” She greeted cooly.

Just because lately she’d been seeing Phantom as someone who didn’t have an inherently evil Obsession didn’t mean that she liked him. At best, he was cocky, arrogant. At worst, he’d dumped her back at her apartment and left her by herself after the complete shit show that was their kidnapping.

So yeah, maybe she was a little bitter. Sue her.

“Uh, do you mind if I…” He gestured to the roof.

She pretended to mull his proposition over, watching as his ghostly tail flickered in anxiety.

He was ready to bolt, and she didn’t blame him. They’d never really talked before.

“Do what you want. I don’t feel like fighting tonight,” she finally conceded.

Relief spread across Phantom’s features, and Valerie was once again reminded of how human he was. She once thought that ghosts couldn’t feel any emotions. While it was doubtless that the way they experienced emotions was different than how humans did, there was just no way that Phantom was able to nail all those tiny details so accurately. Even if he was one of the more powerful ghosts out there, it would have been near impossible to mimic the full range of human emotion so quickly and precisely.

He settled down next to her, his tail morphing into legs positioned criss-crossed against the concrete. He turned to her, rubbing the back of his neck.

Valerie said nothing, just allowing the blanket of awkwardness to settle over the pair. If he wanted to say something, he could say it. Valerie wasn’t going to hand-hold him through a conversation.

When the tension was reaching the point of unbearable, Phantom finally broke the silence. “It’s a nice night.”

“Sure is.”

“I haven’t—uh, seen any ghosts. Tonight, I mean. Like outside. Or inside, too. Uh...it’s a quiet night. Ghost free. Well, except for me, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

He ran a gloved hand through his white hair. “Not that I’m really complaining. It’s kinda nice to have a break for a change.”

Valerie grunted in agreement, even though she was sure Phantom was lying through his teeth. Ghosts lived for their Obsessions, and Phantom was no different. She knew that deep down, he reveled in ghost hunting even more than any human ever could.

The duo was lapsed back into another tense silence, one that Valerie didn’t try to break. She didn’t understand what his goal was with the petty chatter. Did he think they were suddenly friends now? After he discarded her back at her apartment like she was a used rag and disappeared without a hint of remorse?

After she carried him hundreds of miles away from the Guys in White compound, bandaged his wounds, and then stayed up all night just to make sure he was safe?

She could have left him there. She could have been home before her father had woken up the next morning in a panic because his daughter was nowhere to be found. She could have avoided the phone call to the police, the missing child report, the whole mess that had followed.

And he couldn’t have even been bothered to say thank you afterward. Just dumped her and left.

So if he thought she was going to help him out now, he had another thing coming.

“How have...um, how have you been? Since…”

“Fine.” She said. “My dad’s been better.”

He winced. “Yeah…”

“Not that you care.”

He jolted up, turning around to face her. “What?”

“You know what I’m talking about, spook.”

“I thought we were over the whole ‘spook’ thing,” he said, his face twisting in annoyance.

“And I thought you were over being an inconsiderate jerk. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Listen, Val—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Okay, Red. Listen, I’m sorry. Okay? I got freaked out that you—you saw…” He let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry you got caught up in my problems, I’m sorry they thought you were a ghost, and I just...yeah.”

Valerie sat there for a moment, glaring out at the night’s sky. “It was a big mess, you know.”

“I know.”

“The police were involved and everything.”

“I heard.”

“And you know the worst part? I couldn’t even tell them the truth.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I got kidnapped by my own government and I couldn’t even tell my dad. I had to lie and say I got lost while out on a nature hike. How stupid is that? I nearly got killed by the freaking government and I haven’t been able to say a damn thing to anyone.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was quiet.

“Yeah, well…” Valerie swallowed the lump in her throat. “You know. Hazard of the job, I guess. Still would have been nice if you hadn’t just left on me. After everything.”

Phantom lowered his head, allowing the white strands of hair to cover his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It was a dick move.”

“It was.”

“I just wanna know why.”

He looked up, startled. “Why? Why you were captured, or—”

“Why the silent treatment? Was it because I saw those glowing lightning tattoos under your jumpsuit?”

He flinched back as if he’d been struck, his body lifting to hover over the cement. He stared at her open mouthed, as if he didn’t think she’d even dare to mention it.

But Valerie couldn’t find it in her to be joyous at his hurt expression. “Seriously? You were mad about that? Like I care about what you put on your body.”

“No, no.” Despite looking like he wanted to take flight, he managed to lower himself back onto the roof. “No, they’re...it’s complicated.”

“Oh, wonderful,” she said sardonically. “So let me get this straight, ghost boy. I save your ass from the government, pull an all-nighter guarding your lifeless body in a warehouse, and the best you can give me is an it’s complicated? Thanks a lot. It really makes me feel better.”

“No, it’s…” He trailed off, rubbing a hand over his face. His eyebrows were pinched and he looked almost sick. When he finally spoke, his voice was small. “They’re not tattoos.”

“Oh? What, an unlucky birthmark?”

He didn’t respond.

Valerie turned to him, realization hitting her with full force. Unable to keep the surprise out of her voice, she said, “Really? That’s it?”

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. His eyes were distant, far away. Lost in some other world.

He’d been electrocuted. Struck to death by lightning, or something similar. And now it was branded on him, as some twisted reminder of the ugly creature that extended its spindly claws and ripped his humanity from his body.

“Damn.” Valerie blew out a breath. “Of all the ways to go, huh?”

“I—Yeah…”

She couldn’t help herself. “Do all ghosts have one?”

“No.”

Valerie didn’t know if that made it better or worse. Questions swirled through her brain, but she bit her tongue. She didn’t know much about ghost culture, but she was fairly certain that there was a taboo against asking ghosts about their deaths.

So she stayed silent, pretending to focus back on the stars but stealing glances to the teenage ghost beside her. His brows had furrowed, as if he were having an internal war. Whatever it was, Valerie didn’t pry. Even if her curiosity burned brighter with each passing moment.

Finally, he sighed, dropping his forehead into his knees. “It’s fine,” he said, though his voice sounded anything but. “You can ask.”

She hesitated for a brief moment before relenting. “Why do you have a mark?”

“They’re called Lichtenberg figures,” he explained. “They just happen. If the shock is bad enough. But they, uh, are supposed to fade in a few days. You know, if you’re...human.”

“But yours didn’t.”

“No, mine didn’t.” He raised his head, opening his mouth slightly, before slamming it shut.

This was unmarked territory she was stepping into. Hell, she doubted even the Fentons had ever talked to a ghost about their death before.

“Do you remember it?” she tried.

“Yeah.”

That surprised her. She’d read some of the Fenton’s papers, and even they were uncertain of how much a ghost remembered about their death.

The question must have shown on her face because Phantom added, “Not everyone does. I think...I think it has to do on their power level. And, uh, how old they are. I think some of the more ancient ghosts just kinda...forget. But I don’t know much. We don’t really talk about it.”

“Oh.”

Phantom nodded, staring down at his gloves. He sighed, and then started pulling one of them off.

Valerie froze, her eyes locking onto the movement. She’d never seen Phantom remove them before, and frankly she wasn’t even sure if they could be removed.

The glove left his skin and dissolved into ectoplasm, splashing onto the concrete roof. And there, left on his otherworldly skin, were the cobwebs of the lightning scar that covered his torso. It was brighter, glowing with more precision than Valerie remembered from before.

He pushed his sleeve up to his elbow, revealing more of the Lichtenberg figure. It traveled up his wrist, spiraling throughout his arm before it disappeared into his suit. The branches were thin, glowing with the same ectoplasmic energy that ran through the ghost’s core.

Valerie didn’t know what to say. Here Phantom was, her biggest rival in Amity Park, revealing his creation, the moment that turned him into what he was today.

“It was an accident.” He finally spoke. “I was being stupid, I don’t know. My friends and I were fooling around with this...this machinery, I guess, that we knew we weren’t supposed to be near. I grabbed a malfunctioning piece of equipment—I didn’t realize it was plugged in—and that...was it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well…” Phantom pushed his sleeve back down. He closed his eyes, willing the glove to materialize back onto his hand. He looked at her and offered a feeble smirk. “Teenagers, am I right?”

Valerie forced a polite smile in return, hoping it didn’t look too pained.

He cleared his throat. “But, you know,” he said, allowing some of that familiar cocky energy back into his voice. “It’s in the past now. I’m over it.”

Valerie doubted that much. After all, he was still a ghost.

“I mean, I get to do really cool things now. Like helping people. Protecting the town. You can’t exactly do that as a human.” He froze, his eyes flickering to her. “I mean, aside from you. You’re great at it!”

Valerie flipped him off. “Whatever, ghost boy.”

“No, I’m serious! You’re really good as a ghost hunter.”

“I know I’m good! I don’t need your flattery to give me self-esteem.” Her voice sobered. “But really, Phantom. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

He frowned, and looked up at the sky. The brilliance of the stars reflected on his form, giving his body an almost ethereal presence.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

---

Thanks for reading!

#danny phantom #phic phight #my writing #birthmark

881 notes · View notes

elysianslove · 3 years

Note

hi💗 i saw that you opened up your requests to jujutsu kaisen and i was wondering if i could request something,,reader is dating our favorite bandaged shaman sensei and they are both teachers at the school. and a little scenario when they invite the 3 first years over to their house for Christmas or winter holidays,,since they all have complicated family situations and the reader notices this and tells satoru they should do something,,so a cute little mom and dad moment 🥺 thank you

hi anon!!! this request was so, so cute i hope i did it justice hehe, and i hope you enjoy <3

━━ satoru gojō feels like home. in every sense of the word, he feels like home. he smells like it too, but that’s possibly because you’ve lived with him for much too long, and been with him for even longer. he’s your safe haven, your safety net, a constant, grounding presence in your life. you think that, maybe, you’ve always loved him, before the confessions, before the friendship, in another lifetime even. if you’re willing to believe in curses, you can believe in blessings too, right?

that said, anywhere with him is home too. you could be stranded in the middle of nowhere and still sleep just as well as you would’ve in your own bed, so long as his arms are around you. the too busy streets of tokyo somehow lessen in their overwhelmingness once his hand fits against yours, once his thumb is lightly brushing against the back of your hand. the quiet, eerie atmosphere of a random motel the two of you had no choice but to stay suddenly feels lavish and luxurious as soon as his lips find yours, and immediately the dim, sombre light of the room only illuminates him more.

it had never mattered what your life had been before meeting him, before loving him. all the pain and hardship and suffering was completely erased from memory, as if the first glance from him was an offer of a blank slate, a new beginning. of course, every relationship has it’s unstable moments, and with laughter come tears, with excitement comes dullness, quiet, and with sunny days come cloudy, rainy ones. it’s inevitable, but you two are strong pillars of it. the pain and suffering comes crawling back to you, but you brush it off, reminding yourself that this is your home now. he is your home now.

and every moment with him matters. especially holidays.

although neither of you properly celebrate christmas, the festive atmosphere still exists within the four walls you two share. small marshmallows sway in an ocean of hot chocolate in a mug, flames dancing proudly in a fireplace before you, a knitted blanket offering you both warmth and comfort, snow piling on your windowsill. the winter holidays are mostly spent like this with gojō. there’s just something about the cold that drives the both of you to utter laziness, and it’s not unlike you to easily welcome any source of physical affection from your lover.

it’s the night before the last teaching day, before you’re sending off your students to their homes for the holiday. the room is dark, save for the light from a lamp to gojō’s right, and the light that comes from the tv playing in front of you. it’s some movie that you’re not entirely focused on as your cheek rests against his chest, his arm slung around you. despite the fact that you’re as tired as ever, your mind is alive with endless thoughts, and gojō seems to notice when he lifts a hand up to poke at your temple.

“what’s going on up there?” he asks, shifting slightly to sit you up straighter. he disregards the phone in his hand, placing it next to lamp, before turning to face you properly.

“gojō,” you start, your voice smaller than usual. this doesn’t go unnoticed by him, and he nods encouragingly. “where’s itadori going for the holidays?”

it’s quiet for a moment, and you watch his expressions carefully. he looks thoughtful, slightly bothered. “i—“ he begins, his voice wavering slightly as he admits, “i didn’t consider that at all.”

you hum sadly. “he has no family, right?”

gojō shakes his head in response, adding, “none.” the silence stretches out between the two of you, the background noise of the tv a filler, not disrupting, but balancing. “all three of the first years have familial issues, now that i — now that i think about it.”

“do you think they can stay here?” you suggest, without a second of doubt. you don’t entirely regret it, but you wince slightly at the look of his face. you’re ready to drop the subject if the matter is too uncomfortable for him, but you know your lover too well, well enough to know he’ll agree to it just as eagerly as you’d suggested it.

“that’s a great idea,” he confirms for you, and the careful expression you had morphs into glee. you beam up at him, before leaping into his arms, wrapping your arms around his neck as you embrace him tightly. one arm weaves around your waist, with the other travels up, leaving his hand cupping the back of your head as he holds you to him. “you’re too good for this world, my love,” he tells you, whispering his confession in your ear. you only push back with a smile, and plant a heavy kiss to his lips.

you announce the decision to the first years right after the teaching day ends, while alongside gojō. he’s standing comfortably, hands pressed into his pockets, an easy smile on his face as he surveys both you and the students before you. they’re standing with careful, solemn looks on their faces, as if they’re about to be sent off on a serious, life endangering mission.

“what is this about?” nobara wonders, her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

you only smile widely back at her, before softly saying, “gojō and i are inviting the three of you to stay at our home. for the holidays.”

nobara’s eyes soften slightly at the words, while megumi’s face remains impassive. yuuji, however, has his eyes wide and jaw slack, clearly the only one capable of speaking because he yells out a rather aggressively shocked, “what!”

“is this —“ megumi starts, breaking off and interrupting himself to swallow thickly. “are you being serious?”

you nod eagerly. “i want you three to feel safe and to enjoy the holidays too! only if you’re comfortable with that, of course, but our home is your home,” you address them.

gojō hums playfully from next to you, adding, “every night is hot chocolate night.”

yuuji and nobara are automatically sold, to the exaggerated point of throwing their arms around you, collectively suffocating you in their embrace. megumi still looks wary of the idea, and you notice this easily. offering him a soft smile, you reinstate softly, “i just want you to feel safe.”

he smiles.

“you have a really nice home, sensei,” megumi comments as he surveys the living room. you’re not sure which of you he’s addressing, or if he’s addressing the both of you, but either way your heart softens at the awe in his eyes. you’re curled up next to gojō comfortably, the three first years surrounding the two of you, and there’s an array of food options before you.

for the first day, you’d eaten dinner out in a restaurant, but it’s way past nighttime now, the stars visibly shimmering in the sky, the moon lost within a blanket of them and the clouds. the snow falling isn’t heavy enough to have your world disappear in white, not yet at least, but it’s slowly and surely piling up.

“hot, hot, hot—“ yuuji whines, sticking his tongue out and fanning it as he places his mug down. you huff out a laugh at him, watching as nobara pinches at his arm and scolds him for ‘being stupid.’

you lean more comfortably into gojō, admiring the scenery before you. he shifts, leaning his lips nearer to your ear as he whispers, “i’m glad we did this for them.”

you nod in agreement. “me too,” you say.

“you know what it makes me realize?” gojō starts. you hum, urging him to continue. “how good of a person you are, how lucky i am —“ your smile widens at his words, cheeks aching as they start to flush. “— how good of a parent you’ll be one day.”

you freeze. “parent?”

gojō only smiles when you move back to observe his face. although his smile is teasing, his eyes are serious. he’s serious. “one day?”

you try to imagine it. your own family, with him, raising your children with him, sharing hot chocolate with them, watching as they bicker with each other. spending eternity with him. the image and fantasy comes so easy to you, it’s dizzying. gently, you fall back into his arms, curling up against him as you whisper, “one day.”

#jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen imagine #saturo gojo x reader #satoru x reader #gojo x reader #satoru imagine

662 notes · View notes

hexfloog · 3 years

Text

Tonight we screm about... LIFELINES

Earlier today, I sent an... admittedly very poorly-phrased question about Gadgetless Conan to a DCMK server - you know, like someone who doesn't proofread.

(I know it was bad because nobody answered me... rightfully so, lmao)

There was a reason for it though!! What I was thinking about was E2, Company President's Daughter Kidnapping Case/The Kidnapped Debutante, and E129, The Girl from the Black Organization.

Rambling below the cut!!

In episode two, it's made horribly clear to us just how harrowing Shinichi's situation has become, even at surface-level. The point is obviously to contrast against the Shinichi we're shown in episode one, who is physically adept, well-liked by authority, and generally comfortable in life. In the span of a single episode, he becomes alienated by symbols of his former self-- his house, which he cannot enter; his clothes, which he cannot fit; his friends, who he cannot confide in; and his own name, which he cannot utter-- and we begin watching him struggle to acclimate to the life of someone who is infantilized at every turn (until he isn't, cough), the degree of which is illustrated most plainly in this first case solved as "Conan."

You only get one shot to establish the floor of a setup like this, and I think they did a pretty good job of it. I'm biased in favor of the Funimation dub, of course:

"You've gotta be kidding me!! I can't even kick a soccer ball anymore!

Aaaaaugh, the panic in his voice.

Anyway, I bring this up in conjunction with The Girl from the Black Organization because, before Shinichi realizes he's being played, Ai taunts him with some dialogue which I found-- among pretty much everything else she says in these two minutes-- pretty chilling:

And she's right - Shinichi flounders so much in episode two because... he really is helpless! He's completely gadgetless for the duration of the case, completely stolen from his former physical prowess (and the familiarity that comes with it), and just to add insult to injury he doesn't even know how to properly masquerade as a child yet, which is arguably the only trick he has when naked (so to speak). As Haibara says... without Agasa, Shinichi has no liberation from the physical weakness of his child body.

So... that got me thinking... Shinichi has a support system that is already loosely established even by this point, composed of people who know his secret, lifelines which bring him back to himself when it seems like there is no escape from his false identity. What are they?

Agasa is, as established above, Shinichi's lifeline to his physical strength and, arguably, his authority. His gadgets allow the young detective to arm himself-- both in the conventional sense, and with a reliable wealth of trickery to skirt the dismissiveness often invited by his child appearance... whether that means simple antics or straight-up mimicking the voices of dead people to scare culprits into confessing WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS--

His parents are, obviously, his connection to family. They are also his general safety net, in the event he chooses to give up... or is forced to.

Heiji is Shinichi's lifeline to companionship. As I mentioned earlier, once he becomes Conan, Shinichi is put in a place where he can no longer confide in his friends (namely, Ran). Heiji, after learning his secret-- and in his ostensibly wholesome habit of seeing right through the veil of Conan every single time-- offers Shinichi a chance to just... be himself without the smoke and mirrors. When the circumstances of his life force him to wear the skin of someone else at every waking moment, I feel Shinichi could very well forget what genuine camaraderie feels like. Also he's the first one to offer Shinichi any semblance of hope for the end of his predicament (albeit unknowingly), how could he not have a place here omg

Haibara is something of an enigma. Admittedly, I have not seen enough of her to be able to say anything (with confidence) on her apparent role in Shinichi's system, but every time she speaks I swear this girl has something PATENTLY 10/10 to contribute asddgfhj. For me, and for all I've seen so far, she represents his value system (and by extension, retribution?) and is the closest I've seen this show come to gray morality. In this very episode Agasa has to hold Shinichi back when their conversation quite clearly turns to challenging who he thinks deserves to be called a victim and I-- mmmmMMMM

More on that in another post about this ep because there's no WAY I'm going to be able to cover everything I wanna say about it in this one aaaaa. Also I do not know at this point whether Vermouth would also fit into this role, I haven't gotten there yet

(Now for this last one... I realize Movie Canon is technically its own thing, but tbh I want the movie and show canon(s) to overlap so much in my mind that I don't even care sorry not sorry--)

...Kaito Kid.* Honestly this boy is such a wildcard, his relationship with Shinichi is so unique and multifaceted that he most definitely plays more than one part in this support system I've interpreted for him in my head. At the very least, being The Foil, it stands to reason he would play a very similar role to Agasa, but rather than bringing him back to the familiarity of his physical body, he keeps him on his toes by pushing his ambition and testing his deductive prowess, which... is especially interesting to me, given that Shinichi never loses that part of him post-transformation. Passion, then, is perhaps his role (or at least one of them): to remind Shinichi of his purpose, of what gives him life... away from the grim backdrop of his circumstance, and removed from the shadow of the Organization... because even in the body of little Conan, that fire could not be stolen from him. Kaito may or may not be doing this consciously (for all intents and purposes, most likely not) but it's still an intriguing thought to entertain, I think...

(*Yusaku could technically overlap with this also, but imo both Shinichi's parents are far too aware of the threat of the Black Organization, I think-- as they should be, being his parents and all.)

(*Heiji could also be the one who stokes this fire, but there's a markedly distinct difference between sharing a passion, and weaponizing it)

Wow uhhHHH idk how to cap off this post uhmm... that's all I've got for now, next time I screm about... YOU CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE (still this ep, bc 129 is SUCH a treasure trove of ideas)

if you've gotten this far tysm for reading much love <333

#text #dcmk #kudou shinichi #shinichi kudo #internal screaming hours #long post #''yea can anyone tell me if we see more physically helpess conan'' i ask a server that's probably full of minors oh my FUCKING--#hex self-destructs more at eleven #buckle up we got a long one #ai haibara #detective conan #the girl from the black organization

70 notes · View notes

fruitcoops · 3 years

Note

Idea for jules staying with coops... Jules gets a bad dream and crawls into bed with them? Only if you want to ofc! I love e everything you write, that k you for sharing it with us! -🌼

Part three! Find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Sweater Weather/ Jules credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for nightmares (plane crashes and cracking ice)

Lily Potter was a goddess. That belief was only solidified when she called Remus the morning of the game and offered to take care of Jules for the day while they went through their regular pre-game rituals. Jules, of course, was only too happy to go—he adored Harry and was still in the stage where babies were just gross enough to be cool.

And yet it was strange having the house to themselves. Remus kept checking over his shoulder for Jules, and Sirius called him down for lunch twice before remembering that he wasn’t there. Hattie got plenty of extra attention in his absence.

They arrived at the rink two hours before game time; there was minimal delay getting out of the house without wrangling a ten-year-old, but to be honest, Remus kind of missed it. Fans were already flooding into the stadium when they arrived and he scanned the crowds for red hair or a pompom-topped beanie, even though Jules was much too small to be easily seen in the rush.

Shake it off, Loops, you’ve got a game to win.

The locker room hummed with energy as everyone taped up and buckled in. Sirius gave his usual fearless-leader speech, Frank’s voice boomed outside, and then they were on the ice.

“Heads up, Loops!” James called, passing him the puck for a quick tap-around. Remus rolled his shoulders out and took a deep breath—he knew he had to trust Lily and the girls to keep an eye on Jules. It’s just a couple hours. Get in the zone.

It was a fast game. The Ravens may not have been the biggest team, but they were lightning on their blades and had a knack for hard hits when the opposition least expected it. Remus got checked twice in the first five minutes alone; that snapped him out of his worried haze quick enough, and he dug his skates in. Time to win.

“Twelve!” he shouted over the roar of the stadiums, slamming the puck toward Sirius and hip-checking number 18 into the boards as he flew past. Sirius caught it—of course he did, Remus thought with a small smile—and looped around for a beautiful goal. “Hell yeah!”

The fans erupted in cheers and he caught a glimpse of Jules’ face near the glass on the opposite side, sandwiched tightly between Lily and Regulus. The last latent tension melted away and he let out a slow breath, skating over celebrate Sirius’ goal.

“I found Jules!” Sirius said, tilting his head toward the glass when he arrived. “He’s okay!”

“I know, I saw!” Remus knocked their helmets together before returning to his position.

The Lions were on fire after that, steady and inevitable against the quick movements of the Ravens. When those blue jerseys tried to slip between the defense, the line tightened and netted them like fish; when they tried to get between the Lions offense, James and Remus circled back around and laid in wait for a pass.

The final buzzer went off and the stadium roared: Lions win, 3-1. Jules was jumping up and down and yelling himself hoarse as the teams shook hands and went back to their locker rooms to clean up for the media.

When all interrogations were vaguely answered and Remus’ hair was dry enough not to freeze in the nighttime air, he and Sirius walked back into the lobby to collect their kid. Jules waved when he saw them from his perch on Regulus’ shoulders—Sirius made a soft noise at the sight and gave Remus’ hand a squeeze.

“Hey, buddy, how was the game?” Remus asked, reaching up for a fist bump when they wandered over.

“It was awesome!” Jules practically shouted. “I got a Twix!”

“Did you?”

“We split one,” Regulus clarified, glancing up at Jules with unbridled fondness. “More of a seventy-thirty situation, to be honest.”

“Got it,” Remus laughed. “Lils, how’s the baby?”

“He napped, shockingly enough.” She turned so they could see Harry’s smushy baby face blinking back at them from his chest wrap. “I don’t think the Ravens worried him that much.”

“There they are!” James appeared in the crowd and swept Lily in for a kiss, then bent to place a million on Harry’s head until he shrieked with giggles. “Hey, sunshine!”

“Here, my shoulders need a break.” Lily carefully unwound the wrap and helped James slip into it; immediately, Harry reached for his glasses, babbling happily.

“Are you ready to head home, buddy?” Sirius asked Jules, who was watching Harry with wide eyes.

He paused, looked down at Regulus, then nodded. “I guess so. Bye, Regulus.”

“See you later, kiddo.” Regulus bent down to let him off his shoulders, then startled a bit as Jules turned around and hugged him tight around the waist. “I’ll stop by before you leave, d’accord?”

“Thanks for letting me sit with you,” he said, voice muffled by the red sweatshirt.

“Thanks for sharing your Twix.” The edges of Regulus’ eyes crinkled and Remus leaned closer to Sirius’ side, running a thumb over the back of his hand. “Alright, I think our pain-in-the-patootie brothers want to get out of here.”

Jules looked up at him and frowned. “You can say ‘ass’ around me, you know.”

“Jules!” Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus exclaimed at the same time as Regulus burst out laughing.

“What? It’s true!”

“Come on, gremlin,” Remus said, grabbing his hands and letting him stand on his feet as they walked out. “What are we going to do with you?”

“Make dinner?”

Remus laughed, even as the cold air made them all shiver. “I think I can manage that, sure.”

“Lily made pasta for lunch and it was so good.”

“Yeah?” Sirius shared an amused look with him. “I’m glad you had fun.”

“We did a puzzle, and I got to play with the baby, and then we made some cookies—” He closed his mouth abruptly. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“…can I swear?”

Sirius snorted. “Sure.”

“She said the two of you would throw a bitch fit if you found out she made cookies and didn’t let you have any.” He grinned upward as Remus scoffed in disbelief. “Then she apologized for swearing and gave me three.”

“I say we make some brownies with caramel, send her a picture, and then refuse to give her any,” Remus suggested as they reached the car. “Those are her favorite. We’ll see who throws a bitch fit then.”

Sirius made a face and closed the trunk. “I mean, she is taking care of a baby and is married to James Potter. I think she’s entitled to a bit of a bitch fit now and then.”

“Fair point. Buckle your seatbelt, Jules.”

“I always do!”

“Just checking.”

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

Jules was asleep by nine, just as Remus expected. It had been a busy day for him—going to the game would have been enough to knock him out pretty well, but combined with a full day of activity it was a miracle he lasted that long. He took a picture of the sleeping kid and sent it to Lily with a quick ‘thank you’ and the promise of caramel brownies. She really did deserve some.

“D’you want to go to bed?” Sirius asked as he settled down on the couch next to Remus while he read.

Remus yawned and checked the clock; it was barely ten pm. “Yeah, sure.”

They stumbled up the stairs, both dead on their feet and sore as hell, then tugged on pajamas and slid under the covers for a good, solid cuddle. Remus pressed his back into Sirius’ warmth, feeling the heavy tide of sleep roll closer. “Love you,” he whispered in the darkness.

Sirius smiled against the back on his neck and wrapped an arm around his ribs, pulling him even closer with a kiss to the shell of his ear. “Love you, too, mon loup.”

Remus dreamed of ice. A frozen pond, to be specific, where Jules flew past him on his skates and Sirius followed, both laughing so hard they gasped with it. Sirius caught his hand as he passed, pulling him along as the three of them—no, five, his parents were there as well—looped in wide circles.

A bolt of fear shot through him when he heard the telltale sound of cracking ice and he reached for Jules’ coat collar; the soft fleece of the inside brushed his fingertips, but he was too far away to pull him to safety. Jules was going to fall. Didn’t he hear it? Didn’t he understand?

“Re?” A soft, terrified voice broke through his dream and his eyes flew open. The room was dark, save for a bit of light from the hallway. Sirius was still against his back, breathing steadily as he slept. And Jules was standing about a foot away from the edge of the bed with tearstains on his face.

“Jules?” He scrubbed a hand over his cheek and sat up. “What’s going on?”

“I had a nightmare.” His lower lip trembled as he stared at Remus, clearly shaken.

“Oh. M’kay.” Next to him, Sirius inhaled deeply and shifted, reaching for him; Remus brushed his dark hair off his face and shushed him softly. “Go back to sleep, love.”

“I didn’t mean to wake Sirius up.” Jules sniffled and blinked a couple times.

“Don’t worry, buddy, it’s fine. Do you want me to tuck you back in?” Jules shook his head as tears spilled over and Remus swung his legs over the edge of the mattress, pulling him close for a hug. “Hey, shh, you’re alright. You’re alright. I’ve got you.”

“It was awful,” Jules sobbed, clinging to Remus’ shoulders as he buried his face in his chest.

“What was?”

“My nightmare.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Jules shook his head; Remus kissed his forehead and kept his lips there, closing his eyes. “Oh, buddy.”

“ ‘s everything okay?” Sirius mumbled as he sat up. He frowned in the dim light before he saw the two of them and concern covered his face. “What happened?”

“Jules had a nightmare,” Remus explained quietly. Jules pulled away and wiped furiously at his face with his sleeve.

“I’m fine.” His voice broke on the last word, though, and he stared down at the floor.

“It’s okay if you’re not,” Sirius said gently, scooting over to see him better. “Nightmares are really scary.”

Jules’ breath caught. “I dunno if I can go back to sleep.”

“We can stay up for a bit.”

Remus tipped Jules’ chin up and wiped a stray tear away. “Do you want to make hot cocoa?”

A sniffle. “Yeah.”

“Alright, come on.”

Sirius stood up as well, which seemed to surprise Jules if his lingering look was any indication. He plastered himself to Remus’ side as they walked into the kitchen, then climbed up to sit on the countertop as Remus began collecting ingredients. Sirius dampened a paper towel with warm water and tapped his nose with it to make him smile before handing it over so he could wipe his face.

They worked in silence for a few minutes until the milk steamed and Sirius took three mugs down from the cupboard. Remus leaned on the counter and made sure Jules had taken a few sips of cocoa before he spoke. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Jules shook his head, then paused. “The plane crashed.”

“Which plane?”

“Mom and Dad’s.” Tears welled up in his eyes again and Remus reached over to rub his back. “They couldn’t get out.”

He heard Sirius sigh and gathered Jules up in his arms, giving him a little squeeze. “That sounds really scary, buddy.”

“It felt so real.”

“I promise it wasn’t.”

“How do you know?” The hint of a sob hitched in his voice and Remus let go of him for a second to grab his phone off the counter.

“Here.” He unlocked it and tapped the text app, holding it out. “See? I talked to mom this morning when she wished us good luck for the game. They landed safely and have the memorial tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Jules reached out and touched the screen, snuggling against Remus as he nodded. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah. Sorry I woke you up.”

“I’m glad you did,” Sirius said over his mug of cocoa. “It’s hard to deal with that alone.”

“Do you want to try to sleep, or should we stay up a little longer?” When Jules stayed silent, Remus wracked his memory for whatever he could remember about dealing with nightmares when they were kids. “We could put the Princess Bride on?”

Jules nodded and slid off the counter, cupping his mug tightly between his hands as the three of them padded into the living room. Hattie jumped on the couch and curled up on top of Jules’ feet with a low, contented rumble. Sirius set up the movie as Remus tucked a blanket around their legs, then joined them on the sofa as the opening credits began.

Fifteen minutes later, Jules was stretched across Remus’ lap with his head on Sirius’ thigh, snoring under his breath. Remus put his arms beneath his knees and shoulders and stood, walking slowly toward the stairs as Sirius turned the movie off and put their cups in the sink. He tucked Jules back in, placed a kiss on his forehead, and left the nightlight on just in case before going back to their bedroom. I was easy to fall asleep after that.

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

“Hello? Can you see us?” Remus set the phone up against the toaster.

His mother’s face broke into a wide smile. “There you are! Hi, boys!”

“Hi, mom!” Jules beamed at her, nearly bouncing right out of his chair.

“Where’s Sirius? I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Oh, I’m here.” He stepped into frame, waving shyly as he set the duster down. “Hello.”

“There you are, honey! I was afraid they’d chased you off already,” she teased, making all of them laugh. “How have you been? Has anything exciting happened? We miss you so much.”

“Things have been good,” Remus said, propping the phone up with a spare fork as it began to slide down. “We’ve had so much fun, right, buddy?”

“Yeah! I get to go to practice, and see the games, and we watched Jurassic Park—”

“Of course you did,” his father said with a playful eye roll.

“—and we’re hanging out with Leo and Logan and Finn this afternoon to play board games since practice is in the evening!”

Remus shared a look with Sirius, both of them stifling their laughter at his overwhelming enthusiasm for their weekly routine. “We’ve definitely been busy.”

“We’re so glad you’re having fun.” Lyall smiled. “Grandma Lillian sends her love. We all watched the game yesterday—great job, both of you!”

“Thanks, Dad,” Remus laughed. “Yeah, the season’s looking good.”

“Well, we don’t want to keep you too long,” Hope said. “You’ve got a long day ahead of you and we just wanted to check in. Re, keep sending us updates, and Jules, behave. Sirius, we’ll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.”

“I appreciate it,” Sirius said with a grin.

“Love you!” Lyall added as they waved goodbye.

“Love you, too!” Jules and Remus chorused. The screen went dark a few moments later.

163 notes · View notes

vampiregirl1797 · 3 years

Text

Hoodies & Lacrosse

Peter Kavinsky x Reader

GIF Not Mine

For my Masterlist, Click Here.

Word Count: 1,566

A/N: This one was requested by the awesome @mychemicalimagines. I hope this is everything you imagined it to be, lovely! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get this done for you, but I’ve been so swamped with uni work and placement that I’ve just had no motivation for writing. But inspiration struck tonight and I decided to put it to good use.

A/N/Pt2: If you’re in to Friends and Twilight check out their imagines! The series’ are so good and addictive, I cannot recommend them enough! Leaving a link to the Masterlist HERE.

I blinked owlishly, trying to make my eyes feel less exhausted, but it was to no avail—I’d been unable to sleep last night and I was unwilling to admit that it was because Peter had asked for his hoodie back. I’d taken it months ago, well not purposefully, he’d just left it behind one day after we’d been hanging out. I’d been chilly that night, and I figured I’d throw it on, only to discover it was the comfiest thing ever—it was huge on me and it smelled of him, and so I’d grown accustomed to how content and safe it made me feel. Obviously I hadn’t realised how much I’d grown to rely on it to sleep until last night at around three in the morning, when I realised it was the first time in months I’d gone to bed not wearing it.

I yawned, pulled my cardigan tighter around me, and took a large gulp of the coffee I’d poured myself before leaving the house to head to school. I’d managed to drop off around five in the morning, which led to me sleeping through my first four alarms. By some grace of god, I’d made it to first period as the bell rang. I finished off my coffee, and threw the disposable cup into the recycling bin on my way out of the room—thank god I’d had the beverage as my first period had been math; I’d have definitely dozed off without it.

‘Hey, Y/N! Wait up!’ I paused at the sound of my best friend’s voice, mixed feelings erupting through me. Tiredness made me clingy, which Pete was used to, but I was also a little pissed being as in my mind it was his fault I was tired to begin with.

‘Hey, asshat’ I grumbled, wrapping my arm around his waist and melting into his comforting warmth.

He chuckled, ‘such wonderful greetings from you, Y/N. It’s a wonder my head fits through the halls with how much you boost my ego.’

I rolled my eyes, an involuntary smile forming on my face, ‘I’m tired, I think I got thirty minutes of sleep last night. I can’t to go home and sleep until Sunday.’

‘Why didn’t you sleep? Is there something on your mind?’ I felt my irrational irritation with him soften at the concern in his voice; he knew me well enough to know if I had trouble sleeping, it usually meant there was something on my mind causing my insomnia.

‘No, I just didn’t realise how much I’d come to rely on your hoodie until you took it away.’ I felt my lips form into a slight pout, and had I not been exhausted and as a result, needy, I would have been embarrassed.

My head was tucked into his side, my face against his chest, and so I missed the soft, fond look that overtook his expression. I did notice the new girl giving us a look of longing and jealousy, but I ignored her. The other students would clue her in soon enough—we were friends, best, best friends. It may look like we were more due to how touchy we both were with each other, but our relationship didn’t extend beyond a deep, meaningful friendship. It had taken a while for everyone to understand it, and to stop giving us the same look the new girl was giving us now, but they learned eventually.

‘How about this…’ Peter’s voice bought me back to the conversation, ‘you come to my game tonight, and I’ll give you my hoodie to keep forever.’

I bit my lip to hide my smile; it was typical Peter Kavinsky. He knew I wouldn’t miss one of his games—I was always there, rain or shine, wearing his jersey and cheering him on. But he was sweet enough to make it sound like I was doing him a favour when in reality, it was him who was doing something nice for me, by making sure I got his hoodie doing something I was planning on anyway.

I looked up to him, ignoring how my heart fluttered when he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear when it fell in front of my eyes, ‘you’d give up your favourite hoodie, for me to come to your game?’

I felt my heart melt at the bashful expression that overtook his features, ‘of course I would. I mean it took me months to realise you had it anyway. Clearly it means more to you than it does to me.’

‘You make a good point.’ I teased, biting my lip as I thought and missing the way his eyes followed the movement, ‘okay, if you’re really okay with it, you have a deal.’

‘Awesome.’ He grinned, and I found myself subconsciously beaming back at him, powerless to not return his happiness.

‘Come on, Peter!’ I mumbled under my breath, the tension in the air palpable and affecting everyone, it was as if we were all holding our breath in anticipation, ‘you’ve got this!’

Peter ran forward, passed the defence and took his shot at the goalie. It was so quiet I could hear the puck hitting the back of the net and I was unable to hold back my cheer of happiness, which seemed to snap everyone else out of their shock and they joined me. Brown eyes found mine and I felt my heart skip a beat as he unclipped his helmet, tucked it under his arm and made his way over to me, easily bypassing the rest of the audience who’d flooded the pitch. I felt my heart beat pick up and by the time my best friend reached me, my heart was pounding against my ribs. He was watching me with such intensity, that it made my knees feel weak. His beautiful brown eyes were soft with an emotion that I couldn’t identify, as well as fondness, happiness and determination. I had no idea what to expect when he finally joined me on the stands, but when he tossed his helmet aside, and placed both of his hands on my cheeks, I knew that everything was about to change. And when his lips met mine in a tender, tentative kiss, I threw my arms around his neck and succumbed to it. It was meant to be, and I was powerless to fight the passion, and the intensity that moved between us. But more importantly, I didn’t want to.

Third Person POV

Daisy Hank didn’t know what to think when she attended her second day of school. It seemed that there was a buzz in the air from the moment she walked through the doors, as if something had happened and everyone was talking about it. She felt a nervous knot form in her stomach, worried that it was somehow about her, but after a few deep breaths and reassurances it dissipated. There was no way it could be about her; she’d only started yesterday and she hadn’t spoken to anyone for long enough for her to accidentally reveal anything embarrassing.

She frowned and walked to her locker, trying to focus her hearing to pick up what was going on from the group of girls that were gossiping next to her locker. She opened it up and pretended to search for something as she managed to get close enough to listen in.

‘Is it true? Peter and Y/N are actually together?’ one of the girls murmured, Daisy didn’t know any of their names, but she could easily hear the disappointment in her voice.

‘Yup, apparently it happened last night at the lacrosse game. He scored the winning game and ran on the stands to kiss her.’ This girl sounded dreamy, and Daisy felt herself instinctively relax a little at the absence of aggression in her tone.

‘It was like a Cinderella Story. So romantic.’ The third girl mirrored the second’s tone and even sighed.

‘So unfair. Kavinsky is the most attractive guy at this school, now what—‘ the first girls bitterness was cut off by an elbow to her abdomen.

Daisy frowned, until she followed their gaze and saw the aforementioned couple walking down the hall. They were in the same position as yesterday; her arm around his waist, his over her shoulders and her face tucked against his chest. And yet, there was a definite change between them, Daisy noticed. Maybe it was because Y/N was wearing a hoodie that was obviously his, or because he now had her backpack slung over his shoulder along with his own, or maybe it was the soft, fond and loving way they looked at each other. But either way, a change was definitely there, and Daisy once again found herself wishing that she had someone who looked at her the way they were observing each other, just like she had yesterday when she’d first laid eyes on them. Except now, she only wanted it more, because unlike yesterday the love and affection they had for each other was radiating from them without restriction. It was as beautiful as it was mesmerising and Daisy released a dreamy sigh of her own as she slammed her locker shut at the sound of the school bell. As she made her way to English, she hoped one day, she would find someone who loved her like that.

#peter kavinsky #peter kavinsky x reader #peter kavinsky x you #to all the boys I've loved before #to all the boys I've loved 2 #noah centenio

344 notes · View notes

cha-melodius · 3 years

Text

Where Doesn’t It Hurt?

Tropetember Day 3: Hurt/Comfort, Whump

Rating: Teen & up Pairing: Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo Fandom: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Illya Whump, Caretaking, First Kiss, Getting Together, Tenderness, Fluff, Banter Summary: Napoleon encounters resistance when he tries to clean up Illya's wounds at the end of a long day, and their bickering takes a turn that neither of them expect.

Author’s Notes: I'm not gonna lie, I straight up stole the backbone of this scene from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. I rewatched the movie not long ago and this scene spoke to me as so intensely Napollya that I had to write it for them. Then I didn't really have anything to do with the scene, so I wrote a bit of framing and decided to put it out as a little one-shot for Tropetember. It's very silly, and I hope you enjoy.

AO3 Link (the whole thing is also below the cut)

*****

None of them had been in the greatest shape when they’d stumbled onto the ship that Waverly had booked them passage on, but Illya had certainly taken the brunt of it. The steward had looked at them with exceeding skepticism, even though it wasn’t like they were actively bleeding on the floor, but he’d shown them to their cabins. Napoleon had even managed to convince him, with a sizable tip, to bring a basin, some washcloths, and a large bottle of Scotch to their cabin before they got underway.

Gaby had, of course, managed to finagle her own cabin, but Napoleon and Illya are stuck sharing. Napoleon supposes it could be worse; there are two bunks set on either side of the room with a small table that folds down from the wall between them. By the time he gets back from filling the basin with warm water, he finds Illya slowly peeling off his shirt, wincing as he goes. He’s got bruises and abrasions everywhere, which is what happens when you try to stop a car that’s too powerful even for the Russian giant and get dragged behind it because you’re too stubborn to let go.

Napoleon wordlessly passes him a tumbler of Scotch, which he downs in one shot then grimaces against the burn. It’s clear he’s hurting quite a bit, even though he had been of course hiding it on the way here. Now, though, he’s moving at a snail’s pace and hissing in pain as he lowers himself onto the berth. Napoleon watches him for a minute until he can’t stand it anymore, because Illya will of course never ask for help.

“You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?” Napoleon scolds as he bends down to lift Illya’s trailing ankle into the bunk, since it seems possible he might not manage it on his own. “You have to take better care of yourself.”

That nets him some grumbled Russian swears in reply. Illya reclines back against the pillows and closes his eyes, probably hoping Napoleon will take it as the dismissal he intends it to be. Fat chance of that. Napoleon pulls the basin closer to the edge of the table, wets a cloth, and perches himself on the edge of Illya’s bunk. He reaches up to dab gently at one of the worse abrasions on Illya’s shoulder, which predictably results in Illya jerking away from him.

“What are you doing?” he demands, trying to bat Napoleon’s hand away.

“You’re hurt,” Napoleon answers simply.

“I don’t need a nurse, I just need sleep.”

Napoleon, however, is not deterred. “Oh come on, don’t be such a baby.”

“Cowboy, leave me alone,” Illya grunts, trying to pull away from him, but in the small bunk there’s nowhere else for him to go.

“Look, just let me clean the worst of these,” Napoleon tries.

Yeah, Illya’s banged up, but they’ve both had worse. Which, come to think of it, might be why he’s being so petulant about being helped at the moment. Still, he’ll be grumpier if he lets these lacerations scab up with all this dirt and grime in them. Napoleon leans forward to renew his efforts, but he doesn’t get very far. “That hurts!”

“Goddammit, Peril, where doesn’t it hurt?” Napoleon snaps, sitting back in frustration, the wet cloth still clutched in his hand.

“Here!” Illya huffs, lifting his elbow up and pointing at it.

Napoleon blames what happens next on his own exhaustion. Maybe Illya is the one who’s more hurt, but he’s the one who spent the whole time worrying about his partner’s absurd theatrics. He’s already half bent over Illya so when the elbow comes up just about into his face he closes the small gap between them and kisses it.

Illya is quite clearly shocked, and frankly so is Napoleon. They stare at each other for a long couple of minutes, neither of them daring to speak, until, astoundingly, Illya slowly raises his hand and points to a point at the top right of his forehead, just under the brim of his cap.

“Here.”

A tiny smile tugs at the corner of Napoleon’s mouth as he reaches up to grab the cap and pulls it off, tossing it across the cabin. He holds Illya’s gaze as he leans in, daring him to draw away or stop his progress, but it never comes. Napoleon kisses Illya’s forehead, then sits back again, waiting.

“Here is not so bad,” Illya mutters almost offhandedly, pressing a finger to his eyelid as he closes his eyes.

It’s no more than a silly game until Napoleon bends down and lightly presses his lips to soft, delicate skin. At that moment, everything changes. There is an electric tension in the room when he withdraws, not far this time, just enough to meet Illya’s eyes when his lashes flutter open again. Napoleon feels like he can scarcely breathe, which is diametrically opposed to how Illya’s bare chest is heaving under him. For a moment they are frozen, faces inches apart, until Illya’s hand shoots up and curls into the front of his shirt. He gives a short yank and then their lips finally meet, a fierce press that resolves into an intoxicating give and take as Napoleon tilts his head to fit their mouths perfectly together. Illya tastes like the smoky sweetness of the Scotch mixed with the faint metallic tinge of blood, and Napoleon can’t seem to get enough.

Napoleon can’t deny that he’s dreamed of this, very nearly since they’d met in Berlin. Well, who could blame him, when the Russian agent looked like that, with those stunning blue eyes and lips that just begged to be kissed? He’d always assumed it was only an idle fancy, that Illya would never allow such a thing, but apparently he’d been rather sorely mistaken on that fact. That wasn’t to say that there hadn’t been times when he’d wondered, but each time the something or someone had intervened, and the moment had been lost.

The washcloth slips from his fingers and he brings his hands up to gently cradle Illya’s head, still cognizant of the fact that Illya is covered with injuries that he’d rather not brush against. Eventually Illya’s movements slow, his grip on Napoleon’s shirt slackening, and Napoleon pulls away a little to find… he’s apparently fallen asleep.

“Peril?” he whispers.

He gets no reply. Illya’s definitely out like a light. Napoleon huffs in (admittedly mild) frustration as he sits back again, shaking his head fondly at his partner. He never did get to do much cleaning of Illya’s wounds, but he doesn’t have the heart to wake him now. Well, they’ll make do in the morning.

“We never do get a break, do we?” Napoleon mutters, then leans down to press one last gentle kiss to Illya’s forehead before he heads to his own bunk.

#tropetember #napollya #napoleon solo #illya kuryakin #tmfu #the man from u.n.c.l.e.#the man from uncle #napoleon x illya #my fic

30 notes · View notes

allsassnoclass · 3 years

Text

okay so re: smutless long fics, I’ve tried to compile a list of fics as close to 50k words as possible since that’s the wordcount the anon cited and tbh my friends there really are not that many that I personally have read but I did my best. All fics under the cut are over 30k and have either been verified good by me or my trusted friends

delete this transmission by @anxietycalling: 67k mashton sci-fi. I reread this one recently and it’s just as amazing the second time around I very highly recommend it

“Yeah,” he says, catching sight of his reflection in the dimly reflective surface and running fingers through his hair to fluff it up. And instead of getting on the mag-train home like he wants to, he catches the northbound train to the greenlawn with Calum. “You know, I think I might not go through with it,” he tells his best friend, meaning his activation. They sit together across from the back doors of the car and watch the adverts for an upcoming showing of ‘Titanic’ at the interactive theater. While Calum sits beside him silently he gnaws on a thumbnail and wonders whether it’s too late to get his money back.

“You can’t go back on it now,” Calum tells him.

And it’s true: His payment has already been processed, the credits removed from his profile. The invoice showed up in his e-net overnight and he’d added it to his encrypted folder. “It’s just - weird,” he says, weighing each of the words on his tongue before he speaks. “To be in charge of another person like that. I don’t want that responsibility.”

I’m a Falling Star by @pixiegrl: 55k lashton fantasy, very cute and sweet

A philosopher once asked, “Are we human because we gaze at the stars or do we gaze at them because we are human?” Pointless really. “Do the stars gaze back?” Now that’s a question.

Or: Ashton’s a shop boy setting out on a adventure to find a star to help grant a wish. Luke’s a star crashed to Earth looking for some help to get back home. They’re both in for more adventure than they bargained for.

I Wanna Sleep Next to You... by milecgv: 54k malum college au. I read it over a year ago but I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it then

"Cuddle buddies, how can I help you?"

Pausing, Calum thought, he could just hang up. Get over the moment of weakness and face the rest of the night alone. He could do it. But the idea of spending one more second alone, brought a fresh pang of hurt to his heart and really, he couldn't bear it. Before his thought process could spiral out of control, the calm voice repeated itself.

"Um, yeah. I-, I need someone to-" He cut himself off because really, how was he going to phrase this?

Chuckling softly, the man on the other line interjected. "Sir, do you need someone to cuddle you?"

Shit, it was now or never. "Yeah. I-uh, I do." His voice came out so small, and he really hoped the man on the other side wouldn't pick up on how desperate he was.

~~~

Calum gets the opportunity to live out his dreams in New York City but it proves too much for him, and on a lonely night he ends up calling the professional cuddle service he swore he'd never call.

those are the only three completed fics over 50k that I personally can vouch for, but here are a few more longer ones I’ve read and I’ll link some over 50k that have gotten good reviews from my friends after those.

Destination: Perth by onlythevoid: 34k lashton

The stranger swung into the seat next to him and sighed contentedly. Luke stole a glance from under his hat. It was a boy with light-brown messy hair, reminiscent of surfers Luke saw on the beach in Brisbane - he had a t-shirt on and black jeans, and fade-tint round-frame sunglasses propped on his straight nose.

The stranger caught Luke’s eyes.

“Hey?” The stranger asked. Shouldn’t have looked at him, Luke thought. Too late.

The stranger had set his sunglasses on his head and was peering below Luke’s cap. “Dude. You look terrible. Are you okay?”

Oh, so the stranger was one of those guys. Too friendly and ever-inquisitive. Yes, Luke looked like shit; he’d been crying for an hour at a time, every few hours, and all he’d had to eat in the past two days was some wet broccoli at the hospital and a bag of chips he’d bought that morning in Brisbane, and there were bruises all up and down his right arm from a car crash he wished he’d died in.

Luke didn’t say any of that. He prayed his voice would be steady and said, “Yes. Thanks.”

The messy-haired boy did not seem convinced. After a pause, he offered, “My name’s Ashton, by the way.”

hello, hello by @clumsyclifford: 30k lashton

For one long, blinking minute, Luke stares at Ashton and wonders if he’s hallucinating. Because that’s definitely Ashton. That’s Ashton Irwin, his former best friend from Sunny Days, the show they co-starred on as children.

But it’s also definitely Ashton Fletcher, professional film actor worth many millions, possibly hundreds of millions, of dollars, standing on his doorstep, wind ruffling his hair.

Now for the fics that I haven’t read but can confidently say are good through a rigorous peer review system (aka I have friends who read them/I have read and enjoyed other works by these people)

home is wherever you are tonight by @lifewasradical: 72k lashton. this one is on my tbr, I have only heard good things, and I’ve read other things by Amanda and trust her as a writer

Life has become so mundane in the past few years that there’s very little that sends a thrill up Luke’s spine anymore. It’s that idea that had him saying yes to the idea of moving out here for a few weeks anyways: the knowledge that this was a completely new place where no one knew his name. He could be anyone he wanted to be here, within reason. He wouldn’t be seeing any of these people again after May, so what’s the harm in becoming a new person for a bit? Someone not so bogged down by the shit in their head that they can’t get out of bed some mornings. Maybe this is a step in the direction of the person Luke wants to be in the future anyways.

Or, Luke inherits a beach house on a tiny costal island that needs some work. He didn't plan on falling in love with the guy at the hardware store.

world war series by prettyluke: 58k lashton historical au. Megs really likes this one and I trust her judgement

Even after months of seeing bodies ripped apart by bullets and bombs, Ashton still isn't prepared to be ripped apart by the fragile German soldier who has seen far more than any child should.

and

Luke shows up in Britain after 25 years right in time for World War Two to start, and Ashton has been waiting for someone to yank him from his melancholy since Christmas of 1914.

i’ll keep on fighting (just to make you believe) by @squishmichael: 33k muke I have heard good things about this one, have read other works by Taylor and trust them as a writer, and also I did skim this one when it first came out and it’s good I just need to sit down and fully read while paying attention

“Hi, Mike,” Luke says softly.

Michael might have cried from hearing his voice so clearly, not through a phone line, but instead his smile just gets bigger and bigger until his cheeks hurt.

“Hey, Luke,” he replies before throwing himself at Luke, arms looping around his neck and holding tight.

“Easy there, tiger,” Luke says with a chuckle, but he hugs Michael back.

It feels so different, all the shapes and sizes wrong, yet Michael has never felt so at home, melting right into the hug. Luke still fits so perfectly against him despite everything. Because it’s them, and they’re meant to be, and Michael never wants to let go.

In which Luke is finally coming home to Australia for the summer after two years, and everything should be perfect. Michael quickly realizes nothing is.

Under the High Low Lights I See You There by @pixiegrl: 33k lashton 90s bar au. I have heard a lot of good things and I have read and enjoyed Emily’s writing

Luke moves onto cleaning the glasses, sneaking glances over at him, admiring the open blue flannel he’s wearing with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his chest in the white tank top he’s wearing and the pull of it over his muscles, the acid wash denim pants straining over his thighs. He’s attractive and Luke knows he shouldn’t be looking, shouldn’t be so obvious in his stares, but he can’t help it. The man was made to be admired.

Or: It’s the summer of 1996 in New York City when Luke meets Ashton at his bar. Things aren’t always as they seem.

He Did Ballet by @kaleidoscopeminds: 34k cake. people love this one and meg is a great writer

Like the way he danced, everything in Luke's life was perfectly placed, an allegro exercise all on beat, an enchainment with no mistakes. The last thing he needed was a distraction, something to pull his attention away and make him stumble, like losing your spot during a series of fouettés. He glances back towards the bar and sees Calum still looking in his direction. Luke catches his eye again by mistake for just a second too long and Calum smiles slowly and winks at him. Luke shivers slightly and already feels slightly unbalanced. Calum is definitely not a good idea.

Luke's life is perfectly on track. He is about to get everything he's ever wanted, to become a Principal dancer for the Royal Ballet. He's focused, determined and nothing will get in his way. Then he meets Calum, a smooth-tongued barman with dangerous eyes, and suddenly not everything's so simple.

The Sun Is Burning Down Los Angeles by @burstingsunrise: 40k cake. have heard good things and Molly is a good writer

Calum probably signed a form saying he wouldn’t fall in love with the lead singer of the band. And he really doesn’t want to. What a cliché. It’s just…people get famous for a reason. This guy got famous for all the reasons.

***

Calum moves to LA to work for 5SOS.

#fic rec #there really are not that many (good quality) smutless works over 50k #like less than I thought lol #and i think that the over 50k is key here #because i've seen other fic recs with like. 20k fics on them but that's not a TRUE longfic yknow #like none of my fics should be considered a longfic I don't think. unmute will eventually but that's not finished #anyway feel free to add any smutless fics over 50k that y'all know of that i missed!

21 notes · View notes

star-lemonade · 3 years

Text

Happy New Year

Series rating: R (AO3: E)

Warnings: polyamory, pegging, threesome, voyeurism, smut

Word count: 5k

Genre: Smut, romance

Female Reader x A.C.E Byeongkwan, Female Reader x A.C.E Sehyoon

beta-ed! Thanks so much to @Alexing1061

Masterlist | Chapter Index

Summary: You admit your crush on Sehyoon and after an apparent rejection, Sehyoon has to make a confession of his own.

If you don’t enjoy reading about relationships that involve more than two people, this story is not for you

Taglist: @Multistan-Net

You entered the restaurant and walked up to the waiter standing by a small, high desk.

“Welcome.”

“Hello, reservation for Kim SuA.”

He checked in his book and gestured for you to follow him. The big room was divided by short, ornamented walls making each table into its own little room, still open but also with some privacy. SuA was sitting at a table next to a big window, and next to her was her husband. SuA fit in perfectly with the restaurant. She was fancy and her pantsuit screamed management soon. Her husband, clearly older than her, wore a shirt and a sweater that made him look even older. A grandpa out with his niece. SuA waved when she saw you.

You took off your coat and sat down opposite them.

“Hey how have you?”

SuA smiled. You were not sure why she asked you here. She liked you or at least she pretended to like you. Sometimes she would come to your office and talk but it was always superficial, small talk. It made you wonder if there was something she wanted from you or use you to get something. If this was the case you had not found out yet.

“I am good. Thanks. How about you?”

“Same old, same old. Much work.”

She waved it off.

“Isn’t your boyfriend coming?”

“He will be here soon.”

A waiter appeared next to you and you ordered something to drink.You felt odd by yourself. Even though you had known her for sometime you were not close with SuA.

Thankfully she was good at talking for everyone else as well. Her husband on the other hand was very quiet. He seemed content just to watch his wife’s monologue.

Sehyoon arrived not much later.

“Hello I’m Kim Sehyoon, nice to meet you.”

He smiled but it was a bit reserved. When you had first met him, he had been much more shy, more like the Sehyoon that was greeting SuA and her husband. Somehow you had grown closer over time. Seeing him this guarded made the progress you had made in your relationship visible. He trusted you enough to show you his cute side, his sexy side but most importantly his vulnerable side. Stress at work had made him gain some weight that he was uncomfortable with and you could not stress enough that he always looked fantastic. Like today. The jeans he wore with the suit jacket and white shirt made the look more casual. His dark hair had gotten longer and he had parted it in the front. Absolutely stunning.

The waiter came and you all ordered food.

The conversation was mainly between you and SuA. She asked about your work and had some in depth questions.

When the food came the talking ceased and the digging in started. It was good although the portions were a bit small even for your taste. As the restaurant was so expansive, you did not want to order more. Maybe you could stop by a convenience store on the way home.

SuA eyed Sehyoon over the edge of her wine glass. He seemed to have noticed too and stared back.

“I was quite surprised when I saw you.”

SuA looked at him then at you. A smile spread on her face. It was unsettling.

“Why were you surprised?”

You did not have a good feeling about this. SuA looked like a hyena who was circling a wounded animal.

“Well I thought he would be the guy from the wedding.”

Sehyoon looked up from his plate and echoed:

“Wedding?”

SuA pulled out her phone and showed a photo. Your face was burning. The photo was of you and Byeongkwan. His arms were tightly wrapped around your waist, yours around his neck, your faces were so close, in kissing distance. It felt way too intimate.

“I mean this guy, who is he?”

What should I say? ‘Oh he is my boyfriend’s partner who I also sleep with’??

Sehni grabbed the phone and inspected the photo. SuA and her husband had expecting expressions on their faces as ithey got ready for a show.

“Are there more photos from the wedding? Can you send me this one?”

Sehyoon looked at SuA with sparkling eyes and she was taken aback.

“S-sure.”

“Awesome thank you.”

He beamed. Sehyoon had asked for photos from the wedding but the married couple had not released them yet. The photo on SuA’s phone had been taken by someone who was not the official photographer. It was not unusual for people to take photos of course but it put you in a difficult position.

“So, who is he?”

SuA‘s husband pressed. He had leaned forward. I don’t know what to say. I can’t tell them. You did not say anything and the silence weighed heavy on you. The mixture of voices from other tables made the lack of words more obvious. You really could not say “he is also my boyfriend”.

“My … friend.”

You felt bad the moment the words had left your mouth. My friend. You had publicly repudiated that Byeongkwan was your boyfriend.

“It was really nice of Byeongkwan to accompany you to the wedding.”

Sehyoon's smile was adorable but his tone clearly signaled that this topic was over. To your surprise the other two did not dare to ask about this again even though they were clearly still curious. The miserable expression on your face must have been enough for them. Sua pretended like nothing had happened but she seemed a bit disappointed. You skipped dessert and paid.

Outside cold wet air hit you in the face. The weather fit your mood perfectly. Miserable.

“Are you okay?”

The cold rain drummed on the umbrella as you and Sehyoon walked to his apartment.

“I don’t know.”

That answer did not satisfy him, you could tell by the way his lips were pressed together.

“I have to talk to Kwanie.”

Byeongkwan sat on the couch when you entered Sehni’s apartment, focused on his phone. You sat down next to him.

“Kwanie.”

He looked up, alarmed by your tone. You had heard it too. You had almost sounded like you were about to cry. If you were honest that was the case. He sat up straight.

“What happened?”

You hugged him and he pulled you onto his lap.

“I’m not sure.”

Sehyoon said behind you.

“I feel terrible. I’m so sorry.”

“Why? What happened?”

“They asked about you and I said nothing.”

His hands ran over your back and your chin rested on his shoulder. It was a terrible thing to deny him in front of others.

“I was afraid of what they would say if I said you were my boyfriend.”

“What?”

He pushed you away so he could look at you.

“Boyfriend? You have never called me that.”

Your face felt like it was on fire.

“I’m sorry I thought you felt that way too..”

You tried to stand up from his lap suddenly uncomfortable with the closeness. The way he said your name made you sit back, all soft, like it was something sweet.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant.”

He cupped your cheek and pressed a kiss full of reassurance on your lips.

“I was just surprised, that’s all.”

“We haven’t really talked about this so don’t feel bad.”

Sehni ran his hand up and down your back.

“I’m happy that you think of me as your boyfriend.”

You buried your face in his neck. He held you tight.

“I got you an early Christmas present.”

You turned around to find Byeongkwan standing in the kitchen with you. This evening you would go out to a fancy restaurant. All three of you. After the debacle with your colleague you needed a good time with your partners.

“A present?”

He handed you the box. It was wrapped in black paper. Hmm what is this? The present was not heavy but also not light. You had not asked for anything nor were you aware that there would be gift giving this year. At your parent’s house this was not a thing any more.

“Open it.”

I have a bad feeling about this.You opened the bow and removed the paper. The box inside immediately told you what was inside in big pink letters.

“Oh.”

It was as if lighting hit you. You felt hot all over. It was from a conversation that you had almost forgotten about.

“I thought you probably didn’t have one.”

It was true. You did indeed not have a strap on. A nervousness rose in your chest but also excitement.

“Thanks.”

He beamed and hugged you. In your ear he whispered:

“We can try it out later.”

You swallowed hard. He let go and took the box to the bedroom. An image came to your mind. Byeongkwan bent over, moaning while the dildo entered him. No,no, don’t think about it now. You fanned your face. This man will be the death of me.

The restaurant that Sehyoon had booked for the three of you was a familiar place. It was the one where he had asked you to be his girlfriend and where you had seen Byeongkwan for the first time. You entered one of the private rooms in the back. The walls were painted in traditional style depicting a peaceful mountain scene.

Last time you only had drinks but the food was delicious.

“This place feels a little bit like the places where the noble men go in period dramas.”

Sehyoon thought about what you had said.

“You mean like a gisaeng house?”

Byeongkwan seemed amused.

“No, I mean… I guess?You know, with the whole private rooms thing.”

Byeongkwan smirked and stood up.

“Sir, Lady, I will quench your thirst for entertainment tonight.”

Sehyoon giggled and you sat down next to him so Byeongkwan had the other side of the table to himself. He put on some music and laid his phone on the low table. In a graceful, fluid motion he raised his arms and like a wave he flowed to the ground. An arm snuck around your waist and you leaned into Sehyoon. He watched his boyfriend, transfixed by the delicate yet powerful movements. You were so captivated by the way Byeongkwan's body moved that you did not notice the waiter until the door was audibley closed shut. You and Sehyoon exchanged looks and laughed.

Byeongkwan was unaffected and continued his performance. With a split he showed off his flexibility and that of his pants. His hands grabbed the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head.

“Wow, don’t start stripping!”

Your voice was a loud whisper. Your face was burning and prayed that no one would come in now.

“What if the waiter comes back?”

Sehyoon‘s statement was not there to support yours, that much was clear from the smile on his face. Byeongkwan eyed the door. It remained shut. In sync with his body waves he slowly pulled up his shirt as if it was swept up, and revealed a bit of his firm stomach.

“Kwanie!”

You hissed and he let go of the shirt. It slid back down, covering him again and not too soon the door slid open again and the waiter peeked inside. He set the drinks you had ordered on the table and left as fast as possible without running.

Sehyoon and you could not hold your laughter.

“How are you feeling?”

You pulled the zipper of your coat higher and hid inside the collar.

“Can’t wait to get home.”

The food had left you full and the drinks with a light buzz that would have faded by the time you reached Sehyoon‘s apartment.

“Are you tired?”

“Not really.”

“Then why the hurry?”

You looked at Byeongkwan.

“I wanna see the rest of your dance.”

For a moment he stared at you blankly. It was almost like you could see the gears turning in his head.

“OH.”

You giggled. Sehyoon did not say anything and you were not sure he had even heard. He watched the cars passing by as you walked along the street. You had one arm hooked around his arm and one around Byeongkwan‘s. Without actively thinking about it, your steps had synchronized. A smile crept onto your face.

The warm air in the subway made you so sleepy that you took a nap on Sehyoon‘s shoulder. It was just enough rest that by the time you arrived at the apartment you felt awake.

“So, you want to see me dance again, huh?”

You nodded eagerly. One thing you had noticed in the time that you had been involved with your two partners, Byeongkwan loved to feel wanted. The more openly you showed the fact that you found him attractive the better. Sehyoon on the other hand, liked it when you pretend to be unaffected so he could seduce you. This was much harder because he was attractive. Hiding the fact of how much he turned you on in those situations was quite the task.

“How about you put on my gift and Sehni brings a chair to the bedroom.”

Sehyoon looked up from his phone. His mouth opened. When no sound came out he closed it again. Byeongkwan smiled evilly.

Sehyoon set the chair down in the corner of the room. It had been his wish to watch you and Byeongkwan have sex for some time, so now that It was about to happen, a gentle smile had appeared on his face.

You stood in front of the bed and stared at the box. You were not sure what to do with the strap on. Should you take off your clothes first? Leave something on. An arm wrapped around your waist and lips pressed a soft kiss to your neck.

“You okay?”

With Sehyoon holding you like this there was nothing in the world that scared you.

“Should I ... wear this over my clothes?”

“As you like but maybe taking the pants off would be a good idea.”

His hand slid down and opened the button of your jeans. You let him take the pants off. Sehyoon left kisses on your thighs and stomach.

“Should I help you with that?”

Byeongkwan had returned from the bathroom. He had changed clothes. The skin tight pants and loose white shirt were begging to come off.

Byeongkwan helped you put on the harness for the dildo.

Sehyoon sat down on the chair and his lap seemed like a good place to watch the show from. You sat down on his thighs and his arms held you in place securely.

Byeongkwan turned on the music and started to dance. Because there was no possibility of unexpected visitors now, he let all restrained go. There was a fine line between being sexy and being unintentionally funny but Byeongkwan did perfect.

Like a deja vu he made the same moves as at the restaurant earlier. The waves for his body swept the white shirt up and over his head. He threw it to the side. Now his dancing was even more captivating. You could see his firm muscles working under the skin. He gestured for you to stand up. Your mouth felt dry and your underwear did not. You left the comfort of Sehyoon’s lap.

Byeongkwan wrapped his arms around you. Suddenly you were pressed up against his hard body and your faces were close. You kissed him. This whole situation was exciting but also a bit overwhelming. Having both your partners in one room and about to have sex left your head spinning. Kissing Byeongkwan now grounded you again. It was familiar and safe.

“Did you like my dancing so far?”

You did not trust your voice and just nodded.

“Good.”

The kissing gave you time to breath. His dancing had worked you up a bit too much if you were honest. Byeongkwan is too good at this and I am too weak. If you had not been kissing him, you might have laughed at this though.

You ran your hands down his bare back and landed on his ass. So firm and round.

“You think you’re ready for that?”

His breath tickled your neck. The kissing and sucking made it hard for you to formulate a coherent thought.

Sitting on the bed brought Byeongkwan’s hips into focus. You opened the button on his tight pants. They hugged his thighs so nicely that you had to run your hands over them. An urge took over and you wrapped your arms around his hips. Your cheek rested on his stomach. He petted your hair. Despite the wetness between your legs a strange feeling of affection bubbled up. Byeongkwan waited for you.

“Kwanie.”

He ran his hands soothingly over your arms.

You kissed his abs. They were still as perfect as the first time you had seen them. The soft surface and hard underneath was still your favorite combination.

Byeongkwan’s pants and underwear found their way to the ground. He helped you with installing the dildo in the harness. It was an odd sight.

“I think if you come in from behind it’s the easiest.”

“Okay.”

You felt excited. He gave you a condom and sat down on bed. You pulled the latex over the dildo.

“Oh.”

Byeongkwan had shifted into a lying position that showed off his ass. Legs angled so you could see a gem. A plug.

“You like it?”

He smirked. How could someone who was about to get fucked be so smug? You ran your hands over his butt. It was wonderful. The plug had to go first. You grabbed it and pulled on it gingerly.

“You don’t have to be that careful. Pull slowly.”

This time you pulled with a bit more force and the plug actually moved. You pulled it out accompanied by a soft moan from Byeongkwan.

You grabbed the lube and spread some of it on the strap on. Now came the scary but also exciting part.

“Maybe it’s better if I just hold still and you … go at the speed you want?”

Byeongkwan looked over his shoulder and nodded. You aligned the dildo and he pushed against it slowly. The sigh that accompanied the movement was part pleasure, part pain.

“Kwanie, don’t hurt yourself.”

You rested your hand on his ass.

“It’s all good.”

He went as far as possible with the harness and rested his head and chest on the bed. His back was arched and he breathed audibly. You ran your hands over his body in what you hoped was a reassuring manner.

“You're doing so good. You took it all in.”

He moaned.

“Move.”

To emphasize his point he pushed back a little. Tentatively you pulled your hips back. The movement was so foreign and familiar at the same time. It was like a song you had heard often and now you heard it used as a sample in a new song. Byeongkwan had his eyes closed. You watched his face closely. There was nothing you wanted less than hurting him.

You pushed back in. There was noticeable resistance but his face remained relaxed. Encouraged by his content expression you began setting a pace. It was an odd experience to be at the other end of the literal stick. You felt powerful but also wary. Byeongkwan was in a vulnerable position and if you made a mistake he could get hurt.

“Are you okay?”

He had opened his eyes and looked at you over his shoulder.

“Yes…”

“Then can you go faster?”

“I will try.”

You felt clumsy trying to move your hips faster and somewhat regularly. Byeongkwan sighed a moan. The sound made your underwear wet. You closed your eyes and concentrated on the movement of your hips. Your hands held his hips and you drove into him faster.

Behind you the chair creaked. It was the first time since you had started that Sehyoon had made a noise. When you opened your eyes, he was standing next to the bed and Byeongkwan was looking up at him expectantly.

Sehyoon cupped his cheek. Byeongkwan had propped himself up and ran his hand over the very noticeable bulge in Sehyoon’s pants. Byeongkwan pulled down the pants and wrapped his lips around him.

“This is your fantasy now.”

Sehyoon sounded almost accusatory as he grabbed his boyfriend’s hair.

“You should help her a bit more. She will be sore tomorrow.”

That was probably true. Byeongkwan pushed back at you, whimpering around Sehyoon's hard penis. You tried to keep your pace but your muscles were already starting to ache from the unfamiliar movement. Byeongkwan pushed back faster and moaned. The sound went straight between your legs. He shuddered to a halt and let go of Sehyoon. You pulled out and Byeongkwan let himself fall onto the bed. He breathed heavily.

You wanted to be filled so badly now. The moans had you so riled up you did not know what to do with yourself.

“Sehyoon.”

“Don’t worry I will take care of you.”

He pulled his shirt off and pulled his pants down all the way. You did not know how to react to seeing him naked. He looked so good and you were desperate. You fumbled with the strap on but you had no patience left. Sehyoon pushed away your hands and helped you out of the strap on. The rest of your clothes landed on the ground.

He lay on top of you and his kisses drove you mad.

“Take me hard, please.”

Sehyoon just nodded. He slung your legs over his shoulders and entered you. You were so worked up already he entered with ease and you moaned. Finally, your neglected hole was filled. You clenched your inner muscles for even more pleasure. His pace was hard and fast. Exactly as ordered. The harsh contact of your hips that came with each of Sehyoon’s thrusts was perfect. You held your breath as the pleasure built and almost screamed when a wave of bliss rolled over you. After a few more thrusts Sehyoon collapsed on top of you and you kissed his cheek and shoulder.

After a quick shower all three of you fell into bed.

The city was bustling with people wanting to buy a last minute present as you made your way to Sehyoon’s apartment. All of you had taken the day off and you looked forward to spending time with them. Cheesy Christmas movies, take-out food and cuddling on the couch was everything you wanted from this holiday.

Last year you had spent it alone and would have never guessed that this year would be so different.

Sehyoon opened the door and you hugged him. He wore very comfy looking pants and a sweater. You buried your face in the soft fabric and let his warmth envelope you.

“It’s cold.”

Your voice was muffled by his sweater.

“We’ll get you warm.”

Sehyoon rubbed your back and laughed. His smile was the thing that warmed you the most.

“Kwanie is in the kitchen, can you make sure he doesn’t burn it down?”

You nodded and pecked his lips. Unfortunately you felt so good in his arms you did not want to let go and go to the kitchen. He chuckled as you hugged him tighter.

“Soon. You will get to hug me even more.”

“Can’t wait.”

Sehyoon began moving backwards and you followed inevitably. It was silly, the way he moved you in the direction of the kitchen without letting go. You both laughed and giggled as Byeongkwan turned around. He looked at you with an unchanged expression. The containers he had arranged on the counter were filled with food. He set the one he was holding down and came over. He hugged you from the other side and knocked the air out of you in the process.

“Too tight!!”

The embrace loosened but you could hear the pout in Byeongkwan‘s voice when he said:

“It’s so nice, when it’s tight.”

“That’s what she said.”

Sehyoon hollered at your retort and laughed. Byeongkwan let go and you turned around to hug and kiss him. It still felt a bit overwhelming when both, Byeongkwan and Sehyoon, were close to you. Your head was spinning a bit from all the happy juice your brain pumped out.

“Who made all of this?”

You inspected the food containers. Someone had made a lot of different side dishes that looked fantastic. You doubted that they were made by either Sehyoon or Byeongkwan.

“My parents and Sehyoon‘s parents send us food for Christmas.”

That explained a lot. Byeongkwan had said something about visiting his family. His family lived in the city but his parents would visit other family members over the holidays. They could see Byeongkwan whenever.

You changed into comfortable clothes and helped Byeongkwan arrange the side dishes on plates. They filled almost the entire coffee? table when you brought them over. Sehyoon had not bought a third chair yet, so you decided to eat on the couch. It was not the best but it worked. Sitting on the floor actually worked better than sitting on the couch. It felt more like being at a traditional restaurant.

You all sat down around the table but no one started eating.

“Last year I did not think that this year would be so different.”

You looked in the eyes of Sehyoon, then at Byeongkwan. Yes this was different. In one year you had gone from no boyfriend to two boyfriends and it was good.

“Thank you for being in my life.”

You had made it awkward but you grabbed your glass and said: “To us. I love you.”

Sehyoon smiled his shy smile while Byeongkwan beamed at you and raised his glass too.

“To us.”

“Your mom makes good food.”

It was true, the dishes Byeongkwan‘s mother had provided tasted amazing and you ate way too much. Your stomach hurt and if you did not have to move for a few hours, that would be optimal. Sehyoon cleared the table and you heaved yourself into the couch. He did it in his calm, carefree way. There was no hurry in his steps when he brought some plates to the kitchen. Byeongkwan sat down next to you. He rested his head on your lap and you combed his hair with your hand.

“How about we go to sleep?”

Sehyoon looked at the two of you on the brink of a food coma.

“I have to move for that. That a no no.”

You really did not feel like moving. Just staying put seemed like the best option now.

“Let’s watch something and go to bed after.”

Byeongkwan did not want to move either so he simply laid on Sehyoon‘s and your lap. About 20 minutes into the movie your eyelids felt extremely heavy. You could barely keep them open. I will just close them for a second.

A moment later you were gingerly picked up and you woke up from that.

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

Your voice sounded groggy even to your own ears. Sehyoon chuckled.

“You slept for the last 90 minutes, but it’s not good if you stay on the couch all night.”

You nodded and held onto him. He carried you to the bedroom Byeongkwan was lying in bed already, apparently still asleep. You helped Sehyoon to take off some of Byeongkwan‘s clothes. It was fascinating to see that he did not wake from this.

You laid down in the middle. Even though the heat in the middle was too much, you were the one who was least bothered by it. Sehyoon turned off the dim light on the nightstand.

You wrapped your arms around him and kissed his cheek. He turned and hugged you back. In his arms was still one of your favorite places to be. His lips found yours in the dark for a soft kiss.

“Good night.”

Epilogue

“So, what do you think?”

“This was the best one. The right amount of space, bit pricey, but still okay.”

Byeongkwan nodded, agreeing with your assessment.

“I like this one best. Until when do we have time to decide?”

Sehyoon blinked. He had contacted the landlords first so he should know.

“I think they said tomorrow, but if you have already made a decision, maybe it is better to tell them now.”

If they did not get this apartment, there were not that many other options. The ones you had looked at yesterday were either too small or much too expansive. Sehyoon and Byeongkwan both worked so they could afford a bigger apartment, but it had limits. Housing prices had risen dramatically and having two apartments but only using one was just not a good option.

“If we get this apartment, you can come by more often.”

Byeongkwan slung an arm around your shoulders and you reflexively leaned into him. They would indeed live much closer to your place and you had a feeling that he was right. The apartment would be in walking distance. It had a room that Byeongkwan would use as his room but it would have his old sleeping couch. If someone needed to stay there but not be cooked alive between the other two, there would be a good alternative now.

“We could go to work together.”

Sehyoon smiled more to himself and it was the cutest thing. You took his hand. A warm feeling spread in your chest. So the new year would start with moving and being closer to your two boyfriends, both physically and emotionally. You looked forward to all the good times that awaited you in this new part of your life.

It would be a good year.

A/N: This was the last chapter! I hope you liked it! Thanks to everyone who has given feedback on this! I would like to thank Alex again for reading my error riddled drafts and for always being my hype person! Thank you so much ;-;

#ksmutclub #wkcnet #noonasinnetwork #story: fall season #a.c.e smut #a.c.e wow smut #a.c.e x reader #kpop x reader #a.c.e fanfic #A.C.E fics #kpop fanfic #non idol au #queue #kpop smut #star writing #a.c.e Byeongkwan smut

43 notes · View notes

arhvste · 3 years

Text

❝ effortless ❞

masterlist!

01 -> 02

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

an -> this is the longest chapter i will be including in the series, i just needed to get the base for the plot down i promise i’m not gonna make you all read 2467 words every update !!

drowned out chatter faded the further you wandered down the halls towards the place you’d practically be calling your second home for the next year and-a-half. your arms swung slightly by your side as footsteps strode from behind.

“ya know,” atsumu piped up suddenly, taking in your optimistic aura. “this isn’t gonna be the most glamorous job.”

“i’m more than aware.” you shot back not letting the pseudo blonds comments dampen your approach to the new position you’d been approached to take.

despite being a well-known volleyball team with notably talented players, inarizaki had yet to fill the role of a team manager with them ultimately dismissing the role and disregarding the hopes and intentions of finding someone willing to take the role seriously and with the right intentions of being a team manager. they had applications sent in, a flood of them to be precise, but alas, majority of the applications were just desperate attempts from girls just trying to find away to inch a little closer to the miya twins. the few that weren’t from the mass of girls were from other students but their applications were either filled in wrong or their availability wasn’t compatible enough to work with the club.

“i don’t get why yer so eager to start. yer gonna have to do things like fill up water bottles and wash the bibs we use for practice.” osamu commented as you hummed dismissively towards his attempts to break your spirit.

“because, i don't have to be referred into an actual club by my homeroom teacher now and your mom said you two will be helping me take care of the… less dignified, aspects of the role now. that means washing your smelly kit and towels. remember?”

atsumu scoffed while osamu settled with a short huff of annoyance. that was indeed part of the deal you had made when the twins had requested your assistance in the team.

you had been close friends with the talented twins for as long as you could remember. you’d even go as far as to say you were practically the third miya sibling. raised and grown up together tightly, the three of you stayed knitted together up to the present day. you were someone the two boys felt reliant on, but they were also ready to drop their own activities should you need their assistance. you were well-liked by the twins and that was something the majority of the student body envied but not to the point where they’d say anything and risk having one or worse, both, the boys overhearing them bad-mouthing you and result in them to take the situation into their own hands.

it was atsumu who had first suggested you become the team manager a few weeks prior to the present moment. you were attending another regular visit to the miya residence and atsumu had brought it up over dinner with yourself and his family.

“hey, we kinda need a manager. i think kita’s gettin’ a little stressed cause nationals will be approaching soon and they didn’t have one last year either.” atsumu looked up at you as you had a mouthful of rice.

you momentarily glared at him for turning all attention over to you when he clearly knew you were eating. you swallowed and shook your head at the boy sat across the table to you.

“i dunno, that seems like a big commitment.”

“i mean, i won't lie to ya it is, but being in any club is a commitment so ya might as well join one yer more likely to enjoy.” osamu chimed in as his mother caught your attention.

“don’t let the boys pressure ya. i think it would be nice if ya did it though darlin. both boys can walk ya home after and samu’s right. joining as their manager is better than being put into a club ya might not like attending seeing as yer yet to join any extra curriculum.”

you whined and leaned back in the soft wooden chair in the miya’s homey dining room.

“you just said not to let the boys pressure me and then joined in yourself!”

mrs miya laughed and waved off your complaint. “they get it from me, what can i say.”

you glanced up from the now softly steaming food to face the two boys across from you. atsumu had a soft but still smug smile painted across his face while osamu wore a slightly sympathetic yet hopeful expression on his. you were almost ready to give into the pair right then and there but ultimately decided that if you were to brush up on the rules of volleyball, the twins were going to have to brush up on the rules of you too.

“fine.” you stated to which atsumu smiled brightly too. “i’ll be your manager since i really don’t want to be assigned to any other club but,” you paused and didn't miss the way their eyes darted back to yours. “i’m not washing your disgusting training stuff and the towels. i also don’t want a hoard of your fangirls stampeding over me at any given moment and lastly, i get my own room for overnight stays when we have to attend matches that take place further away. comprende?”

atsumu shrugged and agreed to your terms as osamu followed suit. “great,” you finally smiled a little. “talk to kita and i’ll get started with it whenever he deems suitable.”

mr and mrs miya sent thankful smiles your way to which you softly returned before turning back to your meal completely unaware as to what chaos you had just unknowingly brought upon yourself.

back to the current moment, you stopped outside the two large doors leading into the spacious gym with slight hesitation. the small crack between the doors gave you the first exposure to the area you’d be finding yourself more familiar with from now on.

“what's the hold up?” atsumu queered looking down at your now thoughtful looking expression. “ya were excited to get started just a moment ago weren’t ya?”

you bit the inside of your cheek as your palm lay rested upon the flat surface of the gym door. “i don’t think excited is the word, but you think i’ll do fine right?” you frowned slightly, internally scolding yourself for letting such intrusive thoughts invade your mind just before you were about to introduce yourself to which would be ‘your boys’ in the fast approaching future.

“we wouldn’t have asked ya if we didn’t think it would be a role fit for ya.” osamu replied, resting his hands behind his head. you scoffed and shot a look from behind you towards the grey haired twin. “liar, you two just wanted someone to wash your gross kit.” atsumu snorted before ruffling your hair, stirring irritation inside of you. “think yer the one whose forgotten our end of the deal where we agreed to help ya out with this. we’re in this with ya together now, let's get movin’.”

atsumu left you no time to protest as he pushed the doors open having it swing widely so the gym lights flooded the slightly dimmer hallway giving anyone looking a perfect view of the three of you. heads turned in your general direction as a result of the minor scene the blond had caused leaving osamu to only roll his eyes and for you to stand meekly between the twins as atsumu ushered you inside the clean smelling gym.

“this is y/n, the new manager i said we had gotten you!” a proud smile tugged on atsumus lips as the other boys looked you up and down as if you were some sort of animal being fawned over in a petting zoo.

“shut up! you didn’t get me, i agreed on my own terms!” you hissed at the setter elbowing his side slightly. osamu snickered at your public scolding towards his twin as the rest of the team began to gather round. kita sent an apologetic look your way as he approached you with a firm hand.

“it’s nice to finally meet you l/n-san. please take care of us and we’ll do the same.” his voice calm but transparently clear, you had never met someone so genuine and almost proper in your life. “likewise.” you smiled taking his hand to give him a confident shake in greeting. leaving you with a firm nod to depart from you and talk to the coach, kita gave you one last look of what you could’ve read as thankful but you weren’t completely sure. the better you got acquainted with these boys, the better you’d be able to read them which was your first goal set in becoming a manager they could rely on the same way the twins did.

aran was next to approach you with a clearly thankful smile. “i haven’t seen ya around in a while y/n, good to see yer the one the twins informed on the empty role.” you smiled back at the ace and placed your hands behind your back. you were already well acquainted with aran due to the twins association with him from a young age. back then, yourself and the twins came as a package deal whenever suited so you had been introduced to the ace from a younger age and had built up the same respect for him as the twins had.

“i wouldn’t say informed but more of a pressured attack on me.” aran grinned at you as atsumu retaliated with a “not true!” from across the courts where he was helping set up the net. “either way, good to see ya here. nice to have the three miyas in one place.” you scoffed in amusement before waving off the comment.

after being thoroughly introduced to a handful of members before practice had officially started, you sat down on the bench beside the coach as he went through the basics of the game as the boys played. you already knew a handful of rules and techniques to the game which was a given considering just how close you were to atsumu and osamu, but you were grateful for the refresher as you observed the players and took your first attempt in noting down particular quirks and techniques you noticed each boy possess.

training lasted 2 hours which was longer than the usual club activities but you understood that the volleyball team were a particularly important asset to the school so it was only natural they’d be granted more time for extracurricular. osamu was the first to approach you with a towel wrapped around his neck. “so,” he said before wiping any excess sweat on his face. “what did ya think?” you smiled and took the towel from his hands before tossing it into the nearby laundry bin.

“it was… a lot better than i thought it was going to be.” you meant that earnestly. it was a little overwhelming at first that you’d assume anyone would find that understandable seeing as you had practically been thrown into the deep end with a group of boys you were not particularly familiar with. “that's good then. glad we convinced ya?” yourself and osamu wandered towards the door leading towards the boys changing rooms where their bags were kept. “for now.” you stopped outside the door and nodded for osamu to head in with the other players. he hummed content with your reply before following suit with the small litter of players entering through the door to retrieve their things.

you waited 5 minutes for the boys to leave the changing room before saying your thanks and goodbyes to the team you were slowly getting more to grips with. it was going to take a while to get into the swing of things but you were certain you’d find enjoyment in it somewhere along the line seeing as your first practice wasn’t awful.

the three of you chattered among yourself as usual with atsumu dominating most of the conversation and osamu only butting in to contradict his brother. you were as always, in between the two boys as they asked you how you found it and what you thought. after reassuring them for the 6th time, they gave in and accepted your answer as genuine. despite not saying anything, they were a little guilty after springing such a heavy role on you but they knew you’d pull through no matter the circumstances so they were ultimately satisfied in their choice.

“practice was intense, but i kinda liked it.” you hummed as you walked under the dim street lights illuminating the paths ahead.

“yeah i guess it was, it’s not always like this though. i think some of them were a little more into it seeing as you were there today.” osamu mentioned as he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets.

“you think?” you raised an eyebrow as atsumu sighed.

“i know that’s the case. you practically had the same effect kita has on all of us. not me though, i’m always good whether yer there to watch or not.”

“i’m sure you are.” you chimed as the three of you approached your street. “ya know who was playin’ a little intensely today though?” osamu raised an eyebrow to his brother's question. “who?”

“suna. he seemed a little more into it today.”

you raised an eyebrow in question as you looked back to glance at atsumu. “who’s suna?”. atsumu hummed as he began to describe the fellow second year. “tall, six foot one i mean, dark moppy hair, kinda hunches over when he’s standin’.” you thought back to the players you had been vaguely acquainted with within the past few hours. your mind touched upon every player's face you recalled until it landed on a certain face you were sure fit atsumu’s description. “number 10?” osamu hummed, confirming your hypothesis correct. “wonder what got into him though, his surroundings don’t usually motivate him unless he’s explicitly told to stop slackin’ maybe he just had an off day.” the grey haired twin suggested to which atsumu agreed. you shrugged as the three of you stopped outside the front of your own house.

“well, training was an absolute delight. see you both tomorrow.” you waved the boys off as atsumu sneered at your borderline sarcastic comment. “stop lyin’ ya loved it and are thankful we picked ya really!”

you laughed at his call out comment as osamu waved and ushered his brother away before you closed your front door shut before leaning back on the door for a moment.

suna huh? well, if your job was to analyse the players and pick out when they were having off days, you’d just have to start watching their number 10 a little closer.

taglist! : @inakou @tsukkaria @al3x1ss @elianetsantana @archivednikes @tendo-sxtori @haajime @moonlightangel @tetsukuroosgf @lexysclubhouse @your-consulting-fangirl @chibichab @brokeasshoee

— italics means i was unable to tag !!

— please send an ask to be added to taglist !!

#suna rintaro #suna x reader #suna x you #suna fanfic #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #hq x reader #hq #hq x you #the calm within the storm

142 notes · View notes

olivia-anderson-fanfic · 3 years

Note

I literally found this blog recently and it’s awesome! But for your alternative ending, I was wondering what would everyone’s reactions be of Marinette missing for 5 months, to fighting her?

I honestly wasn’t really sure what this ask was asking for. I ended up writing their feelings about her going missing and seeing her for the first time in months. Sorry if this wasn’t what you wanted :(

(Also, thank you!!)

First part

Second part

Next part

@solangelo252 asked to be tagged

Everyone ready? Let’s go!

Dick

Dick is the one who has to stay strong for the family. He’s always been aware of that. It’s fitting that the guy whose biological family died due to their lack of safety net as trapeze artists ended up being the emotional safety net for his adoptive family. He is always there with his calm smiles, his bad puns, his warm hugs.

… that being said, who was to be his safety net? Marinette had served that purpose as of late; many hours had been spent in a rented out gymnasium, stretching and venting about their problems. It was the closest he’d come to a give-and-take relationship emotionally since his parents had been alive.

But now Marinette was missing. How was he supposed to vent about his anxieties about the fact that she was missing when she wasn’t there to vent to? Could he somehow vent to himself?

No. But he had to stay strong. His family needed him to. Without the Grayson safety net, his family would fall into early graves yet again.

So, he’d pull on that perfect smile of his and get to work. He’d force everyone to eat and sleep, he’d go out on patrols and make sure no one broke The Rule or too many bones, he’d make sure they didn’t close themselves off emotionally, he’d remind them they weren’t at fault, he’d listen to their problems, give them advice, hug them, help them, help them help them helpthemhelpthemhelpthem --.

Days stretched endlessly but weeks whizzed by.

And then Marinette was there.

His eyes had landed on her and he almost couldn’t believe it. Maybe he’d finally snapped. He’d held in his emotions, his grief and his guilt and his anger, and he’d held them in too long. And now he was hallucinating her. Now his mind had created a new her.

Maybe he actually could vent to himself now.

But then he’d glanced at everyone else and found that they’d stopped walking, too. That their eyes were still glued on that one spot. That they could see her and she was there. She was really there.

Emotions bubbled in his throat and tears stung his eyes and she was there.

“Mari?” His broken voice broke through the silence.

She brought a hand up to rest over her heart, almost as if she wasn’t quite sure he was talking to her despite him using her name.

Jason spoke next. “Is that really you?”

“Maybe,” she’d said, a bitter smile stretching across her face.

But Dick didn’t care about the warning signs, about the new demeanor, about anything because she was THERE.

A hand grabbed the back of his shirt. Held him back. He hadn’t even realized he’d been moving towards her, but that didn’t matter to him. Because now he couldn’t reach her.

His gaze fell on Tim and his brother had better have a good explanation.

“You’re pale,” Tim pointed out, blue eyes never leaving hers.

She giggled a little, but it was a broken sound. It was the kind of laugh a person made when they were trying their hardest not to cry.

“Yeah. Lack of sunlight and chemical baths do that.”

Tim’s grip on his shirt had lessened but it wasn’t necessary at all anymore. Instead, an icy hand clutched his heart and held him there.

Because now he could take in the chill in the room despite the roaring fire under where Marinette had perched herself. The way her eyes were now a dull blue instead of the almost unnaturally bright shade they usually were.

He hadn’t been around to be her safety net, and now the Marinette he knew was dead and gone. He was staring at what was essentially Marinette’s corpse. She even had the pale, bloodless skin of one.

He’d failed her, and he had already learned that there’s nothing that can be done when someone’s already hit the ground.

Jason

It was his job to keep her safe, and yet he couldn’t do that. She’d been captured by the Rogues. It was possible she’d never come back. If she did come back she wouldn’t ever be the same.

And it was his fault.

He should have tried harder to get her to stop. Made her take a break when she’d accidentally killed that man in the convenience store. He’d killed before, he’d KNOWN how that would affect a person. He’d seen how distracted she’d been the previous few days, seen the cracks. He should have seen this coming. He should have benched her when he’d had the chance.

And now his protege -- his SISTER -- had been captured by the Rogues and who knew what kind of horrors she was facing at that moment.

Because they weren’t going to kill her. The Rogues were never that merciful, and especially not when they’d been slighted.

Marinette had betrayed them, had been sent in to pretend to be their friend and gather information and sabotage some plans. Rogues were many things, but they weren’t ones to fake being friends. They all knew their real standings with each other, their real opinions of each other, for good and for bad. No, to them, she was a heartless monster.

And they were going to make sure she paid dearly.

“Is that really you?” He asked, though he knew what the answer would be. There was no way she could still be the same her after what she must have endured.

And she’d said “Maybe”.

And, though he’d expected it, the confirmation and the way her voice had cracked just slightly on the word had made it all the more real.

“You’re pale,” Tim pointed out.

Oh god, he was right. She looked so much like…

“Yeah. Lack of sunlight and chemical baths do that.”

Jason’s heart clenched at the words ‘chemical baths’. Because he knew what that meant. He may not have been there for when Tim had become Joker Jr., but he hadn’t needed to be in order to know just how completely fucked she had to be. He’d heard about the weeks of torture he’d endured before Batman and Batgirl had found it. Seen the way his younger brother still tensed slightly upon seeing Joker or Harley.

Five months. Marinette hadn’t been gone for a few weeks like he had. She’d been gone for five months. If that was what he was like in less than a month, then what about her?

He wanted to wrap her up in his arms and never let go, to never let HER go again, to make sure she’d never come to harm.

But one thing was stopping him.

Because he remembered what Joker Jr. had been created to do. What she must have been forced to do.

And he could see how much she hated it. In the lines in her forehead, in the slump of her shoulders, in the sad smile playing across her lips.

But she was doing it. She felt like she had to do it thanks to whatever she’d endured.

She wasn’t meant for murder. She especially wouldn’t do well with murdering someone she had once cared for. Whatever pieces of her old self that remained would crumble to dust until she would be completely unrecognizable. Completely broken.

He’d failed her, she’d been hurt, and he was going to have to hurt her more in order to keep her from hurting herself.

Tim

You’d think that it would be easy to figure out where she was. After all, these were the biggest Rogues in Gotham. Surely, they couldn’t hide out for long without people noticing them.

But no.

Nothing. Common henchmen were out of jobs, competitors were encroaching on their territories, allies called for help… and yet they refused to make an appearance. It seemed the Rogues had just grabbed Marinette and gone off-world.

A painful memory kept replaying in his mind. Taunting him.

The two of them had been sitting on a park bench on one of their many not-exactly-a-date-but-yeah-it’s-basically-a-date things that they loved to go on.

He remembered her in the Red Robin themed hoodie. The brilliant smile she’d given him. The twinkle in her eyes. The teasing lilt to her voice as she explained why he was her favorite hero:

‘Of course! He’s super smart! I mean, I know Batman is supposed to be the greatest detective of all time or whatever but, considering ages and experience, I think that Red Robin is probably going to have him beat in… I don’t know, a few years?’

She’d been laying it on thick, he knew, she’d been aware of his identity by then and was doing it to fluster him… but he could tell she wasn’t lying. Even if that was more blunt than she tended to be, it was still what she really thought of him.

The memory used to make him blush. Now, it hurt.

He downed his third cup of coffee at the hour, eyes locked on the screen in front of him. There had to be SOMETHING. There was always something.

And, yet, there wasn’t. The place she’d been taken had clearly been prepped for her kidnapping. There was hardly any blood anywhere outside of a bit on the wall where she must have hit it, someone must have set up a tarp or something. The only things they could find were the broken pieces of her comm and two ears. Forensics confirmed they were hers; the earrings they normally bore were missing, but they could hardly care about that when the first -- and likely tamest -- thing they’d done was cut off her ears.

That was it. There were footprints, sure, but they got lost in the millions of footprints on the streets of Gotham.

He threw his empty mug across the cave, but when it splintered on the ground he didn’t feel any better. It didn’t help him find her.

The moment his eyes landed on her, he knew.

He could recognize that look anywhere. Bleached-white skin, cherry-red lips… her usual pigtails had been raised in an imitation of Harley’s signature look...

Just like Tim had been Joker Jr., she was now Harley Jr.

Part of him wanted to assure her that she would be fine, that he was living proof that she would be okay again eventually. The other part knew that it was a lie, that she, just like him, would likely never be fully ‘okay’ ever again.

He blinked away the tears threatening to spill over.

He should not have allowed Dick to make him sleep, should have widened the scope of his search, he should have simply done so much more than he had.

No mystery was completely unsolvable. He had to have missed something.

He’d failed her, and now she was paying the price for his shortcomings.

Damian

Mother had taught him that relationships were a liability. They made you weak. They made you lose.

Father and Richard had taught him that relationships were tricky, but they were worth having.

But, if relationships were worth having, why did they cause him so much pain?

First Father had died. Then Richard had ‘died’.

Those had been temporary, at least. He had started to have difficulty feeling sad when people died. There had been three deaths in the family since he’d joined including his own, and they always came back within a few months. It had started to feel like the Wayne family was untouchable.

Then Alfred had been killed brutally by Bane. Even now, years later, he had yet to make a miraculous reappearance.

So, no, they weren’t untouchable.

They were assuming she was alive, that the Rogues were keeping her around for some big thing. But, as time stretched on with no progress or proof that she was even alive, he started to lose hope. Why were they so quiet? What were they planning? Had those plans gone awry? The Rogues could never match him on impulse control, so something might have happened…

He told himself it didn’t matter if she was alright or not. He knew it was a lie.

Despite their rocky start, he’d found himself attaching to her far faster than he should have. He was regretting it now. Maybe he should have put a distance between them, maybe then this wouldn’t have hurt so much.

It didn’t help that he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. It was the little things that seemed to hurt the most. The smell of coffee or baked goods, the place where she’d scratched her initials into a chair to claim it as hers, even the color red...

It was making it hard, if he were to be honest, to fight properly. He was constantly distracted. His mother had been right, his attachment to her was making him weak.

Not to mention the ring on his finger... He couldn’t bring himself to transform, not without his partner. Part of him wanted to tear it off his finger, to toss it off a pier and get rid of the constant reminder that she was gone, but he couldn’t.

It was all he had left of her, after all.

“Is that really you?”

“Maybe.”

No. The answer was no. He could see it in her eyes. Whoever was in front of them, they weren’t Marinette anymore. Not really.

“You’re pale.”

“Yeah. Lack of sunlight and chemical baths tend to do that.”

He clenched his fists tightly. The ring dug into his skin, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

After all, he wasn’t stupid. He was aware of what had happened to Drake during his tenure as Robin. He knew what he’d been forced to do, and he was sure she was there to finish the job.

He readied himself for a fight.

He’d failed her, yes, but he couldn’t afford to lose another person.

#marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #maribat #alternate ending #alternative ending #shit's been Happening in my life recently so this fic may get updated again soon oof #joker #harley quinn #harley quinzel #tim drake #red robin #timinette #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #damian wayne #robin

50 notes · View notes

yunkiwii · 3 years

Text

stargazing | au

pairing: non-idol!mingi x gn!reader

genre: fluff დ

warnings: none

wc: 2.1k

requested: no, but i'll tag @su-lix because she has been waiting for this ♡

net: @ateezlovenet

summary: you met mingi at san's birthday party and somehow you both end up talking throughout the whole party, which led to him (kinda) asking you out.

Last week, at your friend San’s birthday party you met this other friend of his, Mingi, and somehow you two ended up talking throughout the whole party ignoring whatever was going on outside of your little bubble. When you told him you knew the names of the constellations and how to distinguish them, he got so excited about it that he just couldn’t help but ask you to teach him someday.

The party ended, you exchanged numbers to keep in touch and now, nine days later, there you were, sitting on the passenger seat of his car making your way to the middle of nowhere, to star gaze together. You still couldn’t believe you actually went on board with this, considering that you barely knew him, but you trusted San’s judgement just enough and, besides, there was no way this boy would hurt you, even though he was really tall he was just like a kid trapped in a big man’s body, too pure for this world and you could see right through him. And he was hot, you would never admit it out loud but that also had a say on your decision.

You felt really comfortable siting there next to him, windows rolled down, your hand hanging on the outside feeling the fresh breeze hitting you on this warm summer evening, as you watch the sun setting down and the sky turning into shades of orange and pink, the busy city being left behind, further and further away from you at every second.

The twenty-minute drive was made almost in absolute silence, but not in an awkward silence way, just quiet, with soft music playing in the radio, a playlist that Mingi swore he chose randomly, but you just couldn’t shake the feeling that he made the playlist specially for this drive, it just fitted the mood too well to be a coincidence.

“So, we need to establish something first.” Mingi breaks the silence as he stops the car in a small parking lot, with only a couple of lampposts lighting the area faintly now that the sun was fully gone, and you hum in response taking your eyes away from the window and facing him. “Is this a date or is this merely educational? I need to know how to behave.”

“Hm… you were the one asking me to come, so it’s up to you I guess…” you smile back at him, praying that he wouldn’t notice your hands playing with each other, a clear sign of how nervous you got the moment he spoke up.

Mingi chuckles shyly and scratches the back of his head, clearly not expecting his question to backfire at him like that. You felt proud of yourself for being able to keep it cool and avoid the question like that, even more so seeing how you left the boy so flustered he wouldn’t look you in the eye.

“It’s a date then!” He decides after a while, smiling at you but when he was halfway leaving the car, he turns back at you again, “This is, if you’re okay with it.”

“I’m already here aren’t I?” you smile back at him, leaving the car as well, satisfied at how things were turning out, although you had actually thought it was clear from the moment he asked, back at San’s party, that this would be a date, yet you still found it sweet that he had to make sure first.

As you step out you start looking around, unsure about the safety of this random place so far away from the so familiar city. It seems like a small village to you, a very quiet one, the chirping of crickets and the croaking of frogs combined with the sound of running water being the only things you could hear, and you realize there’s likely a river nearby which explains why it felt chillier here, making you pull on your jacket’s sleeves so you could cover your hands, still nervously gripping on the other.

Mingi notices your nervous tic easily and approaches you slowly with his backpack hanging from one shoulder, his tall figure right next to you so close that the said backpack is brushing on your arm lightly.

“(y/n), don’t worry about this place yeah? My grandma used to live here, I know this place better than I know myself, it’s completely safe.” He looks down at you waiting for your approval, but you just nod and hum in response, not convincing him. “It’s okay if you don’t feel comfortable here, we can go back to the city and do something else, or I can take you home if that’s what you want…”

“No Mingi, we’re here already let’s stick to the plan.” You look up at him smiling determined and a wide smile forms on his face, and hell that was a beautiful smile, one of those that could wipe all the worries in the world, and you had to look away as you felt your cheeks warm up. “But I would be more comfortable if we stayed close to the parking lot, okay?”

With that said he suggested staying near the closest tree, just close enough to what you considered safe but not too close to the lampposts so that you could still see the stars clearly. He took out a dark blue blanket out of his backpack and as you sat on it, just chatting about random daily life stuff, you began to feel more at ease, finally taking your hands away from each other and resting one on the blanket for support, and the other on your lap.

As Mingi asked you about the constellations, you let yourself fall on your back, getting a laugh out of the boy, while you ramble about how since you were little you looked up more often than you looked down, gaining you a couple of funny falls throughout the years.

“Hey, lay down, otherwise you will hurt your neck.” You chuckled pulling Mingi down by slightly grabbing on his sweater’s sleeve, and he too falls on his back right next to you, your hands brushing every once in a while, sending shivers from the tip of your fingers right into and through your spine. This made you fluster a bit, making you unable to keep the conversation going, so you both just stared in silence into the sprinkles in the sky for a while, until Mingi looks back at you all of the sudden and breaks the silence.

“Is that a constellation?” he points up to the sky, unaware that you had no idea where he was pointing at, his eyes wide open looking at you, excited about the fact that he might have figured something out.

“Mingi, I have no idea where you’re pointing at...”

“Oh, well…” he moves his body closer to yours to try and explain better what he was seeing, your shoulders now touching and he extends his arm right in front of your face so you could follow the invisible line connecting his fingers and the said constellation, “Those five stars connected form a weird «w», is that a constellation?” he looks at you again with expectation.

“Yes!! It’s Cassiopeia!” you grab his arm excitedly pulling it down next to you and, unable to control your nerdy excitement over stars, you start rambling about the said constellation unaware that you were still entangled in Mingi’s arm.

“In mythology, Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus, whose constellation is right next to hers! One day she started saying she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the Nereids. One of them was married to Poseidon and so they appealed to him to punish Cassiopeia for her boastfulness. Because of this Cepheus went to an oracle for help who told him they had to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda, to the sea monster, and so they did; but last minute the Greek hero Perseus showed up and rescued her from the monster. Later, Andromeda and Perseus got married and some other guy showed up claiming to be the right suit for Andromeda, starting a fight. Perseus was outnumbered so he used the head of Medusa which, as you probably know already, turned into stone whoever looked her in the eyes. In this process the king and queen were killed, Poseidon still wanted revenge and so he placed them in the sky, leaving Cassiopeia condemned to circle the celestial pole forever, spending half the year upside down in the sky as punishment for-” you stop yourself from talking as you realise you might be boring him and, worse, you were still attached to his arm like a limp, releasing him immediately and avoiding eye contact, embarrassed by your ramblings and for overstepping his personal space, and finished the sentence weakly, “for her vanity.”

“How do you know all this?” Mingi sits up and he didn’t seem bothered at all, quiet au contraire, he was actually amazed by you and interested in what you were saying. That caught you by surprise since all you were used to was to people telling you to shut up whenever you rambled about things you were passionate about.

“Well, I read a lot about this stuff… I can lend you a few books if-”

“Yes, please! I would very much like that (y/n)!” he says and squeezes your hand lightly in appreciation when you sit up yourself, holding onto your hand a bit too longer than he was supposed to, “Your hands are so cold, do you need another sweater or something? I might have another one in my car.”

As he was standing up to go to his car you grab his hand again, earning his attention back to your face again.

“I know the car is close but-, I don’t want to be left alone here…” You hesitated a bit, but the thought of being left alone there, with his back turned to you, took your mind right to all those crime documentaries you usually watch for fun, but picturing it in the real world doesn’t seem so fun.

“Oh, that’s okay (y/n), I won’t leave you alone. But perhaps we should go back now, you’re really cold and I don’t want you to get sick or something.” Mingi helps you up as you nod in agreement, although the prospect of your date ending didn’t please you that much, but he was right, as the night went on it got colder and you were starting to shiver a bit by now.

The ride back home was a whole different than the one from earlier, your level of comfort with each other went from comfortable silence to an open debate on whether your zodiac sign had a say on your personality or not. No conclusion was taken from it though, since it only led to you getting to know each other better based on the traces of personality you used to prove your own points.

Your trip back home was soon to be over but neither of you were ready to say goodbye just yet, it felt like you’ve just left the city, but you were already back, and it was almost midnight.

“Time really flies by when we’re having fun huh?” Mingi chuckled quietly and you barely heard him, so you assumed he was talking to himself and didn’t say anything. He stopped the car right in front of the pathway to your house, leaning back on his seat and turning his head to face you, “Here we are, (y/n). Thank you for agreeing on this date, I had a really good time.” His smile awakens a warm sensation inside you and you automatically mirror his expression.

“I had a lot of fun too, Mingi, thank you for tonight.”

At this point you knew you should probably say your goodbyes and call it a night, but you just stayed like that for a few more minutes, or so it seemed to you, tracing each other’s features with your eyes, memorizing every bit of it hoping you would dream with each other that night, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed until you became flustered by the boy’s eyes locked on your face.

“Hm, I- I should probably go,” you rush to take the seatbelt off and leave the car, looking back in before shutting the door, “thank you again, Mingi.”

As you were about to enter the house you hear his voice calling you from inside the car, you turn around and see the window from the passenger's side open, his face trying to get a look at you, “When will you lend me that book you told me about?”

You giggled to yourself, seeing this as chance to take control of what should happen next, “Perhaps on our next date, I’ll text you the details!”

He smiled at you and yelled back a “deal” before starting the car and leaving at full speed. You shut your door and lean against it, not quite believing you were actually the one who suggested the second date.

♡MASTERLIST♡

#ateezlovenet #mingi fluff #mingi x reader #ateez mingi fluff #mingi au #ateez mingi au #mingi oneshot #ateez mingi oneshot #mingi fic

56 notes · View notes

thelastspeecher · 4 years

Text

Spirit Touched - Chapter 2: Nuktuk

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 AO3

I got impatient and posted the second chapter. Here’s some more tiny Zuko for your soul. And a chance encounter...

Again, this fic is inspired by @muffinlance‘s fic Salvage and fanart that @agent-jaselin did of it.

——————————————————————————————

Zuko stood on the deck and breathed in deeply. The salty ocean air filled his lungs, bringing up the memories of the years he’d spent at sea, making him forget for a moment the cursed situation he was now in. He was forcibly reminded of his circumstances when he stepped forward and tripped over the still too long shirt he was wearing.

“Don’t worry, little prince,” Panuk said, “we’re going ashore today to get you some clothing.” Zuko got up into a sitting position. He crossed his arms.

“Great. More people to see me in this state.”

“Don’t worry, Nuktuk, no one’s going to think you’re anything but a regular toddler,” Toklo said, walking over to Zuko and picking him up.

“Don’t pick me up without asking first- wait, what did you call me?”

“Nuktuk. Isn’t it cute? It’s the name my parents almost gave me.”

“Why are you calling me by a Water Tribe name?” Zuko sighed. Toklo ruffled his hair, which had grown into a soft layer of black fuzz.

“Because as far as anyone in this town is concerned, you’re Water Tribe,” Hakoda said, walking over. “Specifically, a member of the Water Tribe named Nuktuk.”

“Why?” Zuko asked. To his chagrin, it came out as a whine, something that had been happening more and more often lately.

“A toddler on a Water Tribe ship won’t attract attention if that toddler is Water Tribe. It will attract attention if that toddler is Fire Nation,” Hakoda said. He took Zuko from Toklo. “You’ll be coming with me to get clothes.”

“Why do I even need to come ashore?” Zuko muttered.

“If I’m getting you clothes, I need to make sure they fit,” Hakoda said shortly, already marching off the ship, Zuko grumbling wordlessly in his arms.

-----

“He can wear that out,” the shopkeeper said to Hakoda. The shopkeeper nodded at Zuko standing nearby in typical green and brown Earth Kingdom clothes. “I saw what he was wearing when you brought him in.”

“Yeah, Nuktuk here tossed all his clothes overboard when no one was watching him.” Hakoda looked at Zuko. “What was the reasoning you gave for that, again?” Zuko crossed his arms and looked away, his mind racing. What would a child say?

“…I don’t know,” he finally mumbled, failing to come up with something. The shopkeeper chuckled.

“What a classic kid response. ‘I don’t know.’”

Apparently, that was the right answer.

“Thanks,” Hakoda said to the shopkeeper after he purchased Zuko’s new clothes. “Come on, Nuktuk.” Zuko followed Hakoda out of the store. Hakoda looked down at Zuko thoughtfully.

“…What?” Zuko asked.

“When Sokka and Katara were your age, they liked riding on my shoulders,” Hakoda remarked. Zuko scowled.

“I’m sixteen.”

“You’re four.”

“Hmph.” Zuko looked away. “…Are you offering to let me ride on your shoulders?” he asked after a moment.

“If you want,” Hakoda said with a shrug. Zuko’s desire to maintain dignity and his childish urges battled. The childish urges won out.

“…Yes,” he said quietly.

“All right.” Hakoda lifted Zuko and placed him on his shoulders. “Hold on.” Zuko grabbed fistfuls of Hakoda’s shirt. Hakoda began to walk.

From his vantage point on Hakoda’s shoulders, Zuko could see more than he had since the spirits cursed him like this. Actually, he could see more than he could even before he was cursed. It was refreshing to be able to see more than peoples’ legs. They walked past a young woman outside a flower shop.

“Sir?” the woman called. Hakoda stopped and turned to look at her. “Your son is very cute.” Zuko turned red. Hakoda chuckled.

“Thanks. All his mom.” The woman chuckled as well. Hakoda continued to walk.

They spotted Kustaa just as he was leaving an apothecary. Kustaa raised a silent eyebrow at the sight of Zuko on Hakoda’s shoulders. Zuko blushed again.

“Let me down,” he instructed Hakoda. Hakoda didn’t do anything. Zuko sighed. “Please.”

“Well, since you said the magic word…” Hakoda removed Zuko from his shoulders and set him on the ground.

“That was a wise move,” Kustaa said. “The town square is just over there, and you’d hate for anyone else on the crew to see you riding the Chief’s shoulders.”

“Hey, Nuktuk!” Toklo’s voice called. The men and Zuko looked over. Toklo stood in the square, waving something Zuko immediately recognized. “I got you those fire flakes you like!” Before the words had even left Toklo’s mouth, Zuko was running over. He bumped into someone, mumbled an apology, and kept running. Once he got to Toklo, he jumped up, trying to get the fire flakes from him. However, Toklo held them just out of reach.

“Don’t run off like that,” Hakoda scolded as he finally caught up to Zuko. Zuko ignored him in favor of continuing his attempts to get the fire flakes. Kustaa joined them as well.

“We should leave,” Kustaa said softly to Hakoda. “The men Zuko just bumped into were Fire Nation. They were out of uniform, but it was obvious what they were.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” Hakoda replied quietly. He raised his voice. “Toklo, stop playing keep away. You and Kustaa take Nuktuk back to the ship. I’ll wait for the others.”

“Why?” Zuko asked. He grabbed the fire flakes from Toklo and began to stuff them into his mouth happily.

“You’re going to have to take a nap soon,” Hakoda reminded him. Zuko scowled. Kustaa took Zuko’s hand and led him out of the square. Toklo trailed after them. Hakoda looked around, but didn’t spot the men Zuko had run into. He let out a sigh of relief as he sat on a rock to wait for the rest of the crew.

It’s a good thing Zuko didn’t attract any attention from the Fire Nation men. Who knows who they were, and what they would have done if they’d gotten a good look at him.

-----

“You see, Lieutenant Jee, when we enter the village not wearing our uniforms, we are treated much better,” Iroh said as they exited the tea shop with bags of blends recommended by the owner.

“Yes, you’re right,” Jee said with a slight nod. Like the rest of the crew of the Wani, he was treating Iroh gently after the loss of Zuko.

“Hey, Nuktuk!” a voice called. Iroh and Jee looked over. A young man, Water Tribe, judging by his appearance, stood in the town square with bags of food. The man waved a container of something that every Fire Nation child would recognize. “I got you those fire flakes you like!”

Promptly, a young boy, on the cusp of being called a child rather than a toddler, raced past Iroh and Jee, knocking into Iroh. A man rushed after the boy, who was presumably Nuktuk. Another man stopped in front of Iroh and Jee and smiled apologetically.

“Sorry that he ran into you. My nephew can be excitable,” the man said. Iroh chuckled.

“No need to apologize! My nephew was the same at that age,” he said jovially. The man inclined his head slightly and joined the rest of his companions in the square. All except Nuktuk were dressed in traditional Water Tribe attire.

“Rare to see Water Tribe around here,” Jee said softly. Iroh waved a hand.

“Leave them be. They’re clearly a family, probably refugees. Look at them.” The young man that had purchased fire flakes was holding them just out of reach of Nuktuk, making the boy jump for them. Iroh smiled. “They aren’t doing any harm.”

“Yes, sir,” Jee said. Iroh watched Nuktuk thoughtfully. “Sir?”

“That young boy…he’s been touched by the spirits.”

“How- how can you tell?”

“It sticks out all over him,” Iroh said, as if that answer made complete sense. He sighed. “It’s kind of the spirits to bless someone like him.”

“…A war bastard half-breed?” Jee asked. Even from this distance, it was obvious Nuktuk’s skin was too pale, his hair too dark, to be full Water Tribe. Iroh frowned at Jee.

“Yes. But perhaps it would be better to use kinder words when talking about a child,” he said firmly. Jee merely nodded in response. “We should board. We can’t keep Zhao waiting any longer.” The two men walked away, Iroh glancing at Nuktuk every now and then, his heart heavy with memories of Zuko and Lu Ten.

-----

Hakoda knew a toddler bursting with energy when he saw one. Usually, said toddler wouldn’t hesitate to expend that energy. But most toddlers weren’t teenagers two weeks ago.

“You look like you could use a chance to stretch your legs,” he remarked. Zuko, who had been fidgeting nonstop since breakfast, looked up. Once again, he had been assigned to work on nets with Tuluk, as that was the easiest chore for the former teenager, current toddler.

“I’m fine,” Zuko said. He wiggled in his seat, seemingly without realizing it. Tuluk poorly stifled a laugh. Zuko scowled at him. The trademark glare had been taking a gradual decline in efficacy for some time before the spirits intervened. Now that Zuko was a child, the expression only made him cuter.

“You’re more jittery than a polar bear-dog with new pups,” Hakoda said. Zuko wiggled again. “Luckily, you can run off some of that energy when we dock.”

“I’m not going ashore as a child again. The first time was humiliating enough,” Zuko muttered to his feeble netting knots. Hakoda sighed and sat next to him.

“Your current rules include doing what is necessary for someone your age. It’s not healthy to force a four-year-old to sit still for hours on end.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not being forced, then.”

“Are you sure?” Hakoda asked. Zuko eyed him.

“No one told me to sit still.”

“You did.” Zuko dropped his netting and cocked his head curiously. It was an expression to be expected from a toddler who didn’t understand how the world worked. It was less expected from Zuko, whose youthful appearance masked sixteen years of experience. “You’re forcing yourself to sit still.”

“But-”

“I admit, this is the first time I’ve seen a toddler task themselves with behaving so well,” Hakoda continued. “What I said still applies, however. Your body wants to run around, but you’re holding yourself in check.” Zuko picked up his netting again. He played with it.

“There’s not much room for running around on a boat, anyways,” he mumbled.

“Which is why you’re coming ashore.” Zuko scowled. “That’s an order.”

“…Yes, Chief.”

In Hakoda’s experience, a toddler forced to stay still for too long would release the pent-up energy in a potentially damaging way. The likelihood of something breaking went up drastically if that toddler was a bender. Hopefully, by letting Zuko run off the energy on land, they could avoid any firebending outbursts on their very flammable ship.

-----

A few hours later, the Akhlut docked. Under normal circumstances, they would wait longer in between stopping at ports. But as Hakoda watched Zuko toddle down the gangplank, he couldn’t ignore how painfully abnormal the current circumstances were.

“Are you coming?” Zuko asked once he was on solid ground. Hakoda was once again reminded of his own children; that might as well have come from Katara when she was four. He followed Zuko ashore. Zuko crossed his arms. “Now what?”

“Now we find an open place where you can run around,” Hakoda said, heading for the beach.

“How long am I expected to ‘run around’?”

“Generally speaking, children your age only stop when they use up all their energy and literally collapse.” Hakoda glanced at Zuko. “Given your situation, however, I’ll be fine with leaving once I notice you slowing down.” Zuko nodded reluctantly.

“Is anyone else coming?” he asked.

“No. We’re near General Fong’s base. He’s not that pleased with us, so I’m keeping the number of crew who might be spotted by his men to a minimum.”

“Not even Healer Kustaa?” Zuko asked. Disappointment shone in his voice.

“You’ll get to see him soon enough, don’t worry,” Hakoda replied. Zuko pouted. They continued their walk in silence.

They hadn’t been walking long when Hakoda began to pick up on the faint sound of children playing. He looked at Zuko out of the corner of his eye. Judging by how white his already pale skin had become, the firebender heard as well. They turned a corner.

“This looks like a good place,” Hakoda said. They had arrived at a slightly secluded cove filled with young children and mothers. The children, ranging from infants to a few years older than Zuko, chased each other across the sand, playing games Hakoda remembered from his own childhood.

“Good?” Zuko hissed, clearly scandalized. “There’s- there’s children here!”

“Yes, and you are one of them.” Hakoda put a hand on Zuko’s back. He gently pushed the boy forward. “Go play with your peers.”

“They’re not my-” A girl about Zuko’s age ran past, tapping Zuko on the shoulder.

“Tag!” she shouted. Zuko stared after her dumbly.

“Aren’t you going to play tag?” Hakoda prompted. Zuko looked down at his feet. “Do you know what tag is?”

“…No.”

“It’s a chasing game. Whoever is ‘it’ tries to touch someone. If they touch someone, that new person is ‘it’.”

“Oh.” Zuko remained where he stood. The girl that tagged him came back over.

“Are you gonna play?” she asked. Zuko opened and closed his mouth silently.

“Yes, he will,” Hakoda interjected. “But he’s a bit shy and he’s never played tag before. Would you help him, please?” The girl beamed, showing off a gap-toothed smile.

“Yeah!” She looked at Zuko. “What’s your name?”

“Nuktuk,” Zuko mumbled. The girl giggled.

“That’s a funny name. C’mon, Nuktuk!” She grabbed Zuko’s hand and pulled him away from Hakoda, towards the energetic children.

Hakoda watched for a few minutes, ready to intervene if Zuko was too out of his element. But as he’d seen happen before, Zuko slipped into childish behaviors easily. Hakoda took a seat near the group of mothers keeping an eye their children, nodding politely at them before resuming watch of Zuko.

Watching the former Fire Prince run with the other toddlers, the dull headache Hakoda had since that morning began to fade. There was nothing to indicate that Zuko was different from his peers. All Hakoda saw was a young boy enjoying himself. The rare sight was enough to make him smile.

-----

Zuko played for much longer than Hakoda expected. Most people had left the play area by the time the young firebender called it quits. Hakoda quickly got rid of his smile as Zuko trod over, rubbing his eyes.

“Done?” he asked. Zuko let out a yawn and nodded. “You looked like you had a good time out there.”

“Yeah,” Zuko mumbled sleepily.

“Maybe you should try to run around the deck every now and then?” Hakoda probed. Zuko yawned again. “It won’t be as fun as today, but it’s better than nothing. And we can’t just land whenever you need to blow off some steam.” Zuko merely nodded. “Would you like to ride on my shoulders back to the ship?”

“Yes, please, sir,” Zuko said. His voice was thick with sleep. Hakoda lifted the tired toddler, gently placing him on his shoulders. Zuko grabbed handfuls of his shirt and leaned against Hakoda’s neck and head. Hakoda headed for the way they came.

Quickly, Hakoda stopped trying to make conversation with Zuko during the walk back to the ship. All questions received significantly delayed single word answers. Just as he caught sight of the Akhlut, Zuko began to snore. Hakoda chuckled. His buoyant mood vanished, however, as he neared the ship. Two Earth Kingdom soldiers stood by the gangplank, speaking with Bato.

“Is there a problem?” Hakoda asked upon arrival. The soldiers looked over at him, then at Zuko. Hakoda raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

“We were wondering why your ship was docked and didn’t seem to be picking up supplies,” the shorter of the two soldiers said.

“I was trying to explain to them that we didn’t need supplies,” Bato said. He frowned at the soldiers. “Which shouldn’t merit a visit from the Earth Kingdom Military.”

“You’re near an important base. We have to be careful with foreign ships,” the short soldier replied.

“Our ship is clearly from the Water Tribe,” Bato snapped.

“Fire Nation soldiers could have captured a Water Tribe ship,” the short soldier said with a shrug.

“No self-respecting Fire Nation soldier would pretend to be Water Tribe,” Hakoda scoffed. The four-year-old proof he was lying let out a loud snore. Hakoda removed Zuko from his shoulders, carefully, so as to not wake him up. “We had to stop so that Nuktuk could spend some time ashore. It’s not good for someone his age to be at sea nonstop.”

“Why do you have a half-breed child on your warship?” the taller soldier asked, speaking for the first time. Hakoda stiffened. Before he could respond, Bato came to “Nuktuk’s” defense.

“Don’t call him that,” Bato said shortly.

“He is, though. Anyone with half a brain could tell he’s part Fire Nation,” the tall soldier argued back.

“His parentage isn’t important,” Hakoda said, trying to keep a level tone. “Nuktuk is Water Tribe.” The soldiers exchanged doubtful looks. “To answer your question, he’s the lone survivor of his village. We stumbled across him as we left the South Pole.”

“Why haven’t you dropped him off somewhere?” the short soldier asked. “It’s not safe for a child to be aboard a warship.”

“We haven’t had a chance to visit a Water Tribe village since we picked him up.”

“The Earth Kingdom has plenty of orphanages,” the short soldier said.

“We wouldn’t leave a Water Tribe child in an Earth Kingdom orphanage,” Bato said. “He deserves to grow up among his people.”

“Should’ve left him in the Fire Nation, then,” the tall soldier muttered. Bato glared.

“Are you going to let us board our ship and leave?” Hakoda asked before things could continue to spiral. “Nuktuk needs to be put to bed.” The soldiers exchanged another look.

“Fine,” the short one sighed. The two soldiers walked away. Once they were out of earshot, Bato turned to Hakoda.

“What took you so long?”

“He had more energy than I thought,” Hakoda replied. Zuko shifted slightly in his arms. “He really needed this.”

“I can tell.” Bato went up the gangplank, Hakoda close behind. “Did the two of you enjoy yourselves?”

“Him more than me. Though it was entertaining to watch him learn common games.”

“You found some children his age?” Bato asked. Hakoda nodded.

“Other than not knowing what tag was, he fit right in with them, too.”

“Of course he didn’t know what tag was,” Bato muttered. Hakoda snorted. “What?”

“I can see right through you, Bato. You’re getting soft on Zuko, just like the rest of us.”

“…Maybe I am,” Bato conceded. “But if I am, it’s only because he reminds me of Sokka.” Bato’s eyes widened. “Oh! Speaking of Sokka, apparently the Avatar’s sky bison passed over the base not long ago, likely on their way to the North Pole.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The soldiers mentioned it while they were trying to strong-arm me.”

“At least they didn’t stop. I would hate to have missed them.”

“I don’t know about that,” Bato said after a moment. Hakoda eyed him. “How do you think we’d explain ‘Nuktuk’ to them?”

“The same way I explained it to the soldiers.”

“Katara and Sokka would see right through it.” Bato ruffled Zuko’s short, fuzzy hair. “Kid doesn’t know how to act like he’s Water Tribe. Or how to act like he’s a normal toddler.”

“Fair enough.” Hakoda and Bato came to a stop outside the infirmary. “Who knows how Zuko would react to seeing them, anyways?”

“Probably with his first temper tantrum.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me he’s at that age,” Hakoda muttered. Bato let out a bark of laughter. “Tell the crew to cast off.”

“You got it.” Bato strolled away. Hakoda ducked inside the infirmary. Kustaa took the sleeping toddler from him.

“You really tired him out,” Kustaa remarked. “What did you do, practice hand-to-hand combat with him?”

“No. He just…ran around like a kid.” Kustaa looked at him inquisitively. “We found a group of children his age. After they taught him how to play their games, he played with them. It was like he was a normal toddler.”

“Hmm.” Kustaa set Zuko down in his pile of furs, then pulled out a scroll. He scribbled something on it. “I’m keeping a log of each time Zuko acts his current age.”

“Do you think that might help return him to normal, or at least figure out how the spirits did this to him?”

“It might,” Kustaa said with a shrug. He put the scroll away. “I’m trying to collect as much information as I can. Some of it might be helpful, most of it probably won’t be. But we’re in uncharted waters, Chief. I can’t risk deciding a piece of information wasn’t relevant enough to be noted. It might end up crucial.” Kustaa gently tucked Zuko in, covering him with the blanket he’d worn around the ship before getting better clothes. “Hopefully, we’ll come across a waterbending healer at some point.” The healer looked up, meeting Hakoda’s eyes squarely. “As far as I can tell, that’s the only way we might be able to return Zuko from a grumpy toddler to a grumpy teenager.”

“That’s the only way?”

“Well, there is the possibility that the spirits might decide to stop this test or punishment or whatever it is. But that’s a very slim chance.” Hakoda nodded.

“I’d agree with that. Tell him to find me when he wakes up. I’ll give him a new task to do until dinner.”

“Depending on how much you wore him out,” Kustaa said, “he might not wake up before then. But if he does, I’ll send him your way.”

Hakoda exited the infirmary, only to be promptly accosted by Toklo.

“Chief, did Zuko really play with a bunch of other kids?” Toklo asked, starry-eyed.

“Yes.”

“Aw, man! I wish I was there! I bet it was adorable.”

“…It was,” Hakoda said after a moment. Toklo groaned loudly. A weight settled in Hakoda’s stomach. With the chaos of Zuko being touched by the spirits, Hakoda hadn’t had time to tell Toklo about his brother. He hated to ruin Toklo’s good mood. But he couldn’t delay it any longer. “We need to talk,” he said softly, putting a hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“We do?”

“Yes. Come with me.”

-----

Zuko sat next to the mast, his arms crossed, desperately trying to stay awake. He didn’t need to go to bed as early as the Chief kept forcing him to, and he was determined to prove it. His eyes drooped closed. When someone sat next to him, he snapped his eyes open again. He looked at the person joining him.

“Oh. Hello, Toklo.” Toklo nodded. He was visibly shaken. Zuko cocked his head, confused and concerned. “Are…are you all right?” he asked finally.

“…No, little prince. I’m not.”

“Oh.” Zuko placed his annoyingly minute hands in his lap and looked down at them. “Why?” Maybe it had something to do with why Toklo didn’t join everyone else for dinner. Toklo never passed up the chance to have Zuko sit in his lap while they ate.

“Did you know?” Toklo asked quietly, drawing Zuko out of his thoughts.

“Know what?”

“About my brother.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yeah. And he’s- he’s-” Toklo’s face contorted. “The Fire Nation captured him,” he said in a thick voice. Zuko’s heart plummeted. “They tortured him and then they- they killed him.”

“I- I-” Zuko was at a loss for words. He looked around for some guidance. Everyone on deck was determinedly not watching them. He swallowed and put his hand over Toklo’s. “I’m sorry.” Toklo choked back a sob. “Do you- do you want to go somewhere less out in the open?” he asked finally. He couldn’t stand the idea of Toklo losing any dignity over this. Toklo nodded and stood. Zuko got up as well. He took Toklo’s hand and led him belowdeck.

Those on the deck waited a reasonable time before going down as well. The first to stumble across Toklo and Zuko was Panuk. They were curled up in Toklo’s hammock, Toklo holding onto Zuko the same way Zuko had held Seal Jerky the first day of being spirit touched.

“Should we move him?” Panuk asked Kustaa.

“He’ll be fine for now. The first time he gets up to pee, he’ll go to the infirmary,” Kustaa said with a shrug. Panuk looked at him.

“The first time?”

“Oh, he’s been waking me up at least twice each night so that I can take him to the latrine.” Kustaa snorted softly. “At least we don’t have to get dressed and then walk through the snow in the dark like back home.”

“Yeah.” Something contemplative flashed across Panuk’s face. “Zuko wouldn’t be happy if he had to do that.” He watched Zuko and Toklo sleeping. Kustaa finally sighed.

“I’m going to get one last thing to eat before bed. Do you want anything?” he asked. Panuk shook his head. “All right. Sleep well, kid.”

“There’s an actual child on the ship, and you’re still going to call me ‘kid’?” Panuk asked. Kustaa chuckled.

“Look on the bright side. At least you don’t have people mothering you like Zuko does.”

#ATLA #Zuko #Hakoda #Bato #(not tagging muffinlance and jase bc they're @ed)#(also I still don't know how to tag the various OCs whoops)#Spirit Touched #my writing #my stuff #fanfiction #speecher speaks

354 notes · View notes