#so there's hardly anything to do and i end up goofing off on my personal computer anyway lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cynicallyanime · 1 year

Text

The Distance Between Us

Author: @cynicallyanime

Warning: Lots of angst with a fluffy ending! (Also memory loss.)

Notes: Sorry if this seems a little short or cut off in a weird spot. I’ve been trying to get back in the groove of writing. But, I’ve been having lots of personal setbacks. I had originally planned for more of the story so I might make a part two later if I find the motivation. Please COMMENT/REBLOG if you enjoy!

Pairing: Momiji Sohma x yn

Words: 5,965

Momiji Sohma was always a peculiar one. Ask anyone who's ever met him. They'll tell you about how he liked to wear feminine clothes until high school and he finally hit a growth spurt. Or they'll tell you about his accent and frequent use of German words that hardly anyone understood. Maybe they'll even tell you about how he always had a smile on his face and goofed around like a little kid, never taking anything too seriously.

The first time I met Momiji was when we were both really small. Probably, like, age twelve or maybe even younger. But, he went to an all boys' school and I went to a regular one. So, that's not where we met. I actually met him when I was preparing for my first big duet competition.

I play the piano. I have ever since I can remember. And for the competition, I needed a violinist to play alongside me. Or at least, that's what my instructor told me. My family had me in solo lessons, so practice was always pretty lonely. I was excited to finally be able to make a friend I could share music with. However, it was up to my instructor to make the match for me. I just hoped she picked someone nice.

There I sat at the practice piano on the day we were supposed to meet. All my instructor told me was that he was a boy, he was my age, and that we were at the same skill level in each of our instruments. So, it was a good match for the competition coming up in a few months.

I expected someone very studious. Someone who would probably not want to have any fun. That's just the way my instructor was. All work and no play. So when the door to the studio opened and I turned my head to see, I was surprised to say the least.

In barged the exact opposite kind of person I had imagined. A little blond boy skipped in through the doorway before the adults could even open it all the way. He bounded straight over to me with his violin case clutched in his left hand and practically touched his nose to mine.

"Hallo!! It's so wunderbar to meet you!!" His light brown eyes shined happily, the same as his broad smile. But, I couldn't help but be a little lost by his accent and the way he was saying things. "I'm Momiji Sohma! Und I can't wait to play together!"

Despite his friendly personality, I was still too flustered to speak properly. "I-uh..."

"Momiji. You're here to practice together, not play. Understand?" The stern adult scolded him. I presumed it was his violin instructor that had come with him.

He instantly stood up straight. "Ah! But we are practicing to be able to play together! No?" The instructor rolled his eyes likes he was used to his antics.

"Excuse me," I whispered out, not quite as outgoing as he was yet. He turned his eyes to me in surprise. "Why...um...why do you sound like that?"

He tilted his head and put one finger to his lips as he thought. "Sound like what? Hmm...oh! You must mean my accent. I'm part German on my mutti's side!" He explained with no hint of offense at all. Then, he continued with a small wink, "Mutti means my mother, by the way."

"Oh!" I finally relaxed when I realized that he wasn't intimidating at all. He was actually quite kind. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm yn yln!" I reached out my right hand and he took it without hesitation to shake it.

And that was the beginning of it all.

For the next few months, we spent nearly every day after school together. Hours upon hours of playing the piano alongside him made me so happy. His violin playing was so amazing. His face would become so serious while he concentrated on his strings. Sometimes I just wanted to listen to him play by himself. But our instructors said if one of us was playing, then the other should be too.

We learned so much about each other so fast. For the first time in my life, I had felt like I truly had someone I could call my best friend. Except...he wouldn't hug me like I saw all the other best friends doing. In fact, the closer we got...the further he moved away from me. At first, we would high five, bump shoulders, and even touch foreheads. Just like the first day we met. Out of nowhere though, he suddenly seemed shy around me and we stopped doing all of that stuff.

That was what was peculiar. The outgoing and bubbly boy who had become my best friend changed completely when I tried to get closer to him again. That made me a little sad. And also curious if maybe I had done something to hurt him. But, I never pushed because I wanted to keep being best friends.

Finally, it was the day of the competition that we had been practicing so hard for. But, we also had so much fun together that it hardly felt like practicing and sometimes I forgot that there would be an end. It was my hope that we could continue to be friends even after the competition. Maybe we could compete in more if we won this one. I had made up my mind to try harder than I ever had before.

A few hours before the competition started, I walked into the massive building with my hand held by my mother's. I gripped the skirt of my fancy dress in my other hand while she checked me in, nerves starting to get to me. All the nerves went away, though, when I finally saw Momiji.

The door opened to the green room we were waiting in and he skipped in, like always. My heart started racing so fast it felt like butterflies were hatching in there. I had never seen him dress so formally, all buttoned up in his suit and tie. He was so cute.

"Yn!!" He exclaimed upon seeing me as he walked closer. Maybe it was just my false hope, but I thought his eyes sparkled when he looked at me. "I've never seen anything prettier than you are!"

His declaration caused me to blush hard. So much so that I had to turn away. Our instructors and my mother excused themselves to go get some drinks, since we would be performing last. I clutched my hands over my chest, wondering if I would be able to hear the keys over my heart out there.

"I mean it, you know," he said softly, leaning his face to be in front of where I was looking. "It's not just the dress. You're always shining, just like schatz...like treasure." Momiji placed his hand on my shoulder for the first time in weeks and all my worries melted away.

I couldn't hold back anymore. I had to know why he had been distant from me. "Momiji," I whispered, eyes fixed on the ground, "do you...hate me?"

"What?" He sounded genuinely surprised. Like he didn't even know that his actions were impacting me.

Finally, I fully met his eyes as one of the tears that had been building up inside for weeks slipped out. "I asked if you hated me!!" His eyes widened at my volume and I was shocked a little bit too. But, how could he say I was like treasure when... "I thought we were best friends! But, you don't ever want to be near me anymore! You...you say I'm like treasure but you won't even hold me like I am!"

My outburst left a deafening silence hanging in the air. Tears flowed freely from my eyes. And Momiji...looked like I had struck him right across his face. His hand fell from my shoulder and I wished I could take it back. I opened my mouth to apologize and beg him not to stop being friends with me. But, he spoke first.

"You are wrong." I wanted to cry more at his words. How could I be wrong when I could see it so plainly? "It's because you are my best friend that I can't do that."

I clenched my fists. Couldn't he at least be honest with me? "Why?? How does that make any sense?!" I clapped my hands over my face to hide how red and puffy it was getting. Embarrassed. I was so embarrassed by my own behavior.

"Yn, stop that." His tone was stern but kind and he reached out to pull my hands away by my wrists. "Don't hide your sadness. Especially, when I'm the cause."

"Momiji," I sobbed, "I don't understand what you're saying." Feelings were hard at that age. First, you were confused about what they were in the first place and then about why they wouldn't go away. Mostly, I was confused because he was contradicting himself.

He reached out with both hands to wipe the wetness from my cheeks. Then, he patted my head so gently. "I want to hug you. But, if I do...bad things will happen. I don't want to stop being friends-"

"Then, don't!" I had listened to enough. My body moved without me telling it to. I slammed into his chest and wrapped my arms around his middle so tightly. "Nothing would ever make me stop being your friend!"

Then, it happened.

In a puff of yellow smoke, Momiji disappeared. The sudden absence of his body sent me tumbling to the ground. I sat up on my knees as the smoke started to clear and looked around. All I could see was his clothes piled in a heap where we were standing.

"Momiji?" I couldn't believe my eyes. The clothes heap started rustling. "Uh!"

I was scared of what it was...until a little yellow bunny poked its head out. Somehow, I didn't even have to ask. I knew it was him. His long ears sagged and his nose twitched as he looked at the floor. "I tried to warn you."

"Ah!!" I yelled in surprise. I hadn't been expecting him to talk in that state. But, I settled down pretty quickly. "Sorry! You just caught me off guard. That's all."

He looked up at me, his ears raised the tiniest bit. "You're not...scared at all?"

"Of course not!" Tears started to form again, except this time, they were happy ones. I promptly scooped him up and cuddled him in my arms. He placed his tiny ones on my shoulder. His nose nuzzled into my neck while I gently rested my cheek on top of his head. "You're my best friend, Momiji. I want to be friends with you forever."

I could feel the cold droplets falling onto my skin. So I held him closer with my hands. As I set him down and smiled at him, a noise on the other side of the door made us jump. Without thinking, I scrambled to shove his clothes out of view and hid him behind me as the door opened.

Our instructors and my mother had returned with the drinks, laughing and chatting about who knows what adult stuff. Momiji's instructor immediately whipped his head around. "Where is Momiji?" I gulped. I didn't know why, but I lied.

"The bathroom...? I think? Or maybe backstage?" I pressed one finger to my chin thoughtfully. "He did say something about watching the others from a good seat..."

With a groan, the instructors quickly left to search for him. My mother took a few steps in and looked over my face. "Sweetie, what's wrong?? Is it nerves?" I nodded.

"I think I left my lucky bracelet in the car," I lied again, "could you get it for me, please? I think it would really help."

She took one look at my pitiful face and her expression softened. "Of course, sweetie. I'll be back soon!"

I let out a sigh of relief just as I heard a poof sound behind me. "That was clo-" The words died on my tongue as Momiji reappeared...naked. "Ahh!"

"Thank you," he said calmly, and proceeded to put his suit back on while I turned the opposite way. "If they had found out, we wouldn't be able to see each other anymore."

We sat next to each other on the couch and he told me everything. The curse that ran back generations in the Sohma family. That hugging the opposite sex triggered the transformation and that it lasted for varying amounts of time. That no one was allowed to know or the head of their family, Akito, would be furious and erase their memories. It was a little hard to swallow. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would've thought he went crazy.

With his secret finally out in the open, he clasped my hand in his. I squeezed it tight, never intending to let him go. Of course, I had to when it was our turn to perform. I thought I couldn't get any happier up on that stage playing with Momiji. But, then we won and we were allowed to keep playing together for more competitions.

Day in and day out for six months we would meet up to rehearse. We would hold hands when the instructors weren't looking, and when they left us alone for short periods, I couldn't help but hug him. One day, I even got up the courage to give him a peck on his little pink nose. When he returned to normal he was as red as a sakura blossom.

Momiji had his birthday in that time, so he had turned thirteen before me. It was finally my birthday...and I knew what I was going to ask for. I waited on my piano bench in the rehearsal room like always. The keys played a soft melody under my fingers and I hummed until I heard the door open.

Momiji walked in and closed the door behind him. I was so excited to see him that I missed the signs. Skipping over to him, I grasped his hand to pull him over to the bench with me. I couldn't feel how he dragged his feet over my racing heart.

"I finally know what you can give me for my birthday!" He had asked weeks ago and I couldn't come up with anything. But, it had finally come to me. "Momiji, I li-"

He squeezed my hand as he interrupted me. "We can't, yn."

"You...you don't even know what I was gonna say," I protested, worry seeping into my skin.

When he finally met my eyes, I saw it. They were red and puffy and his nose was as pink as it was in his bunny form. "I do. Because I want to say it too..."

"What happened?" My voice came out barely above a whisper. I didn't want to know the answer because I knew it was bad. I felt it coming off him in waves.

He sighed. "We can't be friends anymore."

"But...why?" My heart shattered.

His other hand covered our clasped ones. "Akito found out that you know." My eyes widened. "He doesn't want anything or anyone to take us away from him. So, I can't see you anymore."

"No," I whimpered, "that's not fair!"

I watched as he scrunched his eyes closed, his eyelashes becoming wet. "He said...you have to have your memories of me erased."

"No!" I yelled, standing up abruptly. "He can't do that! I don't want to!"

Momiji opened his eyes and looked at me brokenly. "You'll be better off...not remembering. You'll be safer. He'll leave you alone that way," he tried to explain. I just kept shaking my head. I didn't want to hear it. Suddenly, he got up and grasped me by my shoulders. "It's not a request. Akito's word is final."

Tears started dripping rapidly from my lashes as the door opened. A studious looking man in a trench coat walked in. He looked guilty already. This must be the one that does it. I quickly looked at Momiji, curling up his shirt in my fists. "Please, don't let him do this, Momiji!"

"I'm so sorry, yn!" He sobbed and reached in his pocket before pulling something out. Angling himself so the strange man couldn't see, he grabbed my face in his hands and pulled me closer. Momiji pressed a soft kiss to my lips as he slid something under the layers of my short hair. "Happy Birthday, mein schatzi," he whispered in my ear as he pulled away.

When he did, I almost reached up to pull it out and look. But, he glanced over his shoulder and I realized it was supposed to be a secret. "That's not fair," I cried but smiled slightly, "kissing me like that when I won't be able to remember."

"I'll remember for the both of us," he stroked my bangs softly out of my face, "I promise."

He held my hands as he sat me back down on the bench. I took a deep breath, trying hard to stop crying so the last time I looked at him wouldn't be blurry. Finally, I nodded. "Close your eyes. It will be over quickly." The man said as he stood in front of me.

"Thank you, Momiji," I said as I closed my eyes, "for being my best friend." All I felt was falling asleep.

I opened my eyes and groaned. Lifting my head up, I saw that I was in my rehearsal room. "Did I fall asleep at the piano?" I looked around as I stood up and stretched. It seemed...emptier than before. "That's weird," I chuckled to myself and scratched the back of my head as I went to pick up my bag.

My fingers grazed something and I carefully pulled it out. "What's this?" I mumbled. Turning it over in my fingers, I saw a yellow, bunny-shaped hair clip. Something poked at the back of my head briefly. I shrugged. "Where'd you come from? I think I'll keep you. It is my birthday, after all!" I used it to clip my bangs back and decided to leave for the day.

~Ten Years Later: Momiji's POV~

I'm tired. These auditions are never-ending. My dreams are finally starting to become a reality. Ever since the curse broke, I've gotten closer with my family. So, I've started preparing for the concert that I want to put on just for them. My father, my sister, and my mutti. The one I promised to play for Tohru will come later.

The thing about the concert is that I thought it would be more fun for them if I wasn't playing alone. So, I'm searching for someone to accompany me. I've been holding these auditions for days and yet, no luck. It's not that they're untalented. But, they're all...missing something.

I've almost given up entirely. There are still a few musicians left on the list for today. But, I can't bear anymore. I stand up to gather my things from the table as someone walks onto the stage. "I'm sorry, but I've decided to cut things short for today. I'll be leaving now," I sigh, not looking up from my stack of papers.

"Oh," says the voice of a woman. "I understand! Does that mean I'll be first to audition tomorrow?"

That voice. Older and more mature, but still somehow the same. My body goes rigid and I'm afraid to look up. It's not her. It can't be. Tentatively, I peek up at the woman standing on stage, her hair pulled into two low pigtails. She smiles shyly and my heart constricts. Surely, it's not. I look back down, scrambling through the list of people auditioning today. It's got...to be here...somewhere...aha!

With a flourish, I hold the paper up. Her picture is attached to the corner and so I lift it up to uncover the name. I can't believe it...it's been how long? Ten years, almost? Quickly, I sit back down. "Play."

"You," she pauses uncertainly, "want me to play now? I thought you were leaving..."

I clasp my hands under my chin and lean forward intently. "I've changed my mind. You'll be the last today. So, please," I gesture one hand toward the piano, "play me something that you love."

Even from this distance, I can see her cheeks blush under the stage lights. She nods and makes her way to the piano. The light glints off of something in her long hair and my heart skips a beat. A bunny clip holds the bangs out of her eyes as she sits at the bench and takes a deep breath.

Just when I thought I couldn't be any more surprised, she starts playing. Fond memories wash over me as the notes fill the theater. This is the duet piece we played at our first competition together when we were children. Does she remember? How would that even be possible?

Perhaps, she chose this piece because it reminds her of the first competition she won. That's the thing about how Hatori erases our secret from their minds. He leaves just enough of the truth that they wouldn't notice anything is missing. There's no other explanation for why she chose it.

She's gotten taller...but not by much. Then again, I've grown as well. I'm sure I would tower over her if I could stand beside her. We're different people now. We've both gone through so many experiences that shaped us into who we are now...experiences that we didn't get to share with each other like we were meant to.

"Mr. Sohma?"

Her gentle voice pulls me from my thoughts and back to the present. I got so lost in them that I didn't notice the piece was over or her standing in the center of the stage again.

"Are you...alright?"

I tilt my head quizzically at her. Why would I not be? I'm confused until I blink again, and something warm slides down my cheek. Reaching up, I feel the wetness that has gathered there. I quickly wipe the tears away and stand up, plastering a smile on my lips.

"Yes, yes! I'm alright, danke!" My feet move me toward her of their own will as I continue speaking. "You just played so sweetly that it moved me to tears." Suddenly, I'm so close that I can see the surprise glinting in her eyes and I realize that I ran to her. "I don't remember that piece being so sad the last time I heard it," I admit.

She ducks her head for a moment before looking up at me from beneath her eyelashes. I knew it. I knew that I would finally be taller. "It's not supposed to be, actually," she begins shyly. Still so nervous despite all the talent in the world. "The original piece is a duet with the violin. It's missing its other half...so I can't play it without longing or sorrow."

"Where do you suppose its other half is, then?" I question, never letting my gaze leave hers.

I watch as a hopeful shine fills up her eyes. "It's right here." It feels as though my heart stops completely when she gestures to me. She remembers me! Overcome with emotions, I step forward. Ready to wrap her up in my arms and never let go again. That is, until she gently places her hand on my chest to distance herself from me. "Mr. Sohma...what are you doing?"

As quickly as my heart soared, it came crashing into the ground. Of course, she doesn't remember. She only meant I was the other half because it's the job she's auditioning for. I step back, bowing my head slightly.

"I'm so sorry, miss," I clear my throat for fear that she'll hear how disappointed I am. "I don't know what came over me. The job is yours...if you want it."

She clasps her hands in front of her lips. "Oh, really?!" Yn gasps. I miss her always having that excitement in her voice when she's near me. "But, I thought you have more auditions to go through..."

"I don't need to hear any more," I declare, "you are the one I want." She nods and I take that as her acceptance. "Wunderbar! I'll contact you in a few days with information regarding rehearsals. Danke and enjoy the rest of your day!"

I turn to go gather my things without a second thought. But, I'm stopped in my place when something pulls on my hand. I look down and see both of her slender hands grasping mine. When I glance at her face, I see that she's blushing and looking at our hands in shock.

"I just wanted to say..." I watch as she turns redder and redder before she finally meets my eyes. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I'll work really hard to make you glad you chose me!"

Some things never change. I smile softly at her while I take the hand she's not holding and pat the top of her head once. "I don't think you'll have to try too hard." The flustered look on her face makes me chuckle for the first time in days. "Bis bald, Miss yln."

Finally, I leave the dim theater to walk around in the late spring sun. Sakura petals float though the breeze as I sit on a bench and stare at my hands. I can still feel her small hands holding mine and the soft strands of her hair. So what if she doesn't remember me? We can make new memories now. Yn fell in love with me once, as children...we can fall in love again. There will be nothing to stop us this time.

Over the course of the next few months, we spend every other day together. It's almost like old times. The weather is getting hotter and she's started wearing her hair up. I have never seen her look so beautiful. I find myself getting so distracted looking at the loose hairs on the nape of her neck that I mess up frequently. But, each time she laughs and the embarrassment is worth it.

She's been so professional. Never wanting to take too long of a break to chat or stray off course for long. It's hard trying to get to know her again. She's very different from when we were kids. I can tell that she keeps a carefully placed wall up almost all the time. But...I don't know why. Could it be because of me? Does she remember the feeling of being hurt and abandoned, but just not the reason why?

On one particular day when the leaves are starting to fall, we get out of rehearsal so late that the sun has already set. I clasp the handle of my violin case as we exit the studio I rent side by side into the cool breeze. She bows toward me politely, like always.

"I'll see you next time, Mr. Sohma!" Yn turns to leave, but I want to stay close to her.

So, I call out. "It's been about four months since we've been working together!" She turns around in surprise. "Let's celebrate! It is dinner time and I kept us too late today." My heart thuds in my chest while she hesitates.

"Oh, no! I wouldn't want to trouble you," she begins to politely decline.

I tilt my head to the side. "You're never any trouble to me." Her eyes widen, the streetlights twinkling in them. "I insist. I'd like to get to know you better, anyway. You don't talk much about yourself..."

"I just don't think it's a good idea..." she says hesitantly. "We shouldn't mix our personal and professional lives." There's brief regret in her once twinkling eyes.

"Oh, I see." Disappointment sinks my heart into my stomach. "How long have you been together?"

Her eyebrows cinch together momentarily as her lips part. "What do you..." I smile softly, trying not to let it show in my face that I can't breathe. After looking over my face for a long moment, her face lights up. "Oh! I'm afraid you have it all wrong, Mr. Sohma!"

"I...do?" I try to keep my hope in check.

Then, she giggles gently, eyes closing in amusement. "Yes!" She opens her eyes once again and meets mine. "I'm not seeing anyone...romantically...that's not why at all," she explains, "I've actually never dated anyone."

"How is that possible??" I blurt out before covering my mouth with my hand. Her cheeks flush red with embarrassment. "No! That's not what I meant! I just figured that you're so wunderbar...there's no way someone hasn't-"

I cut off my stupid rambling before my foot slides further down my throat. She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. "It's sort of silly...you might laugh."

"I won't," I say hastily, "I promise." Placing a hand over my heart, I lean a little closer to her. "Feel free to talk about anything you like with me."

Hesitation mixed with something else war on the expression of her face. With a sigh, she sinks onto a nearby bench and gestures for me to take the empty spot next to it. "I'm waiting for someone special," yn reveals.

"Isn't...everyone?" I genuinely question.

She shrugs, brows furrowing in what looks like an attempt to sort though her thoughts. "This is different. It's someone I've met before."

"!" Her words cause my heart to stop beating and my lungs to stop taking in air. I thought she had no memories left.

Her hand reaches up to tentatively touch the bunny clip in her hair that she's worn every single day I've seen her. I watch as her lips curl into the whisper of a smile, nostalgia painted in the way her eyes soften. Her eyes shift to mine and I jump slightly, not prepared for this look of complete and utter innocence.

"Have you ever...felt like-no," she corrects herself, head tilting up to look at the stars, "have you ever known that something important was missing? Like, you walk into a room and forget why you went in there in the first place but you know it was for something you needed?"

I nod silently as she looks at the clasped hands in her lap. "Of course..." You. You are what's always been missing for me...

"The past ten years have been that way for me," she admits with a sigh. Finally, she looks back at me again. "I found this clip in my hair on my thirteenth birthday." Pulling the clip from her hair, she holds it up for me to see. "Someone gave it to me. And I can't remember who..."

"Are you sure you it wasn't just a gift from a classmate?"

She shakes her head. "I didn't have friends as a kid." I want to take her hand in mine so badly. But, she always shies away from contact. "The piece I played for my audition...I won a competition with it as a child. Except...it was a duet competition. How can I not remember who I played with?"

"..." I can't find any words to say. Hatori messed up somehow. There's no other way she would be able to put it together. But...she's been thinking of me and looking for me all this time! How do I tell her it was me?

Waving her hand dismissively in the air, she lowers her head. "I told you it was silly-"

"Not at all!" She glances at me, grief swimming in her eyes. I'm the cause of that. She should never have that look on her face. I scoot closer and open my arms to give her a comforting hug.

She flinches back, panic filling her features. "What about the curse??" I immediately stop my movements as she looks around. "I'm sorry," yn covers her mouth in surprise, "I...don't know where that came from."

I can't stand it anymore.

Without thinking, I wrap her up in my arms. She goes still for a long moment, her heart thudding so fast against her chest I can feel it in mine. I carefully take the clip from her hand and place it back in her hair. "Yn," I whisper into her hair as I kiss it.

Seconds later, her arms slowly wrap around my middle. She clings tightly to the back of my jacket as she starts to shake. "Momiji!"

"What did you say?" I pull back slightly to search her face.

Her eyes are watering, a few tears dripping off her lashes. She sniffles, rapidly looking at every aspect of my face before smiling. "It's you."

"It's me." A small sob escapes her as she throws herself back into my arms. I squeeze her tightly, lips buried in her hair, never intending to let go of her again.

But, she untangles herself from me abruptly and scoots back. "Wait, what about-" she waits, probably realizing that minutes have gone by since our embrace and I'm still human. "How did...when did-"

"Oh, mein schatzi," I chuckle warmly, the hole that's been longing for her finally filled, "I have so much to tell you!"

Her whole face lights up. She finally remembers me. We're finally together. Nothing is standing in the way of us living the life we were always meant to live together. She reaches out and cups my face. Her thumbs brush my cheek and come away slick. I didn't realize I was crying, too.

"My birthday is coming up," she whispers hopefully, "and I know exactly what I want-"

I swallow her words with my lips on hers, my hand cupping the back of her neck gently. She presses against me, her arms holding me snug against her. Our lips push and pull, like the waves that crash on the beach shore. And I'm sure I'm not getting any oxygen because the only thing I want to breathe in is her existence. Her serendipitous reappearance in my life.

My lungs start to burn and I know that it will have to end soon. But, I don't want it to. I want to keep feeling her in my arms, smelling the perfume on her neck, and tasting the tea on her tongue. And she wants the same. I know it. But, eventually it becomes too much to bear, and I have to pull away.

We pant with foreheads pressed together, breath mingling in the air between us. "Sorry," I swallow thickly, "I couldn't wait until your birthday...I've already waited almost ten years for you."

"So, you..." She begins quietly, smile quirking one corner of her lips. "You've never..."

I brush a strand of hair behind her ear, closing my eyes as I kiss her forehead for a long moment. "I've never kissed anyone like that before. I've been saving it for you. Only for you."

143 notes · View notes

msommers · 7 months

Note

sorry for your tummy hurty hours 😔 also betrayal, desire, midnight, and wound for riya and maeve!

i have in fact suffered tummy hurty hours for a second time since this ask so i'm cashing in 2x, thank you xoxo // oc asks: not-so-nice edition

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

RIYA — a no on both accounts. maybe you could find some social drama from cumberland socialite days but that shit is so far beyond anything Serious compared to the goings on of the campaign that it hardly counts. actually, i lied. her brother sebastian constantly betrayed her trust by snitching anytime she did something he thought their mother would disapprove of, so he can choke.

MAEVE — by someone she trusts, no. she learned her own lessons and had plenty of witchers to let her know how dangerous it can be to hand trust away easily, so that takes a while to build up. has probably been betrayed in general though, there are plenty of selfish people who would look at her generosity and willingness to work against “authority” and take advantage of it.

desire: What's one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

RIYA — if we go with answering what she wants presently, i think with all the goofing and flirting and whining, it really boils down to her craving comfort. and that's probably easy to tell with or without an insight check because she's not trying to hide it, and it's clear to everybody who spends 10 minutes around her that she's having a dreadful time adjusting to life without her usual rich girl privileges. she wants to go back to lounging around and being fed little chocolates or w/e, this sucks.

MAEVE — it's so cheesy that the first two things that popped to mind for her were to be loved and to make a difference. both are true, it just depends on the day which desire is at the top of her list. she's always happy to discuss the hopes that her works will potentially change people's prejudices, and that's something she puts effort into every day. the wanting to be loved is like. 30% of the time it can be obvious because she'll start alluding to it or even openly talking about it, then the other 70% it depends on if the person she's talking to is capable of reading her beyond the smiles and chatter.

midnight: What keeps your OC up at night? Do they have nightmares? Fears? Anxieties? What do they do in the small hours of the morning when they should be sleeping?

RIYA — THE NEVERENDING NIGHTMARES, MY GUY. she’s lucky that the party’s grey warden duties usually wear them out enough through the day that the anxieties and nagging guilt can’t keep her from passing out, but the nightmares have been waking her early in the last few months. riya’s got her morning rituals: brushing out her hair and styling it according to vibes, going over her spellbook, debating with herself if it’s worth using some of her precious perfumes or oils, thinking about her family and nearly crumbling because of how terribly she misses them, reciting important quest information in her head to keep from forgetting it. you know, the usual.

MAEVE — her partners ey-ohhhhhhh. anyway all of the above, though it grows more infrequent as the years go by and she becomes accustomed to feeling safe. anxiety is probably the worst?? because it can sneak up on her without warning, especially if she knows somebody she cares about is off doing something dangerous. her go-tos on a sleepless morning are journaling or taking a bath, sometimes both if she's feeling frisky.

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

RIYA — answered here.

MAEVE — she can take more hits than your average noble before going down but she’s still only a bard at the end of the day and absolutely in tears after just the first. she’s shaking, shouting her panic and trying to find cover but hey she’s not entirely useless, she might be able to shoot her bow from back there. can definitely provide colorful and fun commentary at the least. please give her medical attention and please make it intimate to encourage affection and vulnerability, thank you. most of her wounds are mental and leftover from the carden era tbh. worst wound has to default to the one that straight-up killed her for a hot minute, i imagine. fuck if i remember what it was but it sure does take the cake for being fatal.

#ch: valeriya de clairmont #ch: maeve sommers #my brain was so busted today the desire q for riya had me staring @ a wall for like a minute straight. no thoughts #that's actually how i feel again now. head empty used all the brain power up in photoshop

2 notes · View notes

its-2-late · 2 years

Text

A Letter I May Never Send

Full disclosure, I'm currently writing this at 4 am. I suppose if you're reading this it's some time in the future when I finally finished getting everything out and decided to actually send it. At the time of writing, it's mainly me just... needing to scream into the void so to say. So I apologize in advance for how rambly this is going to be. Literally just writing as things come to me.

That being said, I really hardly know what to say, or whether I should say anything at all. So much happened between us. A lot of which we never properly talked about, especially at the end.

I can't say I necessarily regret that things ended. That would mean saying I regret what I have now. My child means absolutely everything to me and I would never wish her to not exist, regardless what I gave up along the way. I do regret HOW they ended. It's been over a year since we last spoke as I'm beginning to write this and it still hurts.

There's a lot of questions I often find myself wishing I could ask.

Does it still hurt you?

Are you like me and have tried to move on, but still feel an ache in your heart some nights when your mind wanders back to us?

Do you prefer to just not think about it at all?

Do you still talk about me? Reminiscing about some fun time we had, or maybe a quiet deep moment we shared?

One of my most vivid memories of you is the first time you held me. Laying on the futon, just goofing off. You saw cuts on my leg and you just rolled over and hugged me from behind. You told me, "you scare the shit out of me." I don't know if I've ever told you the feelings that came over me that night.

For damn near as long as I could remember I'd felt hollow and empty. Like the shadow of a person. Broken pieces that had been taped together to somewhat resemble a functional human being.

That one hug felt like it both broke me entirely and pulled my pieces back together all at the same time. It was one of only two times in my entire life that I felt really and truly wanted, cared about, seen.

It hurt.

I wanted so badly to just melt into the kind of love you seemed to be offering.

I wanted so badly to also run away and hide from the hurt and pain I was terrified would come along with that type of love.

Guess I did a bit of both?

I remember telling you about how friends I'd had for years turned their backs on me. You said you'd never do that. And you truly never did, even when I turned my back on you multiple times. I'm going to try and avoid sounding guilt trippy in this... we both know what I did and saying I'm sorry over and over again won't change or fix anything. Lord knows it doesn't make any pain I caused go away.

There are times I wonder how things might have been different if I'd talked to you more openly. If we would have worked things out, or if we were just meant to eventually drift away from each other. I tell myself often that we just were at different points in life. A big part of me thinks that's true, but maybe instead of basically being strangers we could have still been a part of each other's lives in smaller ways if I'd just talked to you.

I did always mean it when I said you were one of my best friends.

At times I think I miss that the most. Not and of the romantic aspects, but everything else.

The way you made me smile and laugh.

How big, warm, and comfortable your hugs always were.

Hell, even the way you used to purposefully get me riled up over something stupid just to hear me rant.

When you'd smile and wiggle your eyebrows. You have probably the sweetest smile on anyone I've ever known. I miss seeing it.

Sometimes it's seemingly stupid shit that'll make me think of you.

I was listening to Fruits Basket opening/ending songs in the car today and remembered watching with you. Anytime a Sasuke thing comes into Gamestop I still will think, "Oh I should send him a picture of this." Going up to Shreveport reminds me of the time you went with me to see my psychologist and the waiter at Olive Garden gave us butter.

Sometimes a new game or show will come out and I still get the urge to message you to ramble about it.

I still have your number in my phone. I'll randomly check Facebook sometimes to see if you unfriended or blocked me.

I've never been good at letting go of things. Especially anything that ever gives any kind of pleasure or happiness. Fuck, even when that happiness comes along with pain. Probably why I've always clung so tightly to people and things that were bad for me in the end.

Something I'm still working on. And apparently failing.

At one point a few months ago I deleted all the pictures I had of you off of my phone. A part of me regrets it. Probably the part that I literally just said doesn't like letting go of the past. I guess part of me writing this whole letter is is somewhere in me hoping that somehow it'll bring some sort of closure.

I don't ever talk about you. That's part of what hurts. All these memories of someone who meant the world to me, and I can't even talk about you. Not about how I still miss you, or about some funny or stupid thing that just happens to remind me of you. At times I feel like I just need to get drunk and just vent/gush about you to someone for a few hours. Get it all out and maybe finally I could actually begin to properly move on emotionally.

Until then, I guess I'll just keep coming back to this letter anytime I need to say anything. Wonder how long this will end up being. Wonder if you're going to read it at all.

I'm not sure I would.

I'd probably see it and want to just delete it. Bury down whatever feelings I knew it would cause to creep up that I'd rather not have to face and deal with.

I'd want to delete it, but it would more likely just sit in my inbox, unread. I'd go back and stare at it sometimes, not opening it, but just seeing that it was there.

For me, at least, it would answer the question of "do you still think of me." For a while that'd probably be enough for me. I'd just cling to that thought, not really wanting to face whatever else was inside.

I've never been good at accepting the idea of people I love no longer loving me. It's something I've always preferred to just assume, because confirmation and me fully acknowledging it gave it a sense of permanence that felt like the end of the world.

Probably why I did a lot of what I did with you. Especially at the end. Instead of just telling you how I was feeling I just... stopped.

In some ways it was a way to defend myself. Others a way to protect you from me.

Knowing my own feelings for you and how I am when it comes to those sorts of strong feelings, I knew if I allowed you to remain in my life at all during that time I would never be able to let go.

Granted, I guess me writing this is me still not letting go... but I think I would have destroyed myself trying to hold onto something that was no longer there. I don't know how long you'd have stayed for it, but the idea of dragging you even further down with me sealed the idea in my head that it was better for both of us if I just walked away.

Whether that's true or not, I don't know. That was my reasoning at the time. I still feel like it holds water, to some degree. I mean look at me. It's now 5 am and I'm sat here still writing this letter to you. Not sure where I'm even going with it. I just need to get it all out before I lose my mind, whether you ever end up seeing any of this or not.

I still have some of your stuff. Stuff I got you that you never took home. Stuff you brought over and forgot. I've debated asking Ariel to give it to you multiple times. Me clinging to the last remnants of you I guess. Without even pictures anymore it almost feels like if I give that stuff back it'll be as if you never existed.

Even just sitting here thinking about it now has me on the verge of tears and wanting to message you "hi" just to see if you'd respond. Sound stupid? Maybe. Can still hear the sound of your voice in my head, maybe reassuring me that its not stupid.

Wonder what you would do if we saw each other in passing. Would you pretend to not see me? Would you meet my eyes and just keep walking? Would you smile back if I smiled at you?

I've been at work at Gamestop so many times wondering what it would be like if you walked into the store while I was there. Wondering how it'd make me feel. How you would feel to see me there.

I do a lot of wondering. Especially right now. Being alone at night and up at weird hours with a baby leaves me entirely too much time for my mind to wander. Usually to darker parts of my mind I prefer to forget exist.

I was doing good for a long time, you know. I got a tattoo that covers the scars on my one shoulder. I still think about it, though. The urges are still there, especially recently.

I've thought about going back on medication. Doctor offered it to me at my two week post-partum appointment because I was showing moderate symptoms of post-partum depression. Couple weeks later during my therapy appointment I was worse and was ranking as severe in both depression and anxiety.

I've had more breakdowns in the last month than I have in over a year. The loss of progress itself is depressing.

Maybe that's part of why I'm writing this letter. Maybe it's part of why I ran away from you. You reminded me too much of a darker time in my life, despite the fact you were one of the reasons I even got through that time at all.

I just had to stop writing for a minute because my baby spit her pacifier out in her sleep and was fussing. She'll probably wake up hungry soon.

It's been over an hour since I started writing. I'm really tired, but it feels like I've barely scratched the surface of what I want to tell you. So much more I feel like I want to say knowing this may actually be the last time I have the chance.

#the letter #the letter i may never send #i miss you #personal #vent #a letter i may never send #a letter #to be continued

22 notes · View notes

theepisceswriter · 3 years

Note

Can I request some Reiner hcs with a pregnant s/o?? Also congrats on 300!! <33

Yes bestie, I love you so here’s some Reiner with a pregnant s/o headcanons on Mother’s Day (or the day after):

TW: pregnancy of course, GN!reader, mostly just fluff, suggestive themes at the end

You didn’t even have to take a test or miss your period for Reiner to know that you were pregnant. Maybe it’s the breeder in him or attentive lover, but he could just sense that something was off about you from your taste in food to the way you smelled. Not in a bad way! He just knew something drastic was about to happen to your body and he kept telling you how he thought you were pregnant, but you didn’t believe him and thought it was just early signs of PMS.

It took him going out to buy you pregnancy tests to take and them coming out positive for you to be convince that you were pregnant. And yes, he did cry when you showed him the positive tests. His first instinct was to wrap you in a bear hug but immediately he was already in papa bear mode, too scared that something would happen if he hugged you too tight.

He’s like that throughout your whole pregnancy; so protective of you and making sure both you and the baby are healthy. He sees you eating or drinking something you’re not supposed to? He’s taking it away from you! People are bothering you by coming up to you and touching your bump without asking first? He’s going to tell them off for you!

Picking a baby name is so difficult with Reiner because every single suggestion that leaves your lips has him feeling like “Eh, we can do better.” You two never settle on a name actually, but pick out the top five names you both like and wait until the baby is born so you can see which one fits it best.

Comes home every single day with something new for the baby, like at least one item a day. You can send him to the grocery store to get some snacks and he’s coming back with your snacks PLUS a baby bottle of like a baby bottle cleaner despite the two of you already having some because, and I quote, “You never know how much of something we’ll need, y/n!”

Because you totally need three shirts in three different colors that say “Just like dad when he was cool.” Yes, he loves those corny quote shirts so expect a lot of those.

The most supportive person too. He accompanies you to every single doctor appointment and makes sure the two of you are up to date with all of your supplies as the time goes on. Even engaging in your check-ups by asking the doctor questions like he’s the one who’s pregnant, but it’s so cute to see him so concerned that you don’t even care. And yes, he had accompanied you to one of those Mommy & Me classes and yes the two of you did get kicked out for goofing around too much. He did memorize and practice a lot of the breathing techniques with you because he wanted you to be as comfortable as possible when the big day came.

Which is funny because when the day you went into labor came he was a mess and had three panic attacks; one when your water broke, another one on the way to the hospital, and when the doctor told you guys that they were going to induce labor. He also cried whenever you were crying from pain or exhausted because it killed him to see you like that, but he knew it would be worth it in a couple of hours.

Definitely held your hand and coaxed you through your labor by praising you and reminding how the two of you were going to be able to hold a child that came from the two of you in a couple of hours. He tried to stay so optimistic for you despite him almost passing out like constantly.

When I tell you he cried so hard when the baby came out and he heard it’s crying…this man cried crocodile tears when he heard that sound. He couldn’t believe that the two of you had a child in this world and kept kissing your head and thanking you for such a gift to the point where he had you crying from joy and disbelief too.

He watches you with awe in his eyes while you hold and nurture the baby, too scared and timid for the longest to ask to hold it and much rather prefer for you to do what you needed to do. But when you offered to let him hold the baby and put it in his arms it took him hours for him to sit it back in your lap. He just couldn’t stop admiring the tiny human in his arms and how lucky the two of you were for having such a healthy beautiful child now.

Treats you like a baby while you’re in recovery and hardly lets you do anything by yourself until he knows for sure that you’re healed up well. There was a point during your recovery in the hospital where he fed you liked you were a toddler and would help you wash up in the shower and then proceed to help you put on your clothes. Even when the two of you walked the hallways he was right behind you with his hands on your waist just in case.

The moment you’re completely healed up and the baby is at least a couple of months old, he’s all over you like a madman spewing about how he wants you to give him another Braun. His mind hasn’t even been wandering off to sex this whole time, but the breeder in him is awoken once again. Don’t even get him started on how well he thinks pregnancy has done your body.

“Maybe this time they’ll come out with your eye color and my hair color or vice versa. Maybe the one after that will look like your mom and maybe the one after that will look like my mom. We have to get to work on these babies immediately, y/n. Don’t worry, I’ll go nice and slow for you since it’s been a while.”

#I hope you enjoy bestie !! 💜#also thank you so much babes!!#aot x reader #attack on titan x reader #reiner braun #reiner braun x reader #reiner braun headcanons #aot imagines #pregnancy tw #birth tw

157 notes · View notes

antiloreolympus · 3 years

Text

5 Anti LO Asks

1. I just saw some post about body diversity in Lo and how it is grat and that they loving it, and it was just like 5 background characters that said only one sentence.

2. I feel like a lot of the couples are kinda not interesting no matter how much drama Smyth puts into them.

HXP gross, cheating, boss and employee, awkward for the work place, too many people are involved, and still isn’t grabbing it for me. Like I know other people root for them, but I don’t, it’s hard to root for a dumpster fire.

Hera and Zesus. The constant cheating was expected, and the bad communication, but Echo doesn’t spice it up or anything I would have been fine if Echo was a friend that shit talked Zeus with Hera (I know that’s not the story but still does Rachel care about accuracy? No) even though Zeus cheats we do get to see him actually care, BUT Idk Hera doesn’t draw me in, like they both suck, but Zeus is a bit more complex for me (with the bad husband, the cheating but still caring for Hera and being jealous)

Eros and Pysch. The beginning was interesting even knowing the myth, it was getting just a little stale and then bam he finds out on accident and I lost interest. Like they talked too much about HXP too much to feel like their own thing later on and now that he didn’t complete the test right like what now. Is Aphrodite gonna get in trouble or are we gonna forget? Idk they lost their spark for me.

Minthe and Hades. Toxic relationship that needed more time to expand explanation. Like yeah we know they are/were together but like that backstory wasn’t much. Sorry #minthedeservesmorescreentime.

Daphne abs Thanos are interesting and I can actually see why both like each other, where they started and I wanna know what’s gonna happen next for them. Like they have the life and death balance that HXP wishes even. And even tho Daphne isn’t a god, she told Apollo she was gonna ruin him, she bit him, she was awesome! And it was believable too since she’s an athletic influencer. Thanos has an interesting plot line that will probably be a problem for them later but I’m excited. Like both characters affect the plot outside of their relationship AND are interesting

Aphrodite and Ares feels like RS dropped the ball with them. Why is Ares flirting with Persephone? Sure they’re open but like idk Persephone doesn’t seem like a good fit for him at all. They were set up interestingly since we knew Aphrodite was looking for him, but that one little hug scene did no justice for either character. Like we hardly see them interact positively towards each other.

Crack ship Minthe and Hecate would have loved to see! My crack fic before I think a lot of season two was out was After Minthr parties Thetis and leaves her, she doesn’t snitch on Persephone and just tells Thetis to back off, returns to work all humbled out and Hecate and her work together on just personal shit and work stuff. Minthe asks Hecate stuff on how to get over Hades and how to be better and that’s when we learn Hecate always loved Minthe’s chaos. But yeah that didn’t happen. When I saw some crack headcanon s about those two I was like “didn’t know I needed this till now”. (I was hoping Minthe was gonna be like Petra from Jane the Virgin, starts out bad, doesn’t like the main character for most of the time but still gets a happy ending)

3. i like how LO fanss defend it like "well its no more problematic than the myth its based off of!" which like sure, thats an argument to make, but idk, the original myth didnt have persephone be nearly underage with no experience so hades can take advantage of it, demonizing several mother figures for the sake of a guy, a huge class divide thats frames the rich and powerful as the oppressed to the poor, and you know, ACTUAL SLAVERY. like cmon, it's honestly worse than the OG myth in most ways.

4. youd think if hades is self aware enough to know he was the wrong party to get into a relationship with minthe in the first place, that he'd at least be a little concerned over minthe being stuck as a plant, especially when persephone almost dropped her which would have killed her. the two of them just left her alone in a dark, empty room while they went to dance and goof off, not a care in the world. he seems more relived she's out of his hair now for him to hook up w/ his intern. its so gross.

5. I hope Demeter is pissed at her daughter for just like EVERYTHING. Taking a step back, Persephone is having a grand ol time at Hades’ place for god knows how long while her mother is worried about their situation and then gets kidnapped and Persephone makes 0 effort to try and get in contact with her or anything (hey hectare you saw my mom laying low as a bird, but any chance can you try and find her again and maybe we can arrange something since the literal god of gods is out for our blood so maybe let’s get the story straight)

Demeter going against her own comfort and parenting beliefs to left Persephone like with Artemis. It’s not Persphones fault that Apollo happened, BUT Demeter probably let Persephone live there after the murders to settle some stuff out and then 1 month of living there or so Persephone runs away to live in a motel and then has a power control issue. Let’s pretend the power control issue didn’t happen yet, what the hell was she gonna tell her mother? “Hey mom Artemis’ brother makes me uncomfortable so you can find me at this motel IN THE UNDERWORLD NEAR HADES YEAH THE GUY I FIND PLEASANT LOOKING” I know Demeter is suppose to look like an over the top mom, but yeah how was that suppose to go down? If she found out her daughter was staying with hades?

Getting an internship with Hades/underworld and not telling her mom. Idk if Hera made it a secret, but again Demeter would probably want to know that stuff being strict as she is, she probably would want Persephone to excel at a job BUT maybe not with Hades idk I forget, again it just shows there no trust between either mother nor daughter. Hera also sucks for testing her friends daughter with out actually having the intention to help perpshone and test if Hades is actually okay.

After everything Demeters gonna be like “this is why I wanted you to commute, I wouldn’t have been shoved in a bird cage if you you just have just commuted to school.”

Like I know persphone has to go out and make her own mistakes, but a lot of it boils down to Persphone was a brat. She demanded she leaves and then later killed some people got her way and then went behind her back and didn’t even want to stay in Olympus. Demeter isn’t blameless in this situation but Persephone is a murderer, glorified side chick, and I just feel that all of Demeter’s worse nightmares about her daughter leaving all happened and worse

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

26 notes · View notes

zedwards · 3 years

Text

MOVIE DATES WITH STRAY KIDS

stray kids x reader

genre: fluff

word count: 1.8k

warnings: intended for male reader, but can be read as gender neutral; my first fic 👉👈 im nervous; lowercase aesthetic; does “bastard” count as a swear word..?

i hope you enjoy this little gift :)

bang chan

he likes romantic comedies

tbh being chan’s s/o would feel like a romcom of its own

since he doesn’t like crowds, your movie dates together usually wouldn’t involve actually going to the movies

instead you’d probably both opt to stay in for the night and watch a movie on the couch

under multiple blankets

in each other’s arms

hugs and cuddles

with the occasional kiss on the top of your head

it’s so soft

it’s chan :)))

he does the little claps at the end of the movie

because happy endings ^–^

y’know those awkward scenes where the main couple meets for the first time?

he likes to point out which character you were most similar to when the two of you first met

“i didn’t know you were in this movie!”

“you look so different! i could hardly recognize you!”

he’s such a dork

all your movie nights would end in one of three ways:

1.) you falling asleep in his arms

2.) him falling asleep holding you close (yeah not really, this man doesn’t sleep that much T_T)

or 3.) you both make it through the movie, and one of you says something like

“this is nice...i wish we could just stay like this”

and so you both (in theory) fall asleep right where you are

either way, chan is the best boyfriend and neither of you know what you did to deserve each other

lee know

he’d get you to go see a horror movie

even if you protest, he’d manage to convince you somehow

pokes fun at you every time you get scared

during a suspenseful part in the movie, he’d suddenly put his hands on your shoulders and shake you (lightly) out of nowhere, just to startle you

and he’d have to stifle his giggles because your reaction is just too priceless

absolutely relishes in how you never let go of his arm

like ever

seriously, his arm might as well be an extension of your body at this point

he may act like he’s annoyed

but he loves it

cuz he knows it’s because you feel safe with him

and if you hide your face in the crook of his neck

he’d get this look on his face...

something between an evil smirk and an amused grin

why? because his plan is working

plot twist: the whole reason he chose to see a horror movie with you was so that you would cling to him

surprise!! >:]

but even if you catch on, he’ll never admit it

tsundere

“did you even see any of the movie?”

you just kinda grumble in response, still latched onto his arm

“i can’t believe it... i so generously paid for your ticket, only for you to hide your face the whole ti- OW!”

you jab him in the side with your elbow give him a “love tap” :)

but it’ll take more than that to get him to stop teasing you about it

he’s a cocky bastard but you love him to death for it

seo changbin

superhero movie!!!

like something from the mcu

seeing him get so excited/invested in the movie??

wholesome

but he might get a little too excited

in other words, going to the movies with changbin is an...interactive experience

meaning that he talks at the movie

not to the movie, but at the movie

like...he talks at the characters on screen

as if they can hear him

honestly it’s kinda cute

but occasionally you have to remind him to keep his voice down

“HE TRIED TO TELL YOU NOT TO TOUCH THE STONE”

“shhhh alright calm down a bit-”

“...AND NOW YOU DEAD”

“changbin i love you but please don’t get us kicked out of the theater”

10/10 would have his arm around you throughout the movie

even if his arm goes numb, he’d refuse to let anything stop him

“changbin, you don’t have t-”

“CUDDLES.”

lowkey feels like a pillow

bc he beefy

on very rare occasions he might fall asleep during the movie

if he does end up dozing off and you catch him in the act, he’d deny it profusely

he likes to spontaneously slip his hand into yours :)

and lace your fingers together :))

you’re holding hands now :)))

his presence is just so warm and fuzzy and you make each other so happy

hwang hyunjin

THIS MAN

the funnest(?) most fun bf in existence

he’s definitely the type to try and smuggle outside food into the theater

he insists that he’s inconspicuous about it

and he tries to be

but he’s not :)

“uh... hyunjin, why are you wearing two hoodies?”

“i uh... i’m... cold?”

“so you’re sticking bags of microwaveable popcorn in between your sweatshirts...to keep warm?”

*visibly sweating* “i can explain...”

ok ok

so y’all seeing a comedy

why?

because HIS LAUGH OMG

it’s so bubbly and contagious

so naturally, you’d both be laughing up a storm at the back of the theater

and sometimes it’s because of the movie

but most of the time it’s because of the side comments the two of you keep making to each other

and it doesn’t help that he keeps making these ridiculous observations about the characters in the movie

“what’s up with that guy?”

“what about him?”

“why is he built like a refrigerator?”

about halfway through the movie, you both reach that delirious state where literally anything and everything becomes funny

even if it’s not supposed to be funny

...especially if it’s not supposed to be funny

the two of you? lowkey hyenas

long story short, you’re both asked to leave the theater not even two hours into the film :)

han jisung

action!! movie!!

finishes the popcorn within the first ten minutes of the film

that is, if he doesn’t scarf it all down during the previews

he talks through the entIRE THING

he’s always got something to say

it’s like watching the director’s commentary version of a movie

but instead of the director talking about the film-making process

it’s jisung muttering nonsense in your ear

sometimes pertaining to the movie

and other times...

“hey did i ever tell you about the time i saw a seagull eating garbage?”

...yeah, other times it’s...not

either way, you don’t mind

because you aren’t really paying much attention to the movie anyways

you’re too busy admiring your boyfriend

how could you not?

the way he’s on the edge of his seat, giving the movie his full attention...

the light from the screen flickering dimly on his face, highlighting his gentle features...

you’re the luckiest person in the world, no doubt

his eyes light up whenever something particularly cool/badass happens in the movie

but he also gets startled by the explosions every now and then

when that happens, you just look at each other for a moment

and then burst into a fit of giggles

“stoooppp!! it was loud, ok??”

you just hum in response and rest your head on his shoulder

y’know that thing he does where like...

he’s giggling, but he has something he wants to say, so he keeps trying to talk?

but his words keep getting cut off by his own laughter?

yeah... that’s what he’s doing

he’s adorable

lee felix

animated movie

a firm believer that you’re never too old to enjoy cartoons

he never lost that child-like energy/enthusiasm, which is part of what makes him such a gem

so of course, when the new disney movie came out, he knew he had to go see it with you

he would definitely load up on snacks from concessions

if you don’t stop him, he’s gonna be buying two giant things of popcorn and at least five different kinds of candy

and when he walks back to you after paying, he’d just smile brightly from behind the mountain of junk food in his hands like

“snacks :D!!!!!”

seriously though, try to keep track of how much popcorn he eats

bc he might overeat and get a stomachache :((

obviously he can take care of him self, cuz he’s an adult

but like

he loves when you look out for him

because he knows just how much you care about him

sunshine boy :((

y’all already know how much of a cuddle bug this man is

so of course that means lots of cute, affectionate gestures during the movie

skinship

holding hands

you resting your head on his shoulder

and him resting his head on top of your head

and most importantly SNUGGLES

snuggles are a must

for him, movie dates are just an excuse to be extra touchy with you

even though he never needs an excuse to get cuddles whenever he wants

because c’mon

it’s felix

what are you gonna do, say no?

kim seungmin

murder mystery film

tends not to talk all that much during movies

he’d just be so completely engrossed in the movie that he’d forget about his surroundings

but that’s not to say he won’t hold your hand or drape his arm over your shoulders

every now and then you can catch him leaning forward in his seat

with his mouth slightly ajar

it’s so endearing

but if for whatever reason you want to get his attention...

heh...

yeah, good luck with that

you’d have to maybe give his hand a lil squeeze to get his attention

and at first he’d just turn his head in your direction, keeping his eyes glued to the movie

but if you gave his hand another squeeze, he’d snap out of it

“psst...seungmin”

“mm.”

“hey, seungmin?”

“huh? yeah?”

“i love you”

if that doesn’t make his heart SWELL—

his dazed expression would quickly shift into one of pure elation and fondness

he might not respond verbally

but he’d gently bring your hand up to his lips

press a soft kiss atop your knuckles

and then lower your hand again without letting go, turning his attention back to the movie

but that bright smile of his would never falter for even a moment

he loves you too

so so much :)

yang jeongin

another one for romantic comedies

he likes it when there’s a little less “rom” and slightly more “com”

and so do you

because it means you get to hear his laugh more

oh god...

his laugh

the little giggles in between the short gasps for air...

so cute

“no. i’m not cute.”

he is very cute

probably won’t initiate any skinship

but if you do, he will absolutely go along with it

sometimes he’ll nod off in the middle of a movie

and then wake up during the credits, completely disoriented

“where am i”

“you fell asleep”

“huh??”

“you drooled a little on my shoulder, you goof”

unlike hyunjin, he’s really good at sneaking food into the theaters

like really really good

almost to the point that it’s scary

usually people try to sneak in popcorn or candy or maybe soda

well not jeongin

“hey, you want some?”

“what the- HOW DID YOU GET A BUCKET OF FRIED CHICKEN IN HERE”

“:]”

he’s not telling

like or reblog if you enjoyed ^^ feedback is always welcome and very much appreciated!

158 notes · View notes

kasienda · 3 years

Text

The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 8 - Confrontation

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chapter 4: A Thank You

Chapter 5: Unwanted Revelations

Chapter 6: Miraculous Abuse

Chapter 7: Five Minute Adventures of Ananta

Chapter 8: Confrontation

Adrien started at the sudden thud on his bedroom floor. He looked up. Ananta was breathing heavily and his expression was solemn. His best friend definitely didn’t look like he was just there to continue his day of goofing off and having a ridiculous time.

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asked.

“Your old man is a serious piece of work!”

“Did you punch him?” Adrien asked.

Nino threw his hands up. “No! And I definitely should have! I have serious regrets! He fucking shattered my knee cap and tried to take the snake!“

Adrien dropped his stylus, and turned his full attention towards his guest. “Umm… maybe you should start from the beginning.”

Read on Ao3

Nino sighed, and let himself flop backwards onto Adrien’s bed.

“I was just continuing to live out my reckless fantasies. I just confronted him! I yelled at him about how awful of a father he was, and the bastard barely reacted!” Nino complained. “Then I told him you were Chat Noir, and it was like he flipped a switch.”

“You told him I was Chat Noir?” Adrien asked, his voice small.

“It never happened now! You don’t need to worry.”

Adrien shook his head. “I wasn’t… Uh… I mean, how did he react?” Adrien asked softly, his throat had dropped into his gut.

Nino wasn’t even looking at him - his friend was staring at the ceiling, fidgeting in clear agitation. “He went scary silent! He called Nathalie in. Apparently, they’ve suspected you were Chat Noir before, and thought they had ruled it out during Gorizilla.”

“Did he say anything else?” Adrien asked.

“Umm… he said barely anything the whole time I was there. I was the one talking. I told him how amazing you are, and how much of a jerk he is, but he didn’t react.”

“He said nothing else?” Adrien asked again, gripping the side of his chair, trying to disguise the urgency with which he needed to know.

“He mostly just said his parenting choices were none of my business. But… he did say something melodramatic like, ‘my own son, this entire time,’” Nino said, dropping his voice into his lower register in a mock impersonation of Adrien’s father. “Like you being a superhero was a personal affront to him!”

“He was disappointed then?” Adrien asked.

Nino bolted into a sitting position, his expression horrified as he finally caught Adrien’s train of thought. “Dude! I’m sorry! I didn’t think! I didn’t even consider that! Of course it would matter to you what he thought of your dual identity. I definitely didn’t mean to hit you with all this like a train. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s…” Adrien trailed off. It wasn’t exactly okay, but Adrien wanted it to be okay. He definitely knew Nino hadn’t been trying to hurt him, but Nino had also known that Adrien was avoiding talking to his father with the snake. “It doesn’t matter,” Adrien said instead. “Just… tell me what he thought of the whole thing.”

“I… I don’t know, dude. He was definitely super creepy. But… I think he was holding back everything he was thinking. I don’t know what he thinks. Do you want me to go in there and try and find out?”

Adrien shook his head rapidly. “No… it’s better if we keep your knees intact, and make sure he doesn’t have access to the snake. Maybe, you shouldn’t be here at all.”

“Dude, are you okay?”

“He really attacked you?”

Nino nodded. “When my miraculous beeped its first warning, he looked right at it and then lunged forward. And dude! He was super capable! He knew exactly how and where to strike to incapacitate me.”

“Did he know who you were?” Adrien asked softly.

Nino winced. “Yeah, he figured it out. It probably wasn’t hard based on what I was screaming at him.”

Adrien wilted.

“It’s okay!” Nino insisted. “I reset. I’m fine.”

Adrien disagreed. It wasn’t okay that his father was willing to attack a miraculous holder, but especially wasn’t okay that his father was willing to attack his friends.

What would motivate him to do that?

“He actually tried to take your miraculous?”

“Dude! He almost nabbed it. If it hadn’t been for yesterday where I had so much practice hitting that reset without thought, he might’ve been successful.”

Adrien fell quiet, but his mind was whirling, and he wasn’t happy with where it was going, but he couldn’t not consider it.

“Dude, what are you thinking?”

“Nino, what if my father is Hawkmoth?” Adrien was amazed at how steady his voice was. Maybe it was because he had heard it before. Or maybe, it was just starting to make too much sense.

“Dude! That’s a big leap. The guy is awful and honestly, I wouldn’t be that surprised, but surely there are other explanations for him being a jerk and a good fighter?”

“Ladybug suspected him once before. She had actual evidence.”

Nino’s eyes widened. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said on an exhale.

“What was the evidence?” Nino asked quietly.

Adrien shook his head. “I don’t know. I got really defensive and snapped at her. And then he was akumatized, and she crossed him off the suspect list. I never thought about it. I didn’t want to think about it.”

Nino nodded. “Understandable. But what does he get out of being Hawkmoth? He already has pretty much everything!”

“To bring back maman.”

And it fit. The second the words were out of his mouth, Adrien wanted to throw up. He could see it. His father was used to getting what he wanted either through intimidation or money, but bringing back his mother was something he was denied. Instead of accepting that, grieving and moving on like a normal person, would his father have turned to magic?

“Nathalie would have to be in on it,” he thought out loud. Maybe that’s why she had been so horrified by his identity and insistent that she and his father couldn’t know his.

“I’m going to need the snake back, Nino,” Adrien announced, his voice monotone, but steady.

“What are you going to do?” Nino asked.

“I’m going to find out for sure if my father is Hawkmoth,” Adrien said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Will you be okay, alone? Shouldn’t we call Ladybug, maybe bring in some reinforcements?”

Adrien shook his head. “Time loops are easier when you don’t have to explain everything you’ve learned to a team...” he trailed off, considering. “And honestly, I… I would prefer to know first. If we’re right, I will tell her. But I’ll set the time loop outside the mansion. If he makes any kind of move, I will reset immediately. It’ll be fine.”

“But… will you be? If it turns out that he is?”

“I… I don’t know. But it’s like you said, Nino. I have to know.”

“I’ll be here.”

“No,” Adrien disagreed.

“No? Dude! If you’re right about all of this, I don’t want you here in this mansion alone!”

Adrien shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t want to face this alone either, but… if Ladybug has taught me anything, it’s that we have to be smart about this. If you almost lost the snake… I might lose it, too. I might get captured or incapicated or worse. I need someone to know, who’s not here! If you don’t see me by tomorrow, you go straight to Alya with our suspicions, okay?”

Nino looked so torn, but in the end he nodded. “Okay. But can I give you the snake back after I’ve gone back home?”

“What? You don’t want to be carried over the threshold bridal style by your superhero crush?” Adrien teased, but if Nino’s somber face was anything to go by, the joke fell flat.

“I don’t want you to be tired right before you go and confront your father.”

…

Adrien took one slow deep breath with his eyes closed. Then he activated the snake and launched himself through the open window in his father’s office.

“You are trespassing on private property. I demand that you leave,” Gabriel barked instantly, rising to his feet at Snake Noir’s intrusion.

“Is that anyway to greet your friendly neighborhood superhero?” Snake Noir joked the way Adrien Agreste never would.

“You are a teenager in possession of a power you do not understand. Using a miraculous that you just randomly found is hardly an accomplishment worthy of respect. Especially if you are using it to break into private residences.”

“I would think not having lost once to Hawkmoth, and having personally saved you on two separate occasions would be its own resume,” Adrien countered.

“Or perhaps, if you had given it up to him in that very first encounter, the city would already be free of his influence and I never would have needed rescue.”

“Are you seriously suggesting I should have handed over the power of destruction to a terrorist.”

“Yes.”

“You’re a real piece of work,” Adrien snapped.

Gabriel picked up his phone. No doubt to call the authorities.

Adrien reset with a sigh.

“You are trespassing on private property. I demand that you leave.”

“Actually, I happen to live here.”

Gabriel froze, his grey eyes rising to Snake Noir’s masked eyes.

“Adrien?”

“I realize you likely don’t approve.”

“Of my son gallivanting around the city in that ridiculous cat suit while putting his life in mortal peril?” Gabriel barked. “No, I don’t approve.”

“And here I was hoping that some part of you would be proud of me,” Adrien admitted softly.

“Adrien, I forbid you from continuing as a superhero. It is far too dangerous.”

“You’re not going to remember this conversation in three minutes, father. You’re not in a position to make demands.”

Gabriel held out his hand. “Give me your ring and I will take care of it.”

Adrien backed away, knowing if what Nino had said was true, his father was more than capable of an effective strike. “I’m not going to give you my miraculous. Not either of them.”

“Then what did you want to tell me?”

“I’ve come to ask if you’re Hawkmoth.”

“You would accuse me? Your own father? Of being a domestic terrorist?”

“Would you cut it out and just answer the question?”

“Watch your tone!”

“You’re worried about my tone?!”

“I see no reason to entertain your insolence and disrespect with a response.”

Adrien’s gut twisted. It wasn’t a denial. But it wasn’t a confirmation either. His father was not acting like an innocent man. And while Adrien was more convinced than ever that he was onto something, he wasn’t leaving until he was absolutely sure one way or the other.

“Father, I’m sorry.” He wasn’t actually sorry, but Adrien knew that an apology was often one of the only tools he had to calm his raging father. “I just… Ladybug suspected you. And I had to prove her wrong. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

His father’s face gave away nothing. There was no change in his expression or posture.

“I’m just worried about you, Adrien,” his father said. “You’re a child. You shouldn’t be risking yourself. This isn’t your fight. Nor your responsibility.”

“It’s not that big of a risk,” Adrien countered. “Ladybug always brings me back.” Adrien watched his father’s face carefully.

And sure enough, his lips pressed together into a thin line.

“You don’t have a say,” Adrien pressed further.

“I’m your father!” Gabriel insisted.

“That doesn’t mean you get to make every decision about my life!” Adrien shouted back. He knew that he’d never have had the gall to say that if his father was going to remember his defiance, but it felt freeing to say. Maybe Nino had been right and he should have confronted his father with the snake weeks ago.

“You are still a child! Until you’re an adult, it is my right to see to your safety and affairs.”

Adrien bristled at his father’s choice of words. His right?! Didn’t he mean responsibility?

But that was just it. His father probably didn’t see caring for him as a responsibility. Nathalie saw to his affairs, and his bodyguard saw to his safety. What did his father ever do other than try to control him?

“I haven’t been a child since mother left! And I think I finally understand why she did! To get away from you controlling every part of her life!”

“How dare you?!”

“How dare I?” Adrien repeated. “You’re the one that drove her away!”

Gabriel shoved his computer monitor off his desk. It fell to the ground with a shattered crash. Then Gabriel flipped the desk itself.

Adrien took a step back, every muscle tense and ready to spring into retreat. He had never seen his father lose control like this.

Gabriel stalked forward, over the debris, his breath suddenly heaving in his chest.

“Get out of my house!” he screamed, spit droplets flying from his mouth.

Adrien didn’t need to be told twice. He reset.

He stood once again on the mansion’s tiled roof. The sun was shining, the sky a perfect blue. Birds chirped in the garden and a car drove past the outer gates.

There was no evidence that he and his father had been screaming at each other seconds prior.

Because they hadn’t been.

He drew in a shaky breath and sat down, burying his head in his hands and knees. The event now only existed as a figment in Adrien’s memory.

His father hadn’t just lost control. He hadn’t just kicked Adrien out of his childhood home.

And yet his hands were trembling and his heartbeat was roaring in his ears.

Adrien was more convinced than ever that his father was the villain Ladybug had suspected he was. But what would get his father to come clean? Just asking hadn’t worked. Challenging his authority always made things worse. As apparently did direct confrontations.

Adrien stood up.

He knew what he had to say.

He reset, and then dove back down into his father’s office for the fourth time.

“You are trespassing on private property. I demand that you leave.”

“Hello father,” Adrien greeted formally.

Gabriel’s eyes widened, focused on his transformed suit. “Adrien?”

“I’ve come to apologize to you. I’ve been fighting as Chat Noir this entire time to protect Paris. But that was before I realized what Hawkmoth was fighting for.”

Adrien could already see the anticipation gleaming in his father’s eyes as he leaned eagerly forward.

“And what is Shadowmoth fighting for?” Gabriel asked.

Did he seriously just correct the villain’s name to Shadowmoth?

“You’re fighting to bring back mom,” Adrien told him. “And I want to help you. Ladybug…” and he had beat back a sob for even uttering these words. “Ladybug… she trusts me. I can… I can get you the miraculous of creation and I already have destruction,” he said, holding up his hand putting the ring on display.

“And you are willing to support Shadowmoth against the partner you’ve fought beside and defended for two years?”

“Family should come first, don’t you think?” Adrien said.

His father was silent, considering him stoically.

“I would do anything for Maman,” Adrien whispered. “To hear her voice again? To see her smile? Wouldn’t you?” It was what his father would have said to him had the identity reveal had played out in the reverse direction.

Gabriel smiled as he rose to his feet. “I should have trusted you with this ages ago, Adrien. I am sorry. I doubted you. I wasn’t certain that you had the stomach to do what needed to be done. To think, you were the key to victory the entire time. I should have had more faith.”

Adrien’s whole world shattered at the unequivocal confirmation. And yet, he remained standing, his eyes were dry, and his hands remained steady. Some part of him wondered at his ability to take the revelation without flinching. He knew if he had learned this a year ago, he would be a puddle on the floor balling, barely able to function.

But a lot had changed in the last year. A lot had changed in just the last few weeks. Adrien suddenly had a lot of practice at dealing with world-ending revelations and the accompanying grief. A lot of practice at saying good-bye to people that he loved.

“I miss her so much,” Adrien said, his voice cracking. And this time he did nothing to suppress the tears that wanted to fall. Because in this much, he was being honest. He missed her.

So much.

His father came around the desk, and swept Adrien up in a hug. For one weak moment, Adrien allowed himself to melt into the awkward embrace.

And then, the snake miraculous beeped, and his father jerked away violently, his eyes blazing with unbridled rage.

“You’re in a time loop?!” his father roared.

Adrien didn’t give him another second to react.

He reset. And he was back on the mansion’s rooftop. He dropped like a lead weight to the roof tiles.

He had just done something he had never done before.

He had earned his father’s admiration and respect.

His love.

The tears came fast and hard, and Adrien just let himself heave and sob because he knew he couldn’t keep his father’s love.

It came at a price Adrien was unwilling to pay.

And now, given what he knew he had to do, he knew without any doubt he would never have his father’s love.

Not for the rest of his life.

…

It only took two more loops to stop crying. And then his experience as a superhero who always had to act, to strike, to make decisions in life or death situations took over. Because he was a professional with a job to do.

But before that, he would give his father a chance to surrender. Adrien knew that his father wouldn’t take it, but he had to try anyway if only for his own peace of mind years from this moment.

“You are trespassing on private property. I demand that you leave.”

God, Adrien was really getting sick of that line.

“Gabriel Agreste, hand over the butterfly and peacock miraculouses without a fight, and I won’t tell a soul who you are.”

Adrien held out his hand, hoping with every fiber of his being that his father would just surrender.

Gabriel glared at him, but didn’t say anything for several seconds. Was his father considering his escape options? Or was he actually considering surrendering the miraculouses?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he eventually said stoically.

Snake Noir snorted. “This is my ninth loop. I’ve already confirmed you’re Hawkmoth. If you give it up, you can continue to live your life of privilege with your family. The city never need know who you are.”

“That’s quite the generous offer coming from you,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel was wrong. It was a selfish offer. Please father, please just take it.

Snake Noir glanced at the portrait of his mother that hung behind Gabriel “You’re not the only one who has lost someone you know.”

Gabriel launched to his feet, snarling. “What do you know of loss?”

“I lost my mother about three years ago, and I think I’m about to lose my father,” Adrien confessed calmly.

His father froze, his eyes widened. “Adrien?”

“Please father, give it up,” Adrien entreated. “Give it up and we can be a family.”

“Adrien, we can be a family. A whole and complete family with your mother here with us again. Please, just help me. With Chat Noir on our side, our victory is certain.”

Adrien squeezed his eyes shut against his father’s pleas.

“I will forgive all the years you fought against me. Join me now, and we can bring her back.”

“We can’t,” Adrien sobbed.

“We can,” his father insisted. “The ladybug and black cat will grant any wish.”

“The cost is too high.”

Gabriel snarled at him. “How can you be against me?! I did this all for you!”

“For me?! Are you serious, right now?! This was always for yourself!”

“For both of us!”

Adrien shook his head in agitation.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Adrien,” his father said, his voice contained an actual note of desperation.

Adrien’s eyes shot to his father’s and considered him.

His father might now want to hurt him. But he would. If that’s what it took.

Hot tears spilled down his face.

“So be it, father.”

“Adrien!”

Adrien didn’t give him the chance to say anything else.

…

On his next loop, he came through the front doors rather than through the window. His focus was on Nathalie.

If his father deserved a chance, so did she. And he was far less certain what she would choose.

Nathalie jumped to her feet instantly at his unexpected presence.

“Don’t stand on my account,” he told her. “I know you still haven’t been feeling well.”

“What can I do for you, M. Noir?” she said with as much dignity and professionalism as ever. Like his presence wasn’t abnormal at all.

“Where does he keep it, Nathalie?” he asked.

“Where does who keep what?” she asked, but it was clear to him that she was stalling when she glanced toward the doors to his father’s office.

“My father?” he clarified, following her gaze. “Where does he keep the butterfly miraculous?”

She stared at him, her expression almost unchanged except her pupils had dilated. It was good to know some things were capable of throwing Nathalie off her unshakeable foundation - that she was human.

She pushed the glasses up her nose. “I wouldn’t presume to know who your father is.”

“Nathalie, you’ve already figured out that I’m Adrien, and you’ve clearly known about him for far longer if you were using the peacock.”

She flinched.

He walked right up to her, his eyes looking down at her.

When had he grown taller than Nathalie?

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” she said.

His chest tightened painfully. He knew he had no claim to Nathalie’s affections, but he didn’t want to lose her, too. “Nathalie, please. Help me end this somewhat peacefully before one of us winds up killing the other. Please!”

“He’s doing this to bring your mother back,” she confessed.

He nodded. “Yeah, I got that. But I think maman might’ve had a good reason to leave. He has no right to force her back to a life she clearly didn’t want.”

Nathalie shook her head. “She didn’t leave. She’s still here. She’s just in a magically induced coma.”

He lost the ability to breathe.

His mother was here? The whole time? They had let him believe she was gone, that she had left him? Or that she had died? When she was here the whole time?!

His grip tightened around his baton, and his eyes burned.

“Did either of you ever consider telling me?” he choked out.

“He tried once, but you gave him your blessing to move on, and he decided you weren’t dedicated enough.”

He shook his head. Of course he did. “I gave him my blessing to move on with you,” he snapped back.

She glanced past him and adjusted her glasses. “Be that as it may,” she said softly.

“I don’t understand you. You’re willing to die for him?”

She turned back to him, her eyes suddenly intense. “For all of you! To heal your family!”

He took a step back. He wasn’t certain he wanted to be a part of this family.

“So you won’t help me?” he concluded.

“I won’t betray your father, Adrien. I can’t. I hate that it was you that we were fighting. And I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too, Nathalie.”

He reset the snake.

…

It only took thirteen loops to figure out how to get to the super secret supervillain lair underneath the mansion.

And there she was, preserved perfectly. She was exactly as he remembered - beautiful and soft. She could have just been sleeping if she hadn’t been lying in a glass coffin like some fairy tale princess waiting for a kiss of true love.

“Hi maman,” he whispered, his claws tracing out the curve of her face on the glass. “It’s… good to see you,” he managed before his throat lodged itself closed. He leaned his forehead against the smooth surface and he shook as silent sobs overtook him.

He fought to gain his breath back under control. He had so much he wanted to say to her. “So much has changed since you left us,” he whispered. “I wish I could tell you about all of it.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he sobbed.

“How did you get down here?!”

Adrien whirled, and found himself face to face with Shadowmoth.

“It wasn’t hard,” Snake Noir said, before pointing to the window. “That’s a very big window.”

“What are you doing down here?” the villain demanded.

“Saying good-bye to my mother,” Adrien said.

Whatever his father had expected him to say that was not it. He literally stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide as if Adrien had just struck him. Which in a way, he supposed he had. “Adrien?”

“Yes father?”

THe older man smiled. He actually smiled. “This is perfect.”

Adrien had never disagreed with his father more in his life. This was about as far from perfect as they could get.

“You can help me,” he was saying. “Help your mother. You have what we need! And I’m sure if Ladybug knows it’s for your mother, she’ll be willing to help as well.”

Snake Noir shook his head, tears trailing over his mask. “We can’t revive her,” he whispered.

“We can!”

“The price is too high.”

“I will pay any price!” his father screamed.

“And that’s exactly why you can’t revive her! Did you know there was another timeline out there? One where you akumatized me! And the whole fucking world was destroyed! Is that a price you’re willing to pay?”

“If you help me, there would be no reason to akumatize you.”

“I can’t believe you! There’s no way I can convince you to give it up, is there?”

Gabriel ignored him, stalking closer. “Give me your miraculous!”

“I won’t!”

“This isn’t your battle to fight!” Gabriel snarled. “You are a child!”

“I stopped being a child the day mother disappeared! Because you disappeared the same day she did! I thought…” Adrien broke off momentarily overwhelmed with his tears. “I thought you were grieving! Turns out you were terrorizing the whole city!”

“For you!”

“That’s a load of bull shit!” Adrien screamed back.

Shadowmoth surged forward, snarling. And Adrien had run out of walkway. “Is your mother not worth it? You would betray me? Betray your own mother? For what? Some girl you barely even know?”

Adrien laughed bitterly. At this point he knew Marinette far better than either of his parents. If only she knew that.

“You would make me choose between two women that I love?!” Adrien countered.

“It shouldn’t be that hard. There are millions of women for you to fall in love with. You only have one mother.”

“I could say the same to you,” Adrien said. “You could fall in love again. You only have one son.”

Shadowmoth lunged forward, striking with his cane. Adrien parried the blow with his staff, and dodged to the side. “Maman wouldn’t want you to do this!” he yelled.

His father laughed. “This was her plan!”

Adrien stumbled, and lost his form. Shadowmoth struck again through the lapse in his defenses.

Snake Noir took the strike to the shoulder, and fell backwards. “Then she doesn’t deserve to be revived!”

Gabriel sneered. “I failed in raising you.”

“You didn’t raise me at all! And I’m likely better for it!”

Shadowmoth struck downwards, but Adrien just flicked the snake miraculous before the cane could make contact again, and he was back on the mansion’s tiled roof overlooking his mother’s gardens.

“Sass, scales rest.” The snake slipped away, but he was still Chat Noir. He vaulted blindly away needing to be anywhere else.

Once he had put half a mile between himself and his former home, he collapsed to the ground, and pulled open the communicator.

“M’lady, I figured out who Shadowmoth is. And I took the liberty of doing some reconnaissance with the snake.” He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “And I-I… have a plan. Let’s meet on your balcony; I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Please invite Rena and Carapace. And don’t worry about costumes. I already know who all of you are and I think both the others know who you are, too. See you soon, princess.”

He ended the call, buried his head into his knees, curled up, and cried.

…

Chapter 9: Family

#miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #confrontation #lots of yelling #manipulation #TW: child abuse #adrien is resilient #adrien cries a lot #he needs more hugs #he will get them next chapter #not this one #this one just hurts #time loops #identity reveal #the five minute adventures of snake noir #my own content #write just the fun part project #happy reading

20 notes · View notes

raineydaywrites · 3 years

Text

Step-Son Zone

Inspired by the TAZ Crystal Kingdom graphic novel and all the amazing jokes about Lucas being Lucretia’s stepson that I have recently seen.

"Package for you, Luce!" Lup said, entering the family room. She'd gone to get the mail hoping for a package she'd ordered, but sadly, it had not yet arrived. She loved Faerun and everything, but she had to admit she still missed package tracking. Having to go to the actual mailbox every day to figure out if her things had gotten here yet? Like an animal? Gross.

Letters were not an uncommon thing to find in the mailbox, a lot of which were fan mail. Saving the multiverse made one pretty popular after all. When the letters had first started coming, they were an onslaught, though now, months after the start, they were less frequent.

Still, it wasn't exactly unusual to find something from an address they didn't recognize in their mailbox these days. It was a little more unusual for the mail to be addressed to only one of them, but far from unheard of. Plenty of people liked to address their fan mail to some particular favorite in the family.

That didn't mean that Lup wasn't still pretty curious to see the package, but she had boundaries! She'd at least let Lucretia see it first, before she swiped it for a peek.

"Thank you, Lup," Lucretia smiled up at her from the couch as she took it. Some of their other family members- Taako, Barry, Merle, and Magnus- were also gathered in the family room, but there was still plenty of room to sit down, since they'd designed this room knowing exactly how large their family was and with decades of frustration at the relatively small size of the Starblaster common room in mind. Lup still plopped down immediately next to Lucretia anyway. All the better for reading over her shoulder, and it wasn't like any of them had much respect for each other's personal space anymore.

Sure enough, Lucretia didn't even look over at her at the invasion of her space, just shifting slightly to the left to make a little more space for Lup between her body and the arm rest.

Instead she looked down at the package, read the address it came from, and immediately turned and threw it in the garbage.

"Oookay," Lup said, curiosity even more raging now. "What the hell was that?"

"An admittedly nice gesture that I have no interest in reciprocating," Lucretia said crisply.

"From who?" Magnus asked, glancing over at the trash bin as if he wanted to dart over and grab it, but was restraining the impulse.

"Lucas," Lucretia said, with a long-suffering sigh.

"Miller?" Taako questioned. "What's that dick writing you for?"

"The holiday, I presume," Lucretia said, waving her hand vaguely.

It made zero sense to Lup that Lucas would be sending Lucretia something on holidays, and the weirdness was only compounded by the fact that she couldn't think of any recent holidays that she could be referring to. Glancing around at the confusion the rest of them were displaying, she was pretty sure it wasn't just because she was the least familiar with Faerun holidays of their group.

"What holiday?" Merle asked, scratching his head in confusion. "Only holiday I can think of around now is Mother's Day, but obviously it's not that."

Lucretia's mouth opened and closed in confusion for a moment, before her eyes widened. "Oh. Right. I'd forgotten you didn't know."

"Didn't know what?" Barry asked, head tilted to the side in curiosity and confusion.

"Lucas' mother Maureen and I- we were together. Married, actually," Lucretia said, glancing down at her hands in her lap as she said it. "It was pretty common knowledge, at the Bureau, so I thought you would have known- but I guess I assumed wrong. Which isn't that surprising, really, since nobody mentioned it too much after Maureen's death-"

Lup's had automatically reached out her arms when Lucretia started to sound sad, turning her lean into an embrace before her shocked mind could catch up with what had been said.

"What the fuck, Lucretia! How do you forget to mention the fact that you were married?" Taako squawked, even as he came over to them and gave Lucretia a quick, tight hug.

"I really thought you knew! It doesn't come up much with most people; I assumed it was the same here!" Lucretia defended.

"You thought we wouldn't have anything to say about the fact that you had a wife and she died?" Taako asked, still incredulous.

"Most people don't bring it up. It makes them awkward and uncomfortable," Lucretia said.

"Uh, yeah, obviously, but we talk about Julia with Magnus sometimes!" Lup said, wincing immediately afterwards and shooting a concerned look at Magnus. She hadn't meant to be so flippant about that.

Magnus looked a little shaken and wide-eyed, but he threw her a smile and a careful thumbs-up, so Lup knew she was okay.

"That's different," Lucretia said. "Magnus has been always been less private about his emotions than me."

They all knew what she wasn't saying. And also, Magnus didn't do what she did. And yes, those things were true, but like fuck was Lup going to let Lucretia think that they would just leave her to deal with her trauma and grief alone, just because she had betrayed their trust. They loved her way too much to do that to her.

"So? Being a private person doesn't mean your family isn't going to hug the living shit out of you when you lose somebody!" she said, squeezing her arms tighter to prove her point.

Lucretia chuckled softly, and her eyes got very soft and warm. "Thank you, Lup, but I promise, I'm okay. Now, anyway. Maybe we can talk about it another time?"

"Yeah, alright," Lup agreed, not totally loosening her hold.

"Wait, fuck, okay so it is Mother's Day? That's the reason Miller's sending you shit?" Taako asked, his face shifting from irritation and concern to a shit-eating grin.

"Presumably," Lucretia said. "He's done it before. And usually, when he writes me, it's just a letter, nothing more."

"Oh my god, he's your stepson," Magnus snickered.

"Yes, that is what it means when you marry someone's mother," Lucretia agreed, an indulgently amused look on her face.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us! We've been missing out on some choice goofs because of that, Lucy!" Taako said, faux indignant.

"Again, I thought you knew! I figured you didn't bring up Lucas being my stepson because he is, you know, terrible."

"Solid reasoning, but not quite," Barry chuckled.

Lup let go of Lucretia to push herself up and move toward the package in the garbage.

"Lup?" Lucretia questioned, watching her.

"Just 'cause he's an ass is no reason to throw out free shit before you even know what it is! Come on, Lucy, use your head! Might be something nice, and you don't gotta talk to him to accept free stuff," Lup explained.

Lucretia laughed, taking the package from Lup's outstretched hands. "I suppose you have a good point."

She opened the package and inside was a set of paints.

"Oh," she said softly. "These are- These are my favorites. Maureen used to get me this same set all the time."

"See! Nice!" Lup chimed. "You can just toss the letter and keep the paint!"

"Yes," Lucretia nodded, "you're right."

But she didn't move to throw the letter away.

Instead, after several long moments of internal debate, she said, "Lucas wasn't always such a dick. When he was younger, he could be a real sweetheart. When he wanted."

"Why don't you look at the letter, Lucy?" Merle said, soft. "Seems like you really want to."

"I don't," she said, firmly. "Lucas used the Philosopher's Stone in a way that was insanely risky. He didn't care about how it would affect anyone but himself and Maureen. And that was hardly the least of it, either. Maureen- wasn't always the most cautious when inventing or researching, but she only ever put herself at risk. She didn't hurt people. Lucas was grieving, yes, I understand, but that's not an excuse. And it certainly doesn't excuse what he did to the bugbears or- any of the other incredibly inethical things he did! Maureen would be disappointed in him. And so am I."

Even with the tirade, she hadn't tossed the letter.

"Yeah, that was fucked up," Magnus chimed. "Nobody's going to make you read it or talk to him ever, you know that, right?"

"Uh huh," Lucretia nodded. "I think- I think I'll take these to my room."

She waved the paints as she said it, and only the paints, but she still took the letter up with her. And when she came back down and threw out the mess of packaging on the floor, she didn't have the letter anymore.

(Notes: Okay, so I personally can't really stand Lucas, especially in the podcast with the whole, uh, enslavement debacle, but in a fandom that has so much focus on family and forgiveness and redemption and hope and moving on, it felt weird to just completely shut off any chance of Lucas redeeming himself and being less of an asshole and rebuilding that relationship so. I left it open-ended. Feel free to assume he never does though, if you want!

Additionally, I really wavered on whether to go with podcast canon of the control chips and basically enslavement of the bugbears or the graphic novel canon of intelligence enhancing chips, because the latter is less uncomfortable for me personally, but also the fact that the former is a thing is part of why I wrote Lucretia feeling so harsh towards Lucas, so I decided basically to leave it vague. You can assume the bit about what Lucas did to the bugbears refers to either podcast canon or something shitty in gn canon depending on your own preferences.)

#taz lucretia #lucas miller #taz gn #taz #taz fic #taz graphic novel #not spoilers #my writing

36 notes · View notes

inkandpen22 · 3 years

Text

Young Hearts Divided (7/?)

Pairing: James Potter x Female!Reader/ Sirius Black x Female!Reader

Warnings: mild swearing, fluff, angst

Word Count: 2k

Part Summary: It’s officially Hogsemeade day. While Y/N goes with James as promised, Sirius does everything he can to test her limits and make her reveal what they’ve done.

A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for the delay and sorry that this portion is so short. I promise I will get caught up with all of the series updates by the end of the week hopefully! X

Masterlist

Lily, Marlene, and I wait by the entrance leading in from the entrance courtyard for the boys to come down from the tower. Today is finally Hogsmeade day and I have mixed feelings about it. For over a week, I was looking forward to it. Then, my brother was abducted. My family had to go into hiding. Sirius and I... well... it's us. We're complicated. On the surface, we're everything two best friends ought to be. We already cared for and loved one another as friends. Yet, we added more love to the mix, even just an ounce more and everything got knocked off-kilter.

Arms snake their way around my waist and bring me into their chest.

"Are you excited?" James whispers in my ear and plants a kiss on my temple.

Sirius and the other boys appear around us, forming a circle. James remains around me like a blanket as my eyes land Sirius. In an entirely black outfit, Sirius looks more like the poster child for teen angst than usual. It's not a daily occurrence that we get out of our school uniforms, so when we do Sirius gets a lot of attention from the female population. Especially when he's in his worn leather jacket like he is today. Now, half of the school's population will be drooling over him. Does he do it to bother me? Does he think getting attention from other girls will make me fight for him?

"Looking forward to it," I reply, smiling into James's embrace.

Sirius shifts on his feet and nervously looks away at anything he can set his eyes on.

"What would you like to do first?" James asks, oblivious to the small interaction between Sirius and me.

"Stop at Honeydukes! I wanted to get some chocolates," Peter announces as if the question was directed at him.

"We can stop by the pub and get some butterbeer with everyone," James tells me quietly between us.

"Sounds perfect."

I tilt my head to the side to see James and he peers down at me. He peers at me so admirably that I can feel the warmth rising in my cheeks under the intensity of his gaze. I glance away and scan our group of friends. Sirius's eyes pour into mine with an equal amount of intensity, but it's not due to admiration. He's pressuring me, reminding me of what he said the other day. I have a feeling this will be a long day. ______________________________ After wandering around Hogsmeade together, James and I meet everyone at the pub for some butterbeer. Gathered around a long wooden table, the seven of us sip on our drinks and chatter. I sit between James and Remus, while Sirius just so happens to be positioned right across from me. He hasn't caused a scene yet, but that doesn't mean he won't. It's Sirius, he doesn't care about being the center of attention. Whenever I'm in his presence with James, I fear he might drop the bomb from last weekend or what occurred in that classroom. Of course, I've thought about how he could do it when I'm not around too, but where would the fun be in that for Sirius. If he were to do it, he would do it publicaly.

As I talk to Remus about meeting tomorrow in the library, James drapes his arm over my shoulders to gain my attention. When I turn to him, he smiles charmingly.

"Y/N," he purrs.

"James," I greet playfully.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you," he tells me, taking my hand and interlocking them.

Our friends chit-chat around us, granting us some mild privacy amongst the group.

"And what is that?" I raise a brow.

James's features and entire demeanor shifts entirely. One minute he was all giddy, charming, and bright. Now, he's a tad anxious, starring down at our interlocked hands in my lap. What does he have to tell me?

"Goodness, I'm just going to say it," he sighs and finally meets my gaze. "Y/N, I like you."

All of that fuss for that? Of course, James and I like each other, we've been friends since we were kids!

I pat his hand, taking it in both of mine. "Aw, thank you, I'm quite fond of you too."

"I was wondering..." he laughs nervously, still fidgety. "You know if you wanted to... be my girlfriend."

My eyes grow wide for a second as an instinct reaction. Then, I snap out of it as I process his words. "Oh," I manage to mutter.

Abruptly, there's a noise from across the table and Sirius starts choking on his drink. The area of the table in front of him is wet with butterbeer. James and I are far too occupied to pay much attention. My focus switches between Lily patting Sirius on the back and James beside me. I thought he was simply being James, a goof and rarely serious.

"I... I umm," I struggle to form a response.

My mind has gone blank as though every ability to function has slipped from me.

Sirius flies up from his chair, insisting to Lily and the others that he's fine. He marches around the table and grabs my arm. I stumble up from my seat as he tugs me toward the door.

"You. Me. Outside. Now," he commands sharply under his breath.

"I'll be right back with you!" I point to James.

Sirius grips my bicep so hard that it'll likely bruise. Students walking by watch in confusion. Goodness, he's so dramatic. I couldn't get a word in before he pulled me away. He yanks me from the library and shoves me into a classroom. Now, he tugs me away from our friends and shoves me into an alley. He needs to learn to use his words like a mature person.

Is that why he spit out his drink, because of what James said? I didn't process before as I was still stunned by James's confession. Sirius yanks me into the alley around the corner and releases me toward the wall.

"What the actual hell, Sirius?!" I swear at the boy. "First the library now this?! I have legs!"

"Are you genuinely kidding me?!" He has the audacity to yell back.

Curious eyes glance down the alley upon hearing Sirius and I shouting. This is so embarrassing. If I'm the center of gossip this week because of Sirius I will curse him.

"You can't honestly be considering for a second being with him! James likes Lily! He'll choose her in the end! He's just mad and confused because she isn't giving him the time of day!" He fires at me.

My chest rises and falls rapidly, he's just said what I've been telling myself ever since James asked me to Hogsmeade. I ignored the thoughts to give James a chance. Yet, let's be honest, James has had a thing for Lily since the moment he saw her. It's how I felt when I met Sirius... I'm taking that to the grave though. I wouldn't want to give Sirius the satisfaction.

"Wow, so I'm just a cover-up?! Rebound?! What does that make me?!" I argue, hiding my true thoughts.

Sirius releases a deep sigh as he combs his fingers through his hair.

"He likes you because to James, you're the next best thing after Lily but..." he stops himself, his volume not so defeating.

I cross my arms over my chest, "oh, so now you get shy?! What happened to grabbing me out of places whenever you like?! But what, Sirius?!"

Sirius's focus snaps in my direction and frustration return to his face.

"But to me, you're the whole damn world and you're still here with him! Is that what you want to hear, Y/N?!" He shouts at me. His voice cracks slightly at the end as emotion gets in the way.

I shuffle back into the wall and rest against it, overwhelmed by everything. The dirt beneath my shoes become the center of my focus. There's a silence between us as Sirius stares at me with glassy eyes. I hate this. I hate that I'm the reason his jet black eyes are shimmering and his voice is cracking. Sirius is usually so confident and unfazed. It draws everyone to him. He walks on clouds with the world beneath him. The entire universe revolves around him.

"I'm not going to beg you to be with me because fuck that," he breaks the silence, kicking some gravel beneath his feet with his black boot.

"But Merlin Y/N, I love you," he shakes his head, meeting my gaze.

My eyes start to well and what should be a happy moment hurts like hell. It's as though a troll is sitting on my chest. I can hardly breathe.

"I do," he nods slowly. "I meant what I said by the lake and since then you've been slipping away from me. I can't exist in a world without you in it. You're..." he sighs deeply, finding it hard to finish. "You're home to me."

I wipe a stray tear away from my cheek, turning my head down the alley.

"I hate seeing you cry," he mutters into the wind, wiping tears away from his own eyes. "I never wanted to be the cause of it."

"How do you think I feel seeing you cry?" I finally speak, my tone weak.

Guilt plagues his features and Sirius crosses the alley to me. He pulls me into his chest comfortingly. I wrap my arms around his waist as I cry into his shirt. He kisses the top of my head then rests his cheek there.

The attitude between us now in comparison to moments ago is a complete flip. Granted, it's me and Sirius. We're never predictable. Everything we do, we do passionately. One minute we're wild and having the best time arguing like a divorced couple. It's a rollercoaster of a relationship. From the moment we met, I knew Sirius would bring me the greatest happiness and the greatest heartache. He's everything to me.

I struggle to speak smoothly into the warmth of his chest. "I can't hurt anyone. I can't take on any more drama. I wish things were simple again. Things were so much easier a mere week ago. Yet now everything has gotten all jumbled."

"It doesn't have to be, not if you let me help you," he whispers.

"Please help me," I plead, clinging to him.

Sirius tucks his fingers beneath my chin to meet his gaze. His eyes are bloodshot and his lashes wet. I must look like a raccoon with my eye makeup. Thank goodness Sirius's shirt is black.

"I will always be here for you," he assures me as he caresses my cheek. "What's your problem is mine too. It's you and me, okay? I will get you through this."

I nod as an immense weight lifts off my chest. I need Sirius more than anyone and to hear him say these things eases my mind.

"Do you want to head back to the castle? I'll tell everyone you didn't feel well or something," he conjures up.

I nod silently and his hand slips behind my neck while he plants a kiss on my forehead.

"I'll be right back," he states and starts heading back toward the pub entrance.

I watch him stroll away, using the sleeve of his leather jacket to dry his eyes.

"Hey, Sirius?" I call. My voice is still shaky.

He skids to a stop, spinning on the heels of his boots unsteadily. "What's up?"

"I love you. I...” I laugh, a tad nervous as I kick about some pebbles randomly. “I wasn’t ever planning on tell you, but I’ve loved you since I first saw you on the train. i just-”

"I know," he replies without missing a beat.

“You did?!” my jaw nearly hits the floor. I whine, tossing my head back with embarrassment. “This whole time you knew... I mean of course you did. I know it’s not a great confession like you did just now,” I ramble on anxiously. “But I just thought you should know that ‘hey, the feelings are reciprocated. I know I can be a hard ass and indecisive, but so can you.’ I figured we-”

A faint smile appears on his lips, a complete contrast to the wetness of his eyes. He glances behind him then jogs back to me. He wraps his arms around me again and plants a kiss on my cheek.

"I know, My Love," he tells me. “ Thank you. I love you too.”

_______________________

Masterlist

Tags: @hannah220506 @agirlwholovescoffee @a-classic-eye @devilstradegy @blackbirddaredevil23 @tay-mariee @blackpinkdolan @findzela @emilianamason

#james potter #james potter x reader #sirius black imagine #sirius black x reader #remus x sirius #harry potter imagine #harry potter #hp fandom #hp imagine #marauders x reader #marauders au #remus lupin #peter pettigrew

79 notes · View notes

katerix · 3 years

Text

(How old is New Vegas? And it’s still my fav part! I feel like I need more Raul content even after all these years🥺)

Drink with the living dead

Characters: Raul Tejada x Reader Summary: Courier and her companion returned to New Vegas after a long wandering to get a drink and gamble, but faced serious inhospitality. Six was not ready to leave her friend behind, so they changed their plans. Warnings: - Words: 2781

***

It was almost half past midday, when a dusty dirty road to New Vegas welcomed the wanderers with just another sandstorm without any declaration of war. Courier’s mirror aviator sunglasses could hardly stand that gusts of winds, so she decided to hide it in the pocket of her jacket until the better times. Six and her ghoul-companion were on foot for nearly five hours, and now the hightower of «Lucky 38» looked huge in contradiction from its look an hour ago.

It was not their first visit to New Vegas, but every time she saw a glowing and sparkling casino’s signs, she was bringing up the idea of going there and wasting an evening gambling and drinking. Just like everyone does. The fact that she spent here some time, passing all the entertaining places by, met with Mr. House and performed several missions for NCR ambassador, but still never took a break to try some of those things, these poor fellows from all Mojave wasteland were arriving for - was a crime by its definition.

Coddling this thought, Courier continued to trudge the nasty weather, until they walked up to the Northern gates of Freeside.

- What’s the plan when we reach Strip, boss? - asked Raul, shaking his dull-green jumpsuit down: it all was full of pervasive grains of sand, as well as the girl’s clothes.

- At first I wanna visit the «Lucky 38» apartment and change the outfit, then go to the bar and win big in the kazino!

- Perfect plan, chief, ironclad like my revolver. - the ghoul was sarcastic as usual, but didn’t evince any sight of disagreement.

When she turned around to continue movement, he added: “Wait, amigo, there's a tuft of straw stuck under your collar.” - and carefully extracted an annoying piece of flora, stuck to during the storm.

“Gracias!” - Six smiled widely and made a fast gesture of gratitude with her hand. Without wasting time, they passed heavy metallic gates.

Freeside met companions with a funky, stinking smell. She still couldn't get used to it. Dusty air seemed to mar the cityscape: it looked much pale and lighter than from the outside. Just fifteen minutes and they’ll reach the destination. The picture couldn’t be called unusual for this time of the day in this part of town: one or two shabby hobos against the dingy walls, kids in wrecked clothes playing a tag-game in the area of the «Mick & Ralph's», random citizens with roving glances, sneaking around, wasting their time in an idle attempts to figure out how to spend their life in this Dump. On the other hand, there are many places where people live even worse: take a look at Westside, for instance.

«What a hopeless sight, - thought the girl. - Hope the Followers are really able to do something about this in the future».

- Something on your mind, boss? - it felt like nothing could hide from Raul’s inquisitive look.

- Just thinking. I find this picture quite dismal, like there’s no tomorrow, and humanity is still doomed. Like there’s no chance to restore life, as it was before.

- When we are on the road again, I’ll tell you about the Football Cup in Mexico, if you like to hear another one “before the Bomb” story. - he obviously picked up on her mood and decided to cheer up the girl, carefully diverting the theme.

- I do. Have you attended it?

- Sure thing. That was a big day. We drove to the capital to see it with our own eyes.

- Sounds pretty good! Let’s not ruin the intrigue.

- You asked.

They passed a small cross-road, which didn't have to be called like that anymore, as it was just one of the ghosts of the past with it’s burned skeletons of cars, left here motionless as evidence of human lost ambitions. The air in this part of the town was stale, despite the fact that they were in the streets, the smell of some broiling meat and spoiled vegetables was sticky like an ant's nectar. Sudden wild cryings and shouts were heard from the nearest dead end.

One glance was enough to understand that the Kings had cornered swashers, their prey, who were too fucked up and all-fired sure of themselves to attack the town’s main showrunners just a couple of minutes ago. And the Courier was not going to do anything about that: she herself was nearly butchered by one of them, shown up from nowhere. If it was not her loyal companion who dealt with it with one precise shot, she, probably, would be dead by now.

It took more than ten minutes to cover the distance between the East and Strip gates - right now there was no reason to hurry. As they got closer, the protectrons took up their positions immediately. One of them articulated “Move along” with a familiar metallic cold of lifeless voice of his, when companions were passing by.

“Never liked these guys. They are like slow mines: you never know what they do the next second.” - grunted out the Courier, as two of them found themselves on the first line of the Strip between “Lucky 38” and “Gomorrah”.

“Hey, so who is an old one here?” - the ghoul chuckled in response.

She went ahead, so he could never see how her lips slightly bended in a ready-to-laugh smile.

***

Presidential luxe met nomads with a deep, wrapping silence of a broad, gloomy space. This was definitely not the place a person could wish to stay in: walls with, once being gorgeous - now - greasy dark-wine wallpapers were giving an oppressive feeling. Six was happy that they didn’t have to stay here for long. Only to sleep or change the outfit maybe.

She got near to the wardrobe in her room, where the majority of things, accumulated during the long travels, were stored. Took out two dresses, went to the guest-room with a billiards. Raul was civilly waiting for her there.

- What you think? Which one?

He raised up his head, looked from under the sunglasses for several seconds, examining, and answered in a casual tone:

- It’s really up to you, boss. - made a pause, then added, like a little confused: - But I like the pink one. Might look graceful.

- Great! Exactly the one I wanted to pick.

The ghoul just gave her a hesitant nod, wondering if she noticed that detail. Courier went back to her sleeping-room and returned after some minutes, informing: “Ready to go! The next stop is “Ultra-Luxe”, yee-haw!”

***

After a while they were in the street again. All they needed was just to reach the second line of the Strip and pass a hundred meters to the “Ultra-Luxe”. Lots of NCR soldiers were hanging around, goofing off, as long as they had a chance, and indulging in lust in the nearest private clubs. Nothing unexpectable. When they passed by a small group of drunk, barely balancing on their feet big guys, Six suddenly heard a hushed voice from behind her back, addressing his teammates. “Do they let ghouls on the Strip now? Perfect, let’s make it a spooky ghost-town.”

“Yeah. That’s why civilization will start floating away again. Our attempts are meaningless.”

Only just Courier wanted to turn around and shout out something to those sons of a b or event take out a gun and shoot beneath their feet, Raul caught her arm:

- Hey, hey, calm down, that’s okay. NCRs are many here, you know, even for a dashing rider like you, boss. Even with me backing you up. From behind the farthest stone.

- But we can’t simply swallow that shit, Raul!

He just spreaded his hands:

- Fine, then go shoot them and be killed by protectrones because of two drunk idiots. Very helpful, chief. I’ll stay all alone, without my beloved companion but with a protected pride. Thank’s.

Six stood still for some seconds and nodded after that.

- Fine. Whatever.

Then merely continued walking in the direction of the cazino. The ghoul hesitated for a bit. He understood that she was acting out of good intentions and she just wanted to protect her partner, as she was the one who had a right of speech here. And that made his heart melt and he was silently praising her for that, because nobody seemed to do anything like that for him in a while. But picking a fight with these dummies, who fill the streets of Strip like water fills the canyon, was not wise.

“Sorry for that, Niña. I really appreciate what you do. I just don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. You don’t notice, but there are often lots of sidelong looks and hardly heard whisperings along the way. I'm used to it and don’t want it to affect you.” - he tried to lighten things up.

The girl turned her head a bit just for him to see her glance softening.

- Let’s just reach the bar and relax.

***

An unexpected trouble struck them further - black line has not ended yet. Courier already picked her place at the bar desk in the distant hall and ordered a glass of whiskey, when a bartendress leaned over and said in a low tone:

“I’m sorry, but here, in “Ultra-Luxe”, we serve only the citizens and guests of the Strip. I’m able to bring a drink only for you, ma’m.”

That was the last drop of her patience. The girl slowly raised her head at the bartendress, ready to blow up, and responded:

- Are you fucking kidding me?

- That’s the rule. I don’t need problems. You can ask any guard or another worker.

She bowed her head and gave a fast hidden glance at her ghoul-companion. He was sitting there next to her and looking straight at his arms crossed on the desk, like he had nothing to do with it. But he, of course, heard every word. His eyes weren't moving, just a finger was slightly knocking the air, producing a rhythm he alone knew. Six couldn’t even imagine what her friend might feel at the moments like that. An anger came upon her.

“Are you all that scumbags here? Keep your drinks for acceptable ones. Ma’m.” - the girl said, getting up from her barstool and heading towards the exit.

Raul stood up without a word and, as he always did, followed Courier. He had mixed emotions. On the one hand he was glad they left that place and that Six is such a kind and loyal partner, but on the other hand he felt a little guilty for himself. After all, it was him who was the reason for such inhospitality in some kind of place. Even now she couldn’t get what she wished for so hard. Her idea of “winning big” in the kazino seemed to be falling apart, as together they won’t be even let to the gambling table. And she, obviously, won’t leave him in the street and have fun on her own, and an old ghoul didn’t want to be a ball and chain.

- Boss? Are you sure we need to leave? Maybe you’d better stay there? And I’d wait for you somewhere else or go back to “Lucky 38”. Fresh air won’t do any harm for my old lungs.

- What are you even talking about? You know, even the best drink worth nothing, if there’s no one to share it with.

- You have a heart of gold, chiff. - these words came fast, in an undertone, as if he was embarrassed, - Well, I saw a small sign in Freeside. I believe we’ve never been in that part of the city before.

- Hope it’s not an «Atomic Wrangler».

- Nope.

- Great! You lead. They passed the ruins, generously spread all over the suburbs, while every their step sounded louder thanks to trash, small pieces of brick and other rubbish. The sun was already going down and the heat was getting less intense.

Finally they reached a small inconspicuous wooden door. Only a little sign next to it represented that place as a bar.

As they entered, nothing changed. There was not much to be changed. There were no crowds of gamblers, no fancy casino machines and no shiny-polished bar desk. Bartender was a man in old ragged clothes, probably in his late fifties. He was slowly wiping cut glasses with a gray dusty piece of fabric full of holes.

When the companions stepped in the room he just looked up at them without raising up his head and got back to his plain, simple activity. There were not many customers besides the two of them. A woman was sleeping on the table in the far corner - her head rested on her arms while her shoulders were calmly going up and down. Another guest settled down at the edge of the bar desk.

“Fancy,” - giggled the girl.

“Ah, let’s get down. Ladies first.” - Raul just waved his hand.

Six made a few steps in the direction of the bar desk and sat down, Raul followed her.

“Barman! Two beers, please”. - she laid some bottle caps in front of him.

The barkeeper took them and then put two opened bottles onto the surface.

“Bon appetit.”

Courier took her bottle up and clinked it loudly with Rauls one. His soft non-blinking sight of half closed eyes was locked on hers, while he made a sip. His heart always went pop when it felt like there were just two of them in the world, though he never showed that.

Raul looked around and suddenly his eyes stopped on a guitar lurked behind the racks.

“Hey, can I…?”

The barman followed ghoul’s gaze and shrugged his shoulders: “This piece of wood? Be my guest.”

In the next second he was on his feet. The courier raised her eyebrows as she almost forgot if she saw him that agile. Raul approached the metal shelves, put aside some garbage and waste paper, then carefully extracted the instrument and blew away the dust.

Six and the bartender were watching him closely. The ghoul got back to his chair, sat down crossing his legs to position the guitar more comfortably. Then pulled the first string to check out the tuning. It was no surprise that it was out of tune, so the next minute Raul spent trying to fix the instrument.

When everything, as he thought, was ready, he played a couple of notes in fingerstyle to flex some life back into his fingers. After nearly 200 years the skill was obviously weakened.

“I didn’t know that you could play the guitar.” - said the girl.

“Sure you didn’t. I never told about that.” - he looked back at her with a little smirk, - “What was the point if there were no music instruments left anyway?”

He laid his right arm down on the body of the guitar, fingers on the cracked wooden surface, and took a deep breath.

At first Courier could hardly hear or see the slightest movement of ghoul's fingers on strings, but soon the sound became more clear. She was sitting there with a bottle in her hand, unable to look away from her companion.

The sound of slow mexican melody floated across the room, filling every corner of the room with itself. The windows were closed with wooden boards from the outside, so the sunlight was trickling down through narrow gaps between them. Warm light was leaving gold-yellow lines on the walls, tables and the bardesk where the Courier and Raul were sitting. She could even see the tiniest specks of dust freeze in the air. The ghouls face was half hidden by a shadow and the sunbeams were highlighting one of his eyes which now looked like a beautiful transparent crystal and his hands all covered with veins and partially with thin skin.

The whole space imbued with peace and calm, even the impenetrable bartender set his glass aside and leaned his head on the hand, listening to the sensual music.

They travelled together for a while now, but never before had Six seen him the way she did now. Something new was arising in her soul.

“Hey chief,” - Raul closed his eyes and slightly threw back his head grinning a little, fingers still dancing over the strings. - ”You’re the best friend and partner one could ever wish for, you know. Thank you for always being on my side.”

“Raul, I’ll never leave my partner in crime behind!” - she chuckled as she felt like something pinned her heart.

The ghoul continued playing the tune without opening his eyes. A grin turned into a soft smile and the feeling of joy span all over him for the first time in a while.

“I’m following you to the world’s end, boss.”

Also, here’s a link to this fanfic on my AO3 (gif is mine \ use credits if repost)

#fallout #fallout nv #fanfic #fallout new vegas #raul tejada #fanfiction #one shot #fallout x reader #fallout imagine #raul tejada x reader #my fanfiction #my edit #fallout nv fic

70 notes · View notes

supercorp-hosie · 3 years

Text

My thoughts for legacies 3x13: I’ll try to put the point chronologically

1. When Kaleb blew the candle, I’m so confused because the first thing that comes to my head is: he’s blowing that because is daytime, but why put it so far from Cleo? Why use a candle when you have electricity? And apparently I’m a fool, because that’s how the confinement spell works duh! I only recalled that when Alaric blew it in the end. I’m so dumb lol.

2. I love that Kaleb is the first to seek Cleo out, wanted answers and ready to accept them. When he tries to comfort Cleo in her memories, that’s me too! But apparently being the badass she is, she immediately come up with the idea of replacing her grandma to go with Malivore.

3. Poor Cleo! My heart sores when it started with a little girl, just like with Finch. She’s a hero! She’s so brave! She’s a queen! And weirdly she likes frogs(or toads?) very much. I wonder why. And although she tried to kill Hope last episode, I never see her as a villain. Never for a second. Instead I’m impressed. Tbh I didn’t understand why she is always playing with clay/mud since the beginning of this episode. But after her backstory, I just feel sad and proud at the same time. Sad because it’s shaped from her painful time of enslavement. Proud because she’s using the thing she learned from it against Malivore as her weapon despite the painfulness. I remember she talked about her sister dying, but nothing about that occurs in the memories. Did she lie before or it’s just another thing that the writers forgot?

4. ‘Jonch’ is horrible! I prefer Finsie as the ship name. Why is their moment always so cringy? I get this second embarrassment from them a lot, mostly from Josie tho. I always felt there’s something lacking in Finsie, just like what I felt when Handon started it’s kind of sudden. Maybe because of my perception, I really didn’t know why Josie think Finch is hot. I have to learn how to appreciate her beauty. But goof news, I actually appreciated Finsie first kiss, because I see why they haven’t kiss before, and why they finally kiss. It’s cute and the sparkling, haha. Tbh I start to appreciate Finch’s beauty from the kissing scene angle. But this episode, again, I still feel cringy in most of the Finsie scenes. I have to put my palm on my head. Anyway, I enjoy the “girlfriend” scene tho, like Finsie starting to grow on me(again, the first time is their first kiss, hopefully no more cringy afterwards). It’s really good to see Josie happy. Btw, since Finch decided to enrol, will she be the new alpha now that she defeated Jed? That’s good for her, she finally has a pack and no longer lonely.

5. Along with Finsie scenes, does anyone realise there’s actually other students there? And there are actually other witches at the school?? I remembered that there’s like only four witches? Because Josie was the only witch at the school when Berbelang!Hope happened? Annnndddd! To that! Does anyone remember there’s this girl Gaby/Gabby? She’s also a witch, and she loves dnd like Wade? They can’t tease us with Penelope using her then just let her disappear?

6. Oh great there’s actually other wolves at the school. I’m starting to think Jed is the only wolf left (of course there’s Hope, but she’s tribrid). As much as I enjoy Finch being badass that she can stand beside Josie, I felt so sorry for Jed and his actor. He’s been there for 3 seasons and yet Finch get a backstory before him. He has none! The actor is great, look at the siren episode! He hardly gets any decent lines and scenes now. Instead, they make him looked useless, hard to be respectable. Like anyone can just harm his alpha reputation. Justice for Jed please. Oh and the fact that Finch got a backstory before Kaleb too? It’s unacceptable. They deserve more. Jed doesn’t even have a last name, my god! Anyway that doesn’t change the fact that I want to hug baby Finch so much bc she’s adorable!

7. With MG gone, Kaleb looks like the only vampire left in the school. I miss MG. What about Ethan?

8. Josie and Cleo finally met! I’m glad that she’s learned something from her too. I think it’s true that other kids never felt as easy as Josie at the school. They finally addressed it.

9. I’m frustrated that Hope never wanted answers from Cleo. The only friend that helped her grieve. But hey maybe she’s too hurt to be able to bear Cleo in her sight. But then again there’s the Landon problem, so she’s off with Landon again. Only taking to Landon the whole episode, being the only one that only talk to one person in the whole episode. Feel bad for her about this. Poor Hope.

10. I really feel bad for Landon, because there’s a lot of hardships to make him like that. Someone please give him hugs and a therapist. The show is doing a full cycle by stating what he’d done is just like what Hope did when she returned from Malivore. I understand why he kept himself away, but weirdly, the way the let those words out, it feels like he wants to get back at Hope when I think he wanted Hope’s understanding. Maybe he wanted both?

12. Someone told me that every 13th episode is the episode where Landon’s power are explored. I kind of agree with it now. Because he’s finally having the fighting skills that he’s longing now. Finally he can achieve his desires to physically fight alongside Hope. For what though, I don’t know, because in the case of supercorp, Lena never needed it physically to be Supergirl’s partner in saving the world, or of course to protect Kara. Glad for him, anyway, bc that’s what’s he wants. And the blow to the head? It’s awesome.

11. I can’t believe Landon is blaming Hope for not coming to save him sooner?! What the hell? What happened to “I’m going to be the one that always fight to find Hope”, idk whether I quoted it precisely, but the meaning is there. I am furious. Is this some sick drama that the show wants Landon to think that Hope was not coming to him because she had a perfect version of him?? That aside, when I see that Handon is going to fight together physically, I actually think the scene is good and they will overcome the blaming thing, and going to be a power couple. Just when I have that thought, Landon have to fucking throw the artifact towards Malivore(whether it is Malivore I’ll discuss afterwards, it’s contradictory)!! That’s such a stupid move! Where’s your brain? And it’s broken, oh god. And the show have to show Hope being so weak during the fight. I mean why? She’s a badass, why do they have to make her weak to glorify Landon?? They made her look useless. These things just really kill the budding Handon spirit in me. The show really knows how to make people resent Handon and Landon. Just please change the show name.

12. Anyway to be fair, Landon do care for Hope and do love her. Before, though I don’t think they are endgame quality, I think that if they do improve, Handon endgame is tolerable, acceptable. But now, I’m not so sure of that anymore. Other than the above mentioned points, Landon did leave Hope for a solid third time. Why the show have to establish that for Handon when their fans desperately defended Landon that he wasn’t always leaving. I mean I’ve seen Handon shippers fought really hard against the “Landon is always leaving Hope” argument. What a way to make a couple being endgame. In Chinese proverbs, there’s a thing for a third time. Like the three strikes law, I think? It says not to do anything or tolerate anything undesirable that has happened more than three times. So please do not make Handon together ever again. It’s an insult to Hope too.

13. To see it differently, poor Hope will finally have time out of Landon to think of herself and her future. We need to see her having her own storyline. So maybe we can see Hosie eventually? Sorry Finsie for anticipating your break up in the future. But please enjoy yourselves when Hope grows on her own, because Josie deserves a decent relationship on screen too. Hosie didn’t interact this episode, I’m sad.

14. I just can’t help but wonder why Alaric oversee the artifact being destroyed so easily. And when Josie introduces Finch, she deserves a decent conversation with the headmaster, really. Oh he’s an adult, be a responsible and respectable one, especially you’re Josie dad. Help her with her impression with her crush. Alaric really need help, we need another adult figure. It’s okay that’s not Caroline.

15. I kind of thinking that Landon and Cleo are shippable too when I know that they are leaving at the same time. Cleo being the sole reason to Landon existence is one of the reasons to ship them. She’s the one that tell Malivore he can make vessels and create legacy, that leads to Landon existing. Not to mention she did literally made Golem Landon by hand (we all know the thing that Hope made doesn’t have a body, so Cleo must have made his torso and limps right). Or maybe we prefer wandon endgame? Wade is precious too, he’s the one that point out Landon is not himself.

16. I’m so confused by this episode Malivore. I thought Cleo trapped him inside that monster Handon defeated this episode. But if it was trapped this long? How did the pit, Clarke and Landon even exist? Did Malivore escape from it?? It must have escaped.

17. In the promo for the next episode, we’re seeing Lizzie and Hosie interaction! I’m excited! I think maybe Josie will be the one that bring Hope out of the cult’s enchantment. What will happen? Maybe they will realise something or develop something towards each other? Anything hosie that MAKE SENSE please. Oh and Hizzie friendship/banters, and Lizzie suddenly being and “angel” will be so fun to watch. Finally, the trio!

18. I know it’s irrelevant but since I mentioned Clarke, I miss Holarke. I have some shippable thoughts about Finch and Penelope too. P is the she-devil in good girl attire; F looks like a bad girl but she’s good hearted. They are both fiery, imagine what they’ll be like when they’re together, erupting volcanoes?

19. Applause to Aria’s acting skill, this is like the eleventh role he’s played in legacies? Original Landon, Hope’s (subconscious) Landon, Landon’s (subconscious) Landon, Josie’s SimuLandon, Hope’s therapy Landon, Malivore Landon, golem Landon, ptsd Landon, oni-possessed Landon, golem Landon micmicking Necromancer, Clarke-Landon. Keep up the good work!

#hosie #finsie #jonch #legacies #legacies spoilers #kaleb legacies #jed legacies #cleo sowande #josie saltzman #finch tarrayo #alaric saltzman #hope mikaelson #landon kirby #holarke #aria shahghasemi #handonedit #wade legacies #justice for Jed #justice for kaleb

24 notes · View notes

arrow-guy · 4 years

Text

Talk to Me

Original request from @scrawlingwithstyle: Here's a request I've been sitting on for a bit. ClintxReader; Clint is deaf and most people rely on his lipreading skills, but Reader knows some ASL from when her family thought her autistic younger sibling would never speak (they became vocal close to seven years old). They have secret conversations across the room, thinking no one else on the team understands. . . . They're wrong. Adjust however you like!

A/N: Okay, it’s taken probably close to a year to actually get around to this, but i kind of breezed through writing it? And it was a whole bunch of fun to finally put down in a document. I didn’t change much about your request, but I definitely added to it, and made it a little romantic? Idk if it’ll come off as romance, it’s kind of goofy (it’s Clint, there needs to be a goof somewhere.) I really hope you like it, though!!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Pairing: ClintxReader

Word Count: 5.5k

Warnings: None

“Are you sure about this, Bruce?” I ask. “Ross let me go as soon as you went AWOL. I haven’t worked with people like this in years.”

“Of course I’m sure! You were the best back in the day.”

“Back in the day,” I laugh. “You make it sound like we’re ancient.”

“We’re not as young as we used to be,” he says. “But that’s the point. You’ll bring some much needed experience to the table.”

“But I’m not a spy and I definitely don’t have any powers.”

“Trust me, (Y/N), superpowers are not all they’re cracked up to be, and both spies have long since ceased their spying activities.” I cock one eyebrow and he laughs. “For the most part.”

“Saying a spy stopped being a spy is like saying you misplaced the hulk.”

“Ah, very true.”

“I’ll do it, though.”

“You will?”

“Well I can’t very well leave you to fend for yourself, now can I? As it stands, I’m already a shitty friend, working together can’t hurt things.”

Bruce grins and grips my shoulder. “I’ll see you Monday, then.”

I roll my eyes, but can’t fight back my smile. “Do I need to pack a bag, or will I be allowed to go home at the end of the day?”

“Not sure yet. Might as well bring a change of clothes and a toothbrush just in case.”

“Alright, then. I’ll see you Monday.”

“I can’t believe you actually pulled it off, Banner,” Stark says. “You wrangled a counselor for the team?”

“What,” I say. “Like it was supposed to be hard?”

Bruce laughs and reaches out to place his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve known (Y/N) for just about as long as I can remember. I’m sure she’ll be a good fit.”

“As long as you can remember, huh?” I look past Captain Rogers and find a sandy haired man. He grins when I meet his eyes. “Just how long?”

I bob my head from side to side. “Somewhere between twenty years and most of our lives.”

He whistles. “Pretty long time, then.”

“Mhm.”

Bruce clears his throat. “I’m sure (Y/N) wants to see where she’ll be working, so I’ll just show her to her office.”

Everyone in the boardroom waves and Bruce leads me out of the room. As soon as we’re out in the hall I sigh and bow my head, finally able to let my shoulders relax.

“That was a lot.”

Bruce chuckles. “Trust me, it’ll either get worse or stay exactly the same as time goes on, depending on who you’re talking to.”

“The blond guy who spoke up, that’s Hawkeye, right?”

“Clint Barton, yeah.”

“Will I be seeing much of him?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t really know much about the guy. He seems pretty happy-go-lucky and stable most of the time, though.”

“Huh.” I shrug and hitch my bag a little higher on my shoulder. “You never know with some people.”

“True. I’m sure you’ll deal with him at least once more after this. He’s the curious type.”

“I guess I’ll have to look forward to that, then.”

Bruce hummed in agreement and leads me to the elevator bank and takes me down to what will eventually be my office. He gives me a basic rundown of the facilities and shows me which restroom is closest to my office. I ask for a baseline reading on everyone on the team and Bruce rattles off what he’s noticed about the main five.

“Steve will most likely drop by to make small talk, but it may take some time for him to open up in any way that counts. Tony will joke about therapy, but once he warms up to you it’ll be impossible to get him to leave.”

“Oof, that bad?”

“He’s long-winded.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to enforce appointments with him when he starts to take interest.”

“Probably wise.”

“And Natasha?”

“I doubt you’ll see much of her. She has her ways of working through her issues on her own.”

“Do they involve murder?”

“Don’t know, and I don’t care to.”

“Got it. None of our business. I’ll let her come to me if she needs anything.” I plop down behind my new desk. “What about Thor?”

“Who knows. He shows up when he wants and tends to be a pretty jovial guy.”

“Ah. Is there anyone else outside of the tower I can expect?”

“Wanda, Sam, and Rhodey will be around from time to time. If Steve has his way, Bucky will move in at some point, and Wanda is currently in the process of moving into the tower, so you may see her more after that. I’m not sure how often she’ll drop by. She’s fairly private due to her powers.”

“Energy manipulation, right?”

He nods. “That, and other mind tricks.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“But that just leaves Clint, and we’ve already gone over what you can expect from him.”

“It doesn’t just leave Clint, Bruce.” I fold my hands on the desktop. “I expect to see you in here at least once a week. Ideally twice.”

Bruce scowls. “(Y/N), you know how I feel about that.”

“Yeah, well, I listen to your opinions on that stuff when I’m just your friend. Now I’m your therapist, and you’re going to listen to me because I know what works for you. So I expect you to get your pasty ass in here when you’re scheduled.”

“You’re making appointments for me now?”

“Until I’m sure you’ll come to me on your own, yes.”

He rolls his eyes. “Fine. Send me the schedule. I’ll see you at my appointed time.”

“Wonderful.” I relax my shoulders, letting my professional mask slip. “Thanks for this, Bruce. I mean it.”

“I know you do.” He cracks a smile. “You’re the only person I trust to get to the root of our issues.”

“I appreciate that. I’ll try not to let you down.”

“Believe me, (Y/N), if anyone’s gonna let me down, it’ll be the team.” I laugh and he heads for the door. “I’ll see you later. Good luck with your first day.”

“Thanks, Bruce. I’ll see you later!”

“So, (Y/N),” Tony says, spreading out on the couch across from my chair. “What’s your deal?”

“My deal?”

“Yeah, what makes you tick? What motivates you to try and heal the fragile minds of the Avengers?”

“I’d say a decent paycheck is a pretty good motivator, Mr. Stark.”

He seems disappointed with my answer. “Is that it?”

“Well, that, and I want to make sure Bruce is doing alright. He’s struggled with therapy in the past, and I want to make sure he’s getting the kind of help that he needs.”

“I see.” He presses his lips together and folds his arms. “You’re not even curious about the rest of the team?”

“Of course I’m curious, but nothing discussed in this tower will be shared with anyone outside. I take my patients privacy very seriously.”

“You sure you don’t just fear for your life?”

“Living in New York, I fear for my life constantly. That doesn’t mean that I’m worried about getting merced if I get a little loose lipped outside of work.” I sigh and lean back in my chair. “That being said, I won’t be sharing your confidential information with anyone you haven’t specifically given authorized access to your records.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. It’s almost like I’m a professional, right?”

He smiles. “I’m really starting to like you, (Y/N).”

“Then I guess I have a lot more of this to look forward to, then, don’t I?”

I laughs and hauls himself up from the couch. “We’ll see.”

I make a note of his response in my open document. “Sounds like a tentative yes to me, Mr. Stark, and I’ll be here so long as you deem my services necessary.”

He nods and exits my office. He leaves the door open.

“How are you liking it here so far, (Y/N)?”

“It’s been quiet, Captain Rogers. It’s a bit like pulling teeth trying to get anyone to make use of their resources.”

“I guess it would be. We’re a relatively private bunch.” He pauses a moment. “And, please, call me Steve.”

“Right, Steve. Is there anything that I can do for you today?” I ask. “It’s entirely alright if you just want to make small talk.”

“Oh, well, uh…” He awkwardly clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably on the couch. “I guess I just wanted to get a lay of the land.”

“I understand.” I glance around my office. “I should probably bring in some art and plants. Make it a little less sterile in here.”

Steve laughs. “That might help.”

I smile. “Maybe an area rug?”

He shrugs. “Whatever you think would be best.”

“I appreciate the creative freedom.” I close my laptop, set it to the side, and settle back in my chair. “Is there something on your mind, Steve?”

“No,” he says quickly. He immediately looks conflicted. “I… well, kind of.”

“Feel free to speak. Nothing you say will leave this office.”

“You hardly know me.”

I shrug. “I know how stressful this environment can be. And, while your team is very good at what they do, they’re also the ones who are causing your stress.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that.” I watch him chew the inside of his cheek. “I guess I’m just concerned that things might not get better, even when Bucky’s moved in.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know. I’m worried that it might not be a good fit for him, or that the team won’t accept him, or that he might not even want to be around me.”

“Those are all valid concerns. Have you mentioned any of this to him?”

“God no. I don’t want to stress him out more than I already have with all of this moving business.”

“I might suggest bringing it up. He might be having similar worries himself, and, as helpful as it is to work towards what’s troubling you with me, I won’t be able to settle your nerves.”

“Maybe you’re right…”

“If nothing else, it might open up a new line of communication between the two of you, which couldn’t hurt.”

Steve stays for another hour, just talking. When he leaves, he asks if I want the door open or closed. I don’t give him a definite answer and he leaves it open, just a crack. I laugh and start on his profile.

Someone knocks on my door and I glance up from my paperwork to see Clint standing in the doorway.

“Mr. Barton,” I say. “I was wondering when I might see you.”

He shrugs. “Here I am.”

“After two weeks, I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”

“If I was?”

“Then it’s none of my business.”

The corner of his mouth lifts in a smile. “I like that answer.”

I rise from my desk and gesture to the couch. He raises his eyebrows, but takes a seat anyway. I sit across from him and watch as he tries to decide just how he should sit. In the end, he leans heavily on his knees. Nothing about him is relaxed.

“I’m starting to think Bruce was wrong about you.”

“What’d the green bean tell you about me?”

“Nothing concrete,” I answer. “He just mentioned that you seem to have a positive outlook on things most of the time.”

He snorts. “Great.”

“Mmm, I see. It’s a facade, then?”

He frowns and presses a finger to his right ear. “Could you say that again?”

“I said, it’s a facade, then?”

“Sometimes.”

I nod. “Interesting.”

He barks out a laugh. “Yeah, interesting.”

I watch him look around the room, examining the art on the walls and the stacks of paper on my desk. When he turns his head to the left, I notice his purple earpiece and something suddenly clicks. He tilts his head to the side when he sees me staring.

“What?”

“Would it be easier if we signed?” I ask, signing along as I speak.

He looks surprised. “You sign?”

I laugh. “Yes. My little brother is on the Autism spectrum. When he was a kid, he was almost entirely nonverbal. Mom taught him sign, and the rest of the family learned along with him.”

“That must’ve been really nice for him.”

“It was nice to be able to communicate with him when he couldn’t vocalize what he wanted to say. He eventually started speaking when he was about seven, though.”

“And you still held onto the signing skills?”

“Of course! It’s not like he just, bam, started talking. It was a long process, and he still has nonverbal days sometimes.” Clint starts to actually smile and it warms my heart. “It’s come in handy in my particular line of work too. Deaf and hard of hearing folks need counsellors and therapists too.”

“Which brings the topic of conversation back to me.” He shakes his head and leans back against the couch and signs, “You’re a tricky one, (Y/N).”

“I’m not tricky!”

“Then what?”

“I’m accommodating.” I speak again, but continue to sign along. “You don’t have to tell me everything, or anything, really. But I’m here to help, if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Clint. Any time.”

“Seems like you and Clint are getting close,” Bruce says.

“I don’t know what you mean, man.”

“He’s in here all the time, (Y/N). There’s no way Barton needs therapy five times a week.”

“It’s not always about therapy, Bruce. I strive to make my office a safe space where everyone knows that they can speak freely. He knows that he can come here and chill out without worrying about the rest of the team.”

“Barton doesn’t really worry about anything, though.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Bruce stares at me, eyes narrowed, and snaps his fingers. "You like him."

I roll my eyes. "I do not like him, Bruce. And you're not even here to talk about Clint, you're here to work on yourself and managing your stress levels."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm sure there's something we could talk about aside from me."

I sigh and hold my head in my hands. "I've been here for two months. I haven't been around long enough to form anything more than tentative relationships with the rest of the team. I'm more concerned about whether or not they can open up to me than I am with my love life."

“Right,” Bruce clears his throat.

“Thank you.” He looks thoroughly ashamed and I have to laugh. “I appreciate the interest, but it’s just not something that you need to worry about.”

“No, I understand.” He smiles and shrugs. “I guess I just miss having that easy rapport with you.”

“I mean, we still have that, Bruce. It’s just not something that I want to talk about in the workplace. It’s one thing to shoot the shit over lunch on a Saturday, it’s another to discuss my patients with another patient, all of whom are my coworkers.”

“I didn’t think about it like that.”

I smile. “It’s fine. Did you want to pick up where we left off on Tuesday?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“(Y/N)?”

I’m startled by the woman in the doorway. “Ms. Romanoff?”

She shakes her head and steps into my office. “As long as you’re not a government official, it’s just Natasha.”

“Ah, right.” I sit a little straighter in my chair. “What can I do for you, Natasha?”

“Clint’s said you’ve helped him a lot.”

“I don’t know about that. We just talk. He does all the helping.”

“I figured you’d say that.” She moves quickly across the room and takes a seat on the couch. “I’d like to talk to you, if you have the time.”

“Oh.” I scramble up from my desk to sit across from her. “What about?”

“I need help working through a recent case.”

“Are you sure I’m qualified for that?”

“Well, you said Clint does all the helping. Maybe what I need is a sounding board.”

“Fair enough. Where are you caught up?”

Natasha rattles off the details of a recent mission. I do my best to follow her, but she loses me when she starts explaining the intricacies of a piece of Hydra technology they discovered. Eventually, she perks up, almost looking like she wants to jump up from her seat and run from the room.

“I think I’ve got it.”

“That’s great!”

She calmly gets to her feet and walks to the door. “Thank you, (Y/N).”

I shake my head. “It was my pleasure.”

“Even so, you helped me.” She flashes me an unexpected smile. “I appreciate that.”

“It’s not a problem, Natasha. I hope that we can speak again at some point.”

She nods and heads for the door. “I’ll see you around.”

In the hall I hear, “Oh, hey, Nat.” and Clint pokes his head in soon after.

I smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He leans in the doorway and folds his arms. “What’d Nat dump on you?”

“Doctor patient confidentiality, Barton,” I say. “I can’t tell you.”

His arms fall to his side and he dramatically slumps into the room. “I thought you trusted me!”

I laugh. “I do trust you, Clint. But it’s not my information to give.” He drapes himself across the couch and grins at the sight of me fighting back my smile. “If it were, Bruce would have full access to what we talk about in our sessions.”

“That’s private information, (Y/N)!” He laughs. “I see your point.”

“Good.”

“Did you want to grab lunch later? That weird little cafe down the street started serving some kind of coffee burger.”

“Ugh, and you want to eat that?”

“(Y/N), it’s a coffee burger.”

“With all the heinous shit you put in your body, it’s a wonder you’re still alive.”

“If you think I’m bad, you should meet my dog.”

“Is that an offer?”

“Maybe.” He shrugs. “Guess you’ll have to stick around long enough to find out.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s been four months, Clint. If I haven’t run for the hills yet, I’m pretty sure it’s not gonna happen for a while yet.”

Something twinkles in his eyes. “That’s good to hear. I was worried I might scare you off.”

“If anyone were to scare me off, it’d be Tony.” I shake my head. “That man is a handful.”

“What happened to patient confidentiality?”

“Since when is Tony being a handful a secret?” He laughs and I relax in my seat. “But, yeah, I’ll get lunch with you.”

“Really?”

“Someone has to make sure you don’t keel over from physically eating coffee.”

“Oh come on! It’s not like they solidified the coffee and stuck it on a bun!”

“How do you know they didn’t? Maybe they turned the coffee into jello, passed it through a meat grinder, and threw it on a griddle.”

His face scrunches up in disgust. “Ugh, that’d just be burnt coffee.”

“I’ve watched you drink an entire pot of burnt coffee.”

“Desperate times, (Y/N). They call for desperate measures.”

I sigh and shake my head. ”I guess it’s fine, so long as you’re not addicted to caffeine pills.”

“Those don’t do anything for me.”

“That’s terrifying.”

He laughs, hauls himself up from the couch, and offers me a hand. “Shall we?”

“Shall we what?”

“Head out for lunch.”

“Now? I thought you said later.”

“It’s been like five minutes. It’s later now.”

I laugh. “I can’t just go now. I have an appointment with Steve in twenty minutes. We can leave after that.”

He pouts. “Fine.”

“Don’t give me that look, Clint!”

He sighs and trudges towards the door. “I guess I’ll just have to make a reservation for one thirty.”

“That’d be great.”

He flashes a brilliant smile before disappearing out into the hall. I shake my head and move back to my desk.

“That man is gonna get me in trouble.”

“I thought you said you weren’t involved with Clint?”

“I’m not, Bruce.”

“Then what’s this?” He places his phone on my keyboard.

I pick up the phone and find an article titled “Hawkeye’s New Flame, or Just a Fling?” pulled up. A picture of Clint and I at lunch the other day sits just below a paragraph speculating who I could be. I snort and hand him his phone.

“Clint and I went to lunch. That’s all.” I sit back and fold my arms. “What’s the problem, Bruce?”

“I don’t want you getting dragged into some kind of media storm because you work with us.”

“It’s one article!”

“There’s at least four more like it that I’ve seen.”

“I’m not worried about it, Bruce. Clint just went out for lunch and some pap caught us talking. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it, but I can’t stop people from talking.”

“You shouldn’t have to deal with it.”

“No one should have to deal with anyone plastering their personal life all over the internet, but you know what? I’d rather get caught out in public with Clint than Tony.” I laugh. “Can you imagine the shitstorm that’d kick up if that happened?”

Bruce tries not to laugh. “I guess you’re right.”

“It was bound to get out that the Avengers brought in a counsellor at some point. It’s better that it’s like this instead of some media outlet picking up a rumor and deciding that you’re all unstable.”

“Well…”

“I’m not saying you’re the most sane bunch, but that’s no one’s business but yours. Regardless, don’t worry about this. It’ll be fine.”

“Alright.” He pockets his phone. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

“Of course I would, Bruce. If something comes up, I’ll let you know.”

I sit on the floor of the gym and lift the collar of my shirt to wipe the sweat from my face.

Clint plops down on the floor beside me and tips his head to the side.

“Definitely didn’t expect to find you in here,” he says.

“What, I can’t work out?” I groan and lay back. “Ugh.”

“You okay?”

“No. I knew I should’ve just stuck to the treadmill.”

“What’d you do to yourself?”

“Weights.”

He laughs. “Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know. Is wanting to be able to lift a very large dog a good reason?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a bad reason.” He lays beside me and props himself up on his elbow. “I could help you, if you want.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being all sweaty gross around you.”

He pokes my stomach and I laugh and shift away. “I don’t know, (Y/N), sweaty’s the new sexy.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.” I laugh and scrunch my nose. “Also kind of gross.”

“Sweet and kind of gross, I think you’ve pretty much summed me up perfectly.” I laugh so hard that I snort and he grins. “So, do you want help working out?”

I press my fist to my mouth to quiet my giggling. “If you’re willing to, I really would appreciate it.”

“Then it’s a done deal.” I thank him and his smile softens. “Sorry about those articles last week, by the way.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“I should’ve warned you, at least. I’m used to it, but you didn’t sign up for pap shots and gossip columns when you took this job.”

I scowl. “Honestly, Clint. If you’re not gonna read my lips, read my hands. It’s totally fine. I don’t care. I had a nice time at lunch. A few dumb articles won’t change that.”

“You mean that?”

“Well, yeah. I like spending time with you outside of all of this,” I say, gesturing to the tower in general. “With, y’know, no expectations of maintaining all of the professional bullshit.”

“Pretty sure you’re the most professional one here.”

“Thanks, I’m glad that comes across in the day to day, but do you understand what I’m saying? Like I genuinely do not care about what a shitty news outlet says. At the end of the day, the only opinions that matter are ours.” I sigh and settle on the floor. “Sorry.”

“Sounds like we’re not the only ones who need therapy.”

I hum. “Maybe I do.”

“No shame in it.”

I smile at him. “I know.” I sit up and get to my feet. “It’s getting late, I should head out.”

“You’re in tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be around till noon. I’ve got a wedding later in the day.”

“Not yours, right?”

I laugh. “No, definitely not mine.”

“Cool,” He smiles up at me. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Since when do we have staff meetings?” Clint asks.

“Since we brought on a counselor,” Tony says.

I frown. “I’ve been here six months and I’ve never been to any kind of meeting.”

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you brought that up and just keep moving with the meeting.”

I snort and shoot Clint a look. He laughs and signs for me to stop. I wave him off and turn my attention back to the head of the table.

Tony rambles on for about half an hour before Steve cuts in and the two of them start going back and forth. They bicker for twenty minutes before Thor swans in, greeting everyone with his bright, booming voice. I was stuck in my office the last time he was on Earth, so our paths never had a chance to cross. Steve takes a moment to introduce the two of us and Thor vigorously shakes my hand, unintentionally jostling me around the whole time. He takes his seat on the other side of Bruce and the conversation picks up again.

I catch Clint’s eye twitching in my peripheral when Thor speaks a little too loudly. I gesture to get his attention and he raises his eyebrows when he meets my eyes.

“You good?” I sign.

He nods. “Can’t pay attention to save my life in these meetings.”

“I’ve never known anyone to compliment your attention span.”

He mouths, “Oh, ha ha,” and I laugh.

“You’re mean, (Y/N).”

“And here I thought you liked me.”

“Never said I didn’t.” He grins. “The way things are going, I’d say you’re probably just my type.”

I shake my head and hide my smile behind my hand. “Stop.”

“Aw, you're cute when you're embarrassed." I flip him off and he laughs. “That's a compliment!"

I snort. “Pay attention, Clint.”

We manage to make it through another hour and, by that time, someone has turned off the lights and started giving a presentation. I fold my arms on the table and rest my chin on top and beg myself to stay awake through this meeting. I’m sure it’ll only be a little while longer.

Clint’s hand creeps into my line of sight and he taps the table to get my attention. I shoot him a quizzical look and he lifts his eyebrows.

“You still with us?” he signs.

“No.”

“It’s going longer than I thought it would.”

“I’m honestly about to fall asleep.”

“Aw, (Y/N), no.”

“This is how I go out. Avenge me, Clint.”

“No!”

“It’s your job. You have to.”

“But who will help me through the trauma?”

I cover my mouth to muffle my laughter. “I’d be dead, that’s none of my concern.”

He shakes his head. “And you call yourself my friend.”

Natasha clears her throat, startling me away from the conversation. I try to pay attention to the presentation, but I just can't wrap my head around what they're talking about and Clint easily distracts me again.

"Quick question."

Surprised, I sign, "Shoot."

"Would you want to go out with me?"

My brain stops working for a second. "Wait, what?"

"I said, will you go out with me?"

My heart hammers in my chest. "Like as friends, or on a date?"

He sighs. "We've been hanging out as friends for months now. I'm asking you on a date, stupid."

My face heats and I sit back in my seat. “Oh.”

He laughs. “Did I break you?”

“A little.” I frown.

“Just say yes!”

Startled, I glance up the table, only to find Natasha glaring at Clint and I. Everyone is looking at us and I suddenly want to disappear.

“What’s the problem?” Steve asks.

“I’m sick of watching the two of them flirt with each other,” Natasha says. “You’ve been mooning over each other for months. Just say yes and be done with it.”

“Nat, they haven’t said a single thing since the beginning of the meeting.”

“They’ve been signing at each other the entire meeting.” She looks directly at me and signs, “I see everything.”

“Sorry.”

“Just say yes.” She looks very pointedly between Clint and I. “You’d be good together.”

“I thought you said you didn’t like him!” Bruce says.

“That was months ago, Bruce. Things change.”

“Don’t be hard on her,” Natasha says. “Clint’s an acquired taste.”

“I’m just gonna, um…” I gesture to the door. “I’m just gonna go.”

I see Tony and Steve nod and I shove my chair back from the table and make my escape. The door shuts behind me, and I’m free. I sigh, relieved to be free of the weight of everyone’s eyes on me, only for the embarrassment of having my crush exposed to my coworkers to settle deep in my stomach.

I press my fingertips to my temples and walk down the hallway. “I knew he was gonna get me in trouble.”

I make the decision to just go back to my office. Maybe I can at least get some work done or, at the very least calm down. I turn as the elevator doors close and catch a glimpse of the conference door opening at the end of the hall. I shift slightly so that it’s not in my line of sight.

The elevator ride feels like it’s too long and I immediately flop down on my couch as soon as I’m in my office. I can't get comfortable and shift around until I'm upside down with my legs over the back of the conch, staring at the ceiling. I press the heels of my hands over my eyes and groan out of frustration.

“I left without even answering him,” I mutter.

The door suddenly opens and I freeze, pulling my hands away from my face, waiting for whoever it is to announce themselves.

"(Y/N)?"

"Clint?" I try to sit up and smack my head on the edge of the coffee table. "Shit."

"Are you okay?" he asks.

I rub my forehead and sit up a little more carefully. "I'll live."

He takes a seat on the coffee table and watches intently as I sit upright on the couch and face him. He reaches out and gently touches my forehead, only to jerk his hand back when I wince.

"Sorry."

"Don't, it's fine."

"Okay." He sighs softly and shuffles awkwardly on the table. He stills when I touch his knee and takes my hand in his. "I'm sorry about the meeting. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."

"Honestly, Clint, you don't need to apologize," I murmur. "I got flustered and then embarrassed when everyone else got involved."

"I know. I probably like pushing your buttons a little too much."

"That's not it."

"But I do push your buttons."

"Yeah, but only 'cause I let you." He smiles and I squeeze his hand. "But I'm a deeply private person. To have Natasha butt in like that, no matter the good she meant by it, really set me on edge."

"I had no idea."

"I don't feel like I have to keep everything close to my chest when I’m with you. You tease me, but it’s never from a place of malice and you know me well enough that you never take it too far.”

“I mean, you give as good as you get.” He doesn’t meet my eyes as he runs his thumb over my knuckles. “But still. I should’ve just asked in private, but you know me.”

“Yeah. You’re sweet, but kind of stupid sometimes. More than a little impulsive. And way too fond of coffee.”

“Aw, I thought that was endearing!” He smiles when I laugh. “The invitation still stands, but you don’t have to say yes.”

“What’re you talking about?” He meets my eyes and I shake my head. “I’m not about to turn you down. You haven’t introduced me to your dog yet.”

“Oh, I get it, you only want me for Lucky.”

“Mhm.”

He shakes his head and kneels on the floor in front of me. “Shoulda known.”

“I know, I’m pure evil.” He grins and takes my face in his hands. “I should be fired, right?”

“Without a doubt.”

I hum softly and lean forward to bump my nose against his. After a moment’s hesitation, Clint closes the distance between us and gently kisses me. I place one hand on his forearm and tilt my head to the side to kiss him back. He smiles against my lips and pulls away, his eyes flitting over my face.

“So… about that dog.”

I have no idea what would happen to them after that, but I’d like to think they’re having a great time, petting dogs and continuing to mess with each other, all whilst falling in love.

I’d love to know what you guys thought of this little one shot. Did you love it, did you hate it? Did you breathe out through your nose a little bc you kind of laughed but also didn’t? Be sure to like, reblog, comment, or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future fics, please let me know!

Tag list:

@ghostlyhamlet, @claws-of-vibranium, @creaturefeatures101, @buckysendoftheline, @imagine-assembling-the-avengers, @ptprocrastination, @1950schick, @amayasymone23, @arfrona-and-marvel, @ek823, @fanaticfangirl001, @furrywerewolfcollector, @kissofvenom922, @dawn-phantomhive, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys, @trap-house-homiecide, @buckywhitewolfbarnes, @kaepm981, @howdoesoneadult, @pcdmesamidala, @thefandomplace, @sian22redux, @skeletoresinthebasement, @lady-thor-foster, @jazzcutie, @gaytonystark, @geeksareunique, @nyxveracity, @breezy1415, @feelmyroarrrr, @darling-loki, @lemonadeorange73, @princess-unicorn124, @hermionie-is-my-queen, @tofeartheunknown, @queenoftheunderdark, @avengerscompound

#clint bartonxreader #readerxclint barton #clint barton x reader #reader x clint barton #clintbartonxreader #readerxclintbarton #clint barton #hawkeye #reader insert marvel fic #my perfect birdie boy

133 notes · View notes

bestiegirlemma-simpedition · 2 years

Text

2.15.2022

the temptation to give up on having anything with this girl is really really strong. but i cant. and i hate that. i hate everything about this. i hate how i cant tell her how i feel without fearing that everything’s going to go wrong. i hate that i cant tell how she feels about me. i hate that i cant ask without feeling like im pushing boundaries. i hate that my feelings for her are so strong that i cant think straight (haha). i hate how whenever i’m around her or i see her or even when she looks at me i can hardly speak. i hate that no matter what i do, i cant ever get her off of my mind.

i hate her warm and calming energy and how concerned she gets when i’m not doing well even though she hardly knows me.

i hate how when we facetime, i never want it to end even though we literally just sit in silence the entire time.

i hate how i cant ever find things to talk about with her because she paralyzes my thoughts just by being around me.

i hate how sometimes i catch her staring at me on facetime and i dont know the reason why but i dont even mind.

i hate how i want to spend all of my time learning everything about her.

i hate how our personalities are so similar it’s practically like we share a brain.

i hate how whenever i see a message from her, i smile like a goof.

i hate when she sends me selfies throughout the day without reason and makes my heart flutter.

i hate that even just by thinking about her, i get nervous.

i hate that when she looks at me, it knocks me off my feet.

i hate her short hair and how cute it is when she puts it in a clip and the way she hides out of frame when she brushes her teeth on facetime bc she doesnt like it when people watch her (even though i never do).

i hate the way she sends me instagram posts or stories that remind her of me.

i hate how she understands my UNHhhh references and laughs with me.

i hate how she actually listens to the playlists i make for her and tells me she likes them.

i hate how her smile and laugh makes my mind go blank and my heart beat faster.

i hate how attached i am

and i hate that i’m falling for her with every message, every snap, every facetime call, and every new day.

but i really hate how i dont hate anything about her at all.

and i really, really hate that.

2 notes · View notes

vs-redemption · 4 years

Text

A Big Deal: Part Two

(Jealous!Aizawa x Fem!Reader)

Hello everyone! As promised, here is Part Two of the Jealous!Aizawa request that some people asked for. I decided on a happy ending. I hope that’s okay!

My requests are still open for anyone who is interested. Please check out my rules and masterlist!

You can find part one of the story here!

The clock hanging on the wall in your new office seemed to be slowing down as it counted down the seconds to closing time. Your first week in your promoted position was almost over and you were exhausted. Although you were still over the moon about the advancement, it seemed that there would be a lot you’d need to learn and get used to before you could really get into the swing of your new role at the company. The support and encouragement from your coworkers had been a huge help, but that didn’t stop the onslaught of new information from being mentally taxing. You had been going nonstop all week and all you really wanted now was a relaxing weekend to give your mind a break.

There was only one person you could think of to spend your time with during your little respite, and that was your incredible boyfriend, Shota Aizawa. You knew he worked just as hard, if not harder, than you did on a daily basis. He constantly amazed you with his ability to balance both his job as a teacher at UA and his responsibilities as a pro hero. His astonishing work ethic wasn’t the only thing that drew you to him though. His outstanding bravery was another aspect of his personality that you just had to admire. He sometimes came off as lazy or antisocial to people, but he never hesitated to put the wellbeing of others before his own, even if it meant putting himself in jeopardy.

When you’d first met Aizawa, you had assumed his demanding schedule wouldn’t leave much room for dating or other leisurely activities, but he had surprised you in this aspect as well. Not only had he given up plenty of his precious free time to take you out as much as he could, but he’d also allowed you to come and lounge around his apartment with him whenever he was particularly worn out. He always made sure to spend time with you, even when you were sure he’d rather be alone to recharge. He was truly selfless and you could not ask for a better man to call your boyfriend.

It felt only natural to text him and ask if he was free for the evening once you finally got out of the office. You were quite shocked though when you didn’t get the reply you were expecting. You stare at your phone for a moment, trying to pick apart the meaning of the message. Admittedly, it wasn’t the first time he’d turned down an offer to see you. After all, he sometimes had to pick up another hero’s patrol, or stay after school with his student for longer than expected. This was different though. He was usually more apologetic. This almost seemed like a blatant rejection, at least compared to Aizawa’s usual behavior. And now that you thought about it, your boyfriend had been a little distant for the past few days. You were starting to fear that something was going on.

“Hey!” One of your coworkers finds you standing outside. “Do you have any plans tonight? Some of us are going out for a drink if you’re interested?” You look back down at your phone, hating the feeling of unease that was starting to settle in your chest. You hadn’t done anything wrong, had you? Or had your boyfriend also suffered through an unusually tiresome week?

“Sorry, but I think I’m going to have to pass this time,” you tell your coworker. “Don’t have too much fun without me though.”

“That would be impossible!” he laughs. “Anyway, have a nice weekend!” You both exchange goodbyes and then part ways. You decide to grab some take out from the nearest convenience store before simply heading home for the evening. You change into your pajamas, snuggle up on the sofa, and munch on your food for a while, trying to focus on the show you’d put on. It was difficult to get into it though. The strange text from Aizawa was still occupying your thoughts. You’d been with him for a good amount of time now and this was the first time he’d ever made you feel insecure. You were sure he hadn’t meant to make you so unsettled, but you really wanted to know what was causing this strange behavior regardless. You turn off your television, change out of your pajamas, and head to your boyfriend’s place.

To say Aizawa was shocked when you turned up at his door was an understatement. He had assumed you’d find some friends to go out with to kick off the weekend, but now you were standing in front of him looking pretty upset.

“Sorry to show up unannounced,” you apologize as he invites you in. “I’m not intruding, am I?”

“Of course not,” he assures you, even though he was worried about what this surprise visit could mean. “Is everything all right?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” you kick off your shoes and follow him into his living room where he turns to look at you in confusion. “I know we’re both busy, but we’ve hardly spoken this week and I haven’t seen you since the party last weekend.” You felt a little weird bringing this all up, but it needed to be dealt with. “I guess I just miss you and it seems like you don’t feel the same way.”

Aizawa didn’t know he could feel any worse than he already had, but somehow he had managed to do the wrong thing again. He lets out a sigh and reaches up to run a hand through his long untamed hair. “This is my fault,” he mumbles out. “I was trying to give you more space.”

“Space?” you hadn’t expected a comment like that. “For what?”

“To be yourself… I guess?” Aizawa shrugs, feeling way outside of his comfort zone. “You seem happy when you’re out with your friends, so I didn’t want you to feel like you had to be tethered down by me when you could be doing something more entertaining. I know I’m not always that exciting to be around.”

“What?” you honestly couldn’t believe what you were hearing. “Do you really think I feel that way about you?” He shrugs again which causes a horrible feeling to ignite in your heart. Aizawa was such a good person and it pained you to think that you’d somehow made him feel like he wasn’t enough to make you happy.

“I like going out with my friends but they can be exhausting,” you admit, praying that your words would have a strong enough impact. “They’re fun to goof off with every once in a while, but I could never get tired of being around you, Shota. I’m happy no matter what we do together.”

Your words moved Aizawa and he felt a spark of hope that things might be okay. He takes your hands off his face so he could hold them in his. “You know we’ve been together for a year now, right?” he asks. You furrow your eyebrows in thought until realization dawns on you.

“Oh!” you pull your hands away to smack yourself in the forehead. “Oh no! It really has been that long!” Guilt over forgetting your own anniversary threatens to consume you but Aizawa is quick to curb those negative feelings by snatching your hands back.

“Celebrating the amount of time we’ve been together isn’t as important to me as knowing we’re both enjoying that time,” he admits awkwardly. “I was just concerned that maybe you had stopped enjoying it.”

“Of course not!” you declare firmly. “I love you and every second we spend together.” Aizawa’s mouth pulls into a rare smile and he tugs you into his chest to hug you tight, feeling relieved that he wouldn’t be losing you today. You hug him back just as tightly.

“You’re my home,” you whisper softly. The words earn you a tender kiss on the forehead and he answers, “You’re my home too.” The pieces of your relationship seemed to shift back into place after that and the stability felt wonderful.

“So, is it okay if I stay here with you for a little while?” you ask almost shyly. Aizawa takes your face into his hands and smiles again.

“Stay as long as you want,” he says, before pulling you into a kiss.

Taglist: @fallenlilangel99// @ jinny-06 // @lucacangettathisass// @sociallyanxiousbre// @ aiko-lovescats

#shouta aizawa x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #shouta aizawa #shota aizawa #bnha #mha #Boku no Hero Academia #my hero academia #My writing #writing requests #aizawa x reader #Cindy's Writing

210 notes · View notes