Godless Prophet

Drawings on Ice (Part One) | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anonymous:  I’d love for you to write a Charlie hockey fic. I’ve been hearing that heard a great hockey player so I need that in my life

A/N: this is going to be a two-parter! Hope this is what you imagined! 

Summary: You moved from the US to Canada, starting over at a new college. Your newest (and only) friend begs you to join her at her boyfriend’s hockey practice where you see Charlie for the first time. With his beautiful eyes and perfect smile and perfect facial structure, you become obsessed with drawing him. It’s been a habit of yours to draw anyone you saw with interesting bone structure. Though your friend warns you about the jock bad boy, you can’t help but be intrigued by him... 

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x Gender Neutral!Reader

A/N: I hope I made this as gender neutral as possible! Let me know if there’s anything I need to change to make it even more inclusive for non-binary/gender fluid people. 

Words: 3,648

Warnings: Some curse words (bitch, fuckboy)

You’ve never been a fan of any type of sports. Your siblings used to play basketball and you had to go to their games, though you were always busy sketching in your sketchbook to really notice or learn anything about it. Then, you suddenly had to move for your mother’s job. To Canada, of all places. Canada, the land of maple syrup, brutally cold winters… and hockey. The only good thing about moving thus far, was meeting Andrea. Andrea is a preppy, happy-go-lucky kind of girl, and was the first one to talk to you on your first day at your new college. Always dressed in pink or purple, make-up done flawlessly and always so kind, you think she’s being fake. Normally, people like that scared you. Kids like that in your American High School were always the popular ones that bullied the antisocial nerds, which included you at that point. That’s why you’d avoided talking to anyone on your first day. Only Andrea was persistent. You could not for the life of you shake her off. 

So, instead of trying any longer, you embraced it and became friends with her fast. Thanks to her, you found your way through the buildings and all the classes. She even gave you tips on some of the professors you had. 

To be fair, Andrea did help you out a lot, so when she asked you to come along to her new boyfriend’s hockey practice, you had no other choice but go. You’d packed your sketchbook though, just in case you got bored. “So, which one is yours?” you ask Andrea when you sit down in the bleachers with her. “Number eight!” she says, pointing to one of the players skating in circles. He catches his girlfriend pointing at him and gives her a wave, which makes Andrea giggle. The boy with the number 10 plastered on his back, turns upon seeing his buddy wave to the bleachers. You catch his eyes and feel a shiver run down your spine. Even from afar, you can tell those are the most beautiful and enchanting eyes you ever did see. “Who’s number 10?” you ask Andrea without taking your eyes off the boy. Without even noticing, you start to trace his features on your leg with your finger, a habit you developed over the years. His chiseled cheekbones, his fine nose, the wrinkles by his mouth as he smiles up at her. “Charlie. Sam’s best friend,” Andrea explains while you try your hardest not to stare at the cute hockey player while you’re tracing him. “Wouldn’t get too close though, I heard he has a reputation of being a heartbreaker.” Of course. All cute boys have to be absolute disappointments.  Despite Andrea’s warning, you couldn’t help but think about Charlie every minute of the day. It was the smile and the eyes that haunted you through every lecture and every study-session with Andrea in the library. You traced his features on your empty papers on automatic pilot, not even realizing you were doing it until you were actually drawing him with a ballpoint pen. “Honey, no!” Andrea says sternly. The two of you are at the library, studying for midterms when the drawing on your notes starts to take shape. The shape of a certain hockey player. “I can’t help it, Andi! He’s in my mind and I just -- my brain just tells me to draw things and he’s been the only thing on my mind lately, I… I don’t know why or what it is, but I’m kind of drawn to him?” The girl in front of you shakes her head disappointedly. “Look at him!” she whisper-shouts, nodding her head to somewhere behind you. You slowly turn your head to find Charlie with one leg up on a chair, leaning his elbow on it as he’s flirting with a girl. “That’s number five this week… And it’s Tuesday.” You can’t help but stare at him though. His profile is impeccable. Before you know it, you’re back to tracing his features on your leg. “Y/N!” Andrea shouts in a hushed tone, capturing your attention again, ruining your entire mental picture of Charlie. “You ought to stop that, sweetie. I don’t want you getting hurt.” “Oh, I don’t get hurt, Andi,” you reply with a smirk, turning to face her again, “Being the antisocial kid in high school has its perks.” Andrea’s eyes widen at something behind you. “Time to prove it then,” she mutters. You quickly hide your drawing underneath your textbook and pretend to continue studying as Charlie approaches your table. “Hello, ladies,” he greets with a charming smile. Though on the inside you’re just about melting, your tough exterior doesn’t give it away. “I don’t think we’ve met.” He reaches a hand out to you. “I’m Charlie.” You glance up from your textbook, let your eyes dart from his hand to his face and turn back to your textbook. “Okay…” he mutters, feeling a little defeated by his first rejection. “We’re studying, Charlie. Can we help you with anything?” He glances over at you for a split second as he thinks about it. 

“Uhm, yeah. Are you guys coming to the game this weekend?” His flirty demeanor changes all of a sudden to someone less confident. You look up at him, wanting to break your antisocial facade because it never brought you anywhere in High School and won’t bring you anywhere now. “I might. If I don’t have anything better to do, that is.” You decide to run with the sassy-bitch inside you. Charlie actually looks disappointed with this answer. “Okay…” he turns back to Andrea, “You’ll come, right?” She nods her head. “Can you convince her?” You chuckle at his desperate attempt, which earns you a glare from him. “She can make up her own mind, Charlie,” Andrea replies, raising her hands in defense. Gruntled and disappointed, Charlie turns around and leaves the two of you alone. “Girl!” Andrea squeals once he’s out of earshot, and holds up her hand for a high five, which you giddily give. “Told you I could do it,” you shrug with an amused smile on your face. “That was very impressive. Did you see his face when you didn’t even introduce yourself? He was so disappointed his charms didn’t work on you!” she giggles loudly. The librarian shushes her, and she holds up her hands in defense before lapsing into quieter giggles with you. You can’t help but feel bad though. Charlie actually seemed incredibly upset by your lack of interest. It makes you wonder if he actually says who people say he is. On Saturday, you go to the hockey game anyway. There’s nothing else you can do, and besides, it gives you a chance to draw a little more of Charlie in action on the ice. The surprised smile on Charlie’s face is to die for. It makes you feel like you’re the only girl he sees, like he’s not the guy people say he is. You say hello to Andrea and some of her friends you’ve met before, and sit down on the bench, immediately getting your sketchpad and pencil out. You start on Charlie, but halfway through, Andrea asks you to draw Sam too. Deciding it would probably be less suspicious if you drew the entire team, you start on Sam. By halftime, you have about every team member on your page sketched out. None of them quite as detailed as Charlie, but you’ll get to that at some point. “We’re going to say hello to the boys, you coming?” Andrea asks you when you’re shading your drawings. You glance up at Andrea, then glance down at the rink where you find Charlie already looking at you. He cocks his head, beckoning you to come over. For a second then, you’re forgetting all about your antisocial facade and feel yourself heat up. You cough the feeling away and get up after stuffing your sketchpad back into your bag, following Andrea down the steps. “You came,” he states when you reach him on the side of the rink. “Are you always this attentive?” you ask with a hint of sarcasm flavoring your voice. His chuckle fills your ears like a beautiful melody. Why does he do this to you? There honestly are so many boys that could be so much better for you, but instead, you’re crushing on the campus bad boy. “Are you always this hostile?” You’re dumbfounded at his comeback. No one ever called you hostile. Antisocial, sure. A bitch, multiple times. But never hostile. “You weren’t paying a lot of attention to the game though?” he says, changing the subject upon noticing your reaction. “Well, neither have you if you noticed me not paying attention,” you shoot back, an amused smile tugging at your lips. “Touché,” he chuckles. “But seriously, what were you doing?” You open your mouth to say something, but are stuck on what to tell him. Do you lie to him? Or say the truth? “I--I’m an arts student, and I draw pretty much everything I see, so…” His eyes widen at your response, as does his smile. You’re not entirely sure if telling the truth was a good idea. He might just run off, like everyone in High School used to do when you told them you drew them, no matter how good it was. Everyone always thought it was creepy, so you tended to keep all your art to yourself. “Can I see?” he asks just as the ref blows his whistle, signalling the start of the next half. He gives me an apologetic look, thinking of a good compensation. “Stay after the game?” You know you shouldn’t. You know Andrea is probably right and he’s the biggest womanizer walking this earth, but looking into his gorgeous hazel eyes and witnessing his lips curl up into the most beautiful smile, you can’t help but nod your head. His teeth bite down his lip as he skates away, keeping his eyes on you. 

“What was that about?” Andrea asks you when you take your seats again. You let out a deep, confused, yet content sigh. “I have no clue…” For a while, you watch the game -- mostly Charlie -- and witness him making a goal. You, along with all the other supporters of the team, get up from your seats, cheering loudly. Charlie looks up at you, a wide smile plastered on his face as he points to you. Your heart skips a beat, not expecting him to do something like that at all. “Someone has a crush on you…” Andrea whispers in your ear, a teasing smile on her face. “No, he doesn’t! That wasn’t for me…” you try to reassure yourself, but fail miserably. That was for you, and you know it all too well. Another thing you know, is that this probably shouldn’t be quite as heart-melting as it is. “If that’s what you have to tell yourself…” Andrea mutters before turning back to the game. This is not what you thought would happen in your first month of moving to Canada and starting anew at another college. Not at all. 

The game is coming to an end now, and you’re still watching. Yes, you read that correctly. You’re still watching the game. A sports game. You! You never thought you would even last ten minutes watching, but somehow, Charlie made it all the more interesting. After every goal he’s scored, he pointed up at you, making you blush like crazy. You have absolutely no idea what’s happening or why he’s doing what he’s doing. All you know is that you like it. You like the way he makes you feel like a normal person for once in your life. Like you’re important. Like you matter. For once, it doesn’t feel like you’re the weirdo art kid that sits on the sidelines, drawing everything and everyone they see. “We’re going to go for some drinks with the team, want to come?” Andrea asks when the game is over and the players all head to the dressing rooms and the crowd files out of the bleachers. “Oh, uhm… I think I might stay a little while longer, you know? Work on my sketches,” you try your hardest not to smile like an absolute crazy person. Andrea raises her eyebrows at you, giving  you a knowing look. She can just about see right through you. “Just be careful, okay?” she takes you in for a quick hug goodbye and then leaves with her friends. You sit down again and take your sketchpad out of your bag to kill some time while waiting for Charlie. He probably has to shower and change out of his gear and talk to his buddies before coming out to find you. For a while, you just sit and stare at the drawing of all these boys. They’re scattered all over the paper, but only one really captures you, and that’s Charlie. He’s the boy in the center of the page. Somehow, you really managed to bring out his very best features. His sparkling eyes, his chiseled jawline, his sharp cheekbones. On that page in front of you is Charlie. Though the others somewhat look about right, Charlie really takes the crown in this picture. It’s almost like you’ve studied him so well, that you drew him this perfectly. Which is only half true. All it took was one look and you had him down. All of his features, all of his details. You had it all down from one single look at him. You’ve started adding some more shadows to his face, the world around you vanishing as those eyes stare right back at you. You’re so enthralled, you don’t even notice the real life Charlie walking up to you until his voice reaches your ears. “Hey, sorry if I made you wait long.” Your head snaps up and your eyes widen, almost looking like a deer caught in headlights. He places his bag on the bench in front of you before sitting down next to you. A scent of minty freshness and invigorating citrus meets your nostrils. “Oh, no. Don’t worry about it,” you tell him with a smile, carefully closing your sketchpad and sticking your pencil between the rings at the top. “That was a very good game,” you compliment him, nodding towards the rink to emphasize. “I think… Not really a sports person.” He chuckles at this, glancing down at the floor bashfully. “I guess I found my lucky charm.” The second he looks up at you again and those words tumble out of his mouth, you can feel your stomach do flips. To cover the way it actually makes you feel, you roll your eyes, smiling amusedly. “How many people have you said that too, hm?” you ask with raised eyebrows. His smile falters at this, making you realize that it might not be something he likes to hear. The same way you don’t like hearing you’re a creep or a stalker for drawing pictures of people. “I don’t know what people have said about me to you, but I really am not what they peg me for.” His voice is soft, and for the first time since meeting him, he sounds fragile. “You sleep with two different people in one week, and they have you pinned down as the campus’ man-whore.” You give him a sympathetic smile, even though he’s not even looking at you. “I’m not actually this guy that sleeps around, you know? Sure, I flirt with a lot of people, but if your reputation precedes you, well…” he trails off at the end, and then finally looks up at you. “I know how you feel…” you start carefully, which captures his undivided attention. “There was this girl in high school and she had the most beautiful features, you know? Sharp jawline, the deepest dimples in her cheeks when she smiled… I couldn’t help but keep drawing her. She just took so well on paper, and when I showed her, she called me a stalker and a creep. From then on out, I became the stalker creep from Valley High.” You roll your eyes at the memory of Kiara and everyone else at that school. “So, I have a reputation that precedes me too…” “It’s nice to know I’m not alone,” Charlie says with a light-hearted chuckle. “Could I… Could I look at your work?” he carefully asks, pointing at the pad in your lap. You wrapped your fingers around the leatherbound sketchbook, debating it. “Promise you won’t run when you see what’s in here?” You offer it to him, and he grabs it, but you’re holding it so tightly, he can’t take it. He raises an eyebrow at you. “What? It’s not like you drew me or anything, did you?” he jokes, to which you just press your lips together in a thin line. His expression softens in realization. “Oh…” You stare at him for a moment, both of you holding onto the pad. “I promise I won’t run, okay?” You slowly let go of the pad. He places it on his lap and starts flipping through pages. The first few drawings are random kids from campus, either studying in the library or reading a book underneath the big maple tree. Then follow Andrea’s drawings. She suggested being your model, she said you could ask her any time you wanted. After that, Charlie’s sketches follow. The first few are of him during practice with his helmet on. On the next page, are the ones you drew in the library. Some profile, some portrait. He then flicks to the one of all the players, and shuts it after finding empty pages after that. It’s silent for a moment, like he’s taking it all in. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shown you that,” you quickly say and reach for your book, but Charlie has a steady grip on it. He finally looks up at you, a shocked expression on his face. “No. No, it’s just… I wish I knew the name of the artist that captured me so realistically on paper.” You swallow a lump in your throat as his hazel eyes bore deep down into your soul. “Uhm… Y/N,” you introduce yourself shyly. “I just have a habit of drawing people with really nice facial structure, I guess…” you add with a nervous chuckle, staring down at your fingers as they play around with the bracelets around your wrists. “Huh…” You look up at that, wondering if it’s a weirded-out ‘huh’ or something else. “What?” It comes out in an unwanted whisper. “No one’s ever given me a compliment about my facial structure,” he smiles down at you. It’s the most overwhelming feeling of warmth radiating through your body from that one smile. “It’s true though! If you check that last page of the whole team, the others don’t really have that sharp a jaw or chiseled cheekbones like you,” you state, pointing at the sketchpad. He opens it on that page and watches it for a couple seconds. “This makes me feel like the prettiest boy on the team.” He closes it again and hands it over to you, looking straight into your eyes again. You swear you’re going to faint one time if he keeps on doing that. “You are the prettiest boy on the team, Charlie,” you joke, grinning teasingly whilst clutching the sketchpad against your chest. Charlie chuckles at this, and you swear you can detect a slight blush on his cheeks as he looks down at his feet again. “You want to get out of here?” he then asks, “We could go to the coffee shop across the street to warm up? Get that little nose of yours back to its normal color.” He softly boops your nose, which is no doubtedly red from the cold from the ice rink. You giggle nervously, and then nod your head in agreement. The two of you get up from your seats and grab your bags. Before you even realize it, Charlie has grabbed your freezing hand in his warmer one, and guides you down the bleachers all the way to the café across the street. The warmth engulfs you like a welcome hug as the two of you take a seat in a booth by the window. “What’s your go-to coffee order?” he asks, perusing the menu even though he knows what he wants. You scan the booklet, looking for the one thing you always get.   “A cappuccino with whipped cream,” you reply, pointing at the order on the menu. “Ooh, good choice!” he agrees excitedly, “Would choosing a hot chocolate make me less cool?” You chuckle, “Well, it’s a hot chocolate, it’s bound to make you less cool.” He laughs at your joke, throwing his head back. You can’t help but laugh along, mostly at how adorable he is in a fit of laughter. “Good one, Y/N,” he says. You give your orders to the waitress, and lapse into a conversation about everything and anything. He asks you about your college major, and you ask him all about hockey. The way his eyes light up when he’s talking about the sport he loves, or anything he loves, is endearing. You can’t believe Andrea made you stay away from him for so long. Charlie really isn’t the bad boy jock she had him pegged for. If anything, he’s the opposite. He’s kind and considerate, and incredibly ambitious and passionate about everything he loves. You just want to know everything about him and spend as much time with him as possible. Without even realizing it, you’re tracing his features again on your leg, preparing for yet another drawing of him. Preparing for more adventures with him.

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In The Wreckage of Exile (Safe and Sound Part I)

What was casted away... shall be found.

(An alternative take in which, Eret and Fundy find Tommy during exile, thus changing history.)

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31232840/chapters/77199998

"You really need to chart a map, son. You can't keep losing an entire country." Eret ran a hand through their disheveled hair, nearly knocking the flower crown that Fundy had given them off of their head as they peered around at the forest they had both gotten lost in. Fundy scouted ahead, sunlight casting his ginger hair with an angelic and warm glow, his fox ears twitching every so often. "We've been walking for miles now, Fundy. I'm quite sure this isn't the way to Drywaters."

In truth, Eret was quite sure that they’d gone the complete opposite way.

Fundy casted a look over his shoulder, traces of exhaustion clear on his face as he finally leaned against a tree. Eret slowly walked up to him, dark shades glancing down at the fox hybrid as they took a momentary break. Fundy's golden-flecked brown eyes traced the area they were in, coming to the horrible conclusion that yes, he had gotten them lost again. "Sorry, ren. I'm not the best when it comes to direction."

They took a deep breath, their heart aching with pain for their companion, their friend, their son. Eret didn’t mind the long trek towards the wilderness, having been the one to suggest they go to Drywaters to take Fundy’s mind away from his troubles. A walk was sufficient enough for that.

"It's alright, Fundy. You're just tired is all." Eret placed a hand on Fundy's head, caressing his hair before settling next to him. They weren't in a hurry, it would do both of them some good to rest. "Tell me when you're ready."

They watched Fundy run a hand through his hair, ginger and white strands blending in together, but he didn’t get too far before his fingers touched Eret’s hand. Fundy smiled, holding onto Eret for a moment before his eyes turned back towards the ground. There was a guilty look in Fundy’s gaze, his mouth curled into a grimace while his free hand reached down to pick at the end of his shirt. Eret tsked at the small holes at the bottom of Fundy’s clothing. It was inevitable with Fundy’s nails being so sharp, but if it helped Fundy calm down then Eret would not stop him.

"I should've made a map, ren. Now, we're lost."

They shook their head, patting Fundy on the head and scratching him behind the ears. The fox hybrid sighed, leaning into the touch with a small smile on his face. Eret smiled along with him. They’d rather not Fundy be upset, that was the opposite of their goal after all. They continued to pet Fundy until his tail was wagging, the fluffy fur of orange and white thumping against the tree’s bark. They gave Fundy one last pat, happy to see Fundy’s contented and joyful smile.

"We'll find our way to Drywaters. Think of this as an adventure. We never know what secrets lurk within the wilderness." Eret surveyed the thick foliage of the forest, not a single sign of civilization for miles. They only hoped a mob wouldn't appear out of nowhere. As they looked around, they noticed a thin line of smoke emerging from the treetops a distance away. It was a small wisp of smoke, barely visible in the brightness of day that colored the forest with its golden hue. Eret wondered who could possibly be living in the middle of nowhere, slightly worried that a familiar pinkette would appear to threaten them for being on his territory. Eret shook their head, knowing that Techno wouldn't do anything to harm them if Eret just explained that they were lost. Techno wasn't cruel enough to simply strike them for existing… unless they were orphans. "Fundy, I see smoke over there. We should try to move towards it, if we're lucky we might find the ever elusive Dream's house."

Fundy scoffed beside them, rolling his eyes until Eret could only see the whites. Without really meaning to, they reached up towards their sunglasses, adjusting them for a moment despite them having not moved at all. Fundy peered up at the wispy smoke, raising an eyebrow at it. A bittersweet smile flashed across the fox hybrid’s face, but it quickly disappeared.

"I have a slight suspicion that he doesn't even sleep, much less have a house of his own." Fundy rolled his eyes again, pushing off the tree as they both slowly made their way towards the smoke. Fundy chewed on the inside of his cheek, picking at the sleeve of his shirt as they drew closer towards what he could only hope was not a painful death trap. There weren't many people who wandered this far into the desert, fearful of what horrifying and bloodthirsty monsters lurked in places where no man dared to travel. Fundy knew firsthand how terrible the outside world could be outside the confines of the Essempy. His father was a man who travelled the world, and Fundy used to have the same urge for adventure… until he had wandered into a dark forest filled with beasts that should never see the light of day. He shook his head, tearing the memories from his mind as he followed after Eret. As they neared, he took notice of the trees, slight indentations of axe markings digging into their barks. Some marks looked fresh and horribly made, as if whoever left them was too weak to hold the axe properly. Someone was actually living here. Eret paused too, their gaze meeting Fundy's. "Uhm… You know we could always turn around—"

"I'm sure we'll be fine, Fundy."

They both stumbled into a clearing, a beachfront that overlooked a never-ending ocean. Eret took notice of the shabby white tents that had been set up, the shelters covered in grime and dirt. Nature truly was a cruel mistress, how anyone could live here was beyond Eret’s understanding. A small dirt path led up towards a poorly made cabin, if one could even call it a cabin that is. The wood was splintering and rotting at the sides, threatening to collapse on whoever dared tried to stay in it. It was a pitiful sight, clearly made with limited resources… or the person was too weak to finish it… or the person had held no desire to actually finish its construction.

They inspected the pitiful structure, noticing the lack of roof for shelter and the various holes that littered its sides. From their angle, they could just about see the numerous amounts of chests that decorated the back wall of the structure. They looked back towards Fundy, noticing the way Fundy was sniffing at the air, like he was picking up on a muted smell. Eret didn’t know what it was, but there was a familiarity in the air. A scent of past regrets and the destruction of hope…

"There's a nether portal over there, we could probably use it to head back home." Fundy walked into the clearing, seeing the familiar hue of purple against the color of dark green grass and soft yellow sand. He slowly made his way over to it, his eyes shifting towards the destroyed nether portal just below the one he was currently standing next to. Maybe he should take the obsidian… "Ren, I'm going to mine the obsidian for a sec, okay? At least we can get home with this… Gods, know where we even are by this fucking point. I want nothing more than to go home and sleep."

Eret didn't get the chance to respond before Fundy began to mine the second nether portal. They smiled, putting in a reminder in their head to make tea once they both got home. Fundy would insist on hot chocolate but Eret knew very well that Fundy was allergic. They shook their head at the thought, turning instead to look around the strange area. "I'll be right back, Fundy!"

"Don't die! Or else I'm stealing your stuff!"

"Don't burn the forest while I'm not looking, Fundy! I mean it, son!" Eret heard the indignant and insulted scoff, saw the glint of mischief in the fox hybrid's eyes before they finally headed closer towards the shack. Fundy wouldn’t dare. Even if he did, Eret knew that they had a bucket of water within their inventory. As they walked through the dirt pathway, they looked at the unlit tiki torches that they supposed lit up the path during the nighttime. It felt lonely. A lit path at night, with perhaps only one person traversing it. Eret shivered at the thought of such solace and silence. In the far distance, they saw what appeared to be a roughly put-together Christmas tree decorated with bits of broken glass and fraying pieces of dyed wool. It looked like a mess.

Yet it felt painful to look at. They glanced at the poorly placed pieces of wool on the lanky tree, Eret could only hope that it didn’t decide to collapse the moment Eret looked away. Someone had placed the wools on the tree’s rotting branches, pieces of string barely holding them up while others had already collapsed to the ground. The pieces of glass glinted underneath the sunlight, casting the ground with shimmers of golden light. At night, Eret thought, it probably decorated the ground with the silver glow of the moon and stars. They weren’t colored glass, but shards that looked like they came from smashed bottles. Eret turned away from the sight. Their heart was beginning to ache for the poor soul who had tried to feel some semblance of Christmas joy.

They stopped at the shack's small entrance, barely big enough for anyone to truly fit through. Eret glanced inside, finally seeing those rows of chests within the small cabin. They turned away, heading over towards one of the tents.

Eret paused midway.

Their eyes widened for a moment, their feet carrying them towards a particular spot on the ground. Eret blinked, mouth hanging open for a second. Someone was here. Someone was here and they needed help. Eret stood by the edge, eyes casted low. They couldn’t really believe what they were seeing. A hand reached up to clutch at their chest, fingers shaking despite themselves. Eret forced themself to keep calm, breathing in through their nose. They felt nausea bubble up from within, but they forced their sickness down. It wasn’t that the sight was anything new, but it certainly was not one that they thought they’d ever see again. Not in this lifetime, at least.

There was a pit in the ground, scorch marks tainting the sides as though a fire had been set in the middle of the hole. Eret peered down, seeing small chunks of metal sticking out from the burnt earth. They crouched beside it, fingers touching the sides. The ground still felt warm, a residue of gunpowder in the air as Eret slowly backed away from what they now saw as a crater. What had happened here? They couldn't see blood anywhere, but someone has just recently been here. The smell of ash was too strong, the earth too hot for it to not be recent. Eret didn’t understand it. Why would anyone throw explosives down a hole in the ground? Something felt wrong here.

"Boo!" Eret nearly fell in as Fundy suddenly appeared behind them, cackling as Eret tried to keep their balance. They gave Fundy a look, one that just made the fox hybrid grin as he finally took a glance at what Eret was inspecting. Fundy tilted his head, his eyebrows drawn together in thought. "I know I burn forests down when I get upset, but this is a bit excessive. Dangerous too since it looks like someone dug a hole and just, ya know, plonked an explosive inside. They must have had a lot of shitty stuff if they really wanted to get rid of it all… wait… is that… are those armor pieces?"

"It seems so. Though why anyone would waste such precious resources out here in the wilderness is quite confusing." Eret looked over at the tent nearby, wondering if this area's tenant was inside. Fundy looked over, a questioning look in his eyes as though he were thinking the same thing. It wouldn't hurt to check. After all, the person living there might be injured from the explosion. They needed to check. "I'll go ahead. Stay behind me, Fundy. We have no idea or clue if the person who lives here is friendly or… not. It would be best if we did not take our chances."

"Thanks for volunteering for death first." Fundy mumbled beneath his breath, following after Eret as they slowly edged their way towards the tent. He held out his hand, his trusty axe materializing in his hold. "This is such a shitty situation, why can’t we just leave and forget this place…? But if you insist on imminent death, then okay… but… be careful, ren. I mean it."

"When have I never been careful?"

They reached the entrance to the tent, stopping as they heard shuffling from within. Eret heard labored breathing from inside, a stuttering inhale of breath as whoever it was began to move away from them and into the back of the tent. Eret pursed their lips together, worried that the stranger might run off into the woods. They wouldn't want to chase some poor soul out into the wilderness to be at the mercy of the mobs. Eret tried to peek through the small slit in the middle of the tent, seeing nothing but a moving shadow. They could see the faint outline of blonde hair at the corner, though that didn't give Eret enough information. "Hello? Is anyone here? We apologize for stumbling into your home, but we noticed the smoke from the forest and came to investigate. Are you alright? We saw the crater and wanted to see if anyone was injured."

"Eret?" They froze, a familiar voice reaching their eyes. Neither they nor Fundy hesitated before quickly entering the small tent. Fundy bit back a gasp as dull blue eyes stared at them from the corner, disbelief dancing in Tommy's gaze as he glanced at the two of them. Tears sprung from the boy's eyes as his breath stuttered into gasping sobs. Eret stood still, surprise still filtering through their veins. Tommy was here, and he looked like a mess. Even with only a sliver of light, Eret could see the tattered clothes that Tommy wore, his hair disheveled and long from what must've been months of isolation. He looked thin… too thin. Eret felt a pang in their heart. How could they have left Tommy like this? "No. No. Please. Why can't the visions just go away. Just go away. This isn't true. This isn't true. Go the fuck away you fucking bastards. Dream, if this is some sick joke of yours, just fuck off… please… I fucked up, I know! Please, leave me alone…”

"Tommy… it's us, man. Eret and Fundy!" Fundy took the first step, his boot crunching against the grass which caused Tommy to curl deeper into himself. Fundy paused before slowly crouching down until he was at the same height as Tommy. Fundy's hand hovered a bit closer as he bit the inside of his cheek, he didn't want Tommy to go into a panic the moment he tried to touch him. "Tommy, it's us! Look, I'm going to tap you on the arm, okay?"

Eret watched as Fundy moved a bit closer, tapping Tommy with one finger. Tommy stilled, confusion flitting through those his dead blue eyes as realization finally dawned upon him. "You're real… you're… you're actually here."

"We're here, Tommy. It's okay. You're safe."

Tommy's gaze suddenly turned to Eret, and for once Eret didn't see a single trace of malice in them. Tommy had never quite forgiven them for what they had done during the first war, regarding as a traitor for the rest of Eret's days. It had stung, but Eret knew that they deserved it. Guilt gnawed at their chest as they wondered if it was their fault that Tommy was in such a state. If it was their fault that it had come to this. Tommy would be happy in L'Manburg if Eret hadn't given in to the temptation of power. Tommy would be okay, Wilbur would be alive, Tubbo wouldn't have been forced into the presidency… Fundy… Fundy wouldn't have been an orphan. So many things gone wrong, and all with the press of a button. Fundy caught their eyes, a warning in them as though Fundy could hear the despicable thoughts that races through Eret's head. A weak voice brought them back to the present, "Eret… I—"

Fundy quickly caught Tommy before he could drop to the ground, the teen collapsing in utter exhaustion. He glanced at over Eret who had raced to Tommy's side, looking over for any injury that could have caused the sudden faint. Fundy sighed as Eret moved away, slight relief on their faces. Tommy must have collapsed from exhaustion. That was probably it. Fundy held onto his uncle's unconscious form, frightened by how he could feel the bones beneath his hands as he tried to hold Tommy in a comfortable position. What had Dream done to him? Fundy felt a searing anger bubble in his veins, but he didn't know who was to blame. Was it Dream for lying to them about Tommy's condition? Or was it Fundy for not stepping in to stop his uncle's exile?

"It wasn't your fault either, Fundy. We made our mistakes but we are not to blame for Tommy's condition." Eret spoke before Fundy's thoughts could go deeper. Fundy bit his bottom lip, but didn't argue, knowing that Eret could tell when he was upset. Fundy shifted his hold, one arm supporting Tommy's back and another supporting the back of his knees. Tommy's head rested against his shoulder, and Fundy wished Dream was nearby so he could take one of the man's lives, for even in sleep Tommy looked absolutely miserable. It wasn't fair. Tommy shouldn't have been left alone like this. Dream shouldn't have dared to do this. Fundy had no doubt that the crater outside was Dream's doing… Tommy wouldn't do such a thing, destroy armor for the sake of it. Fundy let out a growl, ears pressed against the top of his head as he slowly stood up. Eret followed after him, their mouth set into a thin line as they both left the tent. "We can't leave Tommy here. I don't… we shouldn't leave him here. We need to go before Dream decides to come back."

"We could take Tommy to Drywaters, I never told Dream about it. He shouldn't be able to find us there." At least, that's what Fundy hoped. He never saw the purpose of telling his ex-fiance where he planned to live. Why should he? He didn't want Dream knocking at his door one day to apologize for a relationship he probably was never invested in. Tommy would be safe at Drywaters. He and Eret could help Tommy recover there and once things have settled down, they could tell Tubbo and Phil about Tommy's whereabouts. Fundy looked over at Eret who nodded, a smile forming on their face as they began to head towards the nether portal. They could only hope they didn't bump into a familiar masked man during their trek through the nether. Fundy shivered as he realized they'd have to cross New L'Manburg to get to Drywaters. If anyone caught them… well, they were completely and utterly fucked . It was time to be sneaky. He slowed down, trying to match Eret's pace as he realized he has accidentally been walking too fast. "Do you think… Do you think Dream would try to look for Tommy?"

"Dream has a goal in mind. I have a suspicion that he needs Tommy under his complete command for it. That man is a bastard , one could never tell what his true motivations are." Eret shook their head, remembering those piercing green eyes that glared at them when they had tried to protest. "We can only hope he doesn't find us."

"If he does… I'll fucking kill him." Fundy held Tommy closer, still sick at the thought of Tommy being left alone with no one but that tyrant's company. They both finally reach the portal, the harsh sounds of the nether reaching their ears as they both take one final look at Tommy's base. Tommy lived here… for months. Poor kid, not a soul to speak to other than that despicable Dream. "I'm not letting him near, Tommy. Over my dead fucking body."

"No. It'll be over mine." Fundy tossed Eret a look, raising a brow at Eret's statement. It held truth, an undeniable one. Eret didn't know much about Dream, but a part of them knew the man had attachments. They'd seen the way Dream would pause at an empty castle hallway when he thought no one was looking. How he'd bring out a diamond ring from the inside of his sweater pocket, pressing a soft kiss on it before quickly placing it back into the safety of clothes. Eret didn't quite know what had caused the sudden break-up a few days before the scheduled wedding, but they knew Dream cared. If Dream were to ever find them, Eret would be the only to lose a life. It was alright. They had two lives to spare, and they'd gladly toss them all away -even their final life - if it meant giving Fundy and Tommy a chance to escape. Fundy could protect Tommy from then on after, but as long as Eret breathed, they wouldn't let Dream near their son and Tommy. Eret wrapped an arm around Fundy, holding him closer as they brought a sword. "No. If Dream comes for us, I want you to run. Don't look back. You have to promise me you won't look back. Tommy needs one of us to stay alive for him, and I am not letting Dream kill you. Now, do you promise to run if he comes to attack us?"

"I'm not promising that, ren. I'm not leaving you with Dream of all people. I'm staying by your side. I'm not losing another parent figure." Fundy rolled his eyes, inhaling as he tried to shake away the tears. He knew Tommy needed them both, needed someone who could actually serve as a parent instead of a confused nephew who didn't know what to do. Tommy needed Eret. "I can't lose you, ren. And Tommy can't lose you too. We both need you."

"I know, son, but Dream is a stubborn man." Eret gripped Fundy a bit closer, wishing that Fundy would just promise them that. Fundy held his ground, a smug grin on his face. "I suppose, you of all people should know that. Son, you know what could happen if we come across him. You know. He’s dangerous when it comes to his goals. Can you please just promise me that—"

"No. Insert heart here."

Eret laughed at Fundy's antics. Fine. If Fundy wouldn't promise them that then Eret would just have to fight hard enough to keep them all alive. Dream wouldn't know what hit him. At least, Eret could hope that they’d have the element of surprise over the man. Still, it was a long trek home and the nether is not a place one wishes to be trapped in while being hunted. Before they could get home, they needed to survive the nether first… and perhaps even Dream.

"Are you ready?"

"Let's go home."

Eret glanced down at Tommy, giving him a gentle smile.

“Don’t worry, Tommy. We’re getting you out of here.”

“And Dream can suck it!”

Eret sighed, chuckling.

Eret could only hope and pray that Dream wouldn’t find them.

They stepped into the portal, leaving behind the traces of bad memories and misery.

Goodbye Logstedshire, you won't be missed.

So I came up with a dream..

And it changes the scenes that I showed you earlier in a way that rather than editing what I posted I wanted to rewrite it. Most of it stays the same but there are significant changes now and I think it’s much better with the dream added in.. so here you go. ____________________________________________________________

"Hey, Chidori."

Junpei scratched his neck as he looked down a tad, but his gaze was caught by hers again, which was directed at him curiously, waiting for his response.

"Ah, I was just wondering, you know, whether you've got some time to spare.. like, on Sunday?"

She nodded in reply.

' I do.. why is it you ask? '

"Well, I thought we could.. you know, only if you'd like, but.."

- Ahw come on man, say it already! - he thought by himself before gathering his courage.

Under her curious gaze he finally managed to ask her.

"Would you like to uh.. catch a movie with me? They have some good ones at the theatre nearby.. Or anything you like, really, I'm not picky."

Just as long as he could spend more time with her.

Chidori kept looking at him for another second, then averting her gaze downwards, blinking, smiling a tad before she looked up to him again.

' I'd like that. ' she finally gave for an answer, which made Junpei smile alongside her in relief.

"Sweet! Sunday’s still okay, right?”

‘ If you don’t mind it being in the afternoon, yes. I wanted to go visit the old lady that keeps the flowershop, she wanted to have a cup of tea with me. ‘ she explained, seeming very happy that she would have so much good company.

“Ah, the old lady you’ve been telling me so much about? I’ve gotta meet her some time, too, she seems great!”

‘ She is. ‘ Chidori showed an earnest smile as she said that.  .

Junpei smiled back, getting a little more sheepish again. “So uh.. Wanna go back to the dorm again? We can think up something good for Sunday while we’re at it.”

‘ That sounds good, it’s getting a little colder again. I’m okay though. ‘ she said before Junpei could get worried. And so they carried on their conversation on their way back to the dorms. _____________________________________________________________

Chidori was sitting on that very bench next to the flower shop at the Port Island Station.

It was a little early for her to be sitting there waiting already, yet she sat there, at some point growing tired of sketching flower bouquets.

As beautifully arranged as they may have been, somehow she just felt tired in general.

And as she drew, her thoughts drifted off and the flowers became more and more abstract, as though she'd be seeking to capture something entirely different.

Like that she closed her sketchbook and placed it to her left, directing her gaze towards all those wind turbines, eventually losing it in the sky and drifting off to sleep.

At first she was sleeping calmly before slowly all of those pictures came up again.

Pictures she couldn't define, such that would only leave her with one feeling.

Longing for something.

But after a while all of those pictures faded into nothingness again and soon she drifted into a beautiful dream that brought her a kind of peace that felt so familiar and entirely new to her at the same time.

After a while she would wake up, the serene feeling staying with her, but.. no, it felt different now.

The sun stood much lower than before, but alongside that...

' Jun..pei.? '

Chidori found herself leaning against Junpei, closely cuddled up to him.

He seemed to have fallen asleep right there, with both of them supporting their weight onto each other.

Puzzled and a tad flustered she looked up to him.

However, as she watched him sleep serenely, something became clear to her. _____________________________________________________________

"Alright, alright.. You got this. You're da man. Just.. keep their advice in mind and don't screw this up, that's all." he mumbled to himself, on his way to Port Island Station.

As he got out of the train he adjusted himself and got down the stairs.

Like that he reached the bench, but..

He checked the clock.

No, no he wasn't late at all. Good. But still..

He looked over at Chidori, who was fast asleep right there in front of him.

To be frank, he didn't really know how to deal with this situation.

But, to be frank, he genuinely liked that sight.

And thus he kept watching her for another moment before he sat next to her, carefully, as somehow he just didn't want to disturb her sleep.

So he was waiting.

Then, after a couple of minutes she grew to be restless.

At first he thought she'd be waking up and he was already thinking up something to greet her with before he noticed that she was still caught in her sleep.. was she dreaming?

But he wasn't left alone long enough to finish this thought, as he saw how his lady shifted around a tad before her balance changed in a way that would've sent her lying flat on the bench.

That is, if Junpei wouldn't have given up on the polite distance he kept at first.

Like this she leaned onto him now, even snuggling up to him a little before she got calmer.

Junpei on the other hand gathered all his mental power to stay still, blushing a good tad as he thought about just how incredibly glad he was that he just took a shower.

So like this, somehow, he actually managed to calm down, though he was still incredibly stoked about the situation.

After all, it's been so long since he last...

Nah, he didn't want to overthink that, he just wanted to enjoy this moment with her.

Hence he carefully - very carefully - leaned onto her just a bit more to catch some of her scent, gently leaning his head onto hers, trying to push back the feeling of just how badly he wanted to hold her now, watching her just a little while longer before he closed his eyes.

In this serene moment, he drifted off to sleep. ______________________________________________________________

It's bright and wonderfully warm and the whole city spreads out below them. The many cherry blossoms that colour the city, her long froly hair, and the cloth of her dress are swept by a fresh but gentle wind as she looks around, mesmerized by the sight. As she turns to look back at him her eyes are shining and she is full of life, showing him a beautiful smile and the sight in front of him captivates him entirely until his body reminds him that he should breathe some more and he has to agree. He steps towards her some more and takes her hands into his, trying to put what he feels into words and failing hopelessly. He lets go of her hands gently, but only to pull her closer and into a tight hug that she returns after a moment of surprise, gently whispering his name into his shirt. And like that they stay for what feels like an eternity and neither one of them minds staying like this forever. ______________________________________________________________ ' Junpei.? '

Somewhere inbetween sleeping and waking he heard a gentle voice calling his name.

' Hey, Junpei. '

Someone was trying to wake him, and eventually she succeeded.

Amber eyes looked up to him as Junpei looked back at her, just studying her for a moment.

"Huh.. I'm not dreaming.. now am I?" he mumbled towards her.

Chidori smiled and shook her head, snuggling into him a little more.

He blinked for another second before he turned a lot more red, sitting up all straight before he started to talk really quickly.

"I-I'm sorry! I, you were sleeping and -" ' Hey.. ' "- I just really didn't want to disturb you but, you, you know, all of a sudden -" ' Hey, Junpei.. ' "I mean I didn't want you to fall and get hurt and -"  ' Junpei, please calm down! '

Despite calling out to him her voice was still gentle.

As she finally had a calmer Junpei next to her, looking at her in wonder, she began to chuckle at his sight, blushing.

And whilst his heart jumped a tad, she closed the distance that he’d put inbetween them as he was startled and patted his shoulder gently.

' Don't worry.. It’s okay, really. I.. I didn’t mind being with you like that. ' she replied, surprised how she was able to say that without getting terribly sheepish, but she really meant that.

His eyes got wide and he blinked at Chidori another second before he scratched his neck with a big smile on his face.

"Heh, you really think so?"

There she shared a bench with a genuinely happy man.

As their gazes met the moment was broken by a clock signalizing how time had passed on in the background. It has gotten late, as the night was not yet there, but the sun stood rather low.

"Ah- the movie!"

' It's almost over, huh? '

Junpei shrugged in reply, but then spoke up.

"Hey, uhm.. I know it could get later than we said, but, uhm, would you like to spend some more time with, I mean, doing something else.? Like, there's this nice cafe over at the mall. It'll probably get dark, but I'll make sure to keep all those thugs away from you on the way back!"

He tried to look all tough for her, trying to chase away the awkwardness, posing a little, which made Chidori smile.

And he couldn't say it wasn't part of why he did that, as he smiled back at her.

' Let's do that, then. ' she said, as she picked up her sketchbook, got up, and pulled at Junpei's sleeve gently.

She didn't need to tell him that twice, that was for sure.

They had to walk over there, but it wasn't that long and neither of them minded the other's company.

In fact something seemed to have changed.

ᴘᴏᴄᴋᴇᴛ ꜱɪᴢᴇᴅ ᴋᴀᴢᴜʜɪᴛᴏ ɴᴀʀɪᴛᴀ | 𝘏𝘢𝘪𝘬𝘺𝘶𝘶!! Head Canons

Here’s another support baby~!! I really hope you guys enjoy these head canons as well~! As always, thank you all so much for your love and support for this pocket sized series! It means a whole lot to me! ;; <3<3

» » Admin Ko

It’s on your way home from a long day of hanging out with your friends and watching anime that you happen to stumble upon the machine. The familiar orange and black colors drew you in and before you knew it you had pulled out some spare change to spin the machine.

Out pops the capsule and you can’t help but wonder who you might’ve gotten. With a gentle push, the capsule pops and you stare at the little figurine in confusion at first before realization dawns upon you.

Initially thinking it was Tanaka you were pleased, yet the gentle expression and small smile told you other wise. It was then that you realized that instead of Tanaka, you had ended up with Narita.

An overwhelming surge of surprise overwhelmed you at the thought of a supporting character being made-- and made at incredible high quality at that. 

If memory served you correctly, the little figurine before you was practically identical to what you saw in both the anime and manga, and couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy overwhelm you. Finally a chance for the lesser known members!

With that, you continued on your way home while gently clutching the capsule in your hand as you couldn’t help but softly hum a familiar tune.

By the time you had returned to your humble abode, the other residents you lived with were pretty much asleep. shrugging to yourself, you head to your own room. Setting down your items and leaving the capsule on your bed as you grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Though as you returned you couldn’t help but stare in confusion at the little figure that stood on your bed, curiously looking around before finally meeting your gaze with a shy look.

“Oh! Uhm, hello! I’m Narita Kazuhito and I believe I’m...lost?”

Carefully you approach him, kneeling by the bed as he sits before you with a little tilt to his head as he blinks.

Softly, you introduce yourself, in hopes of not spooking the soft spoken boy. He seems to relax, finding a sense of comfort in your voice as he smiles up at you.

With much discussion, you both come to terms that despite not knowing how he got to this state and form, that you both had some things in common.

Your heart practically ached at his sad little confession of being a no good 2nd year, but vows to at least work hard for the better of himself and now for you.

Like the others, he enjoys accompanying you everywhere you go whenever you’re comfortable with it, and doesn’t mind being left at home in case you happen to need to spend the night at someone’s house.

He tries his best to study with you, but unlike Ennoshita, he’s not really the best. 

When he reverts back to his full form for a day, you’re both dumbstruck and unsure of what to even do, but as the day passes so does his form. Thus resulting in the understanding that he gets a chance once a month to revert back to his full form.

Thus he uses it to the best of his abilities by taking you on dates as well as giving you as much affection as he can to repay you for your kindness, and to lull the affection he’s grown for you in his heart.

Tri-Arame: Study All Night?

Primary Pairing Trio: YuuAyuSetsu Words: ~2k Rating: G Time Frame: The end of their first week of college Story Arc: Setsu’s Ceaseless Study Session Study All Day? Study All Night? A Nap a Day

----------

Author’s Note: I’m hoping this all makes sense. My outline got a little disjointed as I patched together my main ideas, cut out excessive Endless Eight stuff and padded back in new - or old, in some cases - ideas along the way.

----------

Ayumu opened her eyes and was immediately greeted by the welcome sight of Yuu’s adorable sleeping face, barely a dozen centimeters away. Apparently, the routine had resumed last night as she remembered her childhood friend sliding in next to her after once again staying up with Setsuna.

So, did that mean the overly studious Setsuna had gone back to collapsing across the kotatsu? Ayumu hoped that wasn’t the case. Even cuddling next to Yuu on the floor was at least a better sleeping position than hunched over the table.

Ayumu sat up and found the raven-haired girl staring at her laptop. Wait, did she stay up all night?

“Good morning, Setsuna-chan.” Ayumu called quietly to avoid rousing Yuu.

“Good morning, Ayumu-san.” Setsuna replied before her breath hitched. “Morning?” Like the new day itself, the prospect dawned on her. She glanced frantically at the window where sunlight was streaming in, over at Ayumu and back at her screen where she leaned in, likely to ensure she was seeing the time correctly. Upon confirmation that it was indeed morning, she whined plaintively.

“Setsuna-chan…” Ayumu started.

“I’m sorry!” Setsuna interrupted. “I didn’t mean to! I just lost track of time. I just really wanted to finish another module, and… and…”

“You don’t need to apologize to me.” Ayumu said as she climbed over Yuu to the side of the bed. “Apologize to yourself. You look exhausted.” She wondered if she should point out the dark, puffy patches under the other girl’s eyes. “You should at least take a nap before going to the studio.”

“I, uhm… have the day off…” Setsuna explained. “It’s the weekend, so everyone is focused on Lives, and as this is my first week of classes, I am not participating.”

“Ah, well in a way that might be better for you.” Ayumu smiled gently. “Now, come over here and take my spot.” She patted the mattress, noting idly that she had previously been on the other side.

“Eh?” Setsuna seemed confused by the offer. “I-in your bed?”

“Mm.” Ayumu confirmed with a nod. “That way I can keep an eye on you.”

Pink started to dust Setsuna’s cheeks.

Ayumu chuckled at the adorable reaction. “Even if I make you leave your laptop here and send you back to your own room, I’m worried you’ll try to get in ‘one more module’ on your phone.”

“…” Setsuna’s expression made it clear that the thought had indeed crossed her mind.

Ayumu sighed. “What am I going to do with you…”

“I’m sorry…”

“ You don’t need to apologize. You’re not making me do anything.” Ayumu assured. “I’m doing this because I want to. You’re a very important, irreplaceable person in my life, Setsuna-chan.”

Setsuna drew in a quick breath as she recognized her own words being spoken back to her.

“And as such, your health and happiness are important to me as well.” Ayumu continued. “And you know, I’ve been keeping an eye on Yuu-chan for a while now; you’ve seen how bad she can be.”

Setsuna nodded.

“And it was easy because she lived next door. I wanted to do more for you when I started recognizing traits you shared with Yuu-chan, but until last week, you lived a couple stations away.” Ayumu smiled. “But now you also live next door, so I can do more.”

“But you shouldn’t have to… I should learn to take better care of myself...”

“Yes, but like I said, I want to help. Now, I know I can’t help you study, but I can cook meals. I can help with laundry. I can keep you company and maybe do a better job reminding you to take breaks.”

Setsuna scoffed ruefully at the last point. “You have studying to do as well.” She pointed out. “And you have dreams and goals just like me.”

“I do. And you and Yuu-chan have been incredibly supportive of me as I work toward them.”

“I don’t want to inconvenience you…”

“You’re not, I promise.” Ayumu shook her head. “But I want to support you two as well. And I’m only going for an associate degree and thus far, it has been fairly easy.” She explained. “I’m confident I will be done inside a year. But you and Yuu-chan are both going for bachelor’s degrees, which means a lot more work. And on top of that, you’re a professional idol now, which is amazing. Your dedication is truly awe inspiring, Setsuna-chan.”

Setsuna offered a small smile in response.

“But I’m worried you’ll burn yourself out at this rate. So, another thing I can help you with is maintaining a proper sleep schedule, but only if you let me.”

“You’re too kind to me, Ayumu-san.”

“Not at all. Now come on, before you collapse across the table, again.”

Setsuna blushed adorably but nonetheless, pushed herself out from under the kotatsu.

“You’ll have more room on the wall side, so you’ll have to climb over Yuu-chan.”

“Uhm, do you think Yuu-san will mind…?” She asked as she made her way over.

“She’ll be fine.” At least she was the other night…

“Alright…” Setsuna carefully crawled over the sleeping girl before turning so she could slip under the duvet.

“I’m going to go wash up, and I’ll make breakfast when I get back.” Ayumu explained. “I’ll put your portion in the fridge so you can reheat it when you wake up later.”

“Thank you, Ayumu-san.” Setsuna said, closing her eyes.

“Sleep well, Setsuna-chan.”

“…”

Wow, is she out already? Ayumu wondered. Heh, just like Yuu-chan. Idly, she reached over to brush a stray strand of hair out of Setsuna’s face. Immediately, Setsuna turned her head up towards Ayumu’s fingers. Wait, is she awake? Ayumu withdrew her hand and the other girl settled back down as though nothing had happened.

Out of curiosity, as well as a desire to see that adorable reaction again, Ayumu reached out a second time. This time, she ran her hand gently across the top of Setsuna’s head. Again, the response was immediate and Setsuna pushed up into her palm.

Cute. Too cute. It’s like petting a cat. Ayumu thought to herself as she patted more while Setsuna let out a content murmur.

“Mmm… Ayumu?” A sleepy voice came from under her.

Ayumu froze.

“What are you…” Yuu trailed off with a lazy chuckle as she apparently noticed what was going on.

“I-i-i-it’s not what you think!” Ayumu protested, trying to keep her voice down to not wake Setsuna, who she assumed was actually asleep.

“Setsunyan’s being spoiled by Ayumu… Nyo fair… Yuunyan wants to be spoiled too.”

Ayumu felt her chest tighten. Even though she knew Yuu was intentionally playing things up, she found the act absolutely adorable. And despite also knowing her face was burning, she moved her other hand to Yuu’s head.

Yuu hummed her approval and pushed up into Ayumu’s palm in a similar manner to how Setsuna had reacted moments ago.

It was a little awkward, leaning over the two girls, but Ayumu decided she could maintain it for a little while longer. After all, seeing their cute expressions far outweighed any discomfort the position posed. Ayumu smiled to herself and continued petting Yuu and Setsuna affectionately.

----------

Setsuna jerked her head back up after it had started to lull forward. She shook her head briefly and blinked a few times in an effort to stave off a growing fatigue.

“Ready to turn in, Setsuna-chan?”

“Mm?” Setsuna’s attention was drawn to the other girl sitting kitty-corner to her.

“I’m about ready.” Yuu continued. “We should go to bed and get a good night’s rest.” She started to push herself out from under the table. “C’mon…” She motioned toward Ayumu’s bed where the redhead as already sleeping.

What? Was Yuu inviting her to join them? Setsuna felt her pulse quicken. But…

“I, uhm… let me finish this module, first.”

Yuu raised an eyebrow. “Alright, but don’t take too much longer.” She pulled up the duvet and started to slide under. “I’ll leave room for you.”

Setsuna’s heart continued to pound against her chest. Sharing a bed with Ayumu and Yuu… It was like that classic manga trope, There Is Only One Bed, except unlike the trope, nobody involved was unwilling.

Or were they?

Ayumu had invited, or rather instructed, Setsuna to sleep in her bed earlier that day… or yesterday, technically, she corrected as she realized the time. And Yuu had already been there, but Ayumu herself hadn’t joined them. Sure, she had to get ready for class, but, wait, no it was Saturday, she didn’t have class. She could have slept in. Did she not want to join them?

Did Ayumu not want Setsuna to join her and Yuu tonight… this morning?

Ayumu would be fine with it, right…? Maybe? But what if she wasn’t?

Setsuna couldn’t ask Ayumu for her permission as she was already asleep and there was no way she was going to inconvenience her by waking her up just for that.

She found herself gazing longingly at the bed where her two best friends, no, the two girls she loved, slept. She wanted to join them. And Yuu had even offered. And yet…

The seeds of doubt had been sown well over a year ago and had thus developed stubborn roots. She had managed to cut them down when they sprouted, sometimes even with their help. But she lacked the courage to address the roots, worried that in doing so, she would potentially prove that she was indeed coming between Ayumu and Yuu.

Over the last two years, Setsuna had grown close to Yuu and Ayumu, far closer than one would reasonably expect for a normal friendship. Nothing had been declared officially among them, but Yuu, and just recently Ayumu, had repeated her own words back to her, claiming her to be a very important, irreplaceable person in their lives.

For all practical purposes, their triangle seemed different than those so often portrayed in anime, and Setsuna desperately wanted to believe it to be true. However, she was too afraid to find out for sure. And if there was any grain of truth to the anime series, Setsuna would be the one to succeed in winning over one or the other, while their childhood friend was left behind. But she knew she couldn’t do that, not to them. She would rather let them be happy together while she moved on.

Setsuna closed her laptop and pushed herself out from under the kotasu. Then, with one last glance toward the sleeping couple, she quietly made her way to the door and slipped out, hoping the light from the hallway wouldn’t wake them.

She trudged the few steps down the hall to her own room, unlocked the door and stepped in. Her legs felt like they had weights attached to them as she moved toward her bed. Ayumu was right, she really needed to get her sleep schedule under control.

Collapsing into her bed, Setsuna was immediately aware of the clean scent, or rather the lack there of. Of course, she had cleaned everything last weekend, but she hadn’t actually slept here since. She remembered growing up thinking freshly washed bedding was the best but now it felt different, almost… sterile? Was that the right word? Whatever the correct description, her bed stood in stark contrast to Ayumu’s.

This wasn’t to imply that Ayumu’s bed was unsanitary by any means. Setsuna was aware that the other girl washed everything as often as necessary; Ayumu was quite skilled at housekeeping chores and keeping track of that sort of thing. But her bed smelled like her and Yuu. It was warm, cozy and felt lived-in… or slept-in as the case was. It basically just felt better.

Perhaps… maybe she had chosen wrong in not accepting Yuu’s offer.

But she couldn’t go back now, even if she wanted to. Not only would she risk waking them, but she lacked the energy. She could barely muster the strength to pull her blanket over herself.

With a sigh, Setsuna closed her eyes and let herself slip into a deep slumber.

----------

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

Work-a-holic

Fandom: Haikyuu!!!

Character: Tsukishima Kei

Prompt: First impressions are lasting impressions and this holds especially true between you and your new colleague, Tsukishima Kei.

Part 1 | Part 2

It has been one week since you started. One week after meeting Tsukishima and Yamaguchi as your direct colleagues. One week in which the merest eye contact earned a scoff from the other, in which ‘good morning’ became mere scowls to each other, and in which a cup of coffee wasn’t even enough to salvage the morning mood you incited in one another.

Shortly put; it has only grown worse since your first day. And it did nothing but bad for your teamwork.

“Ah, Tsukki, can you—“

Yamaguchi gulped at the glare he was given, another careful eye shot into your direction.

“Uhm, [Name], are you—“

A grump from your side earned a flinch from the male, who then drew a heavy sigh. The project you had been assigned to wasn’t an easy one. Next to navigating your way around in the office, and the overall awry teamwork there was a lot of work to be done. Work that the three of you simply couldn’t get to as a team, let alone individually.

“We have a meeting with Kiyoko after lunch!”

The tapping of fingers working away over the keyboard silenced, the tense mood in your office growing even denser as a shared anxiety settled in.

“But we haven’t completed the storyboard yet,” you started, realising how bad this was going to look for everyone if you didn’t deliver at the meeting.

“You haven’t finished, you mean,” Tsukishima clicked his tongue, an annoyed expression crossing his face as he crossed his arms.

“The designs aren’t ready either!” you flared back, knowing full well that you weren’t the only one who was behind on work.

“Only because you are dawdling!”

“And you can’t work independently?”

“Stop pushing off the blame.”

“Says you?”

The accusations only stopped when Yamaguchi slammed his fists on the table, startling the both of you. Heaving a sigh the male slumped his shoulders, cowering a little at the sudden attention he got before straightening up.

“I already discussed this with Kiyoko. Since we all just started and [Name] is still getting used to the job,” he starts off calmly, earning a look of delight from you, hope shimmering in your eyes.

“However!” the male quickly interrupted, willing the two of you to stay quiet, “she was only willing to extend it until Monday morning, first thing.”

The implications of it were dreadful, as you froze, quietly realising what needed to happen on a short notice.

“Overtime on a Friday. Bad luck,” Tsukishima clicks his tongue, eyes averting as he resumes his work. “Better get going then,” he states matter-of-factly.

It wasn’t so easy for you, however. You had already made plans with your friends to meet after work, eager as you were to vent about one particular colleague that sat across from you. Obviously you would have to cancel. A thought that didn’t please you too much, as you had been looking forward to catching up.

Though, you did know that you had a lot of work, and that the reason for its accumulation was at large your own fault.

So much for boasting around about your teamwork skills.

You really had to get over yourself already. You couldn’t continue this, or else this wouldn’t be the only time you would be doing overtime on the weekend.

The sun was already setting the next time you looked up, your colleagues slowly streaming past your desk to say their goodbyes before heading out towards their own freedom. Soon, only the three of you are left in the office, earning a collective sigh from everyone.

“I see the three of you are well-synchronised.”

Startling the three of you Kiyoko appears in the door opening, an amused smile playing around her lips as she walks in. “I came to drop off the keys. Don’t make it too late, and leave the office whole, alright?”

Her smile was charming and her concern was genuine, though the jab at the end earned a pout from you despite it all as you shot Tsukishima a glare.

“Will try,” the blond shrugs, clearly disinterested in checking his attitude as he continues tapping away.

This was enough for Kiyoko, another grimace spreading over her features before leaving three store-bought bentos with you along with some drinks.

“Maybe see this as a team building exercise,” she tries to reassure you before leaving.

To this you let another sigh go, wondering how you were supposed to do that when at least one part of the team was unwilling to play nicer with you. Clenching your fists, you fight the urge to glare at Tsukishima, knowing that what the two of you had really was just a childish feud.

“Ah…”

Yamaguchi coughs as he tries to get both your attention. A blush is dusting his face as he rubs the back of his head, seemingly more nervous and shy than he usually is.

“I-- I finished work, so I’m leaving early?” he says somewhat sheepishly, as if embarrassed and guilty that he had done so already when the two of you are still hard at work.

Blinking, you shoot a look at Tsukishima, a frown on your face. ‘Figures’, you think, but decide to let it go as you flash Yamaguchi a smile.

“If you’re done you’re done, don’t worry about us.”

Yamaguchi seems to flush even harder at that, a cough escaping him as he nods, bowing all the while as he stands up and cleans up his desk. “I- ah--” fumbling around with his things Yamaguchi pulls at his tie, suddenly feeling hot as he tries to gather everything. “I will see you Monday, [Name], and see you tomorrow Tsukki!”

“Don’t forget your present, idiot.”

Tsukishima’s voice rings sharp as Yamaguchi freezes in his steps. Without even lifting his eyes off his screen the blond heaves a sigh, rolling his neck to get the stiffness out.

“It is your anniversary, right? Don’t forget your present after rushing through your work,” the blond says boredly, never bothering to tear himself off his work as he berates his friend.

The surprise on your face was evident, but it was a different sort of surprise from the one that your colleague was carrying, a realisation dawning upon his face as he rushed back to his desk, pulling open one of the drawers as he pulled out a package.

“Thanks Tsukki!” the male beams at his friend one last time before running out, this time leaving you and Tsukishima alone in the office for real.

“What are you staring at?” Tsukishima addresses you apprehensively, a glare shot into your direction as soon as the door shut. Realising that you indeed were you quickly let go of a huff, your eyes rolling as you turn back to your screen.

“Just surprised, that’s all,” you exclaim, “didn’t think you cared, at all,” you continue snootily, mentally wincing at your own tone and attitude against the male.

Shrugging you off Tsukishima pauses his work for a bit, a nasty smirk shot into your direction as he leans forward.

“What? Didn’t take you to be the type to have anything to do on the weekends,” he challenges you, earning an offended look from you.

“Or were you talking about Yamaguchi’s anniversary? He has been reminding me since last month, it would be annoying to hear him complain later because he forgot his dumb present.”

Stretching himself the male thus considered the conversation ended. The taunting smile from earlier falling off like a mask as he returned his eyes to the screen.

You, in the meanwhile, had been quiet, for once taking in his taunts with something else than contempt as you kept your eyes trained on him.

“I did have plans,” you started, gauging his reaction as you pull one of the meals Kiyoko had bought towards you, “I was supposed to hang out with some friends,” you shrug. Tsukishima’s expression remained as bored as it had been before, not seeming any more invested or impressed.

Somewhere you could swear that there was a pout on Tsukishima’s face, but for what you couldn’t really tell.

Tales of Mind Control #4: A Debt Unpaid

♫It was years ago, and it was beautiful. Now I have come to think about it. 'You're mine' you said, and I said it back. In that hotel of many colourful dreams.♫

The music playing from the radio was more than enough to fill Eva with the dreadfully addicting sense of nostalgia and melancholy as she took another sip from her favourite wine glass, savouring the taste of the red liquid she had come to form a love-hate relationship with. A sigh escaped her lips, everything seemed so complicated, especially now. The wind hitting her balcony was pleasant enough, just like the wine she was consuming. Pleasantness. It was something Eva desperately needed as every gulp reminded her of a life that seemed so far away now, the life she had to give up years ago. It totally didn’t help her stress levels that the girl she raised and treated like her own daughter was turning twenty years old. She told Eva that she was going to be celebrating it with her friends from her college, so the older woman did not expect the younger to come home early. She definitely grew up so fast, even faster than Eva anticipated she would.

Even after all those years, the woman who is in her forties now remembered that day like it was just yesterday. The phone call, the horrible news, her cries, her agony. Her best friend had died that accursed day and left her 5 year old daughter behind. Eva, who had been in her twenties back then agreed to take the little Elizabeth in and raise her herself without hesitation since she had pretty much nowhere else to go. Her best friend had no living relatives and the girl’s father had left her life even before she was born. Eva agreed to take her in and thus, she had to pay a price. Giving up her passion, her art career so she could continue the family business in order to gain a stable income which would allow her to raise Liz without any financial problems.

The financial problems may had been taken care of, but it still stung deep that Eva wasn’t be able to become that artist she always aspired to be. It wasn't like she hadn't tried again, though. After she had secured an early retirement, she tried to get back to it but the same spark…just wasn’t there, prompting her to give up on that dream completely. Wasting time with ‘if only’s would be easy but it was even easier to just drink it all away. Another sip followed as the bitter wine raced down to her throat. But as much bitterness Eva had bottled up inside her over the years, she would not change her life for anything else in the world.

She would not change Liz for anything else in the world, for a better wording.

Her thoughts were finally interrupted by the sound of her doorbell. It was very confusing to Eva as she did not expect Liz to come home at all, let alone this early. Still, she got up from her seat, leaving the wine bottle and glass on the table as she left her balcony to greet Liz, or an unexpected guest Eva could not guess the identity of.

In the end, she opened her door to find a very gorgeous, black haired woman who seemed to have…heterochromia. But her eye colour(s) wasn’t the strangest thing about the whole ordeal. No, Eva did not know this woman at all. The questions continued to race in Eva’s brain even faster as the two just stared at each other. Eva with a look of blatant confusion and her visitor with a smile.

“It has been a very long time, Eva.”

The woman said as she took her first step into Eva’s house. Eva also took a step to stand in front of her, in order to intercept the mysterious woman.

“Uhm…have we met before? I don’t think I recognize you so I’m truly sorry if we’ve met before.”

The smirk in the woman’s face remained unchanged, as if she was expecting Eva to not recognize her at all.

“Oh, it’s totally alright. My name is Katie, but I think you’ll remember when I tell you…no…show you how we met.”

Show her? Well, this was definitely getting weirder and Eva definitely wasn’t pleased with her wine session being interrupted with weirdness like this. She didn’t even remember having anyone named Katie in her life too. As she was about to show the woman named Katie the door, her guest spoke once again, pointing to a nearby drawer cabinet.

“But I think you should check the first drawer, sweetheart.”

The way Katie sounded when saying ‘sweetheart’ was very different from how she sounded when uttering every other word since her unexpected arrival. It was…different…but strangely, Eva felt compelled to just go and check that drawer without telling the woman to go away from her house or anything like that. She turned back and took a few steps before bending over to reach the drawer. Eva grabbed the metallic handle and pulled it, revealing a framed picture of her…and Katie. She took the frame and close the drawer, showing it to Katie.

“Yes, that’s me.”

The guest said with a smug smile as Eva stared at the picture, inspecting it to remember the context of it. She definitely seemed young, back when she was in her twenties. But Katie, she did not seem to have aged at all. Her day was getting just weirder and weirder.

“What the hell is happening here? This picture looks like it had been taken at least 15 years ago. I look much younger here…but you look the same.”

Katie chuckled, very much enjoying having the upper hand in the situation as she seemed to bask in Eva’s confusion.

“Well, thank you, I have a very good skin-care routine.”

The smile quickly vanished though as Katie’s face took a much more serious impression instantly. Her hand swiftly moved to reach Eva’s face before one finger tapped her forehead. That was the last thing Eva saw before she felt herself being sucked by the void until she found herself in a much different place, and from what it looked like, a much different time too.

Out of all the paintings in the gallery, one particularly drew Eva’s attention more than anything else. At surface level, it was just a painting depicting the horrors that happened to women who just dared to be expressive in many European countries back in very old days. But looking at the painting more and more proved that it was more than a painting about witch trials, it was a very beautiful and powerful painting about the hardships those women faced. The colours were a mix of more colder ones like blue and purple with the hot colours of flames that turned those poor women into nothing but ash and dust.

“I’m delighted my piece is able to gather some attention, at least.”

Eva is startled by a feminine voice appearing just behind her, but she is polite enough to turn back and offer her both a smile and her hand. The woman who just implied that she is the artist behind the painting Eva very much liked took her hand and shook it gently, also offering Eva her own smile.

“I’m Eva. Love your painting.”

The artist’s smile turned into a polite chuckle.

“I offer you my gratitude Eva, you’re very kind. My name is Katie, it’s very pleasant to meet someone who’s a fan.”

The longer Eva got to look at Katie, the more she realized how otherworldly beautiful she was. And the moment she realized she had been thinking about her divine beauty more than she should’ve been, a bright shade of red covers her cheeks, which Katie finds even more amusing, which makes Eva even more frustrated about the whole thing.

“So, would you care to tell me what caught your attention?”

Well, Eva could start with those eyes that two separate but beautiful colours or her gorgeous looking pale sk-

“About the painting, I mean.”

Katie clarified with a giggle and it does not Eva’s nervousness at all. Of course the artist sensed her thirst, was it possible for anyone to not thirst for someone like her? But in the end, Eva managed to put her mind together and started to give her honest answer to Katie’s question.

“It’s…very powerful and I think you captured the horror feel scarily well and realistic. Forgive the pun, but I find your painting very….bewitching.”

Katie already looked very happy to hear all those compliments, but especially after the very last word of Eva’s quick review, that happiness is joined with a substantial amount of amusement as well.

“Bewitching you say…quite probably the most accurate word to describe my art. After all, what kind of a witch I would be if I didn’t do bewitching work?”

Her tone is hard to read so Eva isn’t sure if she’s just joking or being serious, but regardless, she is pretty certain Katie just called herself a witch. At the best case scenario, the talented artist was joking and at the worst…well, the world of art always included very eccentric personalities, right? Eva gave her an awkward smile as Katie’s expression did not change a bit.

Still, the idea of a possible madness coming from Katie did not hold an important amount of thought inside Eva’s mind much longer as her focus was once again on how…perfect Katie was. As she breathed next to her, told her all about the inspirations she have to do such amazing art as that with her soft but powerful voice of hers that further spiralled Eva down into her own attraction for the woman who seemed to be in her thirties. Her thoughts were once again interrupted by Eva directly addressing her once again.

“Say, Eva, would you mind taking me to your house tonight?”

Eva seemed to be too far gone to realize something may be a little wrong with the procedure, and the answer coming from her was instant and full of desperation, which did not seem to surprise Katie at all, who only smiled even deeply like a cheshire cat at hearing the one word she was certain that would escape Eva’s lips.

“Sure!”

As the word Eva used to let Katie inside her house many years ago echoed in her head, she found herself slowly pulled back into the present, where she is much older again…and Katie still looked like she hasn’t aged a day at all. Plus, the thing she just had done to make her relive a past day…that could have none other explanation that her unwanted guest was right about her identity all along. It was really a mind-blowing thing to find out at all, let alone finding out this way, but Eva didn’t feel like freaking out, at all. She was sure she would do plenty of that once whatever Katie had come to do had ended.

“So, you’re really a witch.”

Eva was able to muster out a whole sentence, even surprising herself with how articulate she was after finding out…that very extraordinary news. Katie, once again, just gave the owner of the house a smug smirk.

“Took you very long enough to realize, Eva, like, years long.”

“It…it’s not like I remembered what happened at the gallery. I didn’t even know there was an equation to put two and two together, let alone actually doing that.”

That drew another chuckle from Katie, who had been nothing but amused and smug since her arrival. Honestly, it also unintentionally amused Eva as much as it annoyed her, being nothing but a toy, a platform to be made fun of by this…witch…as she held answers to the questions Eva did not even think of.

“It’s okay, Eva, I’m only messing with you.”

“I figured out that much. I just don’t know how much and deep you did and still do so. I still don’t remember what happened that night, right after you invited yourself to my home and I was too… bewitched to refuse you. I’m assuming you used your witchcraft to erase my memory about that.”

“Your assumption would be very correct. Would you like me to remind you?”

Well, it certainly would not hurt to remember another memory she was forced to forget.

“Please.”

“With pleasure.”

Katie winked, putting an emphasis to the word 'pleasure'. Then her expression changed to a very serious one scarily quick before she did her thing one more time, Eva once again losing herself before finding it once again in a different time and place…and with a much different feeling.

Pleasure. Mind-boggling pleasure. That feeling is all Eva can feel, all she can think and grasp at the moment. As Katie’s magical fingers explore their way into the younger woman’s vagina, her magical tongue even gives Eva more pleasure. If she could form coherent sentences instead of loud and violent moans during Katie’s working of her ‘magic’, she would hands down declare this the best sex she had ever had. Hell, Eva wasn’t even able to form any thought not related to the sexual intercourse she found herself in right now. She was a very, very lucky woman. A woman who found the treasure of pleasure and was about to open it fully as she neared quite probably the most powerful orgasm of her life…

…only to see that box of treasure moving further away for him as Eva tried to handle it. Katie had stopped her disgustingly beautiful services and was instead looking at Eva with a grin on her face.

“W-what?”

Eva cried with frustration as Katie’s grin only seemed to grow deeper.

“There’s nothing complicated here, Eva. I stopped before you could cum.”

“Why?”

The second frustrated question that followed the first one was very swift, as swift as Eva’s right arm as it made its way to her pussy to finish the job Katie started before her wrist got caught by Katie’s right hand, preventing it from reaching the desired destination. Gods, Katie’s touch even on her wrist was intoxicating.

“Nuh-uh, Eva. I don’t want you to touch yourself.”

“But I need to cum!”

“I know.”

“Then let me!”

At this point, Eva didn’t behave any better than a spoiled brat who was refused a thing she wanted, but the younger woman was indeed very lost in her arousal that she didn’t care at all. Katie playfully shook her head, indicating that she’s fully behind her decision to not to let Eva cum.

“And why exactly would I do that?”

Katie asked, with a tone that managed to be even more seductive than it had been from the point they met in the gallery.

“Because I’m desperate! I want to cum, I need to explode!”

“I can totally see that Eva, you clearly don’t need to tell me that.”

After that, Katie decided to just run one finger on Eva’s thighs, not touching her most private part in order to further tease her prey like the predator she was.

“Please? What do you want me to do? I’ll do it! I swear...”

Katie’s heterochromiac eyes sparkled at hearing that, like she was waiting to hear that specific set of words from the woman who was going truly mad from being cruelly edged like that.

“I told you I’m a witch, Eva. The ancient laws of magic state that what I shall give, I shall take at least a close or an equal amount. So, in order to give you that orgasm you want so bad, I have to take what you consider most precious in life.”

Even with a single crumb of rational thought, Eva would’ve easily refused that. Too bad Katie was just too good, licking and fingering that last crumb away from Eva's poor little brain. Eva used all her energy to shake her head and non-verbally telling, no, shouting her approval, which only formed yet another of those smiles on Katie’s beautiful face.

“Very well.”

Katie’s fingers found Eva’s aching pussy once again, and with just one move, Eva felt herself explode as she heard herself screaming louder than she ever did…seconds before her world slowly paved its way to total darkness, her consciousness truly proving to be not a strong foe against such a mighty orgasm.

The darkness finds the light again as Eva finds herself in the present once again. The effects that seeing that memory again had on Eva was clearly visible as her nipples were poking through her top. That was…an experience, the mildest way Eva could put it in words. Then, more thoughts started to form inside Eva’s mind once again about that day. Now that she had significantly more recollection of that faithful day, more details started to come to her mind and Eva remembered. She remembered more, more details, much more uglier details. Because she remembered that the day after she went to that art gallery, her best friend and the real mother of Liz died in a car accident. The grief she felt years ago, the grief Eva thought she was over with, suddenly re-emerged. Much stronger this time, with the new information that have just seen the surface. The best friend was the price…for just an orgasm. Eva lost her best friend…because she just wanted a stupid orgasm. But was she even herself that night? Her partner was a literal witch that could do numerous amount of spells that could’ve made want this. The pale Eva looked even paler and her head started to ache. She felt her heart racing and she was pretty certain she was going to just drop and pass out. But she didn’t. Instead, she let out an angry hiss to the witch Eva knew could do several things to shut her up and put her in an even worse position. But she didn’t care at all.

“You manipulated me with your magic. You made me do things that I wouldn’t normally do. You bewitched me so deep that you made me accept your offer.”

Eva took one step towards Katie before taking another. Her voice was getting even more angrier, she feared nothing, she already lost the thing she held most precious according to her, so what worse could happen?

“You stole my best friend from me! You stole my life from me! My dreams from me, you bi-”

“No.”

The answer was clear, and it was said with enough power that Eva instantly shut up. Katie genuinely looked…sad from the moment Eva started her rant.

“I have no hand in your best friend’s death, Eva. Magic…doesn’t work that way. The ancient laws prohibit the magic users to get that price as another person’s death.”

A single tear fell from Eva’s eye and she spoke again, in a very defeated tone that contrasted heavily to her previous angry tone.

“Then why? Why are you here?”

Katie took a deep breath as she locked her eyes on Eva’s.

“Years ago, you took a debt from me in exchange of your orgasm, Eva. I’m here to recollect my debt.”

To say that Eva didn’t understand….wouldn’t be an understatement. She had already lost the thing she thought that was most precious to her years ago. So what could Katie want from her? Her best friend was gone, her desired career was gone, the only thing she had now was….oh no. Oh fucking no. It couldn’t be who Eva thought it could be, could it?

Liz.

Eva started to sweat again as she could make no more logical explanation than the girl she raised after her mother’s death.

“No, no, please, don’t take her.”

Katie only responded with a smile, it seemed Katie knew who Eva thought she meant and the witch made no effort in correcting her this time, certainly not helping Eva’s worries.

“Why, why did you came all those years ago to recollect your ‘debt’? Why didn’t you do it sooner?”

Katie’s expression remained unchanged as she spoke.

“Young Elizabeth turns 20 today, doesn’t she? She’s not a teenager anymore, she’s fully a woman now. And I like women, Eva. Don’t you remember? You were also in your twenties when we met at the art gallery.”

Katie took a step towards the now physically older woman, prompting Eva to took one back in order to keep the distance between them, and maybe even increase it. This did not seem to bother Katie at all, not one bit. The little chase even continued until Eva eventually hit a wall and was unable to go take another step backwards. It didn’t took a genius to know that she was trapped. The option of flight was gone for Eva, and she was certain freezing would not help anything, so she resolved the final F option that she knew: Fight.

“I’m not going to let you take her.”

Eva said, confident as she felt herself to be: Not much. But she had not many other choices, did she? Katie playfully shook her head sideways, now so close to her that Eva could hear her breathing.

“Oh, I didn’t came here to ask for your permission anyway. If you have any intentions of making things harder for me, then I have no choice to remind you just who woman was that made you beg all those years ago.”

Their faces were a mere inch away from each other as Katie did nothing but to uncomfortably stare at Eva. The owner of the home was of course pretty disturbed and scared by all of this…until she started becoming not to. Because her focus gradually shifted to Katie’s breathing, and specifically, her breath. It smelled wonderful. Eva just remained at her position and let the extremely pleasant smell of Katie’s breath fill her sense of smell with pure goodness.

“Just keep breathing Eva, like a good little girl, keep letting my scent go inside you.”

Her voice…it sounded different again. So dominant, so commanding. Eva knew Katie was once again trying to do her witchcraft and bend her will totally to her whims again, but she didn’t know how to stop her. She was helpless. She hated that. She loved that. She obeyed that. Eva breathed and each breath she took made her resistance even weaker.

“You can’t resist, Eva. You know that.”

She indeed knew that, and how could she continue to resist anymore when Katie commanded it like that?

“You’re weak. You’re helpless.”

“Weak….helpless.”

“You will obey.”

“Obey.”

Eva was giving in slightly more with each second, getting even closer to total submission to Katie. She had no other choice, no way of fighting back. She wasn’t a witch, she was just a weak little woman.

“You will submit.”

“Submit.”

“You will surrender.”

“Surrender.”

“You will serve.”

“Serve.”

“You belong to me, and I own you.”

“Yes, I belong to you, and you own me.”

Katie looked pretty confident after getting Eva to repeat all of those mantras without a single moment of hesitation. She was ready to be dealt with the final blow.

“You will help me enslave Elizabeth.”

“I will help you enslave El….Eliz…”

It seemed Katie could not drill that deep into her mental defenses enough to make her willingly give up the most precious thing she had in her life. Years ago, the concept of ‘most precious thing’ was very vague to Eva so it was easier to make her accept to give that up. But now, she had a clear person in mind that she would never ever betray. Katie sighed as she felt Eva slipping away from her control just out of love and loyalty to her Liz. She had no other choice but to use another method. Her eyes suddenly started to glow with a very entrancing, lovely shade of violet that was reflected in Eva’s own eyes as the light made the last bastion of resistance in her brain go away almost instantly.

“You will help me enslave Elizabeth.”

This time, there was no resistance. Her will had been completely capitulated, all her thoughts had been compromised and her mind was left nothing more than a blank sheet of paper waiting to be filled with commands. Eva heard and Eva obeyed. It was as simple as that.

“I will help you enslave Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth will be my slave, just like you.”

“Elizabeth will be your slave, just like me.”

“While you’re at it, call me Mistress too.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

“Good.”

Katie smiled as her eyes found the upstairs.

“Now, slave, why don’t you take me to your bedroom again like you did all those years ago? I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Y/N Stark Ch. 3

find my masterlist (which includes prologue and ch 1 & 2) here

word count: 2539

warnings: SMUT SMUT SMUTTY SMUT SMUT

You were absolutely shocked. Actually, shocked doesn’t even begin to describe it. Here was this boy who stuttered when he spoke and was the least confident person you had ever met, pushing you against the wall and kissing you, completely taking control. 

You may have a dominant personality, but a guy taking control was absolutely fucking hot.

Instinctively, you kissed back. It was Peter, childish, inexperienced Peter, but you quickly realized how good of a kisser he was. It wasn’t long before his lips wandered, kissing down your jaw, sucking on your neck and collarbones. 

You had never ever thought of Peter in that way before, but the closet began to get hot just from your bodies pressed against each other. His hands moved down your hips, around your thighs, and you jumped as he picked you up. You never thought of him as particularly strong, but now, with his biceps around you and his strong hands gripping your thighs, you realized that there was a reason he was an Avenger. Peter Parker was strong.

You pulled up his shirt, running your hands up his strong chest. You’ve been in this situation with a lot of guys before, but never in your wildest dreams had you ever thought you’d be here with Peter, of all people. Peter, the person you just said was the least likely person you’d ever hook up with. 

The seven minutes passed in a flash, it felt like 30 seconds before Betty was knocking on the door to let you know the time was up. Peter smirked at you. 

“So,” he said, his voice raspy. “You still don’t want to hook up with me?” Before you could respond, he pushed the door open. 

You walked out after him, a look of confusion and bewilderment on your face. 

“Damn, Y/N,” Flash said with a laugh. “You look like you just saw a ghost. What did Penis do to you?” You forced a laugh. 

“Hey first rule of 7 minutes in heaven. I’ll leave that to your imagination.” The rest of the night passed quickly, and you couldn’t get those 7 minutes out of your head. The parts of your body Peter had touched were hot, and you were very aware that your spandex were wetter than they were when the game started. It made you uncomfortable, being turned on with no release, and the fact that the person who turned you on was… Peter. 

Pretty soon, the group started to filter out as it was getting late and they were still in high school and thus had curfews. 

“You comin Peter?” Ned asked. 

“Nah, I told May I was staying here so I could do an extra day of my internship tomorrow.” His friends accepted this answer and Peter walked them downstairs. Ah yes, the Stark Internship. Good thing you didn’t let his secret slip. 

Peter returned to see you curled up on one end of the couch, scrolling through Netflix on the TV. 

“Can I join you?” He asked. You nodded, refusing to look at him. He settled himself on the opposite end of the couch, but you swore you could feel the heat radiating off his body. You had turned down the lights as it was getting late, and you assumed you would end up falling asleep on the couch. Peter had changed into sweats and a tee shirt, and you were very aware of how attractive he now looked to you. 

“Y/N?” He asked after a few minutes of silence. 

“Mmm?” You responded, still not looking at him. 

“I hope I didn’t offend you with what happened before. I realize I didn’t really ask for consent, and I really didn’t disrespect you-”

“Peter,” you said with a sigh, finally looking at him. You were surprised that his statement didn’t seem fake, he seemed genuinely interested in respecting you. “It’s 7 minutes in heaven. I told you to do what you desired and… you did exactly that.”

“You seem upset, though.” He said. 

“No, no, not upset. Just… surprised.”

“Surprised?”

“I really didn’t… expect that. I assumed we would talk or something, I really didn’t expect… that.” 

“Oh, right.” He said, his face red. “Sorry.” You gave a small laugh. 

“You really don’t have to apologize.” You said. “There was nothing wrong with what you did.” “So it wasn’t bad?” “Bad?” You laughed again. “Quite the opposite. I didn’t expect it to be so… good.” “Seriously? Good?” He looked genuinely surprised. 

“Yeah I was even more surprised than you.” You said. “C’mon,” you gestured. “Let’s do shots.” 

You poured tequila into two shot glasses. 

“I’m not really a shot kind of guy,” Peter said. That was obvious. 

“Who cares. You’re not nearly as drunk as I am, time to catch up, Parker.” You grinned at him. You easily downed the shot, Peter following but coughing after it went down. You immediately poured two more shots into the glasses. 

“Again?” He asked, his eyes wide. 

“What, are you scared?” That seemed to challenge him. Peter was competitive as hell, and soon you had each done two more shots. 

The effects were almost immediate. You were laughing as you recalled some of the stupid shit that had gone on that night. 

“So truth or dare?” He asked. You raised your eyebrows. 

“Truth.” 

“Why don’t you like me?” That dulled the mood a little, taking the conversation from flirty to serious in .2 seconds. 

“Ah… Well I really don’t like boys who sneak into my house in the middle of the night. And I especially don’t like boys who assume I need saving.” He lowered his gaze, muttering a sorry. “But… you aren’t what I thought you were.” 

“Really?” “Truth or dare.” You said. 

“Dare.” You paused for a second, thinking which way you wanted to take it. 

“I dare you to kiss me again.” He raised his eyebrows, and a mischevious grin formed on your face. In no time, he had crossed the length of the couch, pulling you onto him so were stradling his lap. He pulled you close to him as your lips connected. 

You pulled away before it got too heated. Peter looked at you quizzically as you grabbed your phone. 

You made sure all the alarms were set and all the doors were locked, something your father reminded you to do before you go to bed. You put on your sex playlist on spotify, the slow music and base coming through the speakers. Peter raised his eyebrows at you, and you grinned in return. 

“I’m a vibe girl,” you explained. “Always need to set the mood.” 

You connected your lips again, feeling his tongue slip into your mouth. Once again, you were taken aback by how good of a kisser Peter was. His strong, warm hands ran along your thighs and up and down your back. You slowly began to grind your hips against him, and heard a small moan escape his lips. It was deep and raspy, and turned you on even more. 

You grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head, and was shocked to see that he had abs and a strong chest. You starred at his naked torso for a second. 

“Like what you see, Stark?” He flirted. You grinned. 

“Maybe.” You replied before kissing him again. It wasn’t long before he unlatched your bra and slipped it out from under your shirt. He starred at your boobs. 

“What?” You asked. 

“I just, uhm, didn’t expect your… uhm, nipples to be pierced.” He bit his lip as he starred at them. You pulled your hands away from where they were resting on his chest and removed your own shirt. You immediately continued to makeout, very aware of your hot bodies pressing against each other. 

His lips moved down your neck and soon he was gently sucking on your nipples, pulling on your piercings with his teeth. Your head fell back and a moan escaped your lips. 

“Fuck Peter,” you said, and grinded against his lap again. It wasn’t long before you felt him getting hard underneath you. You reached down to grab his dick and squeezed it, but before you knew it, Peter had flipped you onto your back. 

“Don’t get any ideas, Stark,” he said. “You’re not the one in charge here.” You felt yourself get wetter with those words, Peter continuing to turn you on. He put your hands above your head as he continued to kiss down your body. Your hands kept wandering and he kept returning them to their spot above your head. 

“Keep your hands where I put them,” he said. You bit your lip. 

“Make me.” You said with a grin. This seemed to turn him on more. He pushed you up the couch further, and before you knew it he had sprayed his webbing, sealing your hands to the arm of the couch. You tried to pull them, but the webbing was as strong as steal and you couldn’t move them. 

Peter looked at you, and made his way further down your body. He pulled off your spandex first, kissing your thighs. With every moan you made, you could see him getting harder. 

He went to pull off your underwear, which were so wet he could see it. 

“Fuck.” He said, staring at your wet pussy. “Fuck Y/N.” You whimpered as he took one finger and ran it down between your folds. He brought it to his lips and sucked. You stared at him, in disbelief that the timid Peter Parker, who got flustered whenever you looked at him, was now completely in control. 

He sank down and began slowly moving his tongue in light circles around your clit. A small gasp escaped your lips. He began to get heavier and heavier, swirling his tongue. Your moans and curses just spurred him forward. 

You were breathing heavy and he could tell you were close, your eyes shut tight, when he slipped a finger inside you. You gasped loudly, saying “FUCK Peter!” You opened your eyes and saw his eyes glinting at you. He was so clearly enjoying himself. 

You couldn’t believe how good he was at this. It was like he knew your body better than you did, he knew exactly how to make you feel good. No first time had ever felt this good before. 

He kept eating you out, two fingers now moving in and out of you, curling to hit that exact spot that made you scream. 

“FUCK Peter!” You screamed. “Fuck, I’m gonna-” You said before screaming again. “Peter!” You said as you got closer and closer to the edge. 

“Are you gonna cum princess?” He asked before going back to humming against your clit. You were shocked at the nickname, but it just turned you on. 

“Fuck Peter please, I’m gonna-” you said right as he pulled his face away and slowly drew his fingers out of you. 

“Peter!” You shouted. “What the fuck?” 

“I’ve been wanting to do this for so long, Y/N. I’m in charge. And we’re going to do things my way.” You looked at him in disbelief, this boy was so much different than you ever expected. 

“Peter,” you whined. “I was so close.” “I don’t care.” He said with a grin. 

“Can you please let me have my hands back?” “And why would I do that?” He smirked. 

“So I can make you feel good. And maybe get you back for what you just did to me.” He laughed, the sound made you feel so good. 

“Not a chance. My way, remember princess?” You whimpered at the name. Peter slid off his sweats and boxers, kissing your nipples and leaving hickeys all over your boobs. It wasn’t long before your eyes were shut again, so when he entered you, you gasped, not expecting it. 

He moaned, a deep rasp, his face in front of yours. You don’t like to make eye contact during sex, you’ve always had trouble being intimte, but his gaze bore into you. As he pulled out and back in slowly, you couldn’t break eye contact. 

“Fuck,” you moaned. 

“Feel good, princess?” He said, his movements speeding up. 

“So… fucking good,” you said in between gasps. “Holy fuck, Peter, your dick is amazing.” 

He kissed your neck, just making you moan more. 

“Fuck, Peter, I’m gonna come.” “Not yet, baby,” he said. “Not until I give you permission.” You bit your lip, as his words just made you even wetter. He had finally found his rhythym, pouding into you, your breathing and moans in sync. 

You shouted as he rubbed your clit with his thumb. 

“PETER!” You yelled. “I’m cuming.” He continued to pull out faster and faster, pounding into you and making you scream. You rode your high, feeling so good you felt like your senses were dialed all the way up. 

“Fuck, Y/N,” he said, gasping for air. “I’m gonna cum.” 

“Cum on me.” You said. He looked at you quizzically. 

“What?” “Cum on me,” you repeated. He pounded into you a few more times before pulling out and cuming all over your chest, the hot liquid feeling good against your chest.

Peter collapsed next to you, both of you breathing heavily. 

“That was-” you started to say, but Peter’s hand began fingering you again. 

“Oh, fuck, Peter.” You moaned. 

“You didn’t think I was done with you, did I?” He flirted. You starred at him and he connected your lips right as his fingers slipped inside of you. You gasped, still coming off your first orgasm. 

“Peter!” You shouted as he curled his fingers, rubbing your clit with his thumb again. “Fuck, Peter, that feels so good.” “Yeah, princess? You like that?” You whimpered. 

“Feels so good,” you said quietly. He continuted to go faster and faster, sucking and pulling on your nipples with his mouth. 

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK Peter I’m cumming!” You shouted. 

“Cum for me baby, I want to feel you cum all over my fingers.” 

You screamed, orgasming all over his hand. 

He kissed your neck as you came off the high, gasping for air. You made eye contact once again. 

“Good girl,” he said, and slowly pulled his fingers out of you, eliciting another gasp from you. 

“Holy shit,” you said, breathing heavily. “That was…” you couldn’t even finish the sentence. You were so taken aback by what just happened. 

Peter pulled off the webbing from your hands. You reached for his cock, but he grabbed your hands. 

“Uh uh,” he said with a smirk. “Did I give you permission to do that?” 

“No,” you said quietly. 

“What was that?”

“No, sir,” you said with a grin. This seemed to turn him on. 

“C’mon,” he said and pulled you to your feet. 

“Where are we going?” You asked. He looked at you mischievously before grabbing you and throwing you over his shoulder, fireman style. 

“Peter!” you gasped.

Your entire body was still tingling from the multiple orgasms. You felt Peter’s strong muscles beneath you. 

You were still so shocked from what had just happened, that you weren’t aware where Peter was taking you until the cold water from the shower hit your skin. 

A coffee to go

Requests: Open!

A/N: English is not my maternal language, sorry if this has any grammatical errors.

A/N#2: The story is inspired by a short film called ’Café para llevar’.

Pairing: Clint x Fem!reader, Thor x Reader (mentioned).

Summary: About an unexpected reunion, of two former lovers, years later since they last met and how life has changed for each of them.

Characters: Fem!reader, Clint Barton, Pepper Potts…

Warnings: Angst basically.

(The used gifs are taken from Google, they belong to their respective creators.)

Like any other morning, Y/N went running through the busy and lively streets of New York City. Once she finished her usual tour, she decided to stop by the small but very popular coffee shop of her very good friend Pepper, ‘Virginia’s’. She decided not to break with her habits and asked for the same thing as always.

“Good morning, Y/N/N,” Pepper said as she saw her young, almost sister, friend entering in the small place.

“Good morning to you too, future Mrs. Stark.” greeted back Y/N as she took off her headphones and focus on the pastries in the cozy cafeteria.

“I see you didn’t skip the early morning run today, huh?” Pepper asked as she approached the counter and smiled at Y/N.

“Never.” He denied this one while laughing.  “Please give me an American with cream and a honey, to go, ya know. Oh! And one of those Swiss rolls! How good they look, for God’s sake…” she whispered the last part.

“On it, girl.” said the blonde woman.

“You know, Peps. For some it’s caffeine and for others it’s nicotine what they’re addicted to, for me it’s running in the morning. Which, by the way, is why I did it earlier today.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you and I had agreed to go with Natasha, Wanda, Nebula and Gamora to get the bridesmaids’ dresses for your wedding. Did you forget already?”

“So it seems…” said Pepper, she held one hand to her face and leaned against the wall. "Oh, shit. It was today…“

"Yeah.” laughed Y/N at the sight of her friend’s face. "Oh! And don’t forget it’s your engagement dinner, too.“

"Oh, no! I forgot that too,” said the cafeteria owner as she finished organizing the order for her friend, who was holding on to her stomach because of the laughter. “Stop laughing at me, Y/N!”

“I’m sorry, but you just have to look at your face, really. It’s all a poem.”

After she had managed to control the brief fit of laughter that had entered her, Y/N set out to leave the cafeteria when suddenly heard someone call her from one of the tables in the place, thus making her take a look at the origin of that voice.

At that moment  it seemed that Y/N’s heart was going to stop.

“Clint. Hi…” she whispered as she saw the man rising from his place and was approaching her.

“Y/N. Long time no see.” Clint said with a smile as he put his hands in his pants pockets, not without giving the girl a hug first.

“I didn’t know… That you were back.” tried the girl to speak normally as she looked at the coffee and Swiss roll in her hands.

“Well, it’s about time. Plus I’m just in time for the wedding,” shrugged Barton.

“Uhm…. So it seems.” she whispered.  “Then I’ll see you. See you tonight,” Y/N said as she tried to escape from the place.

“Wait. Stay…”

“I’m sorry, but I must hurry, Clint.” Y/N tried to make an excuse.

“Please.” Clint begged as he watched her leave. "Just stay as long as it takes you to drink your coffee.“

"Okay…” she whispered and went with Clint to the table he had been at before.

“How’s everything going? How are your siblings?” asked the man before taking a sip of his coffee.

“They are all right. Pietro is recovering from knee surgery, which was done two months ago, after he broke his knee in an athletic competition. Wanda is expecting her second baby with Viz, and I…. I’m working as a paramedic with Sam and Scott." Y/N explained the situation to Clint. "What about you? How are you doing?”

“Good.” Clint laughed and said, “I travelled around Asia, stayed in Thailand for a few years and came back a few weeks ago.  Now I work at the store with my father.”

“Do you work in the fruit shop? With your father?”

“Yes…” said the man as he nodded slowly.

Y/N laughed briefly at the sound of that. "Well, it’s hard to believe, yes.“

"I know, I know…” Clint admitted before sipping his coffee, once more.

“It’s just that you always said that it was impossible and that it wasn’t meant for you.”

“Well there you have it.” Barton whispered as he looked intently at Y/N.

“So what happened?” she asked, drinking her coffee to go.

“You know, while traveling in Asia….  Thailand made me fall in love, I stayed there for a couple of years and when I returned home, I didn’t have… Anything. I needed to work. And since I still can’t live on of what I write… But, let’s say, that working as fruiter is not so bad, eh.”

Y/N looked down at her hands and nodded, as she bit her lower lip and listened to Clint speak. She was playing with her fingers too, until Clint took her by the hand, making her look him in the eye.

“Who would have thought…!” the young woman suddenly said.

“Well, that’s not all. I’ve quit smoking,” admitted the fruit vendor proudly as he drew a small smile on his face.

“No!” Y/N said incredulously. “Really?  That’s a hell of a lot harder to believe.”

“Six months I’ve been at it. I’m telling ya.”

“Congratulations then.”

At that moment, the silent reigned until Y/N couldn’t stand the slight tension that had formed and decided to break it.

“Are you seeing anyone?” she asked taking her hand away from Clint’s and drank her own coffee.

“Yes,” said the man in a sigh.

Y/N smiled nervously at him. "And I know her?“

"Not at all,” he denied. “I met her in Bangkok. She was a globetrotter, like me.  She’s from Portugal.”

“How romantic…” whispered the girl with a sweet smile. "And she’s come to live here because of you?“

"Yes, she did that. ” said Clint, looking blankly at the scenery he saw through the huge window of the coffee shop.

“She must be very much in love with you.” Y/N said.

“Well, that’s what she says…” joked the guy as he looked back at the woman sitting in front of him, who laughed slightly at his response.

Clint took one of his hands to the face of his old acquaintance, and stroked it carefully. "Are you happy?“ he asked as he wiped away the tears that now flowed down Y/N’s cheeks.

She was unable to answer his question, simply grimaced and answered him with a question. "And you? Are you happy?”

He was also unable to respond to her. All he could do was squeeze both hands tightly on her as she sighed. "I…  I have something to tell you.“

For a moment Y/N’s eyes filled with hope and longing, until someone knocked the window glass and caught Clint’s attention.  A woman with brown hair and eyes greeted him from the other side of the window, as she had a smile drawn on her face. That same woman who greeted him, went to the door of the place to enter it.

Y/N separated her hands from Clint’s and noticed the beauty of that woman. She was radiant, with a slightly pink skin. With a bright, warm smile that highlighted the dimples that formed on her cheeks.

"Hello,” said the woman who had just arrived as she approached to greet Clint.

“How are you?” he asked to the woman as he posed a kiss on her lips.

Without a doubt, what most caught Y/N’s attention of that scene was the huge belly that reflected how far along that beautiful woman’s pregnancy was. Y/N’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel hurt and betrayed at that exact moment.

“Look who I ran into. She’s Y/N." Clint introduced Y/N.

"Oh, how are you? I heard a lot about you,” said the Portuguese woman as she hugged Y/N. “I’m Laura.”

“How are you feeling today?” Clint asked Laura as he touched her baby bump.

“Good, very good. But today is a cold morning,” said Laura as stroked her belly too.

Y/N had run out of words, she didn’t know how to react or what to think about what was happening and the amount of information her head was processing.

“Well, now I really have to go. I have to get ready to help finish organizing Pepper’s wedding,” Y/N said as she finished her Swiss roll and got up of her chair again. "Nice to have met you. And may everything go well.“ she told Laura, as she looked at her belly again.

"Thank you.” said Clint’s girlfriend with a big, sweet smile.

“Be very happy. Both… Well the three of you.” said the young woman before heading to the door of the place and getting ready to leave.

Y/N looked one last time in the direction of Clint, who was looking at her with a sad and longing look. One that expressed everything they felt for each other that could not be said. A look that also reflected their yearning to know what would have happened with them if they had not made the decisions they made.

Once Y/N left the cafeteria, she allowed herself to shed all those tears she had been holding back for a long time. She just stopped in front of the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the light to turn green as soon as possible, so that she could leave the place as soon as possible and get as far away from Clint as possible.

She felt selfish about feeling that way. And that was what she did abhors with her whole being.

“Fuck.” cursed as she watched the clear morning sky and wiped away the tears.  “Shit…” said in a weak sigh.

“Y/N!”

She turned and watched Clint at the cafeteria door, watching at her as he walked slowly toward her, who still looked at him with tears in her eyes and a sad smile. Once Clint stood in front of Y/N, he reached out and gave her her mobile phone and a small picture.

“You forgot this.” the man said with a small smile as he looked at the little picture he was giving his former lover.

“This is not mine.” she whispered while watching the picture he handed.

In the photo Clint and Y/N laughed as they hugged each other and were surrounded by Pietro, Wanda and all their closest friends. They all smiled in the picture and appeared doing silly and random things.

That was a beautiful night, Y/N thought with a little smile.

“I’ve always carried it with me in my wallet. I’ve been carrying it around since we took it off at your brother’s wedding."  Barton explained to Y/N. "I watched it from time to time… When I missed you so or when I thought about those good times we had. It was really a comfort to have it, back then in Asia,” he laughed.

“Thank you, Clint. I’ll take a good care of it.” Y/N said, while pulling a lock of hair away from her face and looked up to see Clint in the eyes.

They stayed for a short while enjoying the sound of the busy city and a gentle breeze of air, until Clint grabbed Y/N by the shoulders and drew her into his arms, to embrace her tightly. They clung tightly to each other, while Clint breathed in the smell of her shampoo, and Y/N memorized his cologne. The one that once made her feel at home. The one that still made her feel that way.

Once they split up, they didn’t say anything. They looked into each other’s eyes with tears, as intensely as if it was the first time. As if nothing had changed… even if the reality was the opposite.

The Smell of Rotten Parchment

Chapter one

Read on AO3

Summary: (Loki x Reader, Third POV, Loki centered). Punished for his crimes against Midgard, Loki is given into Thor’s custody who brings him to the Avengers because he has a mission on his own. Loki’s lips are sewn shut and he doesn’t want to have the threads removed, harboring a secret only Thor knows. The Avengers on their turn have a new team member. Beautiful, mysterious and very deadly, and she doesn’t take any shit from the God of Mischief, but slowly Loki starts to realize he is not the only one with a secret, and Helheim be damned if he doesn’t figure out what her secret is so he can use it, or her, to his own advance.

Warnings: Loki’s lips are sewn shut, Loki is a little shit, he will get what he want and he is a mess. Violence, (mentions of) torture and (hardly worth mentioning) implications of smut. Thor doesn’t understand him and is a brute. And this all is topped of with a shitload of Angst!

Words: 2859

A/N: What started as an idea for a little one-shot ended up in a 12 chapter fic in just a matter of days, and I regret nothing! I so much enjoyed writing this that I’m already planning a part two (and three and four) and (I think) that by the time the last chapter of this fic is posted, the new one will be ready. Of course I have a certain trademark and this fic is not short of a ton of angst, action and some horror-elements. The idea was to make it a 3th POV Loki x Reader but it ended up way more Loki-centred and from his POV along the way, and yet again, I regret nothing. Enjoy reading (and crying) this and please leave behind some comments on what you think of this because I’m very curious!

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Thor took off Loki’s muzzle and a gasp went through the room, faces awestruck. Bruce was the first one to make a move, stepping towards the God of Lies.

Loki took a step back while putting his index finger in the air, rattling the chains around his wrists with the movement, and his eyes shooting daggers at Bruce.

“Loki…” the scientist started, “let me get that out for you.”

Loki intensified his glare and made a low growl in the back of his throat, his eyes set wild but with the unmistakable intend of murder in them.

Bruce shuddered under his threatening glare and looked helplessly at Thor, not understanding.

Loki gave Thor an impatient glare and held out his chained wrists.

Thor sighed, his demeanor filled with annoyance. “You promise me that if I take off those chains you will not harm them,” Thor said threateningly, grabbing the chains.

Loki shrugged and put up a feint, innocent smile, at least he tried too as the threads sealing his lips together wouldn’t fully allow that and he grimaced.

“Brother…” Thor gave the chains a tug, the metal biting in Loki’s wrists.

Loki rolled his eyes but one look at Thor told him his Thor wouldn’t take of the chains off if he didn’t consent to his demand. Reluctantly he nodded while snorting a sigh through his nose. Thor gave him one last warning glare before he took off the chains.

Immediately Loki felt his magic return to him and within mere seconds he had fabricated an illusion of himself covering his true appearance. He didn’t mind looking battered and bruised but at least he could make his illusion speak. “Took you long enough,” he berated Thor.

“Do not make me regret taking them off, Loki,” Thor said venomously and shook the chains he was still holding.

“Okay, stop it right there! Can somebody please tell me what is going on!” Tony interjected before the brothers would start fighting. “I mean, you show up on my doorstep with your brother in chains who looks like hell - no offense Reindeer Games - and without any explanation you take off those chains while the last time we saw him he tried to take over the earth and murder us - again no offence. Please do explain!”

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes again and moved for the bar, muttering some words under his breath.

“Where do you think you are going?” Tony demanded more than asked.

Loki just kept walking to the bar and raised an eyebrow at Stark. “You still owe me that drink,” he said casually and pulled a bottle from the shelf, opened it and sniffed its contents and decided it would suffice. As Loki brought the bottle to his lips his brows furrowed. Although his illusion could talk, and therefore open its mouth to drink something, his true form could not. Angry he put the bottle down, almost shattering the glass.

“Yes, please do explain,” Clint said with one eye on Thor and the other warily eyeing the God of Mischief who gave him a predatory grin, sending shivers up Clint’s spine.

“The Allfather has given me a mission to accomplish. Yet, the target of that mission is somewhere on Midgard, although I do not know exactly where, and thus I returned.”

“That does not explain why he is here,” Clint spat pointing at Loki.

“Loki has been sentenced for his crimes on Midgard. He has been placed under my custody and I could not leave him behind on Asgard while I’m meant to keep an eye on him,” Thor sighed which drew another murderous glare from Loki who was still fidgeting with the bottle of alcohol, it’s contents still locked away from his grasp.

Bruce walked to the bar and rummaged through the cabinets while eyeing Loki warily, whose feeling were completely mutual and acted the same towards the scientist. Bruce pulled out a glass and a straw and placed it on the bar and carefully backed away, leaving the God to figure this concept out for himself. Loki wasn’t stupid and sighed in exasperation.

Natasha, who had been silently listening during the whole ordeal finally spoke up, “and why are his lips sewn shut?”

“Because it hurts less than your muzzle,” Loki interjected sarcastically while giving the Widow an exhausted glare.

“That can’t be more comfortable than that,” Bruce offered eyeing Loki with some confusion.

Loki raised an eyebrow and seriously questioning the intelligence of the mortal. “I really can not phantom why you need to know the details, for it is not of importance. Thor is going to find his target and we can get out of here as soon as it is allowed.” Loki advanced towards his brother, the scorn clear in his voice but Thor knew better and briefly caught the threatening look he got from Loki to not tell them the true reason his mouth was sewn shut.

It was silent for a moment before Bruce spoke up, “can I at least remove the wires? It does not look healthy and it might infe-”

“NO!” Loki shouted, his illusion briefly wavering at his outburst and Bruce took an involuntary step back.

Thor put a hand on Loki’s shoulder. “Brother please, control your anger. You do not want to antagonize Bruce or-”

“Yes, yes, or the green monster comes out,” he interrupted Thor with apparent irritation but briefly flinched at his own words. He briskly shoved Thor’s hand off his shoulder and walked back to the bar, smirking at Bruce while he passed the man.

“Is he going to help in this mision of yours?” Tony asked Thor while nudging his head towards Loki.

“I am actually more concerned for my safety, or better said, that of the earth,” Clint spat. “How are you so sure he won’t harm us?”

Thor held up the chains. “If Loki is intended on harming anyone, I’ll put these back on for they seal of his magic,” and he gave Loki another warning glare.

Loki made an angry noise at the back of his throat at the sight of the shackles dangling from Thor’s fist. He poured the liquid in the glass and used his illusion to mask the fact that he needed a straw to drink, making it look as if he was casually sipping the liquid from the glass.

“So, if I understand correctly,” Natasha spoke, “the chains seal of his magic, and if he doesn’t have his magic he can’t create an illusion on himself - or whatever it is he currently is doing - and thus can’t speak either because his lips are… sewn shut and so he can’t lie either?”

“You are quick to catch on,” Loki taunted but was ignored.

Thor nodded. “Yes, and the used wire is also infused with magic and-” Thor had to dodge as Loki hurled the glass towards his brother, shattering it against a glass window.

“Wow, wow!” Tony said shocked, trying to calm the situation as he saw the murderous look in Loki’s eyes and the anger flaring in Thor’s. “He clearly doesn’t wanna talk about that, so leave it. It doesn’t matter, just stop before the two of you tear down the place!”

Loki smoothed his face and buried the anger he was feeling. It wasn’t so much that Loki was angry with Thor, for he hadn’t done this to him and was actually indirectly also punished for Loki’s crimes because he had the custody over Loki. The bitterness Loki was feeling was because everything that happened during his trail and before they had arrived on Midgard again. It was only because Thor’s target had let them here that he was now stuck with some over-curious so-called heroes who tried to find answers to questions they shouldn’t ask.

The door opened. “She is installed and-” Steve broke mid-sentence as he saw the two Gods upon entering the room. “What is he doing here?” Steve said warily as he saw Loki who scoffed at his question.

“Where are you going?” Tony asked with a little bit of panic in his voice as he saw Loki move for the door.

“Out to explore this… home?” Loki said while eyeing the area with disdain.

“Uhm, no. You are staying here where I can see you,” Tony said belittling.

“Try and stop me,” Loki said casually and walked into the hallway.

“Jarvis, keep me informed on his movements, and seal of the lab and… Well, seal of every area where he could do harm.”

“Yes sir,” Jarvis spoke.

“And keep an eye on her as well, Jarvis,” Steve said to the AI.

***

As she fired the arrow she heard someone speak behind her, his voice dark and filled with mockery, “you are not very good at this, are you?”

She sighed. It had been quite a while since she had last shot an arrow, her life never giving her the time to practice more. Of course she had first spend hours to craft the arrows to her liking, but she was satisfied and now was finally able to practice for the first time since a year.

Because it had been a while almost all her arrows had missed the target and had ended up in the wall or in white of the paper.

She sighed and actually she did not want to answer the person who had asked the question. She set another arrow and let it fly loose, the arrow shivering in midair and missing the paper.

She heard the new arrival scoff behind her.

The third arrow she fired barely graced the paper and the man belittled her once more for her poor performance.

She slung her bow over her shoulder and walked to the wall to retrieve her arrows. She eyed the God as she walked back to her firing position.

His hair was raven black, his pale skin fair and his green eyes tried to pierce her soul under his scrutinizing glare.

She gave him a mocking smile and he raised his eyebrows at her insolence. “Do you even know who I am, cheeky girl,” he asked in that same belittling tone.

As she let another arrow fly - which missed its mark - she answered him, “yes, Loki, I know who you are.” She fully knew who he was and she also knew he could be quite mocking, arrogant and belittling, which she was currently experiencing first hand.

Another arrow missed.

“My, my. I sincerely hope this isn’t your profession in this team of so-called heroes because I wouldn't trust you to have my back,” his arrogance resonating in his voice.

The arrow flew wide at his words and landed on the floor.

She didn't answer him. She didn't want too and she needed to concentrate as she let another arrow fly, this one ending up in the black ring, the first one of many actually closing in on the bullseye.

“You missed,” Loki said stating the obvious, his voice casually but a hint of disgust intertwined in it.

Arrogant and mocking, Loki was really getting on her nerves. She had just wanted to practice after settling in the tower with the Avengers. It had taken her hours to craft the arrows, their black shafts carefully crafted with intercrate patterns, their tips shining white matching the white feathers. Just her and the bow, trying to become one with it again, yet here was the God of Lies annoying her with only his mere presence. She hadn't even introduced herself to him and he was already making her blood boil.

After two more arrows she went to retrieve them again, both shots missing and both of them getting a snippy remark from Loki.

As she was back at the line again she could feel his eyes scrutinizing her once more, his eyes probably roaming her body, in his mind ravishing it and she felt very uncomfortable. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” she asked him with a sigh.

“No,” he casually said and crossed his arms while leaning against the wall, still eyeing her.

Another arrow missed.

“I seriously hope your aim is better during other activities,” Loki said amused but she picked up on the suggestive tone easily. For a second her composure stiffened and she heard him snicker.

That was it! She set another arrow to her bow and she started to whisper.

“If you mutter your answer I can’t hear you,” Loki taunted.

Right before she fired her shot she turned, still whispering, and aimed for the God of Lies. She loosened and the arrow narrowingly missed his ear, cutting of a little strand of his hair that stuck on the arrow in the wall. A faint smell of rot and parchment hung in the air.

Loki’s face dropped and was soon replaced by a scowl. “You little Mortal!” he said angrily, “don’t ever do that again!”

She shrugged. “Then stop annoying me,” she casually said flashing him a smile and Loki grunted.

She shot another arrow and missed the paper again. “You know,” Loki started, “it is a good thing you are so bad at this, that arrow narrowly missed me and could have landed between my eyes.”

“If you don’t shut up the next one will land between your eyes!” she shouted angrily at him.

Loki laughed. He really was trying to get on her nerves, seeing how far he could go before she would give up her futile attempts at hitting her mark. “I do not think you are capable of that and if you’d succeed, it would be a lucky shot,” he said with a smile on his face.

She set another arrow. “No, it wouldn’t,” she fired the arrow, again in the black ring.

Loki laughed. “You are lying to yourself, little one, next time I’m going to invade this Realm, I’ll start with killing you. One less Avenger in front of my feet, easy kill. That, or I might do something else to you…” his words trailed and a wolvish grin spread across his face.

She grimaced as she remembered that faithfull day that had wrecked her life. It frightened her how casually he spoke about what he had done and seemed to have no problem at all with all the blood he had shed. Innocent blood. Blood of children, parents… Friends.

A pang of emotional hurt wrecked her and a sad look crossed her face which was soon replaced by one of anger. As she set another arrow she started to whisper again, the ancient words of a language long forgotten by mankind rolling of her tongue. She could feel the words hooking on the arrow and a scent of rotting parchment filled the air. This time she was done with Loki’s blatant words and his insinutive tone. His actions had cost her dearly and she wanted to put the God in his place once and for all, showing she was not to be messed with.

“The whispering again,” Loki laughed. “Is this something you also do wh-”

Loki never got to finish his sentence because she turned once more in his direction and set the arrow loose going straight for his head. Just before it would lodge between the God’s eyes the arrow stopped, hovering in mid air and Loki had to squint to see the arrows tip barely touching the skin right between his eyes.

Shock washed over his face and she could hear him swallow.

“You are not the only one with magic in this building, Trickster,” she sneered challenging and with a short word the tip of the arrow touched the skin on his forehead. “And I’m not sure whether or not you know who I am, or my profession, but you might want to treat me a little bit more careful,” with another word the arrow slowly inched forward, making Loki’s illusion waver and she briefly got a glimpse of the way he truly looked.

The glimpse was brief, but it was enough for her to catch on the reasons Loki was antagonizing her and she made the arrow stop. “But I very much like you to apologize for your terrible behaviour.”

Her words were bold and once Loki had recovered from his initial surprise, he laughed. It wasn’t a mocking laugh this time, but one of genuine mirth and even a little admiration. “Asked by the vixen who is currently driving an arrow between my eyes.” He grabbed the arrow and his illusion wavered again. Quickly Loki decided not to touch the thing for he truly did not want to let his illusion fall in the presence of this meager mortal who tried to threaten him.

As if she could read his mind she spoke again, her words spitting, “and by the way, I am not Mortal!”

She muttered some words in the ancient language and the arrow floated through the air, returning to her hand as she set it on her bow to shoot again. This time she hit the bullseye and she heard Loki snicker behind her and a little smile formed on her lips at his words.

“I like her.”

Next Chapter

----

Taglist: @luracantspell​

General taglist:  @lusty-loki, @destiel1597,  @laralaufey, @welcome-to-fangirl-hell, @fairlightswiftly, @lokikingofasgardslover713, @daddymarvel, @vesperazylra, @annievvv7, @myclock, @hiddlestoner3095

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No One Has an Idea of the Truth || Tsubomi || Trial 2.5 || RE: Mostly Katja || ATTN: Mallory

Oh! That was actually a pretty clever idea. Though, uh... prefaced with something mildly embarrassing. Tsubomi covered her face for a quick moment to keep composure, though she dropped her hands to reveal a still mildly-flushed complexion. She cleared her throat as that faded.

"... I, uhm... Thanks, Lily. You're adorable. The checking for scratches might actually work, though. When I threw my card on the ground after the first motive was revealed, it actually sustained some scratches, though it sure as fuck is a tough cookie... It's not going to break super easily. Scratches, though? Can do. I can conduct those checks, and... with that, Shinji's cleared. I still think Katja's alibi is flimsy, considering Buckles and them are friends, but..."

She took a deep fucking breath. There was so much to unpack there, Katja. So, so so much. Urgh. She squeezed her hand for a moment, and thank fucking god Colby at least took part of the burden away there because hot damn, Tsubomi was about to blow up.

"Though their commentary just now is so fucking stupid that I think my suspicion of them is dropped. What the fuck were you doing during investigations? Sitting and looking pretty? Enjoying a fucking slice of pie? Haah? You're dropping all these dumbass fucking assumptions without thinking about all possibilities, and god damn even if you're ignorant on what the maze looked like, you shouldn't muddy the waters with theories that are literally impossible without asking how it looks yet. You know what? Here, I'll do you the fucking service of drawing you a map."

Angrily, Tsubomi scribbled on the notebook from her room, previously unused, to sketch out a rough map with her previous notes as reference. Obviously she's speeding through the process, thus her lines were rather shaky and sloppy but, frankly she didn't give a shit. As she drew, she continued her thoughts.

"Did you even think for a fucking second that maybe, just maybe, Mallory triggered the spike trap BEFORE becoming the joker? Newsflash, you wouldn't have the map before cards are dealt. Even then, just knowing where the fucking traps are doesn't mean you don't have to move around them when you get to them anyway. There's some places that you HAVE to face traps to get to, by the way, so it's not that fucking simple. And the traps were all fucking disabled during the goddamn investigation, and that shoe is 80 levels of irrelevant to the case so stop fucking trying. Fine, you want a suggestion on what the box could've been used for? How about what Colby just pointed out, huh? Launch that card and shit over the wall. I still think that's pretty damn throwable if you have the arm for it, but if you use a fucking springed box like a catapult, fwoosh, problem fucking solved."

She grabbed the drawing and walked over to Katja's podium, slapping it on the wood. In a huff, she walked back to her own podium and held her head in her hands. Damn how she had to keep handling such idiots in the trials. It was... probably better than Goto, at least. He wasn't even processing anything she was saying, so. Y'know. It was exhausting nonetheless.

"Moving on to the less fucking stupid questions. The peacock was inside the building for some reason. I really wouldn't be shocked if the note was a plant, but someone still had to write it, too. Figuring out who exactly wrote it would help a lot, wouldn't it? Also, Colby, even if Mallory was staying in your room, her card would still unlock her room with Katja, so it's super easy to go in and use that notepad to frame Katja, yeah? Sorry, that defense doesn't have much ground. And I didn't find anything else buried or any weird dirt anywhere outside of where the box was originally, but there was nothing buried under the dirt there. We tried. Unless someone else has evidence we missed, I'm at a loss. Though... if all else fails, we might not even need to know what it was used for to solve the case. It WOULD bug me, but I've got nothing there. If you don't mind...."

Tsubomi swapped from her pen to her pencil and tried Alan's next suggestion: checking for impressions on the pads. To turn up with nothing. She sighed.

"Nada. There aren't any impressions. There's multiple pages gone from each and that trick only works on like... the top two pages, right? So not cleared but not condemned, either. So I'm going with the other idea."

Tsubomi stepped over to Mallory's podium and held out her hand.

"Let me see your card."

An old fanfic from five years ago

I am not a prolific writer but today I was reminded of that summer when I signed up on fanfiction.net to submit my only fanfic in english. Maybe sharing it on tumblr too isn’t bad after all.

Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin

Disclaimer: Watsuki-sensei (along with Sony, Viz, Shonen Jump, Shueisha, Media Blasters ADV and Fuji TV etc…) owns Kenshin/Shinta. I’m just borrowing, not profiting.

A/N: Shinta’s family: Oldest brother, Sotohiro - 15, Middle brother, Benjiro - 12, Shinta – 9.

beta reader: wynteralchemyst

To everyone: enjoy! English is not my native language so, please, go easy on me!

Prevention

1858

He went to the window and peered out. No shoji were sliding out before he could. It was just a gap in the wooden hut where his mother has been cooking until a moment ago. It was meant to clear the steam away the room, the plugged pipe got broken, then removed last week, thus allowing Shinta to pry his big brothers through. His mother had allowed him not to hang around nor to help out in the fields, even a hollow rise up to a window rank in those conditions. In his loose hand-me-downs, Shinta looked smaller than he was. Perhaps his parents chose his name wishing he could grow big, but somehow they changed their minds in the process and changed his first kanji from “lengthen/develop” into “heart/soul” as well, betting on his kindness, leaving the “large” one unvaried. Besides there wasn’t much hope for him to fulfill such an achievement since he had to skip meals more often than he should In the past years the famine had spared no one, but his family managed to survive nevertheless.

Shinta squinted off in the distance, watching his older brothers , their back to the poppy red sun as they returned from the fields. Benjiro was holding his circular straw hat like it was a cradle, while Sotohiro quickened his pace, still addressing his brother. Shinta listened to his brothers’ words carefully, hoping for clues concerning their father’s whereabouts. He couldn’t bear the secretive looks they gave him whenever he asked, and part of him suspected they only talked about it outside his presence. To Shinta’s disappointment, a stream of complaints about the weather was the only thing he could catch before jerking.

“What do you think you’re doing, Shinta?” his mother hissed behind him.

“Okaasan! Etto…”

“Hurry up!”

He was told to set the table while she was carrying out an inspection of the supplies. There were so few of them that it didn’t take her long to make sure everything was in its proper place.

“Tadaima!” a boyish voice rang like bells in unison.

“Okaeri” replied their mother.

“A mole attacked the daikon again and this is the result” Benjiro said, proudly showing her a mass of blood and bristles in the hollow of his hat.

The woman looked away in disgust. Benjiro felt Shinta’s attention and unexpectedly approached him and dangled the carcass close to his nose.

“Shouldn’t we taste its meat, Shin-chan?”

He expected Shinta’s eyes to widen in shock at the proposal, but they blazed with fury instead. Benjiro drew back his prey just in time, and Shinta barely missed grabbing the mole.

“Maa, maa”

It was Sotohiro’s voice this time. Reluctantly Benjiro handed over the dead mole to his elder brother. He didn’t never get used to the fact that his brother was in charge in their father’s absence. He sighed and knelt at his place at the table.

“Let’s bury it, Shinta, before the sunset!” Sotohiro said softly.

Shinta made a dart for the door and followed Sotohiro outside before their mother could ever raise an eyebrow. Shinta’s ponytail brushed against Benjiro’s eyes in passing far before his elder brother realized.

“Then, there’ll be more soup for me"Benjiro said shrugging and he helped himself.

"Itadakimasu!” ‘he said, clasping his hands together.

The table was set, other dishes apart from Benjiro’s were empty but he didn’t care about it. Before Benjiro could begin eating, the ladle dipped into his bowl again and transferred some of the soup to Shinta’s bowl. He lift his look slowly like hoping the ladle were stirring by itself, then he was taken back to reality: he saw his mother’s face smirking at him.

“Eat slowly, son”

Benjiro waited for his mother to accuse him of being selfish, but it never came. Instead of feeling elated, guilt and displeasure settled at the base of his stomach.

“She pitied me”

“Eating slowly won’t solve the problem”

Those few words of his mother and the shapeless substance floating, or better drowning, in that dishwater, like shrunken wool would in hot water, were too much. He lost his good mood as he couldn’t lose his appetite.

“Where’s Otou-san?” Shinta asked.

The words fluttered out of his mouth, the unwilling teeth couldn’t trap them. The twitter of a lark was soften in the air while dark shadows were lengthened over them. In the twilight Shinta’s bangs hid what could have been seen of his eyes. Sotohiro was stamping on the ground, playing for time. Only when the silence had fallen did he speak:

“Rest in peace” Sotohiro murmured to the mole, a fitting end to the mole’s life.

“If I tell you, you must promise me that you’ll pretend not to know a thing, all right?” Sotohiro said gently but with no room for bargaining.

Shinta nodded.

“Rumor said that beyond the mountains, an undetected disease decimated the population. Our daimyo ordered to each village committee to gather at Sumi-e camp. Doctors were supposed to give the instructions against the infection and so on. Otou-san should have been back by now” Sotohiro came closer to his little brother, his lips lightly curled “You care too much about everyone, bro, even a mole. This is why okaasan won’t tell you stuff’ unless it comes to the worst and…

"But I don’t!” Shinta cut in.

“You do. The moles destroyed our crops! Benjiro was just joking, but you still…”

“But dead moles do no harm! There’s no use in…"the child was at a loss for words and obviously heating, his stance was trunk-like still but the trembling lips betrayed him "… no use at all.” he uttered the last two words resolutely.

Sotohiro sought for an answer but it was difficult and blamed the darkness. At least, he admitted, it made sense after all. He cast an inquiring look toward Shinta. He reminded to himself.

“I am the elder one. Should I prevent him from crying?”

He was wondering if that eventuality was coming. He asked to turn his little brother away from his deepening thoughts:

“Otousan will come back in no time. Do you agree?”

“Hai!”

Shinta answered aloud.

“That’s the spirit! Let’s come in, it’s raining.”

When some drops hit his cheeks, Shinta felt as his brother’s words concealed some power in them - so that even his father’s return sounded certain.

Shinta heard the thump early in the morning and thought of an earthquake tremor at first. He turned over, hoping to fall back asleep, but then some snips followed and when it continued he frowned and sprang to his feet only to find his middle brother grinning back at him.

“Okaasan is up to some measures of prevention, I guess.”

That explained things, but it was more a riddle than an enlightening sentence. While his mother’s fussy activities were going on not far away Shinta ruminated on those words: they tasted bad. He thought back to his recent memories.

Since the conversation she had had with the oba-san, she had been acting strangely, eying Shinta’s face while pulling up his chin and nodding, or praising his hair out of the blue, or calling kokori daemons names in an almost imperceptible whisper. Just a couple of days ago, the oba-san burst into the hut with news late in the evening, when Shinta was already asleep. Sotohiro made it short: he wasn’t certain their mother would approve of him sharing such information and said, when she wasn’t around, that kokori daemons were responsible for the disease. They envied the strength of human men and were pleased to send as many people as they could to the other world. Unfortunately Sotohiro joined the conversation much too late and he didn’t hear about their father, nor he could ask their mother, who had been busy like a swallow building its nest since then.

What Sotohiro was doing out of bed that late was another mystery to the child, but he couldn’t know that it wasn’t worth investigating. He heard the embarrassment in Sotohiro’s voice as he said he was watering, but he couldn’t read through it. Shinta thought that he lied, older people would had simply smiled.

“It seems you’ll be allowed outside the same moment they’re ready.” Benjiro added.

Shinta sighed. Instinct told him that he won’t like his mother’s point of view about prevention. But when it came to that moment, curiosity won easily and he rushed into his mother. She went ahead of him and threw him a yellowish bundle.

“Wear it, quick.” she said kindly as it landed on his knees.

He unfolded that piece of fabric, still kneeling on the floor.

“Ori?”

“Not ori, my child, but o-ro.” she intimated articulating properly.

“O-ro?” he echoed unsure.

“This will fool the kokori daemons for good!”

She cried out with satisfaction for the way it sounded. There were tears at the corner of her eyes and, overwhelmed by the emotions, she hugged him. Then she helped him untie his ponytail and brushed his glittering hair. Shinta hoped that she wouldn’t start whistling a tune.

“Let’s see…for the time being your name is …”

A bit later a child was walking down the hill, the scurry of tiny chalky feet in their waraji barely audible, a bucket in the hand, an indigo ribbon on the hair suddenly whipped by a gust of wind. At the bottom of that dusty twisty path someone else wiped the sweat from her forehead in need for distraction.

“Anata!”

“What?”

“I didn’t know the neighbors have a daughter. Did you?”

“Nope.” the man answered, showing no interest.

“And a pretty one, I dare say."she pondered. – Look! –

She prodded her husband in watching as it was clear he wouldn’t turn his back.

"Couldn’t she be a perfect match for our elder son?"she asked.

"Uhmm…”

Likely the woman found that answer revealing enough because she smirked. Under his heart Shinta wished he couldn’t had heard them. Disguising him like a girl was his mother’s plan against the daemons, but he doubted it would work. He would rather think they could spare him as a reward for making them split their sides with laughter. Definitely he hated his mother’s point of view about prevention.

- OWARI -

Cappuccino - Barista!AU

Characters: Xiumin

Warnings: None 

Word Count: 2.5k

Note: This gif is so nifty ahh

It started with a simple customer. Minseok’s coffee shop was avidly busy, very seldom having a slow period. He hadn’t noticed her at first, but once he did he couldn’t help but notice her whenever she came in—which was almost every day. She always sat at a table in the back corner, she would order the same thing and she would read or be typing away on her computer while enjoying her order.

What peaked his curiosity first was the fact that she always came in alone. She came in alone, would sit for hours on end, and then she would leave and repeat the next day she came in. He would catch himself losing his train of thought at the sight of her. One day, after delivering an order to a customer, she entered the shop. He became so enthralled by her that he accidentally ran into one of his baristas and spilled multiple orders all over the floor.

That barista, Jongdae, she would only drink cappuccinos made by him. She, apparently, didn’t like cappuccinos made by any of the other baristas at the shop. Jongdae had once given her a coffee made by Yixing—yet another barista—and all she took was a sip of it. She could tell by that one sip that Jongdae hadn’t actually made it.

Another thing that peaked his curiosity, how she always looked upset. She would smile while ordering and receiving her order, but when she sat at her table that smile would fall. The first time he noticed this just so happened to be on one of the rainiest days that they had that month. He noticed how she kept looking up from her book and she would stare out the window at the rain, as if she were waiting for something or someone but it never came. She stayed until closing time that day.

Five minutes til closing, she still sat at her table. She had been there longer than she would usually stay, that didn’t go unnoticed by Minseok. When Jongdae told her that they were closing, she collected her things and headed for the exit. Minseok noticed the pouring rain outside and wanted to give her a ride home or even give her an umbrella. By the time he made it outside, she was gone. It was as if she vanished into thin air. After that, he kept looking for ways to speak to her.

As if it were made to fail from the very beginning, none of his attempts were successful. Whenever he would get close, she would either disappear like she did that day or his attention would have to be directed elsewhere. He still managed to observe her, though. It seemed that lately, she began to grow anxious about something. She would read the same page twice as long as it would usually take her to finish a page, and when she would be typing on her computer he could see that her typing was more aggressive than before. He wanted to ask her if she were okay, but he never got the chance to.

Then, the day came. The day that he finally managed to talk to her. Once again, when closing time came rolling around, she still sat at the table in the corner. He wasn’t going to let her slip through his fingers like she did the previous time she stayed until closing time. He took off his apron and tossed it up on the counter. He had Jongdae make her one last cappuccino, and he took it to her table.

He sat the cup down on the table beside her computer, she looked up at him in curiosity. Minseok found himself at a loss for words. He hadn’t expected this to actually work, but now here she sat looking up at him as if she were waiting for him to speak.

“I, uhm, hell. Do you mind if I sit?” He gestured to the chair across from her. She held her hand out to tell him that he could sit, so he did just that. He became a little discouraged when she began typing away at her computer once again, completely ignoring his presence.

“I’m Minseok, I own the place.” He stretched his hand out for her to shake. She didn’t shake his hand, though. She looked at it with a questioning look, then turned her attention back to her computer. He grew even more discouraged after that, but he persisted. He vowed he would get her to speak to him.

“I notice that you come here almost every day, and you always sit here and do the same things and order the same thing. Which, by the way, I’ve compared their cappuccinos and Jongdae’s is by far the best one out of all of the baristas. I’ve also noticed that lately, you have looked rather sad… Why are you sad?” He noticed that she had looked up from her computer, but she wasn’t looking at him. She seemed to be thinking hard about something, her eyes weren’t focused on anything in particular and she seemed to have momentarily gotten lost in her head.

“How long have I been coming here?” Minseok wasn’t expecting that question from her, but he was so happy that she finally spoke to him that he didn’t question it.

“Around 6 months now, why do you ask?”

She picked up the cappuccino and took a sip of it, “I’ve actually been coming in here for around a year now.” She sat the cup back down and fully looked at him. Her eyes were so striking, he hadn’t noticed it until now as they finally made eye contact. She noticed how dumbfounded he looked, so she elaborated, “I’ve only been staying here for those 6 months you remember, the other four I only came to get my order then I would leave.”

He started to wonder what the point was to her telling him that. He thought back to the times before he noticed her, trying to think if he had seen her before the first time he noticed her.

“I’m a writer, you see,” She pulled his attention back to her, “Well, I’m an aspiring writer anyway. I have to write a novella to finish my degree. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?” Minseok hesitantly nodded. “I have an internship offer, but they will only give me the internship if I finish my degree and if they approve of my novella.” He now understood why she always would be reading or typing on her computer—she’s a writer.

“I’ve had zero inspiration, to be honest. I’ve tried time and time again but I end up throwing all of my ideas away. My future career is riding on this novella, I want it to be the best thing I’ve ever written. I just can’t seem to find inspiration for it. I’ve noticed how busy this place is, and I thought that I’d find someone or see something that would inspire me enough to where I could actually start writing my novella. I haven’t had that much luck, though.”

“What ideas have you had so far?” She told him every idea she had gotten while being at his coffee shop. One of which, much to his embarrassment, was about a clumsy barista that always tripped up when the girl he liked was around.

“Oh! I apologize, I’ve yet to introduce myself. I’m (Y/N).” After she introduced herself, she got onto the topic of how Minseok made it up to owning one of the most popular coffee shops in the city.   

Before they knew it, it was finally time for both of them to leave the shop. He offered to take her home, which she happily accepted. He learned that she lived not too far from his apartment—only four blocks away.

“I apologize for the mess, I've been all through my library looking for a hint of inspiration… And as you can see it hasn't worked out too well for me,” She laughed and rubbed the back of her neck.

Minseok looked around and noticed the piles of books lying around her room and the miscellaneous ones scattered around the room. He also noticed the half-empty coffee cups sitting around the entire apartment.

“It’s alright, it’s got a homey feel to it.” She moved a couple of books off of the couch so Minseok could sit, then disappeared into her kitchen.

He aimlessly looked around her apartment, but a tiny noise drew his attention to the floor. A small, gray kitten sat meowing at his feet. The kitten had bright yellow eyes, and his paws were white. Minseok couldn't help but smile, and he picked the small kitten up and let him sit on his lap. The kitten rolled around on his lap and playfully swatted at him.

“Aww, you’re a playful little kitty, aren't you?” The kitten meowed again, continuing his playful actions.

“That's Gatsby.” She returned with two cups of, you guessed it, coffee. Minseok noted that coffee seemed to be her favorite drink.

“Gatsby?” He took the cup from her and took a sip, the kitten now known as Gatsby trying to take a drink.

“Mhm,” She reached over and pet her kitten, “The first night I had him, he was still unnamed. I woke up the next morning to see that he had destroyed my copy of The Great Gatsby. Thus, Gatsby became this cutie’s name. Sometimes I call him Jay as a nickname, though.”

He held his cup up away from Gatsby, but Gatsby tried to climb up his arm to get the coffee. She scooped him up in her hand and held him.

“Now now, Jay, leave Minseok’s coffee alone. You can't have any, you know that.” She sat the kitten down, he patted off down the hallway out of sight.

“Does he always do that?”

“With fresh coffee, yes. He's a picky boy, he doesn't like coffee that isn't fresh. Which is why all of these cups are still laying around. I just haven't had enough time to clean, and when I try to I get sidetracked. Goodness, if my mother came by she would have a heart attack.” Her giggle made Minseok smile, he hadn't expected her to be so easy going and laid back. He could see that she was stressed out, but she still laughed and cut up with him as if that were the last thing on her mind.

“So, about this barista of yours. Jongdae,” All humor dropped from his face, he became discouraged when she asked about Jongdae, “Can you get me his cappuccino recipe?”

Minseok blinked, the question catching him off guard. His silence amused her, she let out a loud chuckle and patted his knee.

“I’m only joking with you, no worries.”

It took a moment to register, but once it did Minseok let out a hearty laugh.

“You did look a little worried though, scared you'll lose your favorite customer if you let his secret go?” She raised one of her eyebrows at him, suppressing the laugh that ached to be let out. Minseok sat there frozen once more.

“I'm just messing with you,” She laughed, “You are really cute when you are flustered.” Her words left her mouth before she could think. She slapped her hand over mouth and her eyes widened, then she sat her cup down and abruptly stood up. She adjusted her glasses and looked at the clock on the wall.

“Well would you look at the time, Gatsby needs to be fed. I'll be right back!” She scurried off down the hallway, towards the last place the gray kitten was seen going.

Minseok couldn't help but smile at her shyness, he saw a few qualities of himself in her and that only made him much more attracted to her. He adored how she was a coffee and cat lover, and her frazzled yet put together demeanor made his heart race. He wanted to learn more about her, he was determined to.

He subconsciously found himself moseying down the hall, looking for what room she went into. He heard a voice coming from the second to last door on the right, and he pressed his ear against the crack.

“He is a nice guy, Jay, you like him don't you?” Gatsby meowed, then he heard her giggle, “I do, too. We just won't tell him I also partially went to that cafe just to see him get all flustered over me. It'll be our little secret, agreed?”

Another meow.

“That's my good boy. He thinks I'm feeding you, so please wait until he leaves before you come begging for food. I'd appreciate it.” Another chuckle, then he heard footsteps coming towards the door. He couldn't help but scurry to get back down the hallway, somehow managing to make it back to the couch before she noticed.

“Sorry about that, he's very punctual about his food.” He smiled at her, knowing all too well what she was really doing. Unbeknownst to her, Minseok had heard her entire confession. And to say the entire thing made him feel giddy would be an understatement.

“Oh no, it's alright, I understand. I actually should be getting home. I have a little one of my own waiting to be fed.” He wasn't completely lying, he had a kitten named Poe at home. However, it wasn't time for him to be fed. Minseok knew if he stayed any longer he would give himself away or embarrass himself even more than he already had, and he didn't want to ruin any chance of a possible future relationship the two had.

“Oh, I understand. I'll walk you to the door.” She walked him the few steps to the door and opened it for him. He took a step out and turned back around to face her.

“So, uh, it was nice actually getting to spend time with you… After, well, admiring you from afar for awhile.” A blush dusted across his cheeks, making her mentally swoon.

“I'm glad I finally got to speak to you, after noticing you admiring me for quite some time now.” His blush deepened, leaving him—she thought— even more adorable than before.

“I, uh, well-”

“Minseok,” She interrupted him, “You’re sweet,” and then she did something that caught him even more off guard. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Minseok knew his face was as red as a tomato at this point, the kiss wasn't something he expected at all.

“Call me sometime, maybe we can have a coffee date. I know a great place you would love, and I just so happen to know the owner,” She teased him, handing him a sticky note with her name and number scribbled on it.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” She winked and slowly shut her door—leaving Minseok dazed.

He stared at her door for at least a minute, the note with her phone number on it burning in his hand. He looked at it in disbelief, then jumping in shock when her door opened again.

“By the way, I wasn't really kidding about getting that recipe.”

So..

I’m planning on creating a larger fanwork to continue and deepen the story of Junpei and Chidori from Persona 3, making it a mix of drawings and writing. Whenever I get an idea I write down a scene or draw a sketch and keep it, hoping that one day I will have accumulated so much that I will be able to shape it all into a proper story. I’ve shown drawings, but I’ve never shown anything that I’ve written before, so.. If you’re interested feel free to read on and leave some feedback as well. It would be great to talk to mutuals more! (little edit: I’ve been thinking about adding a part where Junpei dreams of being with her and because he has quite some of her life energy left with him she ends up having the same dream. I’d have to change things a little bit, but that could be interesting, too.)

"Hey, Chidori."

Junpei scratched his neck as he looked down a tad, but his gaze was caught by hers again, which was directed at him curiously, waiting for his response.

"Ah, I was just wondering, you know, whether you've got some time to spare.. like, on Sunday?"

She nodded in reply.

' I do.. why is it you ask? '

"Well, I thought we could.. you know, only if you'd like, but.."

- Ahw come on man, say it already! - he thought by himself before gathering his courage.

Under her curious gaze he finally managed to ask her.

"Would you like to.. catch a movie with me? They have some good ones at the theatre nearby.. Or anything you like, really, I'm not picky."

Just as long as he could spend more time with her.

Chidori kept looking at him for another second, then averting her gaze downwards, blinking, smiling a tad before she looked up to him again.

' I'd like that. ' she finally gave for an answer, which made Junpei smile in relief.

"Sweet! Sunday’s still okay, right?”

‘ If you don’t mind it being in the afternoon, yes. I wanted to go visit the old lady that keeps the flowershop, she wanted to have a cup of tea with me. ‘ she explained, seeming very happy that she would have so much good company.

“Ah, the old lady you’ve been telling me so much about? I’ve gotta meet her some time, too, she seems great!”

‘ She is. ‘ Chidori showed an earnest smile as she said that.  .

Junpei smiled back, getting a little more sheepish again. “So uh.. Wanna go back to the dorm again? We can think up something good for Sunday while we’re at it.”

‘ That sounds good, it’s getting a little colder again. I’m okay though. ‘ she said before Junpei could get worried. And so they carried on their conversation on their way back to the dorms. __________________________________________________________

Chidori was sitting on that very bench next to the flower shop at the Port Island Station.

It was a little early for her to be sitting there waiting already, yet she sat there, at some point growing tired of sketching flower bouquets.

As beautifully arranged as they may have been, somehow she just felt tired in general.

And as she drew, her thoughts drifted off and the flowers became more and more abstract, as though she'd be seeking to capture something entirely different.

Like that she closed her sketchbook and placed it to her left, directing her gaze towards all those wind turbines, eventually losing it in the sky and drifting off to sleep.

At first she was sleeping calmly before slowly all those pictures came up again.

Pictures she couldn't define, such that would only leave her with one feeling.

Longing for something.

She was longing for.. for someone? But who are you.. and where have you gone?

After a while she would wake up with this strong feeling again, but.. no, it felt different now.

The sun stood much lower than before, but alongside that...

' Jun..pei.? '

Chidori found herself leaning onto Junpei's shoulder.

He seemed to have fallen asleep right there, with both of them supporting their weight onto each other.

Puzzled and a tad flustered she looked up to him.

However, as she watched him sleep serenely, something became clear to her. _____________________________________________________________

"Alright, alright.. You got this. You're da man. Just.. keep their advice in mind and don't screw this up, that's all." he mumbled to himself, on his way to Port Island Station.

As he got out of the train he adjusted himself and got down the stairs.

Like that he reached the bench, but..

He checked the clock.

No, no he wasn't late at all. Good. But still..

He looked over at Chidori, who was fast asleep right there in front of him.

To be frank, he didn't really know how to deal with this situation.

But, to be frank, he genuinely liked that sight.

And thus he kept watching her for another moment before he sat next to her, carefully, as somehow he just didn't want to disturb her sleep.

So he was waiting.

Then, after a couple of minutes she grew to be restless.

At first he thought she'd be waking up and he was already thinking up something to greet her with before he noticed that she was still caught in her sleep.. was she dreaming?

But he wasn't left alone long enough to finish this thought, as he saw how his lady shifted around a tad before her balance changed in a way that would've sent her lying flat on the bench.

That is, if Junpei wouldn't have given up on the polite distance he kept at first.

Like this she leaned onto him now, even snuggling up to him a little before she got calmer.

Junpei on the other hand gathered all his mental power to stay still, blushing a good tad as he thought about just how incredibly glad he was that he just took a shower.

So like this, somehow, he actually managed to calm down, though he was still incredibly stoked about the situation.

After all, it's been so long since he last...

Nah, he didn't want to overthink that, he just wanted to enjoy this moment with her.

Hence he carefully - very carefully - leaned onto her just a bit more to catch some of her scent, gently leaning his head onto hers, watching her just a little while longer before he closed his eyes.

In this serene moment, he drifted off to sleep. ______________________________________________________________

' Junpei.? '

Somewhere inbetween sleeping and waking he heard a gentle voice calling his name.

' Hey, Junpei. '

Someone was trying to wake him, and eventually she succeeded.

Amber eyes looked up to him as Junpei looked back at her, just studying her for a moment.

"Huh.. I'm not dreaming.. now am I?" he mumbled towards her.

Chidori smiled and shook her head, snuggling into him a little more.

He blinked for another second before he turned a lot more red, sitting up all straight before he started to talk really quickly.

"I-I'm sorry! I, you were sleeping and -" ' Hey.. ' "- I just really didn't want to disturb you but, you, you know, all of a sudden -" ' Hey, Junpei.. ' "I mean I didn't want you to fall and get hurt and -" ' Junpei, please calm down! '

Despite calling out to him her voice was still gentle.

As she finally had a calmer Junpei next to her, looking at her in wonder, she began to chuckle at his sight, blushing a little.

And whilst his heart jumped a tad, she patted his shoulder gently.

' Don't worry.. It’s okay, really. I didn’t mind being with you like that. ' she replied, surprised how she was able to say that without getting sheepish, but she really meant that.

His eyes got wide and he blinked at Chidori another second before he scratched his neck with a big smile on his face.

"Heh, you really think so?"

There she shared a bench with a genuinely happy man.

As their gazes met the moment was broken by a clock signalizing how time had passed on in the background. It has gotten late, as the evening was not yet there, but the sun stood rather low.

"Ah- the movie!"

' It's almost over, huh? '

Junpei shrugged in reply, but then spoke up.

"Hey, uhm.. I know it could get later than we said, but, well, you wanna go over to the mall instead? Like, there's this nice cafe over there. It'll probably get dark, but I'll make sure to keep all those thugs away from you on the way back!"

He tried to look all tough for her, posing a little, which made Chidori smile.

And he couldn't say it wasn't part of why he did that, as he smiled back at her.

' Let's do that, then. ' she said, as she picked up her sketchbook, got up, and pulled at Junpei's sleeve gently.

She didn't need to tell him that twice, that was for sure.

They had to walk over there, but it wasn't that long and neither of them minded the other's company.

In fact something seemed to have changed.

How to Handle a Nico - Even Under a Love Curse, There’s No Way I Would Be Like This

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~1.5k Rating: T Time Frame: Maki is in med school. Nico is working as an idol producer. They are living together as a couple, but not married yet. Story Arc: Stand Alone

Author’s Note: I must thank VNVdarkangel for help in giving a title to this chapter; I was honestly stumped. But this title gives it un certain anime’esque je ne sais quoi, if you will.

“Manga?” Maki asked, glancing over at the tablet her girlfriend was holding. “Haven’t seen you read that kind of stuff in a while.”

“Doujin.” Nico corrected, swiping to advance the page.

“Same difference?”

“In art style, sure, but not in publication.”

“Hrm… Hey, that girl looks like… me?”

Nico giggled.

“And why is she… What the heck?”

Nico laughed heartily.

“I don’t get it.”

“It’s my doujin, Maki-chan.”

“You drew a doujin?”

“Well, no, I actually commissioned it.” Nico amended. “And this is really just a proof of concept, not her finished product.”

“Her?”

“The artist I commissioned. She’s a former school idol, which is how I came across her work.” Nico explained. “One of her friends from that group works with Egao now.”

“Hrm…”

“She’s been drawing her own doujin for a little while now but hit a snag and decided to take a small hiatus. During that time, she opened commissions and I liked her work, so I got one. Uhm…” She scrolled through a folder. “Here it is.”

“You had her draw us from one of our old photoshoots?”

“Uh huh. Cute, isn’t it?” Nico grinned. “Brings back memories.”

“Yeah…” Maki studied the drawing on display. “I remember liking that set.”

“Anyway, the picture gave me some ideas, so I reached out to her again and asked if she’d be willing to work a bigger project.” Nico switched back to the doujin. “And this is what we came up with. Wanna read it?”

“Sure.” Maki accepted the tablet. It felt odd reading a story about a fanciful version of herself, but the artwork immediately pulled her in. “What the heck? ‘How to Handle a Maki’? I don’t get it. What kind of title is that?”

“A fitting one. Nico is left trying to figure out how to deal with Maki’s curse, after all.”

“Curse?”

“Sorry, spoilers…” Nico held up her hands apologetically.

Maki pursed her lips. For some reason, the name bugged her more than it probably should. Perhaps it was because it sounded familiar? But why would it be familiar? Odd…

“And Nozomi is in this too?” She asked after a few pages.

“Yup.” Nico confirmed. “And Eli. And Kotori. Umi, Rin and Hanayo have only been mentioned in name thus far, but they’ll probably appear later. I forget what her girlfriend had planned for Honoka.”

“Girlfriend?”

“The artist’s girlfriend is really into fantasy games and whatnot. She’s been a big help in coming up with ideas for worldbuilding, character design and plot points. There are a couple Easter egg jokes and references to gaming that were her suggestions.”

“I see.” Maki continued to read. “Wait, do I still think you’re younger than me?”

“Maybe?” Nico shrugged. “Not really sure how to take care of that just yet. Maybe it can just happen off panel at some point.”

“And one meal is all it took for me to become obsessed with your cooking?”

“Are you gonna deny that’s what happened in real life?”

Maki deadpanned at her girlfriend, earning a laugh.

“Well, maybe not just one…” The redhead tried to save face.

“Then definitely by the second.” The raven-haired girl decided.

“… Maybe…” Maki conceded.

“Nico knows how much Maki-chan loves her cooking.”

Well, there really was no denying that fact.

“Did they have coffee in medieval times?” Maki inquired a moment later.

“No idea.” Nico admitted. “But I know Maki-chan can’t face the day without it, I figured just alluding to it without naming it might work.”

“I suppose…” Maki furrowed her brow. “Are you trying to scam or cheat me?”

Nico blinked in confusion until she saw the page. “Nico is a professional saleswoman!” She huffed. “She would never cheat a customer. She knows Maki-chan can afford better gear than your average novice adventurer and she knows what upgrades will be most beneficial.”

“Also, what’s a grue?”

“An excuse to force players to bring light sources, I guess.” Nico shrugged. “That’s one of those gamer jokes I mentioned.”

“And the gazebo?”

“Another joke.”

“I see. And why does Kotori have a lion?”

“She’s a Beastmaster.”

“Ok, but again, why a lion?”

“Because she had one in the original photoshoot.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right, she did.” Maki’s memory was jogged a bit. “She was part of the focus pair, with Eli, right?”

Nico nodded. “And you were paired with Rin as the secondary.”

“Is that why I’m friends with her here?”

“Rin? Not really, I don’t think.” Nico shook her head. “I mean, yeah, you two are friends, but through Hanayo. I think they’ll appear in the next chapter and we’ll get to explore how you know each other better.”

Maki nodded and continued to read. “Say, why don’t you call the harpy what it is?”

“Because you don’t know what it is.”

“Yes, I do.” Maki furrowed her brow.

“I mean your character doesn’t”

“Why wouldn’t my fantasy character know what a harpy is when she lives in a fantasy world where they actually exist?”

“Because she was raised in the city and is only now becoming an adventurer.” Nico explained. “She’s not ignorant, she just knows stuff better suited for an urban life as opposed to someone out in the rural areas. Not much different than real life, right?”

“I suppose…” Maki reached the part she had seen earlier and frowned. Her girlfriend noticed and giggled. But upon seeing the next page, she sighed. “Ok, the glomping was one thing, but climbing into bed with you? After having barely known you a day?”

“Two days, I believe.” Nico pointed out, ignoring the deadpan stare directed at her. “And it’s because of the curse.”

“Yeah, but even under a love curse, there’s no way I would be like this.”

Nico smirked.

“What?”

“I should really record you drunk sometime.”

“I still…”

“Oh, c’mon, Maki-chan, I’ve even told you about your drunken clinginess before.”

“Mmm…”

“And your half-asleep clinginess.”

“…”

“And your…”

“Alright, alright, I get it…” Maki didn’t want to admit the memories that were swirling around in her head.

“I’ve always found it cute, by the way.” Nico pointed out.

“You’re not finding it cute here.”

Nico chuckled. “That’s because it isn’t real, it’s because you’re under an idol curse.”

“You mean a love curse.”

“An idol curse.”

Maki rolled her eyes. “Are you intentionally baiting me into making a snarky comment about idols?”

“Maybe.” Nico stuck out her tongue.

Maki sighed. “And let me guess, you’re going to have me be all embarrassed about it later.”

“Well that’s how Maki-chan is in real life. And a flustered Maki-chan is an adorable Maki-chan.”

As if on cue, Maki could feel heat in her cheeks. She really should be used to Nico’s teasing by now, but the older girl rarely failed to get a reaction out of her. And though she wasn’t fond of how predictable her reactions were, she couldn’t really fault Nico for seeking them. After all, Maki also loved Nico’s own flustered expressions.

“So,” Nico asked as the last page was reached “what did you think?”

“It was entertaining.” Maki admitted. “Was this posted online?”

“Not yet.” Nico shook her head. “She just sent this to me for approval. She hasn’t even posted it on her own site yet.”

“Hrm…”

Nico chuckled. “Don’t worry, anyone at the hospital who reads this kind of stuff will like it and won’t think you’re weird or anything.”

It never ceased to amaze Maki how well her girlfriend could read her.

“But we can keep it private if we want.” Nico added.

“No, it’s fine, I guess…” Maki decided. “And you said there was going to be another chapter?”

“Or Two. Or more. Depends on how many ideas we have.” Nico grinned. “Because you know we can’t leave things like this. We can’t let Maki-chan only love Nico because of a curse! It needs to be natural! Just like in real life.” She leaned over to nuzzle into her girlfriend’s side. “Although even if we’re trying to keep things realistic, we also can’t keep the readers waiting for years…”

Maki furrowed her brow as she realized what Nico meant. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know. I know” Nico interrupted, making dismissive motions with her free hand. “Maki-chan’s just a little romantically dense is all. And we figured things out eventually and got together and we’re all good now.” She turned her head and pushed herself up so she could plant a kiss on the redhead’s cheek.

“Uhm… You know it’s getting kind of late…” Maki said softly.

“Hmm?”

“Well, I have class in the morning and…”

Nico grinned. “Is Maki-chan hinting that she wants to climb into bed with Nico?”

“Maybe…”

Nico laughed. “Maki-chan is being unusually shy tonight. She has no trouble seducing Nico but is embarrassed to request a snuggle session?”

Maki pouted, earning more laughter.

“So, to bed it is.” Nico said, pushing herself up and off the couch. “But how about a bath first?” She turned to offer a hand to her girlfriend.

“Alright.” Maki agreed, accepting the help up before following Nico down the hall.

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post