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lord-explosion-baku · 3 years

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Trident Tale part 2

Mermaid!Shinsou x reader x Kirishima x reader

Warnings: adult themes (minors DNI)

Author’s note: sorry to those of you who have asked me to put on the tag list! I don’t do tag lists! But if you don’t want to lose this story, you can always bookmark it on AO3.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Original image by @maewoahoah

Moving to an island where everyone is big on the surf scene and other oceanic happenings might not have been the brightest idea for someone so afraid of anything that has to do with water, but you make do by spending your days looking after the Bed & Breakfast, trying not to burn the house down when you fry a few eggs, and obsessively scrolling through Eijirou Kirishima’s social media page. He’ll never notice you, and you think you’re fine with that, until a mysterious force washes into Ms. Shuzenji’s pool after a particularly nasty storm.

Hitoshi Shinsou is a pain in the ass from the get-go, but you put up with him, fins and all, when he promises he can help unite you with your soulmate. The catch? The fish is hellbent on taking back what was stolen from him, and he won’t lift a gracious finger until he gets what he came for.

You’re helpless to lend him a hand, so long as you stay dry. Unless, of course, he has other plans.

You know how the saying goes: you rub his fins, he’ll rub yours.

The thing about being hungry is that you can sometimes convince yourself that you’re full. You can sip water, swallow your breath, pop a few mints in—hell, you could even pretend to eat. However, even if you might trick your brain, your stomach will still be empty.

By the time you finally get some real goddamn food in your stomach, it will be aching from being teased.

It feels like this is exactly what Hitoshi Shinsou has done to you. Teased you. He’d mentioned being one of Ryūjin, which you can only assume is something religious or magic. You know he’s a fish, and that he makes people’s skin glow when he touches them, and apparently his lips or his saliva can heal wounds. But he’s not yet given you any real goddamn food.

The jerk has been swimming circles around the pool, commenting on how disgusting it is being stuck with all the trash, and complaining about your poor hospitality, but has not yet told you what the hell he’s doing here.

It’s not like you ever asked for some creature to crash into Ms. Shuzenji’s pool. Maybe some people would be ecstatic over finding an actual merperson, but life isn’t all about singing songs and talking to seagulls. He’s definitely not an Ariel, unless he is in fact looking for a prince. With all his sass, you think he’s much more of an Ursula than a Disney princess. If he is a sea-witch, he refuses to tell you.

It won’t matter much by the time Denki gets here anyways. You had been honest when you said you wouldn’t put it against him to call some news station when he sees Hitoshi. You figure that after some science lab’s helicopters carried your intruder away to run tests on him, the fish-man will be out of your hair and a thing of the past.

Despite the cynicism crawling through your head, the thought actually makes a guilty pit form in the bottom of your stomach. A life is a life, afterall.

“At least tell me why you tried to…to…” Your mouth flattens when you recall Hitoshi leaning into you, his lips a whisper away from yours.

“To?” Hitoshi asks while he observes the wayward bra that blew into the pool with notable repulsion.

“To kiss me!” You bark out, ears warm.

“Oh, that?” He purses his lips, spinning the bra around in the water. Then, he’s contemplative for a moment, as if he’s thinking of an excuse that won’t make you angry. Or will. He seems to get a kick out of frustrating you.

“I suppose I should’ve considered that it’s not a social norm for humans to greet other humans with their lips,” he says with a cocky, probably lying smirk. “My bad.”

“You expect me to believe that mermaids kiss each other to say hello?”

“Not a mermaid.” The fish is all teeth as he regards you. “I’m one of Ryūjin. And I’d like to think that you’d believe anything I tell you, since you seem to know nothing about my people.”

“Because you won’t tell me anything about your people,” you mutter right before the house bell rings. Your heart jumps with a spike of panic. You haven’t thought about what you’re going to say to Denki yet. You begin thinking about science labs again, and that knot in your stomach tightens.

“Okay,” you say in a warning tone, “I’m gonna let Denki in now…”

“Uh-huh.”

“He’s gonna see you…”

“That’s the plan.” Hitoshi lifts a brow. “You’re not worried for me, are you?”

“I just think you should be more worried about yourself,” you say. “Humans aren’t…” There’s a pensive pause when you try to search for the right word. “Humans aren’t good.”

“Would you say that you’re a good human?” He asks.

What a question. You’d like to believe that you are, but you can’t kid yourself. Never one to be very self-sacrificing, you utter your next words with confidence. “Nope.”

“And yet, you haven’t done anything malicious towards me. Nothing, besides that half-assed attempt to kick me away from you, anyways.”

Rolling your eyes to keep your couldn’t-care-less facade up, you left the smirking merman to wade around in the murky pool. There’s not another second to think about what you could possibly say to Denki about your surprise guest, because when you enter the house, you see his face peeking through the side window next to the front door. You could see a drink holder and a Tiki Burger bag in his hand. His smile is bright, while yours is grim.

He pouts, seeing through forced body language, and proceeds to make a funny face. You let out a half-sigh, half-laugh. You might not be a good person, but Denki is. He’s an idiot, but you don’t think he’d ever do anything to harm another creature, mythical or not. This could even be fun to him. Exciting. Something extraordinary happened, and you’d been too scared to react to it appropriately, but Denki would be different.

Your changing emotions grow palpable when you finally reach for the handle.

“Heard you had some thingies that needed twisting,” Denki says as you open the door. He’s wearing his company’s shirt, a brown thing with the PoolPros logo on it, though it’s cut raggedly short to show off his midriff. He’s been particularly confident ever since he’d gotten his navel pierced, and happily showed off the topaz stone that Kirishima had given him. It hangs right above his buckle. It forces onlookers to look at his abs…or maybe his groin. He says it’s lucky, and you haven’t argued with him about it. You would probably call something Kirishima gave you lucky too.

In a flash, you’re grabbing him by his shirt collar and guiding him in and against one of the hall mirrors.

“Something’s happened.” The words immediately spill out, even while you still do not know what you’re going to say. You hope that if the right things tumble out of your mouth, Denki will get the picture.

“Uh…” Denki’s cheeks are red hot, reacting to your close proximity. “Was it a spike in your libido?”

God.

“No, shut up!” You smack his chest and glance down the hall towards the back door. The pool isn’t in your line of vision, but just knowing what lurks there gets your blood pumping. “This is going to sound crazy, but I need you to keep an open mind.”

He bobs his brows. “For you? Always.”

After an exhale, you gather your composure, and tell Denki everything with as much eloquence as you can muster.

“There’s something living in the pool!” You bark out, erratic. “It’s big and it has zero impulse control and it’s rude! It talks! When it touches me, my skin glows. Then it tried to kiss me, Kaminari! And it’s rude!” You add that in again, because you cannot stress it enough. Hitoshi Shinsou is as unrefined as a piece of driftwood, and he had the audacity to make comments on behalf of your decorum. “It won’t tell me what it’s doing here, either. I offered to get it back into the ocean, but it said it wanted something else, but it won’t tell me what, and I don’t know what to do!”

Denki blinks rapidly, like his eyelashes are repelling every word you toss at him. There’s a beat, he swallows, then his lips tilt up into a knowing grin.

“Alright,” he says, “I see you.”

“You do?” Maybe you had to give Denki a little more credit. That hadn’t been your best description of a nightmare scenario.

“Sure do, little lady. This is some kinda belated birthday prank, huh? Thought you could slide one past me when I was least expecting it! I was thinking that maybe you just forgot about it, but now you’ve got something up your sleeve, don’t ya! Well cutie, I might be dumb, but I’m not stupid!”

Striding into the house, Denki places the shakes and burger bag onto Shuzenji’s kitchen counter. Shoulders deflating, you follow him while he fishes a few fries out of the bag. If he doesn’t get it now, he will soon enough.

“What could it be?” He ponders, tossing a fry into his mouth. He nods towards one of the cups and mumbles about a shake for you, then towards the back door. “Couldn’t be a party—it’s too early for a party. And you don’t talk to many people…”

Ignoring the slight burn, you front Denki, and extend your hand out to his. His eyes widen for a moment, he wipes his hand on his pants, and takes yours.

“I need your help, Denki. Seriously.”

“Yeah,” he says, a touch more reformative. “Okay.”

What should’ve been some grand reveal, however, turned out to be anything but.

The pool being clean is the first thing you notice, as absurd as that is. It’s now half-filled, with only sprinkles of algae leftover by some miraculous clean-up. There’s no more silver fish swimming around, and all the trash that had previously taken sanctuary in the pool now lays on a mountainous pile with the bra sitting at its peak. Your guest is no longer in the pool—the very clean pool.

Denki chuckles and says, “well, this doesn’t look bad at all. By how hysterical you were on the phone, I was expecting something much worse. Oh! Hello!”

Your jaw drops as Denki waves at Hitoshi—a very comfortable-looking Hitoshi who lounges on one of the reclining pool chairs, head turned back like he’s sun bathing, one leg crossed over the goddamn other. Legs. Attached to feet—feet that definitely were not there when you’d met him.

Tricky, magic fish-man.

“Oh,” Hitoshi says, carefully considering Denki. “We have company?”

The ‘we’ in his statement doesn’t sit right with you anymore than his appearance does. He stands, and both you and Denki gasp when you see his new outfit in its entirety. It’s all royal blue, fine silks, and sheer fabric that only covers the places that would make Denki blush. Puffy, yet flowing sleeves connect to his now two golden cuffs. A heavy gold necklace hangs around him, and he’s got a light sash thrown around mostly his bare chest. A golden, v-shaped belt holds his deep blue harem pants up.

They are the gaudiest goddamn pajamas you’ve ever seen.

Hitoshi moves like water to face Denki, then firmly grasps him by the forearm, yanking the boy forward so that their lips are mere inches away from each other. Noting that there’s no glowing from their contact, you watch as Hitoshi’s indigo eyes slide from Denki’s lips, to you, and shows off a dubious glint.

“Whoops,” Hitoshi murmurs basically into Denki’s mouth. “I almost forgot that you don’t greet people like this here.” He takes a step away and smirks. “Forgive me. I’m Hitoshi Shinsou. You must be the pool guy.”

“Um, yeah. ‘M Denki Kaminari.” Denki laughs nervously. His cheeks burn red, and he keeps shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Grabbing onto your hand tightly, he starts back towards the house, towing you along, saying, “excuse us, we just have to—uh. Talk.”

In a tick, you’re whisked right back inside, in the land of private conversations.

“It didn’t look like that before, Denki. I swear to god.” You’re insisting as soon as the door is closed.

“It?!” Denki balks, his cheeks turning even more red. “Do you mean the pool or that hunk of a man hanging around your backyard?!”

“Both, I guess, but I wouldn’t call it a man! It had a giant purple tail before you showed up!!”

“That’s very rude, y’know.” Denki peers back at Hitoshi who’s lackadaisically cleaning his fingertips. “What are their pronouns?”

You imagine Hitoshi surrounded by others like him, all either screaming or clicking to communicate with each other in an inhuman language. “I don’t think pronouns matter wherever it’s from!”

“Hmm.” Denki slides the door open and pops his head out. “‘Scuse me, Hitoshi, what are your pronouns?”

Without missing a beat, Hitoshi answers him. “As in titles? You can call me Shinsou, but if you’re so inclined, I’ll allow you to call me lord.”

“Lord, of course.” More nervous laughter as Denki closes the door. “Lord. That’s a kink thing, right? It’s gotta be!”

“It’s not!” You bark, but Denki doesn’t hear you. Instead, he rushes towards one of the hall mirrors and begins fussing over his hair.

“I honestly can’t believe you did this. I mean, you, of all people. You’re braver than I gave you credit for. Coulda given me a heads up, though. I would’ve worn somethin’ nice. Or not come at all. I do feel like I’m intruding.” Denki’s eyes light up. “Unless this is for my birthday and you’re…you want me to join you?”

“You’ve lost me.” You're too busy trying to figure out what you can do to convince Denki that Hitoshi is a mermaid. You’ve considered pushing him back into the pool, but you don’t know if that would change him back to his sea-man state, or just make you look like a jackass.

“This is so weird. I haven’t seen that guy on the island before, and believe me, I know everybody. It must’ve cost a pretty penny to get him here. On top of everything else-“ He clears his throat- “how much is this costing you? Does Shuzenji know what you get up to while she’s away?”

It hits you like a freight train. “Oh, Kaminari…No…”

“The jig is up!” Denki stomps his foot defiantly and points towards the door. “You’re paying that man for sex!”

“God no!” The very idea that you’ve paid Hitoshi to be here, to touch you, flusters the hell out of you. If anything, you’d pay for him to leave. “You’d honestly think I’d hire a prostitute?!”

“Escort is the term they are using nowadays, and no, I wouldn’t think you’d hire an escort until now!” Denki scoffs, then moves his hand through his hair, exasperated. “The thing is, babe, you don’t need to. You’re cute and fun! If you got out every once in a while…”

“Fish!” You yell, cutting him off, because you’re not about to have another conversation about your hermit lifestyle. “He’s a fish, Denki! I didn’t fuck a fish! Nor am I planning to!”

Denki blinks at you. Not like before—not like he’s reflecting your words. This blink is more like a blink one would offer someone who’d been having an otherwise normal conversation, until they started talking about the earth being flat, or homosexuals burning in a lake of fire.

I’m not crazy, you think and will Denki to believe. I’ll prove it.

Before you can give Denki a play-by-play of what happened—properly this time, and not just your rambled recall—the door slides open, and Hitoshi steps in.

“May I enter?” The regal-looking man asks.

At the exact same moment you say, “no,” Denki says, “of course.”

“I was just hoping to find something to eat.” Hitoshi stops in the kitchen, arms crossed and expectant.

“You haven’t fed your hooker?” Denki whispers and it blows your mind that he can say hooker and you can’t say prostitute. “You can have half my burger!”

“Burger,” Hitoshi repeats the unfamiliar word, and looks around, probably wondering what it could be. Denki takes the hint and proceeds to fish his meal out of the bag. Overly familiar with Shuzenji’s kitchen, he finds a knife to cut the sandwich in two, then hands one half to Hitoshi.

Hitoshi frowns.

“I’m sorry, are you a vegetarian?” Denki asks, and you can tell he’s being overly hospitable in a house that is not his. When Hitoshi doesn’t answer him, but doesn’t stop frowning, Denki asks, “do you not eat meat?”

“This is meat?” Asks Hitoshi, shaking the burger in the air. Some mayonnaise-covered lettuce falls to the kitchen floor.

“I have to clean that!” You yip and wet a paper towel. When you’re on your knees, Hitoshi gives you a smirk of indifference.

“What, do you not have hamburgers where you’re from?” Denki asks, and when Hitoshi refuses to answer him again, he says, “the meat is the patty. It’s beef.”

“Beef.” Hitoshi begins dissecting the thing, throwing the bun halves, pickles, tomato, and lettuce all on the floor. You continue to curse at him while he sniffs at the patty. “What animal is this?”

“Beef is cow, dude.” Denki sounds more skeptical now, which you’d be grateful for if you weren’t already on your hands and knees, scrubbing ketchup out of the tile. “Man, throwing food on the floor is rude no matter where you’re from. Babe, you shouldn’t have to clean that up.”

“If I don’t, who will?” You ask, sardonic.

“There’s not really a floor where I’m from,” Hitoshi says once he swallows his first bite. He places the patty back onto the burger wrap, and steps away from his mess. “At least, there’s no floor when it’s meal time. We just let shells and bones float around until they go down to where they’ll eventually break down and decay.”

Denki asks, “where did you say you were from?”

“He’s a fish, Denki.”

“I didn’t.” Hitoshi gets down on his knees with a wetted paper towel of his own. He swipes at the places you’ve missed, then looks at you. “Tell me, would a not-good person clean up a mess that isn't their own?”

“It’s kind of my job,” you retort and stand so Hitoshi can finish cleaning. Instead, he stands with you.

“And what is his job?” Hitoshi nods towards Denki who looks more and more fretful by the second. “I assume he’s here to provide services. If you’re paying him, shouldn’t he be the one to clean for you? Prepare meals for you? Bend to your whims?”

Denki says, “I’ve got a couple jobs, but I’m not a housekeeper, no.”

“No?” Hitoshi gives out a terse laugh and hands the towel off to Denki. “Clean.”

Denki looks to you for an explanation. You’re about to chew Hitoshi out, when he again says, “clean,” but this time, there’s something attached to his voice. Something that is nothing, but also more. It sends goosebumps up your arms and compels Denki to fall to the floor and obey the command.

“Yes, my lord.” When Denki finishes cleaning and throws the rest of the mess in the bin, he looks at Hitoshi, eyes glossy, waiting.

“Fetch me some water,” says Hitoshi, and after another yes, my lord, Denki begins searching for a glass.

“Quit it!” You shout and very nearly grab on to Hitoshi’s arm, stopping only when you remember the glow and the prickles that accompany his touch. Decidedly, you hurry after Denki and grab the glass from his hands and snap your fingers in front of his face.

Denki blinks, and this time it’s not because he doesn’t hear you, and it’s not because you’re spouting crazy nonsense. He blinks, and it’s a revelation.

“Hypnosis!” Denki says the word like eureka! and you want to shake him, because he should be angrier than he seems.

“I’m surprised you understand or even remember that much,” Hitoshi drawls. “You’re more in-tune than you’d like people to believe.”

And I’m Mother Teresa, you think bitterly. The fish is contemptuous as hell, but he doesn’t read people well. To him, you’re good and apparently Denki’s a genius.

“How did you do that?” Denki asks with growing excitement. “When I was a kid, I was really into magic, but could never get any of the tricks right. You didn’t use any triggering noises or images or anything.”

“There is a bit of magic about you,” Hitoshi says like he’s thinking out loud. “Not enough to pull something like what I just did off unless you have the proper tide jewel. But you do have enough power to utilize a tide jewel.”

“Don’t do that again,” you warn, and pour water from the sink into the glass. There’s purified water in the fridge, but Hitoshi hasn’t earned it. “To Kaminari or to me. The difference between a house guest and a home-invader is who does and does not use hypnosis on other guests.”

“I wasn’t aware that hypnosis is a common occurrence in your residence.” Hitoshi reaches for the glass, but you hold it away from him. Casting out a withering look, he says, “I wouldn’t be able to hypnotize him again, even if I wanted to. Not for a while, anyways. Not without my tide jewel.”

“What’s a tide jewel?” Denki asks. “Is that, like, sea glass?”

Eyes flicking from the glass of water, to Denki, then to you, Hitoshi says, “he knows how to ask a question.”

The questions that you ask get ignored! But instead of saying that, you continue to withhold the water, and say, “then answer him.”

Mildly peeved, Hitoshi turns his attention back to Denki. “You say you have a couple of jobs. What would they be?”

“That’s not answering his question,” you mutter.

“I’ll decide whether I should answer him in a moment. Denki, if you will.”

“Oh, well…” The sheepish Denki brings his hand to the back of his neck, blushing slightly. “I’ve got the PoolPros gig, and sometimes I pick shifts up at The Salty Barrel. I sort of got an affinity for making drinks…and cooking…and fixing things, so they like to keep me around.”

Unamused, Hitoshi pries. “Anything else?”

“Sometimes I pick up odd jobs. Fishing and delivery. I guess I’m pretty dependable because of the boat.”

This catches Hitoshi’s attention. “You have a boat?”

“Sure, yeah. It’s nothin’ too special yet. I’ve been working on it, and it’s coming along, but it’s not ready for what it’s truly intended for.”

“Which would be?”

Denki looks at you and winks, making your ears warm. You know exactly why he got the boat.

“Romantic rendezvous.”

“I see,” Hitoshi says pensively. Then, his eyes go sharp when he notices you fiddling with the ties on your shorts. “Are you two mates?”

Denki lifts a conspiratorial brow towards you, before throwing his arm around your shoulders, pulling you against his body. “Sure, yeah—we’re mates!”

You push away from him, and bite, “not those kinds of mates.”

Although nobody disagrees with you, you sense Denki sulking.

“Ah,” Shinsou muses. “You haven’t yet fought for her hand?”

Before you can groan at the idea, Denki laughs quietly, but his laughter quickly grows uproariously as he considers the idea. Soon, he’s gripping his stomach to stop himself from doubling over. You glare at his feet.

“As if there’s another guy to fight for her,” Denki bellows, wiping a tear away from his eye. “Maybe if she ever went out, but for now, the only person I gotta fight for her hand, is her!”

“Oh, I understand,” Shinsou says, eyes on you. “A battle to assert domination.”

Denki hoots loudly at the idea. “Looks like I’m screwed!”

To your growing agitation and embarrassment, Denki continues to laugh. It’s as if you’re not constantly shooting him down. You’re not pitiful. Not helpless. And you think you’d have some game if you put your heart into it. You just have a type, and the pool guy just doesn’t fit the bill, whether he’s handy or not.

There’s no humor to be found in Hitoshi’s eyes, though. He’s glaring at you, like before, only now he’s looking at you more like you’re a piece of meat—like he’s some kind of predator and you’re his newfound prey. You inadvertently step closer to Denki, as if he could be used as some sort of defense shield, then elbow him in the ribs, pretending that you’re not at all intimidated by this fish-turned-man.

“Nobody’s fighting anybody,” you say, keeping eye-contact with Hitoshi. You’ve been told before that the fact that you’re never the first to look away is a little off-putting. Hoping to have the same uncomfortable effect on your guest, you don’t even blink when you say, “I just have my eyes on someone special.”

At the same time Denki stops his laughing, Hitoshi narrows his eyes—not out of malice, but what seems to be curiosity. That’s as far as you’ll go with revealing any more personal information. You might not be physically spoken for, yet, but at least you’re emotionally unavailable. You vaguely wonder if those kinds of ideals are acknowledged by sea people.

“Yeah, Kiri,” Denki says with a roll of his eyes. So much for keeping things personal. “He’s not interested in dating anyone, though. In fact, he’s pretty much married to the ocean.”

“At least there aren’t other girls,” you say, and with a quick glance at Denki, you add, “or boys.”

Denki exaggerates a woeful, hand-over-forehead pose and cries, “at least we have each other!” Then, he places his hand back around your shoulders. Again, you scoot away from him, and this time, you catch Hitoshi’s lips quirk up, just a bit.

“Alright,” Hitoshi says. “I’ve decided.”

“Decided what?” You ask.

“That the two of you are going to help me.”

The fish-man moves to flatten the burger wrap down on the counter like a map, and proceeds to decimate the other half of Denki’s burger. Denki says, “oh that’s fine…I wasn’t that hungry anyways.”

“Help you with what!” You bark, practically starving for details. Despite Hitoshi and all that he’s done, your interest is piqued, and you feel as though you’re finally going to get to the meat of his situation.

Lining a few fries on the paper wrap, Hitoshi finally says, “a few of my worldly possessions have been stolen from me. They’ve been missing for quite a long time now, and I now plan to take them back. Four of the six items happen to be tide jewels. I figure those will be the easiest to locate and extract.”

Denki snaps his finger. “Tide jewels! That’s what we were talking about! What are those?

Dabbing his pinky into some mustard, Hitoshi says, “artistry…” He dips his ring finger into the ketchup and says, “reign…” he tears a piece of lettuce in half and says, “tide…” and finally, he rips some of the patty and says, “soul.”

“Artistry, reign, tide, soul,” Denki repeats, peeking over Hitoshi’s shoulder. “You don’t happen to be a musician, do you? A magician musician!”

“I’m a connoisseur, but not a practitioner.” Hitoshi breathes. “And you’re too close to me.”

“Well, you’re certainly not an artist,” Denki huffs, taking a few steps back. You move in to see what Denki saw.

On the wrap, the French fries have been warped to look like some sort of three-pronged fork. On the left prong, there’s a dab of ketchup, in the center, mustard, and the right has a piece of lettuce sitting on it. Connecting the three prongs is the bit of hamburger meat Hitoshi had ripped.

“Is this supposed to be a fork or a trident?” You ask, then kick yourself, because it’s obviously a trident. Duh. Mermaids. “Is that one of the things that have been stolen? A trident?”

Hitoshi says, “yes. All four of the tide jewels connect to the trident. With them, the trident could very well be one of the most powerful blessed objects on this planet. If it falls into the wrong hands, the results could be catastrophic.”

“Now, hang on,” Denki begins, brows curved into a frown. “What?”

“So good at questions,” you murmur.

“Each tide jewel has its own magical property. The names speak for themselves, but since the two of you are a little slow on the uptake, I’ll explain.” Hitoshi points at each different spot on his fries-trident, explaining what each point represents.

“The yellow jewel is for artistry and skill. Whoever wields it, whether in its natural form or attached to another object, will learn trades quickly, can craft almost anything at a master’s level, and they’ll have a more creative way of thinking.”

“The red jewel is for reign and rule. Whoever wields this can command any audience. Wars have been fought, kingdoms taken, and women stolen by the power of this gem. It’s almost the most violent of the four, but it can also be used to keep peace.”

“The blue jewel is for the tide. They used to be two jewels, one for tide-ebbing, the other for tide-flowing, but they’ve been molded together after another theft mishap. With the power of this jewel, one would be able to control not only the water of the sea, but water itself. This gem can create storms you couldn’t dream of. This is possibly the most dangerous stone if placed into the wrong hands.”

“Sir, that’s a piece of lettuce,” Denki says.

“Your burger didn’t have anything blue,” Hitoshi growls, “nor did it have anything purple, which brings me to the last jewel. This would be the soul jewel. It aids people with wishes, can offer good dreams, and can allow the wielder to see people’s auras, or souls. This jewel has stopped many malevolent unions in the past.”

Finally, Hitoshi turns back to you and Denki. There’s nothing content about his expression now. If anything, he looks grave.

“The fact that the trident is not in my possession has already had a cataclysmic influence on the world you know now. I need it, and the jewels, or else there may be dire consequences.”

Throat dry, palms sweaty, you swallow thickly, and allow yourself a moment to process all that he’s saying. It may be idiotic, but you believe him. Maybe if you hadn’t seen him in the water earlier, things would be different. You’d be more skeptical. But since you’ve already seen one impossible thing today—two if you're counting the fact that Hitoshi grew legs and magically poofed himself an outfit—you don’t think he’s lying.

However, Denki did not see him in the water. Which is why he’s the first to speak.

“Right,” he says, looking down on you. “Sorry, babe, but the marvel universe did it first with Thanos and his gauntlet. If this is supposed to be a scavenger hunt of some kind, can we skip the game, hints and all, and get to the dinner? I expect there’ll be candles and such for nighttime, so maybe you and I can hang out at the beach, sans the mean magician?” Denki looks at Hitoshi. “No offense, buddy. You could join us if you cheer up a bit. I’d never say no to a threesome with two equally attractive people.”

The water in the glass you’re holding begins to shake. It shakes, and then it moves, and then it lifts up into the air, snaking around like a gelatinous worm, and slowly makes its away to Hitoshi’s mouth. Never before have you seen anyone swallow menacingly, and this has changed it.

“I am not your buddy,” Hitoshi hisses between his teeth, “and this is not a game.”

“He just…” Denki begins stuttering. This isn’t something he can chock up to something as mundane as a magic trick. This is pure magic, and you feel less like a giant dork for how you reacted to Hitoshi showing himself to you, with how distraught Denki seems to be.

“I told you,” you say under your breath, “he’s a fish!”

“I am Hitoshi Shinsou. I am one of Ryūjin, and you will not desecrate my name or my people by belittling me or my power.” It hadn’t occurred to you until now that he’s not only speaking to Denki, but to both of you. The thought makes you shift with unease as Hitoshi’s eyes slide from your friend to you. “Not without consequences. I’ve been burdened with this purpose, and the two of you can choose to help me and reap the rewards that follow, or you can return to your miserable lives, loligagging and ogling the things you know you want, but are too lazy to obtain.”

At this moment, Hitoshi Shinsou seems ancient to you. Trepidation crawls up your spine, chilling you to the bone. You regret most of what you’ve said to him, even the things you’d thought he deserved. You have an inkling that if Hitoshi really wanted to harm you, or Denki, he would. Easily.

“Okay, well-“ Denki, again speaks first, thank god. “You didn’t say there would be rewards.”

Maybe don’t thank god yet. But before you can apologize on Denki’s behalf, the air that you hadn’t realized had got heavier, thicker even, lifts, and Hitoshi eases up, lackadaisical smirk back on track.

“You both wish for something,” he says. “If you help me retrieve what’s rightfully mine, I will graciously return the favor by granting your wishes.”

“We do?” Denki asks. It’s wild to you how easily he could jump back into conversation like this, although, when you look closely at him, you can see that he’s trembling faintly. “What do I want?”

“You wish for a boat,” Hitoshi says, “so I will give you a boat.”

“I have a boat.”

“I’ll give you a better boat.” Hitoshi seems to be enjoying himself now, even going so far as to lean on the table, picturing exactly what he’s describing. “A captivating boat that both women and men find irresistible. It will sail smoother and faster than the other vessels out on sea. You will never want or need for an upgrade for it will never wear or tear.”

“A super boat,” Denki muses, beguiled by the idea. It’s your turn to be skeptical now, because you haven’t wished for anything. At least, not aloud for Hitoshi to hear.

“Then, what do I get?” You ask, arms crossed. You can admit that you’re interested in what he might have to say.

“Oh darlin’, that’s easy,” Hitoshi purrs, and moves from the counter over to you. Slowly, like he’s savoring your anticipation. Lifting a finger to your arm, he slides it across your skin, watching as both the glow and the tingles return. You have to hold your breath to yourself from sighing.

“You want to be loved,” he says, “adored even. And not just by anybody. You want to be with your soulmate, isn’t that right. That may be why you came to this island to begin with.”

There’s no way he could’ve known that you’re new to the island. Nobody said anything about it. But he’s not wrong. Though you can’t say he’s right either. You came to the island in hopes to find…yourself. And though you haven’t yet found yourself, you sure as hell found Kirishima. And soulmate has a nice right to it.

“So if we help you find these gems—“

“—tide jewels,” he intervenes.

“Tide jewels-“ you roll your eyes- “then you will give Denki a super boat, and you will unite me with a soulmate?”

“Exactly,” Hitoshi confirms. “Easy peesy, isn’t it?”

“How do we know you’ll uphold your end of the bargain?” Denki asks, finally out of his super boat daydreams.

“I said you were good with questions.” Hitoshi smirks. “You don’t know. You can’t know. But you can either do this with me, and probably get a super boat and a soulmate out of it, or you can not, and get nothing.”

Denki side-eyes you, and you him. You hold each other’s gazes for a brief moment, and you already know how this would play out if you refuse. Denki would convince you to do it. You don’t do anything, he says with his eyes. Might as well hang around and see how this plays out.

“Fine.” Even though your good conscience screams at you to do otherwise, you let up. “We’ll help you.”

“Excellent.” Hitoshi beams, or at least, he beams in a way only someone who was just threatening two other people can beam. “Then we should start our search today. We’ll probably need to go into town and see if there are any supernatural occurrences or old folktales to check out.”

Going out to town is the last thing you’d planned on doing today. Or maybe the second to last thing you planned on doing. You have to ask, because if you don’t, you’ll go batsy.

“We won’t be getting wet, will we?”

Hitoshi scoffs, which isn’t an answer. Maybe you really don’t ask the right questions because when Denki asks, “you said there were six things you need to retrieve. What’s the sixth thing?” Hitoshi winks at you, and grins. And when he grins, your stomach aches.

#bnha x reader #bnha reader insert #reader insert #mha x reader #hitoshi shinsou x reader #shinsou x reader #bnha imagines #mermaid!shinsou x reader #bnha mermaids #trident tale #tt

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honey-milk-depresso · 2 years

Text

Aepper’s birthday pie (at his face-)

Swishing his tail that looked like a devil’s staff, Grim walked up to his vice dorm leader with his two hind legs.

“Alright, speechless, I’m here to condemn your answers on your birthday with questions.”

(Oh how lovely,) Aepper rolled his eyes as he rested his cheek on his palm.

“Whatever, just take the gift,” Grim stated gloomily as he passed Aepper his mystery present.

The gift was revealed to be a vintage fountain pen. A silver tip sharp and pointy, it was carved with precision and meticulously to create a flowery design, the black ink smelt nostalgic for Aepper.

“Since you’re always doing paperwork, Yuu and I decided to get you a pen. Sam said this magic pen will never run out of ink! You just can’t use it as a magic pen you use all the time,” Grim crossed his arm with a cheeky grin.

Aepper smiled. “A gift that’s not a tuna can... not bad. You managed to impress me, Grim,” Aepper teased.

“Shut it...”

(Alright, alright. Still, that’s thoughtful of you. Thank you very much, and of course to Yuu on their behalf.)

“Let’s cut to the chase, speechless. I wanna get this over with!”

(Go off with it then.)

“ ‘If you were to bring someone with you to a deserted island, who would you bring? Excluding anyone in your dorm.’ Well, ya only got me and Grim, so you got plenty ol’ options..”

“Hmm, plenty of options doesn’t make it necessarily good. Too many people to choose from leaves me quite indecisive. But...” Aepper placed a finger on his chin to think as he closes his eyes.

“I know Rook would be a nice option, but I feel that’s what people not from Pomefiore might say. In that case I choose... Ruggie.”

“Huh?! That jerk who likes to steal others food?!” Grim frowned in disbelief.

“Since Ruggie is very tight funds, he can only afford so little. Thus, he’s quite flexible when it comes to finding food and identifying what’s edible and what’s not, since he’s experienced in the “survival” part.

He’s pretty athletic and fast, he probably can hunt down prey in mere seconds, and of course I trust that since he’s been to that training camp before he’s probably hone his survival skills,” Aepper says.

“Okay... that’s fair. Moving on! ‘If you had the chance to move to any dorm, which dorm would you choose?”

“Hmm...” and Aepper thinks again.

“Ignihyde.”

“H-huh?! I-I thought you’d pick Octavinelle! Or Heartslabyul!!”

“Well, for starters, Octavinelle while it can benefit me in giving me spare time to hone my cooking, it’ll be tedious having to work in Monstro Lounge while dealig with Crowley’s work. And don’t get me started on Heartslabyul. It’ll be nice to see Trey without all 810 rules pinning me and restricting me that I feel frozen in place.

Ignihyde has many gadgets and specializes in technology that I find useful. It probably makes my work easier if I learn more about it, and tell Crowley and students to email me their problems instead of always physically mailing them to me. It’s such a waste of trees being cut down too...” Aepper frowns.

“It may take me awhile to get used to the advance technology, if it means to reward me with far more convenience, I shall diligently learn their uses.”

“Wow... okay, sure..” Grim looks away with a bored expression.

“Argh.. anyways, it’s finally time..” Grim’s mouth curled up to form a smirk, looking deviously at the peppermint boy.

(Yes, yes. I’m suppose to receive my “lucky gift” from my presenter now, correct? Just give me a shot.)

“Happy birthday, speechless!!” Grim yelled with triumph as he threw the pie at his chest level, not being able to hit his face, but hey.

It was a shot.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #twst grim #twisted wonderland grim #aeppermint #aepper #happy birthday aepper!

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1ddiscourseoftheday · 3 years

Text

🚨Thurs 17 Dec ‘20🚨

No one will argue, this year has been the worst and I'm not really into that whole 'silver linings to bad things' bit, but... BUT! If the demise of live shows and rise of livestreams meant Zayn deciding to perform for us?! Well. I would be willing to reconsider my whole ass philosophy on life! Unfortunately, despite the excitement (or was it hysteria?) he inspired last night by getting all our hopes up, it might just be a music video? We'll see though. He definitely did register a new song, UNFXWITABLE (!), and then, and THEN: slid a single photo into his instagram story, a truly beautiful old baroque theater stage, fitted with live show speakers and a tantalizingly closed red curtain. The stage lights are on, the seats are empty... prepping for zomething?? It was discovered to be the St George Theater in Staten Island, very exciting, but today more video of them working on whatever they're working on surfaced (a snippet at the theater with a bit of an unknown song audible) that makes it seem more likely they're working on a music video than a livestream set up. Still, we can DREAM. At the very least we're getting a new song any minute now and at best-- Z3 and a video AND a liveztream?? (or prerecorded, that's FINE.) The pap pics the other day were him leaving a menswear boutique (sorry I said home, my bad, it was the usual 'front door to car' walk though) leading to speculation he was getting fitted for zomething zpecial... maybe we'll get to see it soon!

Likely on account of the added European show tickets going on sale today, Louis came online to check in, and also to laugh at old videos of himself, send larries into a tailspin, and best of all, weigh in on and shut down discourse left and right THANK YOU SIR! Louis is happy to walk us all through how not to get Live In London video taken down (“do it on a burner account haha?” tips from the master truly, no one would know better so listen to him); he denies having such an account himself (“maybe I should”) though unlike Liam (see below) HE doesn't go that extra step into obvious lie territory and say he's NEVER had one. On how he deals with comments about his height (which are up again these last few days due to a video circulating that uses math to conclude once again that he is in fact, as documented, 5'9”), “I rise above them,” he zings back, and in appreciation of someone who actually got the joke, “you're on my level,” DOUBLE PUNNING, BOOM but that's not all: he finishes off with the comment that finished ME off, “such a peculiar debate.” REALLY. Peculiar specifically, not like strange or weird or annoying you just... went right in for the Eroda copyrighted word huh. OKAY. Also: no, probably no collabs on LT2 (“doubt it”), yes he loves twitter “in doses, no better way to talk to you lot” (you mean even better than via t shirts?? sounds fake but okay), tells us he is “100% for sure” is gonna get the vaccine, and that “cucumber is shit” which isn't really a discourse we needed him to solve that I knew of but like, okay! Sorted! Antis seethed about him talking to larries and larry UAs and picking a video of him and H singing You and I to reply to, and probably cucumber enthusiasts and anti-vaxxers were unhappy too, but the rest of us? WINNING.

Liam is all over, first appearing in a fisherman's cap that nicely sets of his full and fluffy beard, then demonstrating answering questions for the Naughty List insta filter. He says he has never made a fake social media account, so I guess he's not lurking here reading these or I would guess that if I believed THAT for one second, he also says yes I have lied to my best friend so I'll just chose to believe he means us by 'best friend' since here he is, lying away. Dixie is absent from the recent promo, which is a blessing not just because they don't mesh particularly well but also because she's gotten even more terrible on main, moving from simply allying herself with racists to producing her own racist content- if we're lucky she'll simply fade away along with xmas and we can move on without any of that thank you very much. Liam is still a good BFF to us though: today he's offering himself up as prize in a raffle, you can enter to win a 'once in a lifetime VIP Experience in 2021 with Liam' for a low low £5, funds going to Stagehand's #ILoveLive campaign to support industry workers. And on the 17th day of christmas, my LP Advent Alarm woke me up with... Roman Kemp leading us through a weirdly peppy breathing exercise, backed with both soothing spa music and a sample of Liam's voice taken from the sleep story played over and over at near random intervals! I said it before and I'll say it again, they REALLY should have recorded all the material at once last month, but tbh I am enjoying the chaotic daily scramble to find something to put on the thing that's come of them being caught short maybe even more than I would normal content, it's getting downright experimental and I'm fully here for it. It's got that classic janky af for no reason 1D feel you know!

Rob Sheffield found better things to say about Watermelon Sugar, naming it his number one song of 2020 and calling it “a lost Stevie Nicks/ Stevie Wonder duet” plus gifting us a Harry quote: “that one we reworked a bunch of times, and it died a couple times, then it just kept coming back. We fully killed it a few times, but it kept coming back in. So I thought, There’s a reason it’s surviving.” And Chris Pine- who also says that he's all done shooting his part of Don't Worry Darling- said, “Harry Styles is an absolute delight. He's one of the most professional people I've ever met. Couldn't be kinder, more gracious, I mean, really, I was stunned by this kid. He's off-the-charts cool.”

And finally, as 2020 draws to a close we are being flooded with a barrage of our guys being declared winners of incredibly narrow categories (Harry on a list of 'groundbreaking magazine covers' for example), but I think the winner of MY list of 'Highly Specific Accolades' is sewn up for the year already; Heartbreak Weather is officially “the first [advertising] campaign to utilize weather-tracking technology to target content to users”! I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for competitors but beating that for reaching for a category will be TOUGH.

#zayn #zayn malik world domination!!#as they say on the twits #louis tomlinson #harry styles #niall horan #i guess #Dixie deets in intern's tags but I abstain on the basis that's she's irrelevant and soon to be history #but if you're looking for that full story head over to her reblog #note her url has changed!!#the intern is now 1DdotdHQ! A promotion!! you can still call her intern if you want but she also answers to Hot Oli #other HQs are welcome to join my internship program if they wanna learn a thing or two #working conditions are bad and pay is worse! get in!#so like I'm not suggesting Zayn would schedule his life around anything so silly but if he did a stream that HAPPENED to be before the end o #of the year #he would totally knock Louis out of his record holding spot? Like I don't want to see that specifically but #if that would tempt his petty ass maybe we should wave it as a motivator #don't think he wouldn't be able to either Louis said about his louies 'they never see us coming' and how right he is #but even the FANDOM never see the zquad coming and it is a FORCE and has even harries beat for sheer numbers #anyway #Roman Kemp's breathing exercise sounds like its led by Arthur Shappey #rich spirit #dixie d'amelio #roman kemp #Rob Sheffield #chris pine #this account is so weird the people who I'm like huh THAT person has a tag now on my 1D update account OKAY THEN #17 dec 20

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waywardodysseys · 3 years

Text

Eight Days of Christmas - Day 6

Christmastime is Here

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x female reader

Warnings: cussing

Summary: Your eleventh Christmas with Ransom Drysdale.

Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5

(divider by @firefly-graphics)

You walk through Faneuil Hall with your two-year-old son, Oliver, trying to find the perfect gift for Ransom, who happens to be shopping as well. The two of you deciding to come down to the famed marketplace to enjoy one of your holiday traditions with your son. The marketplace is extravagantly decorated with holiday décor as Christmas music filters through the speakers and the smell of gingerbread cookies and roasted chestnuts drift through the air. Christmastime is here and the frenzied crowd’s milling about, trying to find the perfect gift for whoever they are shopping for.

You and Oliver have been weaving through the crowd, going into various stores. Most of them were for Oliver to look at the toys or some clothes. You had taken him into a store, showing him a few things, his father might like. “What do you think, Oli?” you inquire.

“Daddy has sweaters. Anda clothes. What ‘bout toy?”

“This is for your dad, not you.” you answer and receive a frown in return. “What about a watch? Hmmm? Or maybe something for the Beamer?”

“We could get ‘m a new car!”

You laugh, “Your dad would be a horrendous Grinch for the rest of his days if we got rid of the Beamer.” Along with me. Because there were still times you and Ransom took the silver car out when enjoying a night out on the town and the two of you ended up getting down and dirty in the car before making it into the house. It was also where you and Ransom did the deed for the first time because you couldn't help yourself when he pulled up to his house all those years ago on the fourth date.

“Momma!” Oli’s voice brings you out of your memories. You turn to find your son ogling some high ultra tech drones. You walk over to him and crouch down to his level. “I’m sure he’ll let you play with it, but know it’s your father’s toy not yours.”

Oli nods his head in response, too engrossed in looking at the pricey mechanical devices. You smile as you stand and begin talking to the retail associate.

Half an hour later you are walking back through the marketplace, holding Oli’s hand. Soon you’d meet Ransom for lunch, and he’d take Oliver for a couple of hours while you looked for a gift for Ransom from yourself. Currently, no doubt, he was probably overthinking a gift for you or one of his family members. He had always been prepared for this day but knew he had to outdo the gifts of the previous year.

“Momma?” Oli questions from below.

“Yes?” You stop and look down at him.

“Where’s daddy?” He looks up at you with tiredness in his eyes.

You reach down and pick him up. “He’s shopping for Grandma Linda, Grandpa Richard. And the rest of his family.” You and Ransom had agreed when you were first married he’d buy all their gifts because he’d know what they want and like then you wrapped them and placed both of your names under the ‘from’ on the tag. You had been doing the same for your own family. It worked out perfectly every time.

“Nana? Papa?”

He’s referring to your parents. “I will be shopping for them after we meet daddy for lunch.”

“I hungry!”

You cuddle him into your chest as your stomach growls. “Me too. How about we find a place to eat? Huh? I’ll let him know where we are, okay?”

He nods his head and buries his head in the crook of your neck. He whispers, “Otay.”

-------

You and Oliver are sitting inside Anthem Kitchen and Bar, which is near Faneuil Hall. You had texted Ransom where you were heading and he responded immediately, telling you he was finishing up at a store and would join you shortly.

“There’s my beautiful family,” Ransom remarks as he approaches you. He places a brief kiss on your lips then places a kiss on Oliver’s head. “How are my two favorite people?” he inquires as he places his bags down and takes a seat.

“Hungry!” Oliver boasts. “Momma say I canna have burger or chicken sticks.”

You laugh and shrug, “Close enough. Though I did say chicken tenders.”

Ransom smiles, “Whatever you want, buddy.” Ransom reaches under the table and finds your hand and squeezes it. “Something’s on your mind. What is it?”

You watch Oli scribble on a coloring sheet then glance at your husband. “Our son made me reminisce about a particular silver car.”

One of Ransom’s brows pops up, “I can call my mom. Have her watch Oli tonight.” He leans in closer to you and cups your cheek. “I’d love to take you for a spin. As well as the car.” Your cheeks are hot as Ransom chuckles. “Any specific moment you were thinking about sweetheart?”

You swallow. Happy your husband still knows how to keep things lively no matter what the occasion is. “Our fourth date.”

Ransom moans under his breath, “You couldn't keep your hands off me that night. And I think it was because you had agreed to it on the fourth date because you declined me on the first one.”

“I wasn't about to let you get what you truly wanted on the first date.”

“Well, I did get to second base with you that night.”

“Ransom!” you hiss as you giggle.

“You in trouble daddy!” Oli exclaims.

Ransom pulls back and looks at Oli. “I know I am. But I think she’ll forgive me later.” He winks at his son. Oli smiles widely and laughs.

The server appears seconds later, and three lunch orders are given. They disappear again and are not seen until lunch is brought out and placed on the table.

After lunch is over, Ransom, you, and Oliver walk back out into the chilly winter air. A now fed Oliver is bursting at the seams, ready to shop with his father.

“What we buyin’ momma?” Oli inquires as Ransom scoops him up into his arms.

“We gotta discuss it when she’s not around Oli.” Ransom leans over and presses a kiss to your lips. They linger for a minute before he pulls away. “Couple of hours? And I’ll call my mom about watching Oli.”

“Grandmama Linda? She’s here?”

Ransom shakes his head, “Not here. Maybe she’ll watch you tonight while your mom and I shop for you.”

You shake your head and laugh at Ransom’s lame excuse to cover him and you are having a date night. Which included the Beamer and possibly reenacting your fourth date. You lean over and kiss Oli’s cheek then place a kiss on Ransom’s lips. “That should be enough time.” You look between the two of them and your heart swells. “Take care of one another.”

“We will,” Ransom and Oli respond in unison.

“I love you.”

“I love you.” “Love you momma.” Ransom and Oli respond at the same time.

You turn and make your way back towards Faneuil Hall while Ransom looks at his son and inquires, “What shall we get her?”

Oliver shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Makeup? Jewelry?”

“She already beautiful daddy. She dontna need that.”

Ransom laughs, “No she doesn't. I got lucky with her, you got lucky too having her as your mom.” He pauses, “What about a new purse? She loves her handbags.”

-------

Hours later, wrapping paper, gift bags, and tissue paper are strewn about the kitchen island and table as you and Ransom wrap presents. Oliver had fallen asleep on the car ride home and thankfully, Ransom had gotten him into the house and up to his room without him waking up while you unloaded the car with dozens of shopping bags. Both you and Ransom then grabbed the wrapping supplies and set up shop in the kitchen.

“Did you peak?” Ransom now inquires as he tries to wrap a box.

“I did not,” you respond, “you always hide it.” You pause, “Or maybe you always buy my gift last minute.”

“I do not. I’ve learned over the years to buy early. You know I still hate the frenzied crowds and the mad drivers. All of them fucking assholes.”

You laugh, “There’s my Grinch.”

Ransom grins, “A couple more weeks and Santa gets to visit.”

“I’ll be ready. As always.” You look over at him. “You called Linda?”

“Yes. She’ll be over at six to pick Oli up. Says he can spend the night too.”

You snort, “She rarely wants him to spend the night.” Then a realization hit you. “Please don't tell me you told her we--”

“I told her no such thing. She said something about taking him to brunch tomorrow with my dad and the three of them could go do something afterwards. Knows what it’s like to have a young boy at his age, knows his parents want some quiet.”

“I’ll have to make sure to get her something else along with what you bought her.” You see Ransom shrug. “It’ll be from me, big spender.”

Ransom sighs, “I just don't get why we can't draw names. There’s a dozen of us now.”

“You know Harlan likes tradition. He’ll never cave into that.”

Ransom curses under his breath. “I also hate wrapping. Why can't everything go in a gift bag? Or better yet the volunteers at the marketplace could’ve wrapped ‘em.”

“We always wrap our own Ransom. Besides, I think, you’ll enjoy unwrapping your gift this year.”

Ransom’s brows shoot up. “Yours, or Oli’s?”

You shrug nonchalantly and don't answer as you begin to wrap another present.

“Sweetheart, come on,” Ransom whines while he makes his way towards you. He pulls up a chair next to you and sits down. One of his hands travels up your leg while the other pushes some hair aside. He dips his head down and nips at your neck.

“Ransom,” you whisper as you look at your husband, who’s giving you sad puppy eyes.

“Y/N,” Ransom murmurs before he sweeps his mouth against yours.

Seconds tick by in silence until a squeaky voice states: “Eeewwww.”

You and Ransom jump apart then laugh. Ransom squeezes your leg. “Wait till you’re in your teens Oli. It won't be ‘ew’ then.”

“His teens?”

Ransom rolls his eyes as he places Oli in his lap, “You’ll always be a momma’s boy Oli. So, no kissing until you're in your thirties.”

“Girls are eeewwww.” Oli makes a disgusting face then looks at you and smiles brightly, “But not momma. She pretty. Right daddy?”

Ransom chuckles, “The prettiest girl in the world.”

You laugh, “Thanks Oli. I love you too.” You watch Ransom’s face drop then reach out and stroke his cheek. “And you.”

“Grandmama Linda here yet?” Oli asks as he looks at Ransom. Oli rubs his eyes, still sleepy and worn out from the day.

Ransom shakes his head. “Not yet. We still gotta finish wrapping gifts. Wanna help?”

“But I won'tna be able to see what you gotta me and I wanna know whatta you gotta me.” Oli whines.

Ransom chuckles. “Well, your mom and I are shopping tonight and will wrap it later. Besides, it's a gift, Oli. You aren't supposed to know what it is until Christmas morning.”

“Otay.” he sighs in defeat.

The rest of the afternoon and into the evening, before the doorbell rings at six, the three of you wrap gifts in the kitchen. Not caring if they are wrapped perfectly, or unnecessary amounts of tape is used. Not worrying about Oli trying to write people’s names crookedly or illegible on the gift tags or even writing his own under the ‘from’ section on it along with your’s and Ransom’s name too.

All you care about is spending time with the two men of your life, enjoying the holiday season with them. Knowing these are part of the traditions you had grown up with and had been sharing with Ransom and now with your son.

#eight days of christmas #ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale x y/n #eight days of christmas day 6 #christmas series #ransom drysdale fanfiction #ransom drysdale fanfic

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slipping-through-my-fingertips · 3 years

Text

mad woman

part of my folklore series

Summary: Kurt is concerned that Santana has lost her voice; Blaine helps her get it back.

Notes: I really feel that this song embodies Santana. I can’t explain it but it just reminds me so much of her. HAPPY 1 YEAR OF FOLKLORE!!!!!

AO3

Anytime he heard Santana singing in the shower, Kurt wondered why she gave up performing. Sure, she had the Spotlight Diner shifts but she was seldom a soloist. More likely, Santana opted to be backup vocals unless she was feuding with Rachel that day. It was like glee all over again. Her voice silenced or drowned out by the attention seekers. She didn’t fight for it as she had during her short-lived time as a member of the Treble Tones. Hell, she wasn’t into the music as much as Elliott and Dani were when One Tree Hill had been a quintet.

Kurt was worried about her. Though she’d deny it, Santana loved to sing. She needed glee just as much as the rest of them. The problem was since she moved to New York it was like she lost her voice.

He remembers feeling like that when he first arrived. Without NYADA, Kurt was another drop in the huge sea of city folk. No longer did he stand out for his bold fashion choices or being gay. Here, the things that once made him eccentric were just another thing people tried to ignore as they went about their days. No one in the city had time to pick on or compliment a newcomer from a small town in Ohio.

At first, Kurt liked it because the fear of being beaten for being himself had completely vanished within a few weeks of moving. That was all behind him. Way back in Lima. After a few months, the novelty wore off. He actually started to miss the stares from his classmates at McKinley High.

He hated to admit it but Rachel may have been right when she said they were similar. Sometimes, Kurt felt like Tinkerbell too. He needed applause to live. Craved the attention. Then, he got it at the Winter Showcase. Madame Tibideaux handed the limelight to him on a silver platter. The entirety of the NYADA staff got to hear him sing.

Of course, he could’ve thrown up because he was so nervous and completely unprepared. Yet, it had been exhilarating. That rush of being on stage with a captive audience. Combined with his attendance to NYADA being on the line, Kurt hadn’t felt this energized since he last saw Blaine in person.

None of that seemed to faze Santana Lopez.

Honestly, after pulling her into the band and having her quit, recommending the evening dance classes at NYADA, and taking her out to Callbacks on weekends, Kurt was out of ideas. She refused to get on stage. But he saw that small smile on her face when she hummed under her breath when she thought no one was listening. No matter how vehemently she denied it, she missed singing. So, Kurt called Blaine.

“I don’t know, Kurt, it’s kinda hard to help when I’m not seeing the situation for myself.” Blaine sighs, likely bummed he can’t solve this.

Kurt practically saw him pouting through the phone. Thank god, they weren’t on Skype. He hated seeing his boyfriend looking so defeated when he wasn’t there in person to kiss the top of his head.

Blaine had become the self-proclaimed advice-giver of the New Directions since he transferred.

He helped Mike Chang fix his relationship with Tina when they had a week-long fight about only eating at Asian restaurants on their date nights. Tina had been pissed. No simple apology was going to cut it. Blaine single-handedly compiled a list of Tina’s favorite places to eat and added a few of his personal favorite date night places.

When Finn would forget special dates and Rachel got fussy about how Finn never uses the couple calendars she made for them, Blaine stepped in and helped him set up a reminder alert on his phone.

And there was that whole fiasco about Miss Pillsbury not-so-subtly hinting that she wanted to get engaged. Blaine was able to straighten Mr. Schue out pretty quickly that day. For the life of him, that man didn’t understand why Miss Pillsbury was acting so weird.

“You don’t have to be so roundabout, you know?” Kurt told him.

“Huh.” Playing dumb, typical.

“Just come up to the city, Blaine,” he said. “I know you want to ask.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, boyfriend of mine,” Blaine huffed. “I have zero ulterior motives while being completely unhelpful to your current predicament.”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure that’s the case. I’ll see you next week.”

“Unless Cooper can find an earlier flight!” Blaine exclaimed.

He had been using up the countless number of frequent flyer miles his older brother had racked up to make weekend trips to New York. After Cooper discovered their long-distance relationship (likely after one too many late-night calls from Blaine missing his boyfriend), he offered them to Blaine.

Blaine arrived the following Friday. McKinley had some teacher’s day so Blaine was able to hop on a morning flight. He was waiting in the loft when Kurt finished classes for the day.

“Okay, we’re going to Callbacks tonight,” Kurt said, removing his coat.

“Hello to you too,” Blaine replied, standing up from the sofa. “How are you, Blaine? How was the flight, Blaine? I missed you so much, Blaine.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and ignored his boyfriend.

“This isn’t about you, Blaine,” he said, “it’s about Santana.”

“Wow, Blaine, you look great! Aren’t those my yellow pants you’re borrowing?” Blaine crossed his arms.

“Hey!” Kurt exclaimed. “Those are my pants!”

“Yeah.” Blaine blushed. “I rolled them so they’d fit better.”

Kurt marched over to him and knocked him onto the couch. “You look hot in my clothes.”

“I look better out of them.”

Instead of verbally agreeing, Kurt unbuttoned his yellow pants. Blaine was quick to keep up removing his own shirt and attempting to pull off Kurt’s as well. However, Blaine was sitting on the couch and Kurt was kneeling between his legs. It was proving to be rather difficult a task.

“Kurt…” Blaine groaned, “come up here with me.”

“I can’t very well do what I want up there, Blaine.”

He sat up straighter. “Is this payment for not properly greeting me because I’ll take a blowjob over ‘how do you do’ any day?”

Kurt pressed his face into Blaine’s naked thigh. “So long as you aren’t accepting blowjobs from anyone but me.”

“No, I would…” Kurt licked around Blaine’s hip. “Never.”

Within seconds, Blaine’s head was fully tipped over the back of the couch and the only thing coming from his mouth were moans. He couldn’t even force the word ‘Kurt’ from his lips. When Kurt finally gave in and decided Blaine had received efficient teasing, he sucked at the tip until Blaine screamed his name.

They were quick to clean up their mess afterward, unsure of when the girls would be home. It was one thing to have sex in the living room, it was a whole other to get caught. Though, Kurt figured Rachel owned him after Brody paraded around naked for the few months they dated.

“Okay, now that we’ve defiled Santana’s bed, can we focus on helping her?”

“Step one, don’t tell her about this,” Blaine suggested.

Kurt slapped Blaine’s chest.

“Ow.”

“Be helpful. You said if you were in New York, you’d be able to help better. So do it.”

“FIne,” Blaine replied, “no Callbacks. I have a better idea.”

Turns out that idea was a speciality club night of Alternative Tunes.

“It’s open mic. There’s gonna be singers, poets, magicians, and I heard their harpist is opening tonight,” Blaine explained, as they waited in line.

“Is that why she brought your violin?” Rachel questioned.

“Yup!” Blaine held up his black case. “I haven’t played to an audience of more than one in a while.”

Kurt smiled at him. He loved when Blaine performed just for him almost as much as he enjoyed watching Blaine in front of an audience. Something about his face just lit up on stage. The same way Santana’s did in front of a microphone.

“As much as I love talking about violins…” She rolled her eyes, “is there alcohol at this place?” Santana asked, “because that’s like 90% the point of going out.”

“Yes, there’s alcohol,” Kurt confirmed.

He told Blaine they’d need at least two drinks into Santana before they brought up performing to her. Which proved true. After nursing two long island ice teas, Santana was finally talking to Blaine about being on stage. He hadn’t gone up yet and she was teasing him.

“Come on, you brought your own instrument and everything,” she said. “Give us a show and tell.”

With that, Blaine stood up and walked to the stage. No one was in line so he went right up after the juggler finished. He tapped the microphone and introduced himself.

“I’d like to dedicate this first one to my boyfriend.”

He mouthed an “I love you” towards Kurt, who blew a kiss back.

Then, he was lost in the strings. The next song he did was for Santana. Blaine didn’t announce it or anything but he watched her face when he could during the progression of the song. When he finished his set, Blaine thanked the audience. Kurt whistled and clapped, Rachel was jumping up and down while screaming for an encore, and when Blaine was back at the table Santana offered to buy him a drink.

Without Kurt even realizing it, the next performer on stage was Santana. Just her. She didn’t introduce herself as Blaine did, the piano music just started to play and then she was singing.

“What do you sing on your drive home?

Do you see my face in the neighbor's lawn?

Does she smile?

Or does she mouth, ‘Fuck you forever’?”

Kurt couldn’t say why exactly but the song suited her well. Santana was always one to command an audience when she soloed. Soft instrumental with harsher lyrics was always her style.

While Santana had the audience and Kurt captivated, Blaine bounced back over to their table. He had two drinks in his hand.

“For you,” he said, passing Kurt a mojito.

In return, Kurt pecked his check. He really was so lucky. Then, his full attention went back to the stage.

“Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy

What about that?

And when you say I seem angry, I get more angry

And there's nothing like a mad woman

What a shame she went mad

No one likes a mad woman

You made her like that”

As Santana finished her song, Kurt and Rachel turned to Blaine, who was positively beaming. He’d done exactly what he had told Kurt he could do.

“How?” Rachel asked.

“I’m a smooth talker,” Blaine said with a smirk.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

If anything, his boyfriend was a clumsy mess. Romantic and adorable? Yes. Tripped over his words? Constantly.

“Come on, Blaine, give it up,” Kurt said.

“Magicians never reveal their secrets.”

Rachel huffed. She had a glint in her eyes suggesting she wasn’t giving up. Rachel rarely did when she really wanted something. Kurt had a theory that she could pester anyone enough to get what she wanted. Example A, a ticket to NYADA by tracking down the head of admissions and inviting her to Chicago to watch a show choir competition.

Before Kurt could tell Rachel to drop it, Santana returned. She had a new drink in her hand.

“Compliments of the lady in red,” she told them.

“Excellent song choice,” Kurt said.

“Blaine’s idea.” she shrugged, sipping her drink.

Blaine was still beaming.

“It’s perfect for her, isn’t it?” Blaine replied, “When I first heard it I knew I had to hear Santana do a cover of it.”

Santana winked at him from across the table.

“What is going on with you two?” Rachel asked. “The devil incarnate and the sun from teletubbies should not get along this well.”

Santana shrugged. “He’s besties with Britt.”

“It’s true.” Blaine nodded. “She even called us the Sunshine Twins.”

Kurt’s eyes drift to Blaine’s—his—yellow pants. “Yeah, that fits.”

#klaine #klaine fanfiction #klaine fanfic #my fics #folklore series

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re-diesirae · 3 years

Text

Chapter 2

Chris

Chris watched his sister's back as she disappeared down the corridor. Something about her overall appearance was bothering him, but he pushed the thoughts away. Claire always hated it when he hovered over her, and, considering that he hadn't seen the woman in almost three months, he didn't want to spoil their time together by annoying his sister.

"Huh, she's going to be mopping about this later," Saya sighed, "she will be feeling guilty after all this."

The comment caught Chris's attention, and the soldier turned to the Asian doctor with a quizzical look.

"Guilty? Why?" Chris asked.

"Well, it isn't like she gets a lot of friendly visitors often. I can tell she was overjoyed to have you here, but with all this mess, unfortunately, with this mess, Claire has barely been a proper host, and that will haunt her."

Chris felt a pinch of guilt at the woman's words. He knew Claire was a strong girl. Claire had always been independent, but she valued family like nothing else. She probably missed him as much as he missed her; maybe he should consider dropping by more often.

"You seem to know her well," Leon said casually, looking around the place.

"We are old friends and colleagues," Saya said, picking a notepad and scribbling something, "we have grown close after sharing so many night shifts side by side. I am not sure which of us spends more time in this building. Maybe we should start a contest on that."

"Night Shifts?" Chris asked, "She has night shifts?"

"Well, her promotion carried a lot of extra work," Saya explained, "Sometimes the amount is ridiculous, especially when the other chiefs are calling and asking for help. She's too kind to say no. Sometimes she has so much work that she just gave up going home at night. I do the same, so eventually, we ended up making each other company."

"So, she hasn't been going home?"Jill asked.

"She does, but rarely. Deep down inside, I believe she prefers it here because that way, she won't feel lonely. You know she lives alone, and sometimes when something bothers her or she wakes up from a nightmare, it is nice to have someone to chat with and have some hot chocolate."

"Nightmares?" Barry asked.

"She still has them?" Moira asked.

Chris looked at the girl, and he saw Barry put his arm protectively around his daughter.

"Yes, it has become a regular thing lately. I heard yours have become less frequent," Saya said, tilting her head.

Moira nodded and looked at her dad.

"Natalia and I used to have them for a while, too," Moira said, and Barry rubbed her back comfortingly, "but they have almost stopped completely."

"Well, that's good," Saya nodded, "unfortunately, our Claire wasn't so lucky."

"I didn't know she still had them. I mean, we all lived a nightmare on that fucking island. She should have told me. Talking it out might help."

Saya smiled and sighed.

"You know she wouldn't say a word," Saya shrugged.

"Well, why not? We went through that hell together."

Chris was the one with the answer to that.

"Because she always keeps quiet," Chris sighed, "It's been like this since she was a kid. Claire never says anything when she is having trouble with something."

"She doesn't want to worry us, probably," Leon said.

He had spoken with her a few times on the phone. She usually asked how things were doing, and when he returned the question, she merely said she was bored or lots of work. On the phone, it was hard to tell when the girl was hiding something, and the younger Redfield was proficient in that area.

Their chat was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the automatic doors opening. They had expected it to be Claire, but instead, a tall blonde man wearing a black security uniform came in, walking impatiently.

"Ok, Redfield, why did you need me? It better be for a good reason, because I've got to reboot the system, and that is not doing itself."

The blonde stopped dryly and stared at the group in confusion.

"Ok, now this is weird..." he said, turning to the Asian doctor.

"Wallace," Saya said, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? Red called me up here. Isn't Redfield here?"

"Well, that depends on which Redfield, kid," Barry snorted.

"What?"

The man was visibly confused, but it was Moira who cleared it up for him. She pointed at Chris lazily.

"What my dad means," Moira said, pointing at Chris, "he is Chris Redfield. I mean the Chris Redfield, you know. Claire's beloved brother?"

"Oh! Now, that makes sense. I'm Grant Wallace, Head of cybersecurity. he said, shaking Chris's hand ceremoniously, "It's an honor to meet you, at last, brother. Forgive my lack of courtesy. I am in a rush since I need to fix the crap those hackers did to my precious system. Let me be a little more specific, then, is Claire here?"

"No, she isn't here," Saya said, crossing her arms, "She left some minutes ago to find you."

"She... what? Why?"

"Why?" Saya said, indignantly, "You called her, and now you ask why?"

"What? I never called her. She was the one who asked me to come up here."

"This isn't time for jokes," Saya chastised him. "We all heard it. You said that there was something in the Command Center you wanted her to see."

"I never said..." Wallace said, "I was in command, and she told me she was having issues with the security system in the lab. She even told me to drag my lazy ass up here, or she would make me pay."

Everyone fell silent, and it was then that something clicked inside Chris's head. If the man had not called Claire, and he was there. Who was waiting for Claire at the Command Center?

"Where is the Command Center?" he said with a grave tone, "Save the talk, just answer…"

"Basement, but…"

Saya's eyes went wide, and Grant fell into realization.

"It is a trap. Someone lured Claire there," Chris said furiously.

Before anyone could react, Chris was already running out of the room, followed closely by Leon and Jill.

Everyone fell silent. It was then that a switch clicked in Chris's head.

"Where is the Command Center?" he said with a grave tone, "Save the talk, just answer…"

"Basement, but there's no one at the Command Center," Wallace said, "and you say I called her down? There's something wrong there."

Wallace's eyes widened, and he looked at Chris in shock.

"Someone lured Claire there," Chris said furiously. "It is a trap!"

Before anyone could react or say anything, Chris was making his way through the corridor, heading for the stairs. The others exchanged glances, and with no more to say, Jill and Leon ran after him.

"Claire, you better be in one piece when I get there," Chris thought out loud as he ran down the stairs, followed by Leon and Jill.

Leon was the first one to follow him as soon as they had found out that Claire was potentially in danger. They were good friends; that fact was not a secret. Both had gone through a lot during the first outbreak in Racoon City, and those kinds of events usually created everlasting bonds between people. If there was anyone as worried as Chris was, it had to be him.

The second set of footsteps were Jill's. The woman seemed worried.

"We need to hurry. I want to be wrong, but if I am not, Claire will need our help," Chris told his companions.

Claire wasn't a damsel in distress. If she had to kick some asses, she would do it without trouble. But if she got tricked down there, she would not have been able to foresee the ambush that awaited her, and the element of surprise would leave her in a disadvantageous position.

They reached the Command Center in a short time. The office door was ajar, and there was no sign of Claire anywhere. That made Chris have a bad feeling.

The trio stepped into the room cautiously. There were evident signs of a struggle: papers scattered on the ground, furniture turned over, and few bloodstains on the floor. There had been a fight, and Chris prayed with all his heart that the red liquid on the ground wasn't Claire's blood. After inspecting the place, they came to the sad conclusion that it was empty.

Chris cursed himself for being late as he watched helplessly around the empty room.

"Shit, where are you, Claire?" Chris growled.

"Chris..."

The soldier turned to Leon. The man had crouched, and he was holding something silver in his hand. Chris recognized it at once.

"That's Claire's necklace."

"It seems she got ambushed," Jill said, after looking at the scene, "No deaths, as there are no corpses, but judging by the looks, someone got beaten into a pulp."

As long as that someone wasn't his sister, it was fine. Chris could live with it.

"Three attackers," Jill said, "Male and trained. I think Claire knocked out two, but she missed the third one. They can't be too far."

"We gotta move if we want to find her, then."

Jill nodded. The group was ready to step out when Jill stopped them and brought a finger against her lips, telling them to be silent. Someone was outside the room. The trio exchanged looks and took cover to listen.

"That bitch didn't go down without a fight, huh?" an unknown male voice said, "she's feisty. I guess that is why they are interested."

"She's tougher than the other ones," a second voice said, "what do you suppose they do with them?"

"That's none of your business. Our task is to collect the subjects. The rest is up to them," the first man said. "Now, move. You don't want to be in the city when they drop those presents in the city."

"Now that's going to be a show. What do you think those guys will send this time?"

"Some of their ugly pets, probably."

Chris looked at Leon and Jill. Those last words made the hair on the back of Chris's neck stand up. They were planning an attack on the city, and if it were as bad as Chris imagined, Hughesville would soon turn into a second Lanshiang Catastrophe.

"Let's see how those stupid TerraSavers handle that," the first voice said with amusement.

The trio held their breath as the voices receded. Chris had to restrain himself from attacking the men with his fists. Those men were his best chance at finding Claire. He would make them pay, but until his sister was safe and sound, he would let them go.

"Are they planning to launch an attack here?" Jill asked, "I can't believe this."

"We should get used to this crap," Chris said with anger, "Jill, go back to Barry and the others. We need to warn the BSAA about a possible bioterrorist attack asap. We need the forces to get moving before things get out of control."

"Yes, of course," Jill nodded, "what are you going to do?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Chris said, fiercely, "I am hunting down those assholes and getting my sister back."

"Chris, don't get me wrong, but going after them all on your own..." Jill said, and Chris growled.

"If I wait, I'll lose them. I can't let that happen."

"Yes, I understand that, but you can't expect me to let you go alone."

"He won't," Leon said. "I'll go with him. I'll help him get Claire back, so you can focus on evacuating the people before this becomes another tragedy."

Jill looked at them and hesitated.

"I have Leon as my backup. I will be fine. The attack will happen soon. If we want to save as many people as we can, we need to hurry. I am sure everyone in TerraSave will help us."

Jill nodded. The woman turned on her heels and ran back through the corridor, leaving the soldier and the agent behind. Chris knew that Jill was reluctant to leave. She loved Claire, too, and the idea of the girl getting kidnapped by a bunch of terrorists didn't make her happier than it made Chris. However, duty was a duty; the woman turned on her heels and ran back through the corridor, leaving the soldier and the agent behind.

Chris turned to Leon and found the agent fidgeting with his mobile phone.

"I contacted Hunnigan and asked her to help us track down Claire's kidnappers."

"Great, that will come in handy," Chris nodded, "Did you bring any weapons?"

Leon gave him a smile of irony and showed him the holster under his jacket.

"After all these years," Leon said, "They never leave my side."

"Tch, it must be nice to have the government's permission to carry your toys," Chris scoffed, "Fair enough. Let's move, then."

The two men rushed out of the room, following the path that the two chatting men from earlier had taken. It wasn't long before Leon and Chris caught up with them. It was a group of six men wearing black suits and masks. One of them, as Chris noted, was carrying an unconscious Claire over his shoulders. The sight was enough to make the man's blood boil, and the soldier clenched his fists, ready to throw a few punches.

The eldest Redfield looked at Leon, sending him a tacit plan, and the man nodded. They pulled out their guns and shot, aiming at the legs. The first man fell to the ground. The group was confused for a moment, but they soon reacted to their attackers. Three of the closest men began to fire back while the remaining ones sneaked away with Claire. It was evident that their priority was getting her out of the building.

Chris cursed. He had no time to waste, and the men were right in the way. He looked at Leon, and the blonde nodded, raising three fingers, counting down. When the last finger was out, the two jumped out from their cover and began firing at the men. The encounter lasted a couple of minutes, and soon the three attackers laid dead on the floor.

Leon seized the chance to check the bodies.

"What's that?" Chris asked, seeing that Leon had pulled out something from one of the body's pockets.

"A badge. I recognize it. It's one of those small terrorist groups that have ties to Neo-Umbrella," Leon muttered, "I'll let Hunnigan know. Let's get Claire back before they escape."

"Roger to that," Chris nodded.

The two men made their way through the empty corridors until they reached the underground parking lot. Chris and Leon made an abrupt stop when a black van passed them at full speed and broke through the parking entrance.

Chris glared at it and ran to the guard's office. The guard was on the floor. The soldier checked his vitals and concluded that the man was dead. There was nothing that he could do, so he picked a set of keys and rushed to grab one of Terra Save's vehicles.

It took them nothing to catch up with the van, and Chris was glad that no traffic had tried to stop him for his reckless driving. He could picture his sister's lecture about it in his mind, but considering the circumstances, Chris thought that his recklessness was reasonable.

"There they are," Leon said, putting out his gun, "keep it steady. I'll try to stop them."

Chris watched Leon stretch out through the window and began shooting. His accuracy was on point, and Chris was grateful that the agent was pointing at the tires only. It was the safest way to stop the car without the risk of hurting Claire in the crossfire.

"Leon, watch up," Chris said.

Two men were coming through the van's windows with their guys aiming at them. The exchange of fire was unavoidable, and Chris had to maneuver the car the best he could to avoid the incoming fire.

"The bastards came prepared," Leon groaned, reloading his gun. "I guess this won't be easy."

"Has it ever been easy?"

"Right," Leon snorted. The blonde aimed his gun and shot the man on the left.

The bullet hit the man cleanly on his forehead, killing him instantly.

"Nice shot," Chris smirked.

Leon smirked at the compliment, but the light mood short-lasting.

A loud crash resounded in the street as one of the closest buildings collapsed right in front of them, blocking the way and forcing the black van to make a turn to dodge the flying debris. A strong inhuman roar echoed through the city, and Chris found that howl unpleasantly familiar.

"Shit," Chris groaned, pushing the door open, "not this guy again."

"Friend of yours?" asked Leon, doing the same.

"Old acquaintance."

The ogroman let out a savage howl, hitting the nearby buildings with his large hands. The men in the black van had stepped out with their cargo. Claire was still unconscious. They seemed to have forgotten about their human chasers and were only concerned with finding a way to escape the infamous creature. The ogroman, however, had other plans. It snatched a couple of the more unlucky men and broke their bones with its hand.

Their fate wasn't one Chris wished for anyone, not even those damned terrorists.

"Great, just what we need," he growled.

"I am guessing you know how to deal with this guy," Leon asked with a frown.

"Yeah, and I can tell you we are not ready for this fight."

"Why am I not surprised?" Leon sighed. His attention got momentarily diverted from the monster as he watched the men take Claire through an alley. "Chris..."

Chris followed the blonde's sight and frowned. They ran to the alley to chase the escaping group but got violently stopped by the Ogroman punching the street. Chris and Leon rolled in opposite directions, evading the hit and the flying rocks.

"Shit," Chris cursed, "Are you okay, Leon?"

"I've been better," Leon groaned, "Any ideas?"

"Yeah, you follow those assholes. I'll take care of this guy."

"Are you nuts?"

"Don't worry. I know how to deal with it," Chris replied, "I'll distract it. You get Claire."

Leon pondered their options and nodded. Chris wasn't a rookie. He was a veteran with even more experience than Leon in some things. If someone could deal with that thing, it was him. Leon took some of his extra ammunition and threw them to Chris.

"Take this. You'll need it."

"Really. Where were you hiding these, huh?"

"I've got my tricks. Be careful, Chris."

"You, too, and make sure Claire is safe, or I'll kill you myself."

Leon snorted. He gave Chris a wave and ran into the alley, leaving the soldier to face the ogroman.

Chris could only trust that the man would save his sister; then again, Leon had proved himself a competent fighter and probably was the person that worried most about Claire, after himself, of course.

"Time to do some clean-up."

#cleon #my fanfiction #fanfic #claire redfield #leon x claire #claire x leon #leon s kennedy #chris redfield #resident evil

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thespiralgrimoire · 3 years

Note

c-could u write smth with solid? n him being best problematic pretty boy? 🥺🥺🥺 tyyyyy <3 (dies)

Ohohoh it would be my pleasure~

I think I was both meaner and nicer to Solid than you wanted me to be but here’s Solid on his 21st birthday

On the morning of February 26th, Solid woke up with stars in his eyes. He dressed quickly and hurried to the dining room, sucking in breaths of air in search of the smells of his favorite breakfast. It wasn’t until the table came into view that he smelled anything at all, and when he did, it was only fresh waffles. No ham, or eggs, or even a quiche. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

Nozel and Nebra sat at the table, browsing the paper over cups of tea and waffles. “Morning,” Nebra greeted, her pink eyes never leaving the paper.

“You’re up early,” Nozel observed in the same disinterested fashion.

“Yeah.” He padded into the room and sank into a chair. “I was expecting a big breakfast.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Nebra asked.

Solid glowered to stave off a hurt pout. “Don’t you remember what day it is?”

Nozel and Nebra exchanged a puzzled look, but didn’t dwell on the question long before returning to reading. “The Wizard King addresses the public today, but not until this evening, which definitely doesn’t warrant a big breakfast,” Nebra said. Nozel hummed in agreement.

Solid’s shoulders slacked. He picked up a waffle and drowned it in honey. “Yeah, I guess not.”

By the time breakfast was over, Solid decided that his siblings must be playing a trick on him. They’d never made such an error before, so there was no way that this faux pas was intentional. He’d bide his time, and wait for a surprise-- probably at work. Besides, surely his other friends would remember. This was nothing to lose his head about-- even if it was the most important day of his life in six years.

To his surprise, the Silver Eagles base showed no sign of knowing about his special day. He expected some cards on his desk, or a couple casual ‘Happy birthdays’ from other knights, but no one mentioned his birthday at all. There were no cards on his desk, and no presents delivered to his office. Not that he needed presents. He was royalty; he could have anything he wanted. But didn’t the Silver Eagles know how lucky they were for the chance to wish a royal happy birthday? Why wasn’t anybody saying anything? It hadn’t been this way on his last six birthdays, which were far less important.

Maybe he wouldn’t have felt as bad if he had anything to do, but of course this was the day he had no work to catch up on. So halfway through the day, he found himself sitting in his office, glaring at his desk while no one paid him any attention. If he thought it’d make a statement, he’d leave. But it seemed like at this rate, no one would even miss him.

Finally, he decided that this could not go on. His siblings were too busy to notice, and he could dismiss the other knights forgetting (but not forgive them). But there was one person that he was sure hadn’t forgotten. And it wouldn’t hurt to do a little prodding on that front. He pulled out his communicator and dialed Langris’ number. Rubbing the desperation out of his cheeks, he set the communicator to visual mode and set it on his desk.

His boyfriend’s lovely face appeared in a magical hologram above his communicator. “Hello, Solid. What is it?”

“Hello, Langris.” He smiled easily, confident in what he was seeking. “You kept me waiting, so I called you.”

“Did I?”

Solid’s brow twitched. Forcing his smile to persist, he replied, “Yes, you did. Don’t you have something to tell me?”

Langris stared at him until the silence grew awkward. Then, he looked away. “I don’t think so.”

His smile cracked like glass. “You don’t? Are you sure?”

“I’m very busy today. If you want something, just say it.”

“Are you sure that you have nothing to say to me?”

“I have to go. Goodbye, love.” Langris severed the connection, and the hologram vanished.

Solid stared, mouth hanging open in disbelief. Anger clawed at his throat, but only heartbreak pricked at the corners of his eyes. This had to be fake. This could not be happening.

He pushed himself from his desk, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. Solid had always cried easily; a quirk that he blamed on his affinity (even though Noelle didn’t share it with him). He slammed his door open and marched out of the base, straight past several surprised knights, including his brother and sister.

“Solid, where are you going?” Nozel called.

“I’m taking a long lunch!” he barked.

He decided that if no one else was going to treat him, he’d treat himself. He bought a large and luxurious lunch at his favorite restaurant, and wasted the afternoon eating it, alone, by himself. Although plate after plate vanished, he couldn’t trick himself into a good mood, and he couldn’t bring himself to have his first legal drink by himself either. When he was finished, he decided that he’d mope around until he was ready to go home. It was his birthday, and if he wanted to throw a pity party, by God, he was going to.

The evening loomed over him as he made his way back to House Silva. He plodded onto the estate without paying the servants any mind; their “Happy birthdays” meant little to him, and made it sting that much more that none of the people he loved had remembered.

He was nearly to his room when a servant stopped him with an announcement. “Master Solid, Lord Nozel and Lady Nebra are waiting for you on the back porch.”

“Tell them I’ve gone to bed early,” he grumbled, shambling down the hall.

“...My lord, they insist on your attendance. I fear they may grow angry if you keep them waiting any longer.”

Solid clenched his jaw. Angry tears prickled in his eyes. Of course they would do something like this; adding insult to injury. He turned on his heel and stomped toward the back porch, angry mana broiling around him. They wanted to forget his birthday and threaten him with their bad moods? Well, he could threaten right back.

The back porch’s French doors were already partially open, and his mana threw them open with a bang. His voice rose to a livid boom, and then broke mid-sentence. “Who do you two think you are, treating me like this!?”

Nebra and Nozel’s heads shot up. They sat at the table, a tall pitcher of iced tea and cups neatly laid out before them. Despite his dramatic entrance, neither of them looked shaken. “We think that we are your brother and sister,” Nozel replied easily.

“And-- And that excuses your behavior!?” he cried, throwing back his head. The tears at the corners of his eyes finally made good on his promise, and hot, angry droplets dribbled down his cheeks. “I will not stand for it! I deserve better!”

“Better than being royalty?” Nozel replied incredulously. Behind her hand, Nebra giggled.

Solid stared through tear-blurred vision; his anger couldn’t keep up with his hurt feelings. “Y-Yes! How could you forget?” His mana coalesced into looming tendrils of water to hide his tears, but it did nothing to mask his quaking voice. “I’ve never forgotten your birthdays! Don’t you care?”

Nebra and Nozel exchanged a knowing look, and Nozel shook his head. With a sigh, he pulled out and turned around the chair tucked into the table between him and Solid. On its seat was a pile of cards and presents.

Solid blinked until his vision cleared. The tempestuous mana around him slowly, cautiously, settled. “Huh?”

“Solid,” Nebra chided, shaking her head. “You really thought that we would forget your 21st birthday?”

He stared.

“You are so immature.” Despite the scathing tone of his voice, Nozel wore a smile. “This bit was supposed to last for at least another five minutes, but if you ran away crying…”

Solid pressed his hands to his cheeks as he turned an embarrassed red. He scurried up to the chair and rifled through the presents. There were gifts there from everyone; from distant family, to royal knights. He dug until he found an envelope with Langris’ handwriting, and he eagerly ripped it open. The card was simple in classic Vaude fashion, with a note written inside, along with a receipt for a reservation at a high-end ski lodge.

Solid,

I apologize for not delivering this personally, but your siblings would not allow it. Forgive me for the part they forced me to play.

Love,

Langris

Solid bit his lip, beating back a wild smile. He balled up the envelope and threw it at Nozel. “Why did you do this to me? Aren’t I too old for this now?”

Noze flicked the ball aside with a smirk. “I did this to Nebra, and I will do this to Noelle. You are not the exception.”

“Sit down with us!” Nebra laughed. She lifted the pitcher and poured him a glass of tea. “We can have tea and cake while you open your presents.”

Solid pulled out the fourth chair at the table. As he sat down, he took a big swig of iced tea, and nearly spat it right back out. He gagged down the gulp and squawked, “Ugh, what is this!?”

“That, little brother,” Nebra giggled, eyes flashing mischievously, “is Long Island iced tea.”

Now, don’t misunderstand. This is a completely asshole move on Nozel and Nebra’s part. They even at their kindest, bitches. But they didn’t expect Solid to lose his shit. Hope you liked it!

For those who don’t know, the legal drinking age in the United States is 21, hence why Solid is so excited!

#Solid Silva #Nozel Silva #Nebra Silva #Langris Vaude #Black Clover #my art #Solid can be sensitive... at a treat #a treat to me

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get-lost-in-fanfiction · 3 years

Text

LOST - Another Story

Rating: M

Word Count: 7.07k

A/N: Hi everyone, I’m so sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I’ve had a lot of things happen recently, and I’ve only just now been able to get back to the writing scene. I hope you can forgive me and enjoy this installment.

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Whatever the Case May Be

In the very early morning four days later I sneak out of my tent and make my way to the caves. I realize it’s Whatever the Case May Be and I really want to go to the waterfall with Sawyer. It’s stupid, but I think he’s actually starting to care for me. Maybe I can even get the case, and diffuse some of the tension and gain more of Kate’s trust. I make it to the caves just as the sun has fully come up, and I walk in to see Kate in her mauve tank top with a bag. I laugh to myself when I realize I’m wearing a similar outfit, only my tank top is olive green.

“Hey! Kate hey!” I call to her and she looks up as I run over.

“Hey Amelia, did you walk here by yourself?” Kate greets me with a tone of worry.

“Yeah, but I was fine. Sawyer wouldn’t have let me go if he knew I would go alone,” I reply with a slight laugh. Kate observes me worriedly and adjusts the strap on her bag.

“Well I was just about to go pick fruit-” Kate begins.

“I can do it,” I cut her off hurriedly. She eyes me warily.

“Is something going to happen?” Kate asks me slowly, “You should tell Jack.”

“No, nothing is gonna happen,” I reply and I bow my head, “I just feel guilty for bailing on trying to find Charlie and Claire so I thought I might see if I can help any other way.”

Kate regards me for a moment, then slings the bag off her shoulder and hands it to me, “Just be careful, alright?”

“Alright, thanks Kate,” I say with a smile and sling the bag over my body.

I begin my trek to find some trees with fruit on them. It’s a lot harder than I thought, and the sun is particularly bright today. I hope it rains again because I can’t remember if it does. I'm thoroughly sweaty by the time I find any trees that aren't picked clean of fruit. I look around the area and make sure the waterfall is nearby. When I see that it is, I look up at the nearest tree. It's time to climb.

I do my best to find foot holes and vines to grab a hold of. I'm lucky I'm still somewhat in shape or else this would be really hard. Hiker perks I guess. I struggle my way up the tree, as any pressure I put in my arm still hurts. I get to where the fruit is and open the bag. I carefully tug on the fruit and place them in the bag once they are free from the tree. Sweat is dripping from me now so I decide to climb down from the tree.

I start to walk a bit, slowly at first so I don't miss Sawyer, then I hear a noise and stop. I look around, trying to see if I can see the southerner. When I can't, I continue walking until I hear the sound again. I look around and there is a rock on the ground near my feet, perfect. I pick up rock and throw it in the general direction where I think Sawyer will be.

Sawyer then stumbles into the clearing and I let out a nervous laugh, “Ow. Son of a bitch. What the hell are you doing?”

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask in the same tone.

“It's my knee. You practically busted my damn knee,” Sawyer replies in a whiny tone.

“You stalking me, now?” I ask playfully, my hands on my hips.

“Stalking you? I was protecting you, ” Sawyer replies

“From what? Southern perverts?” I tease and Sawyer’s face breaks into a sly smile.

“Yeah, whatever. I can't believe you,” Sawyer banters back.

“It's not that bad,” I reply.

“It's my knee. I'll tell you how bad it is,” Sawyer pauses and sees the bag, “What the hell you doing out here anyway?”

“Everyone's been eating a lot. This is the only place the trees aren't picked clean,” I reply smoothly, “And I took the job from Kate. I felt guilty about leaving the search party.”

“Yeah, well, you shouldn't be out here alone. Not after what happened…” Sawyer says and takes a step towards me.

“No, I'm fine. I can take care of myself,” I reply and cross my arms playful over my chest.

“Oh, of course,” Sawyer says and then puts on a mocking tone, “I don't need protection. I can take care of myself. Me Amelia. Me throw rock.”

“Shhhh,” I say after I hear another noise, but I already know what it is.

“What? You smell blood on the wind?” Sawyer mocks again.

“You don't hear that?” I ask, trying to keep a straight face.

We move toward the sound. The sound of water gets louder as Sawyer and I emerge from some bushes to reveal a large spring with a waterfall. Sawyer starts running toward it and taking off his shirt.

“What are you doing?” I sputter, genuine surprise on my face. I take off the bag and set it on the ground.

“I need to soak my sore knee. Come on, blue eyes, after all we've been through on this damn Island, don't we deserve something good?” When I don't reply Sawyer continues, “What? You going to say no? You some sort of navel-gazing, no-fun, mopey type?”

Sawyer climbs in the water. I hesitate a bit, but then struggle to take off my pants and get in.

“Well,” Sawyer turns to me with a smug smile, “it's chilly.” I slowly get into the water and squeak a bit when the water touches my stomach, “Come on, girl, woohoo. It's nice, huh?” I laugh and dive in the water, I swim up to Sawyer and splash him, “C'mon, what you got? C'mon, let's go up the rocks. C'mon,” He swims towards the rocks and I follow, feeling lightheaded that this is even happening.

We climb up the rocks, my hands and feet slipping from the water. I dive in with a splash, I'm really glad I'm not being judged for my dives because they're really terrible. I hear Sawyer splash in after me, and then see him swim up next to me. He reaches out to grab me but I push his hand away, trying to keep the air in my mouth. I swim a bit further, but then suddenly stop. Sawyer stops next to me, and I look down to see two bodies strapped to their seats. We swim up and surface from the spring, sputtering. I flip my hair out of my face.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sawyer asks me, touching light fingertips to my arm.

“Yeah. Yeah, you?” I reply, looking at him through wet eyelashes.

“Yeah, I'm going to go check them out,” Sawyer says, moving his hand away and with it any sort of care.

“Check them out for what?” I ask incredulously, feeling anxious about my excuse for the case.

“See what they got on them,” Sawyer replies smoothly and I huff a bit.

“Sawyer!” I call after him as he dives into the water. I follow shortly after and Sawyer gets a wallet off the dead guy. I see the silver case I’m after and then quickly swim to the surface.

“Hey, I got myself a wallet,” Sawyer says proudly, holding up the soaked wallet.

“You- I can’t believe you,” I say through the stutter, I can’t bring myself to say what Kate said originally.

“He ain't gonna miss it,” Sawyer replies snuggly.

“Help me get that case,” I say huffily, still catching my breath from being underwater.

“If you can’t believe me, I can’t believe you!” Sawyer replies

“It's mine,” I say as I bite my lip. Sawyer eyes me but we dive under anyway. We struggle a bit to get the case, but Sawyer eventually pulls it free. He swims to the shore and I follow. I gasp when I surface again, I’m definitely not a swimmer. I catch my breath and notice Sawyer doing the same.

Eventually Sawyer hands me the case, “Wouldn't happen to have your key on you, would you?” I look at Sawyer and then look the case over, trying to think of an excuse, “That case ain't yours, is it?”

“No,” I say as I shake my head, “It’s Kate’s.”

“Well, I’m sure she wouldn't mind if I just -- take it,” Sawyer replies, emphasizing the take as he tugs it back.

“I don't care,” I lie, this isn’t how I wanted it to go but I couldn’t think of a better excuse in time.

“Not what it looks like,” Sawyer says with a smile as I stand up and struggle to pull my pants over my wet legs, “Something you want to tell me about this little suitcase, blue eyes?”

I shake my head again, “Take it,” and I walk away with the bag of fruit in my hand.

I decide to go to the caves halfway through my journey to the beach. My arms and legs are sore from climbing and swimming and when I make it to the caves I’m sweating again. I see Kate still at the caves and I walk toward her.

“Hey Kate, I brought back the fruit,” I say as I hold up the bag.

Kate turns and her face drops when she sees my clothes and hair still wet, “Amelia what happened? It didn’t rain how come you’re soaking?”

“Well, I was picking the fruit when Sawyer came along-”

“Sawyer? I’m going to kill him for bothering you-”

“No it’s okay, he was trying to find me. But anyway then we found a small lake or something, and Sawyer convinced me to go swimming-”

“Swimming? Amelia are you crazy?”

“It’s fine nothing happened! But we found some dead bodies and there was a case in the water.”

“Silver case?”

“Yeah, I know it’s yours. I know you don’t have the key either.”

“Where is it now?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

“Sawyer,” Kate and I say together, and a grim smile makes its way onto Kate’s face. I drop the bag of fruit on a “table” and stick my hands into my jean pockets.

“Do you want to head back to the beach? Intercept him?” I offer, but I know it’s a weak one.

“Nah, you go on ahead. I still have some things here to do,” Kate replies and I offer a smile to her. She returns it and picks up the bag to sort through the fruit.

“Alright..” I reply slowly, and turn around to head back to the beach by myself.

When I finally reach the beach, things seem to be in a bit of chaos. Big waves are pounding. People are trying to rescue luggage that's being washed off the beach. I want to run to help, but I notice Jack and Sayid talking so I rush over to them instead.

“Everything is getting washed out to sea,” Sayid is saying as I run up, “This can't be normal. The tide shifting so suddenly, rising in so short a time.”

“There's a lot not normal around here. At the rate this beach is eroding this fuselage is going to be underwater in a matter of days. We need to get all this stuff off the beach before nightfall,” Jack replies.

“Hey guys,” I say to the both of them, and they greet me.

“I just hope that moving up the coast will make a difference,” Sayid continues now that he’s acknowledged my presence.

“It would make a difference if everyone moved inland,” Jack says, looking at me to catch my facial opinion. I just shrug a bit.

“I think you'll find people slightly wary of entering the jungle after what happened to the pregnant girl. Not to mention whatever that thing is,” Sayid replies.

“Sayid, I need you to take me back to the French woman, Rousseau,” Jack says, slightly increasing his tone, “Claire's still out there. Now, Rousseau mentioned that there are others on this Island.”

“Her mind is gone,” Sayid shoots back.

“Sayid-” I try to say but Jack cuts me off.

“You heard them yourself,” Jack replies and I realize he’s talking about the whispers.

“I don't know what I heard,” Sayid replies.

“You said that when you…” Jack begins, but Sayid cuts him off.

“The wind, Jack. It was the wind playing tricks,” Sayid says sternly.

“Guys, stop fighting. Rousseau isn’t going to want to talk so you need to work on the papers that you took from her -- the documents, the maps-” I try to reason with Jack and Sayid but Sayid speaks over me.

“I'm skilled at mathematics and decryption, but these equations are beyond anything I've ever seen. There are these notes in French accompanying some of the maps and diagrams. If I could translate them I might be able to make sense of it, but. . .” Sayid finishes but trails off at the end.

“Shannon, she can translate French. Speak with her,” I say as I look between the both of them. Jack and Sayid look at each other and then look at me.

“What?” Jack asks, glancing one more time between me and Sayid, then settling his gaze on the latter.

“Perhaps some things are best left untranslated,” Sayid says quietly, looking over to me. I look at my feet, knowing that translating Rousseau’s papers won’t get them anywhere.

“Maybe you should tell him that,” Jack says and he points to Charlie sitting on the beach, looking sad. I look over as well and people are still getting luggage out of the surf. I sigh and walk away from the men.

I have nothing to do until nightfall, but even then all I’m doing is getting firewood. I've got no idea where Sawyer is, and I don't feel like making a big trek out of it to go find him. I know he’ll show up with the case when we get the fires going at least. I walk to my tent and sit in front of it, looking out into the ocean. I push my hands into the warm sand and revel in the slight burning feeling. This Island is Hawaii adjacent, but I know that even that isn't correct. It feels like this place is even more mysterious and magical now that I'm actually here.

We've been here for 3 weeks at this point, yet somehow it feels so much longer. The days blend into each other. My hands have acclimated to the warm sand, so I pull them out and rest them in my lap for a moment. A sea breeze rustles my hair and I can't help but close my eyes. Maybe I should make a plan to talk to Sawyer about the case. He might actually listen to me and give me the case, but I have a feeling it won't work out that smoothly. While Sawyer is my friend, we've got a long way to go. But even still, we’ve grown closer even from the crash. I abandon the idea of a plan and decide to just go into my tent and take a nap until nightfall.

I wake up to someone rustling in my tent. I quickly sit up to see Sawyer rummaging through my stuff in the dying light. He doesn't seem to notice I'm awake yet, so I take the opportunity to punch him on the side of his leg. He yelps in pain and falls back towards the entrance of my tent. I cross my arms and cock my head to the side in annoyance.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?” Sawyer whines at me.

“What the hell are you rummaging through my stuff for?” I shoot back, still groggy but annoyed nonetheless.

“Well I was jus’ looking for a key to this case here,” Sawyer replies smugly and I know he's recovered, “I figured since you wanted it so bad you would have the key hiding.”

“Why would I have a key to a case that isn't mine?” I ask and stand up to shuffle Sawyer out. I walk us both over to Sawyer’s tent and sit us down with the case.

“So if it ain't yours and you don't have a key then why do you get so damn defensive over this thing?” Sawyer asks as he lowers his voice and leans in to talk.

“Did it ever occur to you I'm trying to do something nice? Prevent a bit of angst, and actually use my knowledge for good?” I snap back in a lowered tone, staying upright with my arms crossed.

“So you know what's in this little thing, do you?” Sawyer says as he pats the case lightly. I roll my eyes.

“Why would I tell you that?”

“C’mon sweetcheeks, we’re friends right?”

“Not if you're going to act like that, con man.”

Sawyer sits up straight and narrows his eyes at me. I realize I might have gone too far with that name, but to be honest he's making me annoyed. I lower my arms and soften my gaze quickly to try and fix what I said but it doesn't work. Sawyer stands up and rips me up from my seat by my elbows. He yanks me close and pulls my hair to whisper in my ear. I would be turned on right now if I wasn't so terrified.

“Don't ever call me that again, you hear me? I've tolerated you this far, don't make me regret it,” Sawyer says harshly in my ear. He’s fairly calm sounding, too, and that scares me even more.

I nod and he pushes me away. I stumble on the sand a bit, looking back to where Sawyer is. His expression is hard to read in the low light, but it almost looks hurt. I turn away and shift my gaze to the fire. Kate is watching Sawyer with an awful expression on her face. Guilt stabs my stomach and I quickly look away and head back to my tent.

When I can't sleep, I decide to jump the gun and take Kate's idea of trying to steal the case. I figure this is a stupid plan, but at least it makes me look more desperate than Kate. Not that she's actually done anything to try and get the case. I leave my tent and walk the short distance to Sawyer's. I slowly push my way in and see Sawyer sleeping with the case between his knees. I sigh to myself, noting that once again this is a bad plan. I try to sneak up and take it, but just as I thought Sawyer wakes up. He grabs my wrists and traps her with his legs around my waist. Again I would be turned on if I wasn't so terrified.

“Gotcha,” Sawyer says smugly, seemingly the tension from a few hours ago gone.

“Get off of me,” I say, feigning anger because really this isn't a bad position.

“Golly, I hate to bicker about positions, sweetheart. But I think you're the one on top. Maybe you're not here for the case at all,” Sawyer replies smoothly. I can feel my face heat up because while I wish his last statement was true, he's only saying it because I took Kate’s role.

I compose myself and head-butt him, and then once again I try to grab the case. Of course, Sawyer is stronger and I'm honestly wondering why I even tried this in the first place.

“Ow, woman. That's the third time today!” Sawyer exclaims and I stifle a laugh, because it's true. “If you wanted to play rough, all you had to do was say so. You want to try for it again?”

I tug myself away from Sawyer’s grasp and he lets go of me willingly. I run my hands through my hair once as I look up at Sawyer, “Please just give it to me?”

“Why?” Sawyer shoots back quickly.

“I already told you, I'm trying-”

“Born to make amends.”

“Don’t say that,” I huff in reply, crossing my arms protectively over my chest.

“Quit doing it,” Sawyer says, his mouth quirking into a smile. I just shake my head and drop my arms because I can't be mad when he smiles.

“I’m sorry I hit you so many times today,” I say as I get up to leave, “And I’m sorry about calling you a con man. I didn’t really mean it.”

“It’s alright Amelia,” Sawyer replies and now it's my turn to smile. I don't respond as I walk away. At least I got that resolved.

In the morning I return to Sawyer’s tent, internally laughing at the fact that I can't seem to stay away from a man who could snap me in half if I wanted to. When I walk up, Sawyer is trying to pick the lock on the case. When he notices me I flash him a smile and then beam even more when he gives me one back.

He turns back to the case as I pull up one of the nearby coolers to sit on. He continues to try and pick the lock, but grumbles “Son of a bitch!” When he gets frustrated that he can't open the case.

“You're wasting your time, man,” Michael says as he passes by with a load of things, “If you pick the lock on a Halliburton, I'll put you on my back and fly us to LA.” I notice Walt in the back and offer him a wave and smile, Walt returns both brightly and I feel pride swell in my chest.

“You better find yourself a runway, daddy, cuz there ain't a lock I can't pick,” Sawyer replies, and I can't help but laugh. I don't know much about Halliburton cases in real life, but I do know about this one.

Then Hurley shows up, coming up alongside Michael with a few luggage items of his own, “What's he trying to do?” Hurley asks, nodding to me when he spots I’m sitting next to Sawyer.

“Pick the lock on a Halliburton,” I reply, feeling amused and ignoring any reaction Michael has. I smile more when I hear Sawyer grumble beside me.

Hurley laughs and begins to walk away, “Good luck,” He says to Sawyer and I laugh a bit with him.

“The only way you're going to open that case is with pure force, man. Impact velocity,” Michael says, setting down the things he was using to pull his load of luggage items.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sawyer asks, and I can see him glance at me in my peripheral vision.

“You've got to hit it with something hard, like a sledgehammer. Or the axe,” Michael says as he picks up his things and walks away from us.

I turn to Sawyer as he turns to me, “You don’t happen to have a sledgehammer or the axe do you?” Sawyer asks defeatedly.

I smile more and shake my head at him, “Why would I even have those things?” Sawyer sets down the case securely between his legs and copies my annoyed body language.

“I figured you would know where those items are, Miss Future,” Sawyer replies, fully mocking me now even with the tone of his voice. I have to fight to keep a straight face.

“Well if you really want to know, Boone has the axe and there’s no sledgehammer anywhere on this Island,” I stifle the laugher in my voice as I watch Sawyer’s face fall with the news.

“Damn Bonehead,” He grumbles and I allow myself to laugh at that. Sawyer shoots me a dirty look and I laugh more until Sawyer is chuckling along with me.

Now I find myself in the jungle with my arms crossed as Sawyer tries to open the case by smashing it on a rock. I flinch when he does, as it makes a loud sound that echoes a bit through the jungle. Of course, it doesn't open the case.

“Come on. Come on, god,” Sawyer grumbles and stands up. He looks at me with an angry expression, and all I can muster is amused.

“Try up there,” I suggest, pointing to the ledge of the small cliff above where we’re standing. Sawyer looks up to where I’m pointing, and begins to climb it without another word for me. I can’t help but be amused by this whole situation. Yet I feel like I’m experiencing the same emotions as when I watch the show. That idea creeps me out a bit so I don’t dwell on it for too long.

Sawyer finally gets to the top of the cliff and looks down at me through the vines and the trunks.

“Impact velocity -- physics my ass,” Sawyer shouts down at me before he holds the case over the ledge. I step back a bit so I don’t get hit. Sawyer grumbles, “Alright,” and drops the case off the edge, but it doesn't open when it hits the ground. Sawyer leans forward to look at the case, “Son of a... Unbelievable.”

Then I hear rustling and as I turn my head Kate appears and runs up and grabs the case.

“Hey, hey, don't even think about it! Hey! Damn it,” Sawyer shouts to Kate as she smiles up at him, then to me and runs away again. Sawyer scrambles to get down off the cliff. When he does he takes off running through the jungle to catch Kate. I reluctantly follow behind him, not really wanting to run today.

I can see Sawyer up ahead chasing Kate through the jungle. I push my legs to go faster to be able to catch up with both of them. I’m not a bad runner, but both Kate and Sawyer’s legs are longer than mine, so it makes it difficult to be able to catch up with them. When we get to the familiar tall grassy area, Sawyer finally catches her. He tackles her to the ground and I stand nearby to catch my breath.

“Hell, Freckles, I knew blue eyes over there wanted it. I just didn't know you wanted it bad too,” Sawyer pants as he speaks. Kate tries to head-butt him and I huff out a small laugh.

“Whoa-hoa, you're going to have to come up with a new move. Amelia already-” Kate tries again, and succeeds as Sawyer is talking, “Ow, god, okay, okay.”

Sawyer grabs the case as Kate recovers from headbutting him. Both of them get to their feet. I move over to Kate’s side and Sawyer holds out a hand, almost to stop us, “Okay, this is just silly. Hold on. I've got a proposition for the both of you. You tell me what's inside and I'll give it to you.”

“Are you serious?” Kate and I say in unison and I stifle a smile.

“Hell, no way to open the damn thing. At this point all I care about is satisfying my own curiosity,” Sawyer says and Kate lunges for the case. I jump after her to pull her back, my hand on her shoulder, “Whoa, easy, sweetheart, I don't really care what it is. What's burning me up is why it means so much to you.”

Sawyer looks between the both of us, and settles on me. I keep my mouth shut, knowing it would break Kate’s trust. I also know that things will happen on their own, and decide to not try and speed it up this time. Sawyer looks between us again, “Last chance. Alright.”

Sawyer walks away with the case and Kate walks away from me. I can’t see her expression, but I know what it looks like. I hesitate, I want to tell Kate that things are going to be alright and it’s all going to work out. Yet the words sound stupid and shallow in my head.

“So what now?” Kate asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“We go to Jack,” I reply and I can see the back of Kate’s head nod.

“Let’s go then,” She says and begins to walk away from me in the direction I assume the caves are in.

“Jack? We got a problem,” Kate says as the both of us jog into the caves where Jack and Sun are talking.

“We have a problem?” Jack asks, looking between both Kate and I, “Or, you have a problem?”

Kate looks toward Sun like she doesn't want Sun to hear, “Jack, you and Amelia are the only ones who know about me,” We all move off a little ways, but I glance back at Sun, “Before I left the city, the Marshal who was escorting me, he had this silver case. The airline wouldn't let him bring the case on the plane. It was hard enough trying to convince them to let him wear a gun on his ankle. But the case, they made him check it.”

“What was in the case?” Jack asks with a lowered voice.

“Some traveling money, some of his personal stuff. And 4 nine millimeters with a few boxes of ammo,” Kate replies.

“Guns?” Jack asks, looking surprised, “Amelia did you know this?”

“Yeah, yeah I did,” I reply, bracing myself for a scolding.

“And why didn’t you tell anyone?” Jack asks me angrily. Before I can reply though, Kate comes to my rescue.

“Lay off the girl, Jack, she’s just a kid,” Kate says as she looks sympathetically towards me.

“I’m 20, but yeah there’s guns,” I say with an edge of annoyance. I’m not a kid.

“So, where is the case now?” Jack asks, but he has the expression of someone who already knows the answer.

“Sawyer has it,” Kate and I say in unison.

“Aha,” Jack replies, nodding as his suspicions seemed to be confirmed.

“He hasn't been able to open it,” I say quickly knowing Jack will like that.

“Lucky for us,” Jack says more to himself than Kate and I.

“He will,” Kate adds, “Sooner or later.” I nod along with what she says.

“So, what do you need me to do?” Jack asks Kate, ignoring me now.

“I know where the key is. The Marshal, he kept it in his wallet. In his back pocket,” Kate says and Jack looks to me to confirm. I nod in confirmation.

“I buried him, Kate,” Jack says as almost a way to deter us from doing this.

“I know. Where?” Kate asks.

“So, what else is in the case?” Jack asks, looking at both of us again.

“What?” Kate replies.

“What else is in the case, Kate?” Jack asks directly this time, seeing as it is technically Kate’s case.

“Nothing.”

“That's the truth?”

“Just the guns.”

“If you want my help, we're going to open the case together,” Jack says, once again adding me back into the conversation.

“Okay,” Kate says.

“Okay,” Jack replies.

“Okay,” I echo. Then we leave for the jungle.

We hike into the jungle and I feel lost. It's not like I don't know my way around the Island, it's more like things are out of proportion from real life to a TV show. Finally, we come across what is most likely the Marshal's grave seeing as there is a makeshift cross sticking out of the ground. We stop in front of the grave and I look at Kate.

“So, why didn't you put him with the others, when you burned the fuselage?” Late asks Jack after a few moments of silence.

“Because I needed to bury him,” Jack says, looking at me. I nod in understanding, trying to explain with my eyes that I’m sorry.

We grab some make-shift shovels and share a glance. I've never dug up a grave before, but there’s a first time for everything I guess.

“So you ready to do this?” Kate asks and I feel sick.

We dig up the grave of the Marshal. The more dirt we pull away the worse it smells. We’re gagging and coughing, and my eyes are watering. This is the worst thing I've ever done. It feels like the stench is burning itself into my nostrils.

We finally unearth the Marshal and I have to look away, “Okay, alright?” Jack asks and I just shake my head.

“Compared to what?” Kate asks incredulously and I force myself to look back at the decomposing Marshal.

“You want me to…” Jack begins to say.

“I'll do it,” I jump in, hoping to get the key and get Jack to not be angry at Kate.

I dig my hands under the Marshal’s body, holding my breath the best I can. It doesn't help and all that happens is lack of oxygen. I dig the wallet from the Marshal's back pocket, with much gagging going on from myself and Jack and Kate. I finally get it and jump out of the grave.

“Did you get it?” Jack asks and I take deep breaths of clean air. I can still smell the rot, though, it feels like it's ok my clothes and in my skin.

“Yeah,” I choke back

I open the wallet, which has maggots in it, and throw it on the ground. Jack picks it up and looks through it. I push my hands into my back pockets and slide the key in there as well.

“Key isn't in here,” Jack says, looking up to me then Kate.

“It isn't?” Kate asks with genuine fear in her voice.

“No, but that was real good sleight-of-hand distracting me with the wallet,” Jack says, looking back to me. So much for that. I close my fists and Jack grabs my right hand.

“Open it,” he says, and I open my hand to reveal nothing. Jack stares at me, paused for a moment as if deep in thought.

“Jack, I…” Kate tries to say, but this time in genuine guilt rather than being caught.

Jack releases my hand and walks away, “Don't. Don't,” he doesn't look back at me.

“All that for nothing,” Kate says hopelessly, pressing her forearm over her forehead.

“It wasn’t for nothing,” I say, daring to take a step closer to Kate who is standing very dangerously close to the Marshal’s body.

“What do you mean,” Kate asks, turning to look at me. I fish the key out of my back pocket and Kate stares at me wide-eyed.

“You lied to Jack?” Kate asks with a hefty tone of surprise laced in her voice.

“Yeah, I wanted the key and I was sick of Jack being in charge of everything,” I say with a little too much vehemence in my tone.

“So what are you gonna do now?”

“I’m going to get the case.”

I know Sawyer is at his tent, and I’m on a mission. I changed a lot in such little time, but I’m determined to get the case and have this plot line be settled. I’m tired of being passive in a time where I have the information.

I take a deep breath and approach him, “Sawyer,” I say loud enough for him to hear.

“Blue eyes? What can I do you for?” He seems genuinely surprised to see me, so I point at the case, “Now I would’ve figured Jack would be here doing Kate's dirty work, not you. So what? Are we going to wrestle for it?” Sawyer smiles smugly at me and I shake my head.

“No, you're going to give it to me,” I say with more malice than I mean.

“Am I?” Sawyer asks, surprised once again.

“Yeah,” I reply.

“I'm just going to give it to you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Cephalexin,” I say simply.

“Yeah, go on?” Sawyer urges cautiously. Before he was amused, now he’s worried.

“That's the antibiotic Jack has been giving me for the knife wound in my arm. I’m right in the middle of the treatment cycle now, if Jack keeps giving me the pills I’m going to be as right as rain. But I'm going ask Jack to stop giving me the pills. And for 2 days I’m going to think I’m all good, then it's going to start to itch. The day after that the fever's going to come and I’m going to start seeing red lines running up and down my arm. A day or two after that I’ll beg you to give me the case, just to cut off my arm,” I say, surprised I can recite all of that from memory with the changes.

“That's a nice story, Anemia. And, even if it were true, I don't think you could do it,” Sawyer replies, trying to call my bluff. I wish I was bluffing.

“You're wrong,” I announce, straightening my back, “You’ll do what I ask because you don't want to see me in pain.”

A best goes by. Then another. Sawyer holds out the case and I go to take it. Sawyer grabs my arm and presses his palm into my bandages. It doesn't hurt, but I wish he wouldn't, “I know the little game you're playing. Getting on their good side to stab them in the back.”

“That's not my plan, I’m just trying to help,” I grit my teeth and shoot back, the pressure making the wound sore. “You don't know me.”

“And you don't know me,” Sawyer replies silkily then finally lets me and the case go. “Hope you got yourself some jaws-of-life back in cave-town, that's what it's going to take to pop this bitch.”

“I'll figure something out,” I say as I wince, tugging the case towards my body. I don't know what happened to make Sawyer so upset with me. It must be just another one of those episodal mood swings.

“I know you think you're doing her a favor. But however she talked you into doing this, she lied, sister,” Sawyer calls to me as I walk away.

“I’m not doing this for her!” I shout back as I make my way down the beach to where Kate and now Jack are sitting.

Kate and Jack are sitting on the beach with a far-away look and not speaking to each other. I don’t know if they had a conversation or not, but if they didn’t it’s time I start one. I walk up in front of them and dangle the case in front of their faces.

“Amelia?” Kate asks jumpily, and I realize she was probably deep in thought.

“We're going to do this together,” I say sternly but without malice.

“Why?” Jack asks this time, and I have to smile at his line stealing

“Because that's what I say we do,” I say, changing up the line. I walk away from them and I can hear Jack and Kate stumbling to their feet to follow me. It feels oddly good to have this sort of power, and maybe, just maybe, plot convenience had engulfed me.

I walk us well away from the beach camp, almost halfway to the caves before I realize. Jack and Kate are puffing behind me and I realize again I was lost in thought. I find a good rock and kneel down in front of it. I pull the key out of my back pocket and Jack looks startled. He doesn’t say anything though, which I’m thankful for.

“Anything you want to say before I open it, Kate?” I ask, but Kate doesn't respond. “Alright then,” I say and I open the box and pull out money, guns, ammo, and finally an envelope marked Personal Effects. I pause for a moment before opening it and handing Kate a smaller envelope.

“That’s it? That’s what you wanted?” Jack asks aa he stares down Kate and the envelope. I stay quiet, looking between the two of them ready to defuse a fight. Kate opens the envelope and pulls out a small "toy" airplane.

“What is it?” Jack asks.

“It's nothing,” Kate responds, and I tense my shoulders.

“What is it, Kate?”

“You wouldn't understand.”

“Jack lay off her-” I try to butt in, but to my non surprise I’m ignored.

“I want the truth, just this once. What is it?” Jack continues, moving close to Kate’s face.

“It belonged to the man I loved,” Kate shoots back full of emotion.

“The truth,” Jack says sternly.

“It belonged to the man I loved,” Kate repeats, her voice growing louder.

“Guys!” I try to shout.

“Stop lying and tell me the truth!” Jack finally yells over me, practically spitting in Kate’s face.

“I'm not! It belonged to the man I killed!” Kate screams back and I jump in between Jack and Kate.

Kate sits down and starts crying. Jack looks nonplussed as I push him away by his chest. He glances at the case and I give him a warning look. I'm relieved when he gets my message and walks away without touching the case. When Jack is out of earshot I wrap my good arm around Kate’s shoulders and she cries into my chest. It’s an awkward feeling, having the older woman be so vulnerable around me, but I guess I don’t mind.

After a while of Kate crying we finally get up and go back to the beach. I decide to close the case, lock it, hide the key again, and take it with me. I don’t know what I’m going to do after that, but I’ll figure it out. Kate still has her toy airplane, and my heart breaks for her. We make it back to the beach at sunset, and decide to make a fire together. For once I don’t go looking for Sawyer, not wanting his company right now.

As the sun goes down I watch the beach camp. I watch as Rose and Charlie talk, how Charlie cries, and how Rose prays for him. I watch as Shannon goes to sit with Sayid, and how I never really liked their match, at least in the early season. I notice Boone standing behind them in the dark, and I shudder at his expression. He doesn’t catch my eye, and I’m grateful for that. Jack finally walks by Kate and I and looks at her. Kate just stares at her toy airplane. And that’s that.

LOST

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in updates!

#lost #abc lost #lost fanfiction #james “sawyer” ford #james ford #sawyer ford #james “sawyer” ford x oc #james ford x oc #sawyer ford x oc #lost tv series

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johannstutt413 · 3 years

Text

(requested by anonymous)

The Doctor was in her office, but she’d stopped working several hours ago; in fact, when Orchid came by to ask about her squad’s upcoming deployment, she found her at the empty assistant’s desk with what looked like a full-blown toolbox at her side. “Good afternoon, Doctor. I didn’t come at a bad time, did I?”

“Oh, hey, Orchid! Nah, I’m just working on some’n for my anniversary.” She held up the ring she was working on. “It’s our first, so I wanna do some’n extra special, ya know?”

“Anniversary? I didn’t know you were even seeing anyone. Who’s the lucky guy? Or gal, either way.”

That earned the Liberi a smile. “Blue, Glaucus, and I are going on six months now.”

“Huh. Like, all three of you together?” She whistled. “I think one’s about all I can handle.”

“I think that’s partially because of who that one person is, though.” The Doctor’s smile was somewhere between caustic and glacial as she fired off her retort.

Orchid sighed. “Yeah, you’ve got a point there...So, do you have an update for me on when my team’s heading out into the field? Poppy’s trying to schedule chainsaw lessons with Blaze, and it’s probably better for those to happen on deployment rather than in one of the training areas.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.” She rolled her chair across the floor to reach her computer. “Lemme see where I put you...”

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Blue Poison was sitting at the counter with a pencil and pad of paper, sketching and erasing more than she ever had before. Cakes were supposed to be her thing, so why was this so hard…

“Hey, Blue!” Gummy walked in, a box of ingredients in her arms. “Everything okay? You looked stressed.”

“I’m making a cake for my anniversary today, and I want it to be perfect...but I don’t know how to make it look the way I want it to.”

The chef set her box on a side table. “Maybe I can help? Mousse has been-”

“Hi, Gummy!” Speak of the Feline, and she shall appear. “Oh, Miss Blue? You look worried.”

“Mousse, you showed up just in time! Blue’s baking an anniversary cake, but she’s worried it won’t look good. Can you help us come up with something that’ll really wow her special someone?”

The Anura mumbled, “Someones. I have two girlfriends.”

“Sure, I can help!” A black cat appeared out of nowhere with her sketchpad. “What kind of cake do you want to make?”

“...A wedding cake.”

While Rhodes Island’s best bakers conspired to craft the perfect anniversary cake, Glaucus tinkered in her room, looking through schematics to find the pieces she needed for the ideas in her head. It wasn’t every day she had something to celebrate, so she felt like she really had to make this special, but she was quickly discovering she didn’t have many ideas that made good toys. “Hmm...The Doctor said she’d like something she can set on her desk, and Blue likes watching the clouds on the top deck. Maybe something held in a magnetic field that has a liquid component? That would be interesting, and it shouldn’t be too hard to make. I will need a container of some kind for it, though.”

*knock knock* “Glaucus?” That was Mayer’s voice at the door. “Do you have the prototype for the magnetic field generator model?”

“One second.” The Supporter engaged her exosuit, walked over to the table she set the model on, and opened the door to hand it to the Anaty at the door...

...Who looked behind her and saw what she was working on. “Has it already been six months?”

“Hmm?” Glaucus followed her eyes. “Yeah. I want to make them something like levitating lava lamps. Actually, can I borrow a few Meeboos? I need some help with the containers, and I’m not entirely sure what I want to fill them with for the best effect.”

“I’ll do you one better and help you myself. It’s been kind of a slow day, but helping you out might teach me something I can use on the magnet-powered Meeboo!”

With a little trepidation, she let Mayer inside. “Alright, you can help me out. We’re gonna need two of them.”

“Obviously.” The Anaty chuckled. “What else would you do, ask them both to share?”

“...I am so glad I work with someone this perceptive.”

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

The Doctor’s shift came to an end, and she returned home with a trio of rings in her pocket, eager to start celebrating. She wondered if her girlfriends had gotten as into this idea of anniversaries as she had; for her, it was a brand new type of memory, one that, even as an amnesiac, she knew was a new sort of experience, and one she was looking forward to having many more of...

‘Home’ for the trio was the Doctor’s suite, partially because it’d been the largest of their three rooms, partially because she was the only one who didn’t need a separate workshop for her stuff, and partially because her room had been site zero...entirely by accident. All three of them being there had been intentional, at least - Meteor had held a meet-and-greet sort of thing for the more introverted folks, the sort of event only a team mom could have considered and then kept enjoyable, and afterwards Blue and Glaucus had taken up on the Doctor’s offer for a nightcap.

They quickly discovered none of them could actually drink alcohol, each for a completely different reason, so it’d turned into the three of them talking the night away instead. The Anura made a remark that this was the most of Glaucus’ voice she’d heard since they’d met, and the Supporter admitted with a blush that this was the most comfortable she’d felt around a pair of people since she’d arrived. That got the two of them talking about life before Rhodes Island; Blue reminisced about walking hand-in-hand with friends, which prompted the Doctor and Glaucus to ask why she didn’t at RI. She sighed, saying most people were too scared of the possibility of her poisoning them to consider it - and before she could even finish the sentence, they’d each grabbed the hand closest to them with a level of coordination they couldn’t have even planned.

Man, that was a fun night.

Anyway, the Doctor went to unlock her door, only to have Blue open it for her with a bright smile, already out of her work clothes and in something casual. “Welcome home~ How was work?”

“Slow as hell, honestly.” She went for a kiss, encouraged by the frosting on the Anura’s upper lip. “You made dessert, I take it?”

“You’ll see. Glue got back a few minutes ago and went to the bedroom to change, if you want to join her.”

A shrug. “I think I’ll keep you company until she’s out. Did you burn yourself, dear?”

“Hmm? Oh, this?” She shook her head. “I dropped a beaker and cut myself while cleaning up. Nothing serious.”

“Gotcha. Hey, that was quick!” They both turned to watch Glaucus walk out of the bedroom.

The Supporter waved. “Didn’t need to do much. Are we ready to start?”

“Yeah, let’s do it!” The Doctor rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “I can’t wait to see... this...cake...Holy shit.”

“You’ve really outdone yourself, Blue,” Glaucus agreed, swooping in to take her hand as their third tried to figure out how to tackle the three-tiered titan in front of them.

She giggled. “I’m happy you both think so. I had some help planning it, but it turned out even better than I expected.”

“This reminds me of something,” the Doctor noted as they took the topmost layer for themselves, “but...I don’t know what.”

“It’s a wedding cake,” the Supporter replied.

The Anura nodded. “I’ve always wanted to try making one, and I thought this was as good a time as any. Is it good, Doctor?”

“You know how addicted I am to your cakes, Blue.” She’d already eaten a third of the portion she’d retrieved. “I’m happy there’s enough of this one to last a couple days.”

“Once we’re done eating, I have something as well.” Glue chimed in while it was on her mind. “We should wait, though. The frosting might stain them.”

The Doctor flashed her a thumbs up, and after they’d had their fill (keeping in mind they were planning to go out to eat), Glaucus went back to the bedroom and returned with a pair of blue boxes with green bows on top, each manageable with one hand. “They’re a bit fragile, but I think they’re pretty neat.”

“...This is magnetic, isn’t it?” The Anura opened her box and pulled out a small double-capped cylinder with two distinct layers of liquid along with a flat black base.

“How do we turn them on?” The Doctor wondered aloud. “I don’t see a switch or any- oh, wait, it’s this, isn’t it?”

The Supporter smiled as she found the clicker she’d taped to the top of the box. “Green turns it on, red turns it off; both are gradual to ensure the cylinder doesn’t move too fast and shatter.”

“That’s really co- no, this is awwwwesome. I’m totally taking this to my office.” She’d expected it to float, because Glaucus’ thing was magnets, but to spin as well? That was next-level shit.

“You color-coordinated them as well,” Blue noted with admiration before kissing her on the cheek. “It reminds me of a stormy evening sky.”

Glue blushed. “Then I’m two-for-two.”

“Oh! Speaking of, I made us something, too!” The Doctor fished in her pocket, found the rings, and kept her hand there for a moment.

“...You’ve talked about making jewelry on slower days,” the Anura said, “but it’d be a pain to keep three chains in one pocket.”

Glaucus had to sit down, as even with her exoskeleton on, her knees suddenly felt weak. “Blue, I think I know what she made.”

“Let me know if you guessed right :D.” She held out her hand, and there were three rings - simple silver bands, nearly identical except for differently-colored stones on top - one sapphire, one amethyst, and one citrine.

“I was.” The Supporter fell sideways, laying across Blue’s lap. “We already have the wedding cake.”

The Doctor balked. “Not that I’d say no, but it still feels kinda early for that.”

“All in good time. I’ll consider it a promise for the future.” Blue accepted the amethyst for herself and put the sapphire ring on Glaucus’ finger.

“Same...” Glue, it appeared, was down for the count. “I might need a minute before...dinner...”

That was just fine in their book; the Doctor helped the Anura take their sluggish girlfriend somewhere more comfortable before disengaging the exoskeleton for some late afternoon cuddling. Despite all the blue in their lives (I mean, just look at those color schemes), life had never been brighter...

#arknights #glaucus (arknights)#blue poison (arknights)#i'm still in shock how long this got #and how it refused to be written faster #guess the sea slug energy kinda spreads don't it?#get it cuz Glaucus is a sea slug?#eh?#...anyway happy anniversary to my favorite frog and her two girlfriends #arknights fic

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saintstrawberry · 3 years

Text

When the Night is Over/Just What I Needed

Second Chapter is up!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27733207/chapters/68086045#workskin

Ships:

bokuaka, kuroken, kagehina, daisuga, daiaka, iwaoi

Description:

A surprise visit, mariokart, and Oikawa. Malibu also makes an appearance (Or multiple).

Notes: Akaashi has a bad memory. Relatable content.

Songs I recommend for this chap are Dionysus by the Buttertones, Best Interest by Tyler the Creator (for Kuroo), and Shampoo Bottles by Peach Pit for the ending. I promise Bokuto will show up in the next chap! >.<

I also make a reference to Natsume Ono because she smacks! Read her manga Not Simple; it is fantastic!

Thank you for reading!

—————

Shampoo Bottles

It’s Saturday, something Akaashi doesn’t realize until he is flying halfway out his front door and huffing a breath at his phone screen’s mocking display: 6:30 AM, Saturday, June 14th. Exactly a week before Hinata’s birthday.

He blinks and remembers the night before, when he was nursing a red wine and a deadline for his “Ono Natsume: Shouting for the Voiceless” article. He remembers, vaguely, submitting the piece at 11:50 and dropping his head right there on his cheap Ikea desk, exhausted.

Presently, he’s nodding awkwardly at his neighbor (leaving the complex to work out, no less) and trying to make it look, somehow, like he meant to open his front door only to close it seconds later.

Toeing off his work shoes and entirely caught off guard by the idea of a day off, Akaashi retreats to his bed. He passes out almost as soon as his foggy head hits the pillow, dreaming of nothing. The next time he opens his eyes, his breath and body still completely.

“Mornin’, sleeping beauty! It’s ten, I’m surprised you slept so long!”

“Kuroo-san, why are you in my apartment?”

The offender offers no answer but grins brilliantly, gold irises level with Akaashi’s blue-green.

“And just how long have you been here anyway?” Kuroo ignores him again, instead choosing to stand from his squatting position. His hands at his hips, Kuroo wears a white oversized Bouncing Ball hoodie and black skinny jeans. Much to Akaashi’s discomfort, he still has his shoes on- red and white high top sneakers with the laces tucked in. As always, the guy’s flawlessly disheveled, silver jewelry glinting from his ears and neck.

Akaashi groans and plants his face in his pillow. It’s too early for the young, beautiful, and rich.

Kuroo, unsurprisingly, doesn’t yield Akaashi’s thoughts and scoffs once. He moves to draw open the curtains in his room. Keiji can’t help but grimace as he feels his skin bathed in hot summer light.

“Man. You should really dust your windowsills. Do you even ever open these things?! You’re not some bat, ‘Kaashi. You need fresh air.”

“I think bats need air too,” Akaashi mumbles into the pillow.

Kuroo waves a dismissive hand and turns to survey him, arms folded across a broad chest. Keiji reluctantly turns his head to address his stare, squinting without the aid of his glasses or contacts. Kuroo’s bedhead is seemingly even worse today- probably from whatever plane he just hopped out of. The latter smirks devilishly.

“Well. Are you gonna welcome me back or what?”

“So you didn’t expect to land in Tokyo until Thursday?” Akaashi asks this of Kuroo about 45 minutes after his intrusion into the writer’s apartment. The pair are getting brunch in some needlessly swanky rooftop restaurant, one where Kuroo insisted he wouldn’t get recognized. Akaashi raised his eyebrows at that- his friend had stuffed his signature messy locks into one of Akaashi’s ratty baseball caps and donned aviators the moment they got outside.

No matter to him, anyway. Akaashi got fancy champagne out of the deal.

“Sure didn’t. Management canceled the show in Singapore last minute. Something about the venue. Fuck if I know,” Kuroo explains almost incoherently through colossal bites of egg.

“What matters is nobody got hurt. We refunded tickets and rescheduled the gig. S’all good. I’m just happy to be back home with my buddy!” Kuroo reaches over to slap Akaashi on the back with a friendly grin.

He’s sputtering over his mimosa when Kuroo continues, “Can’t wait to surprise Kenma tonight, either. Can you imagine his face?"

“Yeah, actually, I can,” Akaashi slouches his shoulders forward in his chair with an uninterested expression and quirks up an eyebrow ever so slightly, impersonating his best friend.

“Hey, that was pretty good! Though I guess it’s not that hard for you. You’re both pretty stoic. Like Easter Island Heads.”

Akaashi swats at him half-heartedly. Kuroo laughs.

“Anyway, you’re lucky I didn’t call him immediately this morning- or the police for that matter,” Akaashi says matter of factly. Kuroo clutches at his heart dramatically.

“Akaashi-kun. You wound me. I am the furthest from a criminal.”

Akaashi huffs a laugh.

“Tell the Osaka police force that.”

“Hey! What, a guy can’t take a piss anymore?”

“Not, apparently, from the top of the Umeda Sky Building-”

“To be fair, I didn’t know the police officer was right there,” Kuroo interjects.

“-After downing half a bottle of Malibu with Oikawa. And you were 17. You were lucky you didn’t get charged with public indecency.”

Kuroo pouts but offers no petition.

“Guilty as charged, I suppose. Hey, speaking of police officers-”

Akaashi clears his throat and interrupts, “Speaking of drinking, how was Singapore?”

Kuroo takes the hint and stretches back in his chair, raising his third bloody mary to his lips.

“Didn’t get much time there, only about four days before I got the call about the cancellation. Flew straight here after the news.”

Straight to Kenma, Akaashi supplies mentally, grinning fondly at his friends’ relationship.

“Anyway, it was pretty mild, all things considered. Bokuto seemed to like the clubbing scene more than I did. Matter of fact, he’s staying there ‘til the next concert.”

“Bokuto?” Akaashi says, cutting into his eggs and watching the yolk spill onto his fork.

Kuroo, now onto his nearly 2,500 yen crepe, takes a break from his meal to look up at him with a puzzled stare.

“My tourmate? Bokuto Koutarou? X. Ace?”

Akaashi meets his eyes blankly.

“I guess it makes sense his stage name doesn’t ring a bell, but I’m surprised you don’t know about the guy’s v-ball career.”

The blue-eyed 24 year old drops his gaze to the napkin in his lap.

“Sorry, sorry. Touchy topic.”

Pain-in-the-ass-Kuroo-san.

“Anyway, you should really check out some of his matches with the Panthers.”

“He was signed with the Panthers?” Akaashi sputters, clapping his mouth shut immediately after.

Kuroo cackles.

“Don’t give yourself a heart attack, Akaashi. It’s okay to be impressed- it’s impressive. He’s crazy. You’ll be meeting him soon.”

Akaashi only hums in response.

"You're coming to the show, right?"

Akaashi hums again.

"Big talker today, huh, Keiji?"

"Bah."

“Right. So.. you baited yourself a hook yet?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“You know. After Daichi,” Kuroo tries again.

No, he really hasn’t.

Akaashi downs the rest of his drink. He peers into his empty glass in response.

“Haven’t thought about it really. He said it himself- I don’t have the time.”

“Oh, Keiji. Nevermind him.”

“Don’t sigh like that. Did you fly all the way from China to pity me?”

The rapper shakes his head, “No, I didn’t. I just want you to-”

“Be as happy as you are with Kenma,” Keiji finishes.

Kuroo gives a gentle smile, “Can you blame me?”

“God. You two are worse than the shoujo manga I have to review.”

“But twice as fun.”

“Shut up and eat your crepe.”

Kuroo happily complies, “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

“I’m glad you’re home, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi remarks. And he is. Even with his busy lifestyle as a chart-topping artist, Kuroo somehow manages to draw Kenma and Akaashi out of the house.

Kuroo and Kenma are both relatively new to their fame- about three years out from Kuroo’s first breakthrough hit and four since Kenma first started his Bouncing Ball Youtube channel- but their fans are… dedicated. Akaashi often marvels at how even Kenma takes it in stride. He's entertaining to watch and a seasoned video game expert. And Kuroo... Akaashi looks to the man and the ketchup stain on his lip.

"What?"

Well, they both deserve their good fortune.

"Nothing, nothing."

He has interviewed them each multiple times for the journal. The good thing about his friends’ famous status is that Akaashi gets to profit from it as well. He tells Kuroo as much and the latter almost chokes on his stupidly expensive breakfast laughing. Even Akaashi cracks a small grin.

“I told that was him!” The writer hears two girlish voices behind him, talking in excited whispers.

“E-Excuse me, K-Kuroo-san?”

The rapper breaks out in a large grin and stands, bowing formally at the pair.

“Yes? Hello, ladies. Are you two fans of mine?”

“Yes!! Very much so! I loved your new song!” The girl, about 17 with dark lashes and fire red hair, praises politely.

“Would, would you mind taking a picture with us!?” The other chirps.

“Not at all! Akaashi, my pal, would you be a dear and snap some shots?” It takes everything for Akaashi not to roll his eyes.

“But of course.”

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

This is how Akaashi comes to search up the 2018 Panthers roster on his phone’s Google. He gives up his sleuthing when he realizes he doesn’t remember the guy’s name or know what he looks like.

He forgets about the whole thing until later that night, at Kenma’s celebration party for 5 million followers. It’s small, of course, about ten of them drinking champagne and playing drinking games. Akaashi knows Hinata did all the planning anyway, despite the event being at Kenma’s. The trio is standing off to the side when Akaashi pulls out his phone briefly to check the time.

Kuroo should be here any minute, he thinks. Hinata peers too, instinctually curious.

“Hey! Whatcha looking up the Panthers for? That’s not the latest roster, you know! Ooh, you’re looking up X-Ace, right?! Seeeeee, I knew you’d like him!”

Akaashi looks down at the picture Hinata points to. The guy’s sturdy and smug with one thick eyebrow raised. His chest is broad and his eyes are perfectly golden. The first thing Akaashi notices, however, is his hair. Absolutely ridiculous, he thinks. Makes sense that this guy’s Hinata’s idol.

Kenma raises his eyebrows.

“What made you do that?” he asks.

“Oh, uh, just...curious.”

Kenma looks like he’s about to say more when Oikawa joins their group with a boisterous, “Pudding Head! Congratsssss!” He pinches the smaller’s cheeks, who just about hisses in response.

Akaashi, grateful for Oikawa’s interruption, takes another quick glance at… X-Ace, and pockets his phone.

Hinata grins wide when Tooru, seemingly already a bit tipsy, ruffles his hair.

“Thanks, Oikawa-san," Kenma begrudgingly replies.

“You know, Kuroo is-”

Akaashi, ever vigilant, cuts in immediately, “-is so happy for you, Ken.”

Oikawa seems to get the hint, his eyes widening in realization.

“He sure is! Want some more alcohol?” The chestnut-haired friend of Kuroo’s quickly shoves his bottle of strawberry rum in Kenma’s face.

“You know I hate your sticky Malibu. Why are you guys acting all weird?”

Hinata, completely oblivious to the unspoken diaogue between Akaashi and Oikawa, tugs Kenma’s shirt.

“Kenma, Kenma! We should stream!!”

“Hey, that’s not too bad an idea, Shoyo,” Akaashi adds, if just to distract him.

“Sure, we could play some Mario-Kart. My fans seem to like you guys. Just don’t do anything stupid, Tooru.”

“Who, me?! And when do I-” Oikawa starts dramatically. The rest of the men send him a collective stare which answers his question before he can even finish it. He crosses his arms with a huff.

“Whatever. I call Princess Peach.”

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

After Kenma finishes setting up the Livestream and the small group has gained over a couple thousand viewers, Akaashi is in dead last as Blooper. Well, almost dead last, expect for...

“How am I losing? No fair, Kozume!” Oikawa whines.

“Me? What did I do?” Kenma-san replies, uninterested. Unsurprisingly, the Youtuber is in first place with his signature Toad.

“I don’t know, your fancy settings or something. Iwa-chan! Back me up, here!”

“It’s ‘cause you suck, Trashy-kawa,” Iwaizumi-san, whom the quartet bribed into playing with agedashi dofu, doesn’t hesitate to retaliate. His player, Bowser, is in second, with Hinata close behind as Yoshi.

“Take that, Hajime-san! Oh, shoot, sorry, Akaashi-san!” Hinata shouts, rising from his seat as he hurls a red shell, accidentally hitting Keiji.

“Hinata, language!” Kuroo’s smooth voice floods the apartment in mock disapproval. Kenma whips his head so fast he drops his controller. The blonde doesn’t say anything but slowly rises to his feet, then breaks into a short run at the sight of his boyfriend. The former picks up Kenma effortlessly and twirls him in a tight embrace. Akaashi looks on fondly.

“Kuroo-san!” Hinata exclaims, jumping up excitedly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Tetsuro’s home. I’m about to kick all of your asses!” Oikawa waves away his entrance, sticking out his tongue. Iwaizumi slaps him on the back of the head.

The stream chat has exploded at the sound of Kuroo.

bb-corp: is that Kuroo???

applephi: NO WAY djwhdnbwibdfwq

yoyotetsuro: couple goals

kurokenxx: will anyone ever love me like Kuroo loves Kenma?

keeeeenmaaa_: I think this is the first time BouncingBall’s lost at Mariokart

----------

A little tired and a lot tipsy, Akaashi insists on taking a cab home. It doesn't feel right to invade Kenma's when the Kuroo's home. Keiji could tell the pair... needed their space for the night. He splits the ride with Hinata, who talks his ear off the whole way about Kuroo's arrival and how badly he wishes he had the money to go to a concert. Akaashi smirks at that, just a little. Shoyo exits the vehicle with an enthusiastic, "Bye, 'Kaashi-san!! I'll see you soon! Maybe I'll come to the store, or, or, you can come to see me and Tobio-chan! He didn't come out tonight because he has a game tomorrow, but-" The rest of his goodbye is drowned out by him closing the door.

"I apologize for the noise," Keiji addresses the driver. She makes a noise of recognition and drops him off 15 minutes later. He thinks about his conversation with Kuroo about "baiting his hook" as he enters his living room, dropping his keys unceremoniously on the floor next to his door. What does that even mean? Akaashi doesn't exactly meet a lot of people with his work and his friends are all, well, with each other. He's happy for them and all, but sometimes being around so many couples gets a bit nauseating. Akaashi is struck with a small wave of loneliness when he waters his small bamboo plant, made worse by the two shots of Malibu Oikawa shoved down his throat. This is all I have to come home to, a fucking bamboo plant. Akaashi stares at its braided stalks with a vengeance. Not a second later, he pets the leaves in apology. I shouldn't take this out on the plant.

He's always been relatively independent, but having someone felt kind of... nice, for a change. It's been almost a year since Daichi left, and probably 6 months since he and Suga got together. It's one of those things that Akaashi didn't process for awhile, forcing him to fend for himself when the realization came to knock him on his ass months down the line. He's been confronting turned over picture frames and empty sheets ever since.

And so it goes.

He pads over to his bed with a sigh and for the second time today, falls asleep and dreams of nothing.

#bokuaka #kagehina #iwaoi #fanfiction #haikyuu #kuroken #daisuga #daiaka #akaashi keiji #tsukishima kei #daichi sawamura #sugawara koushi #kuroo tetsurō #bokuto kotarou #kenma kozume #oikawa tooru #iwaizumi hajime #hinata shoyo #kageyama tobio

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goldenponcho · 3 years

Text

A Cruise Fit for a King Chapter 4

I’m going to preface this chapter with a hot take:

Scarlemagne is absolutely a Karen.

Previous | Chapter 1 | Next

The erratic slapping of Hugo’s hand against the water as he attempted to paddle for shore, in hindsight, had most likely been ineffective. But in the moment, in his still stir-crazy mind, it felt like it was making him go faster. He tired himself out long before he would make it, however. The horizon, he soon realized, was much further away than he had once thought.

It was a good four hours before his strange little craft got anywhere close to perceiving much of anything about the island, but when he did, his hopes rose. The island was massive, for all he knew, an entire continent. He could make out a scattering of small architecture, nothing like the massive high-rises of Skyscraper Ridge, but it still promised some manner of life. Hugo was so mesmerized, it nearly gave him palpitations when something hit his vehicle with a thud.

“‘Ay!! No floaters in the reef, land-crawler!!”

“Huh?” Hugo leaned to see who was speaking to him, only to be shocked into silence. Below him was a bustling rainbow of colors and shapes. There were hundreds…thousand of all sorts of marine mutes weaving in and out of a labyrinth of radiant coral. The water was so crystal clear, he could see straight down for what must have been at least thirty feet, and he quickly sat back down in the passenger seat, as actually seeing how deep the water was was much more unnerving than just knowing it in the back of his mind, no matter how much infinitely deeper the actual ocean was.

There was another thud and a squeeeek! as another mute raked the side of the car.

“Hey! You don’t belong here! Get out of our shoals!!”

Hugo, more cautiously this time, craned his head to address the second irritated mute, a porpoise with a fanny pack strapped to her pudgy neck.

“Apologies, madame! I just need to get to shore so I can-”

“Officer! Arrest this baboon!”

Hugo bristled with an affected gasp, “I am NOT a baboon; I’m a MANDRILL! And I’ll kindly thank you not to-”

“Alright, King Kong! Outta the water! Beat it!!” The black and white “officer” fish berated him and blew a shrill whistle.

Before Hugo could begin to reply, his craft was rocked to the point of nearly capsizing as a mega octopus surfaced, and began flailing its massive tentacles to send his vehicle careening toward shore. He could hear angered jeering aimed toward him, and he gripped the door and the seat beneath him as his craft skidded through the surf and onto the shore.

His car came to a nearly instant halt in the sand, and his nose pressed painfully into the windshield before he was tossed back into his seat. Hugo rubbed his aching snout, groaning as he sat up from the slouched position he had been forced into. He quickly saw that he had been lucky enough to stop just short of a substantial piece of driftwood.

“Thanks for the ride, gents!” He leapt to balance himself on the edge of the driver’s side door, holding onto the windshield frame for support as he cupped the other hand to project his voice, “This is exactly where I wanted to go! I’M MUCH ABLIGED!!”

He was barely through with his taunting when a nasally, monotone voice interrupted him, “Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to move your car, or I’ll have no choice but to tow it.”

Hugo looked through the windshield to see a seagull mute wearing a crooked baseball cap and a heavily stained navy jumpsuit.

“I beg your pardon, but I was most unceremoniously surfed here completely outside of my own control,” he stepped back onto the seat behind him and opened his door to release a stream of seawater before stepping down to the beach with a haughty strut, “AND if you could see beyond that BEAK of yours, you would notice that this vehicle has no wheels to speak of.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I couldn’t be less emotionally invested if I wanted to… Tough break, I guess.”

With a wave of the gull’s feather wing, Hugo heard loud flapping and turned in time to watch a mega pelican with two heads that would have dwarfed even his own personal flamingo several times over thud to the sand on the other side of the car. The creature lowered one of its heads and opened its beak to reveal a whole pile of mostly metal flotsam and jetsam. Hugo was left uncharacteristically speechless as the beak latched onto his car and engulfed it completely before the bird waddled with heavy steps away from the beach and further inland. It stopped in front of what looked to be a large wall made of garbage that spanned the entire length of the shore as far as Hugo could see both ways, then practically vomited his precious luxury car onto the top of the wall along with the pile of scrap metal.

“Are-you-JOKING?!!” he resisted the urge to stomp his foot, “That convertible is my ONLY mode of transportation!”

The seagull didn’t look up from his clipboard to gave a wide eyed, tight beaked stare at nothing, “Well, you should have thought about that before you bought a car with no wheels.”

Hugo’s eye twitched, and his fur bristled as he clenched his fists in front of him with barred teeth. Before he could retort, the rude mute had ripped the the sheet of paper he had been writing on and held it in front of Hugo’s nose. “If you want it back, sign this and take it to Maggie at the kiosk. Have a nice day.”

Hugo glared daggers at who was now his least favorite mute in the world, raising a hand slowly, then violently snatching the paper from him. “Thank. You.” The words were punctuated in a way which insinuated that in spirit, he was saying something much less kind. He huffed as the bird left to torment some other poor soul and glanced to scan the form he had been handed.

He glared at the entry for “year” where the gull had written “old”. “Old?! That car was a classic, fully restored, in mint condition!” He slapped the back of his hand against the form, “At least it was.”

His eyes scanned over the total for the pickup fee to see scribbled there “five small shells, three medium shells, or one large shell”. That was all? He looked to his feet where there was nothing but a mixture of seashells and sand, and he gave a shrug before scooping up a handful. He sorted through the gritty mixture with a finger to study its contents. There was one shell. Two. Three, four…and five! He dusted the rest off on his coat, taking extra care to make sure none of the sand stuck there, then made his way to the kiosk next to the wall.

Hugo approached the large crab mute behind the counter and tossed the form and the shells in front of her. “I’d like my automobile back, ma’am. The fuchsia convertible with the silver hood ornament of my very own likeness,” he gave a “get going” motion with his hand. “Please and thank you.”

“What the hell are these?” The crab’s voice grated as she put a cigarette out on the counter, but she didn’t budge from her spot, arms crossed and leaned back against her own massive shell.

“Five small shells?” Hugo jabbed a finger to the form, “I believe this is sufficient payment for you to release back to me my vehicle that your DELIGHTFUL little mom and pop operation took right from under my nose.”

“You ain’t from around here, are ya, monkeyshines? These measly little suckers ain’t worth squat. You need a few o’ these bad boys!” She gave the shell behind her a slap, “We’re talkin’ ‘bout conchs, whelks, cones…even a pitiful little nerite would be better than this. How ya ‘spect the young’uns ta keep their keisters covered with a couple’a little, cracked surf clams?” She moved to open the curtained bar flap next to her which revealed a tiny horde of baby hermit crabs, all of different sizes, one skittering out of site with a squeak at being caught mid shell exchange.

“Listen!” Hugo howled, pointing an assertive finger, “THAT car has been with me for a LONG time! If you think I’m about to let it become a BRICK in your wall of RABBLE, YOU ARE SORELY MISTAKEN!!!”

Hugo breathed loudly and rapidly, now hunched forward on his knuckles, but the hermit crab wasn’t at all threatened.

“You ain’t got SHELLS, monkeyshines, then you ain’t got a CAR!!” And with that, she slammed the rolling counter door above them shut, nearly catching the tip of Hugo’s nose on the way down.

He inhaled before releasing something between a snarl and a scream through clenched teeth, then shuddered with a growl before almost immediately composing himself with a proper, upright posture and a stiff, manic smile, “I…HATE it here.”

#scarlemagne #hugo oak #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #kataow #kipo

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fyregrayfong · 4 years

Text

Hesitate 9|15

FryeArcana

Chapter 9

Shopping or Makeovers?

Summary:

After the attack on the arena how are you able to cope with the rising tensions from Amon and the Equalists?

“I still can’t believe they’re shutting this place down” Mako packs his belongings as he looks down sadly.

“yeah…but with all the damages, it just isn’t safe for anyone to be in the building. Not until it gets fixed up anyways.” You look out the window as you sit on the ladder of the loft area, as you watch over the guys while the rest of your squad are outside of the arena making sure no pedestrians enter the arena. You came with Asami to help Mako and Bolin move their belongings over to the Sato Mansion.

You hear footsteps coming up to the attic and sit up to see Korra running in, “Guys, great news. You don’t have to go back to the streets. I talked to Tenzin and made all the arrangements. You can come live on Air Temple Island with me.”

You look at Mako and Bolin, feeling the air turn awkward. “uhm did no one tell her?” you slowly talk up Korra looks over at you as she didn’t see you up there. “no one tell me what?” she looked over to Mako and Bolin for an answer. “oh…well, we’d love to, but—” Mako rubbed the back of his neck trying to sound as nice as possible Bolin quickly cut him off “Asami already invited us to live in her dad’s giant mansion!” Korra looks surprised as she looked at the boys and Asami pops out from behind you with Pabu and greets Korra warmly, “oh, hey, Korra. I was hoping you’d stop by.” You jump down from the ladder and stand in front of everyone “um, yeah, Asami and I came by to help the guys pack up and move their belongings over to the mansion” you try to ease the obvious tension in the air. “you’re welcomed to come with us, if you want” you warm up to Korra as Asami comes down the ladder. “I was just leaving.” Korra looks over annoyed then looks over at the guys “so, I guess I’ll see you guys around…sometime” she slowly makes her way over to the trapdoor. Pabu scurries off and runs over to Bolin while Asami makes is down to the floor “why not tomorrow? I’d love to have you come visit the estate.” You look at Asami and softly sigh “yeah, you should come.” You smile. Korra quickly rebuffs “I don’t know I have some…Avatar stuff to do.” Bolin picks up Pabu and does a high pitched voice to what he pictures Pabu’s voice would be like. “Come on, Korra. Come relax with us, we deserve it after all the craziness. We can swim in Asami’s pool. It’ll be fun” Pabu chirps along as Bolin waves him along. Korra comes down the steps in the trapdoor and laughs. “Alright, Pabu.” You and Asami walk over to Mako and Bolin “Great, we’ll see you tomorrow.” Asami chimed in and I walk over to Korra “Here, let me walk you out. I have to head out too anyways and I’ll give you the address” You follow behind Korra as you make your way down to the front of the arena.

“you’re being weirdly nice to me” Korra mutters as both of you walk out and walks to her polar bear dog. “I am nice, it’s just you annoy me sometimes, but Asami told me to try not to judge you so soon and give you a chance.” You shrug sheepishly. Korra stands there deep in thought, maybe taking your words into account. You look over at her polar bear dog “who is this fellow” you smile, “huh? Oh this is Naga, my polar bear dog” she smiles and pets her head. “well hello to you Naga, it’s very nice to meet you” you smile and extend your hand for her to smell your scent before you give her head a pat. You look over at Korra who seems to be still upset about Mako and Bolin, “you should really come over to the mansion tomorrow.” Korra looks up at you. “it’ll be good, better than whatever training or stuff Tenzin probably has you doing” you smile, and it brings a soft laugh from Korra. “yeah, you might be right.” You laugh “I usually am, here..” you take out a pocketbook and pen from your pocket and write down Asami’s address on a piece of paper then ripe it out of the book and hand it to Korra, “this is the address. Hope to see you there.” You look at her then start walking away, Korra looks at the paper and then looks over at you “thanks, y/n.” she calls out to you. You mount your cycle and put your helmet on “don’t mention it…. Avatar” you wave at her and drive off.

You pull up to Cabbage Corp seeing the squad already investigating the warehouse. Boxes among boxes shredded open, you pull your helmet off and get it on the seat and walk inside. Walking up to Lin “Chief…” you look around at the insane amount of evidence in the warehouse. “how’s everything at the arena?” Lin looks over at you. “a mess, but I have a squad at the arena. Mako and Bolin are pretty much done packing, Asami Sato is there with a car to take them to her estate. After that, the building will be officially shut down”

“Good” Lin looks around the room as her officers pack up the evidence. “so did you find these hidden in some room?” you slowly walk around seeing the crates of gloves and propaganda. “nope, it was just here” you put your finger on your chin and go into a deep thought. Lin looks at you raises her eyebrow “what are you thinking?”

“it’s too soon to tell just by first glance, but…” You look around once more at all the crates “don’t you think it’s a bit suspicious how conveniently you were able to find all this stuff?” you look at her with a bit concern. You help the officers with packing up the evidence and taking it to the station while you drive after Lin in the squad car over to Cabbage Corp HQ to make the arrest.

You’re standing on one side of the front entrance while an officer is escorting Mr. Gan-Lan out to the squad car in cuffs. “I’m innocent!” Mr. Gan-Lan calls out. You watch Lin take on questions about Cabbage Corp and their alleged involvement with the Equalists. “the evidence points in that direction, but the investigation is ongoing. For the time being, we have frozen Mr. Gan-Lan’s assets and are closing Cabbage Corp.”

“No! Not my Cabbage Corp!” Mr. Gan-Lan shouts from down the steps and gets put in the car.

“I mean, when most people have something to hide they actually try to hide it, making it difficult for us to try to locate it, yet everything seems to be place here. Like if on a silver platter” you think deeply at all the evidence you have seen as you look over at Lin and Tenzin. “you think this was planted?” Lin asks you “I mean I can’t be sure, but it is certainly suspicious don’t you think? The attack at the arena and all of a sudden an intel steps up about the gloves and they are just waiting for us right then and there. No fuss or no need to dig.”

“hmm I don’t know, if what you say is true then this investigation just got messier.” Lin looks out pensively and Tenzin jumps in “agreed, but first we should find out if anyone seen or heard anything during the attack.”

“we have Hiroshi Sato coming in for questioning. Maybe he saw something we missed. Y/N, can you walk him in? After that you can be dismissed for the day.” Lin looks over at you and you nod as you walk out the room and walk down the corridor and see Hiroshi.

“Y/N, glad to see you’re okay. That was quite a scare at the arena” Hiroshi looks at you with concern and puts his hand on your shoulder.

“yeah, no one could imagine that kind of attack from Amon, but I’m glad you and Asami made it out safely.” You give him a warm smile as you walk him down the hall and go down the corridor towards the room where Lin and Tenzin are at.

“yes, we were lucky to get out of there. Barely a scratch. I hope we can get these Equalists and get justice once and for all.” He makes a fist with his hand and swings it softly in front of him.

“that’s the plan, Hiroshi. Here let me get the door for you.” You open the door and let Hiroshi walk in as he thanks you then slowly close the door after them. You walk down the hall with your thoughts about the arena and then the warehouse, before making way over to Asami’s.

You’re chilling besides the pool in a black tank and matching shorts leaning against the pool wall besides Asami with Mako at her other side. “hey Bolin, I dare you to jump off that fountain!” you laugh “oh that’s easy!” Bolin swims to the other side and pulls himself up before climbing up the lion fountain and stands on its head. “Earthbending bomb!” Bolin yells out and cannonballs into the pool you cover your face with your arm, “nice, Earthbending bomb, Bolin!” you laugh then look over and see butler walking with someone behind him.

“Avatar Korra has arrived.” The butler announced

“Hey Korra” Mako waved

“Glad you made it.” Asami chimed in

“Hey” you waved at Korra

“Welcome to paradise” Bolin says as he comes out the water stretching his arms out.

“looks like you guys settled right in.” Korra looks at everyone at the pool.

“pretty much, except someone forget to ask her father if we could stay here” Mako looked over at Asami

“yeah, but I smoothed it over with him, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Asami smiled

“You’re just lucky your dad is the forgiving type, Sami.” You sneered at her and playfully nudged her shoulder.

You watch as Bolin asks Butler to dry him and Pabu off to which butler does before Bolin jumps right back into the pool. You look at Bolin “well that was effective” you deadpanned.

“So what do you have planned for us today? Let me guess, shopping, makeovers…” Korra looks at Asami sort of scared of what Asami’s answer would be. You watch the guys push each other down as you swim over to the edge and pull yourself up and sit, letting your legs still in the pool while you have Pabu lay on your lap and you rub his back.

“ooo ooo I vote makeovers!” Bolin jumps up before Mako quickly pushes him down in the water. You can’t help but roll your eyes at his comment.

“I have something a little more exciting in mind.” Asami says as she walks out the pool and look over at Korra. Only you know what Asami means by that and you quickly get up excited. “Oh yes! Let’s go do that!” you chime in as you hold Pabu in your arms. “what is the “that”” Korra looks between you and Asami, you and Asami exchange a look and smirk as you look at Korra. A look of unsettling appears on her face wondering what it could be.

The group changes and get into Asami’s car, you told Asami you rather take your bike and follow behind them on the way. Asami refused at first wanting to keep the group together but then gradually lets you. You put on your helmet and get on your bike while the rest of the group get in the car. “is y/n. not going to join us?” Korra looks at Asami “she is, but she’d rather go in her bike even though I told her she can fit with us. She knows where were going so it’s no big deal. We’re all heading to the same place” Asami looks out at you and gives a thumbs up once everyone is settled and you return the gesture and soon both vehicles are on their way to the track. You follow behind Asami then start to pick up speed, lifting your bike as you ride on the back wheel beside the car then past them up getting to the track before them.

“pretty cool huh?” Asami looks over at Korra

Korra has a new face of wonder and amazement “way cooler than a makeover”

You besides Bolin and laugh softly as you look over at Korra “this is where Future Industries test drives their sato-mobiles.” Asami explained. “those cars that they’re testing right now are the new racer cars coming out. It’s way more powerful and faster than the sato-mobiles in the current market” you explained further “ever been behind the wheel?” Asami asks Korra “the only thing I know how to drive is a polar bear-dog” Korra smiled sheepishly. “you want me to take you for a spin?” Asami asks Korra which she quickly looked over to Asami and excitedly responded “let’s do it”

You stand up and wave Korra over “great! Let’s go, don’t think you’re gonna take Korra out without racing me, Sami. It’s been a while since we last raced” you smirk

“come on, let’s go” Asami smirks as she looks at you “I’ve gotten way better than last time. Had years to practice” the three of you girls walk down to the track and get your helmets.

You get into the red racer while Asami and Korra get into the yellow one” you and Asami both look down the track then at each other eyeing each other down like sworn enemies, giving her a smirk before looking over at the guy to wave the flag to start the race.

You both press on the accelerator and screech your tires burning rubber at the start of the race, you’re first to pull out with Asami following closely behind. You gain a slightly lead as you made the first turn and decide to cut Asami off causing her to drift along the curve. Korra grabbing on tightly on the carriage. You look back and smirk as you gain the advantage and switch gears and keep accelerating. You look at your side and see Asami creeping in beside gaining onto you. You try to block her not letting her have a way to pass you. Asami look down at you and switches gears moving over to the other side of you before she slingshots herself and gets between you and the wall. It’s neck to neck and you try to speed up before your front right wheel starts to shake and you slow down before you lose control of the car. Giving Asami the lead and give yourself an emergency exit blasting out the car in a parachute landing by the finish line as the car tumbles and lands over the barricade. You take your helmet off and take a deep breath before getting picked up by a service car and they drive you to the service lane. You see Korra and Asami talking before you stepped off and walk towards them. “What the heck Asami! I had you before that lame wheel started to malfunction” you breathe as you look at her before you laugh “you did good out there though. Way better than before.” You cross your arms and smile “good thing that emergency exit worked or else I would’ve been toast” you look over at Korra and Asami and notice their tension alleviate, “so I guess you figured out Asami, huh Korra” you smile as you look at her “yeah, she’s not who I thought she was.” Korra looks at the two of you. “so how long have you guys known each other” “y/n is a family friend, more like family than a friend.” Asami looks over at you and you smile back “aww Asami always the sweet one.” You put your arm around her for a side hug. “she taught me everything I know about cars and bikes.” You three make your way back to the guys then to the cars, you look over at Korra before deciding to ask her, “Hey Korra, you want to join me on the cycle? I can take you for a spin if you want” you smile as you mount your bike. Korra look like a little girl in a candy store, her eyes getting wide. “no way, really?” you laugh softly, and you take another helmet out from a compartment under the seat. “yeah really, come on” you extend your hand and help her on the cycle before turning it on. “just, hold on to me, tightly. Don’t want you flying off” you smirk as you give Asami the thumbs up and you rev the cycle and speed off.

“woah!” Korra yelps out and smiles as she feels the wind in her hair feeling the adrenaline and speed as you cruise on by through the streets of Republic City. Before long you and Korra arrive to the Sato mansion, both taking off your helmets at the same time. “so what you think? Hope I didn’t scare you” you look at her and see Korra trying to process the emotions she was feeling. “that was amazing!” Korra jumped “no wonder, you always want to drive that thing, it’s so cool and exhilarating.” You laugh and smile at her excitement remember how you felt when you rode the cycle for the first time. “I’m glad you liked it, whenever you’re down and I’m free. I can take you out for a spin” you smile as you take her helmet and put it back in the compartment before you set your helmet on the seat. You watch as Asami and the rest of the guys pull up. “wow I really had you and Asami totally pegged wrong.” Korra muttered and you scoff “no offence” Korra quickly butted in “oh no, I’m not mad” you calm her down “I was just remembering my first time I met Asami and probably thought the same as you. That Asami was just some prissy rich girl who liked to just waste her father’s money, but what you just found out is that Asami is nothing like that. She is the most down to earth, caring, and selfless person I know. That’s the thing about Asami, she doesn’t define you by your wealth but by the content of your character.” you look out at Asami and smile as the rest of the group walk up to you and Korra. “you girls talking about me?” Asami looks at the two of you and you both smile “yeah, just about how slow you guys to get here” Korra laughed softly and you followed suit as the four of them headed to the door. Asami turned over and looked at you “you’re not staying?” you look at her and the rest of the gang. “I wish I could, but I got other matters to attend to. You know work” you shrug as you rub the back of your neck.

“alright well it was nice hanging out with you” Korra waved at you as everyone else agreed and waved their goodbyes. Asami walked over and gave you a hug “come by soon, okay?” she whispered, you smile and nod “sure thing, Sami” you whisper back, and she walks back over towards Mako. You head on out of the estate. Maybe you and Korra can be friends after all.

#TLOK1Hesitate #fanfic #linbeifong #lin x reader #Fyrefics

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alkhale · 4 years

Note

Omg omg can one of the causes of fights between mini shanks n mini mihawks be bcs Hoku doesn't call him "Brat" ????

(First scene Mihawk is fifteen, next scene is 16 along with Shanks, best reference is the young Mihawk Oda drew but I found a slightly older version someone made, it’s colored by a deviantart user but I don’t know who the original artist is so credits to them!)

When fifteen-year-old Mihawk finally woke up, wild, ink black hair pushed back over his headit was to something soft and warm beneath his head and the flash, secondary instinct to grab his sword at his side, as though the hilt and his palm were connected entirely.

And then a soft laugh hit his ears.

A simple click and the memories returned, easy and a bit bitter to swallow, but he was not a fool and he was not an idiot.

Dracule Mihawk, on a quest to become the strongest swordsman alive, had challenged the current reigning king of said title, and lost. Quickly, decisively and fairly. There was nothing more to dwell on the matter aside from his own lack of discipline, of training, and of certain skill.

Though such an action very much might have warranted losing his life, he was not dead.

Mihawk half turned to the woman who was waiting behind him, kneeling with a warm grin playing on her lips that allowed a thin glint of white from a canine of hers to peek out.

“You’re a funny one, aren’t you?” Hoku said, “I’m never sure how to handle types like yours.”

Mihawk remained silent for a moment, dropping his eyes down to his hands. He considered their scabbed, rough feel hidden behind now clean white bandages. He touched his chest where he was no longer bleeding, tight white bandages wrapping neatly around him along with nothing but a bruise along the side of his face where the legendary Wado Ichimonji had decked him sideways and knocked him into the ocean without mercy.

“I did not ask to be treated,” Mihawk said calmly.

Hoku looked even more amused now, eyes a little half-lidded when she looked at him. Her heavy, sturdy coat hung over her shoulders but was pushed back to reveal the warm tan of steady arms–hands that knew work. He could clearly see the outline of her own blade–a notable, ungraded and legendary short sword by the name of Mau who earned its reputation far and wide.

This woman, Mihawk knew. He did not concern himself with the particulars of the legendary Straw Hat crew aside from their captain, Zoro, whom he longed to beat, and this woman, Hoku, since she was the only other crew member to carry a sword.

“I know,” Hoku said. Mihawk realized she had moved his head to her lap while he was unconscious. “I only did your hands, by the way. Chopper did the rest.”

Mihawk continued to stare at her.

“He thinks you have potential,” Hoku said simply. “You trim buds, but you don’t kill them off before they can bloom, do you?”

He understood now why he made it out with his life.

“You fight with that blade,” Mihawk said, though he posed it as a question. Hoku seemed to be considering whether or not he was worthy of an answer and he took no offense to this. He did not know of this woman’s skill, but he knew it existed. She had earned her rank and place. Her sword spoke to that.

“Not as much anymore,” Hoku said instead. “The two of us are a bit retired now and I definitely don’t take challenges like that monster. I’m more of an artist at heart.”

Mihawk had heard about that too. “But you craft.”

There was something pleased in her expression by his knowledge of this, though a touch wary. It made Mihawk a bit more interested himself. He turned, on his knees as he faced her with his hands on his lap.

“Yes,” Hoku said, a little warm. “I do.”

She tilted her head to the side for a moment, as though listening. “That’s a good sword. It kept you safe for now. It’ll do what it can to bring you as far as it can go.”

Mihawk touched his hilt and then looked at Hoku.He stared at her for a moment longer than he would have liked and then stood. Hoku blinked, curious as he remained standing before he promptly bowed to her.

“Thank you.”

And then Mihawk turned, a young man and his sword, and left.

Hoku watched him until he disappeared, a small, fond little huff escaping her lips.

“Told you there’s no point in talking to him,” a lazy voice called above her. Hoku didn’t even look, shrugging helplessly as heavy feet came to rest behind her. “Not much of a chatterbox.”

“Neither are you,” Hoku said. She rubbed the back of her neck, “Dunno. I just feel like you won’t see people like him often. He’s a bit cute. Like a stray, maybe?”

“You called that golden axe the other day cute too,” Zoro snorted. Hoku leaned back against his legs, rolling her shoulders and stretching her arms high as she relaxed. “Might have to give him a scar to remember next time.”

“Ah, you’re soft on him,” Hoku said. “You like him.”

“Brat’s gonna come for my head next time.”

“I dunno, can’t you guys trade titles in the future without chopping each other’s heads off?”

Zoro set a hand down on her head. His fingers splayed out and Hoku turned to look up at him.

“That eager for me to kick the bucket?”

“Oh, please,” Hoku mused, tipping her head into Zoro’s hand. Her humored her, leaving it there for now and curving his fingers below her chin. “I don’t plan on letting anyone take your head anytime soon.”

Hoku made a face. “I’m speaking for Luffy, not for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, get off your lazy ass. I need a coating.”

“I’ll charge you one day for all you owe me. Nami’s keeping track.”

- - - -

Shanks really was lucky.

He had felt good about this beach the moment his crew set anchor on the other side of the harbor. He and Buggy were racing to see who could find the biggest and best catch and bring it back to the ship by dawn–

And truly, this was without a doubt, the best catch.

He knew it was her in an instant. It’d been a little while and he’d only caught glimpses of her in the newspapers, her captain making headline after headline as the marines raced after him. But that moon-white hair, the slope of her shoulders hidden by a cloak and–

She was just sitting there, where the grass of the forest met the sand, her back to everything else as she seemed to watch the ocean a safe distance away. Shanks thought he must be dreaming at first or perhaps this island had a secret mirage.

But he caught sight of their ship, her ship. A legendary ship anchored several leagues away and knew–

It was fate.

Something curled in the pit of his stomach. His heart pumped blood fast and hot through his body, fueling liquid courage all the way down to his fingertips. He was a year older now. He was less lank more muscle. He was taller too, maybe even taller than her now, he’d like to think, though he never minded a tall woman, he fancied the idea of cupping his hand under that curved chin and raising it to his–

Shanks’ eyes landed on a heavy bough of flowers beside him. Pretty, bright red things. A smaller branch of silver flowers grew below it. He considered them both, teetered dangerously and cursed under his breath, snapping the branch of soft silver flowers clean.

He had to ease into this sort of thing after all. Coax her sweet so she wouldn’t slip off, make her a bit interested enough to stay.

Shanks ran a hand through his bright red hair and walked forward, lightly swinging the branch.

When he was only a little ways away, she seemed to finally register his approaching presence, as though he were a deer who’d broken away from a herd of things. She still faced away from him, tilting her head to the side as though listening curiously before she started to turn.

Shanks stopped as close as he dared for now, a few steps from her–and he kept in mind to treat kindly the fact that she let him get this close and that gave him hope–he dipped the branch low.

Those ocean eyes blinked, slow and curious, round at the bundle of flowers presented before her before looking up.

“I didn’t think there was treasure on this island,” Shanks said with a bright, sunny grin. “But it looks like I found some.”

“Brat,” Hoku said, pleasantly surprised. He withheld a wince at the name. “Huh, I guess Robin was right. This island is getting a little more popular now…”

“I think it was fate,” Shanks said. He shook the branch. Petals fell, dappling her hair and she looked up, amused at his antics. “Did you miss me?”

“I hardly thought about you at all,” Hoku said, a small smile on her lips. Shanks inched a step closer. “I thought we wouldn’t meet for ten more years.”

“I don’t think my heart could take such a thing,” Shanks crouched on the sand beside her. Hoku looked amused, watching him with vague curiosity. Her hair was a little longer and he’d fight to run his hands through it once.

“Too long for–” Shanks’ eyes dropped down and he stopped. He blinked, once, twice, and then a third time for good measure.

There, stretched out in the sand before her, was a youthful face. A face not much older than his own. A hardened face who Shanks recognized from the waves he was making. A face that was currently attached to a head that was very much resting on the soft and supple skin of Hoku’s thighs, fast asleep and–

Dracule Mihawk was sleeping on Hoku’s lap.

Shanks stared.

“Oh,” Hoku said, following his eyes. “He’s another rookie like you. Maybe you two have heard of each other–”

Shanks stared at Hoku as though she’d driven a knife right through his heart. His eyes went soft, staring at her in his best, most charming sense of a puppy-dog face. Hoku stared at him with round eyes, blinking. “What’s that look for? All I said was–”

As though summoned, Mihawks’ eyes finally slid open. Shanks gaped at him. Hoku looked down. The young swordsman seemed to consider several things for a moment before promptly he sat up–to Shanks’ relief–and turned to Hoku.

“He developed an even stronger technique,” Mihawk said.

“Oh, you noticed,” Hoku grinned. “He never stops advancing, you know. You’ll have to run to even get close to catching up.”

Mihawk’s golden eyes flickered before he nodded. He moved, standing up and Hoku let her hands fall into her lap. Shanks continued to gape.

“What’s the matter with you?” Soft fingers tapped the side of his face and Shanks’ head jerked to the side. His cheek connected with Hoku’s warm palm, ocean eyes curious as she watched him. “You seemed confident as a lion just a moment ago–”

“I wasn’t aware you two were acquainted,” Shanks said, a wide, quick grin curling on his lips. He flashed Mihawk a sharp look who simply stared blankly back at him in return. Hoku moved to pull her hand away and Shanks quickly reached up, cupping his hand over hers.

Hoku arched a brow.

“Lovely dove,” Shanks said, voice a little low, eyes a little pleading, expression soft. His fingers moved lightly over the back of her hand in a way he hoped was distracting. “What do I have to do to be spoiled like that?”

Hoku blinked. She seemed confused by his question for a moment before something must have clicked and then she laughed. Shanks’ eyes went half lidded at the sound and Mihawk raised a brow at the redhead’s expression.

“Challenge the greatest swordsman alive,” Hoku said, eyes a little wild. “And we’ll see what happens.”

Maybe I should play a little sick next time. Shanks wondered. I wouldn’t mind being spoiled like that–

“And you should really just let me coat your sword for you,” Hoku said, ignoring Shanks and pulling her hand away. He pouted at the loss and Hoku faced a calm Mihawk. “I promise it’ll help–”

“I’m not good enough to have you coat for me,” Mihawk said simply. “Not yet.”

Shanks huffed, “Dove, I’d gladly let you do anything to or for me–”

Shanks stopped.

He was fairly certain his heart might’ve too.

Red, soft, flush red colored her cheeks. Hoku’s eyes were a little wide, almost soft at Mihawk’s words. She looked hopelessly embarrassed, flushing in pride at the praise as she reached up and placed a hand over her face as though to hide the entire view, crumpling a bit.

“You can’t just going saying things like that,” Hoku said, sheepish and soft. “Really now–”

Shanks wanted that face engraved to memory. He wanted that face to be made because of him. He wanted it under his fingertips. He wanted it, begged for it beside him. He wanted to see it color darker, a little more flushed, eyes soft on him and his hands running low and pushing, playing, trying to see how much more he could–

Shanks paused. Maybe this time Buggy was right and a little bit of that passion was bleeding a bit toward somewhere else.

“HOOOKKKKKUUUUUU!” Shanks and Mihawk froze, the loud, resounding voice boomed across mountains, echoing blaringly clear. “WHEEEEEERREEE ARRREEEE YOOOUUUU?”

They both looked to each other, realization coloring their faces as to who the voice belonged to and–

Without another word, Hoku stood. Her head turned toward the sound of her name, at her call, eyes warm, the expression on her face–

Something Shanks wasn’t sure he knew how he ought to feel about. It reminded him of her moment with Zoro. A simple call of her name and yet–

Something too far for him to ever grasp. Something that shouldn’t be touched. Something he couldn’t touch.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, brat,” Hoku grinned at Shanks, holding a silver flower up. Shanks blinked in realization. “Thanks for the flowers.”

Turning to Mihawk she added over her shoulder, “Rest up. See you again, Mihawk.”

She beamed at the two of them and promptly set off, never once looking back as she followed the continued calls of her name, hurrying maybe just a bit.

…

“Alright, spill it you sly dog. What did you do and what did you say to get her to treat you like that?” Shanks nearly pulled tufts of red out. “You were in her lap! Her lap, you dog! And that face–do you understand how cute she is?”

Mihawk stared at him as one would a bug.

“Who are you?”

- they’ll all meet again

#memos #Hoku #Shanks #memos au #young!shanks #older!hoku #young!mihawk #Mihawk #Shanks x Oc #ShaKu #MiKu #Zoro #monkey d luffy #pirate king luffy

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divineluce · 4 years

Text

A Fae-ted Encounter || Athena & Luce

Timing: Monday, September 14th

Location: The woods outside White Crest

Tagging: @athenaquinn & @divineluce

Summary: Athena and Luce meet up for a morning run that quickly goes awry.

Athena had not necessarily expected to hang out with Luce outside of the whole getting a tattoo experience, no matter how much she had found their conversation to be enjoyable. So when Luce had mentioned a love for going for runs, Athena jumped at the chance. She found getting out and exercising to provide a certain thrill only matched by an especially good hunt or a particularly engaging textbook. It was early - just before six a.m., and the smell of the forest was calming. She began to stretch while she waited for Luce - and the feeling of her knives against her hips was comforting, as always. It was the easiest place to keep them during a run, since her running shoes didn’t provide a great deal of coverage. Particularly not as far as weaponry was considered. She had always been one to have a desire to be prepared, and this guaranteed that. Finishing up a second round of stretches, she looked up to see Luce approaching. “Hey! How’s it going this morning? Glad we were able to find the time to go for a run.”

No one ever talked about how much stress fucked with your sleep schedule. Luce was no stranger to sleepless nights, but it seemed like more often than not, she was stuck staring up at the ceiling of her room or drawing designs until her wrists ached and the sun had begun to break through the blinds of her window. Which was why she was going for a run now-- coffee could only do so much and fuck, going for a run with one of the kids she tattooed? She’d done weirder. Parking her 4x4 alongside the road, Luce stretched briefly against the side of her car before jogging towards the place they’d agreed on meeting up. It was a familiar trailhead to her, one of the many she frequented. “It’s going, it’s going. Nothing like a run to get things going though.” Luce said with a nod, tying her long hair back up in a ponytail. “Yeah, for sure. I haven’t run with a partner in a while, so it might take me a minute to match pace.” She warned, and tilted her head at the woods. “Let’s hit the trails, huh?” She grinned before setting off at a light jogging pace, just to get the blood pumping.

“I agree completely!” Perhaps her voice held just slightly too much enthusiasm, but Athena found that she didn’t care all too much. Not to mention, that sort of behavior was likely exactly what Luce might have expected, given what she did know about her. “Not a worry, I have a few friends I run with sometimes, but I’m flexible.” She flashed the woman a grin, carefully observing her. This was an entirely different context from the last time that the two of them had hung out, and she was curious if Luce’s behavior would change in any way. She didn’t so much mind whether or not it did, she’d found her to be pleasant to talk to both in person and online, and more people to go for runs with was never a bad thing. “Let’s go!” Athena nodded, matching Luce’s pace. “Do you have a favorite trail or spot to go running? I know that I sometimes will change it up, but I think that’s carryover from sometimes not wanting to ever sit still as a kid. As much as I can deeply concentrate, I also have a need to move and see different things. Despite being small, this town does manage to provide that. On a tangential note, I hope we don’t see any moose today. That’s not a fun time on a hike.”

Raising an eyebrow at the girl’s tone, Luce decided to take it in stride. Literally, she grinned to herself at the idea. As they began to run through the woods, she kept her strides nice and measured, really focusing on just letting her muscles move, the blood to flow. It wasn’t as hot as it had been in the middle of July, thank fuck, but her natural body temperature made running in the summer a bitch. As she ran alongside the girl, Luce was reminded why she didn’t typically run with other people. People liked to talk. people liked to chatter and make small talk and she just… didn’t give a shit about it. She barely gave a shit when she was at work. But, hopefully talking more would help her stay awake. “Eh, mostly just the places around my cabin because it was closest and most convenient to me. But, there are a couple places in the national park that are pretty. There’s a cool trail that leads into a whole field of wildflowers-- it’s best in the spring, but still. Not a bad spot year round.” Luce lengthened her stride a bit, picking up the pace as they wound through the woods. “Oh, fuck no. I’m so not down for a moose run in.” She said with a shake of her head. Her silver knuckledusters were tucked into the discreet pocket in the waistband of her leggings, but those wouldn’t be enough to stop a moose, not at all. She’d just be hightailing it up the nearest tree if they ran into one.

She hadn’t doubted the woman when the two of them had discussed going for a run, but Athena was pleased to see that the woman kept up with her - was arguably a better runner than she was in some ways, though she was not too keen to admit that just yet, if at all. “That makes sense. I run on Harris Island a lot too for much of the same reason - it’s home for me, and though not the woods, it does provide wide and open space to go. Though sometimes I go through town.” Sometimes, and she’d run into banshee screams on more than one occasion. She wasn’t going to focus on that right now, though. “That sounds wonderful! Not sure if I’ve been on that trail before, but it sounds like a good place to go.” The two of them continued to make their way through the forest and Athena had to hold back a small giggle at Luce’s remark about the moose. “Though I’m not always opposed to them, they certainly are not on my ‘must see’ list ever.” There was a bit of an incline as the two of them continued through the forest, the morning air cool and calming - which was one of the number of reasons why she enjoyed this time of day as much as she did.

“Harris Island, huh? Too bougie for me.” Luce said, as they continued along the forest trail. Sure, Harris Island was pretty, but she hadn’t been back there since she’d dealt with… August. And Lydia. Her expression turned dour at the memory. That fucking bitch. She’d sworn her to silence about what they’d done, bound her, like she’d bound August. Fuck. “I’m not a big fan of the mega mansions they’ve got chilling out there. The Common’s not a bad place to run around town, though.” She added. As they made their way through the woods, Luce focused on her breathing, making sure to keep it nice and smooth. This particular trail was just a quick 1.5 mile loop, but she was still feeling the effects of her sleepless night. If she’d been in better shape, if she’d been less tired, she might have noticed the rustling in the bushes, the way the birds seem to quiet around them. But, as it was, she just kept running.

“I mean, I still live with my parents. You are not wrong about it being a bit bougie, though I like being right near the ocean.” Athena shrugged. “I guess I’m used to it too.” She noted Luce’s change in expression and fiddled with the end of her hair for a moment, giving a small murmur of agreement at her words. “Oh yeah, The Common’s great!” When there’s no fae flocking around, but she kept those thoughts to herself. They were making their way steadily around the trail when Athena all of a sudden felt a shiver run up and down her arms as she skidded to a halt. So much for fae not ruining the hike. She turned to look at Luce, before looking back at the bushes, a rustling sound becoming more and more clear before she could spot ears. Shit. “We might have a bit of a problem.” She took in a deep breath, focusing her attention. The iron cold on her hip.

“Nice. Must be lucky living out home.” Luce remarked, the comment sounding offhand. But, a part of her meant it. The recent wound of her mother, turning her back on the three of them, was still raw, still open and painful. She hated her mother for what she’d done to them, hated her father for never standing up for them, but she couldn’t shake the sadness that came with losing them. She shouldn’t feel so fucked up about it. She didn’t regret what she’d done. She’d done what was right. Even if it came at the cost of unclean hands and of losing the people she loved most. Before she could get too in her feelings about it all, Athena came to an abrupt halt. Taken off guard, Luce stumbled to a stop but managed to right herself. “What? What’s up?” She asked, looking at the trees around them.

“I am lucky, but I also love my family, so I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” Athena shrugged. She wouldn’t, would she? Shaking any sort of thought like that out of her mind, she refocused herself on what was actually going on. Namely, the giant gosh darned fae-dog that was just off in the bushes. “Don’t move.” She gave a small nod, the creature standing up now. “It’s a - well. It’s not a normal dog.” Cù-sìth, she thought, her mind whirring as it often did, as she’d been trained to do. “You see that, right? Large dog. Very quiet.” She huffed. It might not be quiet for long.

“That’s more than fair, for sure.” Luce nodded in agreement. After all, family was why she still lived at Bea’s. She could be back at her cabin, she could be staying there right now in fact. But, since they’d been cast out of the coven… there was a part of her-- a part of her that she refused to show to her sisters-- that wanted to keep what remained of her family close. All of those thoughts were pushed out of her mind at the girl’s words. Scanning the woods around them, Luce’s eyes fell on the giant dog that was lurking in the bushes. It wasn’t a wolf, so not a werewolf, but she wasn’t exactly familiar with every beast that ran around the woods. “Yeah, I see it.” She said, her hands resting on the waistband of her leggings, feeling the curve of the metal tucked in her pocket. “What’s the plan? Back away slowly?”

She didn’t know how much Luce knew. Athena remembered that the woman had grown up in this town, but she also knew that none of that guaranteed knowledge of anything. It made her job both easier and more difficult, but right now she wasn’t going to focus on anything but Luce and getting her to safety. “Good.” She nodded. “That’s - backing away is good, but these - they’re real fast when they want to be. Might not look it, but they are. Can be.” The cold iron of her knife was incredibly appealing but she couldn’t bring it out just yet. “You - we don’t want it to howl.” She whispered to Luce, taking another few steps towards the woman. “That’s not good. It’s - their howls aren’t normal.” She looked over at her. Athena knew that she’d be fine, but as fae as she was aware, Luce wasn’t a warden. “They are not the friendliest of dogs.”

As she stared at the creature, Luce was able to see that there the “dog’s” fur was green, with tufts of what looked like grass sticking out in clumps. “Is there any reason why this thing looks like a Husky fucked a hedge?” She hissed, as she tried to back away from the dog while discreetly pulling the knuckleduster from her pocket. But, her leggings were just a bit too tight and the weapon remained stubbornly tucked in her waistband. Christ. A dummy thicc joke went through her mind briefly, but it was quickly pushed out of her mind as the creature began to stalk towards them, hackles raised. “What do you mean their howls aren’t normal?” She asked, but before the girl could answer, the dog was already opening its mouth, a horrific howl coming from its maw. Instantly, Luce went to her knees, clasping her hands over her ears, but that couldn’t keep the bellowing sound that had already pierced her skull.

“Because it’s one of the worst kinds of dogs you could ever see.” Athena admittedly had to smirk just slightly at Luce’s comment. Well, if that was anything to go off of, then perhaps she would have an easier time convincing her that this thing would be better off dead. “I mean that -” before she could respond, the creature had howled and though Athena knew it would have no sort of effect on her, Luce wouldn’t be so lucky. “We’ve got ten minutes max until it might howl again. Sometimes - there’s some ways or cases when people die after three howls.” She knew that she was talking faster than normal but she had to get all of the information to Luce as best as she could. “You - it’s going to make you feel afraid, but that’s okay. It’s - well,” she pulled one of her iron daggers out of its resting place against her hip. “I might have a solution. It is the only way to deal with this. It could do a lot of harm to those in town if we let it get away.”

The howl was the worst thing she’d ever heard-- and Luce had sat through more shitty fucking local bands at Soul than she wanted to admit. Fuck. It was as though her blood had gone cold, while at the same time, her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her goddamn chest. Fear, the overwhelming sensation of dread, of terror, of the urge to run as fast and as far as her feet could take her from that thing filled her chest. “F-Fuck!” Luce managed as her hands fell to the earth, clawing at the dirt. Heart pounding, eyes daring wildly, she stared up at the girl with unseeing eyes, too overwhelmed by sheer terror to do much more than stare. But, she saw a flash of metal, a knife. Was she going to hurt her too? Was she going to attack her like that fucking hedge husky? Fuck. Blue flames ignited in the dirt around her hands, a reflex, a means to protecting herself, even as the fear clung to her.

This wasn’t her fault, but some part of her thought that maybe she should have been more careful. Athena glanced between the cù sìth and Luce. Luce, who now had flames around her fingertips. Spellcaster? Or something else, Athena wasn’t quite sure at first. Holding the knife out toward the dog, she knelt down next to Luce, careful not to touch the other woman. “That thing over there causes fear. It’s doing this to you on purpose.” She wasn’t certain if Luce would even fully understand what was going on, but she needed the woman to know that she wasn’t going to hurt her, but that this creature was going to do a lot of harm if one of them didn’t get rid of it. “Fire might not do much, though it is a good idea,” she said, trying to keep her voice as even as possible.

Luce’s gulped in air, taking it in with rapid, panting breaths. The thing, she couldn’t see it, couldn’t tell where it had disappeared in the brush around them. She wanted to wrap herself in flames, protect herself from that thing. Its howl still rang in her ears as her fingers dug deeper into the earth, as though the gesture would ground her and keep her safe. As she struggled to control herself, Luce was able to catch the snippets of words-- Athena, Luce remembered her name through the oppressive waves of fear. It wasn’t just dread, the lingering howl rattled in her mind and she could hear voices. Screaming, in pain, begging for something to end. Bea. Nell. Ulf. Remmy. Nadia. Morgan. “No. No, no, no, no, no.” She said, curling up in on herself as she tried to ignore it. But, the flames around her grew, blue tongues curling around her arms now.

The woman was having an anxiety attack of some sort. Or at least that was what it seemed like to Athena. “Look. I’m not going to hurt you.” She didn’t know how much of what she was saying was getting through to Luce, so she kept repeating it, in different ways. They didn’t have much time to act. “Will that keep you safe?” She queried, looking down at the fire. For a brief flash of a moment, she found herself wishing that she could give the other woman some immunity to the creature just like she had. But if that wasn’t possible, ridding the world of it was the next best thing. “I can make this stop, if you’d like. I can - your fire might be able to help too.” Her voice held a certain sort of gentleness that surprised even her, but if that was what it took, she would gladly comply. “One blow to a major organ of that thing using my knife and we’ll be free. It won’t hurt you or anyone else.”

Dimly, Luce could see the way that the girl looked at the fire that was winding up her forearms, coiling like snakes around her biceps. “Y-yeah.” She managed, doing her best to try and calm herself. Her heart was still racing, her breathing still too quick. Her head felt strange, like it was going to fucking… pop off or something. Christ. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck that dog and it’s fucked up howl. Gritting her teeth, Luce staggered to her feet and looked at Athena. “How? And… why aren’t you..?” Her voice trailed off as she gestured to herself. The girl hadn’t even missed a beat when the creature had howled. How?

She wasn’t supposed to tell others what she was. That was practically a cardinal rule back home, but she knew she’d messed that rule up a number of times, be it on purpose or on accident. But she knew what Luce was, or had some sort of idea, and it was only fair for Luce to know what Athena was, too. “I’m a warden. I would appreciate it if you kept that to yourself, but that’s why it is not doing anything to me. It is a form of fae, but it is going to do a lot of harm if we don’t take care of it as soon as possible.” She looked over at Luce. “Your reaction is normal for anyone who isn’t fae and isn’t a warden. We need to deal with it… soon. It’ll likely howl again soon, and that’s not good for anyone.”

As the girl explained just why she was able to withstand the fucked dog’s howl, Luce’s eyes widened. A Warden? That was some kind of hunter, right? She had no idea that there were specific hunters that went after different shit, but sure, that worked. She could roll with that, as long as Athena could fucking handle it. “Okay. Okay. W-what can I do to help?” She asked, hating the way her voice stammered with fear. She was better than this, she was fucking better than this. Clenching her fists, she did her best to rein in the flames a bit, just to keep them away from the girl. She doubted that wardens were fireproof. “I can… set fire to things. Or blow shit up. But I don’t know where it is.” She said, her eyes darting around the forest around them.

“If you want to keep it trapped, that might do us both a lot of good.” Athena bit her lip. She looked over at Luce carefully. Even if she was one to sometimes rush into things, even she could tell that right now was not the time for that. “We don’t want it escaping, but maybe blocking it so that it’s got no choice but to come towards me. That could help.” She analyzed the scene around them quickly - doing her best to take in as much of it as she could. Doing her best to think a few steps ahead. “Setting fire is good.” She glanced around them. “I think…” she closed her eyes for a moment, letting her skin feel cold. Doing her best to embrace the feeling. “It’s by those trees,” she said, upon opening her eyes. “I can see its tail.”

Swallowing, Luce shook her head in an attempt to get the ringing out of her ears. She could light shit on fire. That was all she was good for and she sure as shit wasn’t going to stop doing it now. Glancing over at the girl, she frowned when she saw that Athena’s eyes were closed. What the fuck..? Some kinda fucking Spidey-Sense bullshit? Hunter stuff? Whatever, as long as it worked, she wasn’t going to argue with it. Flicking her fingers in the direction Athena had told her, the trails of flame flew from her arms and slithered across the ground. The twin snakes of blue ignited the brush around them, sending fire and smoke into the air as Luce directed the magic to create a circle around the beast. “W-what now?” She managed as she brought one of her hands up with a grasping motion, sending the blue flames up into the air. Her fire, it was flickering, not as powerful as it usually was, and it took every effort to keep her grasp on her magic.

“If you can help.” Athena repeated. “If you can help at all, we can corral this thing and we can be rid of it.” She ran her fingertips along the knife, savoring the feeling of the cold iron. Just like always. It was comforting, though she knew well enough not to voice that to anyone. She was good at playing the part of normal, and even though Luce clearly knew something was up now, she didn’t have to act in the same way that she could act at home. In fact, Athena was acutely aware of just how much she shouldn’t act that way. Luce, though she clearly had some powers of her own, was still human, and that meant Athena had to do her best to protect her. To make sure she was safe and well. “It’ll be quick after that. I’m good and I’m fast, and then you won’t be afraid anymore.”

Gritting her teeth, Luce nodded. “I can do that. I can… do that.” She managed, though the words were more to reassure herself than Athena. Sucking in a deep breath, she nodded as the beast began to snap and bite at the flames, as though it was testing the boundary. She urged the magic forward, feeding the flames with power that made them rise higher into the air, their cobalt tongues dancing among the brush. The creature let out a yelp and scampered back into the center of the circle, its tail low and hackles raised as it spun around, searching for a way out. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.” She growled, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hold this for very long. Her magic was intrinsically tied into her emotions and fear like this, the primal urge to run? It made wielding the flames incredibly draining.

Although Luce was clearly terrified, Athena had to appreciate how willing she was to jump right into action. She made a mental note of that - for the future, at least - one never knew when something like that could come in handy. Right now was not the time to focus on the future - right now she had to focus on getting rid of this thing. Whatever Luce was doing was working, and Athena let a breath out. “On it.” She said, and under any other circumstance she would have flashed a grin towards Luce, but the other woman likely wouldn’t respond to that right now, and so she kept it internal, her face professional. She took off toward the creature, permitting a smirk to cross her face as she came closer. “You can’t hurt me.” She giggled. “You can’t do anything to me.” The creature stood by her. It had been just over eight minutes, which meant it might howl again at any point. She had to stop it before that happened. “I can, however, do a whole lot to you.” She held tightly onto her knife before digging it into the creature’s chest, praying that she hit a vital organ, and grinning when it collapsed onto the ground. Turning around, she rushed back over to Luce. “It’s gone now. It’s not going to hurt you. Or anyone.”

Keeping the circle of fire going without letting it burn the girl was hard, harder than Luce wanted to admit. But, she was going to make sure that fucking terror hound was gone. And if Athena said she could deal with it, she’d believe her. Just send in the blonde kid with a knife, no big deal. She watched as the girl circled the creature, stance just as predatory, before darting forward and plunging the knife into its chest. And then, it was over. Like that. Releasing her hold on the magic that was straining from her grasp, Luce let out a sigh and slumped back down on the ground. The howl, that fucking howl, it still had her messed up. But at least it was dead. “Nice.” She managed, wiping the sweat from her brow with a weary hand. “Fuck.” Luce muttered with a shake of her head. “Thanks for that.” She said not really sure what else she was meant to say. Thanks for shanking a fucked up dog? Thanks for being chill with the whole fire thing? Whatever.

She was hesitant to touch Luce, and so Athena instead settled for kneeling next to the woman, making sure that she was still breathing. The cù-sìth was dealt with, she didn’t have to worry about it surprise-attacking them. “Thank you. I - well, I don’t usually lose if I put my mind to anything. Be it something like this or an exam.” She wasn’t sure that her attempt to lighten the mood would have the intended effect, but so long as the thing was dealt with and Luce was alive, that was all that mattered. She found herself relieved that Luce also didn’t seem opposed to her hobby. “Oh - yeah, of course. It’s what I do.” She pulled her knees up against her chest and looked over to Luce. “We should get you home, probably. It’s - well, the - that cù-sìth is gone now. It’s - you’ll be alright.” She offered her a small smile. “I appreciate all the help you provided too. Nice team up, if a bit unexpected. Certainly not how all of my runs end.”

Not the type to lose, a perfectionist, huh? She sounded like Bea. Luce shook her hands out, dusting some of the dirt from her palms. Or… well, how Bea had used to sound. Her sister hadn’t been the same since everything that had happened. “Well, sounds like I lucked out big time.” She said and sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. She was absolutely wiped and it was only what… fucking 8? Christ. She still had work, still had appointments to keep. “Yeah, thanks. I need a big ass coffee, but I think I’ll be good after that.” Luce nodded. “No problem. Obviously, I’m not a hunter-- witch, duh-- but I’m not a fan of shit like that kicking it in the woods. I’m happy to help.” She said, before letting out a wry laugh. “Definitely not how they tend to go. Either way… thanks, Athena.” She said offering a slight wave of her hand before heading back to her car. Who’d have fucking thought? The semi-neurotic blonde who’d stepped into Ink Inc, a hunter? Whatever. She’d heard of weirder shit. And at the moment, she didn’t really care to question it, not when the girl had saved her from getting turned into dog food. But still… Who’d have thought?

#p: afe #p: athena quinn #wickedswriting #chatzy

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

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The Cat’s Meow - Jumin Han x Fem!Reader Bonus

I tried SO HARD to keep this to a decent length, but I can not. So suffer! But I love this bonus chapter so much I’m smiling just thinking about it.

Bonus: The Cat’s Meow

“Are you serious?”

“I’m sorry, love, but this is important for partnering with the cat furniture company.”

I heave a sigh, sitting on the bed. “So how long is it going to take? Remember, we have that get together with the SC tonight.”

“I know. I promise I’ll be done before then, but I have no idea when.”

I flop onto my back, grumbling, “You mean I probably won’t get to see you all day.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“No. The last time you tried to make it up to me, I had to convince you not to buy another private island and I’m not having that argument with you again,” I scoff. “Just do what you need ot do. I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

“Thank you, love. I’ll talk to you when I can. I love you.”

“Love you too.”With that, the call disconnects. I stare at the ceiling and contemplate what I’m going to do all day by myself.

Things have been going pretty smoothly since we started officially dating. Jumin, Jaehee, and Zen have taught me how to fend off the paparazzi and Jumin’s father has finally come around to accepting our relationship. We even moved in together. It took several months of Jumin agonizing over his own beliefs of living together before marriage, but he eventually caved and asked me to move in with him. Watching the moral struggle was amusing. I only wish his work could be just a little more predictable.

Just as I finish putting the dishes away, I get a message. Jaehee wants me to join her and Yoosung shopping. Seeing as my day has been cleared, I agree and meet the two in the shopping part of town. We wander around for a while until we end up in a higher-end store. As we go, my eye catches a very pretty purple dress.

“Hey, how’s this one?” Yoosung asks, holding up a gray, pinstripe vest.

“Oh, that would go well with your blue jacket,” Jaehee hums.

“What do you think, _____?”

I smile. “It’s nice. You should try it on.” He takes the vest and heads for the changing room and Jaehee gives me a smile. “What?”

Her eyes shift to the dress. “It’s very pretty, isn’t it.” I’d been caught and now I’m worried she’ll tell Jumin on me. “You should try it on.”

“I don’t know about that,” I chuckle nervously. “I’ve got plenty of outfits.”

“Oh go on,” she urges. “It suits you so well. And I’m sure Mr. Han would love it.”

I put a hand to my chest. “Are you threatening me?”

Her eyes roll. “Go on. Just try it on.”

“Fine, fine,” I sigh.

I really hate to admit it, but Jaehee’s got me pinned; I love the dress. The fabric crosses over the torso, creating sleeves that sit just off the shoulder, and it reaches just above the ankles with the A-line skirt, and I’m in love with the royal purple color.

“Show us!” Yoosung calls from outside the changing room.

Embarrassed, I step out of the changing room. “I hate you so much, Jaehee.”

She seems none perturbed. “You look stunning.”

“It’s so pretty,” awes the blonde.

I put my hands to my face. “You guys are absolutely terrible.”

“You have to get it,” the woman encourages.

“I don’t know…”

Needless to say, the two pester me into buying the dress and a pair of silver sandals to go with them. While I leave sulking, I’m excited to show Jumin.

My phone meows mischievously. “Huh? What’s Saeyoung want?”

‘Toy Master incoming!’

“What does that-” Before I finish my question, a heavy force slams into me.

“Impact!”

I look up at the man hugging me who’s got the cheesiest grin on his face. “Saeyoung! What are you doing here?!”

He releases me to stuff his hands in his pockets. “We went and got lunch,” he hums, pointing to his brother catching up. “But now we’re gonna go get ready for the party.”

I check my phone. “Now? The party’s not for another five hours…”

“Yes, but Saeyoung procrastinates everything,” grumbles Saeran, giving his brother a scolding look. “And V asked us to help him with the decorating.”

Saeyoung slings an arm around my shoulder again. “It looks like you’ve all got new clothes for this shindig! Why don’t we all have a pre-party party at our house?!”

“Sorry, but I promised my guild we’d run a few dungeons before the party,” Yoosung replies.

Jaehee sighs, “And I’m afraid I have prior commitments as well.”

“Oooooh! Lame!” Those golden eyes turn to me with hope. “_____?”

Jumin still hasn’t contacted me saying he’ll be off work any time soon. “Sure. Why not.”

“Yahoo! Let’s party!”

“Big mistake,” mumbles Saeran.

From there, I bid Jaehee and Yoosung bye and follow the red-heads back to their place. Just as I flop onto the sofa, Saeyoung lunges for the bag in my hand.“Hey hey! Show us that dress you got!”

“What?” I laugh.

“Yeah! Go put it on! I wanna see it!” His eyebrows wiggle. “Unless you don’t mind me trying it on?”

I jerk the bag away. “No! Knowing my luck, you’d look better in it than I do! And I am not having that image haunting me tonight!”

“Later then!”

I look to Saeran who gives me an ‘I told you so’ look. The red-head begs and begs until I just throw my hands up and give in. For the second time today, I pull on the dress. When I step outside the bathroom, Saeran’s mouth drips ice cream on his shirt and Saeyoung trips mid-step.

A bit pleased with my inadvertent revenge, I smooth out the skirt. “Maybe wearing this tonight will end in a trip to the hospital.”

“Wow! You look great!” Saeyoung shouts, sitting up.

Saeran drags a sleeve across his mouth. “That’s a nice color on you.”

“Ohohoh!” At the speed of light, Saeyoung bolts out of the room and down the hall. Saeran and I stare in confusion until he races back with multiple boxes in his arms. He dumps them on the desk and waves wildly at his chair. “Sit sit sit!”

“Okay okay okay,” I laugh, thoroughly confused but not wanting to find out what happens if I refuse.

Saeyoung cracks open one of the boxes and my jaws drops. He’s got more make up in one box than I’ve had in my entire life.

“Wait! Hold on! I didn’t-”

He grabs my hands, giving me the biggest puppy eyes I’ve ever seen. “Please _____! Let me do your make up! It’s one of my top ten dreams!”

“Your dream is to do my make up?”

“YES!”

As if he knows it’ll make it worse, he pulls off his glasses and continues begging. There was no hope for me. “Fine.”

Saeyoung literally does a victory lap around the house.

Saeran leans closer to me. “You know he’s not gonna stop at makeup, right?” I glance up at him. “He’s got an entire closet full of wigs.”

“Oh no…”

Saeyoung plucks, pads, and pokes at my face while Saeran gives his input. I shoot him a glare when he’s the first to comment what hairstyle would work best. His response is a smug smirk. To my dismay, Saeyoung delves into styling my hair as well. At least he makes Saeran paint all my nails for me. In the end, I’m really impressed at just how good Saeyoung is at this kind of stuff.

“Tadaaaa!”

I nearly stop breathing. It’s perfect; all of it. I could rival Zen. “Saeyoung, I will never in my life ask anyone to do my hair and make up for me again. This is amazing!”

“Of course! Nothing but perfection in my work! And for you, all I charge is kitty pats!”

“As long as you don’t tell Jumin I let you come over, we have a deal.”

“Good,” mumbles Saeran. “Then maybe I can have some peace around here.”

Saeyoung gasps dramatically. “But Sae! Don’t you love your big brother?!” He tries to hug the grump, but the grump resists.

“Nobody can deal with your antics all the time!” Unable to hold off his brother, Saeran goes down, dragging Saeyoung with him. “Get off me!”

“Not until you admit you love me!”

“No!”

“Say it!”

“NO!”

The doorbell rings but obviously the two are not going to answer it. Dancing around them, I pull the door open to see the actor and the photographer.

“Oh hey, __-Wow!” Zen’s eyes go wide. “Damn, that trust-fund-kid is a lucky jerk.”

I giggle and V offers a smile. “You do look lovely, _____.”

“Why thank you,” I hum. “So what brings you into our world of chaos?”

He glances past me into the Choi home. “Well…Saeyoung and Saeran were supposed to come with us to help set up but…I see Saeyoung is procrastinating again.”

“He certainly didn’t procrastinate in attacking me,” I retort, looking back at the boys rolling across the floor. “But I honestly don’t know what you were expecting.”

“Well, guess it’s just us,” Zen says. “Wanna come help?”

I glance back again and decide I should get out of here for now. “Yeah. Sure.” I pick up my bag of clothes and purse. “Sae. Saeyoung. I’m gonna go with Zen and V.”

“See you at the party!” Saeyoung calls, pinning Saeran down. “Say you love me!”

“NEVER!”

Rolling my eyes, I close the door and go with V and Zen to the party location. It’s a small, but very fancy place with a gorgeous garden in the back. The men roll out a few tables while I hang up a banner and some streamers. Because it really is a small party for just the charity members, we aren’t going crazy with the set up.

I lean back. “How does that look? Is it even?”

“It’s perfect. Nice job, doc,” Zen compliments.

He holds the ladder while I let myself down and V calls out to us. “I think we’re almost done. Why don’t we take a break? _____, can I borrow you for a bit?”

I glance to Zen and shrug. We amble towards V and he waves to the door out to the garden. “What’s up?”

“I was hoping you’d be my model for a bit,” V asks sheepishly.

“What?”

“You look amazing and the flowers would be a beautiful background and-”

“He’s an artist. He’s going to be pining to take your picture all night,” chuckles Zen, further instigating V’s awkwardness.

I let slip a nervous laugh. “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer the god that is Zen?”

The photographer’s hand goes to the back of his neck. “I’ve got plenty of pictures of Zen and I’m looking for more of a feminine touch.”

“Zen wears more make up than I do!”

Zen doesn’t seem offended at all. “It’s probably true.”

“Please, _____?”

“I have ino dea how to be a model.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m a professional.”

“Okay,” I sigh. “What do you want me to do?”

V ushers me into the garden and starts having a field day. Zen tags along with his suggestions or just to pull my attention away from the camera and make it more casual for me. I admit that it’s actually quite a lot of fun, especially with friends to take the edge off the awkwardness.

“And then that rich kid began critiquing Yoosung’s cosplay of him!”

I’m almost crying from laughter. “Are you serious?! Why have I not heard this story before?!”

“Because Yoosung’s ashamed of his drunken adventure. Don’t tell him I told you.”

“Oh you are screwed, buddy.”

V approaches, looking at his camera happily. “Okay. I think I’ve got enough pictures.”

“You ran out of memory, didn’t you,” I question.

“…Maybe.”

I laugh. “I’m happy to have been your model but…you’re not going to display those, are you? Like…publicly?”

He cautiously moves his camera further away from me. “I am.”

“What?! Nonononononono!” The man is easily taller than I am and simply holds the camera above my head. “This is not fair! I was not warned of public use beforehand!”

“What’s wrong, _____?” he replies in amusement. “You look wonderful and I’d never show an embarrassing photo of you…Unless Jumin asks.”

“V! I will take you out by the shins! I-” My phone meows. Pulling it from my dress, I see my boyfriend calling. Instantly, I put it on speaker-phone. “Jumin! V is being a bully!”

“A bully? That doesn’t sound like V,” he replies. I can already tell he’s entertained but I’m still going to stick to my point.

“He took pictures of me and says he’s going to make them public!”

“My love, you are gorgeous, always. And he’s a professional. What could it hurt? Don’t you trust V?”

“Yes, don’t you trust me?” teases the criminal. I stick my tongue out at him.

Jumin goes on, “I’m sure V will be respectful in displaying photos. You’ll be fine.”

“You guys are rude,” I grumble.

“I’m on my way home now. I suppose you’re not?”

“No, I got kidnapped consecutively. But I don’t wanna be picked on anymore, so I’ll meet you at home.”He agrees and I bid the men goodbye to call a taxi.

Jumin beat me to the penthouse but I did not expect him to greet me with a surprise. He’s waiting with a beautiful bouquet of roses in hand. His casual expression softens and he looks like he could melt.

“You’re breath-taking,” he hums softly.

“Oh sweetheart.”

He passes the flowers to me. “I got these for you. Since I’m not allowed to buy private islands anymore,” he ends teasingly. A sweet, loving kiss with just a hint of hunger makes my knees weak, even after all this time. “Though I must admit that they are nothing compared to you.”

“Stop,” I laugh. “You really didn’t have to.”

“Of course I did.” He steals another kiss. “I missed spending the day with you.”

“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to be lazy later.”

We kill a little time, feed the cats dinner, and are heading out again before long. Upon arrival, Jumin and I appear to be the last ones there and the party starts. Everyone’s normally a bit lively, but there seems to be a bit more static in the air tonight. Nevertheless, I can’t help admiring my friends, the people I love. I get in on the antics and enjoy the night with them.

“Hey hey! Didn’t V have some surprise for us?” Saeyoung announce, easily shifting everyone’s attention to the unprepared man.

He gives a modest laugh. “Well, I did prepare a video for you all.”

“Is that what the projector’s for?” Yoosung asks. I hadn’t even noticed the machine in the corner earlier.

“Yes. I wanted to share some memories with everyone.”

“Please don’t tell me my cosplay of Jumin is in there,” sighs Yoosung.

I start giggling and he glares at Zen while Jaehee hums, “I bet there’s a lot of Zen’s pictures in there.”

With the projector aimed at the blank wall, V clicks at his computer and starts a slide show. We’re instantly greeted with a young Jumin and V and I can’t help but awe. But seriously, the slide show is amazing. There are pictures of everyone by everyone in our happiest moments. I love it. And then I notice that there are an unusual number of pictures of me and Jumin.

“God, are you guys stalking us,” I laugh after the eighth one in a row. And then the pictures of me in the garden come up. “V!”

He grins shamelessly as my boyfriend pulls me back by the arm. So I’m forced to endure the embarrassment of being the focus of this slideshow.

Then there’s a different picture. In the background, I’m there, back to the camera, paying attention to the flowers. However, in the foreground is Jumin, his back also to the camera. Hands behind his back, in one hand is the bouquet of roses he gave me earlier. In his other hand is a sign.

~~~

Will you

marry me?

~~~

I stare in shock, instinctively reaching out for Jumin’s sleeve but he’s not there. Surprised, I turn to look for him, only to find him behind me, on one knee. He opens the box in his hands, displaying the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.

“Will you?”

Months ago, I would’ve said no, or at least hesitated, but that’s all different now. We’ve grown so much since we met and I can genuinely say that I want to spend my life with him.

“Yes,” I breathe, worried that my voice will break should I be any louder.

The room breaks out in cheering and whistled and somehow, confetti and streamers. Jumin rights himself, slipping the ring into its rightful place. Unable to contain myself much longer, I launch myself at Jumin with a kiss.

Chuckling, he breaks away. “I told you I’d make it up to you.”

My cheeks burn. “You planned everything, didn’t you?”

“Right down to the purple dress.” My jaw drops. “I know what my fiancée likes. Ooo. I like how that sounds.” He brushes his nose against mine. “I love you.”

I giggle at the ensuing peppering of kisses. “Jumin Han, you are absolutely, without a doubt…The Cat’s Meow.”

#jumin han #jumin x reader #jumin han x mc #jumin han x reader #jumin x mc #mm jumin #mysme #mysme jumin #mystic messenger #fem!reader

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