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brights-place · 2 months

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The Boondocks with an Mother figure! Reader

Pairings: Riley X Reader, Huey X Reader (All Platonic)

Warnings: Fluff, Cursing,

A/N: Man I grew up with the Boondocks! love the show so much it was so funny and still is funny to see! Anyways imma do an motherly figure! - Okay LISTEN! LISTENNN! these boys have no parents they live with their fucking grandpa so you being an motherly figure to them is... Wild! - You were their neighbor so you wanted to greet them with your S/O but he/she/they/it was too busy at work so you went to greet them by yourself - You made some Sweets and came by smiling at them as Grandpa freeman opened the door to show you smiling at him who greete d you as you exchanegd conversation and handed him the container filled of baked goods before noticing an young boy by the age of 9 with cornrows raise an eyebrow judging you while an 10 year old beside him with an afro eyed you - You waved to them before waving goodbye to grandpa freeman "I'll invite you for dinner sweet pea" grandpa freeman said smiling as you smiled nodding "My partner and I will gladly come along!" you soon left after that - You have tried to befriend the two young boys but failed... - NGL I see Grandpa freeman see you as an daughter and cares for you - Wouldn't threaten you with an belt at all but maybe would whoop the two boys asses aka Huey and Riley most of the time when your around he doesn't hesitate at all unless you are used as a human shield - First of all, they didn’t trust you but then you started offering to babysit them when they were unsupervised. The two boys were more reluctant to accept your pressence, although they were polite with you... well Huey was RIley on the other hand would swear at you - You always took good care of them, you watched them closely and made sure they ate proeprly and didn’t get hurt... - When grandpa freeman says anything sexual around the two you gave the male an disgusted look just like the two boys and go try to cover their ears the best you could - When needed too you Cover the two's eyes whenever something bad would effect them which confuses the two since they were used to this type of shit but Huey didn't try to peak while Riley was squirming saying he wanted to see what the hell was going on - Riley is a highly impressionable third grader. He embraces the stereotypical "gangsta" lifestyle, doing his best to promote the urban culture in the contrasting suburb of Woodcrest since he was HEAVILY Influenced by the mass media via rap music and television, he frequently uses poor grammar, and tends to defend his idols even when his imitations go against common sense and righteousness... BUT DAMN WHEN HE SAW YOU WHOOP SOMEONE IS ASS WITH YOU IN HEELS? HE WAS GAWKING! - Huey is a highly intelligent 10-year-old boy, who rarely smiles or laughs, and recognizes and detests the absurdities (both obvious and perceived) of the society in which he lives. His cynicism often touches upon subjects such as politics, religion, the media, businesses and corporations, African-American culture, and American society as a whole. Tending to be obstinate in both manner and speech which makes you freak out on how an 10 year old knows ALOT! - Huey has shown like ALOT OF DEPTH! of understanding that would seem to surpass his young age, such as knowing roughly what is going to happen in the future based on the actions and personalities of the people involved... Which makes you concerned asking him if he or riley had even gotten a proper childhood... - Riley when he is close to getting his ass whooped would run towards you screaming and hide behind your legs as you stare in utter confusion when he jumps into your arms or hides behind your legs as Grandpa freeman stop and stare at you "Put the boy down Sweet pea I gotta beat this boys ass!" You stared at Grandpa Freeman before staring at riley before running away with the child in your arms screaming as Huey just stared at the chaos unfolding - After awhile you would cpome visit and would try to offer to braid rileys hair which he doesn't allow at first...

- When he does get comfy though and needs his cornrows to be fixed or get a new design he would go to you sit down between your legs on the couch while picking up his controller which makes you laugh - You and Huey discuss lots of things together and compliment and praise the young boy fro his work which he is thankful for - You are seen like a motherly figure to them after 7 Months of meeting you due to your sweet personality - For Riley and Hueyy felt so nice to have someone caring for them other then grandpa freeman. After all they didn't grow up with a good relationship with their parents or didn't have any? you didn't know - You are shocked by the boys is skills... like THEY KNOW SELF DEFENSE! in an shocking way and have done things no child would have done but this was Woodcrest... - Huey and Riley would come up to you if they ever finish a test and show you their scores huey always getting 100 and Riley getting... lets not talk about riley is scores - They both enjoy how you pat their heads when they do something right - Whenever they try to cuss infront of you, they always get an glare from you "Boy if you even try that Imma get your grandad to whoop you" You stated with an smile that held an menacing aura - You panic sometimes when you come to visit and see the boys attack eachother with weapons and they both stop quickly when you shout their names and scold them - If you ahve siblings though and their is a party at your place due to your partner hosting it they would be amazed how you are a whole different person cussing out your siblings - The other woodcrest neighbourghs wood also be shocked to see you close to whooping your younger/older sibling(s) asses with your purse cause they ate the last piece of your favourite food - You definetly will have to step in between Riley and Huey sometimes to stop them from killing one another which always freaks you out - You were staying over and helping Grandpa freeman with his upcoming date but you brought some sweets and got some of them eating one before lifting one up and walking towards you and Huey who were sitting on teh couch talking about one of Hueys recent experiments "Yo ma! what the fuck is this-" Riley froze when he realized what he said as Huey froze aswell turning to Riley with an raised brow as you stared at Riley - Riley spoke "Yall N**** ain't heard shit!" Riley said quickly but was to late when you rushed over hugging riley "AWWWW! RILEYYYY!" Huey glared at Riley who was getting your attention as Riley scoffed hugging you back - Riley and Huey wouldn't call you Ma, or Mother in public only in private cause they didn't want to seem like 'Pussies' by rileys words but to Huey he just doesn't want you to know he see's you as a mother figure - For huey the first time he call you Ma/mother was when you praised him for succeding in one of his experiments he worked REALLY hard on - he was in the garage and his eyes widened when he saw he succeed on making the bomb he had spent so long on... So when you come by he perks up slightly which is unusual and grabbing your hand taking you to the garage and telling you about his... 'Experiment' that def isn't a bomb and how long it took "Thats amazing Huey! your such a Genuis! you are an intelligent young boy I'm very proud of you" you stated with an sweet smile patting his head while his afro cause you didn't know where to pat as he stares up at you and looks away smiling slightly which wasn't shown well "Thanks Ma" Riley was walking past to grab his basketball before having his jaw drop so fast when hearing those quiet words from Hueys lips - Huey denies he ever said it but would say it to you in private. - He enjoys that he doesn't have to always be the responsible one in the family even if you live next door - They call you mom/momma/mum/mama/ma/mother - Believe it or not Huey respects you more than anyone in this world, I mean- have you seen yourself when you protected them of a group of assholes

- It’s still strange for you to know why some people hated the two boys Riley he has definitely called you “mom/mama” ) sometimes... and YES, Huey is still mocking him for that, when he does, surprisingly Riley does not get violent, he just scowls in shame and shouts “Well, SHE IS our mom! right?” he just looks at you with the most confused and adorable expression ever made and you just can’t say no to him. - The two boys are very thankful for you like REALLY THANKFUL! even if they don't show it alot - Grandpa freeman is very greatful for having you around so he didn't have to always look after those assholes

reblogs + comments are appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

©brights-place 2023 — do not repost on another platform, copy, translate or edit my works! if you fit my DNI list please don't interact

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star-crifice · 3 months

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James Diamond x Reader

Words: ~ 3160

A/N: My 10 year old self must've taken over me and ghostwritten this bc why the hell am I, a 19 year old, writing BTR fanfiction AND it's the best stuff I've written in months. God. Have fun. I'm so done over here.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

James has got a thing for you.

And that’s not a secret, not even to you. When he likes someone, he pursues them – that’s nothing new. The very moment you stepped into the Palmwoods, retrieving your key and James just so happened to walk into the lobby, the word “Dibs!” left his lips so fast, his friends didn’t even have a chance to lay eyes on you.

He wasn’t afraid to show you his interest, just like he was with every other person that appealed to him. But the difference with you was that every sweet word from him was laced with the tiniest bit of hesitation.

Just after a few days of getting to know you, the sheer thought of being rejected by you would have ruined him. One part of him wanted to share every sweet thought about you that ever crossed his mind, another part of him was – possibly for the first time – genuinely scared of your reaction.

His advances at you didn’t go unnoticed. At first, you felt flattered at such a good looking, charming guy flirting with you. Though it did feel a bit overwhelming, you barely knew him after all. You thought if he actually liked you like that, he would wait a bit. He’d be ready to get to know you more. But that wasn’t quite the case, at least how it appeared to you.

You got to know the boys of Big Time Rush along with the friends they made in the Palmwoods and spent a lot of time with them. However, James would always try to get close to you – it felt suffocating. You didn’t have the heart to reject him and tried to instead gently push him away, both literally and metaphorically.

James didn’t quite get it, thinking you aren’t into him yet and he would have to try harder. But after a while it felt simply pointless to him and he stopped. He went back to his usual self, flirting with any pretty girl willing to pay attention to him. It was obvious that he did this to distract himself from you, but if anyone would have asked him he’d insist that he’s over you – what a lie. At that point he was head over heels.

Desperation coated his aimless flirts, reaching for the attention he craved from you.

At this point James and you were good friends, having known each other for a bit longer. You finally felt like you knew him and he might know you.

It happened quite overnight – no, actually. Faster than that. He was only a friend, you swear. But that one friday night… A power outage. A few people from the Palmwoods sat outside beside the pool, surrounding a campfire. That and the countless candles being the only sources of light shimmering on your skin. A guitar went around, person after person sharing their musical talent waiting for the electricity to come back. Of course, it didn’t take long until it was James and his friends' turn. You were swaying back and forth, humming along with the tune of their song and basking in the heat of the fire. It was a very cozy moment and for the first time since arriving at the Palmwoods, you felt like you were surrounded by normal teens instead of aspiring stars. You’ve never felt closer to your friends, neighbors and even the people you’ve never talked to. You dared to look over at the boys singing, just a moment. But that very second you laid your eyes on James, something clicked in your mind. You’ve seen him countless times, always looking perfect, keeping himself in check. Though in that moment, the way he sat there – his hair disheveled from being in the pool, wearing his still slightly wet swimming trunks and a loose shirt, singing and swaying and having fun – something sparked in you.

And suddenly you missed when he shifted to sit just a bit closer to you, kept eye contact like his life depended on it and would put his hand on your shoulder, so tender and carefully as if he could scare you away. You took it for granted back then. That was quite literally how you got to know him and now that part is basically gone.

That “moment” you looked at him happened to turn into a full on stare. Not too obvious of course, but embarrassing enough that when his gaze caught yours, you turned your head faster than you even processed what just happened.

You’d like to slap yourself for the train of thought that just occupied your mind. Yes, James was nice and lovely and good looking and charming and whatever – but to you he also seemed like he never took it seriously.

To you, he tried to wrap you around his finger until he realized that you aren’t that easy to swoon.

To you, it seemed like he got bored of you and flirted with the next girl, until he got bored of her and flirted with the next. Again and again.

To you he was just a heartthrob, simple as that.

To him, you were an unattainable star he could only wish for.

Therefore, only a friendship blossomed between the two of you.

A while has passed since that night of realization and to be honest, you kept struggling to look at James the same. He shined a bit brighter in your life and that made you mad. There was no way you could ever have something serious with him, you told yourself. Just yesterday you saw him in the park with his arm around a pretty black haired girl.

Though the truth is, her eyes reminded James of yours. And he ghosted her by the end of the day because her laughter sounded off beat and sour compared to yours. He kept asking himself if you laugh at other peoples jokes like you do at his – if you ever gifted that smile, that one special smile he only saw a couple of times, to anyone but him. He hoped you didn’t.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

James, Carlos, Logan and Kendall were at the studio, recording a song like so often. As usual they were having fun, making jokes, pissing off Gustavo until James fell silent.

“Everything alright?” Logan asked after he took note of James' sudden change in behavior.

“My mother will come this evening,” he says rather quietly, shocked at himself for forgetting this.

“That’s good though, isn’t it? As long as she doesn’t want to take you back to Minnesota.” Kendall shrugs.

Of course that’s good. James is glad that he might build a normal mother-son relationship despite the long distance, now that his mother agreed to come visit him more often. However, there is one tiny little issue…

“I told her I have a girlfriend,” James admits.

“But you don’t..?” Carlos raises an eyebrow, “When was the last time you’ve had an actual girlfriend?”

“THATS-” James says loudly before cutting himself off, “Don’t say it like that.”

He takes a deep breath, thinking about how to handle this situation. A while ago his mother called, in true motherly fashion she obviously had to know about her son's love life. He might have been too prideful, and amidst his pride a bit delusional; he didn’t want to admit that for the first time in a while, he was hopelessly in love with someone. So he lied.

Of course he had a girlfriend. She’s lovely and special, not like any of the girls he brought home that his mother never approved of.

The band wasted no time, finishing work in record speed, rushing out of the studio so fast, not even Gustavo's angry shouts reached them. They were going to find a “girlfriend” for James for this evening, no matter what it takes.

They reached the Palmwoods, scanning the lobby like they were on a hunt.

“Any preferences or just anyone? Look at that blonde over there, she’s pretty!” Carlos pointed across the room.

“Oh no she knows me,” James shook his head.

“We need someone we can trust to play along and lie. And she has to lie well, you know James’ mom.” Logan thought out loud.

Just in the right moment, you came out of the elevator, walking across the lobby.

“Her!” Kendall, Logan and Carlos shouted in unison. You stopped in your tracks, hesitantly pointing to yourself with a questioning expression, “Me?”

James stared at you with wide eyes. Of course you’d be the perfect fit. You know him, join his shenanigans regularly, aren’t too bad at lying and surely wouldn’t get your hopes up like others might. Though his heart aches a bit at the thought. He doesn’t admit it to himself, but he still likes you just a bit too much for his liking. Maybe he’d be the one to falsely get his hopes up after acting out a relationship for a whole evening. Going back to friends after his mother leaves might hurt a little too much. Is he ready to take that risk?

“We need you to be James' girlfriend!” Kendall said loudly, rushing over to you along with Carlos and Logan.

“What? Huh?” You’re surprised to say the least. Was that a confession? A joke? The boys explained the situation to you – a bit fast and all over the place, but good enough. By the end of it, James finally walked over to the four of you, his expression being a mix of embarrassment, panic and hope.

“Could you do that? Pleeeease? For us?” Kendall said, joined by Carlos: “We’ll make it up to you, pinky promise!”, as Logan nodded profusely.

“I guess, yeah. We can do that.” You nodded slowly, looking over at James. The tension in his shoulders was gone, he could breathe for a moment.

Together, you went up into the band’s apartment, being greeted by Kendall’s mom. She already started the dinner and immediately you joined her and helped prepare the meal and table. With now 5 more people by Ms. Knights side, it took significantly less time to get everything ready.

“James, can you pass me the plates?” You asked the boy, he looked at you for a moment, appearing like a deer in headlights, before bringing you the stack of plates. You smiled at him, nodding as a thanks and put the plates down around the table.

The both of you haven’t been this close in a while and on top of that, didn’t feel this awkward around each other in a while. About half an hour until James' mother arrives at the Palmwoods, the food was simmering on the stove and the table looked like straight out of a five star restaurant, adorned with flowers and folded napkins.

You joined James on the sofa, letting yourself fall against the soft cushions in hopes of it releasing the tension building up inside of you. In just 28 minutes you’d have to act like the girlfriend of the boy you’ve had a very complicated almost-crush on (that you had yet to admit to yourself).

“You’re stupid, you know that?”, you said with a slight laugh in your voice. James turned to you, slouched back into the sofa with his arms crossed. Up until then, he looked serious and deep in thought. Now he’s raising an eyebrow and fighting a smile.

“For lying to my mom?”

“For lying to your mom,” you said, slowly subconsciously mimicking his pose. You looked at him a bit longer, trying to figure out what he thought at the moment.

“It’s gonna work out, yeah? I’ll try my best. I’ll be so all over you, your mom would think we're about to get married or something,” you tried to joke to lighten the mood, slightly nudging his knee with yours. A long sigh escaped his lips and finally, a smile appeared.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“So you’re the lucky girl?” Ms. Diamond says in an unreadable voice. James just picked her up at the entrance of the Palmwoods, guiding her up into the apartment where everyone else was waiting patiently. She walked through the door, radiating willpower, sternness and a bit of sass.

Now she’s standing in front of you, reaching out her hand for you to shake and looking you up and down, before glancing towards James, raising her eyebrows so quick you almost didn’t see it. You follow her gaze over to her son, widening your eyes a bit, hoping he gets the message that you're ‘struggling over here!!!!’

He quickly comes over, resting his hand on your back. You see his mother noticing the gesture and lean a bit into James' touch, just as the cherry on top.

The both of you guide Ms. Diamond over to the table and you rush to help Ms. Knight with the pots and pans, bringing them over to the table. As everything’s ready and you want to sit down, James quickly gets up from his seat beside you and pulls out the chair for you in true gentleman's fashion. He gestures to you to sit and you do as he says, before he pushes your chair to the table.

Accidentally, as he sits down, his knee touches yours, but he doesn’t pull away. Neither do you. You keep telling yourself it’s just for show.

Everyone starts chatting – especially the two mothers of the table that desperately need to catch up – and filling their plates up. You do as everyone else, though quietly. You’re so unbelievably focused on James (obviously for the sake of the lie) that you’re not sure what to say.

“So,” Ms. Diamond says, her voice effortlessly louder than the others, “How did you two sweethearts meet?”James and you look at each other. Shit. You didn’t plan anything like that.

“Uhm..” You start, stalling a bit to figure out a good story.

“Right here, at the Palmwood,” James says confidently after a moment, “She walked in and I saw her and I said ‘wow!’”

“Actually, he said ‘DIBS!’,” Carlos says with a full mouth, earning a light punch from Katie.

“I got to know the boys and he didn’t move from my side,” you add to James’ retelling.

“It just kind of happened. We became friends and slowly… more,” he looks at you and you have to fight to keep a smile on while hearing his corny words. You nod, looking at your food to not let the mask slip.

James' mother asks you more and more and you feel like you can’t put an end to it. Every now and then James would get a bit closer, say something sweet to you or simply wink. You felt like when you arrived at the Palmwoods. But you let it happen, for the sake of fooling his mother. And maybe you enjoyed it a bit. Just a tiny little bit.

But the thought that all this is just fake and quite literally the result of the fact he doesn’t take relationships seriously, makes you want to push him away again.

Gently just like the way he slowly grabs your hand right now.

Tenderly like the way he lets his thumb glide up and down over the ridges of your knuckles.

You want to push him away, just not too far. So he’ll be gone for now but might come back later.

Maybe you just want to push him to lay your hands on him just once, but there are better ways to do that, aren't there?

So you let it happen, basking in his adoration for once. Enjoying it a bit too much for your liking.

After about an hour of dinner and chit-chat, Ms. Diamond excuses herself and her son to go on a little mother-son-walk through the park. You bid goodbye to her, reciprocating her firm handshake as a good last impression.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

You finish washing the dishes before James comes back from the walk. Neverending questions about what his mother thinks of you plague your mind, but you're not sure why. The show is over after all.

Finally back in your own apartment, you pace back and forth, replaying the events of today again and again in your head. It’s already a bit dark out when you almost overhear someone knocking on the door from how filled your mind is. You rush over, not even looking through the peephole before opening the door.

Of course, James is there. Alone and calm, no smile or even flirtatious smirk adorning his face.

“Hi,” you say, curious about what he wants.

“Hey.” He lays his hand on the door, pushing slightly, letting himself in. It’s dark in your apartment, aside from a small warm lamp on a table beside the couch, illuminating the both of you just enough, casting an orange glow on his face like that night at the campfire.

Oh and how you wish that feeling in your stomach – just like that night at the campfire – would leave.

You take a few steps back, standing awkwardly in your living room, letting him come in.

“How did it go? The walk with you mom,” you ask quietly. He nods, collecting his words and looking into the lamp.

“Good. She liked it. She liked you, I think.”

“What did she say?” you ask, now even more curious. She liked you.

“You seem like a sweet person. She’s used to other types of girls from me. She thinks you’d be good for me.” He laughs a bit at the end.

You fidget with your hands, not sure what to say. Usually he’s more cheery and talkative, finding topics for conversations, even if he just wants to talk about himself.

“So… friends, right?”, you say, even more quietly.

A smile forms on his lips, barely visible, “I don’t know. Do you like me? Because I like you.”

“I know you do. You like a lot of people though, so what’s it worth?”

His smile drops.

“If you’re not going to give me a chance, then at least a kiss to get over you?”

He steps closer, you stay put.

“You’re just trying to swoon me,” you say, trying to be stern but hearing that sentence out of your own mouth makes you smile a bit. He comes closer again and you want to step back, but looking at him makes you remember all the times he made your heart flutter. You think of all the times you looked at him and thought to yourself, if he kissed you now, you’d be his. You feel his warmth now, he leans in.

And you let it happen. And you kiss back. Gently. Tenderly. Slow.

One kiss, he said. But not how long it will last.

Eventually, you pull back, looking down.

“Are you over me now?” you ask, not sure what answer you’re hoping for.

“Are you kidding?” he laughs.

“So… this is serious, then?” you ask hesitantly.

He nods.

#fanfiction #Fanfic #big time rush #james diamond #James diamond x reader #BTR #big time rush x reader

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geralts-yenn · 5 months

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2023 character wrapped

@deandoesthingstome knows too well I get a little obsessive over some characters - let's see if I can make it to nine (or if I can stop at nine 😁 a look onto my masterlist that's barely a year old tells me we will get there)

Here we go...

My no 1: No surprise here - Mikey

He's my precious silly boy and I will never stop loving him. As part of a family of lunatics here or here, as our best friend, or as the cute neighbor who steals the heart of Nina and Mel

2. Melot

I blame @raccoon-eyed-rebel for introducing me to the slutty lil' braid boy. Just look at that grumpy, miserable little guy. I can't help but thinking about how to make him feel better. That's why he gets the love from not only one but two lovely persons in my Hearts Too Big universe. He's still not quite happy as a vampire in Believe in Me, but I swear we'll get to it.

3. Syverson

Not much of a surprise - how could I not love him? He's the character I read the most this year, for sure. But I also loved to write him into my bonfire story and it's follow up. I was yearning for him and I imagined him as a daddy 🥰

4. Evan

Oh, he was a surprise for me. Even though I liked his character in the movie, I didn't intend to write for him. Until a lovely nonnie put him into my brain and started to fuel my obsession with him here, here and here.

5. Walter

The grumpy bear was always a favorite of me when it came to reading but I was a little scared to write him by myself. In the end, I'm quite happy with the outcome when I finally dared.

6. August Walker

Another one that I love but didn't dare to write. Until it was too tempting to add him as the vampire king in Believe in Me. And then those little pieces of smut here and here with the vampire king were surprisingly easy to write.

7. Napoleon Solo

I love the smooth spy. I had so much fun to pair him up with the lovely Amina and I totally plan to get back to Leon sometime in the future

8. Charles

I wish I had more time to explore his character. I love him so much - especially when he's put into a modern AU. I kinda did this to him as my sidekick for Melot. And I have a wip in my folders, sleeping for way too long, where he's the most annoying and yet adorable duke. I really hope I get to the point where I can introduce him to you.

That's everyone I have written for this year. But I surely don't stop here with obsessing

I won't count Geralt, Will and all the other characters of Henry Cavill because this post is already too long for anyone to read, lol.

But I surely have to count the man himself

9. Henry Cavill

Yes, I am obsessed with this man and I am not sorry! I guess I won't ever get back to the unfinished RPF that got me into writing at all but I will not stop loving the adorkable man that he is.

And then there are still some guys that don't look like Henry:

9. Dean Winchester

I had almost forgotten how much I loved him. Until I introduced the teenager to Supernatural and spent a lot of evenings this year watching that stupid little shit 😍

10. Billy Russo

One of my favorite roles for Ben. And so many good fics out there that I need to explore at some point.

11. Jack Reacher

Very recent addition to the hunks in my head. I love the new season and I'm definitely not immune to that man's visual charms.

I think I will stop here, even if I could name probably another 12...

@ellethespaceunicorn @peyton--warren @gummydummy19 @jvanilly @ronearoundblindly @ylva-syverson want to talk about your favorite characters?

#tag game #2023 character wrapped #Sorry #I know this is unhealty #but I love them all

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ladylooch · 1 year

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Hey! i have a request :) how about Timo and y/n being neighbors after his move to new jersey? a friend to lovers always makes my heart flutter!

Imagine just wanting to mind your own business and a shirtless Timo appears on the balcony next to yours. This sounds wonderful… how would one sign up for that?? Asking for me, not a friend.

Speaking of friends... here is some quick friends to lovers

I love writing Timo. Thank you so much for the request!

Word Count: 700

It’s finally my day off after working seven straight days. All I want is to sit on my balcony and enjoy the first sprinkle of Spring on the east cost. I grab my book and a can of bub;y, figuring 10:00am is probably a little too early to drink on a Monday morning. I grab the folding chair that’s been propped up for a majority of the winter against the wall of the building. I take a Clorox wipe to it, then allow it to dry before settling into it. I prop my bare feet on the balcony railing, crossing my ankles and enjoying the slight breeze against my face.

Goodbye Old Man Winter. It’s Spring’s time to shine.

“Um… excuse me?” I hear a voice from my left. I roll my eyes at my bliss being disrupted. Snatching my sunglasses off, I look at the balcony of my new neighbor. I haven’t met him yet, but have heard an occasional noise from the otherwise of the wall. The apartment used to be vacant, so I’m not exactly thrilled to be sharing the wall again. The man is speaking to me from inside his condo. I squint, trying to see through the tinted glass.

“What?” I respond to him with a slight edge to my voice. I swear to God if this man starts hitting on me…

The most beautiful man I have ever seen steps onto his balcony. He’s shirtless, exposing the rigid muscles on his upper body. My jaw goes slightly slack as the breath leaves my chest. He’s wearing black shorts with the Devil’s logo on one thigh. His hair is wet like he just got out of the shower. He looks like he stepped off the cover of the romance novel in my hand.

Oh my god, I hope he starts hitting on me.

“Sorry. I know you’re trying to read.” He chuckles, gesturing to my book. “But…” He pauses and leans back into his apartment. “Is this your cat?” He holds the questionable orange tabby up by it’s waist.

“Oh my god!” I exclaim, clasping my hand over my mouth as my cat, Tigger, rubs his head on the underside of the man’s chin. “Yes. Uh, I am so sorry. Tigger! How did you get over there!” I stand, tossing my book onto my chair. “I’ll be right over.” I rush back inside, hustling to the hallway. The door opens when I get there. “I am so sorry. I.. He’s… never done anything like this.” I’m sputtering and flustered.

“It’s all good. We became fast friends this morning.” He chuckles as he scratches Tigger between the ears.

“How long has he been over here?”

“About an hour.”

“Wow. I had no idea he was gone.” I slap my hand on my forehead, embarrassed. “I can’t believe he let you pick him up. He hates men. He’s chased pretty much every boyfriend out of my life.”

“Maybe they all just sucked.” He shrugs at me.

“Maybe.” I muse as I reach out, gathering Tigger back into my arms. The cat wiggles, trying to reach out for our neighbor again. “I’m (y/n).” I extend his hand out to him. He takes it, securely shaking it. His fingers linger a moment past polite. “Tigger’s mom.” The words are breathless as my eyes dip to his six pack.

“Timo. Nice to meet you… Tigger’s mom.”

I smile at my fiancé recounting the story of our meet cute to our new neighbor who moved into what was my apartment until two months ago. Tigger is sitting on Timo’s lap, purring and sunbathing as we sit on the balcony this all started on. My feet rest next to our cat as Timo’s fingers work into the arches of my right foot.

“So, all that to say, you’ve got a lucky new place.” Timo gives my ankle a squeeze.

“Yes it is.” I agree, then tilt my face back to the sun. My new engagement ring shines in the Spring sunlight, reflecting speckles of light on Timo's bare chest.

In a year, I went from reading about the love of a lifetime to living it.

All it took was some luck… and a furry friend named Tigger.

#timo meier #timo meier fan fiction #new jersey devils #writing requests #NHL writing #hockey writing #hockey fic #my writing

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nifflermini · 2 months

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Finding You Pt.1

I don't know how to start these, if I'm being honest.

Thank you for reading :D

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My feet created their own little rhythm on the wooden stairs, echoing off the stairwell. “I can’t be late again, I hate when I’m late for class” I cursed as I almost fell down the steps, realizing I had left my dance bag in my apartment. I groaned as I checked the pockets of my black hoodie to find my keys, running back up the two flights of stairs, and fumbling for my keys and finally unlocking my door. I sighed in relief at finding the small bag on my bed. “Alright cool, now go!” I thought, smiling at my older neighbor, who was smiling at me knowingly. “On your way to dance, Y/n?” She asked, her frail voice wobbling a little. I nodded, rushing a slightly panicked smile. “Yup! I’m going to be late though, so I’ve got to hurry, Sorry Ms. Otoyama!” I called, leaping down the stairs to the next landing, and feeling a little sting in my ankle as I landed. I ignored it as I hurried down the last two flights of stairs, trying to

I checked my phone, the bright screen lighting my face in the dim stairwell. But as I looked down at my phone, my eyes slid to my wrist finally finding a scrunchie to pull my hair up. I let a frustrated noise out as my unruly hair wouldn’t quite cooperate. “I swear, if there’s someone cute that passes me on the street and sees me like this, I might actually lose it.” I muttered, as I pushed the door open, flooding the dim corridor with light. I sighed in relief, glad I remembered this time. “Hey L/n! The maintenance desk lady waved, and I strained a smile, nerves flooding my senses. "Hi? I don't even remember you, when did you get here? Wait, no I remember, I'm so sorry!" I thought as the woman asked, “Off to dance class?” A conversational smile on her face. I nodded, waving and rushing a smile, that at this point, probably looked like a grimace. I opened the door, not realizing there was someone in front of me. I ran into what felt like a wall in front of me, and I looked up to see a guy with a confused expression, and ash blond hair. I bowed quickly, opening the door, and feeling my cheeks heat up a little. “I did it again.” I thought, curling into myself a little as I ran. “I hate it when I do that. Did I even apologize? Shit.” I shook my head, running the moment over in my head again, feeling shame fill me more and more as I turned the moment over in my head, until I reached the studio.

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“L/N! You’re here!” My dance teacher called, shaking her head a little. “We were waiting for you!” guilt filled me. “I-I’m so sorry. My shift ran a little late, I mean, I’m r-really sorry, I didn’t-” My dance teacher came over to me and put her hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay L/N, we were just doing some warmups, and besides, it’s just me and Shimogai here.” I waved to Alexei, a friend I was familiar with because of dancing. Though he doesn’t actually like to dance, he’s very good, and often practices with me when it comes to timing, since mine is almost always off. “I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll get better.” I said, bowing to the two. “It’s no biggie, y/n, we just need to get warmed up, okay?” He reassured me, looking to my dance teacher, as if asking for permission to start. She nodded, waving her hand to his. I grinned at him. “Look at you Mr. Teacher dude, person.” I said, laughing a little as I rolled my neck, to one side, then the other, My body slowly but surely loosening. “Please, we both know where I got that from.” He said, smirking back at me, as our heads tilted sideways, to get a stretch, smiling at the sensation rippling through my body. “I didn’t teach you that, though, I just tried to help you, that’s all.” I said, rolling my shoulder back than forward before going into a lunge. “But you still teach those 9 and 10-year-olds, you can’t tell me you aren’t good.” He teased, as we spread out a little more, so I could warm up my Aerial. The studio I was at was special to me, not only because if you worked there, you’d get free classes, but also, this was where I had first found an escape. Found a feeling like I could relax and be calm. With nerves like mine, that’s not easy to find.

I stretched a little, rolling my shoulders a little bit before I took a deep breath in, knowing I may have trouble with this next stretch. I spread my legs as far apart as they could, trying to stay parallel to the ground before sliding myself into a middle split. I had just gotten this a few weeks ago, and still struggled with the mentality of having a middle split, so I often freaked out about it, my thoughts usually delving into thoughts like "What if my hip pop's out of its socket?" or "What if I pull something, and then it's something important and then I can never dance again?" This time though, I slid right into it, sighing as everything, for once, felt natural. “Ah, looks like you’ve improved y/n.” I shrugged my shoulders, a little startled by the sound after it had just been the soft patter of my feet hitting the ground after jumps, or the little thump of my heel hitting the ground after finishing a turn. “I’ve been trying, my side leaps are garbage.” I laughed, starting at myself in the mirror. “I’m glad you think I’ve gotten better though, sensei.” I said, bowing my thanks. She laughed. “No.” she said, smiling softly. "I know you've gotten better. You just need to use your legs a little more and commit to it fully." She advised, and I nodded, trying to soak in the advice. "What do you mean commit? What if I screw it up so badly, I can't commit? The start of my leap is pretty okay, but I can't, and don't want to mess it up so bad, that it doesn't even look like what I need it to." I shivered as I realized the potential to screw up. "If I really want to join the professional team, I need to get better at dancing." I thought, sighing.

"Hey, this time around, I know you've got this. You've worked so hard to get on this team." I nod, starting to space out, just a little bit. I have absolutely worked hard to get on the team. But why do I feel so... numb?

#semi eita #semi eita x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu fandom

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mwolf0epsilon · 2 years

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The Big Friendly Clone

Summary: Life at the farm is often quite dull for Luke. But when his aunt Beru sends him on a little errand to return something to forgetful Mr. Kenobi, the young boy ends up accidentally stumbling upon quite the sizeable secret.

[I just really wanted to write lil Luke interacting with Cody, and what better AU to do this with than Tatooine Odd Encounters? A prelude to this little drawing I did a while back.]

[THIS STORY IS NOW ON AO3]

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Luke is only 10 years old but he's already got quite a few responsibilities to carry on his little shoulders. When you lived as a moisture farmer on Tatooine that was usually the way things were. Work first, fun later. Even if work is long and boring and you have a lot of other things you'd like to be doing instead.

But of course Uncle Owen doesn't ever let up whenever Luke's mind begins to wander towards other things outside of the usual farm duties. The myriad of imaginative wonders in his head can always wait for after their equipment is tended to. And (even if sometimes chores took a whole day), there was always the cool sunsets atop the dome of their humble home, where he could play pilots and pirates to his heart's content.

Or at least until supper was ready. He'd never miss his aunt Beru's cooking for anything in the world. Or the whole wide galaxy for the matter!

Still (responsibilities or not), Luke is young and he'd like to not have to do errands as often as he has to. He's glad his aunt and uncle now trust in him to go into town on his own (he'd gotten far when the scary lady had chased him, and he knew how to avoid the Sand People's usual routes).

He's not that little anymore, and he likes the vote of confidence. But going to town to deliver a bunch of things to people, or to go to the shops to get certain parts that the shopkeepers are trying to overprice because they think you're too young to know this stuff, had lost it's luster on the 5th run of the week... Especially when he still had his other chores to do!

So it was with this in mind that a great big unhappy frown (uncle Owen had said he shouldn't pout, and he wasn't pouting, he did not pout) settled on Luke's face, as his aunt Beru gave him a satchel that contained some kind of parcel to be delivered to stars only knew who this time around.

"It won't take long dear." She reassured as she made sure the straps were adjusted to better fit his size. "You'll be back before you even know it."

"But then I'll still need to go check on the vapor collectors... That'll take all day!" He threw his arms up in frustration, feeling that this was all a little unfair. The other kids would all be playing bolo ball without him again, and it was because of some dumb parts that kept acting up, and all these dumb errands keeping him busy...

"Sometimes we all need to give up some of our time for things to work out." Beru finished adjusting the straps before ruffling his already messy hair. "It's never fair to have to set priorities just to ensure you're able to sleep under a roof, have a cup to drink from, or food on the table. But that's unfortunately how life works out for many."

"I just want to play with my friends..." Luke frowned even more (he didn't pout, big boys don't pout), not feeling at all comforted by his aunt's words.

"And you will. I'll have a word with your uncle once you're off to return this to Ben, that silly muppet of a hermit..." Beru smiled fondly. "I swear, if that man didn't have his head screwed on tight, he'd lose it!"

Oh, so he was delivering something to Kenobi's hut? That did make things at least a little more interesting, if only just a bit.

Old Ben didn't live too far from the farm (they weren't neighbors per say but the route was doable in less than 40 minutes if you didn't get sidetracked). His secluded little hut was just over to where the sandy dunes turned into a rocky canyon that sometimes attracted the Sand People's attention...

But as of late the path had become less treacherous as there had been lesser and lesser sightings of new camp sights, or any of their scouting parties for the matter. Something had undoubtedly spooked the Sand People and it had been a bit of a relief to the townsfolk and local moisture farmers.

Uncle Owen wasn't so easy to put at ease however, and Luke was fairly certain that his recent solo excursions to town were to upgrade his and aunt Beru's emergency riffles, rather than to check up on the progress of their speeder's repairs. Luke couldn't blame him. Not when there was a monster on the loose!

While the adults didn't speak much of it anymore, the other kids still did so on a regular basis. And what a bountiful source of ideas the children's rumor mill could be! Much more focused and less dismissive on what could possibly have taken out a heavily guarded imperial Outpost.

The consensus among the kids was that those overzealous Empire people had gone and gotten themselves killed with one of their own experiments. Their blatant arrogance more than enough to get them killed one way or another. Tatooine wasn't particularly forgiving to those that didn't respect it, and the Empire seemed to be full of jerks that thought they were better than everyone else. Making a monster might seem like a good idea to a bunch of bullies like that. And now it was somewhere out there, likely giving the Sand People and Jawas a hard time.

Uncle Owen had plenty of reasons to want to keep the farm safe from such a creature. Although, logically speaking, Luke doubted their humble little corner would ever get one such visit. A creature so big that it'd destroy an outpost single-handedly would likely never go for small fry like them, simple moisture farmers. It would be cool to get to see it though...

The trek towards Kenobi's was quiet. He pays attention to his surroundings just in case something doesn't seem right, but mostly Luke gets to go at his own pace. Gets to let his mind wander. The parcel isn't heavy and the weather is pretty nice today. A rare cool breeze makes the twin suns' rays bearable.

The scenery is almost picturesque, or whatever it was that you called painted landscapes on tourist-trap postcards. In all honesty the rocky canyon always sparked a little bit of curiosity in Luke. If you looked in the right places you might even find a few hidden treasures, like krayt dragon bones or even perfectly smoothed stones that shone like gems. It was a sight of ample opportunities to either discover something precious or catch wind of an unknown mystery.

Living there must be an adventure of its own, especially now that there's so little danger roaming about. Everyone in town (and uncle Owen) thought that Old Ben was a fool for living up there on his own, even with the Sand Folk temporarily gone. Luke thought it made him interesting. Everyone needed at least something to make them seem a little bit mysterious rather than boring.

This thought train is derailed the moment he begins to climb the last stretch of the way. Mostly because there's a rather odd (and massive) shadow cast over the path that shouldn't be there... Or at least hadn't been there the last time he'd made the trip.

The stories alone really don't do it justice. The moment he peeks behind the outcrop of rocks just over the last few steps of the top of the canyon, instead of seeing the hut with the parked speeder and the tied Eopie all Luke can see is a mass of gray. It completely hides the sandstone structure from view and (from what he can estimate), would likely blot out the suns entirely if this thing were to be standing up. That's how big it is!

The monster that had haunted Luke's (and all of the kids in town's) imagination for the last couple of weeks was here. And it was apparently asleep curled up around Old Ben's hut... Uh.

For a moment there's a little bit of concern for what might have happened to the man himself. Seeing as his Eopie is nowhere to be seen however, Luke opts to be optimistic and thinks maybe he wasn't home when the monster decided to claim it as a napping spot. Or it just ate them both and then decided to take a quick nap. Which would make Luke's errand a little bit of an impossible task, if there's no one to return the parcel to.

Well, impossible or not, uncle Owen and aunt Beru didn't raise no quitter!

First thing's first, he needed to figure out how to get past the wall of gray that was blocking his path. Which meant figuring out how deep asleep this creature was. Which in turn meant also figuring out where the front and rear end were. Hard to tell from where he was standing really...

His aunt and uncle had taught him to always assess a situation first and then to act accordingly but, seeing as he wasn't a particularly fearful child, Luke isn't immune to the wonders of impulsive thoughts. Especially when he realizes he can't find the eyes (thus unable to give himself the advantage of knowing where to run to if the monster woke up). These aforementioned impulsive thoughts tell him that in order to get a better idea of how to proceed, he should definitely arm himself with a rock or a very long stick and then get closer. If push came to shove, he could try blinding it with a well aimed rock or the jab of a sharp stick. Provided it doesn't have hundreds of eyes, in which case his tipyip might be cooked...

Small little tentative steps carry the young boy closer to the big slumbering unknown currently before him. The closer he gets the more aware Luke becomes of just how absolutely gargantuan this creature is. Likely to be around the same size of a Greater Krayt Dragon sans the multiple limbs or lashing tail. He also notices how noisy it is even while it sleeps. Big deep snores that made nearby gravel rattle, and the faint lub-dub of its heartbeat against the ground. There's also the stench... Dirty synthetic fabric and the distinct smell of sweaty skin mixed with something else Luke can't identify (and likely doesn't want to). Of all the things he and the other kids had imagined, Luke never thought that a monster would smell bad enough that his nostrils and eyes were starting to drip.

It almost makes him consider turning back and telling aunt Beru he couldn't return the parcel because obviously Old Ben had been eaten by the outpost monster that apparently stank like wet Bantha. But she'd likely give him an unimpressed look and send him back only to be met once again with this giant obstacle. You tell someone a little white lie once, and suddenly they won't let you live down the "Massiff ate my Benduday best". He'd never liked that tunic anyway...

Focusing once again on the task at hand, Luke swallowed thickly around the lump in his throat and kept approaching the gray beast. It strikes him as odd how its humongous body curves around the hut, until it clicks that it's body structure might be bipedal like that of a humanoid. Shaped like a person but the scale doesn't add up. He's no fancy-smanchy scientist but Nurse Yuna back in town had told him and the other kids that people didn't grow past a specific height because most habitable planets didn't have gravity that helped sustain that sort of body type. Any bigger than the norm and you'd find it difficult to move or even breathe, which was a scary thought.

She'd told them this because they'd been exchanging ideas about the outpost monster, and Lola Voh had suggested that maybe it was a real life giant from the tales of old. Luke was starting to think she might be right. Especially when he noticed the Imperial starship tarp covering what he assumed was its head. Whatever the monster was, it was smart enough to improvise some kind of protective cover to shield its face from the suns while it slept. An animal would have likely just picked somewhere with shade to sleep, or maybe would even burrow beneath the sand.

Using tools was a mark of intelligence. Or so the adults often said. Well, Luke knew toddlers could also use tools and it didn't mean they were particularly smart. Or friendly. Toddlers don't have to think about anything but themselves because they're only little. The giant, because he's labeling it as such now, likely doesn't have to think about anything but itself because it's so big.

A loud snort made the hairs on the back of Luke's neck rise up as the giant began to move about in its sleep. The young boy stilled completely, hoping that he'd go unnoticed if it woke up. To his great relief (and also annoyance) it seemed to only change positions so it was more comfortable. Back flat on hot soil, belly up, limbs stretched out and tarp still over the head (although now he caught sight of a hint of dark curls with silver streaks running through them).

The good news was that it had moved enough that now Luke could see the entrance to Old Ben's hut, which meant he could throw the parcel in and be done with this. The bad news was that one of the giant's arms was still very much in the way, while the other was slung over it's covered face. If not for the terrifying difference in scales it almost seemed like the giant was using the hut as a plush toy.

"Dank ferrik..." Luke bit his bottom lip as he whispered out a curse he most definitely hadn't heard his uncle yell once when he'd gotten his fingers caught in one of the vapor collectors, no siree.

The door was out of commission for now. But maybe, if he used the giant's arm to his advantage, he might be able to climb in through one of the windows. He just had to be very careful not to wake his improvised step ladder.

Even from where he's standing Luke is well aware that this plan isn't his brightest. But considering he doesn't know what else he could possibly do to remedy the situation, he has no other choice but to take another deep breath and approach the giant's arm. It's surprisingly firm, even while relaxed, and very warm as well. The young boy glances towards the giant's covered face and, upon seeing the lack of reaction, fully clambered onto the enormous limb.

Fleet-footed and doing his best to keep his balance, Luke crept towards the window of Old Ben's hut. Unaware that his presence had, in fact, been noticed... He only gets an inkling of an idea that the giant is awake when he plants his hands firmly on the windowsill and realizes that it's suddenly very quiet. And then a massive shadow was cast over him. Luke barely had time to scream before five truly ginormous digits wrapped around his little frame.

---

Obi-wan was pleased with his find. It had taken him a few long days of careful searching and a lot of coaxing his stubborn old Eopie to help him on this endeavor. But, at long last, he'd found the perfect cave for Cody to take up residence in while he learned to truly master his newfound size-shifting abilities.

With enough time and patience Obi-wan was fairly certain this would be an achievable goal. No matter how uncertain Cody himself felt about this. It was a form of Force power, one of rather unusual and synthetic nature, but still something that should in theory be able to be controlled with enough discipline. And (while his Padawan-training track record wasn't exactly the best), Obi-wan hoped he could at least provide some help and insight if his ex-commander would let him. It was the least he could do to make him a little more comfortable in his skin, now that he was free from the Empire. First however, he'd concentrate on helping make this cave into a home instead of some kind of prison or nook where the abnormally large clone might feel he'd been relegated to for reasons untrue. Where they'd get furniture that matched his exact proportions, he wasn't sure just yet...

As he mulled over this very topic, Obi-wan startled when Silas decided to stop. The old Eopie wasn't fond of Cody in the slightest due to their rude introduction and, whenever they were to return to the hut, the rather opinionated animal would begin to fuss like this.

"One of these days my friend..." The old Jedi shook his head as he settled back on his saddle. "One of these days you'll find him endearing."

The displeased grunt he got in return seemed to say otherwise. Eopies were truly stubborn beasts of burden. Not even treats seemed to change Silas's mind all that much anymore.

"Such a fuss over a simple fright..." Obi-wan chuckled as he gave the grumpy Eopie a much appreciated pat on the side. "You'll change your tune about this yet, I just know it..."

The chuckling died down when a distant shriek rang out through the air. A loud and rather familiar sounding shriek. Mirth of the moment forgotten, Obi-wan could feel his stomach plummet deep within his core as he recognized the frightened cries of the child he'd vowed to protect. What he might be doing so far from home he wasn't sure, but if the Sand Folk had returned and caught him unawares...

He couldn't bare even think it.

Silas bellowed in annoyance as he was urged to run forward rather than walk back at a steady pace. Obi-wan barely asked of him to do so much as a quick trot, so his displeasure was felt in the way he jerked his reigns in obvious offense. Thankfully the animal obliged its rider even if it wasn't happy about it.

A million thoughts raced across Obi-wan's mind as Silas galloped towards the source of the shrieks. The familiar canyon where he resided coming into view, as he considered what might have drawn Luke so close to somewhere so dangerous. Perhaps the absence of the tribes that Cody had accidentally caused had filled the boy's mind with careless lust for adventure. Perhaps he'd come across an equally bold scouting party that had come to assess whether or not the "danger" had passed. Perhaps he might be too late to save yet another Skywalker, his mission always set to fail in one way or another. Perhaps... Perhaps he was overthinking things.

Silas came to a screeching halt as the object of his contempt came into view. Grunting in even louder displeasure seeing as he had been forced to run for naught. Because Luke was not shrieking in fear, but rather delight.

Obi-wan stared up in shock and amusement at Cody. The giant clone sat by the hut, exactly where Obi-wan had left him prior to going on another search for a place for his friend to live. One of his arms was held up straight in front of him, while the other hovered nearby just in case the young boy currently running and climbing on it were to fall off. The old commander had an undoubtedly curious look on his face as the child seemed all too happy to use him as a jungle gym of sorts.

Relief washed over the exiled Jedi as he watched them for a moment, before both finally took notice of the fussy Eopie and his rider. While he couldn't see the look on Luke's face all too well, Obi-wan imagined he must be smiling from just the way he was waving and hollering at him.

"Mister Kenobi, your friend is super awesome!!!"

It was going to be interesting to explain to the lad that he wasn't allowed to tell anyone about Obi-wan's 'super awesome' friend. As if reading his mind, Cody carefully scooped up the boy and settled him back down on the sandy ground.

"YOU FORGOT SOMETHING ON YOUR LAST TEA VISIT..." He spoke as softly as possibly, but Cody's voice was still quite deep and booming. There was a hint of laughter to it that he'd recognize even if it had become any more altered than it already was. He'd familiarized himself with his friend's subtle emoting a long time ago. "GIVE IT TO HIM KID..."

Luke dutifully ran over to Obi-wan and Silas, giving the Eopie a quick pet before taking a wrapped parcel out of his satchel. The familiar shape of it made the once acclaimed negotiator's ears burn with embarrassment at his apparent carelessness.

"Ah..." He took back his lightsaber and refused to meet Cody's eye. Knowing fully well that he'd find amusement at his expense in those large dark pools of his "My mistake."

He really ought to get a strap for that slippery saber of his. Or perhaps a bell... He didn't think he'd be living this one down any time soon.

#Eps Writes #star wars #the clone wars #kenobi #Tatooine Odd Encounters AU #Luke Skywalker #Beru Lars #Obi wan Kenobi #Commander Cody #g/t #giant/tiny #size difference #size shifting

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badshah-cornelius · 2 years

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The Destruction of Cardiff: A Star Wars Fan-Fic

I generally do not write fanfic, but I’ve been inspired to write this story since reading about the Imperial Civil War in the old Expanded Universe. I hope you all enjoy, and I would love to hear your thoughts if you have any to share!

Chapter 1

10 ABY.

The 102nd Sector Army hovers in orbit over the modestly wealthy planet of Cardiff.

Nothing is remarkable about either the planet or the fleet defending it.

Save that Cardiff now sits on the border between the territories held by Moff Gideon and Moff Tyrus.

Years ago, that would not have mattered. Cardiff has been untouched by war since the days of Revan. It sat comfortably deep within Republic, and then Imperial, space for millennia. Not even the Separatists, or the Rebellion that followed them, ever came within striking distance.

With the fall of neighboring Xiongdu and Elladi to Moff Tyrus’s marauders, Cardiff became a border town overnight.

The 102nd, meanwhile, has two unique misfortunes. Firstly, it is not a heavily-armed fleet. Only three Imperial Star Destroyers, accompanied by two Acclamator-class and two Victory II-class cruisers. It is more of a deterrent against raiders than an actual threat. Secondly, it is one of the few fleets still at full strength in the Azure Sector. It, and the rest of Cardiff’s garrison, are needed to reinforce the defense of Moff Gideon’s capital, Axum.

Moff Gideon and his cohort see this as a strategic withdrawal to defend more vital positions. Admiral Algernon, the 102nd’s commander, sees this as a necessary evil. Pull back now, and hold the line at Axum. They can always retake Cardiff once Moff Tyrus is beaten back.

Of course, no one asked the people of Cardiff what they think.

Once the final shuttles from the surface land in the hangar, Admiral Algernon gives the order to jump to hyperspace.

One by one, the cruisers of the 102nd depart.

All is quiet over Cardriff.

Chapter 2

Echelon Square. It's crowded for the late afternoon. Families lounge on the grass. The restaurants are packed. Children run across the length of the courtyard. Not too humid, not too chilly - the weather is as pleasant as a summer day can get.

Zayd Sansour is almost back home. He strolls past the shops, the fountain, and the crowd huddled around the HoloNet display.

Sounds like they're listening to the news. He pays it no mind. It's all lies and hysteria as far as he is concerned. He's almost at his house now.

Once exiting the square, he's right by the riverside. Home. He crosses the street, then works his way down the stairs. His condo is a real pain to enter at times, especially for his aging knees, but it's worth it for him to have a house right on the River Zans.

Gorgeous view, lovely fresh air, and plenty of opportunity to sail up and down the river in his free time.

Zayd rounds the corner. His business partner, Sabur, is already waiting for him by the front door.

"Beat you again, you old goat!" Sabur bellows.

"Oh, stuff it, you croak." Zayd barks back.

"Who else has made it so far?"

"Glad you asked! Rakha, Enzaro, and Dishamur have already made themselves at home. Marsha and Raqi'i have been hard at work in the kitchen."

"Lovely- excuse me for a moment." Zayd takes a seat on the bench right next to the door. Sabur plops right next to him.

"And what about Malik and his girl?”, Zayd inquires.

"Ah, I have not seen either of them since I got here. I think they're up in his room, doing who knows what."

"If I know my son, he's probably filling his mind with HoloNet nonsense. Bad enough he spends his free time with that junk. Now he's not even showing up in the office! I swear, I'm doing the work of two men. Were it not for Marsha, I'd kick him out of the damn house! That would teach him!"

"Hey, hey, my friend, relax." Sabur intervened. "I know it's a lot of work, but we're still doing good. The Magistrate wouldn't have commissioned us if we weren't."

"And no thanks to Malik!" Zayd huffed.

"Ah, forget him! He'll get over himself, give him some time." Sabur rises from the bench, and opens the door.

"Now come, we got the deal with The Magistrate, let us celebrate. That is why we are here, after all, let's take it easy."

"You are right, my friend. Let us." Zayd follows suit, and they both enter the house.

The Sansour household is as fragrant as it is ornate. The scents of a thousand spices permeate the air. Marsha and Raqi'i, Zayd's wife and daughter, are to the left of the entrance in the kitchen. Both parties exchange a quick wave, then each went about their business. Zayd and Sabur round the corner, to where their associates are gathered around a Hookah, but they hear two footsteps storm above them.

Malik, Zayd's son, comes into view as he descends the stairs.

"Father! We need to leave now."

Zayd turns to his partner. "Give us a minute, Sabur."

He pivots to Malik while Sabur leaves for the Hookah.

Yudit Al-Mansiyya, Malik's fiance, follows suit down the stairs.

"Malik, my son, what are you-"

"Father, the fleet in orbit is gone. Cardiff is defenseless."

"The- the fleet?"

Malik struggles to contain himself. Yudit places a hand on his shoulder; she worries he is about to collapse.

"Yes, it's all over the HoloNet. With Xiongdu and Elladi gone, Moff Tyrus is about to-"

"Oh, forsaken! Enough with this Tyrus nonsense!" Zayd shoves Malik off him, and starts to walk away.

"Father Zayd", Yudit speaks. "Malik and I have been watching the local news. Even they say the fleet is gone."

"Yudit, my dear, you studied at Coruscant. Surely you know better than to trust such rumors."

Malik interrupts. "Father, why won't you listen? We've been arguing about this for weeks now, it's not safe here anymore."

"Of course we are safe! Everything is fine with the Imperial army!" Zayd raised his voice. Marsha and Raqi'i, and his business associates, drop what they are doing to observe the conversation.

"Thrawn made us strong again! Emperor Palpatine, may Heaven rest his soul, has kept us safe through the eons! All this dung news about the rogue Moffs is Rebel lies! Propaganda to make us fearful!"

Malik is about ready to get on his hands and knees in response.

"Father, Tyrus is not just a rogue Moff. Even official Imperial channels are saying the entire Imperial Command has broken down. All the major generals and Moffs are at each other's throats. They're saying it's all-out war."

"Again, they are lies! The Grand Moffs are loyal to the memory of the Emperor! We must remain loyal to the Empire too! We cannot give in to the fear and doubt that the Rebels are spreading! All that you see on the HoloNet is a hoax! They lied about Alderaan, they're lying about this too!"

"Father, please listen!"

"No more! It's bad enough you are paranoid over these lies. Your obsession nearly cost us the deal with the Magistrate today!"

"Deal? What deal?" Yudit cut in.

"Surely Malik has told you, my dear." Zayd whips out his datapad, flashing the screen to both her and Malik. "We are to supply the Imperial corps in this sector with fresh produce! Keep our men in tip top shape against the Rebels! Magistrate Kaisel sealed the deal with us today."

Malik snaps back. "Father, the stormtroopers are gone. They left us. Kaisel might have already left too."

"Enough! I've had enough! You will not undermine our success with your fear! Out of my sight!" Zayd storms off. Malik wants to pursue, but Yudit pulls him back. He’s at an absolute loss. He storms off up the stairs. Yudit follows. Marsha and Raqi'i return to their posts, while Zayd and his associates gather around for more jovial conversation.

Chapter 3

The alarm goes off. Yudit wakes up first.

4:09 AM.

She and Malik had already bought tickets off-world days ago, to her family on Eriadu. They were hoping they wouldn't have to use them so soon, but they cannot wait any longer.

They bought five in total - one for her, one for Malik, and one each for his family.

Zayd would never agree to leave willingly. Fortunately, Raqi'i and Marsha already agreed to leave with them beforehand. They are not as fearful as her and Malik, but they saw the news.

A knock at the door.

Raqi'i is fully dressed, a satchel in her arms.

"Is it time?"

Yudit nods.

Raqi'i nods back, then turns and whispers to her mom.

Yudit nudges Malik. "It's time, my love."

Malik dreaded this day.

The family enters the garage. They pack all they can carry into the Speedervan.

As they are about to set out, Zayd barges in.

“What in Heaven are you all doing?”

Marsha confronts him.

“My love, we cannot stay. We need to go, at least for a little while. Please come with us.”

“No!” Zayd can barely contain his rage. “You have let this brat poison your minds with his lies! There is no danger, and you will not leave!”

Raqi’i backs up her mother. “Papa, we will only be gone for a little whi-”

“NO! I am not abandoning our lives! You will all go back inside! And Malik!”

Zayd lunges towards Malik and grabs him by his collar.

“You insolent child! You are no longer welcome in this house! Bego-”

“ENOUGH!”

Mother Marsha throws herself between them, and shoves Zayd to the ground.

“Malik, start the speeder!”

Malik and the girls rush into the van, and power it on.

Marsha turns to her husband, still on the ground in shock. He tries to get up, but his aging knees are not cooperating.

“You will be lucky if we come back at all. Get yourself off-world, we are leaving without you.”

Before he can respond, she rushes into the van and slams the door. The speeder takes off out of the garage.

Zayd rises to his feet and hobbles outside. As they drive off into the distance, he yells:

“Smite! I will smite all of you! Leave, and never come back!”

Chapter 4

The four of them drive through the rain to the nearest space port - three hours away. By the time they get to the station, it is 7am.

Yudit fidgets with the ticket tokens in her hands. They are silent all the way there, save for one brief exchange.

“Your mother knows we are coming, right Yudit?”

“Yes, Mother Marsha.”

“Good. Malik, are you sure Eriadu is safe?”

“Yes. It will take us some time to get there, but we should be passing through New Republic space. They say those sectors are less chaotic.”

Once they arrive, they encounter a mass of people and speeders at the space port gates.

A security guard approaches their speeder.

"We're only letting ticket holders through right now. There's too many people and not enough shuttles today."

Malik addresses him - "have you not seen the news, you need to-"

Yudit cuts Him off - "We have the tokens, sir.”

The guard nods. "Step out of the vehicle and follow me."

The four of them follow the guard up to the gate. They march past a crowd of people, all of them shooting a dirty look.

They reach the gate.

"These four are clear to proceed", the guard informed his colleagues.

The family works their way to the terminal without a word. It is much less crowded inside.

"We'll come back for papa, right?", asks Raqi'i.

"He's made his choice. We must worry about us first", replies Marsha.

They wait around in hangar 2C for two hours. Finally, the shuttle is cleared for launch. The tension in the air is palpable as they board the craft. As Malik waits in line, he hears chatter from a couple dockworkers nearby. They’re trying to keep their voices down, but he can still pick up what they’re saying:

“These people have no idea what we’re going through to get them off-world.”

The launch itself is routine. For just a moment, the family is calm. Then they hear from a few seats away, "Look!"

They turn to the starboard side.

A humongous mass of ships is concentrated on the far side of the planet.

There are at least two dozen Imperial Star Destroyers, accompanied by a hundred smaller cruisers and frigates.

But they aren’t gray, like the Imperial fleets they are all used to seeing.

They are dark red.

Moff Tyrus is here.

Panic strikes. People try to call down to the surface, but no one can get a signal.

Finally, the intercom comes on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry, but for your safety, we are scrambling our communications to avoid detection. Please remain calm, we will be entering hyperspace as soon as possible."

As everyone else looks on, Raqi'i asks, "Papa will be safe, right? Papa will-"

The fleet begins its bombardment.

Scores of explosions erupt across the surface.

The turbolasers are silent as they shot volley after volley.

The wailing on board is deafening.

Raqi'i breaks down crying, as do so many other passengers.

Yudit and Malik look on in horror.

Cardiff disappears from view.

All they can see is the blue of hyperspace.

The shuttle makes the jump.

#Star Wars #my art #fanfiction #fanfic #Star Wars EU #Expanded Universe

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blucheezecakestories · 23 days

Text

Just a Little Bit Longer. (Jooyeon Short)

It's almost the end of highschool.

I haven't thought too much about anything yet, since I had plans to get to Psychology, but... well, something in me didn't want to. Part of me wanted to try something else. Such is the curse of time.

After the hectic day, I just realized... Well, I only have about a month left for school. I just need to fix up everything and get things done with graduation and then... And then follow the flow of time. That's when I realize how much time had passed, leaving only me in the classroom- ah. A soft tap on my head happened to come by. As I look around, no was was around, but a ball of crumpled paper rested on the floor. I just... need some more time to re- another thud, this time, I could see the paper fall to the floor. God, I know who it is; he's responsible for some of my headaches.

"I swear, Jooyeon," I started in a rather loud and clear voice, "One more and I'll haunt you in your dreams."

"I didn't throw that paper! It was always there!" A disembodied voice would reply, leaging me with a biger headache than just moments ago. "Just- come out now. I know you're lying, anyway."

Come out he did, as he walks into the room with a relieved but mischievous grin. His hair would fall right on his nape, brown hair indicating that he dyed it again. "Always breaking the rules, huh, Jooyeon?" I greeted with one of my eyebrows raised. He laughs, immediately sitting down next to me. I could feel his black eyes stare at me while I pack my things up. The bright orange lighting that the sunset provides light for me to see what I was doing. "Shut up, It's almost the end of our high school anyway! Plus you always said you think dyeing my hair looks cool." He said with a lighthearted tone.

"I said that?" I asked. He shifts his position as if flabbergasted that I seem to forget that statement.

"Now of course you did, Miss Serious! Geez, it's not like it's been that long since we met each other." It seems that we both have the same ideas in our head, since Jooyeon paused after saying that.

"Hey."

"Hey what, Jooyeon?"

"Remember the first time we met?"

"That you moved here with your parents and I happened to be your neighbor?"

Jooyeon scoffed and leaned forward. "We were about 10 years old, too. You're... Very boyish back then, huh?"

"Hey, at least I was trying to drive those kids who were bullying you back then." I reply. Jooyeon, now that I remember, was a scaredy cat back then. Now... Well, at least he changed for the better. "And by the way, I heard you want to pursue that music dream of yours?"

One mention of music, as I suspected, gave that spark of eagerness to the boy. "Yeah, of course! Once I graduate, I'll see if I can audition and get into a band someday. I promise you, once I become famous, I'll make sure you always get the VIP ticket in my band's concerts!"

His eagerness, it broke my heart. Jooyeon, I knew him the longest. I do get dragged into trouble he brews every now and then either bc he is bored or is curious. He... Well, I've seen him get popular with the girls, too. Plus, we always hang out here, after school. It's become our way of bonding and telling each other all we could tall throughout those years. But with all that bond we built throughout those years, he feels like a stranger again.

"I'm proud of you, you know that right?"

"Mhm! And you..." He said, realizing the amount of time we both could spend today, after 5 months of avoiding communication with each other. "You keep studying hard, right?" He said and then stood up. He paces back and forth as if wanting to give me a speech. "I... You said you wanted to study hard, And so... you stopped hanging out with me. I mean, I get it. I hope you get into that dream college soon. Oh, how about this, we can set up a meeting place when we have the time! Maybe then we can still keep hanging out like this, for as long as we need to!"

That does it. Hearing him say all that, my heart sank. I knew why. He should know why. I took out something from my bag, an envelope of sorts. I stare at his curious eyes, handing it over to him. He then silently opens it, the tension covered by the sounds of rustling paper. I'd sigh the moment he started to look so defeated. "... You're accepted to... Stanford?" He said, looking up to me.

His forced smile tells me he wants to be optimistic about all of this news. I can't stand it, the months of radio silence between us only for him to come again today, but I had to basically tell him I'll be leaving for good. "That's great news! You can always come back here to visit your parents-"

"My parents... They decided to move there with me. I... I'm afraid I won't be able to see you."

"What?..." He mentioned, his smile fading as he approached me. "There must be a way. I could go with you when I'm out for a concert-"

"But then it's going to be years, Jooyeon!"

"You don't understand-"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" I protested, my emotions getting the better of me as Jooyeon's eyes start turning glossy. "Mom and Dad wants the best of me and I try but they never seem to consider how much I'm just happy to be here! I just... I wanted to try and find ways to stay here but I can't. I can't- see you anymore-"

"Don't say that!" Jooyeon outbursts as well, his lips quivering. All those memories... It's rushing through my mind. I just... I don't want to ever have him disappear. "Nabi, don't say that, please... when we stopped talking, I was just- so scared because- you're the only one who listened to me for who I am... And not seeing you anymore... I don't want that to happen. Nabi... I don't want you to go..."

His tears run freely like a stream, I... never saw him cry, but my heart broke seeing this. I didn't know what to do... so I just had to hold him close with an embrace. The warmth but also the tense atmosphere made me cry as well.

When all of it died down, I finally let him go, as we sit beside each other. The orange light of the sunset starts to dim, but... Jooyeon and I have the unspoken feeling of not wanting to go. Just remembering all those memories, the mistake of distancing myself from him... All of it, I just hope we stay a little bit longer.

"Nabi..." He croaked out.

"What?"

"I'm scared."

"About what?"

"I don't know."

I sighed as I turn to face him.

"Just tell me. I can stay here a little longer."

"I... Nabi."

"What is it?"

"I just... I have feelings you know?"

Hearing that, my eyes widen. "Feelings? For who?"

"... You know who. I just... don't want to let go of her like that."

One moment passed, and another. I let him process what he just said, while I do the same. We stared into each other, as if trying to understand what he meant, but this unspoken feelings, we both just know what it is. As the classroom dims, we let ourselves stay a little bit longer, as we let ourselves draw closer and meet lips to lips.

#fanfiction #fanfic #high school #xdh #xdinary heroes #jooyeon #lee jooyeon #romance #short story #writing

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stegrossaurus · 5 months

Text

Yule Cat

by Gunnar

“We should be getting pretty close by now,” Ari says, shielding his eyes from the sun as he gazes at Mt. Strandertindur. He looks back at the town, does some quick calculations, and conforms. “Yep. Gryla’s lair is close. We can make it there before dark.”

I follow his eyes from the mountain to home. I don’t think we’re actually very close to the mountain or very far from town, but that’s okay. Going on an adventure with Ari is always fun enough. Besides, I don’t think I really want to find Gryla. Nothing Ari has told me about the giant child-eating woman makes her seem very friendly, especially for a 7 and 10 year old.

But Ari said Gryla only eats naughty children and we’re not, so we should be safe. Strictly speaking, we’re not supposed to be so far from home without Mom and Dad’s permission, but I know Ari will keep me safe, so it doesn’t count. And like I said, we’re still close enough that I can see the town.

We keep trekking up the slope leading to the mountain, with Ari finding large dips in the ground and broken branches that can only come from the feet of a hungry giantess. According to Ari, at least. I’m not sure why these footprints aren’t spaced out more evenly like footprints normally are, but I trust my older brother. Mom and Dad let him watch scarier shows and read scarier comics than me so he knows all about these myths and legends.

“What are we going to do when we find her lair?” I ask as Ari leads me to a small forest just a few trees thick on the slope. Creatures like Gryla love forests, Ari had said.

“We’re going to find where her yule lads keep their gifts and take some home,” Ari says confidently. “Not all of them, just what we deserve. We’ve been good all year, right, Gun?”

I nod eagerly. My teacher says I’m one of the smartest boys in class and I never get in trouble. Ari gets even better grades and is the best at everything. Sometimes adults yell at him for little stuff like arguing with his teacher or starting little fires, but Ari says they’re just taking stuff too seriously. There’s no way he deserved that rotting potato in his shoe.

“And just who are they to judge us anyway?” Ari snaps, getting a little frustrated now. “You remember I told you how they’re always licking spoons and stealing candles and whatever? And their mom and cat are always eating people. That’s a little worse than putting a lizard in the principal’s coffee, but I bet they don’t get any rotten potatoes in their shoes.”

I nod in agreement until I realize what Ari said. “Wait, they have a cat?” I try not to sound too excited because I know Ari’s not a fan of cats, but I can’t help it. If it weren’t for Dad’s allergies, I’d ask my parents for a cat every Christmas.

Ari grimaces. “Trust me, Gun, the Yule Cat isn’t the kind of cat you’d want. It’s large and ugly and mean even by cat standards. It’ll gut you as soon as look at you.” He says that kind of thing about all cats, but then again, this cat apparently kills people. “When its blood-red eyes lock on you and it sees that you’re not wearing proper winter clothes, you’d better hide.”

“Why would the cat care about clothes?” I ask. Do cats even know about things like sweaters and mittens?

“Because it’s a jerk, that’s why,” Ari says. “It belongs to an evil child-eating giant; what did you expect? Gryla sends the stupid thing out at night to hunt all the kids who don’t get winter clothes for Christmas and bring them back for her to cook.”

“I didn’t know you could train cats to do anything,” I say, unable to hide how fun a giant trained kitty sounds. “I thought they just did what they wanted. But my friend says her cat always brings her dead stuff from outside, so I guess that is what they want.”

“Which is why I don’t like cats,” Ari grumbles. “But you don’t need to worry, Gunner. Any cat that gets close is gonna get an eyeful of this.” He hefts the rusty iron spade borrowed from our neighbor’s shed, filed to a point which he swears can pierce a car door. “Mystic beings like Gryla and her cat hate iron.”

We walk on for a while, with Ari occasionally telling me that we were almost there even after we leave the tiny forest. He finds more footprints and claw marks and weird plants that he says are clearly warped by her ancient magic. I feel safe with my older brother and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing, but I’d still rather be home before the sun goes down. If the Yule Cat, Gryla, and her yule lads don’t kill us, Mom and Dad will. As the sun gets lower, I clench my jacket tighter and Ari holds his spike higher. I’m a little relieved when Ari says it’s time for us to head back.

“Gryla probably hides her lair with magic,” Ari explains. “We’re probably not going to find her. Let’s get home before it starts…wait, hold on.” His eyes narrow as he sees something up ahead. The slope gets a little steep here and there’s a short stone cliff face in front of us, but I don’t see whatever he sees and I tell him so when he asks.

“You really can’t see it?” Ari asks. When I shake my head, he points at the invisible thing and says, “It’s a door knocker, like the one on our front door.”

No matter how hard I look, I don’t see it. But when Ari gives it an experimental poke with his spike, a shimmer ripples out and suddenly it’s there, nailed to the rock like it’s always been there. Everything else in the little forest feels like it’s moving away. It feels like magic.

“Your spike!” I realize with a shout. “It’s messing with the magic hiding the knocker! But why could you see it in the first place?”

Ari doesn’t answer me. He just pauses for a second, grinning at the knocker. It’s the same grin he sometimes gets when he sneaks out of the house or sneaks something into his pocket at the grocery store. Then he reaches up and gives it three very loud bangs. Far louder than I think they should be. So loud, the rest of the world seems to run away as the rocky cliff expands. In a second, we’re not standing in front of a cliff on a slope with our home at our backs. We’re in front of the massive wooden door of a house as big as a neighborhood in a dark, frozen land.

“Ari, where are we?” I whisper, looking around. Everything off of the lawn-sized front porch is nearly pitch-black, but I can make out snow. A lot of snow and nothing else.

“I don’t know, Gunnar,” he says, holding me closer. His teeth are already chattering. “We need to get somewhere warm before we freeze.” He looks around, too, and points to something I’d missed: a patch of light the same color as that tiny forest in the afternoon light. “There! That’s our world! We need to get back there and–oh no.”

Once I see what he sees, I don’t know how I missed it. At the very least, the sound of its massive footsteps in the snow should have been hard to ignore. But, then again, cats are known to be silent. Ari gets in front of and waves his spike as the blood-red eyes of the Yule Cat get closer. When the rest of it is in the glow of the giant porchlight, I can see that Ari was right; I don’t want to be anywhere near this large, hideous, hungry dinosaur of a cat. We press ourselves against the door as the thing comes closer, its sparse black fur bristling on its warty gray skin. Before it can strike, the door swings inward, releasing fiery warmth and the sounds and smells of cooking dinner.

“Is someone there?” a loud, ancient voice howls from inside the house. “Yuley, did you knock? Who taught you to do that?” There’s a loud whiff above us and then, “Do I smell something…naughty?”

Neither of us stop to think. We just rush into the house, dodging the gigantic, bare feet on our way in. Ari doesn’t let me stop once we’re away from the cold and the cat, though. He pulls me across the wooden floor to the first piece of massive furniture we can hide under: a cushioned couch holding another giant. The Yule Cat isn’t far behind and I beat its paw under the couch by a second.

Yowling and moaning, the awful creature keeps trying to stretch its monstrous paw to us. We bolt in the dusty darkness to the other side of the couch, but after a few ground-shaking thumps, Gryla’s warty, wrinkled feet are planted there.

“Leppalúði! Leppalúði, get up!” Gryla screeches. “Yuley found a child! It’s under the couch! Get up so he can kill it!”

The occupant of the couch above us grumbles like an avalanche. “Just get it out with a broom or something, Gryla. I’m tired.”

Gryla groans loudly as her Cat meows for its mistress to do something about its missing prey. The two giants start arguing.

“We’re wearing our jackets,” I mutter in a daze. I can barely form a thought but I know this much. “We’re wearing our jackets. Shouldn’t that be enough? We’re wearing winter clothes so why is it trying to kill us?”

“I don’t know, Gun, but please shut up!” Ari hisses back. He takes several deep breaths, then gets a look on his face. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a second.” While Gryla and her cat yell at her husband, Ari peels off his jacket, inches closer to the edge of the couch, and throws it to where the Cat could reach it. Then he scurries back to me. “The scent’ll keep the Cat busy while we run. Gryla left the door open.”

After a few failed attempts to move her husband and the couch, Gryla stomps off, grumbling about getting a broom like he suggested. The Yule Cat stays, and I can already see how Ari’s plan won’t work. The Cat can’t reach us, but it can see us well enough to not bother with the decoy jacket. Those blood-red eyes locked on my brother, but I’m certain it’ll go for me, too, jacket or no jacket.

Gryla comes back quickly and crouches down on the other side of the couch. She starts probing a tree trunk-sized broomhandle under the couch, forcing us closer to the Yule Cat.

“Come here, little naughties,” she croaks as we try to avoid the broom. She takes another long whiff. “Strayed too far from home.” Another whiff. “Disobeyed the teacher. Stole from neighbor’s shed. Got your brother in danger. No wonder you found your way into my world, little naughty." The spike looks laughably small next to the Cat, so Ari scrambles in his backpack for anything else to use as a weapon. “Did you see my door knocker, little naughty? Sometimes the bad ones can find it. But only the dumb ones actually use it.”

The Yule Cat’s pupils widen in anticipation of its meal. While Ari’s rooting through his bag, I see his phone and get an idea. Before I can stop myself, I grab Ari’s phone, run forward, and show the bright screen to the Cat’s wide eyes. Did you know that cats have very light-sensitive eyes, especially in the dark?

With a yowl, the Cat pulls back. Ari bolts forward, kicking the jacket out from under the couch. Too blinded and angry to think straight, the Yule Cat swipes it across the floor and pounces on it. This is our only chance.\

Ari grabs my wrist and we race for the door while Gryla crowds around her pet to see its prey. We’re almost halfway there before we hear, “There they are, Yuley!” I turn to see the ugly thing coming at us like a freight train and just barely yank us both to the ground in time. But now the Yule Cat’s in between us and the door.

“Good boy, Yuley,” Gryla huffs, clearly worn out. Seeing her for the first time, I’m not too surprised to see that she’s very old. Much like her pet, she’s covered in stone-colored warts and her face looks as much dinosaur as mammal. She looks like something that existed long before humans. “Now hurry up and kill them!”

The giant cat locks its eyes on us again, crouched for a pounce that I know we can’t dodge. Ari holds me and waves his tiny weapon. I can hear him fighting back tears. The Yule Cat bristles up its scant remaining fur and…pulls itself upright. It looks from my brother and me to Gryla a few times, as if unsure what she said.

“What are you waiting for?” the giantess screams. “Attack, already!”

This time, the Yule Cat lets out a harsh snort and fixes its mistress with a glare. It gets up and walks lazily over to Leppalúði on the couch, letting him idly scratch its head.

Gryla lets out a frustrated howl. “Why does no one in this house do what I say?!” Defeated, she storms over to the door.

Not waiting to see if she attacks us or just closes the door, Ari and I run into the cold and dark. We clear the porch and trudge into the knee deep snow, with Ari pulling me along as quickly as he can to the patch of afternoon light, waving his spike in front to make sure Gryla’s magic doesn’t block our way. It’s not too far, but the snow makes the journey a little longer.

“I told you!” I shout, a little too gleefully. We’re both giggling like maniacs now. “I told you cats can’t be trained! They hate being told what to do!”

“Congratulations, Gun, you were right!” Ari laughs back. “And your idea with the phone was genius! Now let’s get home and never tell Mom and Dad about this!”

The little doorway of light ripples as Ari swipes his spike at it. We cross the barrier to our world and immediately everything shrinks back into place. The trees and the mountain and the town all rush into their proper places. The freezing world behind us turns back into an invisible knocker on a rock. Ari and I hug each other and whoop with delight before running back to town.

We’re almost to safety when another fact about cats dawns on me, one that I remember when I hear something thumping quietly behind me. And hear a quiet moan. And feel an icy breath on the back of my neck.

Cats like to play with their food.

#short story #magic #monster #cat #Gryla #merry christmas #eating children

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calyxaomphalos · 2 years

Text

The Ghosts of Windy Ridge

Turn #40, four components

location #13 - the cemetery (3) - Red Pine Cemetery neighbor #11 - human who always speaks truth (1) (Sagittarius) item #18 - makes me nostalgic event #6 - find an item! -- #7 - wait to use...

Both a new location and a new neighbor, but reaction rolls aren't great and while I gave the neighbor a name eventually, it isn't used in this scene.

10 April 2022, Sunday Night

I drove away from Foras' Lair thinking about having spooked Andy and wondering what on earth he'd been doing there. The idea of a spooking on a late Sunday night had me thinking about going to the one place I should have gone when I first got here. The cemetery. Mo's grave site. I had another one of those little airline bottles of rum that I can pour out when I get there. I'm sure he'd appreciate that.

The Red Pine Cemetery was all the way out at the northern-most end of the road that Dani and I parked on last Thursday night after the weekly gathering when we made that clandestine visit to the Pastor's office. I had to drive all the way through town and out past the church to get there.

It was a small cemetery. I'm guessing no more than a hundred headstones, give or take a dozen. Mo's should be relatively new. He'd passed four years ago, though it was really more like not quite three and a half. I debated parking with the headlights on pointing into the gently sloping field but decided natural night vision and moonlight would be best. I could use my phone's flashlight in deep shadowed areas if it came to that.

The air was cool and still. Most of the headstones were in orderly rows, but over in one corner, they were rather chaotic. I sat for a minute or two to let my eyes fully adjust, spending that time looking into the deep shadows of the pine trees lining the far northern edge of the field. I was about to get up when I heard a shotgun being cocked behind me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, careful not to move at all and not knowing what to expect next.

"Ain't no reasonable God-fearing man come around the cemetery this time o' night, on a Sunday at that," came a low masculine drawl from the same direction as the gun.

"So what are you doing here, then?"

"Don't make me shoot you. Get up and turn around real slow like, hands in the air wheres I can see'em."

"Okay, I can do that," I said, complying with the directions.

Once I was facing him, the moonlight accentuated his thin wild gray hair, sticking out every which way. "You've got ten seconds to explain yourself," he said, keeping the gun pointed at me.

Again, direct honesty was the way to go. "My name is Serren Dyer. I am spending the month of April here in Windy Ridge to research the history of an old friend, Maurice Forrester. He died late in 2018. I'm here to visit his grave."

The gun lowered a bit, but not as much as I'd like for comfort. "Move along. Maybe you come back here at a reasonable hour to see your 'friend'."

"Okay. Look, I'm going to lower my right hand and open my car door. Then I'll get in and leave, deal?"

He gestured with the gun toward the car, which I took as agreement. My hands were sweating a bit and slipped on my first try to open the door. "Shit," I said and then got it on the second try. The gun was lower now. I slid into the driver's seat and then pulled the door shut. Getting the engine fired was a relief. I turned on the headlights and I could see him standing in front of me. "Don't put it in 'drive', don't put it in 'drive'," I muttered as I threw it into reverse. I made a sloppy three point turn, swearing under my breath the whole time. A quick look in the rear view as I drove away and he was already gone.

#the ghosts of windy ridge #writeblr #nanowrimo #over the mountain

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justamedaordinarywomanbutfunlife · 2 years

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i was born for this

today is day 5 days since mr. sam was officially declared a hospice patient. he’s at home where most patients prefer to live out their last days but i don’t know for how long.

backstory on mr. sam and why i’m writing what is most pressing on my mind today. i moved to minnesota from nashville in spring of 2019. i think i told you in my last blog i was born and raised in kentucky. so yeah moved here in spring of 2019. first it was the town of minnetonka as a roommate for this 65 year old man named randy. i didn’t know him or had even met him til day i arrived. this seems to be the regular thing with my life every since my divorce in 2012 except for the few times i lived with family and that one time i lived with a friend from first grade and her family. i never would have imagined that i would spend all of my 30s and now into my 40s in roommate situations. but that has been the norm for me for 10 years now. and every time i move in there always even if new roomies swear there is none or at the least very little care that is needed in the home; it never is like that. i always seem to arrive when something is badly needed in the home that they can’t seem to get from others. so yeah moved in with randy and learned he was a “recovering alcoholic” that had been to rehab 13 times by time i moved in and he was 65. i was 39. by july 4th weekend i had never seen him drinking but could not shake the gut feeling he was drinking. see i lived in the basement area of his townhome with my 2 dogs jazz and cosmo (they would be put down together in june 2020) i also worked full time as security officer so was not home a lot. well july 4 weekend i remember the amblance came to get him while i was at work. no neighbors had my number and only his brother did but lives an hour an half away. it was several days before a neighbor finally came over asking to see randy cause he had told her he was home from hospital. i informed her no i got home a few nights and go and he was gone and i saw note saying he was headed to hospital but had not heard anything. she then relayed to me he was in hospital because of his drinking. and that he had started drinking again even knowing his liver was greatly damaged and would die soon if he didn’t stop. he also had cute dog named red. well this pattern from that july til i moved out in jan 2020 was on teh regular that he’d get drunk, then talk suicide and then get sent to hospital for days at time. i would care for red and my dogs until his brother might come pick up red to take him til randy was released. it just got worse and worse and as always happens another roommate situation opens up.

jan 2020 randy was so bad that he could not even contain his bowels when drinking and suddenly had to ask me to help him with toileting, dressing, and taking more care of red and the house. well i had been a caregiver in my own home for my ex husband in 1999 til i divorced him in 2012. but looking back i been a caregiver for animals or people it feels like my whole life. so will tell more about this other blog entries. ok so i already know instinctively to start looking for new place cause if anything happens to randy his ex wife will sell townhome and me and dogs be homeless. i search craiglist and find a listing 20 minutes west of minnetonka in a town called chaska. it’s an elderly lady in her 70s. her son in his 50s suddenly died the month before and she is looking for a lady renter/roommate to move in. no care expected just pay rent and have the full furnished basement that was more like a full apartment including a sink, full fridge, and living and dining area. the only reason i needed to come upstairs was to use stove. oh it was nice on big yard. i move in and found myself working full time and helping her in the yard. she was not your kind woman at all. she appeared like the sweet grandma type but no.

august 2020 i move from chaska in with a young couple who needed a renter/roommate to live in the upper part of house and they lives in bottom part but we share kitchen. a month later they decide to sell house and well here we go again another move. then it was man in his 40s a truck driver in north minneapolis. if you watch the news about minneapolis then you know north minneapolis is where most of the bad stuff happens. but rent was good, we would share a bathroom and kitchen. but he was rarely home so it was like having my own place. but he was not a good housekeeper. so guess who ended up with cleaning and upkeep duties. yep i did. i lived there from oct 2020 til oct 2021. when roommate moved his son who had just returned from afghanistan deployment and 2 kids under age 5 into the apartment. this apartment was so small that i had no closet for my clothes so i had a pop up one. so son and kids had to sleep on couch and airbed in living room til i moved out. so it was very crowded.

i then saw an ad for a couple in st louis park that was in their 80s. they wanted someone to live upstairs of their nice home they had for nearly 40 years rent free and do minor stuff they couldn’t do like grocery shop for them and basic domestic duties that most 80+ years old can no longer do around home. on this was perfect. that couple was mr sam and ms. joan. i leave out last names but i started called them mr sam and ms joan because i didn’t like just saying sam and joan. on these 2 were like grandparents that i lacked/missed having. ms joan be fussing about me doing to much and still does. i didnt’ live there a month when one night ms joan had to wake me up cause mr sam had fallen in the hallway on his way back from bathroom and going back to bed. I got him up and he was conscious but had no memory of how he fell. this concerned me cause he seemed like a normal health old man. he had copd but not where he needed oxygen or anything. at least i thought he didn’ at the time. a few weeks later at around 3am ms joan yells for me at the bottom of the stairs that he’s fallen again. so i get up thinking ok i need to encourage him to call dr to get seen cause this is starting at alarm me and he’s 83 years old. fallen on hard floors could be very serious. so i make my way to stair to start down them and she comes to them and said oh my he’s bad he’s not talking. what i found was him wedged between his bed and the wall with face pressed up against his night stand not moving. i glance and can’t see him breathing. i shake him cause i don't know what or where he may have injuries but can’t assess him right away. i move bed to give me room to get down to him and pull his torso and head back against my chest. i can immediately tell he’s not breathing or it’s very very shallow. but the area i’m in so narrow that I can’t just lay him back to start breaths or cpr. so i lean him forward on my arm and pound his upper back really hard begging him to respond. he does for a bit but then goes limp again. i pat harder on his back and he comes too and finally says why are we in floor? he goes to hospital and my instincts tell me to let ms joan know that he probably gonna need oxygen cause he was not breathing when i got to him. i told her i suspect maybe his copd has advanced to the point he may need oxygen to live. sure enough he comes home a few days later and got an oxygen tank, both ms joan and mr sam are postive the oxygen tank is probably only temporary until he gets strong enough in a few weeks and he be back to his old self. i don’t have the heart to tell them no this will probably be rest of his life. from october 2021 to now july 2022 i have witnessed the slow decline of mr sam’s health and now he is in a hospital bed at home with word from the hospice team that he most likely will leave this earth at any moment. him and ms joan just celebrated their 6oth wedding anniversay almost 2 weeks ago.

now why do you say i was born for this? well my dad’s mom i remember was a lady before i was ever born that took care of her husband who had pancreatic cancer in their home. she also took in other old and dying people into the home on the regular as my dad was growing up. she would care for them until they died and even prepare the bodies for the funeral to pick up so that familes(if they had any living) would not be burdened with that task. my own mother worked in nursing homes off and when i was a growing up til she had a psychotic break and drew a mental disability check til she passed in 2014 at 54 years old. all the women in my family rarely sent sick and dying to nursing homes instead they considered it an honor to love and care for people at this time of life. I too without wanting to as an adult seemed to always be living where somebody needs some type of care. ms joan has repeatedly asking me during my stay at their home all these months about how can you do this? she calls me strange for not minding doing this or that for her or mr sam. now that he’s getting ready to pass out she was concerned i might leave the home since he will be gone. i told her you still need someone right? so yeah i will stay and live with you for as long as we can be housemates. i realized this week that to her me taking care of old people even until death without pay or even being related to me is just something i was born into. i don’t even think about it. sick and dying is a normal part of my life and has been for 42 years. i even worked as caregiver to the disabled and elderly for a few years before i switched to security officer job as a way to earn money during corporate lay offs and taking care of my mom until she died. its something that til now i never thought was a big deal. but to ms joan and others lately around me who say no to always end up taking care of someone and not plan to is like God putting you were you needed until you not needed anymore. so this week as i help ms joan begin to adjust to life without her dear husband of 60s years this is what i was born for. so i hope to see ms joan through the rest of her life. but my mind is wondering where i gonna end up next. i never fully unpack my stuff when i move anywhere because the last 10 years have taugth me that getting to comfy in a living situation is not something i need to do. that i need to be prepared for having to move on to the next person that needs a caregiver or caretaker in some form.

#caretaker #caregiver #roommate #oldpeople #death #sick #endoflife #hospice #lifejourney #adventure #minnesota #self growth #realization #destiny #fate #calling

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chrisevansjellybeans · 3 years

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Apt 10 B | Part Two

Series pairings: steve x reader, Bucky x reader, stucky x reader (eventual)

Warnings: mentions of cheating, angst, swearing, no Bucky in this part (yes, that is a warning), eventual smut (not in this part) 18+ Minors DNI

Word Count: 2k

A/N: Hey friends! Here is part two of Apt 10 B! This part is very much Steve focused, we don't see any of Bucky (sorry to my Bucky stans, but he will be in the next part).

Thank you for all the love on Part One I appreciate it and I adore you all. 🥺💕

“So you’re moving in with some random guy you met off the internet? Real classy, Y/n.” Your ex, Justin, sneered as you taped up the last of your boxes. “Did you have to just fuck him or suck his dick to let you into Stark Towers.”

The funny part about all of this was that Justin wasn’t even that upset that you were moving into Steve’s apartment per se, it was the fact that his apartment was in Stark Towers. It brought you immense joy that you were now living in the apartment complex that Just had been trying for years to get into but his application was always denied.

“Grow up, Justin. It’s a job and a place to stay, nothing more.” You snapped, lifting the box and setting it on top of the others. You turned around, hands on your hips, and took in the man that you would have jumped through fire for once upon a time. But the sweet, charming man that was once your Prince Charming now looked like a jealous, vindictive ass. Justin was glaring right back at you, his green eyes showing no sign of the love you used to share.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Well I found it hard to believe that you were screwing your secretary, but I got over it. You will too.”

Justin scoffed and crossed his arms. “Yeah, well maybe if you weren’t so stiff in bed I wouldn’t have had to go and fuck Stacey.”

Your mouth fell open and your strong defense dropped as Justin’s words penetrated your bones and for a moment his own scowl faded but as soon as it disappeared it was back.

“Fuck. You.” You pushed out through gritted teeth. Shoving past him, you walked into the living room, your chest heaving and your eyes burning with unshed tears.

You knew that yours and Justin’s sex life wasn’t hot and spicy like what you’ve read about in books and in Cosmo but it wasn’t terrible. No matter how much you tried to not get into your head during sex, your mind always seemed to wander.

Do I look hot from this angle?

Does it feel good for him?

Should I go up and down or side to side?

You always tried to make it better for Justin but he never seemed to return the favor.

“Prick.” You grumbled. You took inventory of the room and couldn’t help the pang in your chest. Yes, Justin was an asshole and there was definitely love lost between the two of you, but seeing your once shared living room now devoid of any remnants of you had you feeling sad.

It was Thursday night and most of your belongings were in the storage unit that Justin’s downstairs neighbor, Cora, offered you. You had become pretty good friends with Cora over the year and half that you and Justin lived together, chit chatting in the mail room or gossiping in the elevator. She was a feisty sixty year old woman who had no problem telling you that she thought Justin was a good for nothing, floppy haired, loser and that you would be better off without him.

She was the best.

The rest of your stuff was everything that you were bringing to Steve’s in the morning. It wasn’t much; just most of your clothes and personal belongings that you didn’t want stuck in the storage unit for the next three months.

“Listen,” you spun around as Justin walked towards you, his hands shoved into the pockets of his sweats. He gave you classic head tilt and lip pout.

Manipulative asshole

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever, Justin. Just leave me alone. We have ten more hours stuck in this apartment, let’s not make it more awkward than it already is.” You pinned him with a look and a sense of achievement washed over you when he shrunk back.

He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the jingling of keys and the front door pushing open. That same sorry look from your bedroom formed on his face again as Stacey the Secretary flounced into the apartment like she lived there; which judging by the two suitcases she lugged behind her you got the idea that she did.

“Are you kidding me?” You spun back around on your dirtbag ex. “Are you fucking kidding me, Justin?”

Justin gave a pathetic shrug. “It’s one night.”

You had never been in a fight in your life and honestly never really felt the need to get into a fight, but right now, in this moment, you were ready to throw down.

“I can’t believe you. You really hate me so much that you are going to make me stay in this place with you and the whore that you cheated on me with?” You seethed.

“Y/n…” He trailed off just as Stacey let out an indignant whine at your choice of words for her. “She needed a place to stay.”

“I’m sure.” You rolled your eyes. Pulling out your phone you didn’t even hesitate to call Steve. You shot one last look at Justin before heading back into your old room, slamming the door behind you.

“Pick up. Pick up. Pic-” You were cut off as Steve’s hoarse voice answered.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Your walls crumbled at his concerned tone.

“No.” You barely whispered. “Can I...can I come tonight? Justin is-”

“Of course, sweetheart. I can come to you and help you get your stuff.”

“I can take the bus.” You sniffed, but both you and Steve knew that you wouldn’t be able to carry all of your stuff yourself and manage it on the bus.

“Text me your address and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Steve said firmly. He was quiet for a moment and you could hear his breathing grow shallower and his voice came out more fierce. “Did he put his hands on you?”

You were stunned by how utterly terrifying he sounded right then. “No, no he’s just being an ass and I can’t spend another minute here with him.”

“I’ll be there soon.” Steve responded after a relieved breath left his mouth. You hung up and quickly sent him the address.

You quickly did one last check of your things, trying to ignore the faint whispers of Justin and Stacey in the other room. Less than twenty minutes later you heard Stacey let out a small shriek at the pounding on the front door.

“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?” You rushed out of the room to see Steve holding Justin by the collar of his shirt. Justin’s toes were barely brushing the ground as Steve brought him up so they were eye level. “How dare-”

“Steve!” His head snapped towards you and Justin immediately fell to the ground as Steve let him go. You barely noticed Stacey rushing towards your ex as Steve’s staggered breath evened out as he stepped over them and over to you.

“Where’s your stuff?”

You tilted your heads towards the bedroom and Steve placed a firm hand on your back and guided you towards it. Silently, he lifted the boxes that you had easily into his arms and waited as you grabbed your tote and suitcase. With a powerful stride he walked back to the living room and cast Justin and Stacey one last glare before holding the door open for you and letting you leave the apartment for the final time.

The elevator ride was quiet and so was putting your stuff in the car and for a brief moment you thought that maybe Steve was also mad at you. Mad that you pulled him away from his last night at home for your petty boyfriend drama.

“I’m sorry.” You asked at the same time he asked, “Are you alright?”

“Why are you sorry, sweetheart?” Steve turned the car on but made no move to change gears and get going.

“I just...you seem a little irritated. I’m sorry to drag you out so late. I know you leave tomorrow.” You refused to look at him as you twisted the hem of your hoodie between your fingers. Strong hands covered yours and you brought your eyes up to Steve’s.

“I’m irritated with that douchebag. Not you. I’m sorry that you have to go through all of this.” He said sincerely. Finally, he put the car in drive and started the way towards his place. You didn’t say anything after that, instead watching how the city moved past you from the passenger side window and trying hard to not let all of the emotion of the night get to you.

Justin didn’t deserve anymore of your tears and you were too proud to give him any, but when Steve’s fingers intertwined with yours you let out a shaky breath and let one tear fall.

Wordlessly, you and Steve brought your things up to his apartment. Like he was able to sense the tension, Dodger greeted you with a less enthusiastic welcome and instead just rubbed his head against the back of your thigh before going back and laying down.

“There’s fresh sheets in the guest room and towels and everything in the guest bath.” Steve covered his mouth, trying to hide the yawn that escaped.

“Thank you, Steve. Seriously.” You scratched the back of your neck nervously. “You’ve done so much for me in such a short amount of time, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

Steve didn’t hesitate to pull you in close, your cheek now pushed against his broad chest. You paused for the barest moment before letting yourself relax into his embrace.

“Stop apologizing, sweetheart.” He ran his hands up and down your back in a comforting motion. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

You tilted your head up to see him looking down at you, his eyes tired but warm and his lips curved into a small smile.

His lips are perfect

Maybe it was the emotion of this past week or maybe it was the way you pressed against his body, but you felt yourself reach up on your tiptoes; your lips reaching for his. Your eyes fluttered closed as you were less than an inch away from him when you felt him tilt back.

It was like a bucket of ice cold water flushed through your veins. You all but threw yourself out of Steve’s arms.

What the hell were you thinking?

Oh my god, he probably thinks I’m some creep.

What the fuck was that?

“Oh my god.” You said out loud, your hands running over your face as you could feel the embarrassment flush your body. “Oh my god.”

“Sweetheart, stop. It’s fine.” Steve’s voice was strained as he took a step towards you but you took one back. You couldn’t even look at him right now.

“I’m going to go shower.” You said to the ground. Without sparing him one more glance you started towards the bathroom when his hand covered yours and halted your movements. You didn’t turn around and he didn't say anything for several seconds. Tugging slightly at your hand, you tried to pull yourself loose but Steve’s hand just gripped yours tighter.

“Not like this, Y/n.”

You didn’t know what he meant and you sure as hell weren’t going to stand here any longer to figure it out. With one last sharp tug, you freed your hand; the burn of his stare burning holes into your back until you reached the bathroom.

You paused by the door, your mind unable to stop your eyes from looking back at him. He stood in the same spot, jaw clenched, brows furrowed and eyes staring at you with a look of…

Longing?

Frustration?

Confusion?

It was hard to tell.

He let out a breath and his head tilted slightly and good lord if it wasn’t the most adorable and sexy thing you had ever seen. Slowly closing the door, you let your forehead rest against the wood after it shut, your own feelings of longing, frustration and confusion wash over you.

It’s just been a day. That’s all. You tried to tell yourself after you rinsed off and finished your night routine. But as you fell asleep you couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if Steve didn’t pull away.

Tags: (bold won’t tag) @notbrooklynsblog @alluringshawn @the-universe-is-complicated @the-marvellous-vivi @just-a-littlebit-of-everything @gloryekaterina @maddiesweet @iambeeee @immakha1es5i @crowdedimagines @emmywinningengineer @catiejellybear @took-a-wr0ng-turn @obsessed-with-marvel @slutforsteve @spookyparadisesheep @itty-bitty-dancer @sluttysierraaa @sleepy-time-dreamy @buckys-doii @tryhardsdiehards @bellagaseta20

#stucky x reader #stucky fluff #stucky smut #stucky angst #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes smut #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers smut #steve rogers fluff #stever rogers imagine #chris evans imagine #sebastian stan imagine #apt 10 B

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abimess · 3 years

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It only takes the holidays // Chapter 10

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Masterlist || Upcoming Stories

Summary: Life happens and things change, but it seems like some feelings stay the same. After ten years, Wanda finally comes back to her hometown to spend the holidays with her family, what also means seeing you again. What will come out of this encounter? [2.612 || 20.580]

Warnings: angst, death, grief, alcohol, swearing, mention of sex (not smut), fluff

Note: Texts in italics are memories.

You do NOT have permission to repost or translate my work on any platforms (even with credit)

All chapters I Chapter 9 | Masterlist | Library Blog (Read on: Wattpad | AO3)

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Chapter 10 – It only takes a Christmas gift

You, Wanda and Pietro are walking around town with both of your mothers right behind you. It’s Christmas, and you love Christmas. In fact, if you could ask Santa for anything, it would be to make Christmas be every day.

You wanted to buy a perfect gift for your sister but your mother giggled, saying she would only be born on late June and you feel sad about having to wait for the next Christmas.

Eventually Wanda pulls you by the hand, wanting to show you something and your jaw drops when you see what it is. It’s a small store crowded with snow globe from all colors, sizes and shapes. You ask your mothers to let you go see and you walk happily when they do.

You and the twins walk around the store trying to figure out which one of the snow globes is your favorite when you spot a large table filled with big snow globes. They’re probably the size of your head and, instead of small houses and little dolls, they had cities inside.

You look attentively at each one of them, reading the names with difficulty. When you get to the last one you frown and look at your mother.

- Why is there none with our town?

- They only make them for the capitals, sweetie. – Your mother explains with a tender smile and you nod sadly, not knowing what capitals really mean.

Wanda holds your hand trying to make you feel better and starts to show you her favorite snow globes in an attempt to distract you. And it works.

You wake up feeling happy today. The hickeys are not gone but they are way more faded now so you allow yourself to wear the Christmas sweater your mother made you.

You walk down to the kitchen singing loudly your favorite Christmas song causing your sister and your mother to chuckle. They sing along as you finish preparing breakfast.

Your mother was not one for Christmas presents, saying you should never forget the real meaning of it. But she always made you sweaters anyway and when you give her the gardening kit you bought her, she looks very pleased.

Your sister gives you a small horse toy and you smile when you notice it’s just like Daisy. You admire the little details of it and hug your sister tightly in appreciation for the gift. You then hand her your gift and she assumes an astonish expression when she realizes what it is. She admires the new camera with a huge smile on her face and then hugs you multiple times, making you giggle.

You notice your mother’s gaze on you. She has a caring smile on her face but her brows are frowned just the slightest. You shrug saying that you had good sales this year and that your sister deserves it.

Your sister puts on some Christmas songs and you hum along while you clean the kitchen. Not short after, you hear a knock on the door. You go to open it and smile surprised when you see who it is.

- Good morning, neighbor. – He says with a tender smile.

- Pietro! What are you doing here?

- I came to give you your gift.

You frown and he tilts his head for you to follow him. When he opens the trunk your jaw drops. He hands you the saddle and you take it, admiring every detail.

It is made of quilted leather and has a dark brown tone that matches Daisy’s mane perfectly. On the bottom of it you can see perfect drawings of little horses.

- I remembered you mentioning a few months ago yours was getting old. – Pietro says with a proud expression as he notices your silly smile. You finally take your eyes off of the saddle and looks at him tenderly.

- Oh, man, thank you. I really loved it. You shouldn’t have, though. And there was no need for you to come all the way here as well.

- That’s okay, I have to go to town anyway. To get some stuff for dinner, you know? You guys are coming, right?

- Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

It’s the first time since your father died that you wouldn’t spend Christmas only with your mom and sister. You’re excited but a little nervous as well.

You invite him over to the stable so you can try the saddle on Daisy and he accompanies you. You caress her mane before putting the saddle on her back and when you mount you smile at how comfortable it is. You store the saddle, replacing the old one, and Pietro giggles at your excessive care with the gift.

Before you walk Pietro back to his car you go inside the house saying that you had a gift for him as well. You hand him the package and his eyes shine when he opens it. He smiles widely as he admires the running shoes and you giggle. Since he was a kid, Pietro loves running and you knew pretty well that he would always love anything related to that. He hugs you tightly as he thanks you.

- Wanda got you something too, you know? – He says when you stop beside his car. You nod and mumble something shyly, feeling your cheeks heat up. - I keep asking what it is but she won’t tell me.

- I can’t imagine why. – You joke and he giggles. Pietro has always been terrible at keeping secrets. He nods and assumes a playful expression that was so characteristic of him.

- So I started creating some theories. I had a pretty solid one but then I found out she already gave it to you a few nights ago.

- Pietro! – You say loudly pushing him on the shoulder and he laughs. You put your hands on your pockets as you feel your entire face burning up. - Get out of my property.

He laughs again and hugs you, saying his goodbyes. When he leaves, you walk back inside with a shy smile and rose cheeks.

-----

You were watching a movie with your sister after lunch when you hear police sirens outside of your house. You chuckle as you get up.

- You’re full of visits today. – Your sister remarks.

- That or I’m getting arrested. – You retorts and she giggles.

When you walk outside, the sirens are already off and Nat is waiting for you with a smile as she leans against the car.

- Morning, cowhand.

- How can I help you, officer? – You ask in the same playful tone as you approach her.

- Giving me a hug would be a good start. – You do as she told you and you two mumble your merry Christmas to one another. - I just wanted to give you your gift. I’d do it at dinner tonight but I didn’t get presents for everyone.

- So I am your favorite. – You say as you watch Natasha gets a package from the passenger seat.

- Don’t get so full of yourself. – She retorts with a smirk, handing you the package, and you chuckle as soon as you see what it is.

- I thought you hated my hat.

- Trust me, I do. But you keep using it anyway, so I figured it would be better for both of us if you had a better looking one.

You put on the hat and smiles when it fits your head perfectly. You look at her with raised eyebrows asking her to say something and she smirks.

- Awful. – She declares and you giggle.

- I have something for you, too. Wait here.

You rush back inside to get the small package and when you come back, Nat watches you approach with a curious smile. You hand her the gift and she giggles, shaking her head slowly as she sees what it is. It’s one of those shaking toys that you put on the car. It’s a doughnut wearing a police officer uniform.

- You know, I really hate you sometimes. – She says with a smile and you chuckle.

You say your goodbyes and you watch as she enters the car. Before she leaves, you see her carefully placing the toy on the dashboard and you smile.

-----

As you walk inside the Maximoffs house, you can’t help but to be overwhelmed by all the best sensations in the world. Enjoying your time surrounded by the people you love, listening to music you like as the scent of delicious food invade your senses.

Eventually, you ask Wanda to talk to her in private and she takes you to her bedroom. You smile when you see the room is exactly the way you remember it. And you blush when you see the pictures on the wall and notice you’re in almost all of them.

When you hear the noise of Wanda closing the door, you turn to face her.

- I got you gift. – You say, looking for something on the inner pocket of your jacket and Wanda smiles, spinning the rings on her fingers shyly.

You hand her the small velvet black box. Wanda opens it with curious eyes and your hands shake in anticipation. She takes the locket necklace on her hands with a tender smile and gently places the box on her bed. When she opens the locker she chuckles lightly with watery eyes as the memory floods in.

On the small picture she could see you, her, Pietro and Snoopy, the four of you wearing Santa hats. It was right before winter break and your friends had decided to exchange Christmas cards and the three of you wanted a perfect picture.

- Do you remember how hard it was to put that hat on Snoopy? – She asks with a nostalgic smile, her eyes still watery.

- How could I forget? It took us almost forty minutes. – You remark and you both chuckle.

- Thank you, (Y/n/n), I loved it. – You nod shyly and Wanda holds your face gently, connecting your lips in a soft, salty kiss. When you parted she looks at you with a soft smile. – Will you help me put it on?

You nod and she hands you the necklace, turning her back to you right after. As you remove her hair exposing her neck, Wanda feels her skin tingling on the places you touched her. When you’re done, you place a soft kiss on the back of her neck and she shrinks just a little, causing you to giggle. She turns to face you and kisses you again, longer and more intensely this time.

- I have something for you too.

She walks to her wardrobe and takes a box from inside of it. It has about ten inches and when Wanda hands it to you, you’re surprised by how heavy it is. Wanda looks at you biting her lip in an excited smile, encouraging you to open.

Your jaw drops in the same moment you see what’s inside. You look completely astonished at the snow globe in your hands.

- H-how… - You try to formulated a sentence, but no words come out of your mouth. Wanda starts to play with her rings again.

- I remembered that day when we were kids. The day we saw that snow globes store? – You shift your gaze to her and nod, tears forming in your own eyes now. Of course you remember it. - I remembered how you wanted one with our town in it. It took a while but I found a place that makes this customized snow globes and…

You carefully place the gift on her bed and rushes to hug her tightly, interrupting Wanda’s explanation. She wraps her arms around your waist, caressing your back with your fingers.

- I love you.

The words slip from your mouth before you can stop them and Wanda froze. You clumsily step away from her. Avoiding her gaze, you start to mumble your apologies but Wanda walks towards you, pulling you by the neck and kissing you passionately.

- I love you too. – She whispers breathlessly, resting your foreheads together. You smile, but before you can say anything else a knock on the door startle the two of you. When you look at it you see Pietro popping his head in, a smirk on his lips.

- This is not very Christmassy, you know? – He jokes and Wanda rolls her eyes blushing. He then tells you the dinner will be served and Wanda says you’re coming.

She looks back at you with a bright smile, offering her hand for you to take and you smile back as you do. The two of you go back down and Wanda just lets go of your hand when it’s extremely necessary.

-----

It’s been a few days after Christmas and your friends already had the entire New Year’s party planned out. You usually made an excuse not to go or to just stop by, but this time was different. This time Wanda would be there and you couldn’t wait to spend the night with her.

You knock on the door and soon Iryna comes to greet you with a happy smile on her face. She invites you in and you see Wanda facetiming someone. She smiles and waves her hand when she sees you and you shyly wait next to the door.

She’s talking to a woman you don’t know about something involving a party, New York and famous people but you don’t really get what’s going on. You try to ignore the bitter feeling on your mouth when the woman says she would be seeing Wanda soon.

When the conversation ends, Wanda makes her way towards you and hugs you tightly. The hug lasts longer then it usually does and when Wanda steps back she has an apprehensive look on her face. You feel a weird feeling forming on your stomach and you swallow dryly.

- Is everything okay?

- Yeah I just… - It seems like she’s looking for the best way to tell you whatever it is that she’s about to say and the weird feeling on your stomach only grows. – I was invited to this party… It’s a Hollywood event, actually. It’s a big deal. It might be the most important New Year’s party there is, actually. – Her last words cut deep and you have to take a step back.

- Wow, you should go then. If it’s the most important party you were invited to. – You retort harshly and Wanda frowns in a hurt expression.

- Come on, (Y/n), don’t do this. That’s not what I meant.

- When are you going? – You interrupt her, trying to control your breathing. It’s getting harder and harder to keep it together as the world seems to start to spin around you.

- Tomorrow. – Her voice sounds almost like a whisper. There are tears forming on her eyes but you ignore them.

- Well, congratulations, then. You deserve it. – You say, avoiding her gaze at all costs. You feel like you’re about to lose it so you mumble your goodbyes, not even remembering why you were there in the first place.

Before she could say anything else you turn around and walk away. You think you hear her calling your name, but the noise on your ears is too loud and you’re not sure. But you wouldn’t turn anyway. You need to get out of here immediately.

You walk fast back to your truck and slams the door when you enter. Nothing has changed.

───── ⋅ ✮ ⋅ ─────

And that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed it, thoughts and comments are always welcome ツ

Chapter 11

So we have reached the penultimate chapter of our story, I hope you are enjoying it. Will R and Wanda finally work things out or will they go back to the way they were before? 👀 Let me know your thoughts

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#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #scarlet witch #elizabeth olsen #wanda x reader #wanda x you #scarlet witch x reader #scarlet witch imagine #scarlet witch fanfic #wandamaximoffxreader #marvel imagines #mcu fanfiction #mcu x reader #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth olsen x you

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ramzawrites · 3 years

Text

Rivals - Prince!Reader x Prince!Eret

Male

Pairings: Eret x Reader

Characters included: Eret

Warnings: n/a

Series: a request from 🌱🌟 my beloved <3 /p

Summary: Prince Y/N and Prince Eret hated each other. That was just a fact. Mostly causing trouble together in order to one up the other. Though over the time even their relationship can change.

Words count: 5367

Authors Note: I’ll be honest you hit me with this request at a very good time so I ended up writing 10 pages in one go haha

At the end I made the executive decision to finally cut it off or I probably would have written even more, for which I’m honestly don’t have the time at the moment. I hope it’s not that obvious but if it is I apologize.

Thank you for the request 🌱🌟

I am reposting it since the original post doesn’t seem to appear in the tags no need to check the original post but I wanted to give a reason why it’s twice on my blog

Prince Eret and Prince Y/N hated each other.

That was just a universally accepted thing and something that made sense. Just like how water is wet, the ground was made out of dirt, Eret and Y/N hated each other.

Both of their respecting kingdoms never had a good relationship to say the least. Way back in the day the two nations have wared against each other which almost ruined both kingdoms forcing the two to an act of neutrality with the behest of the neighboring kingdoms.

Though this was way off in the past. Nowadays they had rebuilt. Their forces and monetary situation stood strong but they stayed neutral. Eyeing each other closely for any slip ups, though they were also bound to contracts that would involve other nations as well should they begin to go to war again, which wasn’t in interest for both parties.

So they tried to mostly ignore each other which only worked to an extent. If you are a strong nation with an impressive military force or with a lot of money, other nations will invite you to their balls, banquets or whatever fancy party they have going at that point. And it was in your best interest to join these as well, to show off your might, wealth or to connect with other foreign powers.

The first time Y/N’s family took him with them to one of these balls, he was barely six years old.

For a six year old a ball was a boring affair. All the adults were courteously laughing and only sipping on their drinks. Occasionally walking on the stage to dance to the slow and boring music.

Y/N was busy watching two older women dance in tandem. Their dresses and silk moving together in a sea of fabric that seemed to hypnotized the child as he sat on the side of the stage. His parents were off somewhere else, feeling they could trust enough in his proper upbringing to not cause any problems, that they left him. Saying that he should try to enjoy himself.

Enjoy himself how? Dance with the lonely grandma that was busy drinking away all the wine in the castle? No, thank you.

Finally tearing his eyes off the dancing women Y/N noticed how someone else was cautiously approaching him. It was another kid in what he assumed was his age. This stranger had fluffy wild hair and had a sympathetic smile on his face. He wore a simple suit similar to Y/N’s but there were a ton of differences in details.

As he got closer Y/N could swear that something seemed off about him. Something in him was screaming but he couldn’t place why he felt like that.

“Hello.” The other kid greeted Y/N.

Y/N looked around the room for a second before setting his attention back on him “Hello. Who are you?” There was a small hope in him, hey maybe this boring ball won’t be so boring after all.

With a proud expression the kid did a proper royal greeting, bowing in front of Y/N for a second “I am Prince Eret from the mighty nation of-“

But Y/N interrupted him “Prince Eret?! I know of you! My parents warned me and told me to ignore you.” He then stuck his tongue out and made a point to look away from him.

Eret furrowed his brows, exclaiming loudly his confusion to this reaction “Huh? Why?”

Y/N rolled his eyes and got off the chair he was sitting on. Just like Eret, he did his own version of the royal greeting that he got taught by his etiquette teachers “I am Prince Y/N.”

He knew he didn’t need to say more which got confirmed by Eret’s worried and confused expression turning into a proper frown.

“Oh, yuck, so that’s what you look like.”

Y/N gasped in anger “What do you mean yuck? You are the yuck one here! Between the two of us I’m clearly the cooler prince!”

“Oh really? Prove it.” Eret huffed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Now fired up Y/N looked frantically through the whole ball room but couldn’t seem to come up with anything, that was until he saw a servant of the local royal family sauntering around with a plate of drinks and even with a few cheese and meat skewers.

“I bet I could steal more of these skewers from the servants than you.”

Instead of backing down Eret now had a competitive glint in his eyes “You are on.”

And that’s how both Eret and Y/N got into their first real trouble with their parents and other nobles.

They snuck around the people, hiding behind huge skirts and trying their best to grab a skewer from the plate. At first they waited for the servant to look away while they were talking to someone but soon their maneuvers turned riskier and riskier. Jumping up to grab one or even trying to distract them before grabbing another.

At some point for whatever reason both jumped into the air at the same time, grabbing the same skewer which ended with them smashing into the servant who in return fell down, the drinks spilling onto a couple that stood closely by.

As the adults were trying to understand what just happened Y/N grabbed Eret’s arm and yelled “Run!”

The two begun running away, making their way into the garden, hiding behind a bush as they heard some adults screaming and running around.

Y/N didn’t care if Eret got caught by the adults but he was worried he might sell him out to them as well. No, he was positive he would definitely snitch on him.

Out of breath the two kids huddled together, keeping their ears open, trying to catch any sound that might come closer to them.

Eret looked at Y/N “I clearly won.” He then showed off the skewers he was holding against his suit, effectively ruining it.

Y/N shook his head, showing his own off “Nuh-uh. I clearly won.”

For some reason or another they managed to acquire the same amount of food so they sadly had to come to the conclusion that this was a tie. As they angrily begun snacking on their loot, they still continued throwing childish insults at each other.

This only lasted for a few minutes until their parents found them and figuratively tore them away to yell at them. Saying things like “this is not the proper behavior of a prince! Now we have to apologize to all the people! Do you know what this could cost us?”

From that point on their rivalry really started. Every few months they would meet up again by proxy of being invited to the same noble festivities. In fact every time Y/N was on such a party he fully expected Eret being there as well.

He would arrive and keep look out for that oh so dashing prince from the rival kingdom. Y/N scoffed, Eret wished he thought of him like that but in truth Y/N probably knew the best what kind of idiot he could be. After all he had firsthand experience for this.

While they always ended up in some sort of trouble there was this one moment, when they were twelve years old, that always stood out to him.

As usual Eret and Y/N found each other during a banquet. Both immediately fell back into arguing and making fun of each other. The adults got so tired of it that they sent the two outside so they could, in their words, cool down.

“You look ridiculous in your suit.” Eret mumbled towards Y/N as they wandered outside into the garden. Y/N just rolled his eyes as a response, choosing to ignore Eret at this point, not feeling comfortable with being banished outside together with him.

The garden was beautiful, of course.

Different kinds of flowers were planted along all the sides of the garden. Between them stood a few Willow trees with their long leaves hanging above the flowers and seating opportunities while in the middle of the whole place stood a beautiful huge pond with a statue protruding from the middle of it. The statue displayed two unidentifiable human beings holding on to each other, both holding an urn up into the air together where some water was rushing out ouf down into the pond.

While this all, together with the moon light, looked almost magical Y/N was more concentrated on what was inside the pond.

As he walked over to the water he could see a few koi fish flitting around in there. He sat down and lazily begun drawing invisible patterns into the water. Sometimes the fish would come close only to immediately swim away once they either saw the hand or felt the movement.

Eret was just standing dumbfounded to the side. Staring at Y/N which infuriated him. He could feel his dark eyes lingering on him and it just annoyed him. Eret finally shut up but now he was just standing there in uncomfortable silence.

Y/N let out a frustrated sigh “Stop doing that.”

Eret looked bewildered at that “Stop, what?”

“Staring! I can see you staring! I know I’m handsome but come on.” Y/N snickered at the last part.

This time Eret rolled his eyes “Nah, I was just thinking how easy it would be to push you into the water right now and was debating if it was worth getting into trouble for it.”

“And what did your small brain come up with?”

Eret walked over and sat down next to Y/N “It’s sadly not worth it. I feel like I would get in even more trouble than last time when I was destroying you in that food fight.”

Y/N angrily shook his head “Oh, no! I was winning! You were lucky my father literally pulled me away from you or you wouldn’t even be standing here right now!”

“You wish! Your father saved the small bit of dignity you have!”

Ignoring Eret’s attempt to obviously rile him up and make him more angry, Y/N turned now fully away from him and instead returned to watching the fish. They looked more interesting and had more personality than Eret anyhow.

It was also definitely easier to look at the animals than Eret. Every time he would look at him even only for a little bit this fuzzy anger inside the pit of Y/N’s stomach would come up and by god he hated it. Unbeknownst to him this feeling was mutual.

Eret almost seemed chuffed that Y/N didn’t seem to react and instead chose to follow him suit with watching the fish.

“If we are already stuck out here let’s make it at least interesting.” Y/N broke the silence “Let’s catch some fish. I’m betting I can catch more than you.”

Eret was already getting rid of his jacket and pushed his sleeves up “I doubt that!”

Not wasting time Y/N shed his jacket as well and rolled his sleeves up only to jump into the water himself once the fish stayed out of both their reaches due to their incessant punching into the water.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Not losing!” was all Y/N said.

Eret not feeling too keen on possibly losing, jumped into the pond as well, trying to ignore Y/N who was inadvertently splashing water his way.

As a bit of a payback Eret threw some water towards Y/N which resulted in him loosing a prime chance for trying to grab a fish.

Everything is allowed in love and war after all and this was definitely war.

Though this action led to Y/N retaliating with spraying water back on Eret. Soon the two didn’t care about the fish anymore and were too busy trying to wrestle the other under the water. It wasn’t a full blown fight, no real punches fell but there was a lot of pushing and pulling.

They only stopped once they heard a blood curdling scream. Apparently the noble who owned the garden saw them inside her pond and was obviously not too pleased with it.

Yeah, there was a lot of anger and screaming afterwards but for Y/N and Eret it just fueled their hatred toward each other. If the other one wasn’t there, then they wouldn’t have this problem in the first place but since this wasn’t the case all they could do as proper heirs to their respecting kingdoms was to make the others existence pain.

Over the years their rivalry became infamous and nobles who invited both to their festivities either tried to keep increased watch over them or to the detriment of both sides of the families, tried to incite them. Noble people where a strange lot, trying to find entertainment in the weirdest places.

Not that Y/N or Eret cared too much. They were too busy trying to screw the other over though their methods changed over the years. As kids they were more physical with it while the older they got they tended to use their words more and more to the relieve of their parents.

A good example for that was when both were about sixteen years old.

At this point they learned to rein in their anger towards the other and instead concentrated more or less on their royal duties. Well, they tried but every time they saw each other anger would just flood their systems.

It was a typical ball really. The nobles were busy mingling with each other, spreading false compliments in order to gain the political or social upper hand. Some called it an intricate game but Y/N thought it was just stupid. Just say what you think and don’t sugar coat it. That was something and maybe the only thing he and Eret could agree on. As much as he hated that guy he wasn’t scared to tell Y/N what he thought of him.

He appreciated him for that. A shiver ran down his spine as soon as that thought crossed his mind and Y/N just shoved it away. Never in his life would he actually appreciate that mad prince.

That said it was a bit weird how he hasn’t spotted Eret yet. Not that he was specifically looking out for him or anything. He just wanted to be aware where he was so he could avoid him. Was he invited? His family was here but he seemed to be gone. Maybe he finally gave up trying to one up Y/N and stayed home.

Y/N doubted that though. The only reason why Eret wouldn’t appear to something like this was if he was seriously sick. It happened only once and Y/N ended up being bored to death. So what if he derived entertainment from his rival? That’s a part of the reason what rivalries are for, right?

Spending so much time thinking about him made Y/N uncomfortable. This one feeling in the pit of his stomach just flared up again which he didn’t appreciate one bit. Just another reason why Eret was so annoying. He was the only person this happened with.

Bored out of his mind Y/N begun moving through the ball room. There was one place Eret could be hiding away at. If anything Y/N could predict some behavior from him over the years. Making sure to stay away from all the dancing people and the conversations, not feeling interested to take part in it. Instead he moved towards the gardens.

It was just the place he and Eret would default to since at the slightest chance of trouble the other nobles liked to throw them out immediately.

So when he spotted Eret walking around the rose bushes it didn’t completely surprise him.

“And here I thought I spied a birds nest in between the bushes but alas it is just Eret’s hair.”

Eret visibly flinched once he heard Y/N. Apparently he had been so busy with his own thoughts that he didn’t notice Y/N approaching him. He frowned at the other prince while he in return was just smirking smugly.

Sighing Eret walked over to a particular big rose and begun inspecting it“ And I thought I would finally be free of you. You arrived late, huh?”

“Hardly my fault, though I too was hoping you finally conceded and stayed home but here you are just staring at some roses like some hopeless romantic prince from some sort of fairy tale.”

When Eret didn’t immediately fire back and hesitated Y/N’s eyes widened “No! Don’t tell me! Don’t tell me you actually have a crush on someone! Who is the poor person?”

As he spoke the words out loud it felt like his chest was ablaze. Something about that thought rubbed him the wrong way. He just labelled it as a different way for his annoyance towards Eret to show up but it confused him nonetheless.

Realistically what did he care about his love affairs?

Finally Eret vehemently shook his head “No, nothing like that! Why was this where your mind went? I was just bored and am looking at the flowers. Even you can admit that they are pretty, right?” Eret chuckled “Or are you jealous somehow?”

“Only in your dreams.” Y/N responded with a disgusted expression on his face.

“Nightmares you mean.” Eret added before pulling one rose out of the bush.

Y/N looked around hoping none of the staff or someone else saw this “Dude, what the hell are you doing? If you get into trouble for stealing flowers and I’m around everyone will think I’m part of this.”

“They won’t notice, Y/N. Well, they will only notice it if you aren’t careful enough. You need to have an eye for such things and me begrudgingly knowing you as well as I do, you do not have an eye for that.”

This is always how it happens. Every god damn time. One of the two would make a statement that the other person couldn’t do a very specific thing and all bets were off.

A dangerous glint appeared in Y/N’s eyes “I’ll give you the most amazing rose bouquet without tipping anyone off.” He didn’t seem to realize what he just said but Eret did.

While Y/N turned around in order to scour out the place Eret was still standing in the back. A soft blush on his face. Almost angry with himself he frowned and turned to the opposite direction Y/N just went. He was just so frustrating to be around. Doesn’t even think before he speaks.

This whole endeavor took longer than both initially expected. Most of the time they would just saunter between the bushes only occasionally plucking a flower off. Often enough the two stood in front of the same rose, trying to act as fast as possible to get it before the other.

Eret clearly went for the flower first but once his hand touched the stem of the rose, Y/N was there as well, his hand brushing past Eret’s, holding onto the lower part of the stem.

“You’ve got be kidding me.” Y/N cursed.

Eret squinted his eyes as he looked at him “What do you mean? I went for it first! You still continued grabbing it like the brute you are!”

Y/N gasped in a fake display of disbelief. Acting like the biggest insult just got hurled towards him when in fact Eret has said worse things before or even the countless nobles who suffered damages due to their shenanigans.

Both stared at each other, not letting go off the rose. Their brows furrowed into deep scowls as they just continued staring at each other. Hoping that for some reason any kind of weakness would just magically appear or that someone will let go off the damn flower.

It was incredibly uncomfortable for the both of them. Y/N and Eret both stared directly into each other’s eyes. Pink dusted faces turned towards one another, not daring to move a muscle.

“God, I hate you so much.” Y/N grumbled.

Eret nodded “Believe me the feeling is mutual.”

After a few more seconds of staring and angry expressions they both let go at the same time.

There they stood. Two princes of enemy kingdoms holding each a small bouquet of roses with blushing faces.

If you would ask them about it they would immediately exclaim the blush was just a result of their anger bubbling out.

Eret let out a breath he didn’t notice he was holding “Tie?”

Y/N looked down at his own bouquet “Yeah, sure, let’s call it a tie. This is stupid anyhow.”

That was the last time they saw each other for a while.

Since they both were heirs to their respective thrones they soon got sent away to boarding schools in order to get properly trained for their future duties. Besides being educated and introduced what these duties actually entailed, they also got trained in the art of combat.

While most of, if not all, nobles learn how to fight it was something expected from Y/N and Eret. They had to get good at it. A tradition that still stemmed from the waring days of their competing nations.

So for the next four years Y/N was sent away to a boarding school inside his own nation, only later hearing that Eret befell the same fate, which didn’t surprise him.

The years dragged on rather slowly. Most of the subjects were boring but Y/N realized they were important so he put himself through the grueling task of proper studying. The daily training sessions helped him immensely by bringing some sort of change to his every day and tended to look forward to them. Mostly since he became good friends with his coach. A mercenary hired by his family to train him.

Becoming a friend to him, while others tried stay away from Y/N. Most didn’t dare to approach the only heir of their kingdom, others knew he was a bit of a troublemaker and stayed away from him because of it.

Y/N caught himself missing Eret from time to time. While he was annoying and infuriating at best, Y/N couldn’t help but think it was more enjoyable than spending his time alone surrounded by people around his age.

Every now and again his thoughts would always jump back to Eret. Hell, he even once considered writing him a letter before he stopped in his tracks, realizing what he was about to do. Silently chastising himself for it.

Y/N graduated when he was twenty. His parents amazed by his progress threw compliments towards his improved behavior.

“Guess Prince Eret was the problem all along.” His mother noted.

He scoffed, of course Eret was the majority of the reason for the problems. His mother only needed to mention him and Y/N already felt the same annoyance from back then again. Guess some things never change.

It was the time for a lot of nobles to graduate so one family took it up on themselves to prepare a grand ball in order to celebrate these young adults. It also helped to bring all the heirs and influential people together to form new relationships that could be beneficial for their future rule.

Y/N got invited as well.

As a graduation gift his parents bought him fancy new clothes made out of the finest cloth. While he thought it was a bit over the top, it was comfortable so he didn’t complain too much. They even fashioned him with a ceremonial crown that complimented the whole outfit quite nicely.

It was only then that it really sunk in what this all meant for him. He had to act proper no matter what from now on. While people were always aware of him, now they were really watching. This also meant he had to start to properly get into contact with other influential families and nations which meant he had to actually dance on this ball.

So when he and his family stepped out of the wagon that brough them to this event, his heart was beating fast. Y/N was nervous and yet he still managed to put on a confident smile. He didn’t go through all these etiquette classes without learning a few things at least.

When he walked into the ball room, a servant announced his and his families arrival which caused a lot of people to turn their heads. It was the first official outing of an heir to an incredibly strong nation, of course they wanted to see what he was like.

In fact it didn’t take long until Y/N got swarmed by multiple people talking courteously and making conversation with him. He returned the gestures and mingled with the others, curious to see if anyone interesting was here. It was the first time in a long time people didn’t seem to avoid him, even if it was purely for the purpose of forming new beneficial connections.

It beat sitting around alone.

Y/N slowly scanned the huge room with his eyes that’s when he spied something that made his heart figuratively jump into his throat.

In the corner stood someone tall with a shock of brown and fluffy hair that got pushed down by a crown. He wore an amazing suit made out of silk and with a variant of different purples completed with something that resembled a cape. As he talked to the person in front of him he had this huge, genuine, beautiful smile on his face that made Y/N’s heart skip a beat.

He was handsome that’s all he could say about him. Knocking all the air out of Y/N’s lungs.

Pressing his hand against his madly blushing face Y/N tried to look like he was deep in thought and not just silently checking out this one person way off in the corner.

“Be still my beating heart.” Y/N mumbled as he pressed his free hand on his chest. Feeling his heart beating fast and hard against his ribcage. Luckily no one heard him but he did receive a few worried and confused looks. Guess he wasn’t as sneaky about his display of emotions as he had thought.

Y/N took a deep breath in and coughed in order to calm himself down a bit “I’m sorry to interrupt you all, but I need to go. I need to find something out. It was an honor talking with you and I hope we can continue this later on.”

With all the confidence he didn’t have Y/N slowly made his way towards that person. Something was just pulling him towards him and he needed to at least know his name. It was like his heart and mind both yelled at Y/N.

While walking he could tell that his breath was short. He felt hot and he was certain that his face was still in a lovely shade of red.

Did he just develop a probably one sided crush? Perhaps.

Once he got close enough, he begun to tremble. His knees felt weak and by god he wanted to turn around but something in him just forced him to move on. As if this was his only chance to ever exchange even a word with that stranger.

Y/N was about to put on a polite smile and wave towards him but the stranger was faster and turned towards him.

The stranger audibly and unmistakably gasped. His eyes wide open as his face suddenly turned into a similar shade of red to Y/N.

“Hello.” Y/N begun speaking. He wanted to introduce himself but his voice failed him. Throat and lips dry out of nervousness.

“Y/N?” he spoke with a deep, soothing voice and Y/N had to admit he liked hearing his name coming out of his mouth.

Wait that handsome stranger knew him?

That’s when it hit him. But that can’t be! That was impossible, he would have recognized him immediately!

“Oh. Eret?”

Y/N put his hand against his mouth trying to hide the smile and blush. Why was he feeling like this? Why wasn’t his typical white anger returning? He still had that fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach but something felt different. Maybe it was the maturity from the years or maybe he just imagined it.

Eret was madly blushing and just staring at Y/N as he slowly lifted up his trembling hand “Let’s talk. Would you care for a dance?”

That feeling in his stomach increased as well as the beating of his heart and yet Y/N put his hand into that of Eret’s. Together they walked towards the middle of the room. Slowly beginning to dance.

Y/N was at this point biting his lip. He wanted to talk, say anything but his mind was running in overdrive. No proper sentences would form. Luckily some sort of muscle memory jumped in when it came to the dancing but everything else? No, he was completely screwed.

Why now? Why was he reacting like this?

“You look like you are doing well.” Eret suddenly spoke. His voice trembling almost as much as his hands.

Y/N nodded as he continued moving in tandem with Eret. Their feet skillfully moving around on the dance floor.

“You look good, uh, I mean, you look alright as well, you do look good but I mean you seem to be doing good as well.” After Y/N stammered that out he mentally begun cursing himself out.

He used to wrestle Eret into the mud, why is this happening to him? Why can’t he just go back to his anger, that was easier to deal with. Wait, is that the reason why their anger towards each other held on for so long? Sure, their families had always a rivalry but over time something must have subtly changed concerning their relationship that it managed to end up like this.

Y/N felt like a lovesick pre-teen and he hated it.

Eret suddenly let out a short laugh “I’m guessing you didn’t expect this as well?”

Y/N raised his eyebrows “I- I have no idea what you mean. Like, seriously, what exactly of this do you mean?” Of course his nervousness showed itself via him ranting his thoughts off.

“Us meeting like this again.”

“Seeing our past track record I feel like it was inevitable, though this time it certainly does feel different.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” Eret smirked and gave Y/N a wink only to end up turning back into a blushing mess himself.

Now Y/N begun to chuckle, his blush ever present on his face, he pressed his forehead against Eret’s shoulder. Trying his best to hide his face from his view, not willing to give Eret the satisfaction that he succeeded in whatever the hell he just did.

Instead of stopping the two continued to dutifully dance. The best way for a private conversation was while dancing after all but the two were too busy snickering at themselves.

While Y/N had his head still pressed against Eret, Eret spoke up “I’m glad you are here, Y/N. Meeting you here like that again after these years, it made me realize something.”

“Like what?” The same was true of him, of course but he was almost scared of saying it out loud.

Y/N looked back up again but Eret hesitated. His eyes landed on Y/N’s lips only to immediately snap back up to his eyes.

So when he asked “May I?” Y/N knew exactly what he meant.

He gave him a nod which resulted in the two stopping to dance. Eret placed one of his hands against Y/N’s jawline and the other continued to rest at his side as he closed the space between their lips. At first softly brushing their lips for a small second but then Eret went back in pressing his lips properly on Y/N’s only to separate after a few moments.

Y/N put his hands on Eret’s chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart beneath his fingertips “I thought you hated me.” He noted smugly.

Eret laughed “I guess we both were wrong in some way.” He immediately dove back into Y/N’s lips, deepening the kiss, ignoring the confused and surprised noises from all the other guests.

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