Latest Posts by diana-simona - Page 2

Aizawa: *removes Eri from his lap to do something else*

Eri: Father is... evil? Father is unyielding? Father is incapable of love? I am running away. I am packing my little rucksack and going out to explore the world as a lone vagabond. I can no longer thrive in this household.

Yamada:

Yamada: You're going back to therapy.

"fuck you my child is completely fine" your child has a fictional father-figure who they wish were their real father figure because they want a father like that.

I'm pretty sure my FBI agent will be setting me up for an appointment with a therapist solely based on my ao3 history.

Yes

Forget friends to lovers asking each other out, I wanna read about the stoic and reluctant father figure finally accepting that the kid he insists is not his kid is actually his kid and I want to see him nervously hold out adoption papers and wait for his maybe-kid's answer with evident anxiety.

Aizawa: Where are your parents?  1-A: What are parents?  Aizawa:..Mic, get the papers.

NASA released the clearest images of Neptune’s rings in over 30 years.

The first four photos are so romanian, they just scream romanian childhood😆

sebastian stan: the baby saga

[id: screenshots of tiktok captions. the images say, “but the only reason we still love princess diana is because she did not have the time to disappoint us.”]

begging queer kids to read up on princess diana’s involvement with the community. yes, she was a rich, pretty monarch. yes, she died young.

but the reason why queer people love her is because she used her privilege during the aids crisis to advocate for sick queer men, when very few others would - much less someone of her status.

diana spent years advocating for the health and care of queer people with hiv/aids. in 1987, at the height of the epidemic, she opened the first specialist clinic dedicated to treating aids patients (the first clinic of it’s kind in the uk).

she also fought public hysteria by hugging and shaking bare hands with aids patients, at a time when aids was thought to be spread by skin to skin contact. not only that, she visited patients in the clinic regularly and even comforted them through their sickness.

and when queen elizabeth told her to try focusing on “something more pleasant”?

diana ignored her and kept fighting.

and this is only her work towards the aids crisis. she publicly called out the royal family, brought attention to numerous world issues, and was known as an advocate for empathy and kindness. she’s known and loved as the people’s princess for good reason

This is amazing 🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Kiss it Better A Thousand Times

Tags: Bio dad Tony, Kid Peter, Peter meets the Avengers for the first time, Mention of injury.

Summary: 

Steve shifted his attention to her and the two of them shared a look. Whatever he seemed to be looking for in her endless green eyes, he didn’t find. He sighed, giving up. The captain opened his mouth, about to say something when the doors to the lab slid open and he was interrupted with a sob.

Their heads snapped in that direction, instantly on alert.

Steve watched confused as Agent Coulson walked in, a crying child in his hands, both looking distressed. He glanced at Banner, expecting to find some form of regnesion on the man’s face but he found nothing. The man looked as confused as Steve felt. Natasha didn’t seem affected at all either. She remained expressionless as always, eyes trained on the crying child. A well hidden flash of curiosity appeared momentarily on her face, Steve barely caught it.

“What happened?” Tony asked, sounding panicked. He rushed to step forward, putting his hands out to accept the crying boy into his own arms.

Read on AO3

Keep reading

Im still tryin to figure out how to draw them RIP me

I adore this ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Deceiver

Part One

Tommy Shelby x reader

cw: slow burn, violence, swearing

You've been involved with the Peaky Blinders business for a few years now, undiscovered as a woman posing as a man. Now the Shelby boys have grown suspicious of you and want you found out.

an: set in season one

”*°•.˜”*°•. ˜”*°•. ˜”*°••°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

Hiding under a disguise had become second nature for you these days, you didn't slip up, you didn't find it hard to lie and you never under any circumstances made any exceptions to the rule of being secretive about your identity. You weren't y/n y/sn, you were Eddie Thompson, your hair was short and black shaved on the sides and ruffled forward on top. You wore shirts, waistcoats and trousers with socks in your boxers to give you a false cock. You flirted with women, never took any home and you drank like your dead father used to every night. You wore razors in your cap and a pocket watch attached to your waistcoat with a short gold chain. You learnt how to bind your chest and flatten it completely but allow your chest to still look muscular. There never was a better cover, but you didn't do it to spy or cheat or deceive at least for the wrong reasons. The reason you did it was because you wanted agency, taking your dead cousin's name was easier than it should've been but there was no one around in your family to protest.

"We need some boys down in the Garrison, rowdy ones to get everyone riled up about fucking Campbell," Tommy announced at the front of the betting shop where all the Peaky boys had gathered "We need some fucking unity in this place or that man's going to separate us all."

"Oh we've got no problem being fucking rowdy, 'ave we boys!" Arthur yelled with a cheer rousing from the crowd before Tommy.

"Alright, Eddie, John, Scudboat, Lovelock, Danny, Arthur and whoever else is willing to put out some good fucking press for us and against Campbell." Tommy straightened his blazer and looked toward you, you lifted your whisky to your mouth looking over your glass at him.

There was a respect between you and Tommy that had been there since he employed you, you weren't old enough to have fought in France but you worked in explosives as a teenager and were very helpful. Tommy could see your value from the moment you stepped into the shop looking for work, your verbal CV was glowing with value. Questions never seemed to arise due to the impressive cover story you had built for yourself from an extremely young age so you could survive in a world of men. You had absolutely nothing in your possession that would point to you being a woman, no mementos of your time before your deception started and you never changed that fact. You were quieter than some of the other boys until you got a drink in you but it allowed you to assess situations and know your next move that wouldn't raise suspicion.

"I've got a job for you," Tommy told you as the other boys began to leave, he sat down on one side of the table and you sat on the other. You spread out your legs and leant over your knees, taking off your cap and ruffling your hair.

"What have you got for me, Mr Shelby?" You asked.

"I need you to follow Billy Kimber, take off your hat and clean yourself up a bit. You're gonna need to look the part for this role," Tommy took out a cigarette and you tossed over your matches "You have proved very valuable since my return and I want you to keep doing that."

"And what am I doing following Kimber?" You raised an eyebrow and lit your cigarette.

"I need to know where he's going, who he's meeting even if it's just the types of people he's with. I want to know his every move today, especially when he hears about how we've been fixing his races, he's going to be pretty pissed off." Tommy took a drag of his cigarette and put his feet up on the table.

"Sounds like an interesting one," you held the lit cigarette between your lips "and what is the aim of this intelligence? Anything you want me to look out for?"

"I want to know how he reacts, how he… how we're getting under his skin. He's gonna be in this restaurant, at table 4 at around 4pm. Before that I want you to follow him on the train before listening and noting what he says, then come straight back." Tommy looked you in the eyes and you nodded, picking up the pieces of paper he'd given you about the locations.

After changing your look into a more slick back and clean look you headed off to the train station, onto the 2:30 towards Worcester. You saw Kimber's men head into the fourth carriage, you headed into the third and walked through to the fourth to sit with your back facing Kimber on the other side of their booth. Lighting up a cig you looked out the window and listened intently to Kimbers conversation.

Tommy always knew there was something off with you, he hadn't been able to put his finger on it till today. Your eyes, they had a certain femininity that he hadn't noticed before until you looked at him over your glass. It was different, your eyes had looked so stern before that the change was easily noticeable that he'd sent you on a minor errand at the chance Kimber would let something slip.

"Arthur, John, in here." Tommy called as he entered the Garrison and the boys sat in the private room as he closed the door.

"What's going on, Tom?" Arthur asked.

"I believe we have a rat in our ranks and I want to stamp them out." Tommy poured himself a whisky.

"Who the fuck dares rat us?" John seethed.

"I think it's Eddie," Tommy paused. "I've sent him off to report on Kimber, so we can discuss what we're planning."

"We're gonna cut off his fucking cock is what were gonna do!" Arthur yelled louder than he should have.

"Yeah, we can fuck him up one by one," John laughed and Tommy looked at him with a straight face.

"You two are too bloody excited for what the situation is, someone we thought was fucking helpful. Fuck, loyalty is hard to find these days." Tommy rubbed his forehead.

"We're still gonna fuck him up, Tom." Arthur grinned at John and Tommy couldn't help but mentally agree, he was too fucking angry.

You left the restaurant at around 6'oclock and headed back to Small Heath, you hadn't really got much from Kimber as he just talked about women and blow. It was a fucking boring day and you wished you were down the pub instead. As soon as you got back to Small Heath you headed to the Garrison and sighed in relief at the noise that was coming out of the doors. Walking in you ordered two whiskeys and downed one, holding the other in your hand as you turned around and greeted some of your Peaky boys.

"The fuck is going on with your hair, you twat," Scudboat asked with a laugh.

"Ah just a bit of fucking dress up, you know I'm posing as a twat so I thought I should look the part too." You raised an eyebrow and held out your cigarette in your mouth for Scudboat to light.

"You're fucking mental," he told you, as he lit your cigarette you took a drag. You sat next to him, placing your drink on the table and breathed out slowly.

"You know today I-" you were interrupted

"Eddie, fucking here. Now," Arthur yelled and you turned your head expecting a smiling Arthur but instead he looked like hell. You picked up your drink and walked towards the side room.

"What's going on?" You asked, taking a drag.

"We need to take a little walk," Tommy told you with stern eyes.

The boys walked you towards the shop and you couldn't help but feel like something fucking awful was about to happen to you. John and Arthur were behind you as Tommy walked Infront, you were surrounded by the brothers and even though you wanted to run you knew you couldn't.

"In there," Arthur told you, pointing to his office and you walked in, "sit down." Arthur nodded towards the chair in the middle of the room. The air was thick and tense as ever, you were going to die, you just knew it.

"What's going on here then boys?" You asked, trying to keep the tone light but it wasn't working. You ruffled your hair, the gel making your scalp hurt. Arthur suddenly grabbed you by your chin and forced your head back harshly.

"So who the fuck do you think you are?" Arthur asked, his face was close to yours and he glared into your eyes that went wide.

"It's a good question, brother." John added, he lit a cigarette close to your face and the heat made you wince.

"Who the fuck are you?" Arthur yelled and you didn't know what to say. He let go of your face and you looked up, seeing Tommy in the shadow near the door. Arthur punched you in the nose and your head flew back, blood running back into your nose and back out again.

"I don't know what you want to fucking hear! You know who I am!" You yelled back at him and Arthur shook his head.

"I'll ask you again, who the fuck are you!" Arthur screamed and when you just stared at him through angry eyes he punched you again.

"Stand him up," Tommy instructed and John forced you to your feet

"So this is it then Tommy? Now time for me to fucking die eh?" You asked, your arms held by your side by John as you struggled against him. Arthur pulled your head back by your hair and it left your neck completely exposed.

"Well if you tell me the truth it doesn't have to be the last time we see each other, does it?" He walked close to you and took off his cap. Tommy unbuttoned your trousers and let them open, revealing your boxers and you panicked, kicking your leg out to collide with Tommys leg.

"I don't fucking think so," Arthur forced you to sit back down on the chair with your legs opened "Too scared to loose your cock eh? You fucking traitor." Arthur flicked up his knife and ran the blunt side against your neck.

"Fuck off, Arthur. If you're going to kill me just fucking cut my throat, I'm no traitor and I never have been!" You yelled in his face and Arthur went to punch your cock but instead found a soft impact.

"What the fuck," Arthur put his hand on your crotch, knife in hand and you shifted uncomfortably, trying to get out of their grasps "He's got no fucking balls, Tom."

"What?" Tommy sounded like he would laugh and you tried to stand up but the Shelby brothers held you down, your neck still exposed.

"Don't fucking kill me, I- FUCK. I'll tell you alright, fuck." You pushed off their grip that had lessened and buttoned up your trousers.

"What the fuck is going on?" Tommy asked.

"I'm, fuck. Okay. It's not my real name alright, but I'm not a fucking spy. I'm deceptive but I'm not a fucking spy, I love this job and this family like my fucking own. I'm a woman," You looked into Tommys eyes and he had to admit it wasn't what he suspected.

"This is fucking insane!" John bursted out laughing and Arthur joined in.

"You're a fucking woman?" Arthur yelled as he laughed and John was inconsolable with laughter.

"He's a fucking woman, oh my life what is this shit?" John had to lean on Arthur for support because he was falling over with merriment.

"Still got a bigger cock than both of you out together though," you muttered and Arthur held your face up.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" Arthur seethed with a vision of humor in his eyes.

"Come on brother, can't beat up a woman who you know will beat ya!" John was laughing again and Arthur joined in, letting go of your face and smacking John on the shoulder.

"Now just piss off. I'm still angry you tried to fucking kill me," you gave John a playful push and he just laughed.

"Alright, leave us now brothers." Tommy told his brothers and they roared with laughter as they walked out the door.

Tommy poured two drinks and handed you one, you turned the chair around to face his desk. Tommy downed his drink and poured another.

"So, who are you really then, Eddie?" He asked, the fake name rolling off his tongue so sarcastically.

"Y/n y/sn, most of everything else was true. Every family I know is dead, it was my cousins name and I couldn't live as a single fucking woman in this city. I mean fuck, when my parents died I inherited everything and it wasn't even enough to get by a year. I was 13 and I had to completely fucking change." You took a swig of whisky and sniffed before wiping the blood from your nose on your cuff.

"How long since you've gone by that name?" Tommy asked, lighting a cig.

"8 years since someone's called me my god given name," You looked into Tommy's eyes and sighed "I'll pack up soon though don't worry, I can't stay here anymore now."

"Since when do you make the rules around here, y/n?" Tommy asked and your eyes narrowed at the use of your real name.

"Don't, Tommy. It's not fair." You looked at him with sad eyes and he smiled.

"You're not getting away from us that easily. I'll tell you that for free. My brothers are always saying I should take a woman, maybe you're just the type of deception I want in my life." Tommy rested the cigarette in the ash tray and stood up, walking towards you. You looked up at him as he approached you.

"You're going soft," you paused "and who says I'm even interested?"

"That look you gave me this morning, I knew there was something different behind those eyes." Tommy lifted up your chin gently so you were looking into his eyes again.

"You act like this wild stallion who can't be tamed with all this damage. I think you just need a good trainer," you were mocking him and he didn't seem to mind. Tommy held your chin a bit tighter and got close to your face.

"And you think that's you, eh?" He whispered

"I think I'm the most enticing person you've ever met," you whispered back.

"I always thought you were a pretty lad, might make an even prettier woman. Not as if I'm scared of some short fucking hair is it." As he spoke you could see the slightest of smiles on his lips and you wondered how long he'd been looking at 'Eddie' like that.

"You'll never be able to figure me out and I think that's healthy for you to experience every now and then considering how fucking vague you are." You raised an eyebrow and pulled his hand off your face.

"Hmm, hadn't met a better man who'd dealt with explosives before you and I haven't met a woman either. I can't say you don't interest me." Tommy sat back down and you scoffed.

"Tommy Shelby handing out a free compliment? What is the world coming to then?" You slid you glass across the desk for Tommy to refill it "I might not be a man but I know how they tick, I know how they think and you are the most interesting mind I've ever encountered."

"Fucking flaterry from someone who was my best footsoldier a moment ago," Tommy smiled and you raised an eyebrow. "Where do we go from here then eh?" Tommy asked in a low voice.

"I don't know if that's my decision, Tom." You leant over your knees, undid your top button and tried to relax.

"Men are free to do as they will in the world, I would hardly be fair to take that away from you because you are a woman. This business was run by women before us," Tommy took another drink.

"I don't want to be a fucking bookmaker or a chalky or any other shit that you get people to do. I've proven myself time and time through and I don't expect to be treated any differently." You held your hands together and looked at Tom.

"I will treat you a bit different as Y/n but I don't have another demolition option who I can trust won't blow my cock off altogether. Well, I suppose you've figuratively blown your own cock off now haven't you?" Tommy ran his tongue along the top line of his teeth as he looked you up and down.

"You seem almost too happy to find out that I don't have a cock?" You sounded questionable and Tommy looked curiously at you.

"Well don't most men act so close to their friends it almost seems they want to fuck them? I might actually get the chance," Tommy gazed at you through sky blue eyes that were often in your dreams, or maybe he haunted you in your nightmares. Either way you didn't know where to go from here with him.

next part

”*°•.˜”*°•. ˜”*°•. ˜”*°••°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

Taglist:

@hopefulinlove @kathrinemelissa @wolfieellsworld @archivallyfound09 @globetrotter28 @buttercup32sstuff @teamfreeavacados @just-a-blackhole @sabbbyn @sillyfreakfanparty @lovelyreader22 @leaked-adrenaline @ghxst-heart @just-a-blackhole

Peaky Taglist:

@smile-sugar @queenofkings1212 @severewobblerlightdragon @cl5369 @fairypitou @stressedandbandobessed7771 @shadow-of-wonder @hipsternoionlylikeunicorns @curled-hair-red-lips @lucystivinsky1315

Signs and their months on an alignment chart

i’ve made more for my collection

edit: I FORGOT DONNIE’S EYEBROWS IN ONE. i am so sorry king, i’ll fix it later.

Anybody know what that horrible and pervasive feeling of wanting your comfort character to come and snatch you away so badly is? Like that loneliness in your gut that feels like a giant pit over something that isn’t even real? 

I have two moods

I am not in the US but maybe I can help by rebloging

Wanna punch a Nazi?

Can’t help you there, but you can do something in solidarity with Jewish people.

MoveOn

Lift the ban on Maus NOW!

It’s disgraceful that the McMinn County Board of Education in TN banned Maus, a Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel about the Holocaust tha

🦀

No but in all seriousness, memes aside, much love to all my friends in the UK right now. I know shit's about to be chaotic and nationalistic and shitty, and I hope the media circus ends as quickly as possible.

he’s hiding

✨🔀✨

Peter: Call me biodegradable because I break down really easily. Tony: … Tony: Same, kid.

*If Yelena had created an animal*

Natasha: What’s it called?

Yelena: A Kangaroo

Natasha: It’s cute!

Yelena: Thanks, it has pockets:)

Can't wait for part 3🤩🤩🤩

holding out (just for you) [2] || katsuki b.

pairing: dragon!bakugo katsuki x reader

word count: 13.2k+

mentions: female reader, fantasy au, descriptions of injuries, blood, not edited!!, aged up chars (24+), sfw, second pov, part of the bnha big bang collab!

with art drawn by the amazing @sdrawberrii-mochii !! here is a link to the original post (give it some love!!!!)

part one

The storm was finally over.

You stood at the mouth of the cave, squinting at the sunlight that poked its way through the remaining puffs of white clouds. It gave everything a warm feel, bathing the surrounding forest and body of the mountain in shades of honey and nectar. There was this fresh, dewy feel to everything that made you feel like a newborn experiencing life for the first time. You honestly never felt so relieved before at seeing the cerulean of the sky. There was not a single hint of the thunderclouds from the storm and you hoped there wouldn’t be for a very long time. You inhaled deeply, then exhaled in a quiet sigh and turned around. Bakugo lifted his head slightly to look at you and started shifting as though he was going to get up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” You held up your hands at him with wide eyes and moved closer to him. You gestured at him to sit back down, though he only stared at you impatiently. A huff escaped your lips. “You should not be moving so much! You’re still ridiculously injured! You could irritate your wounds even more and all the healing I’d done would be a waste!”

Bakugo snarled and bared his teeth at you, displeased. You rolled your eyes. “I know, it’s annoying. But you really shouldn’t move too much. Or at least stay on the mountain until I get back.” He huffed some smoke at you and shifted again to start heading towards the cave entrance. You could do nothing but frown as you skirted around him—after all, who were you to halt a grown ass dragon in his steps? Only, before he could get too far, his hind leg crumpled, unable to support his weight. He made an irritated growl as he sank to the floor, the powerful muscles of his legs tensing before you. 

You clicked your tongue and hovered around him, eyes darting at his wounds to make sure they weren’t bleeding again. “See? Just stay put, please? I’m gonna head back to my cottage for some more salves that can properly treat your wounds.” You turned around and jogged back to the mouth of the cave so you could hoist your bag onto your shoulders. You’d already checked to make sure you had everything—including the poor remains of your jacket. You glanced at Bakugo over your shoulders. His teeth were bared in what looked like a pained grimace, though you could also practically feel the frustration coming off of him in waves.

“I shouldn’t take too long,” you told him as you stepped out into the sunlight. “Get some rest in the meantime.” 

Before he could respond, you started your descent down the mountain, carefully placing your steps on the rocks that were still a bit wet and slippery from the storm. You had to admit, it was nice being out in the open, finally able to feel the sun’s warmth along your arms and face. There was a warm breeze drifting through the air that was such a large contrast from the battering winds of the storm. You did your best to climb down the mountain at a quick and efficient pace, but it still took you a while before you reached your cottage. 

And what you saw made your shoulders sag, your heart dropping to your feet.

Your garden was ruined. 

This region of the world never had a thunderstorm last for that long, so you’d never bothered to prepare for it. You’d been hoping that the mountain would take on most of the brute force of the storm and help shield your cottage from the high winds and pouring rain. But apparently it didn’t—or at least, it didn’t block most of the storm. 

You grimaced as you stepped along the branch-littered stone path in front of your cottage until you reached the edge of your garden and stared sorrowfully at the ruins of all your plants. They were scattered everywhere, uprooted by the winds. There were giant puddles of water seeping into the dirt along with massive branches from the trees surrounding the area. You winced at the sight of a few branches crushing the poor herbs you’d been so carefully cultivating. Wet smears of soggy leaves and drooping stems peered sadly at you from a waterlogged grave. 

It would take you weeks, maybe even months to get your garden back to its original state. The magical plants and herbs you’d been growing would be the toughest to take care of, seeing that some of them were foreign. They just weren’t things you could find out in the wild or on the mountain so easily—you’d have to go looking for a shopkeep that’d sell you the seeds. You might even have to take a trip out of Yuuei if you really wanted to find some of them. You bent down and gently ran a few fingers along a wilted flower, then stood up and let out a long-suffering sigh. 

You kind of wanted to cry, and maybe you did let a few tears slip at the loss of something you’d been caring for ever since you moved to this quaint little village. But you had work to do. You couldn’t linger for long. 

Still, you allowed yourself a short moment to grieve. 

Wearily rubbing at your face, you turned to head over to your cottage, stepping over puddles and branches in your way. If you looked up at the roof, you could see a few thick branches perched precariously on top of it. Great. You didn’t know how you would reach those, but they were a problem for later. You toed off your muddy boots to leave outside, unlocked, and then opened your door. Your eyes swept around the room, looking to see if anything was awry.

You supposed you should count yourself lucky that you’d kept the windows closed, so there wasn’t any obvious mess of the potted plants near them, or the dried out herbs you had strung along the walls. There were a few puddles seeping into the wooden floor that you frowned at, and upon looking up at the ceiling you could see a few wet patches where water was leaking through. None of your books appeared to be damaged, thankfully, and the table stacked with salves and creams was fine as well.

It wasn’t until you walked into your bedroom to check it out that you noticed there was a decently-sized hole in the ceiling. You craned your head back as you looked up at it. You could see a bit of the blue sky through it, though it was mostly obscured by one of those fucking branches you saw on top of your roof. 

“Fantastic,” you grumbled as you glared at the hole as though it had personally offended you—and it had!—before you cast your gaze at the floor. There were wood chippings and some stray leaves scattered about the nice little rug you had in your room. An obvious wet spot was on the carpet as well, though that would be easier to deal with than all the other things. Your bed against the leftmost wall looked fine, and as you walked over to the giant bookshelf you had against the right wall, you saw that everything upon it was fine as well. The shelves were stacked with more plants and jars of creams and liquids, so at least you knew you had enough to last you for a while as you tended to your garden—and that wasn’t including the small closet you had in your room that housed a mix of your clothes and some more medicinal supplies like needles and syringes. 

You set your bag down on the small desk next to your bookshelf so you could rummage around in it to pull out all the plants you’d gathered on the mountain and store them in their proper places. The bottle of ink and quill were also set on your desk along with your little journal. That stupid rock-hard pastry you didn’t get to eat got thrown in the trash. You left your canteen and the single Nadir flower in your bag. As for the ruins of your jacket… You grabbed them and tossed them next to the fireplace in the living room.  

You really, really wanted to lay down at this point, but you couldn’t. There were still things to be done. But first things first, you really needed a bath. You’d been stuck in that cave for who-knows-how-long—you felt absolutely disgusting. Hopefully getting cleaned up would make you feel better as well. 

And it did. A nice, cold bath made you feel refreshed and more energetic than before. The fatigue you’d been feeling was eradicated—if temporarily—so you at least felt that you could survive the rest of the day without collapsing in a heap. You bustled around in the kitchen to grab something to eat—bread and a savory spread you’d made not too long ago that hadn’t spoiled yet—and drink. You slowly nibbled at it as you watered your inside plants, took stock of your inventory, and made a list of all the seeds and plants you’d need for your garden. You mopped up the puddles of water on the floor and cleaned out the carpet in your room before hanging it to dry outside. You didn’t know what to do about the hole, but you figured you’d just see if you could place a tarp or something over it later. 

At one point, you eyed the materials you used to stitch up wounds of people who needed it, contemplating if they were things you could use on Bakugo. But really… you didn’t think you could. He had too many scales in the way—it would be too difficult to even attempt to stitch him up. You’d have to stick to magic salves and your own healing magic—which was, admittedly, a new experience for you since you tended to not use your magic on people—but you figured you’d be fine. 

As you prepared your bag for a trip into the village, you found yourself pausing at the bookshelf in your room and scanning it for that little mythical creature book you had. It was crammed somewhere on the bottom shelf, dusty with misuse. You slid it out and blew the dust off of it. It was an unassuming little thing, with a drawing of a phoenix on its dark cover. You stashed it in your bag to reread later. 

With one more check to ensure you had everything, you stepped outside and slipped on the same boots you’d worn to the mountain, locking the door behind you as you set off. Twigs and branches crunched under your feet as you walked. You had to dodge around quite a few muddy puddles on your way and once you entered the village itself, you saw that it had not been spared from the storm’s wrath either. You looked around as people bustled about, tending to their houses and shops that looked like they’d gotten flooded out. Well… at least you didn’t have to worry about that. Just staring at all the deep pools of water around the village was making you wince in sympathy. 

You ended up at Denki’s pub again, which was—somehow—open. 

“Hey!” he greeted you as you stepped inside and looked around. He didn’t have many customers, though you did see a familiar face sitting at one of the barstools at the back of the pub. Izuku perked up once he turned around to see who Denki was talking to, then gave you an eager little wave.

You waved back as you walked closer and took a seat next to the freckled man. “Hey guys. What’s new?”

“Apart from the crazy storm we just had?” Izuku questioned as he tilted his head at you. 

“Yeah that was wild!” Denki agreed as he leaned forward against the bartop. “I was lucky all I got were a few leaks!”

“A few leaks huh,” you said dryly. Your tone made both men look at you questioningly and you crossed your arms as you stared at Denki. “You wouldn’t believe what happened to me.” 

He was almost hesitant as he asked, “...What… happened?”

You sniffed and pulled your bag off your shoulder so you could set it in your lap and open it. “Well, a little birdy told me there were Zenith flowers on Kamino sometime before the storm started...” 

Izuku looked at you in alarm, his green eyes widening. “You weren’t—!!”

“I was,” you drawled, relishing in the panicked way Denki was looking at you. “And guess what I found on Kamino.” You opened one of the little pockets in your bag and carefully pulled out the cerulean flower from it before setting it on the bartop in front of you.

Denki’s eyes darted down to look at it before his face twisted in confusion. “A… Zenith flower?” 

You shook your head and opened your mouth to respond, but Izuku beat you to the punch. “Oh nooo, those are Nadir flowers aren’t they?” He pointed at the leaves. “Zeniths typically have heart-shaped leaves while Nadirs have oval ones. Those small red thorns on its stem are also another characteristic. They’re extremely poisonous!” 

“That’s right,” you said as you gave Denki a pointed look. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” he blurted out, reaching out so he could clasp your hands between his own larger ones and look at you with watery eyes. “You were probably trapped on Kamino, weren’t you? Shit, I’m really, really sorry!” 

You cracked and let out a sigh before gently squeezing Denki’s hands. “Relax, it wasn’t your fault. I was just messing with you. Slightly.” When all he did was pout at you, you gave him a small smile. “Seriously, I’m kidding. There was no way for you to know there was a storm coming—or that I’d go the same day.”

“That was some extremely bad timing,” Izuku said as he looked at you worriedly. “What did you do?”

“Camped out in a cave.” You shrugged and slipped your hands from Denki’s so you could pat him on the head. As you opened your mouth to mention the unexpected companion you had while you were in the cave, you found yourself hesitating. You… kind of wanted to keep Bakugo a secret. Maybe that made you selfish, but you didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell your friends there’s an injured dragon on Mount Kamino. They could keep a secret, sure, but you knew Denki tended to blabber from time to time—especially once he had a few drinks. You didn’t want to imagine the type of crowd that kind of information would bring to Yuuei. So you settled on withholding it—at least until Bakugo was healed enough that he could fly away or fight if needed (though hopefully it wouldn’t come to that).

You changed gears and instead said, “No idea how long I was there for, though.” 

“The storm lasted a few days. Almost three, I think,” Izuku told you, a frown splayed across his lips. Damn, had it really been that long? He peered closer at your face. “You look tired. Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine and dandy, don’t worry about it!” you said cheerfully as you grabbed the lone Nadir table on the bartop and carefully stashed it back into your bag. “Sleeping in a cave just wasn’t exactly comfortable, you know?” 

“Aaghhh!!! I still feel so bad!!” Denki wailed, collapsing onto the bartop dramatically so he could press his face against its cool surface. 

You rolled your eyes in good nature. “If you really wanna make it up to me you could give me another pastry. I never got to eat the last one I got.” 

At that, Denki sprung up, a new vigor to his movements as he looked at you determinedly. “You bet! I’ll give you the best tasting pastry this village has to offer!” With that, he ran off to one of the backrooms behind the bar so he could likely make you a fresh pastry. You weren’t complaining if he was putting that much effort into a simple order. 

“So, Izuku”—you turned to look at him—“what’re you doing here? I haven’t seen you in a while. How’s the hand?” 

“Ah, it’s doing better!” he told you happily as he turned in his chair and rested his right arm on the bartop. You looked down and reached out to hold his hand, running your fingers along the rough, pink scars that decorated his palm and fingers. “I, um, I’d str— strained it a couple times, but uh, I’m getting better! At not hurting myself! Anymore!” You glanced up to see him fidgeting around, his eyes darting to look at different points in Denki’s pub. He always got a bit… nervous, when people touched him there. You gave him a soft smile when he finally looked back at you and he returned it, albeit a bit sheepishly. “I’d been wandering around the village to help folks out with repairs after the storm. The pub was open when I passed by so I decided to check on Denki and here we are!” 

You hummed and flipped his hand over so you could tap at a thin slash near his wrist. “That’s new. What was it this time?” 

Izuku nervously laughed and gently tugged his hand from your grip so he could run it through his curly, green hair. “Ahh, can’t get anything past you, huh?” His voice got quieter when he said, “Sword injury. Again.” 

You gave his hand a pat and released him so you could brace yourself against the bartop. You didn’t know the specifics of what he did on a day-by-day basis, but you weren’t one to pry all too much. Your eyes lingered on the golden sword hilt that stuck out from the belt around his waist. He carried it with him everywhere. “Were you practicing? Or was it an actual fight this time?” You nudged him teasingly to let him know you were just messing around. 

“Ah, it— it was just a bad block on my part!” he stammered, waving his hands in front of him rapidly. “Sweets— she thought I would block it, um, properly, but I fumbled and, well— She apologized a lot!” 

Denki took that moment to stick his head through the kitchen doorway. “Tell Sweets I miss her!! When’s she coming back to work?! It gets lonely running this place by myself!”

“Weren’t you the one who told her to take a few weeks off for their honeymoon?” you asked Denki wryly. 

He spluttered a bit. “Well! Yes, but— Never mind, going back to work now.” And with that he disappeared back into the kitchen backroom just as quickly as he had appeared. 

A small smile still lingered on your face as you turned to look back at a flushed Izuku. “How is Sweets doing, anyways? That rash she had isn’t still spreading, is it?” 

“She’s fine now! That salve you gave her worked wonders! Oh, speaking of”—he perked up considerably and looked at you eagerly—”can I ask you what you used to make it? I just— I don’t think I’ve ever seen one work like that before. And it was a different texture from what you typically use. Plus the aroma—”

The two of you ended up talking about the different medicinal plants you use and the ways you combine them into ointments and salves. Izuku always liked to ask questions anytime you saw him either in the village or when he dropped by your cottage for treatment. You didn’t mind—you thought it was a bit endearing how curious he was. 

Denki eventually returned after a short while and gave you a fancy-looking frosted bun with ‘sorry :(’ piped on top of it. You couldn’t help but to crack a wide smile at it. You gave him a pat on the head that made him lighten up and hopefully get over the unnecessary guilt he felt. Seriously, you told him, it’s fine. You chatted with them both for a while more as you polished off the pastry, then got up and rolled your shoulders back.

“Well, this was nice, but I have to go. Things to do, people to heal,” you told them as you slung your bag over your shoulder. 

“Come back soon!” Denki gave you a thumbs up with a sheepish smile. “And let us know if you need help with anything.” 

“Yeah!” Izuku agreed as he looked up at you. “Did your cottage get damaged by the storm? I know you’re in the forest, so there’s a lot of risk there.” 

You cringed slightly and thought back to your ruined garden and the hole in your roof. “Yeah, my garden got totaled and I have to do some repairs. I’ll let you guys know—I have a bunch of organizational stuff to do first.” They nodded and waved their goodbyes as you walked out the pub and into the fresh air of the storm’s aftermath. People still milled about and you took a moment to look around. You should probably walk around and check to see if anyone got injured during the storm. You nodded to yourself and set off in a direction down a paved path, calling out greetings to some of the faces you recognized. 

But first, you needed to stop by the Butcher’s. 

You huffed as you crawled up a particularly slippery rock, the bag on your back weighing you down even more. You probably shouldn’t have bought so much meat from the Butcher, but well, you needed to bring something back for Bakugo. Admittedly, it likely wasn’t enough to satiate his entire hunger—he was a fully grown dragon, after all—but it was all you could do for now. Meat was expensive—you also couldn’t quite carry too much at a time up a bigass mountain. 

You stood up straight once you steadied your footing on the rock and looked up in the direction of the cave. You could just see the wide, gaping mouth of its entrance staring at you from atop the slope it sat on. You puffed out a breath of air and continued on, cursing when you stumbled on occasion or narrowly avoided a particularly mossy section of the rock you climbed over. 

Finally, you found yourself standing before the dark cave, panting slightly as you stared into it with the expectation that an irate dragon would huff a greeting at you.

Except, Bakugo wasn’t here. 

“Hello?” you called out, your voice echoing back at you as it bounced around deeper into the cave. You walked inside a bit, peering around and squinting into the darker areas of the cave in the hopes that you would see a familiar glint of gold or flash of crimson. But there was nothing. It was empty. You sighed and ran a weary hand down the front of your face. You didn’t know how he was able to pull himself from the cave in his obviously dire condition, but it shouldn’t have surprised you all too much. You would’ve been impressed—considering how injured he was—if you weren’t so worried about him having possibly reopened his wounds. It was a good thing you’d made a quick stop at your cottage to grab some salves and other materials you believed would help him heal faster—you weren’t entirely sure if they would work, but it was better to try than not, you supposed.

You knelt down around the area where you’d last seen him resting before you left. There was no visible blood on the ground—a good sign, of course, but it didn’t stop the worry and unease from swarming in your stomach like a hive of angry bees. You reached out and gently touched one of the lines of the scratchy Bakugo he had carved into the floor, then stood up with a deep sigh. 

Shit, you cursed as you walked back outside and stood at the edge of the slope. You held a hand over your eyes as you squinted and looked around for any trace of Bakugo. He couldn’t have gone far, right? Not with those injuries. At least, that was what you hoped. You were somewhat glad that the cave was high up on the mountain—it made it easier for you to look around below you. Grey rock with patches of green grass and moss stretched out for what looked like miles below you. There were some trees scattered here and there, but most were at the base of the mountain, where the forest was. Maybe you should walk around the mountain some more—just in case he was somewhere you couldn’t see from your position. 

You steadily made your way down the mountain at an angle, picking your way through some steep declines that had your heart stuttering whenever your boots slipped. After wandering about for what felt like hours, you finally climbed up onto a ledge that allowed you to see a small clearing in the near distance. It was a mix of rock and grass, though it looked flat enough that someone could probably build a hut there if they wanted. 

Right in the center of the clearing was Bakugo. Seeing him out in the sunlight was immensely different from when you were both in the cave. The light gleamed brightly off his scales, making him stick out from his surroundings like a sore thumb. The swirling black and tangerine markings along his body juxtaposed his golden vividness—their deepness made you feel like you could get sucked right into them. From your angle, you could see the left side of his head, but it appeared that he hadn’t noticed you just yet. You paused, taking a short break to catch your breath as you watched him curiously. 

There was a moment where it looked like he was concentrating on something. His large eyes were closed. The muscles along his back and legs were tensed and crouched—like he was on edge or about to spring into a fight. His head bowed forward and you didn’t dare release even the slightest of sounds as you watched him eventually huff out a plume of dark smoke. He opened his eyes—pupils slitted and tiny—and let out a low growl that you could hear from your position. 

He looks frustrated about something, you mused to yourself as he snapped his powerful jaws and let his tail whip to the side. The spikes along his back and neck bristled. Common sense was telling you not to approach the angry dragon, but you did anyway, starting the steady descent towards the clearing. 

Just as you landed on top of a particularly large boulder, you looked up to see Bakugo attempting something different. He extended out his wings—or well, attempted to. The muscles that comprised them shook as he tried to hold them out horizontally, but he couldn’t with how critical the wounds were on them. You frowned once you noticed the deep ruby blood that dripped steadily onto the grass from his wings, staining it. Great.

You finally called out to him just as he tried giving his wings a few experimental flaps, his thick legs tensing as though he was going to jump into the air. “Hey! What’re you doing?! I told you not to leave the cave!” 

Bakugo snapped his head in your direction, a snarl on his face as he watched you clamber down the boulder and land on the grassy part of the clearing. You made your way closer to him, ignoring the way he growled at you and snapped his jaws threateningly. You leveled him with an irate look, your hands on your hips. “I get it, you don’t wanna be here or whatever. But I told you not to move around too much or you’d risk reopening your wounds. And what did you do?” 

Bakugo made a deep snarling sound that was probably intended to intimidate you and turned so he could loom over you. He bared his teeth, his head hovering over your own in a way that made you crane your neck. If he was trying to make you cower in fear or run away, it wasn’t working. You pointed to his wings. “Look at all that blood. And I had just finished treating the infection too! It’s your own fault that your healing process is gonna take even longer now!” 

He growled and puffed smoke directly into your face before moving away. You waved a hand in front of your face to get rid of the caramel smell and jogged around him so you could stand in his way. His eyes swiveled down to look at you, his sharp teeth glinting like diamonds in the sunlight. “Where are you going? Sit down so I can look at your wings.” He chuffed and narrowed his eyes as though daring you to order him around again. You didn’t back down and instead crossed your arms. “I said sit down Bakugo. The quicker you comply, the quicker I can get to work on healing you. I’m sure those wounds hurt.”

He was so fucking stubborn. You didn’t relent with your glare, not until he let out a deep clicking sound and reluctantly settled on the ground. His tail whipped behind him, nearly catching your leg had you not stepped to the side to avoid it. You rolled your eyes at his behavior. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” You just got another deep click in return. 

You pulled your bag off your shoulder and squatted on the ground so you could pull out the chunks of meat you’d gotten at the Butcher’s. Bakugo watched you raptly as you got up and walked closer to him so you could set them on the ground in front of him. The meats were neatly wrapped in paper that you easily peeled away before you got up and looked up at his head. His eyes flicked down to the food, then back at you.

“It’s not much,” you told him as you glanced sadly down at the raw slices of meat. Now that they were in front of him, they looked so small—like they would amount to nothing but a pea’s worth of sustenance. “But it was all I could carry. I can always get more, but I hope you’re good at hunting ‘cuz I won’t be able to do this all the time.” Besides, you added in your head, I can’t bring enough to fill up a whole fucking dragon. 

Bakugo growled and snorted some smoke out at the meat as though to say of course I’m a good hunter. He looked down at the pile, then tensed as the spikes on his back bristled. You raised an eyebrow. “What? Is it not up to your standards? It’s better than nothing, I can tell you that.” He turned his head to glare off into the distance. You stood there and watched, wondering if he was going to eat the damn food or not. After a few moments of silence, you spoke up. “It’s really no biggie, you know.” He looked back at you, his narrowed eyes flicking between your face and the meat. You sighed. “Come on, just eat it. You need the energy.” 

He let out a low rumble and chuffed again before finally, finally, he lowered his head to begrudgingly sniff at the food. You had no idea what his deal was—this was just like when you attempted to give him the hardened pastry back in the cave. Maybe he hated being doted on by an itty bitty human. Whatever, you rolled your eyes as you went back over to your bag to take out all your medicinal supplies. 

You rummaged around for a bit, then found yourself glancing up at Bakugo when he shifted slightly. Your glance turned into a stare when you noticed he’d raised his head, a sort of glow coming from the base of his long neck. It was a fiery orange color that made its way up and up and up until it exited from his open mouth in a burst of brilliant, rushing flames. Your jaw dropped open as you watched him roast the food, the smell of charred meat filling the air. The heat from the flames was enough to make you break into a light sweat. 

It was over just as quickly as it had started, a pile of crispy meat and burnt grass left in its wake. With a snap of his jaw, Bakugo swallowed up the food, his forked tongue darting out to lick at his chops before he leveled you with an unsatisfied look. 

You stared back. “Not a fan of raw meat, huh?” you asked wryly as you pulled out a jar of a lavender-colored paste to set on the ground near you. “Did you want some spices for that too?” 

Bakugo huffed in a way that made you grin. You pulled out some old strips of cloth to use to wipe the blood away from his wings and stood up to step closer to him. “Well, best to get started then!”

And so started the strange schedule of healing a dragon. 

Every day, you would dedicate some time to walking up the mountain with some food and more ointments to try on his wounds. They didn’t all work on him, unfortunately, but you were making some progress: his wounds weren’t bleeding anytime he moved around anymore. Though, it was still very risky for him to do anything other than walk slowly about the mountain. You kept a close eye on him—or at least as much as you could between your duties tending to the villagers who were injured or sick as well. 

It was very time consuming and energy-sapping—especially once you started using your magic to slowly heal him again. It seemed like that was the only way you were going to make any significant progress with his injuries. You felt a perpetual exhaustion behind your eyes and on your shoulders that only increased depending on how much magic you used to heal him on a given day. You hardly had time to sleep anymore, much less work on organizing your garden and inventory. It bothered you, of course it did, but you’d always put patients before all else. You just didn’t expect one of said patients would be a dragon. 

You were slowly wearing yourself down—but you couldn’t really do anything about it. 

Or well, you knew of a way that could at least alleviate some of the pain.

“Can you, like,” you started one day as you took a break between healing sessions, “move closer to the forest? It would make my life so much easier not having to hike up the mountain every day.” 

Bakugo picked his head up from the ground and snorted some smoke at you. “Great! I know a clearing in the forest you can stay in. It’s not too far from my cottage, too.” 

It was oddly surreal walking down the mountain with Bakugo slowly following behind. You made sure you were a good distance ahead of him to avoid accidentally getting trampled under his feet. The way his claws gripped at rock strong enough to crumble them to bits reminded you, yet again, that this was a powerful creature you were dealing with. A creature that the world had not seen outside their homeland for decades, maybe even centuries. The thought made you feel strangely honored. 

You had to yell at Bakugo to slow down whenever he tried picking up his pace, wary of his wounds as always. He snarled and bared his teeth at you every time, but it was honestly for his own good—he could be irritated and angry all he wanted, but you were the healer in charge here. You knew he knew that—as much as he expressed that he didn’t like it. 

Once you both got to the edge of the forest, it was tricky getting a dragon as big as Bakugo to fit through all the trees, but you managed by getting him to go around until he reached a big enough path.

And once he sat comfortably in the little clearing, surrounded by trees and bushes that concealed him pretty well, you took a moment to think about how strange your life had gotten. 

It was clear Bakugo was getting increasingly frustrated by the day. 

He snapped at you more, huffing out dark smoke that made you feel lightheaded from time to time. He put up an attitude whenever you reached out to heal him or when you offered him those small food portions. You didn’t blame him, honestly. If you were a bigass dragon and you were forced to stay in a small clearing everyday without being able to fly or move around, you’d get pretty pissed off too. You were sure the lack of sufficient food was also playing a hand at his grievances, but you were doing your best. He hunted, you were certain he did, but there was only so much he could get from the forest. 

Though… there were times where you noticed he also got annoyed due to… other things. 

Sometimes, you’d catch him concentrating on something—just like that day on the mountain clearing. He would concentrate and concentrate and concentrate, only to snap his eyes open and let out a frustrated roar that would echo throughout the forest and cause the bumbling sounds of the surrounding wildlife to halt for just a second—hauntingly still as though frozen in time. You never dared to go near him when he was in one of those moods—you were very much aware that he could crush you with just a snap of his jaw—but still, you wondered what he was doing.

You tried not to let him bother you too much, but well, it sometimes got rough and you would find yourself dragging your feet as you ventured out along the familiar forest path that led to him. 

“I know it’s not ideal,” you told him gently one day as you worked on healing the gash on his face. He stared at you with those slitted eyes of his, unwavering. “My magic isn’t the fastest there is and I’m sorry. I wish the salves would work better, but they don’t, probably because of your different physiology.” He made a sound that was akin to a scoff, but you ignored it and continued. “We’re making progress, at least. Slowly, but surely.” 

Dragons were not meant to be trapped on the ground—they were meant to be up in the air, free. You wished you could give him that freedom with a snap of your fingers, but you were painstakingly slow—limited. One day you would get there, but not anytime soon. 

You ruminated, in the quiet darkness of your bedroom, on things you could do to ease some of the frustration and tension from Bakugo. Was there anything? You frowned up at your ceiling, the small tarp that covered the hole in it fluttering slightly with the night breeze. How could you get a dragon to expel its annoyances? 

You thought long and hard about it for a majority of the night. Come morning, however, you awoke with a newfound vigor to your actions as you changed your clothes, packed your bag with some essentials, and bounded off in the direction of Bakugo’s temporary shelter. 

He was still asleep when you reached him, the warm light of morning shining onto him through the tall canopies above in a way that made his scales gleam like freshly polished gold. This was the only time you ever saw him at ease and not tense or peeved in some way, shape, or form. You didn’t think that dragons could snore and yet here he was, a small rumble leaving his mouth as a puff of smoke exited from his nostrils. It was kind of endearing, but you knew better than to linger—the last time he caught you watching him as he slept, he nearly took your arm off. 

You set about starting the healing process, concentrating on his wings for the most part that were folded close enough to the ground that you could easily reach them. The honey-like glow of your palms was a constant you had gotten used to, its warmth oddly soothing—even though it sapped out your energy like it was nobody’s business. You did notice, however, that you were getting better and better at controlling your fatigue. You supposed that made sense—with practice came improvement, even with magic. 

You healed him until his head shifted as he woke up, jaws opening in a wide yawn that showed off the curved daggers he had for teeth. 

“Oh good! You’re up!” you called out cheerfully as you stopped your magic and stepped away from his side so that he could see you once he turned his head around. He blinked at you hazily, sleep still addling his gaze, and you took the chance to snatch up your bag from where you’d dumped it on the ground. You shouldered it as you walked closer to his front and looked up at him. “Hope you’re down to do some walking today. We’re going on a little field trip.” 

Bakugo let out a puff of smoke, his head raising slightly as he tipped it to the side and watched you with a peculiar look to his ruby eyes. It was surprisingly calculative, but also curious as well. You gave him a secretive smile and stepped back. “It’s a bit of a distance, but it’ll be worth it, I promise.” You walked over to the opening in the trees that was large enough for him to fit through and gesticulated at him to follow. “Come on, up you go, big guy.”

He chuffed and made a little rumble before his legs tensed as he pushed himself up to his feet. His wings shook out slightly, the smallest hint of a tremor running through them. There was just something… belittling, almost, about watching him do even the most mundane things, like standing. It just made you feel so small. The grass rustled underneath him as he turned around and lumbered towards you—slow, as though testing out how much effort it would take him to walk without aggravating his wounds. You waited until he was close enough, then turned and headed deeper into the forest. 

You kept an eye on him as the both of you walked along a path only you were privy to, observing him to see if he was flinching or tensing in any particular areas. He seemed fine, though he occasionally let out a huff or growl at you after long stretches of just ducking between trees. You just looked back at him and gave him a smile whenever he did so, telling him that it “wasn’t much farther.” You don’t think he believed you after the third time.  

The cracks and groans of branches and shrubbery beneath Bakugo’s clawed feet nearly seemed to echo through the forest, sharp like a whip. It wasn’t much different than the time he followed you down the mountain, but for some reason, you could practically feel each step he took through the ground—reverberating through your body. Maybe it was because you were both on the same level, maybe it was due to all the dirt, or maybe you were just dramatizing things. Either way, you couldn’t help the shiver that scuttled down your spine, hearing those ominous sounds behind you. 

Eventually, once you both broke through the forest and followed a path further down and around Mount Kamino—away from the village and anyone else living in the area—the rock and dirt of the ground gave way to sand and fine grass. You suppressed a grin and jogged up ahead, hands clutching at your bag straps, until you stood at the top of a small hill to gaze at the view before you. Bakugo crawled up behind you, his shadow casting itself over your smaller form like a blanket as he peered over your head.

“Tada!!” You wiggled your hands at the wide, shimmering lake that seemed to stretch on for miles in all directions. Its crystal blue waters reflected an equally blue sky dotted with cotton candy puffs of clouds. Thick trees surrounded it on all ends apart from the side you were on, which instead had a small, empty beach. “Welcome to Lake Might! Named it myself after a legendary swordsman. Not a lot of people know about it—I think I’m the only one from Yuuei who’s found it, so we’ll at least have privacy. I hope.” 

You swiveled your head to look at Bakugo over your shoulder as he gazed out at the lake, head turning this way and that to take everything in. He wasn’t grumbling or growling, so you took that as a good sign. “Let’s go closer,” you said as you stepped forward and slid down the hill until you got to the bottom. There was more sand here than grass, so your shoes sunk into the ground before you lifted up a foot to shake off some of the grains. 

You glanced only briefly behind you to watch Bakugo start his careful descent down the hill, then scurried closer to the water’s edge so you could lay out a spare blanket you’d packed into your bag. You plopped your bag on top of it to prevent it from slipping away with the breeze and shucked off your shoes. By the time you’d started wiggling your toes into the warm sand, Bakugo had caught up and stood a few feet away from the lake. 

He let out a huff of his caramel smoke and watched you once you’d stepped closer to dip your feet into the water. It was cool—a refreshing feeling that helped with the heat from the rising sun—and lapped around your ankles. You breathed in deeply, enjoying the earthy scent that surrounded you, then exhaled it all out with a happy sigh. You turned to look up at Bakugo, who was staring at you pointedly—you could practically see the question reflected in his eyes.

“I know you haven’t been in the best mood lately,” you told him gently. His chest rumbled a bit, but you ignored it. “So I thought a day at the lake might help. You could, I dunno, try to relieve some tension somehow. Relax a bit.” 

Bakugo puffed some smoke into your face and made another low rumble. He moved to stare back at the lake. You waved a hand around your face, then used the same hand to scratch at your head. You thought back to all the small moments you’d caught him in and brightened when you thought of something. “Oh! Like this!”

With that, you positioned yourself so that your legs were shoulder-width apart, your front facing the seemingly endless expanse of water before you. Your hands came up to cup themselves around your mouth, and you took in a deep, deep breath. 

Then, you let out the loudest scream you could muster. 

It seemed to come straight from your diaphragm and traveled almost creepily across the lake like the cry of a banshee. You screamed until you ran out of breath, your vocal chords straining with its pitch. Even after your voice eventually tapered off, you could still hear it echoing towards the trees on the other side of the body of water. You waited a few seconds until you could hear nothing but the distant calls of birds and swaying motion of the lakewater before you turned to peek at Bakugo. 

“Your turn.” You gave him a small grin once you saw he was looking at you in a way you would only describe as bewildered. Maybe even surprised. You made a gesture out towards the lake and stepped away slightly to give him more space. “Go crazy.”

He stared at you for a moment more, then let out a low grumble as he faced the crystalline waters and shifted closer so that it brushed against his front claws. You quietly observed him, the way he seemed to enjoy the cool breeze from the lake as it swirled by both of your forms. He took his time, but eventually, he seemed to cement his stance. His head and neck curved backwards like he was taking a deep breath of air, the powerful muscles of his shoulders tensing and coiling as his chest puffed out. His gold-dipped tail whipped around, the spikes along it bristling. 

Your eyes latched onto the white glow that started within his chest—not at the base of his neck, like last time, you noticed—and shined as bright as a twinkling star. He seemed to hold it there and before you could even register what was happening, his head snapped forward as his jaws opened to release a literal hurricane of brilliant tangerine flames. 

You let out a yelp and brought up an arm to shield your face, but even so, you could feel the wave of heat that washed over your exposed skin like the gentle waves of the lake against the small shore. Your hair blew back from the burst of fire that erupted from his mouth, eyes squinting to look at the mixing colors. It was so much stronger—so much more powerful—than what he had done to charcoal the meat you’d brought him. White mixed with flames of gold and blood orange that danced across the gleam of your corneas and roared in your ears. Your mouth dropped open when they reached out towards the middle of the lake—maybe even further. And you never felt so fucking tiny before in your life.

Bakugo stayed like that for what felt like hours—to the point where you wondered if he would ever run out of breath—but just as quickly as the fire had started, it stopped, disappearing with a snap of his jaw as it shut. You slowly lowered your arm, staring at the steam that wafted from the lake’s surface where the vortex of flames had been dispersed. What the hell?

You cleared your throat as you tried your best not to show how stunned you were. “Well! That seemed… cathartic. Very”—you paused for a second as you searched for the right word—“impressive.” He snorted out a puff of dark smoke as his eyes flicked over to you for just a second too long. Then, he stretched out his back and tail in a motion that kind of reminded you of a cat. You decided not to think about how easy it would’ve been for him to roast you to a crisp should he have deemed you a threat in the cave… or even food. The morbid thought of What if he had eaten you in the cave—would he have? dared to fester itself in your mind, but you pushed it down. The past was in the past—it was better to focus on the present. 

You stepped back from the water and headed over to your blanket so you could shimmy out of the loose shirt and pants you’d thrown on earlier. You fully intended to make use of this lake trip to go swimming for once—you never really had the time before. The swimwear you had on underneath your loose clothing exposed more skin than you were used to, but well, it wasn’t like there was anyone out here to really see. 

You tossed your regular clothes into your bag to prevent them from getting coated in sand, then waded back into the water. The temperature made you shiver as you walked in until you were submerged up to your waist, and you stood there for a bit so you could get accustomed to it. You could see a few fishes darting away from your significantly larger form as you turned around to see what Bakugo was up to. He was still lingering at the shore, slitted eyes focused on you as you gave him a wave. 

“Be mindful of your wounds if you’re gonna get in the water,” you called out. “They’re still tender.” He’d be fine so long as he didn’t do any complex motions, but still, you didn’t want to risk him tearing them open in the unsanitary waters. That would just dump even more problems onto you to deal with. 

You watched him contemplate entering the lake for a short moment, then decided to let him do as he pleased—you didn’t need to keep an eye on him all the time, after all. You ducked down into the water to swim around for a bit and observe the small plants that littered its sandy floor. You wondered if any of them had any special properties. It was certainly something to consider. 

It was relaxing, being able to spend a day at the quiet lake. You didn’t know how much you needed the stress relief until you found yourself unwinding the longer you swam back and forth. Bakugo seemed to enjoy it as well, from what you could tell. He was content to sit in the water—just enough that it covered his legs—and occasionally breathe out his bright flames in a direction opposite of where you were. Part of you was curious if it was a physiological thing for him to be able to release his fire—if doing so was a thing he needed to do or else he’d face repercussions from his own body. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, he looked at peace—much more so than he had ever been over the time you’d been with him—in such an open environment. 

Dragons and their freedom, you thought amusedly. 

At one point, you found yourself floating on your back somewhere near Bakugo, lingering in the shadow casted upon the lake by his larger body. You could hear the gentle swishing of his tail as it moved leisurely back and forth through the water. You raised your head up slightly so you could peer in the direction of his moving tail—it was somewhere to your right. Your eyes flicked over to see Bakugo staring out into the blue distance of the sky, lost. Daydreaming of better times, perhaps. He didn’t look particularly pleased anymore, a sight that made you frown—maybe you could try to distract him? It was worth a shot.

As quietly as you could, you ducked under the water and swam towards him, before you popped out close enough to his tail that you could reach out and grab it whenever it swished back in your direction. You took a minute to just stare at it—it kind of looked like an aqua basilisk, its back decorated with golden spikes that got smaller and smaller towards its tip. Your eyes traced the swirling noir and tangerine designs that covered his scales.

Eventually, you found yourself reaching out towards it—briefly glancing at Bakugo once more to see if he’d noticed (he hadn’t)—before you latched onto the spikes somewhere on the middle of this tail. Your hands were just able to wrap around them—they were warm, you noted, and oddly smooth—in time for his tail to swish away from you, pulling you along through the water like some kind of strange ride. 

Though, almost immediately, he stopped moving and turned his head around to shoot you an unwavering look—almost analytical, if you were reading him right. You gave him a sheepish smile, still holding onto his tail loosely. Well, now you had his attention. “You seem preoccupied. You okay?”  

Bakugo eyed you, the way you draped yourself over his tail, then let out a rumble before he started slowly moving it again. You held back a grin as he pulled and pushed you through the water—at least he wasn’t in such a foul mood that he wouldn’t entertain you. That had to be a good sign, right? 

After a while, though, he still appeared to be lost in thought and you ended up contemplating what else you could do to pull him out of the slight funk he was in. You had somewhat of an idea—one that would no doubtfully be detrimental for you, but fuck it. 

Before you could convince yourself to wuss out, you let go of the hold you had on his tail so you could duck back underneath the shimmering waters. You swam around him and popped out near his front, by his left leg, one of your hands wiping at the wetness on your face. He hadn’t noticed you, having turned his head around so he could look back at his tail once he’d felt that you’d let go. 

“Over here!” you called up at him, a small grin pulling at your lips when he moved to gaze down at you curiously. He chuffed out a column of hot air through his nose that you could just barely feel against your face from your position. You gestured at him to come closer, not really expecting him to follow through, but being pleasantly surprised nonetheless when he did lower his head so you could look into his left eye. His compliance almost made you feel bad for what you were about to do. 

A mischievous smirk was all the warning you gave him before you used all the strength you could muster in your hands to send a small wave of water splashing across his face—away, of course, from the gash by his right eye (you weren’t dumb—or maybe you were?). He recoiled immediately, water dripping down the vivid scales of his cheeks and chin as he raised his head up on instinct. His ruby eyes slitted down at you, your cheeky expression, and he let out a warning growl that you would have found intimidating had you still been trapped in the cave with him.

“Aw, don’t look at me like that you kn— WAASHFS!!”

He retaliated faster than you could keep up with, his left wing reaching down to casually swipe through the water and send a literal wave crashing into your form facefirst. You fell back dramatically, the water muffling your ears and stinging at your eyes as you were body-checked into submergence. 

You resurfaced with a gasp, spluttering slightly as you swiped away the hair plastered to your face so you could shoot him the stink eye. Bakugo only made a sound you would describe as a grating laugh—raspy, unpleasant, yet oddly… humorous?—that practically sawed at your eardrums. Glancing up at his face graced you with the upwards curve of his mouth and general air of arrogance that he practically exuded in mockery of your feeble splashing attempt. Oh it was on.

You’d started this war knowing there was no way you’d be able to win it. But by god you were going to try.

After what felt like hours of you doing your best to hold your own in a clearly one-sided battle, you called for a truce and pulled yourself out of the lake. Rivulets of water streamed down your body as you beelined for your blanket so you could pull out the towel you’d packed into your bag and wrap it around your shoulders. You worked on patting yourself down, glancing up momentarily when you heard Bakugo get up from his position in the lake to trail after you. 

Tiny waterfalls ran down the sides of his torso and from the top of his wings as he lumbered steadily back onto land. He shook himself off, his tail flicking drops of water off to the side. You thought he was going to stop somewhere near you, but he ended up completely bypassing your form to head over to a large tree off to the side of the small beach. You watched him curiously, your eyes lingering on the large footprints he made in the sand, but it seemed all he wanted to do was lounge in the shade the tree’s canopy provided. 

You mulled it over for a second, then shrugged and reached down to gather up all your belongings before you jogged after him. He’d already settled on a patch of cool grass near the trunk of the tree, his legs curled underneath his body as he positioned himself so he could still stare out at the lake. You wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to take a little nap—the warmth of the air and slight fatigue of swimming around was starting to make you feel a bit drowsy as well. 

You were grateful that there was more grass under the tree than sand, but you still ended up laying out your blanket so you could rest upon it. You didn’t think wet skin pressed to dry grass would make for the most comfortable experience. Bakugo only spared you a brief glance when you plopped yourself next to his front legs and set your bag and shoes off to the side. You worked on drying your hair with your towel, enjoying the light breeze that slipped through the air and the way the lake glistened as though its waters were made of jewels. 

At one point you heard your stomach let out a faint rumble, so you rifled around in your bag for a snack that you’d packed earlier. As you did, your fingers brushed against something flat and hard—you ended up pulling out a familiar black book with a phoenix etched on its cover. You’d nearly forgotten that you’d stowed it away in your bag. It’d been sitting in there for ages. 

You let out a short hum, grabbed your snack, and closed your bag so you could use it as a pillow as you lay down. Your fingers ran delicately over the soft, silver brushstrokes the phoenix was made of, before you finally cracked the book open to a random page to start skimming its contents. 

The fae, merpeople, witches, basilisks… You flipped on and on until you eventually landed on the page you were looking for—dragons. There wasn’t much compared to the other mythicals. You read the inky words with interest, recognizing some of the information from when you’d read the little book the day you’d purchased it. 

Dragons were noble, intelligent creatures with magic so robust it was almost unfathomable. Most of this power came from gems unique to each individual dragon. These gems were either hidden or displayed on the dragon’s body somewhere, or stored somewhere safe—a place only the dragon was privy to. The author speculated this could be a hoard of sorts or a safe space, maybe even their home. No wonder hunters went after them—to hold a dragon’s gem in one’s hands meant holding the power to destroy countless villages—kingdoms, even. It would make anyone succumb to greed. You suppressed a shiver, not so subtly eyeing Bakugo from the side of your book. He’d rested his head on the ground and appeared to be dozing, if the gentle snores coming from him were any indication. You returned to your book.

The dragons, as you knew, lived in the mountainous regions to the north—areas reachable only by beings capable of flight. At least, at the time of completion of the book. Which made you wonder just how long ago it had been written. You flipped to the front page to check for a publication date and raised an eyebrow at the year: nearly a century ago. You wondered if any information was outdated or unaccounted for. Probably. You flipped back to the page you’d been on.

Dragons, you read, live in a sort of hierarchical society—evident by the kingdom they stay in. At the top are the golden-scaled, indicative of royal status, with the king himself adorned with black and tangerine markings along his body. 

Wait a second— gold?! Markings?!

Your eyes snapped up to stare at Bakugo, with his scales that reminded you of the heavy coins used in the capital, and inky designs that covered him from head to tail. He slumbered on, blissfully unaware of your encroaching shock. Your jaw dropped open. 

No fucking way were you dealing with the literal king of dragons. No way. What were the odds that you’d find him in a random cave? That he would even leave his kingdom? That he would— that he would get so injured that he couldn’t even fly? Finding a dragon in general was unheard of, but for him to be the king?! Were you dreaming?!

“Holy shit,” you whispered in disbelief, one of your hands smoothing at your slightly wet hair. This… kind of explained a lot actually. Was that why he often looked frustrated or distant? Why he looked longingly at the cotton-ball puffs of clouds in the sky? You’d just chalked it up to him being unable to fly or something, but what if there’d been more to it all this time? Shit, you’d be prickly too if you were the ruler of an entire kingdom and suddenly found yourself miles and miles away from home.

But— this book was pretty old. Who said any of this information was still true? You bit your lower lip, unsure what to believe. Part of you wanted to accept it, but the other part just wanted to ignore it in the hopes that it would stave off the awkwardness and embarrassment of all those times you’d rambled about nonsense to royalty. You literally incited a stupid splash war with him earlier—talk about humiliating! 

Those two parts duked it out for a few more moments before you decided to just let it all go. This was something you could deal with later, when you were sure you’d gotten over the bizarreness of it all. You pushed everything away and practically forced yourself to get back to reading. 

Preferred food, fire-induced magic, customs and traditions, body temperature… You found yourself getting absorbed once more in the little mythicals book, lost within its pages as the sun crawled across the sky.

And when Bakugo woke up from his nap and blinked at you sleepily, all you did was offer him a small smile. 

You dedicated more and more time to healing his wings. 

Day in and day out you would put all your focus, your strength, into getting those pesky wounds on his wings to disappear. It was tedious, it was draining, of course it was. But you couldn’t let him suffer like this for much longer—couldn’t let him be confined to the ground when he was meant to be amongst the clouds, the stars. Especially with what you now (possibly) knew about him. 

So you worked, and you healed, and you worked some more. You woke up early, went to bed late. You stopped having long conversations whenever you were in the village. You put your garden on hold. You ran yourself down to the Earth. 

And after what felt like weeks—months, even—of constant healing, your determination, your lassitude, finally paid off. 

“Anndd… done!” You smiled as you stepped away from his left wing, one of your hands wiping at the perspiration that’d beaded up on your forehead. Faint, jagged scars were all that remained of the viscous tears that had previously marred the thin, leathery skin. You couldn’t help but to look at them rather proudly. 

Bakugo raised his head to look at you, his wings twitching occasionally as the muscles on his back flexed. You made eye contact with him. “Okay, even though your wings are fully healed, you still need to be care—” 

You didn’t even get to finish your little lecture. As soon as the words had left your mouth, his wings had shot out to give a massive flap that generated enough wind to send leaves, dust, and bits of grass up into the air. You yelped as your hair whipped around with the force of his motions, your hands moving up to shield your face. You stumbled backwards and did your best to squint at him—the wicked grin that bared his sharp teeth, the eagerness with which he tested out his capabilities. 

The trees surrounding the clearing rustled and swayed as Bakugo gave a few more experimental flaps before he eventually boosted himself up into the air with an extra jump from his tensed legs. He nearly knocked you over, but you cemented yourself to the ground just to be able to watch him rapidly soar up, and up, and up—through the endless blue that stretched way beyond your reach.

A stupid little smile splayed itself across your lips when you heard him let out an exuberant roar that echoed down to the Earth, his wings and body glittering like the sun itself. He really was a sight for sore eyes, you mused to yourself, one of your hands hovering above your forehead as you squinted at him. He looked like he was having fun, soaring about, doing deep dives and impressive spins. He was free, unlimited in where he could go. And well… you were here confined to the ground, forced to watch him do things you could never even dream of accomplishing.

You let out a sigh that got lost in the openness of the clearing, quiet and wistful.

Bakugo spent quite a while just flying around, but eventually he returned to the clearing—to you, sitting under the shade of a tree as you waited for him. You got up just as he landed on the ground with a resounding thump—one that you felt in your knees and nearly made you stumble backwards. 

You brushed your clothes off and wandered closer to him as he let out a chuff and stretched his back in a self-satisfied way. “Yes, yes, being able to fly again must be great,” you told him cheerily, stopping somewhere near his front so you could look at his face. He peered down at you with a snort. “But, as I was trying to tell you before, you need to be careful of your other wounds. I put them on hold so that I could focus on your wings, so they’re not in the best condition. You’ll need to stick around so I can tend to them.” You gestured at him to sit down. “Let me check how they’re doing.” 

He made a little rumble but did as told, settling down on the grass with his legs tucked beneath him. You hummed to yourself as you skittered around him to poke and prod at his other wounds. They hadn’t been torn open, thankfully, and didn’t seem to be swollen or tender. No erythema either, from what you could see. Good, that was good. 

“Looks great!” You gave him a thumbs up once you were done checking the gash on his face. He rumbled at you again as he raised his head. “I’ll work on them later. Finishing your wings took quite a bit out of me.” You stepped away with the intention of heading back to your cottage for some rest, but Bakugo wasn’t done with you just yet. He made a sound that had you pausing, one of your eyebrows raising at him questioningly. “Hm?”

For a moment he seemed to dawdle, his gaze flicking away from you almost like he was… Well, embarrassed wasn’t the word, exactly. Nor was it nervous. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it. But before you could ruminate on it even more, he turned his head to look pointedly at his wings as he gave them a small flap. Then, he looked back at you, making direct eye contact, and sunk his head down in a little bow. 

“Oh!” You blinked at him in surprise, then felt a warmth spread itself across your chest and into your heart. You gave him a wide smile when he raised his head again, shy. “Well, you’re very welcome!” 

Bakugo started flying around the mountain and village more often, now that he was finally able to. His mood took a turn for the better (thank god, you thought to yourself) and you saw that he was not quite as prone to frustration or anger as he was before. He still had his moments, though, when he thought you weren’t around, but at least he wasn’t snappy at you. 

A part of you wondered if he would leave—he could fly back to his kingdom now, couldn’t he? He wasn’t obligated to stay, after all, and surely as king he would have resources to better treat his injuries. But no, he still stuck around, and you tried desperately to ignore how happy that made you feel. 

Having him as company was nice, of course, but you wondered if it was a good idea for him to be flying around so freely—it would only draw unwanted attention. You couldn’t exactly tell him to stop flying, though. You wouldn’t do that to him, and you didn’t think he would listen to you anyways. Besides, at least he was healed enough to handle himself should trouble come poking around at the prospect of a dragon hanging around Mount Kamino.

It didn’t stop the slight unease you felt when you wandered into Yuuei for the day only to see people whispering to each other, their gazes flickering up to the sky from time to time as though they would find something there other than clouds and birds. You eavesdropped on a few conversations as you did your rounds (“Gold, too! Didn’t know they came in that color!”), then eventually made your way to a familiar pub to see what kind of gossip Denki had learned about. 

Only, when you pushed open the doors to his pub, you saw an unfamiliar figure at the bar chatting with your friend. 

“Oh! Hey!” Denki called out your name over the stranger’s shoulder as you walked over and leaned against the bartop with a smile. “You’re here early. Want your usual?” 

“Yep.” You nodded and he started bustling around to make you your drink. You turned to face the stranger. ”Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. What’s your name?”  

“I’m Kirishima Eijiro!” The red-haired man introduced himself with a blinding, sharp-toothed grin that turned a bit sheepish after a moment. “S’that obvious I’m not from here, huh? What gave it away?” he joked as he gestured down to his clearly foreign clothing: leathery-looking dark pants paired with thick boots, a thin shirt that he wore unbuttoned and displayed the smooth planes of his chest. Your eyes caught onto a black marking near his heart—it looked like some kind of tattoo, though you couldn’t quite make it out with his shirt covering most of it. Something with the sun, maybe. He was quite large and certainly strong if the way his shirt tightened around his thick arms were any indication. 

“The hair,” you joked back, pointing at the spiky mess atop his head. He let out a bright laugh and ran one of his thick hands through said hair. “That and I practically know everyone in the village. Resident healer, at your service.” You gave him a silly little bow. 

“Oh!” He blinked at you and leaned forward eagerly. “In that case, maybe you can help me! I’m lookin’ for a buddy of mine. About this high”—he lifted up a hand to somewhere just a bit shorter than him—”with ash-blond hair that looks like an explosion and red eyes like mine. Curses like a pirate and has these tattoos all along his arms and shoulders. He’s been missin’ for… a long time, now. I’ve been passin’ through villages asking if anyone’s seen him. Maybe you’ve… healed him?” He had a slight grimace on his face at the idea that his friend was injured. 

You tapped a finger on your chin as you raked through your brain, but eventually shook your head sadly. “No, don’t think I’ve seen him, sorry.”

“Aw”—his shoulders slumped—”thanks anyways. Guess I’ll have to keep searching.”

“Enough about that— no offense, Kirishima,” Denki suddenly butted back in, nearly slamming your drink and pastry down on the bar in front of you. Kirishima held up his hands in a none taken gesture. “I wanna talk about the fucking dragon everyone’s been gossiping about.” 

At that, Kirishima perked up suddenly, intrigue glistening in his ruby eyes. “Wait— dragon?” 

Denki turned to give him an odd look. “You mean you haven’t heard?? Or like, even seen it?! It’s so hard to miss, flying around Mount Kamino and stuff.”

“To be fair, he is just passing through,” you told Denki before you took a sip of your drink. 

“What does the dragon look like?” Kirishima asked curiously, his eyes darting between you and Denki. 

“Gold,” you replied before Denki could. “With black markings.” 

Denki gave you an odd look. “How the hell were you able to see that? I just heard that it’s gold.” 

You shrugged and took a bite of your pastry to avoid looking at either of them. You still didn’t think it would be a good idea to bring up the fact that you’d been healing said dragon all this time. “I spend a lot of time on Kamino.” And that was all you said on the matter. Denki looked like he wanted to press you for more, but Kirishima beat him to the punch. 

“Where is Mount Kamino?” he asked you, his eyes locked on your face with a surprising amount of calculative intensity. You only pointed to one of the pub’s windows that had a view of the mountain beyond it. Kirishima wandered over to the window to peer through it, then turned around with a steadfast gleam to his eyes. 

“Thanks for everything, guys. I’m gonna take my leave! Have a good one!” he called out as he beelined right for the door, barely catching the confused farewells you and Denki returned to him. The two of you stood there staring at the pub’s exit for a moment. You hoped he wasn’t a hunter or anything—it was pretty obvious where he was heading. But well, you hadn’t seen any weapons on him, so you supposed he was fine. Hopefully. 

Denki was the first to break the silence. “You think I’ll get more business if I started selling dragon-shaped cookies?” You snorted and rolled your eyes.

A few days later, you were steadily picking your way through the forest to the clearing that held Bakugo when you heard a strange rustling. You paused, eyes wide as you looked around carefully. It wasn’t unusual for you to hear the odd sound or see the occasional wild animal while you were wandering around. But this didn’t sound like an animal. If you listened close enough, you could hear soft footsteps. The fact that it was so close to where Bakugo was put you a bit on edge—what if it was someone who’d gotten a bit too curious in light of recent village news? 

You stood there, simply listening. You didn’t see anything out of the ordinary as you peered in the direction of the rustling, only trees and overgrown shrubs. The sound eventually faded away into the distance—opposite of the direction you were headed in. You let out a sigh of relief. It was probably an animal, you reassured yourself as you continued to where Bakugo was impatiently waiting for you. You forgot about it soon enough.

And when you offhandedly mentioned to Denki, some time later, that you hadn’t seen Kirishima around after your first meeting with him, he responded with: “Oh, yeah! He left a bit ago. Said he found his pal and went back home without him or something. Didn’t really tell me the details.” 

Masterpiece, this is all I'm gonna say

holding out (just for you) [1] || katsuki b.

pairing: dragon!bakugo katsuki x reader

word count: 13.8k+

mentions: female reader, fantasy au, descriptions of injuries, blood, not edited!!, aged up chars (24+), sfw, second pov, part of the bnha big bang collab!

with art done by the lovely @sdrawberrii-mochii !!! <;3 here is a link to the original post (give it some love!!!!) <3333

masterlist

You were going to fucking kill Denki. 

You’d been running low on your stash of Zenith flowers for a while. They were immensely useful for making salves, adding in that extra drop of healing magic to boost the recovery rate of any type of wound. Normally, you would just buy a batch at the village market, but they unfortunately didn’t have a single petal. The shopkeeper had shrugged at you and told you he hadn’t seen any on the usual plateau he went to for harvesting. Zenith flowers required very specific conditions to grow and thrive in, so you weren’t too disappointed about it, but you still needed some. You liked being prepared for any scenario, so to have very little salve or flowers left over in your pantry back at your little cottage made you feel extremely antsy—especially since you were the only healer for miles. Quite a lot of people tended to go to you whenever they were sick or hurt.

You made the mistake of complaining about it to Denki, one of the owners of the small pub nestled in the heart of the village of Yuuei. 

“Y’know, there should be Zenith flowers up on Kamino,” he told you smartly once you’d finished speaking, his hands moving as he prepped your order for you. “I saw some growing up there when I went hiking with Hanta the other week.” 

“Really?” You perked up, turning your head to look at the mountain looming just beyond the edge of Yuuei through one of the pub’s dainty windows. Mount Kamino was one of the main sources of herbs and food the village used since it was so closeby. You tended to venture along its hiking trails once in a while, in search of particular plants to use for ointments and creams. 

“Yeah!” He set down a wrapped pastry in front of you, then gave you a smile. “They’re pretty high up though, so I’d be careful if I were you.” 

You waved him off and rummaged around in your pockets for a few gold coins to slap onto the wooden bar between the two of you. “Pfft, I’ll be fine. These arms aren’t just for show, you know.” You winked at him as you flexed, your biceps moving with the motion. 

Denki laughed, then shot you a sly smile as he leaned closer to you across the bar. You could practically see the mischievous sparkle in his golden eyes. “We could make it a date, y’know? Go hiking together? Come on, pretty lady, it’ll be fun~” He winked and reached out a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair out of your face.

Rolling your eyes, you pushed his face away with your hand and ignored the way he snickered into your palm. He never relented with his incessant flirting, even after all the years you’ve been friends with him. “No thank you. I’m good. Thanks for the food, I’ve gotta go.” 

“You should still consider it!” he called out cheekily after you as you left the pub, getting only a distant laugh and a flap of your hand in response. 

The journey back to your little cottage was a bit of a long one. Since you were currently at the center of Yuuei, you had to walk all the way to its northern edge, past bustling families and open booths of food. The paved paths weren’t difficult to navigate, though you constantly had to duck to the side to avoid the people wandering about or to prevent any laughing children from running into you. It was nice to be able to mingle with people like this—hear the gentle murmur of conversation around you and see the bright smiles aimed your way. You weren’t necessarily popular, per se, but well—you waved to what seemed like the seventh person who called out your name cheerfully in greeting—you certainly made a name for yourself here. 

It wasn’t long before you were gently picking your way through a slim path in the forest just offset from Yuuei’s perimeter. Canopies of trees rustled overhead, an occasional chirp of the regional teal-feathered birds delicately fluttering by your ears. The sunlight from above was just able to poke its way to the dirt-covered ground, casting everything in a warm, golden light. This part of your journey home was always the nicest, in your opinion. The sounds of bumbling nature were a sharp contrast from those of the village; you found constant peace in it. 

A few turns this way and that along the path and you were eventually able to see your quaint cottage nestled comfortably among the green of the shrubs and trees that surrounded it. Before it was a small garden you poured your heart and soul into cultivating. It was organized in a way only you were privy to, a section dedicated to various herbs and magical plants while another was dedicated to consumables like lettuce and berries. You were very proud of it and you couldn’t help but sweep an eye around it to make sure everything was growing well. 

The dirt below your feet soon transitioned to a stoned path that led up to your quaint front door. You made sure to take your shoes off outside before stepping in and placing them on the little shoe rack you’d made so long ago. Your home was a bit small yet cozy, with low hanging ceilings made of oak. You had more potted plants scattered about, close to the windows where they could absorb as much sunlight as they could. There were various spices and dried plants hung up on the walls, allowing a fresh, earthy smell to permeate the air. Soft chairs and cushions were arranged neatly around the bricked fireplace to the right, a wooden table laden with small bottles of liquids and creams just off to the left of them. Further beyond that were the crowded cabinets that made up your kitchen, a small hall next to them that led to a tiny bathroom and bedroom. It wasn’t much, but it was yours.

You bustled around, stepping over some books you’d left piled on the floor as you prepared a bag for your trip to Mount Kamino. It was still quite early, so you were sure to be back long before it got dark if you left now—it would only take a few hours or so to walk up, not including the hours you’d no doubtedly spend just looking at all the flora. You stuffed a canteen of water in your bag along with the pastry you got from Denki. A ball of string and a small book with its accompanying ink bottle and quill joined them. After glancing around once more, you donned a thicker pair of leather boots made for hiking along with a light jacket and exited your home. 

Your cottage was not too far off from the base of the mountain. You took your time to trek through the winding paths that started to steadily slope uphill, your eyes peeled for any plants you wanted to grab. The canopies overhead were getting increasingly ladened with green leaves the further you walked, blocking out more of that glimmering sunlight. You busied yourself on occasion with stopping to observe certain plants and jotting down details in your little book. You liked to keep track of the different flora around you—your notebook was full of scribbles of various observations and drawings of a multitude of plants. 

“Luna flowers,” you murmured at one point to yourself, crouched down near the flat stump of a tree that had small, purple flowers growing in abundance around it. They were good for treating nasty infections. You picked a handful and wrapped their slim stems with a piece of the string you’d brought. Stocking up wouldn’t be a terrible idea—you might as well since you were up on the mountain anyways. Setting the bundle into your bag carefully, you stood up and continued on your way, keeping an eye out for any other flowers you could gather. 

You forgot just how dense the paths were on Mount Kamino. You had to be careful of your steps, your gaze steadily trained on the ground beneath you to avoid any tree roots or unstable pieces of rock. You ended up stopping quite a few times to record new plants you’d never seen before on the mountain trails. It wasn’t unusual for the bubbling river along the mountain to carry seeds from other places that eventually latched onto the soil and grew, or for the wind along the leeward side to blow spores down to the dirty ground. In any case, it gave you access to a plethora of material to use for healing. It was your own little treasure trove, in a way.

It always took you a while to jot down small details and sketch realistic drawings of the plants you found. Eventually, you found yourself hoisting a thick bag full of way more plants than what you came for onto your shoulder. You still made sure you had room for Zenith flowers, though. For now, you decided that would be your ultimate goal, so you focused your energy into scaling the side of the mountain. Your thighs were starting to burn from all the climbing as you scrambled over large pieces of rock and shuffled your way up steep inclines. The trees around you thinned out before disappearing, all the dirt being replaced by grey rock covered with slippery moss. 

Your eyes darted up to the sky for a moment, finally able to see it clearly instead of all the low-hanging branches heavy with green leaves that made up the forest. There were clouds starting to gather overhead, light grey in color, but still scattered about over the far side of the mountain. It wasn’t anything to be worried about just yet, but you still found yourself picking up the pace. Getting caught out in a storm was not ideal when you were this high up.

Your eyes were peeled for the familiar cerulean of the Zenith flowers, wondering just how far up you would have to go to see them. But finally, finally, you caught a glimpse of them sitting at the edge of a piece of rock that stuck out against the mountain like an odd, upside-down nose. Looked like Denki had been telling the truth—not that you’d doubted him. Flora wasn’t his expertise, was all you were saying. You huffed as you eyed the flowers, already knowing you would have to climb up against the rock carefully if you wanted to make it up there in one piece. 

So off you went, slowly picking your way up to the little cliff. Sweat was beading up on your skin, hands getting slippery as you searched for small ledges and holes in the stone wall before you so you could shimmy your way up. It was taxing work, the bag on your back seemingly getting heavier and heavier the longer you wore it. But it would be worth it, you kept telling yourself, once you had a restocked supply of Zenith flowers. They were just too useful and important to pass up. 

After what seemed like ages, you managed to hoist yourself over the edge of the little cliff, panting from all the exertion. You crawled forward and sat down on your ass so you could rummage in your bag for your canteen of water. You drained half of it in one large gulp and brought your hand up to wipe your mouth right after. Before you was the wide expanse of the forest, an ocean of green swaying to and fro in the breeze. You were pretty high up, and if you squinted slightly you could see the distant buildings of Yuuei. The wind was starting to pick up and you shivered before wrapping your jacket more snugly around yourself. It was a nice view, even if it was a bit chilly up here. 

This was worth it, you told yourself again, sliding your canteen back into your bag. Now all you had to do was gather a bunch of flowers and you could head back down to the warmth of your home. 

Standing up, you brushed off your pants before walking over to a patch of blue. You crouched down, intending to pick them quickly, when something caught your eye. Zenith flowers characteristically had heart-shaped leaves with soft edges. But these ones in the ground had jagged, oval-shaped leaves littered with small thorns. Your eyes narrowed. 

They weren’t Zenith flowers—they were Nadir flowers, its poisonous opposite. 

“Denki, you fucking idiot.” You sighed, hoisting yourself up to glare down at the plants swaying innocently in the wind. Of course he wouldn’t know the difference. The dumbass probably saw the familiar cerulean and assumed they were Zenith. You rolled your eyes and leaned down to carefully pick one of the Nadir flowers and stow it in a pocket within the deepest depths of your bag, away from the other plants you had in there. You’d have to give Denki a lesson on flora—he clearly needed it. 

Before you could even begin to stew in disappointment and a low-simmering irritation, a bright flash of light lit up the sky. You paused, eyes widening, as you looked up to see dark, swirling clouds peeking over the tip of the mountain. They were being blown in your direction, finally revealing themselves with a gust of frigid air. One second passed. Then another. 

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The thunder that erupted following the flash of lightning was so loud your eardrums nearly popped. You had hardly a moment’s time to react before what seemed like a waterfall of rain descended upon you, soaking you in an instant. 

“Shit,” you cursed, throwing your hands up over your face as the incoming wind battered you with the force of a thousand basilisks. You hadn’t seen the gathering stormclouds from your position on the mountain; you were too close to its face to see that they’d been cleverly hiding on the opposite side, slowly creeping in your direction. Another flash of lightning cracked through the sky and you realized it was getting absurdly dark. It wouldn’t be long before you’d be blind and at the complete mercy of the mountain. You needed to find shelter, and you needed to find it fast. 

So you moved, desperately looking around for a cave of sorts that you could duck into. Maybe even some rocks that could at least partially shield you from the wind. Your boots were starting to slip against the wet rock below you—it would definitely be too dangerous to try to climb down the mountain in this type of weather. You’d likely slip and bust your head right open. 

Thunder rocked through the air once more, the wind howling ferociously around you as you scrambled along giant fragments of stone. Your eyes were peeled for any obvious openings in the mountain and it was by pure chance that a quick flash of lightning illuminated the gaping maw of a cave somewhere up higher on the path you were on. You cursed at how far up it was, but pressed on anyway, taking your time to pick your way towards it.

With only a few instances where you almost slipped and tumbled down the watery slope you were on, you finally managed to reach the cave. Puffing from the exertion, you retreated a few feet into it, just so you could get out of the torrential rain and raging wind. You whirled around, shivering, as you looked out at the darkness that had settled over the mountain and surrounding forest. You could hardly see a thing apart from the waves of water that poured down, the wind thunderously raging just beyond your temporary little safe haven.

Which brought you to your current predicament—using Denki as a scapegoat as you cursed him to hell and back for trapping you in a cave for god-knows-how-long.

“Great.” You frowned, plopping your bag onto the cave’s floor. The material was mostly water resistant, thank god, but it still made an odd squelching noise when you pressed your foot against it to see how much water had been repelled and how much absorbed. You shrugged out of your jacket, figuring it wouldn’t be a good idea to be wearing the soaked material. Rubbing your hands along your arms as though that could warm you up a bit, you turned to face the abyss-like darkness of the cave. Maybe there were some dry materials in here you could use to start a fire. It was a long shot, but it wouldn’t hurt to look.

Something glowing in the near distance caught your eye. 

It was faint, almost nonexistent, in the deep void that made up the cave. It glimmered in a way that reminded you of shiny metal reflecting dim light. You squinted at it, edging a bit closer so you could make out just what you were seeing.

The glow was gold in color, and as you crept steadily closer, you saw it spanned across quite a bit of the width of the cave. You blinked, trying to force your eyes to adjust to the low lighting. Your eyes moved from one side of the cave to the other until they landed on two glowing, crimson dots. You tilted your head, trying to decipher what those dots could be, when they suddenly slitted vertically. Your eyes widened, watching as the slits rose up and up and up, over your head. It was then that you realized a low growling had erupted around you, dangerously echoing through the cave. 

A flash of lightning briefly lit up your surroundings. You swallowed thickly, hands clenching down on your upper arms where they were crossed over your chest.

You were staring at a fucking dragon.

Dragons were not unheard of in this day and age, though they were rare to see. They tended to keep to themselves, living in the mountainous regions to the north. You’d seen them flying overhead the village a total of two times in the course of your life, mere pinpricks in the vast sky. For the most part, they’d disappeared from the masses, staying out of sight and out of mind for many, many years. You often wondered how it was possible for them to stay hidden from the human population for so long, being such large and attention-demanding creatures.

That being said, the dragon before you was stupidly huge, glimmering gold scales covering it from head to tail. You couldn’t be any taller than its shoulder, honestly, just barely able to make out the golden spikes that popped up along its spine from your position. Though, what really stood out to you were the black and orange markings that fluidly spanned its body. Intricate designs started at the crown of its head and traced down its long, golden neck, before ending at the tip of its tail. They were strangely enticing to look at, especially since you’d never seen them before in your life. If you could stare at them some more, you were sure they’d whisper a story to you, but that was neither here nor there. 

The dragon’s glowing eyes were still sharply focused on you, the deep growling from its chest making the hairs on your arms stand up. You could see its jaw open, sharp teeth bared at you in a warning as it raised itself higher above you. You were sure if there was enough room, it would have opened its wingspan to appear even larger. It activated your fight or flight response, seeing it act so hostile. You raised your hands up in the universal sign for surrender, slowly backing away until its growling eased down only a tad. 

And it was then that you realized it was injured.

You knew that many people envied dragons for their strength, not only physically, but magically as well. They were intelligent creatures, and it was not unusual for particularly thick-headed people to go hunting for them in the hopes of stealing some of their power. With this in mind, you found your gaze trailing to the horrendous wounds scattered around its body. There was a deep, nasty-looking gash on its side stretching from its right shoulder all the way down to its mid-back. Another similar-looking cut was dangerously close to its right eye, gleaming with the fresh ruby red of blood. The way it gingerly tucked its wings close to its body let you know that it was probably injured there too, though you couldn’t really see all too well in the dark. And those were just the wounds you could barely make out on this side. 

A bad fight with a hunter? you mused as you stepped back further. Or with something much, much worse? 

You didn’t even want to entertain the idea of there being creatures powerful enough to vy against a motherfucking dragon. 

The way said dragon was still sharply watching you, hissing lowly all the while, was starting to make you feel nervous. You didn’t really have many options here: stay in the cave and perish on the whim of a magical beast, or brave the storm outside and possibly tumble off the mountain to your death? Neither seemed very appealing to you. 

Though, you glanced momentarily back at the dragon’s vicious-looking wounds, you couldn’t just leave it in this condition, could you? You were a healer—you healed things. And those things didn’t stop at people. 

You didn’t think the dragon would just let you tend to its wounds, however. Not when it was still watching you with those blazing, slitted eyes, its body poised in a way that told you it was ready to strike at any moment’s notice. Any wrong move and you’d be a mere smear of ash in a small cave. You would need to tread cautiously. Smartly. It wouldn’t do you any good to underestimate the beast’s knowledge and power. 

Come on, think! you thought to yourself as you took another small step back to increase the distance between you and the dragon. You had a book of magical creatures sitting in a small, dusty corner of your cottage. You remembered reading it—tracing the small section on dragons that was inscribed within its pages with your fingers. Not much was known about them, but surely there was something that could help you at this moment? 

Let’s see, let’s see… If you were remembering correctly, dragons were very noble creatures—easily offended. They demanded respect and recognition of their strength. You eyed the snarling dragon in front of you. What could you do to show it that you meant no harm? That you knew it was powerful and that you were at its mercy and not the other way around?

Biting at your lower lip, you decided on what you would do. 

Maintaining eye contact, you sank into a deep bow, keeping your hands raised near your ears. You knew this would make you appear immensely vulnerable to the dragon, your guard lowered as your bare neck was exposed to it. After a few seconds of watching the dragon, you averted your gaze to stare down at the ground instead. Then, you held your position. And waited. 

And waited…

...and waited…

Until finally, the dragon chuffed, hot air heavily expelling from its nose like a volcano expelling ash. You almost shivered, feeling the air rush over your neck and back like a running river. You were reminded of how soaked you were, your hair sticking to your head in a coldly uncomfortable way. The growling by now had abated, a tense sort of silence filling the cave as you stared down at the ground and thanked whatever deity above that bowing had worked. 

You waited a little bit more, then slowly straightened up, your hands lowering so you could cross them over your chest. From this position, you could see the silent stare of the dragon, its bright, crimson gaze seemingly burning right into you. It was still tense, you noticed, still poised as though ready to fight. A steady drip… drip… drip… echoed faintly around the cave. You could just barely see its rich, burgundy blood dripping onto the wet floor beneath it. You needed to do something. 

“You’re hurt,” you spoke, then immediately flinched when the acoustics of the cave made your voice seem much louder than you’d intended. You got sharp teeth bared at you in response, a displeased growl coming from the dragon. You lowered your voice and tried again, purposely ensuring you sounded much gentler and quieter. “You’re hurt. I’m a healer—I can help you.” 

A drawn out hiss was all you got as an indication of the dragon’s thoughts. It tensed further, wings fanning out slightly as its eyes slanted at you. You could’ve sworn you saw the spikes along its back bristle, making it seem much more dangerous than before. This really wasn’t going well, you thought, trying to figure out what else you could do. 

“Those wounds don’t look too good,” you found yourself saying, your eyes momentarily diverting to the slash near its eye. “I’m sure dragons like yourself aren’t immune to infection. I can help, if you’ll let me.” With just a tiny bit of hesitation, you took the smallest step forward, hands moving back up in a placating manner. If you could properly see just how bad its wounds were—how life-threatening—it could help you decide on what actions to take and how urgently you would need to work. You did your best to relax your tense muscles, trying to seem aloof and calm in front of the dragon in case it thought you were going to attack. Its eyes snapped down to the small motion you made, and you immediately regretted stepping closer when the dragon snapped its jaw at you sharply. You could almost feel the faint brush of air its snapping jaw made as it hovered over you, its hissing escalating back to a growl. 

You took a much larger step back. “Okay okay… I’ll leave you alone.” It was clear that the dragon really didn’t want you doing anything—and you didn’t want to take any chances here either. You slowly walked backwards, keeping an eye on the dragon as you aimed for where you’d dropped your bag. The sounds of the rain got louder the closer you got to the cave’s entrance until it was all you could hear. You stopped once your foot came into contact with the wet material and watched as the dragon unwaveringly kept its focus on you. From your position, nearly at the mouth of the cave, you couldn’t really see much of the dragon’s form. Just the faintest gleam of gold and two pinpricks of crimson that let you know it was still watching you. 

Well... at least it wasn’t going to attack you for now... 

A shiver ran down your spine—from the dragon or the frigid air, you didn’t know. 

You chanced a glance back outside, looking at the way the rain harshly pounded at the side of the mountain, thunder rumbling loudly overhead in a way that reminded you of the deep growls of the creature before you. There was no way you were going back out there—you couldn’t take that risk.

Looked like you were going to be camping here for a while. 

Huffing slightly through your nose, you crouched down near your bag and opened it up, making sure to keep your front facing the dragon’s direction in case it decided it wanted to eat you after all. You shuffled around inside your bag’s pockets, pulling out various flowers and other flora you’d picked up on your way to the higher points of the mountain. It was really fucking lucky for the dragon that you’d accidentally come packed with so much material to take care of its wounds. Even if it didn’t realize that yet. 

You tugged out a bunch of Luna flowers, the purple petals a bit crumpled, but intact nonetheless. Your eyes flickered up in the direction of the dragon, latching onto those two glowing red dots that made up its eyes. Still watching you. You suppressed another shiver.

After laying out all your collected plants in a neat line before you, you picked up the bunches that were good for dealing with infected wounds and incessant bleeding, unraveling the bits of string you’d tied them with to drop in your bag. You didn’t really have anything to wipe up all the blood with though, but—you eyed your wet jacket on the floor—if you really needed to, you wouldn’t mind sacrificing your jacket. You had others anyways. 

With your arms full of flowers of purple, pale pink, and cream, along with the occasional batch of these thin, green stalks, you slowly headed back towards the dragon. There was something eerie about walking towards something you knew was… not pleased with your presence. Something eerie about knowing it was there, even if you couldn’t see it all too well. Wasn’t this how people died? 

Maybe you were being a fool, maybe you were out of your goddamn mind for daring to approach a fucking dragon. But well, it wouldn’t hurt to try to get on good terms with it. Especially knowing you weren’t sure how long you’d be stuck in the cave for. 

You eventually came to a stop near the dragon. Not too far, not too close. Just enough that you could see it and still be out of reach of its long neck and head. It bared its teeth at you, though it didn't start growling as of yet. You counted that as a good thing. 

Kneeling down, you spread out your bundle of plants before it, arranging them in a neat, little line. After a quick glance at the dragon, you gestured your hands over your haul. “These are plants that can help with your wounds”—you pointed to the Lunas—“These are for protection.” Your finger moved over to point at the pale pink ones—Hiraeth flowers. “These help with easing pain.” Next were the cream-colored Eunoia flowers. “For slowing down bleeding.” Finally, the thin Zephyr stalks. “And for infection.” 

You then stood up and backed away, putting enough space between you and the plants on the ground. You didn’t want to seem too overbearing. Laying out your hand was the first step of many that you hoped were to come. 

The dragon watched you for a moment, the way you clasped your hands in front of you as you waited a respectful distance away. You held your breath as it lowered its head down to the line of flowers, gently huffing as it inspected them with slitted eyes. You didn’t know what it was looking for, but it spent a bit just nosing at the flowers, before it let out a big chuff of air, sending your poor plants awry as they were scattered all over the floor in your direction. Now that was just fucking rude.

You sighed, rubbing the bridge of your nose with two cold fingers. “Okay, I get it, you don’t want my help.” You walked to the nearest flower and bent down to pick it up, spinning the thin stem idly in your hand. Brandishing the flower in the dragon’s direction, you continued, “But if you don’t get those injuries treated soon, you could risk aggravating them further and prolonging your healing process.” You made eye contact with the dragon for a brief moment, before you looked away to start picking up some more of the other plants scattered about. “Or, y’know. You could die. Up to you.” 

You busied yourself with grabbing the remaining flowers while you waited for some sign of sorts from the dragon. It wasn’t until you straightened up, arms full of plants, that you finally got an approval. Or, well, as close to an approval as you were going to get. 

The dragon made direct eye contact with you, sharp teeth bared as it let out a little growl. Then it huffed, a stream of smoke exiting its nostrils, before it shifted slightly to expose the large wound along its side to you. Right. Well, you’d take what you could get, at this point. 

“Great! Glad you came to your senses,” you said cheerfully as you walked a bit closer to the dragon and set all the plants down on the floor. “You’ll need to come closer to the entrance. I can’t see all too well back there.” While the dragon growled again and shifted, you turned to jog over to your bag once more. You rummaged around in it for your canteen of water, then stood up to look about the cave for some flat stones. It took a bit of time to find, but you managed to settle on two decent ones that looked like they could get the job done. 

“Good enough,” you mumbled as you jogged over to the cave’s mouth to run the stones under a steady stream of rainwater that dripped from the edge of the ceiling. After that, you jogged back to your jacket to pick up, and made your way over to the dragon. 

Luckily for you, it had heeded what you’d said and shifted closer to the entrance. You still couldn’t see all too well, but it was better than before, at least. The occasional flash of lightning helped as well. 

You dropped your canteen on the floor next to the flowers, placing the two stones on top of it as you did your best to wring out your jacket. Streams of water cascaded to the floor, some of them landing on the plants to wet them some more. A quick glance up to the dragon told you it was watching you carefully, eyes still slitted. 

“They work best if ground into a paste,” you told it, shaking out your jacket so that you could tear a flat piece off. You plopped onto the floor and laid out the piece of fabric in between you and the dragon. You then grabbed a few of the flowers and placed them neatly onto the cloth. Finally, with the two stones, you started mashing the flowers together, rubbing them occasionally between the stones. Water from your canteen was added once in a while to turn the flowers into a more liquid-y mush. It wasn’t the best, but it was all you could do at the moment. 

“Normally I use a special solution to make the paste,” you murmured as you worked, grinding and mashing away. “But water’s all we got right now. I didn’t expect to be treating anyone up here, y’know?” 

You looked up at the dragon and it growled at you, its eyes sharply focused on watching your movements. “Yeah, count yourself lucky, buddy.” 

You rambled on as you steadily mashed all the flowers together, finding a need to at least try to ease the dragon into trusting you a bit more. But it was obvious it was still wary of you, not relenting with its incessant glaring and occasional growling whenever you moved too fast, or did something it didn’t like. That was fine, you thought as you added another Luna to the mash. While it would be really fucking cool to befriend a dragon, it wasn’t necessary for you if you wanted to treat it. Work was work, healing was healing. 

Eventually, after what seemed like ages of mashing, you managed to make a decent amount of a brownish paste from all the flowers you’d picked out. You hummed as you wiped your hands on a clean section of the piece of cloth that held the paste, hoping that it would be enough. You didn’t know what you would do if it turned out you needed more flowers. 

“Okay”—you hoisted yourself to your feet, shaking out the cramps from your legs—“this should be enough. I hope.” You took a few steps away from the cloth so that the dragon could inspect the fruits of your labor. It brought its head closer so it could huff and eye the paste. “I’ll have to put on really light layers, depending on how many wounds you have.” After the dragon pulled its head away from the cloth with another chuff—you assumed it had deemed the paste good enough—you walked over and grabbed your jacket. You made quick work out of tearing it to pieces that you could use to apply pressure to staunch the dragon’s bleeding. 

“All right”—you hummed, stepping closer to the dragon with the pieces of cloth draped over one of your arms—“first we gotta wipe the blood away.” When the dragon growled at you warningly, you looked up at it, gesturing your free hand to the remnants of your poor jacket. “Relax. I’ll be careful. It’s just cloth. Can’t have you dripping blood all over the cave.” 

It huffed out through its nose, smoke battering your face that oddly smelled like burnt caramel. You made a face and waved your hand in the air to get rid of it, stepping closer to the dragon until you were right by the long gash on its side. Grabbing one of the longer pieces of cloth, you folded it up slightly and pressed it gently to the edge of the wound. 

At this proximity to the dragon, you could almost feel the low growl that thundered through its chest, its massive torso shifting under your hand that seemed entirely too small pressed against it. The gold of the dragon’s scales were amazing to look at up close, a bright gleam to them that shined with every flash of lightning from outside. You were slow and careful with sopping up the blood that leaked from the gash, making sure it was as clean as possible. 

Something you noticed, being so close to the dragon, was how fucking warm it was. Like standing next to your own personal campfire. It made you realize how cold you were, your teeth clenched together involuntarily to prevent them from incessantly chattering. In your haste to tend to the dragon’s wounds, you’d forgotten about how soaked you were, the possibility of getting sick looming ominously over your shoulder. 

That didn’t matter now, you decided, as you covered a particularly nasty-looking section of the wound with a cleaner section of the cloth. As long as you were close to the dragon, you could secretly enjoy its body heat. 

“I’ve got loads of medicinal plants back at my cottage,” you started quietly, still focusing on the dragon. It was silent, watching you press your ruined jacket to its side. Your eyes traced the black and orange markings you could see, amazed by their swirling intricacies. “Actually, that’s why I was up on the mountain. I was looking for Zenith flowers. They’re really useful for accelerated healing, y’know?” You finished dabbing at the wound and tossed the blood-soaked cloth to the floor. Picking up the paste, you started gently spreading it along the wound with nimble fingers. You didn’t fail to notice how much hotter the dragon’s wound was compared to the rest of its body. That couldn’t be good. 

“My friend was the one who told me there were Zeniths up on Kamino,” you continued, “The dumbass saw Nadir flowers and thought they were Zeniths. Idiot. Nadirs are poisonous. I should’ve expected it, honestly”—you sighed, coating your fingers with more of the paste— “and of course there would be a storm on the same day I decide to do a mountain trip. Lucky for me, huh?” 

The dragon rumbled and you huffed. “Yeah, maybe I’m the fool for believing him in the first place. Not like he’s a herbalist.” You finished coating the wound and set the paste back on the floor. Grabbing another cloth piece hanging from your arm, you rounded the dragon to check its other side, grimacing at the sight of another nasty gash near its hind leg. Its head swiveled around to follow you, content with carefully watching as you pressed the cloth to the wound. “Would’ve been really helpful if they were actually Zeniths, though. Could’ve boosted your healing process.”

This wound was also really hot, almost searingly so. You picked up the pace, wanting to coat it as soon as possible. Dragon physiology was not your expertise, so you had no idea what the heat meant. Infection? You finished covering the wound in the paste, and stepped back to search for any others. 

“You’ll have to stretch out your wings for me,” you said as you walked a safe distance away from the dragon, towards the mouth of the cave. “Can’t reach those”—you pointed to the area of its wings that had vicious tears in them—“Maybe shift your body around?” 

With what sounded like an irate huff and a bit of maneuvering, the dragon managed to orient itself sideways in the cave, crouching further in a ball so it could extend its wings down towards you. Giving it a small thanks, you made your way to the edge of its wing, where there were a few nasty tears along the edges and towards the center. You could practically see through them, if not for the crusted blood in the way. You grimaced. The dragon definitely wouldn’t be flying anytime soon with those. 

You noticed, your hands rubbing in the paste, that while its wings were gold, as you moved to the tips of them, they faded into a black color in an ombré-esque gradient. It was pretty—just like the black designs on its body that you were so captivated by. 

And thus, the process continued, with you idly making a rather one-sided conversation as you cleaned and coated the dragon’s wounds. You would’ve never imagined that you’d have the opportunity to be this close to such a powerful creature. It was oddly exciting, though the way the dragon still watched you sharply made it hard to relax entirely. You really hoped it wouldn’t decide to eat you or something after you tended to its injuries. That would just be rude.

Eventually, you found yourself standing in front of the dragon and gesturing to it to lower its head so you could clean the gash near its eye. With its face hovering around your shoulders, you were quite astounded by how large it was. Its head alone nearly dwarfed your upper body, your hand only a bit smaller than one of its eyes. Darkly, you wondered how easily it would be for the dragon to chomp down on you, bite you in half. But you brushed away the thought and continued to clean and coat the gash, ignoring the way the dragon’s slitted, crimson eye was right in front of your face. 

“That should do it.” You nodded your head with a sigh, stepping back from the dragon so it could raise its head up once more. “I had just enough paste to cover everything, I think. We’ll have to let that sit for a few hours until it dissolves.” 

You walked over to pick up one of the Zephyr stalks from off the ground. “Then I just gotta cover them with these and hope they fight off any infection.” You’d need to crush them into a paste as well, but for now, you were starting to feel a bit tired. Getting a fire going would be a good idea now that you were no longer close enough to the dragon to feel its body heat. 

You busied yourself with wrapping the remaining pieces of cloth from your jacket around the stalks and setting them back into your bag with the stones and your canteen for later use. The blood-soaked ones that you used to clean the dragon’s wounds you also set off to the side of the cave, close to the entrance. You’d have to try to clean them, but they pretty much looked unsalvageable with how stained they were, colored in deep burgundy. 

You didn’t really expect to find any dry materials in the cave to build a fire, but you managed to scrounge up a few crumbling, brown leaves. Unfortunately, however, they weren’t really enough to start and maintain a fire. And you then realized you didn’t have anything to make sparks either. Looked like it was going to be a cold night.

Maybe you could sidle up closer to the dragon? Leech off its body heat without it knowing? But a quick glance at it told you it would probably mind, its sharp gaze still trained on you. At least it wasn’t growling. You still didn’t want to risk getting your head bitten off, though, thank you very much.

“You should get some rest,” you told the dragon as you grabbed your bag and retreated into a corner of the cave. Not too close, yet not too far. You plopped onto the floor and curled into a ball, using your bag as a makeshift pillow. Like this, you were facing the dragon, watching it watch you as it settled on the floor. Its head was still raised, though. You wondered if it trusted you enough to sleep first. Probably not. “No use staying awake with this storm.” As though on a cue, thunder rumbled through the sky once more, an agreement to your statement. 

You spent a few moments just having an odd staring contest with the dragon, neither of you relenting to your obvious exhaustion. This was ridiculous. You eventually huffed and rolled over to face the cave wall, curling yourself into a tighter ball as though that could stave off the way your teeth chattered and your arms trembled. 

You woke up to a particularly loud clap of thunder. 

It exploded through the sky like an erupting star, making you shoot up from your balled-up position as though something had shocked you. Your teeth practically rattled in your skull, your gaze darting to the entrance of the cave where an abyss-like darkness greeted your eyes. You couldn’t tell how much time had passed. The darkness of the thunderclouds above, paired with the waterfall of rain, made it difficult to discern what part of the day it was. Probably somewhere close to night, you thought, shifting yourself so that you could clumsily stagger to your feet. 

You were ridiculously sore, your muscles aching as you stretched out and rubbed your arms with your hands. Sleeping on the hardass floor was a terrible decision—you could feel muscles that you didn’t even know existed until this moment. Climbing up a mountain probably didn’t help either. Your clothes were also still damp, and the way your nose felt clogged told you that sleeping while sopping wet probably wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t like you could do anything about it, though. 

You shuffled in place, hoping the movement could help you generate a bit of body heat. Glancing over to the dragon, you saw it was awake as well, gaze directed to the rain beating away at the ground outside. It almost looked… forlorn. You watched it for a moment, then decided it wouldn’t hurt to check on its injuries. 

The dragon turned to look at you once you’d walked a bit closer; that distant look faded away to be replaced by intimidation. A low growl made you stop a few feet away. You shifted in place, still rubbing your hands along your arms. “Well, good morning to you too. I need to check your wounds.” 

When all it did was huff out and rest its head on the ground, you grinned slightly and approached its side. The warmth its body offered was welcoming, and you relished in the way it washed over your body as you inspected the largest gash. By now the paste had dissolved, so you assumed quite a few hours had passed. You’d have to mash the Zephyr stalks now. You hovered your hand over the wound and compared the heat it exuded to the rest of the dragon’s body. It was still worryingly hot. Having a sick dragon on your hands while trapped in a cave was definitely not on your agenda. 

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know if increased body heat means you’re fighting off infection, would you?” you asked the dragon as you walked over to its head and bent your knees slightly to look down at it. “How do you feel? Sick? Can dragons get sick?”

It huffed out at you, letting out a sound that sounded like a deep click. You tilted your head slightly, then straightened up, a hum escaping your lips. “Hmmm. Well, if you feel like you’re dying, let me know. I just wish I had something that could actually treat that...” With that, you walked over to your bag to pull out the bundle of Zephyr stalks, stones, and canteen. You took a small drink of water before you started mushing the stalks together to make a greenish paste. 

It didn’t take too long, thankfully, since you had less material to work with. The rain in the background provided some nice ambience to smush the stems to, though, and you found yourself humming lightly. Your voice was drowned out by the occasional clap of thunder and roaring wind, but you didn’t mind.

“Okay”—you approached the dragon with your bundle of green paste—“let’s just get this on and hope it staves off anything nasty.” 

You took your time with applying the mush this time, wanting to warm up some more. You didn’t find the need to fill the air with your rambles, so you settled on continuing your humming from before. The dragon—as per usual—watched you as you worked, keeping an eye on the motions of your hands. You tried not to get too self-conscious, but well, it was hard with the dragon watching you so closely—especially as you were coating the slash on its face. If looks could kill, you’d have been dead a long time ago. 

Once you finished up, you wiped your hands and stashed everything back in your bag once more. You walked over to the bundle of blood-soaked cloth sitting at the cave’s entrance and tossed each one outside along with the paste-covered ones, where the rain could batter down on them and hopefully wash away most of the substances stuck to them. You watched, for a moment, as watered-down blood trickled from the pieces of cloth in the rain, slowly running down the slope leading away from the cave. Then, you turned around and made your way over to your bag near the cave’s walls. After thinking for a little bit, you picked it up and headed back over to the dragon, plopping both your bag and yourself down a few meters away from it. Like this, you could feel a bit of the dragon’s warmth—enough to stave away the chills of the cave. You wondered if its body heat was naturally this intense or if it was just a result of its injuries. Either way, it didn’t growl at you or anything, so you counted that as a win.

“Y’know,” you spoke up after a few moments of just staring outside at the rain, your legs stretched out before you and your arms holding you up behind you. “I’m the only healer around here for miles. Lotsa people have come to me asking for help with their illnesses or injuries.” You scratched the side of your face as a brief flash of lightning lit up the darkness of the outside world. “I don’t mind; it’s kind of a duty I’ve taken on. But man, the stories I could tell you…” 

You chanced another glance at the dragon; it was gazing at the drumming of the rain beyond the cave’s mouth. Though the way its ears flicked told you it was listening. You turned to look back out at the storm. “One time, this guy walked in—completely normal-looking, not a hair out of place—complaining about how his chest hurt. I do the usual rounds, checking him over and stuff, but I couldn’t find anything wrong. So I asked him some questions, and you know what he was suffering from?” You paused for dramatic effect, rolling your eyes as you recalled the memory. The dragon made a deep rumble, so you continued, “A broken heart. Like bud, I’m a healer, not a miracle worker.” You let out a sigh, a small smile tugging at your lips. 

The dragon huffed out in what you would like to assume was an amused manner and you laughed. “That’s what I was like! Long story short, that’s how I met one of my closest friends—the one who mistook Nadirs for Zeniths. He wouldn’t leave me alone after that.”

You didn’t know how long you sat there, just recounting various stories of your healing escapades, but it was nice. You liked to think it was nice for the dragon too, for it didn’t really growl or bare its teeth at you as you talked. It was mostly silent, letting out the occasional huff or rumble at certain things you would say. You liked to think the dragon was slowly warming up to you, but well, did it have any choice with the both of you being stuck in a cave together?

The storm wasn’t showing any signs of letting up. 

You found yourself standing at the cave’s entrance, arms crossed over your chest as you frowned out at the battering rain and dark cumulonimbus clouds that stagnated over the mountain. You still had no idea how much time had passed—you’d talked to the dragon and slept for a while, so you were assuming at least the night had gone by. Your clothes, while a bit cold, were thankfully dry from you likely staying close enough to the dragon for its warmth to somewhat dry you. 

You sighed and turned around to trudge back to the dragon, its head lifting from the floor to watch as you plopped down next to your bag once more. You were starting to feel hungry; the last time you ate was… a while ago. A piece of bread for breakfast before you’d gone to Yuuei to visit Denki. And who knew how long ago that had been.

You dug around in your bag and pulled out the little wrapped pastry you’d gotten from Denki. Holding it in your hand, however… you knew you couldn’t eat it. A small groan left your lips, your hand coming up to pinch the bridge of your nose in disappointment. 

It was rock hard. You shouldn’t have waited so long before eating it. Or, well, attempting to. 

You glanced at the dragon. “You want this? I can’t eat it, it’s gotten too hard for my soft human teeth.” You scooted a bit closer to it so you could place the pastry on the floor near its head, then scooted back next to your bag, turning your body so you could face the dragon with your legs crossed. 

The dragon eyed you for a moment then looked down at the solid pastry with an expression you couldn’t quite decipher. It glanced briefly back at you, then snorted out some smoke and turned its head away—but not before using one of the claws on its front foot to bat the pastry away. You raised an eyebrow at it, not that it could see. 

“What? You don’t want it?” you asked, looking down at the lonely pastry that had rolled a few feet in your direction. It looked fine, other than the fact that it was harder than the very ground you sat on. You reached out and batted the pastry back at the dragon hard enough that it rolled into its front foot. “Come on, you could probably eat it with those sharp teeth of yours. It’ll go to waste otherwise.” 

The dragon looked down and let out one of its rumbling growls before batting the pastry back at you. It rolled into your shin and you turned your head to squint your eyes at the dragon. 

“I see what’s happening here,” you said suddenly, pointedly looking down at the pastry. You reached out to bat it back towards the dragon, but it let out a growl that only got louder the closer your hand got to the pastry. You sighed and threw your hands up in defeat. “Okay! Fine. I’ll just put it away then.” 

You snatched up the pastry and shoved it back into your bag. You’d have to dispose of it later, if anything. The dragon huffed out some smoke as it watched you, then eventually rested its head back on its crossed legs in front of it as it stared out at the darkness of the storm. You observed it for a moment then sighed quietly and stuck your hand in your bag once more so you could rummage around in it and pull out your tiny journal. Might as well do some drawing. It wasn’t like you had anything else to do.

The pages of your journal were cool from being in your bag for so long. You thanked whatever deity above, yet again, that your bag was waterproof and prevented your hard work from getting soaked in all the rainwater. You shuffled some things around in it and eventually pulled out the little ink bottle and quill you’d also packed. Uncorking the bottle, you dipped the quill inside and flipped your journal open to a clean page. 

You paused. You… weren’t sure what to draw, really. 

But well—you briefly looked up at the dragon that was still watching the ongoing storm—you had a pretty obvious muse in front of you. 

It was relaxing just being able to sit and sketch. It was something familiar and it brought you a modicum of peace that you didn’t know you’d needed. At least, drawing allowed you to take your mind off of the pounding rain and occasional burst of thunder. Though, it did prevent you from hearing the almost cathartic scratches your quill made against the paper. You couldn’t see all too well either, but the dim lighting was better than nothing. 

Just as you were trying to figure out how to discern the shapes of the dragon’s wings from the shadows that encased them, it turned its head to look at you, ears twitching. You raised an eyebrow, noticing how the dragon huffed out some smoke and stared pointedly down at the journal in your lap. You thought you’d been pretty discreet with your sketching, but it seemed as though the dragon had noticed. 

“Hm?” You raised an eyebrow when it let out a low growl and glanced down at your journal. Maybe it was just curious? You looked back up at the dragon, its glowing crimson eyes still looking at your book. “Oh, you wanna see? Sorry, I was bored and started sketching. Here.” You capped your ink bottle and put both it and the quill back in your bag before scooting closer to the dragon. You ignored the way its muscles tensed as you sat yourself close—but not too close—to its front legs. You held up your book slightly so you could show it the drawing. “It’s pretty rough, but I tried. I can’t see all too well either.” 

The dragon lowered its head to look at the paper, hovering just above you. You tried not to shiver as its hot breath fanned out over your shoulder. Well, at least you’d be warmer. For now. “I can’t really see the shape of your wings, it’s too dark in here. Maybe if it gets lighter I can try again, I dunno.” You looked at the drawing. It wasn’t bad—at this point it was just a vague shape. You wanted to focus more on the markings that spanned the dragon’s body, but those would have to be saved for later.

You touched the ink on the page lightly to make sure it was dry, then flipped to the beginning of your journal so you could show the dragon the other things you had in it. You pointed to the different flora you’d drawn and explained the notes you’d written next to each. You were kind of surprised it was paying attention, but you supposed it was also pretty bored at this point. 

“Oh! These are the Zenith flowers I’d mentioned”—you pointed to the cerulean petals you’d drawn in your book—“Ahh, man, you wouldn’t happen to know about any plateaus with these on them, would you?” You turned your head to look up and over your shoulder at the dragon. It snorted out smoke into your face. “I’ll take that as a no.”

You spent some time flipping through your book, then eventually somehow ended up telling it more stories of things that’d happened to you in the distant past. You scooched away from the dragon a bit so you could properly lay down on the floor with your arms crossed behind your head. If you stared up at the ceiling of the cave long enough, you could almost pretend you were looking up at the night sky, the glistening sheen of the rocks above reminding you faintly of glowing stars.

“You know, I’ve met my fair share of mythicals here and there. There was a time when I accidentally stumbled across a few fairies in the forest at the base of this mountain.” You turned your head to look at the dragon’s head that hovered in the air to your right. Crimson eyes slitted once you made eye contact with them. You continued on, “I uh, I didn’t really know that the fae were pretty… pretty mischievous,” you grimaced, “At that point I was a bit lost, so I was trying to get directions back into the village and they just—they just had me walking around in circles for hours. Hours!” 

The dragon snorted at you and you squinted up at it. “Hey, it wasn’t my fault. And for your information, I eventually did find my way back. I just had to give them some of the leftovers I had in my bag and they told me the right way to go.” The dragon only made a low rumble in its chest. You rolled your eyes and yawned, making yourself more comfortable on the ground. You were starting to get a bit tired. “Yeah, whatever. At least they were fairies and not fuckin’, basilisks or some shit.” 

You didn’t know how long you lay there, recounting tales, but you eventually turned your head back to look at the dragon only to see it had rested its head on the floor, asleep. You watched it for a moment—the steady rise and fall of its torso as it slept, the glimmer of its scales every time lightning struck, the markings that curved along its neck—then turned your head to look at the ceiling once more. 

Man, you thought as you closed your eyes as well, what the fuck am I even doing?

The dragon had been asleep for… a very long time. 

Of course, you couldn’t really keep track of just how much time had passed, but you were a bit… worried. 

You’d woken up and spent a while just drawing or thinking. There was nothing to do in the cave and it was starting to wear you down mentally. You were growing antsy, and the way your stomach grumbled from time to time just made you grimace. You knew the human body could survive quite a while without food, so you weren’t too concerned unless the storm decided to linger for a few weeks—which you doubted would happen. It just wasn’t typical for this region. And you had water left in your canteen, and though you didn’t necessarily like it, you also had the storm’s rainwater at hand to keep your thirst at bay, so you weren’t worried about dying from dehydration either. 

You just wondered how much longer you’d be stuck in the cave for. Sleeping was all you could do to help save energy and prevent yourself from ruminating too much on the hunger gnawing at your stomach. You’d already grabbed the relatively clean pieces of cloth from outside the cave too, wringing them out and folding them neatly to stack in a dry corner on the ground, so it wasn’t like you had anything else to do. The boredom was difficult, and the fact that the dragon was still asleep unfortunately meant that you couldn’t entertain yourself with it. 

So you slept, and you drew, and you thought, and you paced, and you slept some more. It seemed like a never-ending cycle, broken only by the few occasions where you would walk up to the cave entrance to stare out at the dark storm. Until you suddenly realized that the dragon had not been awake at all in the times that you were also awake. Which made you wonder if it had been asleep the entire time. 

You looked over at it slumbering away with its wings tucked over its long body. There was a slight snarl on its face that you hadn’t noticed before, fangs bared in its sleep. It made you pause and stand up to walk over to its head that rested on the cool floor. You crouched down and reached out a hand to gently touch the furrowed part of its face above its eyes. It felt warm, too warm, its scales gliding smoothly under your palm. You narrowed your eyes and hovered your hand over the wound near its eye. 

It was hot. 

Much hotter than before. 

You cursed at the fact that the dim lighting of the cave didn’t allow you to properly see. The mush of the Zephyr stalks was still there, which wasn’t surprising as it wasn’t something that easily dissolved into the skin. But as you repositioned yourself and peered closer at the wound, you saw that the area around it looked… inflamed. Swollen. It was hard to tell with all the golden scales in the way. Shit. Were the salves ineffective for dragons? Did they only temporarily work? You didn’t know.

You jumped to your feet and ran over to the pile of damp cloth you’d set on the floor what seemed like ages ago. You grabbed a few, then thought it would probably be best to just take it all, so you gathered everything in your arms and rushed back over to the dragon. You plopped it all on the floor near its head, then used one of the pieces of cloth to gently wipe away the Zephyr mush from the dragon’s head wound. The moment it was gone, dark blood started dribbling down, running over your fingers. You cursed as a barely healed injury was revealed. It looked bright red if you squinted at it and inflamed as all hell. You leaned your head closer to it, sniffed, and almost immediately recoiled at the odor it was giving off. The fucking Zephyr stalks hadn’t worked. That, or the infection was just too strong.

“Fuck,” you forced out and scrabbled to press a clean piece of cloth to the dragon’s face to stop it from bleeding. The wounds had looked fine before you’d applied the Zephyr paste! What happened? “Fuck.” You bit your lower lip and piled on more cloth to press to the gash before you let go and reached out a hand to the dragon’s closed eye. 

Gently, you pulled at its eyelid until you got it halfway over its eye. You could only see the whites of its sclera. You blew a little on it to see if it would induce a reaction, but it didn’t. You cursed again and let go. This was exactly what you’d been hoping to avoid. You weren’t an expert on dragons—you didn’t know if you should’ve done something differently to prevent this from happening or not. You didn’t know what you could do now to stop the infection—you didn’t have anything on you to deal with it. You’d already used the plants you’d gathered that you believed would’ve helped. Damnit. 

You rubbed at your face roughly with your hands. It was likely that all of the dragon’s wounds were infected if its searing body temperature was any indication. You didn’t know what to do. You didn’t… You… You swallowed thickly and looked down at your hands, flexing your fingers. 

There was… something you could do. 

You hadn’t wanted to do it before—it used up a lot of your energy even though it was so goddamn weak—but it seemed… It seemed like you had no choice now. If you didn’t do anything, the infection would only grow worse. 

You made sure the wound on the dragon’s face was properly covered before you grabbed the bundle of cloth, stood up, and jogged over to its side that had the worst gash of them all—the one that ran from its shoulder to its mid-back. You worked quickly to wipe away the Zephyr mush, grimacing at the sight of the inflammation and the smell it was omitting, then did your best to staunch the bleeding.  

Inhaling deeply, you raised your hands up to the wound, hovering your palms over it. You felt like you were warming your hands next to an open fire, the heat rolling in waves over your palms and your face. You concentrated for a moment before eventually your palms started to glow a warm honey color. It was faint, and flickered out from time to time, but if you focused, you could get it to remain consistent. 

So you stood there, with your glowing palms against the dragon’s wound, and waited. And waited. And waited. Time seemed to pass by so slowly, yet so quickly, as you put everything into tending to the gash. You stood there for hours wondering if you were making any difference at all. You were starting to feel the effects of using your magic for so long, an exhaustion settling into your very bones. It pulled at your limbs, weighed heavily on your shoulders. You blinked slowly, wanting nothing more but to sit down and sleep. But you couldn’t. You couldn’t. 

You didn’t know how long you concentrated on that wound for, but eventually you forced yourself to stop to observe the progress you’d made. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully, and it seemed like some of the swelling had gone down. It was nowhere close to being healed completely, but you had to move on to the other injuries. You rubbed at your eyes as you rounded the dragon to tend to the gash on its other side, by its hind leg. You were quick in wiping off the mush and hovering your palms over it to let the light seep inside. 

And thus, the process was restarted. You stood there until your legs started to shake and your arms trembled with the effort to keep them up. Your vision was starting to blur out. You had to blink quite a few times to try to clear it up, but it was still fading in and out. You were almost at your limit. Just a bit more—

Your knees buckled. You fell backwards, eyes fluttering shut as you barely had enough time to twist yourself to the side to prevent yourself from hitting your head. Even so, you’d already crumpled into a heap, blacked out before you’d even fully landed on the ground.

When you woke up again, it took you a few moments to reorient yourself. 

You slowly sat up, rubbing at your shoulder as you blinked away the dark spots and looked around. You still felt tired, but at least you weren’t on the verge of passing out again. You shuffled to your feet and walked over to peer at the dragon’s face. It was still sleeping. You sighed. You had a lot of work to do. 

You cycled back and forth between sleeping and tending to the dragon’s injuries for what felt like days. The lack of food was hard, and there was only so much energy you could replenish by sleeping, but you did your best. You managed to stop the infection at the hind leg before you moved on to the dragon’s wings. Those were a bit harder to reach since they were gingerly tucked above its body. You had to climb a bit onto the dragon to reach some parts and hoped that it wouldn’t move or wake up anytime soon. You didn’t particularly feel like getting abruptly tossed to the floor. 

Once you finished on the wings—which forced you to sleep quite a few times in between—you went back to the deep gash on its side to work on that some more. You started to feel like you had a perpetual burn to your eyes, no matter how much sleep you got. Your stomach hurt from time to time, but you learned to ignore it. There were a few instances where you wondered if stepping out into the rain would help you stay awake, but you figured it wouldn’t be worth the soggy clothes. 

As you moved down the gash, nearing the dragon’s mid-back, you felt it shift beneath your hands. You froze and watched as the muscles along its back tensed and rolled. Your head snapped to the side, eyes moving to watch as the dragon raised its head slowly up from the ground. It was awake. Finally. 

“Oh good,” you rasped out, then cringed at how dead your voice sounded. You cleared your throat as the dragon swiveled its head around so it could look at you standing by its back. “You’re—”

Before you could even process what was happening, the dragon let out a loud snarl. You jumped as it snapped its jaw dangerously close to you and twisted its body away in a motion that made you cringe due to its tender wounds. You found yourself stumbling forward a bit, eyes wide as you darted them up to look at the dragon in confusion and surprise. It was glaring at your hands, teeth bared at you threateningly as the golden spikes on its back bristled in anger. A low rumble erupted from its chest, mixing with the sounds of rain and thunder from outside. 

“Whoa! Easy!” You raised your hands up in the sign for surrender and immediately let the light die out from your palms. “I’m not gonna hurt you I promise!” 

When all it did was continue to glare and growl, you tentatively activated your magic again, letting the warm, honey glow light up the space between you. It snarled, but otherwise just watched you. “Look, see?” You waved your hands around and passed it over your arms and stomach. “It’s not hurting me.” You didn’t dare mention the fact that your magic had no effect on you. “It’s healing magic—very weak healing magic. You ah”—you swallowed thickly—“you were out cold for a while. Your wounds were infected. I had to um, use it to help you.” 

The dragon let out a low rumble, eyes still narrowed at your hands. You let the light die out once more and tried not to let the exasperation bleed through your voice. “Come on, I’ve been taking care of your wounds all this time. Do you really think I’d harm you after that?” 

Maybe it was your words, maybe it was the look on your face—the tone of your voice. But eventually, it stopped its growling and exhaled a plume of smoke. You waved the cloud away with a hand and had to suppress a sigh of relief when the dragon made a deep clicking sound and shifted to resume its previous position near you. “Thank you. Now stay still, I’m trying to stop the infection in this wound.”  

Once it settled down, you took in a deep breath and stepped closer, concentrating to get your magic up and running again. You hovered your glowing hands above the wound and focused. As you did, you were acutely aware of the dragon watching you, but eventually it seemed to get tired and turned its head back around so it could rest on the ground. You didn’t blame it—if your body was fighting infections this bad you’d probably get exhausted too. 

You started to feel the deep, deep weariness settle in your bones again from using your magic so extensively. You did your best to keep yourself going—you didn’t have much more to work on, after all. You could probably finish this large wound and then tackle the one on its head a bit before you collapsed. 

And that you did. You finished up at the dragon’s mid-back, then shuffled around it to its head that was still laying on the ground. It opened its eyes when you got near and started to rise, but you flapped a hand at it. “No, no, it’s fine, keep your head on the floor. It’ll make my life easier.” It did as told with a little huff and you smiled faintly as you sat yourself on the ground to its right and reached your hands out to the wound near its right eye.

Being so close to its face was a bit unnerving, seeing that the dragon did nothing but stare directly at you the entire time. You focused your attention mostly on the wound, but you couldn’t help the goosebumps. It felt like the dragon was trying to bore right through you with its stare, not relenting in any least bit. It made you feel a bit self-conscious—you knew you looked like shit from being in the cave for so long and for using your magic practically nonstop. 

You were just so tired. You exhaled and moved your gaze away from the wound so you could look into the dragon’s right eye—the only one you could see from your position. “Are we cool?” The way it had reacted before was still making you feel a bit uneasy. You thought you’d been doing pretty well with getting on good terms with the dragon, but now you weren’t sure anymore. It blinked slowly at you and you continued, “Like, you know I’m here to help you, right? You clearly can’t do it yourself.” It made an aggravated sound that had you rolling your eyes. “Yeah, frustrating, I know, but I’d still appreciate it if, y’know, you didn’t bite my head off for trying to heal you.” 

The dragon was quiet for a short moment. Then it snorted out some more smoke and made a rumbling sound at your words. You smiled weakly at it and focused back on healing its wound. You’d take that as a yes. 

You were laying on the floor, taking a break between healing sessions, when a sudden thought occurred to you that made you slowly sit up. 

“Got a name or do I have to keep calling you ‘the dragon’ in my head?”

The dragon turned its head to look at you, a huff of that caramel-scented smoke leaving its nose that fanned over your head. You looked at it as well, an inquisitive hum caught in your throat. “Well, yeah I guess you can’t really tell me, huh?” Another huff. You waved your hand in the air to dissipate the grey smoke, then used the same hand to rub your chin thoughtfully. You snapped your fingers together. “What if I just give you a nickname? Whaddya think?” 

This time it snorted and you grinned as it turned its head to watch the slowly lightening storm outside, the sky turning from an inky black color to a more grey one—a relief, considering the fact that it meant you’d be out of here soon. You couldn’t wait to be back at your little cottage. You really needed something to eat and a good night’s rest in a bed that wasn’t rock hard.

You hummed as you thought up a few names on the spot. “Okay… how about… Goldie?” It let out a huff and looked at you with an almost offended expression on its face. You grinned at it again. “Not a fan? Aurem, maybe? No? Hmm…” You trailed off thoughtfully as you tapped your index finger against your chin. “Saphira? Eragon? Ah, you’re so picky!” The dragon kept huffing out smoke at your face, its teeth bared at you in displeasure. “I’m doing my best here! Okay uh…” You had to suppress a smirk as you said, “Widdol dwagon baby?”

You made a sound between a yelp and a laugh as the dragon snapped its jaw close to your head, making you slide to the side slightly so you could avoid its sharp teeth. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I think I might off myself if I had to call you that all day.” It let out a snort and retreated, which allowed you to resume your previous position. “Let’s see… Hmm…” This was really difficult, actually. It didn’t help that the dragon was so goddamn hard to please. “Smokey? What, you’re always huffing smoke at me, don’t blame me for offering it!” You rolled your eyes when the dragon made a deep clicking sound. “Uhh… Lord Explosion Murder? Bitch that was a joke, I am not calling you that!” 

The dragon had cocked its head thoughtfully when you’d said the prior name, but at your admission it huffed again. You threw up your hands in defeat then plopped yourself back down to lay on the cool cave floor. “Well I’m all out of ideas.”

You stared up at the ceiling of the cave as the dragon puffed out smoke that rolled over your body like a wave. There was a moment where all you could hear was the steady pounding of rain from outside and the faint rumbles of thunder. Then, there was a tapping sound—like something sharp clicking against something rough and hard. You blinked when the tapping shifted into a terrible grating noise. You raised your head and curiously watched as the dragon used a claw on its front foot to scratch at the cave floor. Hmm.

You sat up and scooted closer to the dragon so you could peek at what it was doing. It was still pretty dark in the cave, but the lightening clouds at least allowed you to see better than you had when the storm first started. You tilted your head and squinted at the ground as it finished scratching at it and waited for you to read what it wrote. 

“Oh!” You blinked and turned your head to look up at the dragon’s face. “Bakugo? That’s your name?” Who knew dragons could read and write…

Bakugo made a deep sound and snorted a puff of smoke directly into your face as though to say well, duh. You waved it away and gave him a grin along with your name. “Nice to officially meet you.

in another universe, he's not a dragon but a....

part two

my kitty cat was wandering around going ‘mrrph?” so i was like “in here!” he goes “mrrph!” shoves open my bedroom door with his big round head and FLOPS on me. as in hard enough that he made a little “oof” noise when he did it. followed by a category five purring event. there’s good in this world mr frodo etc

I love this, I love your writing style, and I adore this story

✩°｡⋆𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐩𝐭. 𝟑

꒰𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲꒱: in which you unintentionally travel inter-dimensionally to a universe where the avengers exist. will you make it back home? or will the allure of this new universe with all its differences entice you to stay?

꒰𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬꒱: reader x polyamorous!pack!avengers, omega!reader x alpha!avengers, reader x steve rogers, reader x bucky barnes, reader x peter parker, reader x tony stark, reader x natasha romanoff, reader x thor odinson | platonic relationships with clint barton, bruce banner, loki laufeyson, carol danvers, wanda & pietro maximoff

꒰𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬꒱: mentions of past child abuse (hitting/spanking), abusive father flashbacks (brief), steve spanking reader, reader triggered/dropping into subspace, panic attacks, drinking/alcohol, sexism/misogyny, sexual dancing (grinding), clubbing

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒: tags

thots | ideas | asks | feedback

[feel free to send in any asks or requests for drabbles/one shots/hcs! 🤍]

author’s note: round 2, let’s go! hopefully tumblr doesn’t stuff up this one😅 if you’re curious to see the girls clubbing outfits, check out the pinterest moodboard linked below!🫶🏼 enjoy 😚😚 don’t forget to reblog!! Xx

˚⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆. ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 | 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐤𝐨𝐟𝐢

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: 𝐢 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 @st3rgirlibrary 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 ♡

˚⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆. ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

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☆彡

[NOTE: I do not give permission for my work to be posted, translated or published to any third party site or app. If anyone sees my work anywhere but here, it has been reposted without my permission. Please let me know!] ๑˖࿐ʚiɞ

“Quick! Get him to his room — F.R.I.D.A.Y. will lock it under rut protocols!” Tony’s voice yelled through the madness.

Steve was unconscious on the floor, and Bucky was a raging menace trying to get to his best friend through the wall that was Thor.

“I’m a bit preoccupied!” Thor bellowed out, growling as Bucky was punching and twisting in his weakening hold.

“Peter!” Tony called out for help, slowly dragging Steve towards the elevator, “He won’t be out for long! His super soldier serum is already working against us.”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter panicked, making Tony look up from his hold on Steve’s ankles.

“Shit,” he cursed, seeing Bruce’s shaking form in the corner, “Don’t go green, don’t go green!” He dropped Steve’s legs, running towards his mate.

“Wanda, help!” Pietro screamed at his sister as he sped towards Steve, trying his best to drag him to the elevator. Wanda was shaking in the corner, wishing she had gone with Nat to find you.

She hurried over, willing herself to use her magic. Her shaking hands started glowing red, and a gentle cloud of ruby drifted out of them and towards Steve’s body. She jumped as she saw Steve’s eye twitch, before they flew open and he let out a massive roar. Her powers faded and she looked up in a panic, seeing Tony dragging the green-looking Bruce away from the scene. Peter and Thor were now battling a feral Bucky, doing their best to stop him from going over and helping Steve on his quest to find you and claim you.

Wanda let out a shriek as Steve grabbed Pietro by the throat, throwing him across the room. His head hit the wall and he collapsed, unconscious, to the floor. Peter’s head twisted at her scream, his eyes bulging when he saw his mate on the floor, head bleeding. His eyes flew back when he saw Wanda meet a similar fate, now unconscious by the couch.

He immediately let go of Bucky, letting out a roar of anger as he dove toward the Head Alpha. He should’ve known he was no match for him though, as Steve merely picked him up by the neck, squeezing his pressure points. And just like that, Steve had rendered Peter unconscious too, with merely a hand.

Now that Thor was by himself with Bucky, he was struggling again. He tried to remember how to detach his metal arm, but couldn't. He thought about electrocuting him, but he couldn’t bear to do that to his soulmate.

Steve saw the scene, and roared in anger.

“Don’t touch him!” He made it over to their violent tussle with two big strides, punching Thor in the back. The big fella barely grunted, and hit Bucky in the temple. He fell to the floor, joining the others in their unconsciousness.

Steve saw red.

“HOW DARE YOU HURT OUR MATE?” He roared, diving on Thor.

“LOOK AROUND — LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” Thor bellowed back, his teeth baring as he prepared to battle the Head Alpha. Steve spared a glance around, noticing all the bodies of his loved ones around him. His eyes softened, before narrowing again. He couldn’t see you.

“Where is she?” He quietly seethed.

Thor grunted as Steve kept blocking his punches.

“WHERE IS SHE?” Steve roared again, shaking in anger as his Alpha had fully taken over, intent on finding you. He had had enough of Thor’s unwillingness to help, and delivered a sickening blow to his head, knocking him out.

He looked around, his eyes flashing as he couldn’t see Tony or Bruce.

He stalked off down the corridor towards the pack bedroom, his fists clenched in anger. He slammed the door open, seeing Tony desperately trying to calm a hyperventilating Bruce. Normally, Steve would’ve dropped everything to help the Beta, but his Alpha hindbrain had taken over. All he cared about was his Omega. You.

“Tony, I’m only going to ask once. Where is she?” His whisper was deadly. He doesn’t miss the way Tony’s eyes flicker up to the roof.

Of course.

Natasha was missing. You were missing. It didn’t take a genius to realise where you were hiding.

Steve was out of the room in a flash, making Tony panic as he glanced between Bruce and the open doorway. But Omegas always came first.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, leaving Bruce on the bed as he ran after Steve.

Steve didn't bother waiting for the elevator and instead strode up the stairs, making it to Natasha’s level in less than a minute. You and the scent of your slick was the only thing on his mind.

Find Omega.

Claim Omega.

And he would destroy anyone who got in his way.

Your eyes flew open as a loud bang reverberated throughout the room. You sat up, confused and disorientated.

Your heart dropped when the familiar scent of vanilla, patchouli, cedar, and lemon infiltrated your nostrils. Natasha must have smelt it too, because she sat up with a start next to you in the bed.

“Quick – go in the bathroom and lock the door,” she whispered, pushing you out of the bed and forcing you into the ensuite. She knew a measly door wasn't going to do much to stop Steve in his rut, but it was another barrier that gave you more time.

You locked the white door behind you, backing away into the shower. You glanced around the bathroom, seeing if there was anywhere you could hide.

There wasn’t.

You clutched your hands over your mouth, quieting your erratic breaths and muffling your whimpers of fear. You could hear Nat trying to ration with Steve, but his Alpha had long since taken over. You screamed into your fist as you heard a deafening crash, followed by a sickening silence.

The only sound was your heavy breathing and your heart violently pumping in your ears. Your hand was covered in saliva and bite marks from being shoved into your mouth. You strained your ears for any hint as to what was going on in Nat’s bedroom, but there was nothing.

You screamed as the silence was broken by the bathroom door being pushed open so violently that it fell off its hinges. Steve’s huge frame filled up the space, his figure ominously puffing from knocking out all of his mates. You could make out his nostrils flaring as he scented you, letting out a low hum.

“It’s okay, Omega. Your Alpha is here now. You're safe.”

He had mistaken the putrid scent of your fear for someone other than him, and strode towards you in the oversized ensuite. Your eyes flashed to an unconscious Natasha on the floor as you let out a cry of fear. Tears dripped down your cheeks as you backed away from him. Something cold hit your back as you came into contact with the tilted wall – you had nowhere to go.

“STEVE! STOP!” Tony had burst into the room, and dived to pull him back from you. Steve just lifted his fist, punching Tony’s face and knocking him out cold. Your eyes widened in fright as salty tears dropped.

“Please don’t hurt me,” you pleaded, holding your hands up in front of you in a pathetic attempt at protection.

“Never run away from me in heat again,” he growled out, turning you around and forcing you to bend over the sink. You screamed out for help as you tried to wiggle out of his strong embrace, but it was no use. He was a super soldier and Head Alpha. No human was stronger than him.

You let out a loud wail when Steve’s big hand made contact with your bottom, leaving it stinging and burning. He continued to spank you, growling about punishments and obeying. You closed your eyes, choking on your sobs and wails. You tried to scramble away, but he easily held you down against the cold sink, and your mind flashed to your past.

You were running through the corridors of your childhood home, the heavy footsteps of your father chasing you fueling your panic. You made it to your room, slamming the door shut. You screamed as he easily banged it open, hands raised as he came towards you. You screamed and flinched away as his heavy palms swatted down on your skin, leaving behind red handprints.

Your eyes rolled back into your head as you felt yourself drop into that familiar space of nothingness, with no scents to comfort you. You tried your best to move, to scream, but your body was rendered useless as you were forced to watch the memories of your abusive childhood flash through your head on repeat.

Steve hadn’t realised you had dropped, too busy unbuckling his belt as his rut hit its peak. He didn’t have time to react when he was suddenly flung back.

“Bad Alpha!” The Hulk grunted out, repeatedly slamming Steve into the floor like a ragdoll until he stopped responding.

The Hulk dropped Steve onto the floor next to Nat and tried to walk into the bathroom, but stopped when he realised he couldn't fit through the door frame.

“Omega okay?”

He observed your slumped-over body in confusion, realising something was wrong. He ducked his head as he forced his wide shoulders through the doorway and to your body.

“Omega?” He tried again, turning over your body to see your eyes rolled back. He easily lifted you up in his arms, recognising his Omega had dropped into subspace.

“Omega okay, Alpha here now. Hulk take care of you,” he sat down with you in his arms, trying to get you to scent him. His green face crumpled up in confusion when he saw your face still scrunching up in pain and fear. He stood up with you in his arms, walking out of the bathroom, past Nat and Steve on the floor, and out of Nat’s apartment. He took you back to the pack floor – maybe if his scent wasn’t enough to calm you in subspace, a mixture of everyone else’s would. He stomped onto the pack floor, seeing Thor groaning as he began to wake up. He quickly sat up when he remembered what had happened, and saw Hulk trying his best to comfort you. He forced his aching body up and rushed over to you. They both turned their heads to the elevator that dinged open, revealing a panicking Tony. His eyes zeroed in on your limp body in the Hulk’s hands, and he rushed over. Tony was second in command in the pack, meaning if anyone could calm you down after Steve, it was him.

“Oh my God, is she okay? What happened?!” He rushed out, kneeling beside the Hulk and Thor to grasp your hand.

“Tony! Calm down, she needs you right now – she needs your pheromones. Do your job and be the Alpha she needs. I'll take care of Steve.” Thor spoke as the voice of reason, stopping Tony’s panicked rambling. And with that, he quickly stood up and made his way to Nat’s level, where he gently set her down on her bed. He picked Steve up and brought him to his shared level with Bucky, and locked him in his room under ‘Rut Protocols’, meaning F.R.I.D.A.Y. wouldn't let him out until his cycle had passed.

The Hulk had gently passed your body over to Tony who cradled you in his muscular arms, directing your face to his neck.

“Shh, you're okay,” he spoke your name, focusing on emulating calming pheromones. He watched as your face slowly relaxed, and your fearful scent was replaced by your wonderful combination of black currant, plum, sandalwood, and peonies. He stroked your hair, gently rocking from side to side as he continued to speak soothing words of affirmation into your ear. He saw that the Hulk had closed his eyes, and he guessed that his words were also soothing to him, bringing Bruce back.

Tony sat there, continuing to soothe you until all the worry had left your gentle skin. He picked you up and brought you to the pack bedroom, the Hulk following as he stumbled along, Bruce fighting to get back out. He laid you down in the massive bed, cuddling up next to you as he continued to rub your back, pressing gentle kisses to your face.

“You’re okay now, I’ve got you.”

Three days had passed since the incident. You had awoken on what felt like a cloud, tucked in with the most delectable scents surrounding you. Tony hadn’t left your side once, making sure you knew he would keep you safe. He informed you on what had happened after you dropped; how the Hulk had knocked Steve out, allowing Thor to drag him to his room and lock him away in there under ‘Rut Protocols’. F.R.I.D.A.Y. wouldn’t let him out until it was over. The rest of them had spent a day in the medical bay, recovering from their injuries — Pietro having faced the worst of it. But more importantly, Tony and Natasha had sat you down to talk about ruts. And heats.

“It was your… scent that caused him to start his rut. F.R.I.D.A.Y. tracks them all so there are never any surprises, but throw an Omega into the mix — more specifically, our Omega, and things are bound to go awry,” Tony awkwardly chuckled.

Nat cleared her throat, “When an Alpha goes into their rut, they revert to their most primal nature, their most basic, animal instinct. To mate. It’s the same for Omegas when they go into their heat.”

“Kind of like our periods?” You asked her, to which she nodded.

“A lot more painful, though. It can only be soothed by… You know…” She awkwardly waved her hands around.

“By having sex.” Tony bluntly put, making your face grow red.

“Oh.”

Your eyes glazed over as you faintly remembered the distant sound of a belt unbuckling.

“Why was Steve… Hitting me, though?” You whispered, your body involuntarily shivering.

Nat’s lips dropped into a frown.

“That’s our fault, we should’ve discussed this sooner, we were planning to before everything happened, but… It’s considered standard discipline in our universe for disobeying Omegas,” she spoke, Tony overtaking, “Alphas set out a series of rules for their Omegas to follow, like not leaving the residence without an Alpha by their side, or going to bed at a certain hour. We’ll sit you down once Steve comes out of his rut — which should be any day now — and go over your rules, and we can discuss punishments we’re all comfortable with.”

Your nose scrunched at that.

“Why would you have rules? There’s no need for punishments if I agree with all the rules — I wouldn’t break them. I’m not a child,” you huffed, crossing your arms. This all sounded so stupid.

Tony and Natasha glanced at each other.

“The main point of the rules is usually to lay out a schedule for domming and subbing sessions. We all need to dominate you at least once a month to safely release our pheromones, just like you need to drop to release your submissive pheromones.”

“…Dominate me?” Your eyes bulged as you looked at Tony. Natasha quickly chimed in, “Not sex — not unless you want to. Domming sessions can be a variety of things, like letting us do your hair, or picking out an outfit for you to wear. I promise, любимая, we will never do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

You gulped as you took it all in, slowly nodding. It didn’t sound so bad.

“And how do you safely drop? Everyone keeps saying it’s dangerous every time I have dropped,” you questioned.

“Omegas are never supposed to drop by themselves, and it should never be out of fear. Your Alphas will guide you down lovingly, safely. Lots of Alphas use the contact point of the bottom—“

You immediately gulped, making Tony slightly raise his voice.

“—But! We know you don’t like that, and Bruce has been testing a new dropping technique via meditation guided by one of us.”

You blinked, slowly nodding again.

“Okay,” you whispered. Your heart fluttered as the two Alphas in front of you grinned.

You missed the flicker of worry in Tony’s eyes, he would have to talk to Steve and Bucky about the no smacking. They were always more traditional. He could only hope they would listen to him.

You cleared your throat as you prepared your last question.

“Wanda told me that only Alphas and Omegas that are soulmates can scent each other. That day in the lab, I could smell the faint aroma of chamomile, incense, and freshly mown grass…”

They glanced at each other, already knowing where you were going with this.

“I smelt it again when I was in subspace. When the Hulk helped me.”

A beat.

“He’s an Alpha, isn’t he? And he’s my soulmate — our soulmate — that’s why I can smell him.”

They both nodded.

“And you said… that we all have to mate?” You gulped, your breathing picking up.

“It sounds scary любимая, but you don’t actually have to do it with the Hulk. Bruce is enough, they share the same DNA.” She leaned forward to grab your hand. You let out a shaky breath, “Okay.”

“Mr. Stark,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice came from the ceiling, “Mr. Rogers has finished his rut. Permission to let him out of his room?”

Your breathing picked up again, and Natasha took you under her embrace.

“It’s okay, honey,” Tony spoke, “F.R.I.D.A.Y can’t be wrong, she’s measured his hormone levels.” He then turned to the ceiling, letting her know it was okay to end Steve’s rut protocol.

You turned around at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Behind you, on the couch you were sitting on, stood Bucky. A small, sheepish smile flickered on his face as he awkwardly stood there.

“Mind if we talk?” His blue gaze centred on you, making you gulp. Natasha squeezed your hand.

“Can Nat stay?” You whispered, and he glanced at her, before looking back at you with a nod.

“Ouch,” Tony clutched his heart in mock offense.

“Sick of me already?” He stood up, leaning down to kiss your forehead as you giggled.

“It’s okay, I’ll go check on Steve and the others,” and with that, he left the pack living room.

Bucky walked over to the couches, sitting across from you and Nat. You appreciated the distance.

“I owe you an apology,” he softly spoke.

“Steve and I met and mated over eighty years ago, so our bond is incredibly strong. We tend to sync up a lot, which is why when he got sent into his rut and his Alpha took over, mine did too. The only thought on my mind was to help him, and protect him. I’m sorry I didn’t help you. Protect you. I can’t imagine how frightful that must’ve been for you. And I’m sorry.” He leaned forward, his blue eyes shining with apology and guilt.

“If it’s okay with you, I'd like to start over again. On a better foot,” he stood up, coming over with his flesh hand held out, “My name is James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky.” His smile was infectious, and you couldn’t help but smile back as you returned his handshake, also introducing yourself.

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you,” your name fell from his lips like honey, making your heart flutter.

“I owe you an apology too.”

All three of your heads swiveled to the elevator, seeing Steve stepping out with a face of embarrassment and regret.

He spoke your name, “I am so, so sorry. It’s no excuse, but I was so imbalanced from the mission we’d just returned from, and having your scent lingering around the tower, but not being able to see you, was killing me. Killing my inner Alpha. I was due to start my rut soon, as well, so the mission leaving me on edge really didn’t help. And then to hear that you had arrived, our beautiful Omega, while I was gone? It destroyed me. I wanted to meet you in person, rather than hear about you from everyone else. So when I saw you, and then smelt you… I just snapped. I’m so sorry.” He spoke sincerely, his gentle blue eyes watering. He had walked closer to the three of you on the couch, but kept his distance as he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.

“Thank you, both of you,” you glanced at Bucky before your eyes returned back to Steve, “for your apologies. I really appreciate them.” You smiled, before blushing sheepishly, “And I’m sorry, too. I didn’t realise that would happen… In that amount,” you referred to your slick, “It’s just… Well, you’re really hot,” you squeaked, your eyes dropping from Steve’s face to your lap.

His pale cheeks turned pink at your admission, and he shyly rubbed the back of his neck, still the shy 5’4 boy from Brooklyn. Bucky chuckled, standing up to slap Steve on the shoulder, “Never could take compliments, could you?”

“Shut up, Buck,” he whined, half-heartedly pushing him away. The four of you chuckled, and you found yourself entirely comfortable for the first time.

‘See? This isn't so scary,’ your inner Omega told you, making you internally roll your eyes.

“Well, I love a lot more apologies I need to give out,” Steve awkwardly smiled, making Bucky nod in agreement, “Me too.”

They both bid you goodbye, promising to see you soon. And with that, they were off to apologise to the rest of their pack for their actions.

“So, how do you feel?” Nat held both her hands in yours, gently smiling at you.

“Overwhelmed, but weirdly okay with it all,” you slowly nodded, trying to gather your thoughts.

“You know what I need?” You glanced up into her green eyes. She rose one delicate eyebrow, signaling for you to continue.

“I need a night out. A girl's night out.”

She smirked.

“That can be arranged.”

You, Nat, and Wanda were dancing around her massive ensuite in your intimates, getting ready for your night out. Nat’s bathroom was still being fixed, so you had been staying with Wanda in the meantime, still not ready to sleep in the pack bedroom.

“I love this song!” Wanda yelled out as Nobody’s Business by Rhianna started playing. You giggled as Nat clutched your chin, applying makeup to your face. A blue whir sped into the bathroom, making you all jump as Pietro appeared. Luckily, Nat hadn’t been applying anything to your face, otherwise it would've ended up a mess.

“PIETRO! GET OUT!” Wanda screeched, clamoring for a towel to cover her bra and undies.

“Someone’s here to see you,” he spoke, avoiding looking at Wanda at all costs.

“Who?” Nat asked in curiosity.

“Your favourite alien,” a blonde woman winked, walking into the room.

“Carol!” Wanda squealed, dropping her towel as she ran to hug her. Pietro took that as his cue to go, and sped off to find Peter and tell him what he saw. You looked delicious in your lace white bra and panty set.

“Hi Wands, how have you been?” She tapped her finger under the younger woman’s chin, making the brunette preen at the affection. This elicited a low growl from Nat’s throat.

“Still as territorial as always, Nat? And I see now you've finally found your Omega?” She grinned with an air of arrogance. You shifted under her gaze – she was definitely an Alpha.

“Yes, so tread carefully,” Nat wrapped her arm around your waist, pulling you flush to her body. Wanda, who could sense the rising tension, stepped in.

“Could you help me pick out an outfit for tonight? We’re having a girl’s night out!” She grabbed Carol’s hand, pulling her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom.

“A girl’s night, hey? Mind if I come?” You could hear Carol talking in the bedroom, making Nat groan in annoyance.

“I’m guessing you don’t like her very much?” You whispered to Nat.

“She’s just very flirty,” Nat grumbled, “Which is weird considering she’s mated.”

“To who?” You questioned.

“Dunno, more Kree, I guess,” Nat shrugged, not caring.

“You're cute when you're jealous,” you shyly flirted, making Nat smirk at you.

“Yeah?” She leaned in, raising her eyebrow.

“Yeah.” You nodded, eyes darting down to her lips.

She took that as a green light, and leaned in even closer, giving you the opportunity to back away. Instead, you moved to close the gap, pressing your lips to hers. You sighed as you felt her pillowy lips move against yours, like two pieces of a puzzle fitting perfectly together. Like soulmates.

“Am I interrupting something?”

You both broke apart as you saw Wanda smirking in the doorway, holding two outfits by her side.

“Beta,” Nat growled, annoyed that she had stopped your kiss.

“It’s okay, there’s plenty of time for that later,” you soothed the redhead, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She calmed significantly.

Wanda sighed dreamily, “Everything’s better with an Omega. Anyways, I picked out your outfits!” She held up black clothing items in both of her hands, and you took in her own outfit. She was wearing a black cropped top with tight-fitting long sleeves, with a matching black mini skirt and boots that came to rest gently at her mid-calf. She had slicked her hair back into a messy braid, and popped in some gold hoop earrings.

“Wanda, you look hot!” You exclaimed, moving forward now that Nat had finished your makeup.

“Thanks!” She grinned, “You too! And we can all match in our black outfits,” she held out her right hand to you, and you grabbed a black mini dress from her.

“Both of you will have to take your bras off,” she winked, handing Nat her clothes too before shutting the door behind her to give the two of you privacy.

You chuckled as you turned around, unclipping your bra and resting it on the bathroom counter. Nat had turned to face away too, and you both got changed into your chosen outfits. You hummed at Wanda’s decision, liking the halter-neck dress she had chosen for you. You felt a hand graze your bare back and you turned around, seeing Nat dressed.

“Woah,” your eyes bugled, taking in her beauty. Wanda had her in a tiny black top that looked more like a bra, with a pair of black leather pants.

“Are you two done?” Wanda banged on the door, eager to accessorise the two of you.

“Yes!” You called out, gulping as Nat’s hungry eyes drank your body in. Wanda burst in, holding some black boots for you that ended just below your knees, and some black heels for Nat. She grabbed your wrists to place a gold Cartier bangle on it.

“Where’d you get this from?” Your eyes bulged at the expensive item.

“Tony just sent it up! Pietro must’ve told Peter, and Peter would've told Tony. Which means we should get going, like, now. They’re going to be so insanely jealous and try to tag along, so we need to make our quick escape!”

“Солнышко, if they want to come, not much is going to stop them,” Nat chuckled. This made Wanda let out a loud whine, “But it’s supposed to be a girl’s night out!”

“You’re acting like you don’t have magic,” Carol snorted from where she was lounging on the bed. You saw that she had changed outfits too, and was now wearing a black silk blouse with the first few buttons undone. She had a black leather jacket over the top, with black jeans and boots to match.

You smirked as you looked in Wanda’s big mirror, “We all look so hot. Like dark angels or something.”

“Connecting with our dark feminine!” Wanda exclaimed, twirling around you.

“Have you already had something to drink, Солнышко?” Nat asked Wanda amusedly, making her giggle, “Maybe!” She dragged out.

“Okay, let's go,” you clapped your hands together, eager to go to a club and get drunk.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., where are the rest of the pack?” Nat asked the ceiling, knowing they would have to be very sneaky if they wanted this to remain only girls.

“Sitting in the living room and kitchen on the pack floor, Ms. Romanoff,” the robotic voice answered.

“Okay, could you please take us straight down to the car garage? And have Happy waiting there for us with the address Wanda picked out earlier?” She spoke, grabbing your hand as she guided you out of Wanda’s room, the other two following.

“Yes ma’am.”

Ten minutes later, the four of you had successfully snuck out of the tower and were now on your way to a club.

“Will F.R.I.D.A.Y. cover for us?” You asked the girls, to which Carol scoffed.

“It’s an A.I., of course it won't.”

Your shoulders sagged as you leaned closer to Nat, making her wrap a protective arm around your shoulders, “Ignore her любимая. But, to answer your question, no. She can never lie to Tony.”

You hummed in response.

“So, that gives us probably an hour max, before they start looking for us!” Wanda exclaimed, bouncing in her seat next to you as she urged Happy to drive faster.

Another ten minutes later and you had reached the club, being brought in through a V.I.P entrance.

“Perks of being an Avenger,” Nat winked at you, making you swoon.

‘Fuck, she’s hot,’ you thought.

You all immediately went to the bar, ordering your favourite drinks and downing them in minutes.

“Shots on me!” Carol exclaimed, ordering some more alcohol for the four of you.

“Do you even have American money?” You chuckled, to which she replied, “Nope.”

You all burst out into laughter, taking the shots anyway, because as Wanda said, “We’ll just use Tony’s card.”

Your inhibitions went away as the liquid courage coursed through your veins, making you want to dance. You grabbed Nat and Wanda’s hands, the latter grabbing onto Carol, dragging them onto the dance floor. ‘Losers’ by The Weeknd and Labrinth blasted throughout the club, making you feel like a million bucks. You ran your fingers through your hair as you were sandwiched between Nat and Wanda, the flashing lights colouring the dark club. You closed your eyes, letting yourself get lost in the music and blissful feeling of being drunk. You moved your hips in rhythm to the song, grinding your hips onto Nat behind you. She quickly placed her hands on your hips, pushing her pelvis into your bottom. Wanda grabbed your hands, twirling under your arms as she moved in beat to the song as well. Carol stood behind her, making eye contact with you. She winked and smirked as she leaned in closer.

“We’ve got company.”

Your eyes widened as you glanced around, not seeing what she was seeing.

Wanda groaned as she saw the familiar white hair of her brother, “It’s only been an hour!”

You glanced around and spotted various pack members scattered around the club.

“Fuck them,” you yelled out over the music, “Let’s give ‘em a show,” you cheekily grinned, leaning further back into Nat as you continued to move your hips sexually. You grabbed her hands on your waist, pulling them up closer to your breasts. Wanda giggled as she saw you teasing, and came in closer to you. You were all sandwiched together, dancing and grinding to the sexual music. You opened your eyes and made direct eye contact with Steve who had been sitting at the bar, a beer tightly clutched in his hand. He gulped as he saw your hooded eyes staring back at him, a teasing smirk playing on your lips as his eyes trailed down your body. He watched, entranced by the way your hips ground back into Nat. Oh, how he wished that was him. Bucky sat next to him in a similar state.

Peter and Pietro were downing shot after shot, eager to push their way onto the dance floor and join you. Tony was carefully watching from a velvet couch in the V.I.P section, accepting the complimentary drinks that were being brought to him. His eyes scanned the dark club, watching the heaving mass of bodies on the dance floor. Thor and Bruce had stayed back at the tower, so Tony didn’t have to worry about Bruce going green. But that didn’t mean he had nothing to worry about – Steve and Bucky were looking like they were about to eat you alive, and they weren’t the only ones.

Tony’s eyes narrowed as he saw multiple other men in the club watching the four of you dance together, licking their lips.

Steve had noticed this too, and let out a growl of jealousy. He stood up, making his way over to the dance floor when he noticed one of the men pushing his way towards you.

“Hey girls, you looking for an Alpha?” The stranger flashed a grin, making Nat growl and bear her teeth. Carol shoved him with her shoulder, pushing him away with a snarl.

He rolled his eyes, making eye contact with you, “Pretty little Omega like yourself deserves a proper Alpha to be with. None of this pussy shit,” he sneered, glancing down at the two female Alphas.

“Back off, or things are gonna get real ugly,” a deep voice growled, and you turned to see Steve standing next to you, his body bristling with anger. How dare they disrespect his girls like that? His pack?

“Oh shit,” the man gulped, seeing Steve fucking Rogers standing in front of him. He quickly scampered off, and Tony watched, amused, as all the other men that had been staring at you averted their gazes. You scoffed in annoyance.

“So the only time they’ll respect us is if there’s a man here?” You rolled your eyes, annoyed, but not surprised, that misogyny also existed in this universe.

“You wanna come with me, baby?” Carol spoke, stepping closer as she ran her knuckles over your cheekbones, “It’s a lot less crazy where I’m from,” she whispered into your ear. Loud growls from Steve and Nat came from behind you and to your side, making Carol step away with her hands raised. She chuckled, shooting you a wink.

Nat could sense your anger — they all could — and so she pulled you off the dance floor and towards the V.I.P lounge that Tony had booked.

“Hey, baby,” he grinned up at you, swishing a glass of scotch in his hands. You grumbled as you sat next to him on the couch, arms crossed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, to which you shook your head.

He wouldn’t get it.

“I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink—“ Steve leaned forward, itching to pull you onto his lap.

You leaned away, “Have not!”

Bucky chuckled at your childish response, leaning forward to tickle your chin.

“You’re so cute.”

You glared at him in annoyance, shifting closer to Nat.

“So much for a girl’s night out,” you mumbled.

“Eh,” Wanda shrugged, “an hour, that’s a new record.”

“I think we should set out some rules — I don’t want you sneaking out again—“ Steve spoke, interrupted by Nat.

“Are you forgetting that she had two Alphas with her, Steve? One of them being her literal soulmate?” She raised her eyebrow in annoyance.

“Are you trying to challenge me?” Steve puffed his chest, his designation as Head Alpha coming forward.

Nat leaned back in defeat, rolling her eyes as she mumbled a ‘no’.

“Didn’t think so,” Steve curtly spoke, his gaze turning back to you. You gulped.

“Now, let’s talk rules, and more importantly, punishments.”

author’s note:

note to self: don’t publish stories from your laptop again, tumblr will mess them up😭

thank you guys for being so patient and understanding! tumblr was being so annoying yesterday and ruining my chapter :( it looked really ugly lol so i deleted it, and luckily it’s back to working again!!

there’s not too many chapters left to go now, maybe two or three? unless you guys give me more thots👀 and i can’t help but add them in and make it longer

anyways, please, please, please reblog!! likes don’t help at all in the way of sharing my work, so if you appreciate this story, please reblog!😚 also let me know your thoughts on the chapter, i absolutely adore reading them! it’s literally the favourite part of my day :)) it means the world to me! 🤍🤍 thank you for reading, and i hope you enjoyed it!

kisses, char Xx