#//fake out was too weak to one-shot anyone

[isekai-wa-owari]

Okay, so now she knows how to bite fish.

So Stahlmarodeure can only knock Pokémon out in one turn or not at all!

Anyone wanna ask me questions while she slaps some squirrels?

[ravenromanova]

Make you mine

Parings: Bucky x Female reader

Warnings: SMUT DO NOT READ IF YOURE UNDER 18+! Slight metal arm kink, Breeding kink, Unprotected sex. DO NOT READ IF YOU’RE UNDERAGE

Summary: You try to cut off things with Bucky but he has other plans.

Kinktober masterlist - Main masterlist - Send me requests!!!

~

The room was thick with tension and your heart was beating in your ears. You knew the arrangement you knew it was just sex so why did it hurt everytime he left? It hurt because you loved him even though you know you shouldn’t.

“I’ll see you after my mission Doll” He says quickly pulling up his pants along with throwing his shirt back on. Your eyes are stuck on him as he gathers his stuff from your room. He walks over and kisses your head before leaving…that’s new you thought to yourself.

“Yea” Was all you managed to say as you watched him leave your room. With a heavy sigh you lay back against your pillows and try not to cry. You felt so stupid, so weak, so pathetic for falling for him. You knew you needed to put a stop to this and you were going to do so when he came back.

Hours went by and you showered before making your way to the kitchen. When you walked in you were greeted with Natasha and Sam sitting at the island sipping their coffee.

“Hey sunshine” Natasha smiled at you while Sam smiled and greeted you as well.

“Morning guys” You said faking a happy tone and smile. Luckily for you they didn’t notice anything off with you and if they didnt say anything. So you just went about making your coffee and went to go sit outside by the lake out back.

The sun felt nice on your skin but not too much to overheat you due to the cool wind blowing by. A smile settles on your face as you watch the ducks by the lake and enjoy the caramel flavored coffee. While you sat there you got lost in your thoughts and started thinking about him. You couldn’t feel anything other than sadness was over your as you thought of him.

After about fifteen minutes of thinking you decided that you really needed to cut whatever this was off when he got back tomorrow from his mission. You couldn’t keep pretending you weren’t in love with him anymore. Once you figured out what you were going to say to him you decided to head back inside.

You walked back inside and went straight to your room without talking to anyone not wanting to be social at the moment. And when you walked into your room your eyes widened at the sight in front of you. There were rose petals on the bed, candles littered your shelves and desk. And the last thing you noticed was Bucky standing at the end of your bed.

“Bucky what is this? I thought you were on a mission?” You asked and he just smiled and walked closer.

“I was” He said taking your hands in his. “And now i’m just finishing it” You shot him a confused look clearly not getting what he was saying. “My mission is to make you mine” His voice was genuine as he spoke.

“B-But you said you didn’t want a relationship” Confusion and anxiety were laced in your voice. Bucky took his fingers and tilted your head back so you looked at him.

“I was wrong… I do want a relationship…One with you” His words got you like a truck and you’re eyes up with tears.

“I-I” The words come or broken and stuttered as you speak. Bucky takes this as his chance to show you how much he loves you. He takes your face in his hands and brings you into a deep and passionate kiss. Instinctively you wrap your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. He uses this as an opportunity and grabs the back of your thighs and lifts you up. Your legs wrap around his waist as he pins you against the wall.

The kiss is the most passionate kiss the two of you have ever shared. It was messy, heated and filled the air with extreme tension. You started to grind yourself against his crotch once you felt the bulge in his pants.

“Fuck doll you keep doing that i won’t be able to control myself” He grunted in your ear.

“Maybe i want you to lose control” You whisper against his lips and his eyes darken at your words.

“Fuck it” Bucky said and before you knew it you were thrown into your bed. He wasted no time in settling on top of you. His strong hands moved their way to your body before he ripped off your shirt. You gasped when his metal hand gripped your clothed chest. Bucky reached behind your back and unclamped your bra and rolled at your bare chest.

“So fucking pretty” He praised kissing your chest making you blush. Even though he’s probably fucked to over a hundred times by now you never ceased to amaze him. He took his time and worshipped each of your breasts leaving marks in his path before moving down.

“Please” You whined as you felt his hands travel down to the hem of your shorts. His metal hand slipped under both your shorts and underwear making you jump slightly.

“So wet bunny” He chided with a smile when he felt your slick cover his fingers. His flesh hand ripped off your shorts and underwear leaving you completely bare under him.

“Please Jamie please fuck me” You beg gripping onto his broad shoulders. Bucky smiled down and gave you a quick kiss before riding himself off his clothes. You couldn’t help but stare at the man in front of you, he was the most beautiful man you’ve ever laid your eyes on. His toned chest and abs, The most crystal blue eyes, Long dark hair that you adored he was truly a work of art.

His hand roommate your body and gripped your hips as he admired the beautiful woman in front of him. “If we do this…it’s not like the other times understand me? You’re mine babygirl” He said with a softer tone than he’s been using.

“I’m yours Jamie” Those words leaving your mouth unlocked something primal in him and he wasted no time in pushing into you. Your hands flew to his shoulders when you felt his thick cock stretch you out. It had only been a day since you two last fucked but it always feels like wells with how big he is.

“So fucking tight baby” He grunted as he bottomed out hitting your g-spot. Your head flew back from the immense pleasure you felt. Bucky thrusted into you hard and with passion making your orgasm approach faster than anticipated.

“Fuck yes right there baby” You moaned feeling the tip of his cock hit that special spot over and over. Bucky’s grasp on your hips became tighter as his orgasm approached as well. The room was filled with the noises of skin slapping and the wet sounds of your soaked pussy. And the air was thick with the smell of sex and Bucky’s cologne.

“Gonna fill you up bunny. Gonna fucking breed this tight pussy” He groaned as his thrusts began to falter. Your orgasm ripped through your abs your back arched as you came with a scream. Bucky’s orgasm came right after yours and he made good on his word and filled you up.

“Oh fuck Jamie” You moaned when he fucked his seed into you making sure none would leak out.

“Gonna make you a mommy” He said before he pulled out of you with a soft groan. The both of you were panting messes as you laid on your bed. After he caught his breath he pulled you on top on him and gave you a kiss.

“I love you y/n. I’m sorry i pushed you away. I’m sorry i made you feel like i didn’t want to. I love you more than anything and i swear to you is you’re mine i’ll make it up to you everyday of my life” He said genuinely as his thumb rubbed your cheek.

Hearing those words from him made your heart swell and your eyes water. “I love you too Bucky” You said tearfully bringing him into a deep yet soft kiss. Everything you’ve ever wanted is fully coming true and you couldn’t be happier.

That night the two of you proved your love for each other in every way possible. He told you throughout the whole night just how much he loved you. And you told him just how much he meant to you before you two fell into a blissful sleep.

~The end ~

[ghostfacesvalentine]

You’re no good for me - Patrick Bateman x Fem!Reader

Pairing: Patrick Bateman x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Slight itsy angst/kinda unrequited love/loneliness

Type: One shot/Blurb

Request: the fake relationship trope w Patrick bateman needs to be a fic RIGHT NOW 😩😩

Word Count: N/A

Prompt: Based off the song “Diet Mountain Dew” / Fake relationship trope

Notes: This started off so Lana coded, but it did finish abruptly since it’s kinda like a tiny one shot/blurb. I just wanted to write something. Let me know what you think! No I didn’t proofread are you nuts

Word got around fast about the breakup between Patrick and his fiancée. Not that it was anything tragic to either party, but appearances were everything.

A playboy like Patrick was hard to keep up with, of course you made your attempts, gathering outfits that flattered you, experimenting with different styles of hair and makeup in hopes that you’d find your niche.

More like find Patrick Batemans time of day.

You weren’t even sure if they had finished splitting up by the time he approached you, one Thursday afternoon. Nothing about his character was subtle, not in the way he talked at least.

“Y/N. I have a proposition for you.” His attention catching you off guard.

He always spoke in a matter of fact, especially with you, never in a rude way, just maybe overtly confident. Whatever it was, always made you feel weak in the knees.

You daydreamed about him shamelessly, the way his lips curved into a tight smile after his sentences, the manner in which the air surrounding him gave a vague smell of his cologne. Patrick was used to the prolonged looks, but there seemed to be a sincerity in your eyes.

Patrick was talking but you weren’t listening, instead your eyes adapted to the shape of his jaw, the glistening cheekbones, all carved by his slick back hair and gently brushed eyebrows.

“Y/N” He prayed out loud.

Your dreaming cut short, now looking at him in an embarrassing manner. “Sorry.” You mumbled out, eyes dropping down to his glossy shoes then away towards the floor to ceiling windows.

“Could you do that for me? I’ll pay you for any inconvenience that comes with it.”

It was only then when you realized how much you really weren’t listening. Your eyes then braved enough to look at his own, chocolate delicacies that mirrored nothing. Patrick was handsome, there was absolutely no doubt about that, yet he never emitted any warmth, even as the back of his hand reached to trickle along the curve of your cheek.

“Yeah, of course, uhm. What do you need exactly?” You feigned the urge for clarification.

“Dinner. I need you to pretend we’re seeing one another. Again, if it’s not something that you’re interested in-“

You cut him off almost too quickly. “I’m there.”

And you were.

Both propped up in a two person table at the most exclusive restaurant in the city.

You weren’t sure if it was the booze or the simple privilege to have Patrick’s eyes on you, even if it was a little white lie. You didn’t have to fake much and you tried to push the idea of Patrick feigning his interest in you.

There were eyes on you both, of course there was snarky comments of rebounds and those wondering out loud if you were the reason his engagement was no more.

Patrick relished in the moment, the gossip definitely boosted his ego, too much for his own good. You, however, were just happy to hold his cold hand in public.

You didn’t have to fake much, you watched him in the most endearing way and though you weren’t old money, you gave Patrick the upper advantage of having your full attention on him when his business friends couldn’t pay anyone enough to keep their eyes on them.

Something about the attention you devoted to him openly only made him more desirable. You almost didn’t care for the bottle service he ordered for you both, nor the tasty delicacies that petrified his diet.

This somber ask of his made you feel like the stars were aligning for you and you were enticed to keep up with the facade.

It quickly became a habit, date night once every Friday became every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then he would make sure those who had interested thoughts, would see you leave his apartment or him leave yours.

You never did anything other than “enjoy” each others presence. Mainly hearing about his day, drinking some of whatever he had, but mainly listening to his rambles about how he viewed those around him.

As the weeks morphed into months, the kisses you were over the moon to give him while his past interests were watching, now became more painful than before. You never took any money from him, much to his offense, yet he always made sure to give you the best time he could offer you.

Sometimes he would go the extra step to send you flowers, all to “keep up with appearances” but when you crawled into your cool and oversized bed on your own, reality would struck your heart.

You spent too many nights curled up in the corner of your bed while you knew Patrick was delightful to stick to his bachelor routine.

Much to his dismay, you started to get sloppy with your actions. It was a few months into your lie that your eyes began to wander. It started with the longing, seeing other couples who seemed genuinely interested with one another, sharing casual touches and warm feelings.

The ache had you thinking about the men who appeared affectionate, your eyes lingered longer than Patrick had been used to.

Clearing his throat caught your attention again, a fake smile crossed your face. “Of course, whatever you say.”

It was not the response he was looking for and it didn’t take long for him to see what caught your eye. “Really Y/N? He hasn’t made half of what he made last month, I have no idea what he’s doing here. Enjoying what he has left while he can I guess.” A malicious laugh spurred across the table from Patrick.

This time it came with an unsure gaze, worried that someone would be better than him.

“Hm?” You replied nonchalantly.

“Oh yeah. I know.” You soothed, your hand no longer reached for him, rather than to trace the curves of your fork.

You didn’t intend to make him feel small, but if you were being honest, his lack of interest in you began to mirror you. He was still as gorgeous as ever, yet when the doors were closed, it was hard to not long for a man who would kiss you when no one was looking.

Patrick didn’t understand what was happening, he didn’t understand why you were starting to decline in your part of the deal. He found himself competing more aggressively this time with those in the environment again, in this case, for your eyes.

You excused yourself to the bathroom, for the first time, you wanted to go home early. You didn’t even have to use the bathroom, you just wanted some space from him.

A hand latched onto your forearm, halting you from the entrance to the hallway where the bathrooms were. You looked back to see a handsome man in a white button up with a rag hanging from his side pocket. A glistening smile greeted your confused face “Hey, I’m sorry I just wanted to let you know that dress really brings out your eyes”

Before you could respond, you watched as he was gripped by the shirt and shoved to the side away from your sight. You tried to look for the waiter before you felt a frigid hand pull you by the wrist towards the entrance.

Your shoulders relaxed when you noticed it was the familiar figure of Patrick. He was furious.

“Y/N. I’m sorry- I was under the impression that we had an agreement.” He scolded as he let your wrist go when you made it to the sidewalk beside him.

You watched him blankly as he appeared to throw his tantrum. “Nothing even happened Patrick. You already made your point with your friends, I can’t keep up with this. I want to have my own person. My real person. I don’t want to scare others off because I have to pretend to have something going on with you.” You breathed out what was weighing heavy on your chest.

He almost couldn’t believe how you felt. He didn’t even know how to decipher what he felt. Deep down he knew what you meant, yet he didn’t care enough to let you go easy. “If you couldn’t do it in the first place, you shouldn’t have agreed.” He scolded again, roughly running his hands through his slicked back locks desperately.

“Well I don’t want to do it anymore.” You admitted. Patrick stared right through your eyes lacking of any expression. He’s never had to decipher his own feelings, how the hell could he figure out that what he was feeling was jealousy?

[malopascal]

One shot: we found our way back to each other

"Can we please just talk..." Pedro begged, his eyes looking so tired and his composure exposing nothing but defeat and heartbreak.

A sigh left your painted lips as you avoided his begging gaze, looking through the room of his sister's home, silently missing the hours the two of you had spent in here, laughing, talking and making love.

"Talk about what? You told me two months ago that you weren't ready for a relationship, that I should find someone else who could settle down", you purposely threw Pedro's words back to him in hopes that they would also cause him the same pain it caused you eight weeks ago.

You finally focused your eyes on the Chilean actor and saw how he closed his eyes in shame and shook his head. "You're trying to kill me, mi amor" he whispered before opening his eyes.

"No, you killed me with those words. I thought that I had meant something to you, we had spend four months together, making all these beautiful memories that I can never forget", you spat as tears started to brim your eyes.

"I know, I know (Y/N)...".

"No, you don't. You don't know that I've been faking a smile for weeks, pretending that my life is so fucking awesome and continuing to work like you didn't rip my heart out of my chest, Pedro".

The actor took a step closer to you and quickly took your soft hand in his, his eyes were begging you to take him back. "Words can't describe how foolish I was. I thought that I had made the right decision, allow you to go and be free before my crazy and hectic life would get in between us, and we'd be forced to break up anyway...".

His words made you frown as you slowly shook your head in disbelief.

"Bullshit, Pedro. I accompanied you while you worked and traveled, still made time for my own life and friends and family and not once did I ever voice or think that your celebrity life would become too much for me...How could you make this decision for yourself and then punish me for it?", the tears were now streaming down your face, the aching pain in your chest making it hard for you to focus as you stared at your love. The betrayal still sat deep in your soul and you wondered if you could ever get past this.

"You tossed me aside for nothing, based on assumptions...And then you moved on like we never happened, like I didn't give all my love to you!" you couldn't help but increase the volume of your voice as you finally had the chance to speak about your heartbreak.

After Pedro had suddenly broken up with you through a quick phone call, he had blocked you and went on a promotional tour of his upcoming projects, making you feel lost and abandoned while he continued to live his life in front of the cameras.

Since the two of you were able to keep your relationship private, due to the fact that you were an actress as well, barely anyone noticed how you were crumbling and pretending like you hadn't lost the greatest love of all time.

"My love, I-" Pedro chocked back on a sob before clearing his throat and wrapping his strong arms around your waist, still looking at you like you were the only, most precious thing walking the earth.

"I just wanna know why. Why did you get rid of me like that?" you placed your hands on his broad shoulders, hating how your heart skipped a beat and a delicate sensation of adoration rushed through your body. You knew that touching him alone would have you weak, but in that moment, you didn't care at all.

"I'm almost fifty, it's been years since I had a serious relationship (Y/N), I have anxiety and assumed that it would take a few more weeks before you would get sick and tired of me and my job and leave me..." the actor confessed with a heavy heart.

"But I can't describe the agony I have been in ever since we parted ways. All I can do is think and yearn for you", his beautiful brown eyes gazed deeply into yours while he leaned in closer, his breath dancing along your lips as you let out a soft sigh. God, that man still had you so crazy in love and a part of you thought that he'd try to make up sappy excuses and then leave you alone.

"I am so sorry for what I did, and I know you're just as heartbroken as I am. It's my duty to earn your trust back and show you the blessing that you are to me. Please...." Pedro leaned in and pressed his soft lips against yours, frowning at the pure sensation of your soft lips against his. You pulled away, your head spinning from the passion while you stared deeply into his eyes, your breath coming out in short puffs as you were overwhelmed.

"Please what?" you exhaled as the tension in the room shifted from sad to something else.

He leaned in again, stealing another passionate kiss while his arms pulled your body closer to his. That's when you noticed something throbbing against your lower stomach. You couldn't help but let out a weak moan as your body was succumbing to this man.

"Allow me to win your trust back and show you that I am your man. Yours." Pedro whispered, his breathing increasing by the second as the two of you stared longingly into each other's eyes.

The wetness already had gathered in between your thighs as all you could now think about was feeling him move deep inside you, have him fill you up all the way and talk you through the sensual acts of love.

"I-" Pedro didn't even let you finish your sentence before he had stolen another kiss from your lips, his tongue tracing your lower lip and silently asking for permission. Which you instantly granted.

His big hands immediately started to roam your body, caressing your breasts and shoulders while he moved the two of you towards the bed.

He kissed your neck after having placed you gently onto the mattress, your silky black cocktail dress already being torn from your body. "I need to taste you", he begged.

You instantly opened your legs and quickly got rid of your thong before your love had his head position in between your thighs. "You're so wet" he praised while giving you a soft smile, leaning in closer to where you needed him the most before darting his tongue out and flicking your sensitive clit.

"Yes", you mewled while throwing your head back, your wetness sliding down your inner thighs while your love instantly got to work and devoured you right then and there. His eyes didn't dare to move away from your face as he needed to look at you. He needed the assurance that he was pleasing you, giving himself to you.

He licked and lapped at your swollen clit and drenched folds, dipping his tongue into your hot and wet cunt, loving the way you weakly moaned his name and grind your hips in sync of his movements. Behind your clenched eyelids, you saw stars as the pleasure took over your mind, body and soul.

"You taste divine" Pedro whispered, moaning your name over and over again while his eyes still didn't look elsewhere. He had always been in awe of your beauty and knowing that no other had seen you like this was making his heart swell in his chest with pride.

Before you knew it, your love was kissing his way up your body, positioning himself in between your thighs while he quickly got rid of his dress shirt and freeing his hard cock from its tight pants.

Your eyes fluttered open and you couldn't help but moan at the sight of Pedro staring down at your face, his eyes drinking in the beautiful sight of you. It took him a few seconds to let his hard cock slide up and down your folds, gathering the slick wetness before whispering how much he loved you.

You couldn't even answer as the sensation of his cock slowly sinking deep inside you overwhelmed you. Your inner walls welcomed the hardness as they stretched and took him deeper. A weak moan left your lips.

"I missed you so much" you chocked out before the first stroke hit you. Pedro closed his eyes and immediately started to snap his hips against yours, hitting your sweet spot over and over again while having leaned down and now gently kissing and sucking on your sensitive neck.

The pure pleasure raging over your body was too much.

The feeling of him buried deep inside you...

His weak moans of your name...

The quick motions of your body desperately wanting to reach that beautiful high together.

It was all too much.

Your toes curled as you felt the delicious knot form in the pit of your stomach, your inner walls were clenching onto your love's cock for dear life while the delicate shivers running up and down your back made it hard for you to focus on anything.

"I am right here, my love. Come on, take all of me and show me you love it. Take it all, it's all yours" Pedro groaned, his hips snapping faster against yours while his hand was now circling your sensitive clit, making the knot tighter and tighter by the second.

You clung onto his broad shoulders as the next deep thrust threw you into the wild, gushing and overwhelming peak. Your orgasm rippled through your body and you couldn't control it. Your inner walls clenched tightly around Pedro's cock as his warm spurts filled you all the way up. That man was almost screaming your name as he continued thrusting his hips in a sloppy manner, wanting this intense and beautiful sensation to never stop.

The weak moans leaving your lips grew softer by the second while the tremors of your high tingled through your body. Your eyes slowly opened and Pedro's adoring smile made your heart swell in your chest.

"I love you'" he confessed.

"I love you too" you responded in a soft huff, still trying to catch your breath.

[zorobraun]

hear me out… enemies to lovers with ghost

you shouldn’t have bitten off more than you can chew. now you’re here, pressing your hand against the deep wound on your stomach. it hurts like hell, you can feel the bullet inside. you try to breath to calm yourself down, but you can’t. you’re holding back your tears as you hear the voice that you least expected to hear from. “y/n, how copy?” that british accent almost tickles your ear. ghost actually sounds preoccupied, you guess he fakes it too well. you two fight too much for him to actually give a shit about what happens to you on missions. you grunt in pain, you think it might be over for you. you’re dying. “i need you to answer me right fucking now, you idiot. where are you?” the sound of his erratic breathing as he runs to try to find you makes you realize he actually wants to save you from death. well, it’s what lieutenants do, right?

“i’m… nearby the house, hiding under a giant tree, bleeding like a motherfucker. come find me or else…” you take a moment to breath painfully, ghost’s concerned eyes wander around the area you described to be at. like hell he’s going to let you die miserably like this. “it’s pretty dark in here. good luck with that, lieutenant.” you try to chuckle to break the ice, but you end up groaning in pain instead. his heart starts panicking for no reason. “i’d find you even with my eyes closed.” he says firmly and you swallow hard. the silence killing you more than that asshole’s perfect shot on your stomach. now you’re the one closing your eyes, the weakness completely owning your body. god, you hate this so much; being weak. at least, you’re still breathing. shallowly, but still. you hear heavy footsteps, but you’re not strong enough to react to that. you’re literally dying.

“c’mon, let’s go.” you hear ghost’s hurried voice as he grabs your arm gently to pick you up in bride style. you frown in pain, your senses coming back to life again. “i’ve got you, i’ve got you.” he reassures you as you nod, your hand still pressing the wound. your vision is still blurry when you look at him. his eyes reciprocates the eye contact for a moment, just to make sure you’re still alive. you notice the fear in his eyes, because his eyes never lie — even if ghost wants them to. “so you do like me.” you mumble, smiling half heartedly. you feel his muscles tense against you. “i like you alive.” he mumbles back, hurrying his steps to get you to the hidden emergency base. “of course i’m alive…” you start, resting your forehead against his arm to hide the pain painted all over your face. “i didn’t want my last words to be ‘lieutenant’.” you chuckle, crying lowly.

ghost smiles half heartedly to himself, shaking his head. you’re tough just like him. he taught you well. “a woman after my own heart.” that’s the last thing you hear before passing out on his strong arms, half alive, half dead. “stay with me or else i’m gonna kill you myself.” his voice brings you back to your senses again, but it sounds so distant, like you’re not even next to him right now. you also hear different voices and medical equipment sounds. you feel a hand holding yours for a dear life, making you curious. it could be anyone, since you’re friends with everybody except for ghost. however, your curiosity fades away when you feel a huge pain in your stomach, like someone just ripped something off of you. it must be the goddamn bullet.

you wake up a few hours later in your own bed. you open your eyes slowly and take a deep breath when you realize you’re at the base. so you’re safe now, good. you feel much better, even though the pain is still there. you look around to see if you’re not dreaming, and when you see ghost — your annoying lieutenant that makes you go crazy in the worst way possible — holding your hand as he takes a nap on a chair next to your bed, you’re certain that this is all a dream. you’re actually dead, because there’s just no way this can be real. you even pinch yourself with your free hand to make sure this is actually happening. this warmth against your hand… it’s the same one you felt a few hours ago in the emergency base. so it was him. life really is unpredictable.

he sighs as if he’s waking up from his nap and your heart starts racing. ghost looks tired, as if he spent the whole night inside your room, waiting for you to wake up and say something, do something, do whatever the hell you want just to show him that you’re alive and well. “good morning.” you tease as he opens his eyes lazily. his mask is slightly up, so you can see his relieved half heartedly smile when he hears your voice. he caresses your hand with his thumb, as a way to say that he’s so very glad that you stayed with him. yes, the team needs you as well. but he needs you more. “hey, um… thank you. for everything. you saved my life.” you smile shyly. he licks his lips nervously, as if he’s not sure of something. it makes you confused, but you understand it all when you feel his soft lips crash against yours. the kiss screams i’m so glad i won’t spend the rest of my life missing you, and your heart starts beating so fast that you think you might die of a heart attack.

“i really like you alive.” he whispers against your lips as he lays his forehead against yours. he opens his eyes to look at yours and you both smile weakly. you really like him as well. alive, preferably.

[shoccolat]

this is probably going to sound crazy, but i really do think the most vital and pivotal core of nishimaji is nishitani's death.

not just in the way it affects, and influences, majima—giving him the motivation to break out and present himself on his own terms, his mad dog fighting style, his flashy and garish fashion choices, even his facial hair, as well as dreaming of nishitani telling him he's proud of him—but in what we learn about nishitani in his final moments.

before we get to that, though, let's take a closer look at who nishitani is.

nishitani is a wildcard. he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants. he's not held back by anything other than a personal moral code that's a bit questionable, but usually well-intentioned nonetheless. 

by that i mean, he's not heartless. 

he backs off when the grand's hostess tells him she's not interested and lets her set the conditions on her own terms. he doesn't keep fighting majima after he throws the first punch and realizes majima isn't fighting back. he's out for makoto, sure, but he reassures majima that he's not going to harm her and never planned to, even before majima showed discomfort in nishitani 'hunting' her. and of course, he avenged biliken's daughter because of how devastatingly hard it hit his uncle.

nishitani may be rough and cocky, but he's never cruel. he's incredibly perceptive and knows when to back off. for a yakuza patriarch, he's vastly different than the cold, uncaring, selfish ones we see in the series.

and yet, he says this: 

and that changes things a bit. because in a way, he sees himself just like those other heartless yakuza—he's done all the dirty work it takes to get to where he is and then some, and has gotten quite successful because of it. so why would "a guy like [him]" be feeling sentimental towards majima? 

really, hasn't he been feeling this way the entire time? 

he plays the tough guy act, but really, he's fallen head over heels for majima and he knows it. says it himself, even. 

and it's not just a creepy façade to deter majima (especially since majima never really seems all that deterred by it, especially in the jail cell, where he even starts to flirt along) because nishitani isn't one to fake anything. he's so unapologetically himself and if anything, that's what majima admires and looks up to most. 

but majima is also perceptive and smart and kind, and wouldn't look up to a shitty person who never cared for anyone but himself, even if they're yakuza and in a higher position than himself. he has sagawa for that, and majima absolutely hates his guts. whereas he sees something novel and good in nishitani.

it's especially notable that nishitani shares the same sentiment about sagawa, and even offers majima an alternative. 

at this point we know that working under nishitani would've been vastly different than being under sagawa's thumb, but not to what extent... what kind of boss would he have been to majima…?

honestly, they could've left it right there. "nishitani has a weak spot for majima, majima looks up to nishitani, and there's some semblance of respect between them." that alone would've left plenty for fans to work with. 

but no. they just had to take it that one step further.

they had nishitani sacrifice himself for majima. he fully, physically blocked majima from getting shot, arms outstretched, protecting majima. he drops the playful banter and gives majima the most motivating advice of his life. and he shows a fierce loyalty towards majima that would probably never have been shown just as intensely as it was in that moment. in life or death, he chose majima's over his own.

i made a post about his irezumi a while ago, but if you haven't seen it yet, i imagine his would've been an okami. 

okami are seen as wildcards, too, being either protective or aggressive towards humans—how they act is entirely dependent on how the human treats them. and for okami, there exists the fierce loyalty that a wolf maintains towards its pack. 

it's only in nishitani's final moments that we see just how deep that loyalty lies.

[liminalpebble]

Jump Scares

AO3 Link

Eddie Munson x Femme reader. They just began dating and have only kissed so far. One-shot.

Movie night with Eddie comes with a new game from the dungeon master himself, and no matter who wins, Eddie's pretty sure you'll both come out of this with some Halloween thrills.

P.s. Sorry it's a little late for Halloween. I tried to write it sooner, but life interfered. I hope this is a nice relaxing treat (especially if you are also American and VERY anxious today, as I am). Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Cw: very light discussion of horror movie violence. Fingering and male masturbation.

When you knock on the flimsy trailer door, you can already see a warm glow from the living room, filtered through the woven fabric of the curtains. The soft light illuminates decals of ghosts, demons, pumpkins and vampires stuck haphazardly across the pane of glass. You smirk. It's clearly Eddie's chaotic handiwork. It has him written all over it.

You're also curious. It's not often that Eddie is particular about drawing the blinds, and you wonder, with a sugary sweet buzz of anticipation, what he might be planning, what he might want to keep prying eyes from peeking at tonight.

You knock, then hear a low ruckus within. It sounds like a particularly gangly great Dane is tumbling through the house, but that's Eddie for ya. The door swings open violently, and there he is; all flushed cheeks, messy milk chocolate curls, and a dimpled grin that could charm anyone into absolutely anything.

“Hey Sweetheart!” he blurts and then drawls, “right on time.”

You giggle and kiss his warm face, lingering a little as his exothermic warmth thaws your chilly nose.

“What the hell is going on in there? A tornado?”

“Nah. Just Hurricane Eddie, at your service.”

His balmy hands find your cheeks and rub gently as he say, “Jesus, you're freezing, get in here!”

You were freezing. You knew it was really too cold to wear a skirt, but you couldn't resist the temptation of teasing Eddie with the sight of your curves, flattered by the garment. He takes your coat for you and hangs it up carefully (because he might be a chaos goblin but Wayne also raised him to be a gentleman).

As your coat slips off, you get exactly the reaction you hoped for. Those big dark eyes go wide, drinking in the sight of you in that cute little skirt and knee socks.

“Damn,” he gasps. His mouth hangs open as he struggles to retrieve the brain cells to elaborate.

You take pity on him and fill the void.

“You like it?”

“Like it? Baby, come on. You're killing me here. Those teens in the slasher flick might not be the only ones slain before the night is over.”

Then he dramatically rolls his eyes and clutches his heart, wobbling into a fake faint. You catch him by his skinny waist and hug it tightly, pulling him against you. You inhale deeply. He smells like Old Spice, and faintly of cigarettes, and the breath mints he chewed a little while ago in a weak attempt to mask it for you.

But you don't mind. It's the cocktail of him; tobacco, leather, the clean tangs of spearmint and cheap detergent, and the crisp autumn air he'd been out in most of the day, raking leaves.

“Did you just...sniff me,” he said with an amused chuckled.

“Yeah. I can't help it. I just love your smell.”

He nuzzles into your hair, returning the gesture with a deep inhale of his own.

“You little freak,” he says affectionately, and you give him a playful smack on the arm. “Anywayyy. I have a spectacular movie night planned for us, m'lady. Popcorn, candy, warm beverages and blankets...the works.”

Your heart melts as you notice the little coffee table in front of the sofa, loaded with a smorgasbord of buttery, salty popcorn, colorful gummies, and rich chocolates all arranged neatly in black and orange party bowls.

“Wow...Eddie...this...this is great!” Stunned, you turn to him and smother him in another grateful lip-lock. He breaks the kiss reluctantly and you whimper at the loss.

“Hold that thought!” he orders, as he scrambles to the VCR and gleefully pops in some Halloween-themed, heavy metal, B movie.

-------

It's a predictable campy slasher which neither of you will remember the name of. You certainly won't, not with his soft full lips on your neck the way they are now. You're both breathing heavy; handsy and eager as you make out.

“AHHHH!”

A prom queen screams as she falls victim to a plastic knife and spurts some suspiciously ketchupy looking blood.

You both jump at the blood-curdling screech, then laugh. “I'm so ashamed! I can't believe it actually made me jump! There goes my horror connoisseur cred, huh?” you bemoan to Eddie.

“Hey...give yourself a break. You were caught a little off-guard.” He pauses to kiss you languidly, his long candy-flavored tongue swirling deliciously in your mouth.

“You know...you, a little distracted and vulnerable. It's actually kind of cute. You're not usually the jumpy type but this is...I dunno...this is doing something to me. I...hmmm.”

His eyes go wide and he gives you that crooked grin, the one that says he's on to something, the one that no one on the planet could resist.

He rushes the words out, “I have an idea. Com'er.”

His warm broad palm finds its way to your waist as he tugs you close beside him, practically sitting you on his thigh facing the grainy flicker of the screen in the darkness. You squeak with surprise.

He gives a filthy little chuckle, “Sorry to manhandle you there, sweetness.”

“Mmm. I don't mind. Now what the fuck are you doing?”

He brings his lips close to your ear, kissing just beneath it then nipping playfully at the lobe, coaxing out a shudder. That warm hand with the chunky rings glides over the soft skin of your thigh, squeezes, then stills. You give him a quizzical look.

“Eyes ahead, baby,” he whispers, “Now, listen. Here's the rules of the game. Every time you jump, this hand...” he squeezes again, then runs the calloused tips of his fingers in relaxing circles over the soft flesh, “...will move justttt a little bit.”

He moves your hair gently with his nose and kisses that vulnerable spot just between your neck and shoulder. The move renders you helplessly limp against him, like a vampire's damsel victim in a black and white film.

“We'll see who's screaming by the end, hmm? Wanna play?”

You gasp then, smiling and nodding, squirming at the anticipation and tension.

“Alright, sweetheart. Let the games begin.”

To an outside observer, it would just look like a couple watching a movie together, innocently side by side swaddled in a shared blanket. That is, until you're startled a second time and his deft fingers slide up the fret board of your thigh, ever so slightly closer to where he's dying to play.

Then, the third jump scare. His hand moves further still, warm and solid and coming inexorably closer like the villain on screen, stalking his prey. The hand around your waist finds the hem of your sweater and toys with it, parts it like a theater curtain to draw soothing little shapes over your stomach, then your breastbone, like a wizard carving runes, casting a lulling enchantment. It's working beautifully on you and feels like sinking into a warm bath of tactile sensation.

His fingers find the little bow nestled between the cups of your bra. Eddie lets out a little snicker of laughter.

“Cute. Did you get this just for me? Be honest.”

“Uh huh,” you gasp, suddenly unable to form words.

“Mmm. I'm a lucky man then, but I hope you don't mind that I'm a lot more interest in what's underneath it.” He tilts your face so your eyes meet his, deep and dark as ink in the glow of the TV. “Can I touch you?”

“Please,” you hiss, in a high breathy voice of arousal you hardly recognize as your own.

His hand slides behind you. the clasps release one at a time with a gentle snap until he can slide beneath the silky band to your even silkier skin. Eddie groans with need, a deep rumble that you can feel where his chest is pressed against your back.

You close your eyes, head leaning back against him as he massages and teases the sensitive flesh. He leans over kissing you deeply, desperately, as his fingers toy with your stiff nipples, drawing out the most desperate sounds from you.

He pulls you closer and your legs fall wider, his thigh now nestled snugly between them. Denim rubs roughly against the slick material and the dripping lips underneath. Eddie groans again, canting his hips up against you until you feel his erection pressing hard against the curve of your ass.

“Feel what you do to me, baby? How hard you always make me? Did you know before we were even dating, as soon as you'd leave with everyone else, I'd run off to my room to handle this? Christ, I couldn't slam the door fast enough so I could jack off thinking of you.”

“Really?” you ask, preening and flattered at the high praise.

“Yeah,” he purrs, “Every fucking time. Surprised I never came in my pants like some horny little perv before I even managed to find some privacy.”

You whimper at his confession, the dampness growing between your legs. You're soaked, swollen and needy beneath your clothes.

“AHHHHH!” screams a doomed cheerleader onscreen, and you flinch.

A split second later, Eddie's hand eagerly buries itself between your legs. First, he kneads at your inner thigh, just outside of fabric of your underwear, and is delighted to feel your wetness has leaked there, giving him a luscious preview of what to expect.

“Ohhhh, good girl. You're so wet for me that it's spilling out. Jesus Christ, you're so hot.”

Eddie doesn't wait for another jump scare. He can't resist any longer and your needy squirms and moans only egg him on. He traces gently up your damp, shuddering thigh and slips under the hem of your ruined panties.

“AHHHHH!”

“Ahhhh!” you both echo in union and is seems like the movie is screaming it with you.

It's heaven, pure bliss, the way his clever fingertips swim against your contours, the lips of your pussy. You're blossoming open, dewy and ripe for him, inviting further.

“Lean over the table, honey,” he commands, and you oblige, parting the sea of plastic bowls as you make room to lay down, your ass exposed for him like a submissive animal.

A sharp smack finds your pliant flesh. You yelp and giggle with surprise as he kneads and massages. He slides your panties down and suddenly a wave of self-consciousness washes over you. You realize how totally exposed and vulnerable you are like this.

“Is...is it okay, Eddie?”

“Sweetheart,” he moans in awe, “it's absolutely perfect. God, you're perfect.”

It's surprisingly reverent, as are his fingers as he slides them inside of you, pumping and easing within. Then his finger finally finds your clit, drawing little circling presses. You melt onto the cool plastic surface while he fucks you with his talented hand.

You close your eyes and grip hard at the table, beginning to buck backwards, riding his fingers as your cunt grips around them .

“Mmm. Yeah...just like that. That's perfect. I gotta touch myself. I'm dying here.”

“Please. I wanna see you do it.”

He leans over and kisses you. “God, could you be anymore perfect, you little freak,” he mumbles against your lips.

You look over your shoulder to see Eddie, working at his belt, easing the edges of it down his hipbones along with those silly plaid boxers. You take it all in; the v of his slender hips, the sight of him gripping his thick flushed cock, the pattern of dark hair around it. It's beautiful.

He closes his eyes and does a few languish strokes against the engorged, sensitive skin. The tip is already leaking and he knows he won't last long, but then again, neither will you.

“Wanna come with me...hmmm? Want me to paint your skin with cum while I fuck you with my hand?”

“Yes yes yessss,” you whine. God, you need it and you need it now.

The final jock wails as he's slain, and you and Eddie scream with him. You clench like a vice, twitching and shuddering around his fingers. No sooner than you come, you hear the rhythmic thump of Eddie fist furiously pumping his cock as he groans and gasps, shooting ropes of cum over the skin of your ass, the curving small of your back.

For a moment, almost unbelievably, Eddie-never-shuts-the-fuck-up-Munson says nothing. You both just collapse and pant, catching your breath.

After awhile he chuckles and says, “sorry...wait a minute,” and cleans you up with some very festive paper napkins. You laugh with him.

Before long your snuggled back together on the couch under the cozy blanket, basking in afterglow while the credits roll. Eddie takes a deep satisfied breath and hugs you closer as you tenderly recuperate.

Then, to your surprise, he slide lower on the sofa until he's looking up at you from between your thighs, those dark eyes and toothy grin full oozing mischief.

“Waddaya say, pretty girl? Wanna make this a double feature?”

@sweetsigyn @leelei1980 @word-wytch @veemoon @elegantkoalapaper @ladyofthestayingpower @bettyfrommars @userchai @fairyysoup @babygorewhore @somnambulic-thing @munson-blurbs @hellfirenacht @take-everything-you-can @msgexymunson

[manicplank]

One more before I go to bed.

Alcohol tolerance headcanons (and how they act) (tiny suggestive warning for one of them)

Peppino: This one I see a lot, but he is definitely a lightweight. Doesn't drink much mostly because he doesn't like the taste. Only takes a few drinks for him to get wasted. He probably had a few drinks in before he was kicking Gus and The Noise in the cover for the OST. He becomes super fun when drunk. Dancing, singing, laughing; you'll see a side of Peppino you never knew existed.

Gustavo: A medium-weight. Doesn't drink often and doesn't drink too much at parties. He gets loose when he's drunk but not to the same degree as Peppino. Cracks a lot of jokes that make no sense. Gets lovey. Wants hugs, tells people how much he loves them and how beautiful they are. Once made Peppino cry after he told him how much he meant to him. The whole "you're my best friend" schpeel.

Mr. Stick: A medium-weight. Prefers wine. Turns into a person instead of a penny pinching seagull. Will open up and have decent conversations. He talks about fun times he had, be it in childhood or college. He'll actually talk your ear off. Talks about why he got into finances. Talks about money, that's inevitable. Not much of a party animal. Enjoys watching the others make themselves look stupid.

Pepperman: HEAVYWEIGHT. He can drink ANYONE under the table except John. Can drink all night and never be TOO drunk. Lets loose. That artsy fartsy narcissist persona disappears. He still talks about art, just not as much. Laughs a lot. Will listen to what you have to say instead of talking over you.

The Vigilante: Somewhere between lightweight and medium-weight. It only takes a few shots of whiskey for him to be off his ass drunk. Trips over his own boots. Laughs a lot, slurs his words. "Sspose to be... Thissws spose to be funn. Whys is, whys is nobody country line dancing? Ss not a party wifout line danssin." His drunk laugh probably sounds like Seth Rogan's.

The Noise: Medium-weight. Can handle most of his liquor. He usually gets giddy and silly. Wants to dance, joke around, probably might light something on fire. Would end up doing drunk karaoke just to be unusually good at it. Doesn't know his limits. Thinks he can handle more than he can, gets blackout drunk and pukes. He likes to run away and be a little shit. He also gets really affectionate when drunk. Wants hugs and kisses and snuggles. Sometimes even gets a little uh... TOO affectionate if you catch my drift. Likes to be dared to do dumb shit. "You guys think I could kick this gas pump hard enough so it'll explode? I'm gonna fuckin do it."

Noisette: Medium-weight. Likes mimosas... Likes mimosas A LOT. Bottomless brunch is her weakness. Gets super bubbly and giggly when drunk. Will laugh at anything. You could point at a pebble, and she'd bust out laughing. As much shit as she gives Noise for getting too drunk, she has also been in his shoes the same amount of times. They take turns on who gets to get drunk and who gets to be the babysitter. Knows her limits. Might suddenly start crying about anything. Would cry because she felt bad for laughing at that pebble earlier. "BUT WHAT IF IT MADE THE PEBBLE SAAAAD."

Fake Peppino: NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK. Took a sip of Pizzahead's wine once. Was an unstoppable force of energy. Got too silly. Many casualties and thousands of dollars worth of damage. All because of ONE sip. NOT ALLOWED TO DRINK.

Pizzaface: Simply doesn't drink. Watches everybody act like idiots. He's the one who pointed at the pebble. "Noisette, look at that pebble." (insert Noisette laughing hysterically)

Pizzahead: HEAVYWEIGHT. Had a drinking contest with Pepperman once; lost. Pouted and didn't talk to Pepperman for like a month. Can drink like 10 drinks before he's actually drunk. Can drink 10 more before he's DRUNK. Turns into even more of a party animal than he already is. Dancing, singing, screaming. When they're both drunk, he and The Noise are BEST FRIENDS. They go hand-in-hand to create the world's craziest party. Probably dances like a whore and gets yelled at for it. Then he dances normal.

Pillar John: Another HEAVYWEIGHT. Can drink more than Pepperman. It takes enough alcohol to kill a small elephant to get John drunk. He doesn't even drink often, he's just like that. Likes to dance and joke around. Usually wins at beer pong. Gets a lot like Gustavo and starts talking about how much he loves everyone except for Pizzahead.

Gerome: Doesn't drink. Sober bro, but still knows how to have a good time. Will stop John from drinking too much or doing something stupid while drunk. He keeps an eye on John, everyone else is on their own.

[pinkroseblooms]

Hippity-Hop into Your Heart

Summary: Usahara is all too happy to play the role of boyfriend so you can shake off a creep, but of course, the night ends with him developing an all too real crush. 4.1 k A/N: Art from Gaku Kaze! Usahara Tobikichi/F!Reader. I have a soft spot for this dumb bunny and I think he needs more love. Enjoy! TW: Stalking, cursing (mostly for reader getting called a b*tch by said stalker).

Usahara’s drunk. Again. 

The night has hardly begun and he keeps slumping over the table, cheeks flushed and eyes bleary while he struggles to sit upright. “I wish I was funny.”

“I wish you were sober.” Uramichi slides another glass of water, moving aside the collection of empty shot glasses. “I thought we were only doing beer.”

“We should order motsu nikomi for him.” Kumatani suggests; he’s only on his third beer. 

They did start a bit later than expected for a weeknight. There’s hardly anyone else at the tables around them; hopefully Usahara doesn’t end up getting them kicked out for disturbing the peace. A server comes around with their next round of beers and Kumatani speaks up to request more water while they look over their options for food.

“I want gyoza!” Usahara slurs. “And a girlfriend. Ugh. I really want a girlfriend.” 

“You can have one of those things.” Kumatani glances at the paper menu. “Seeing as how gyoza’s on the menu and you’re a degenerate, let’s keep this based in reality.”

“I’m not a general!”

“Let’s leave him here.” Uramichi whispers, leaning over to Kumatani on his left. “He’ll pass out soon enough.”

“I’m drunk, not deaf.” Usahara grumbles; he sighs and sheds his jacket. “It’s hot. Can we get ice cream?”

“Why do you drink so much when you know you can’t handle booze?” Kumatani rests his chin on his hand. “If you think I’m paying your tab, you’ve got another thing-”

“Honey! There you are, sorry I’m late, I was stuck at the office.”

Usahara raises his head up; there’s a girl sliding into the booth seat next to him. For a split second, he thinks he might be having a hallucination, but you scoot closer and touch his arm with a strained smile. Not to mention Uramichi and Kumatani are also staring at him and you, visibly taken aback at this stranger joining their table, so Usahara is 100% positive the alcohol isn’t making him see things.

“I’m sorry.” You’re leaning in to whisper in his ear, still smiling but now your voice is considerably less cheerful. “A man’s been following me since I left my job.”

“What?” Usahara straightens up and stares at you, bewildered, trying to keep his tone low. “Did he come in?”

“He followed every time I changed directions.” You pretend to look at Uramichi and Kumatani but you’re actually sneaking a peek at the entrance. “He’s outside in the smoking area. I think he’s waiting.”

Usahara glances at the door; there is a man outside. It’s not easy to make his features out, but he can see him turn his head to look into the bar. 

“I’m sorry to intrude.” You drop your fake smile. “This place is the closest building with people and I thought he would keep following me if I sat down by myself. Could I wait here until he leaves? I’ll pay for your next round.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Uramichi frowns. “Do you want to call the police?”

“No, I mean, what could they do?” You release your grip on Usahara’s arm and give him some space. “He could just say he’s going the same way as me. I just didn’t want him to know where I live.”

“I’m going out there.” Kumatani stands up. 

“Oh please don’t!” You say hurriedly. “You really don’t have to get involved.”

“Scum like that need to have their asses kicked before they get the message. He looks weak.” Kumatani glares over at the door. “I’m not gonna be intimidated by some gross stalker.”

“But he could have a knife.” You say worriedly. “Even if he doesn’t, you’ll get in trouble for making things physical. Please, um…”

“Kumatani.” Usahara supplies. “He’s Kumatani, I’m Usahara, and that sad sack over there is Uramichi-”

“Kumantani, let’s use this drunk as a human shield.” Uramichi addresses the still standing Kumatani but his cold eyes are directly on Usahara’s. “If the creep has a knife, you’ll do your part as a concerned citizen, right?”

You glance around at the three of them. “Look, I already feel bad to bother you guys. I can get a ride; I doubt he’ll chase after a car, you know? I just,” you swallow hard; the last thing you want to do is start crying, not now in front of these strangers you had basically forced to be involved in this. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt, okay?”

“Alright.” Kumatani finally takes his seat. “You’ve got a good point.”

“You must have been scared.” Uramichi looks at you with some sympathy. “I’m not eager to do any heroics myself and I don’t blame you for not wanting to stir the pot. How far away is your work?”

“About ten minutes. I work for a family, well, a few different families in the area.” You explain; your teeth have stopped chattering and your heart has stopped pounding. “I actually do babysitting and cleaning jobs. Today the parents went out for a date: they offered to drive me home, but they had a few drinks at dinner and I didn’t want to spend money on a ride share app when my place is so close. I actually come here every now and then to wind down after work…I didn’t think I’d be coming in tonight to escape that asshole.”

“Uh, so,"  Usahara clears his throat. “Why did you sit next to me? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Dude.”

“Are you serious?”

“What?” Usahara holds up his hands as if to block himself from the death glares being shot his way. “Just curious!”

“The seat next to you was empty.” You answer honestly. “Why else would I?”

“Because I’m…cute?” Usahara grins but it fades as you raise an eyebrow at him. “Sorry. Okay, no more joking: are you hungry? You might as well eat something, my treat.”

“I thought you were broke?” Kumatani snips. “I told you, I’m not covering your tab.” he turns to you. “Order what you want.”

“Ice cold.” Usahara crosses his arms. “I just so happen to have some extra funds. I helped my folks in their store earlier, so they floated me a few bucks.” he winks at you. “Since I’m playing your boyfriend, I should treat my girl to something nice.”

“You made your poor parents pay you for helping them?” Uramichi shakes his head somberly. “I didn’t think you could sink lower.”

“They insisted! I’m not gonna turn down money in this economy.”

“Don’t blame the economy for your piss poor spending habits.”

“They’re so mean.” Usahara pouts to you. “Aren’t you going to stand up for your boyfriend?”

You look at him for a moment before your face breaks out into a smile, a real one. Before you can stop, a laugh escapes you and you keep laughing until you start wheezing slightly. 

“Wow, I think you broke her psyche.” Uramichi comments lightly. 

“I’m so-sorry, really, I don’t mean to laugh at you!” Your voice cracks as you press your hands to your mouth. “Usahara? I’m sorry, you’ve all been so great to help me out.”

“I’m glad.” Usahara smiles bashfully, rubbing the back of his head; he realizes he must seem hilariously pathetic, but hey, it’s not like this is a real date. “If you’re laughing, it means you’re feeling better, yeah?”

Your giggles die off and you wipe your eyes. “I am.” with a deep sigh, you’re able to calm down and breathe normally. “I was really scared. Thank you. I feel better mostly.”

“You need a good laugh, I’m your guy.” Usahara hands you his untouched glass of water. “Here, it’s just plain water. Do you want a beer or something?”

“You know what? I could use a drink.” You confess tiredly. “So, what brings you guys here?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly two hours pass in the blink of an eye; Usahara plays his role well. He pours you drinks, stays close, but not too close to you, and even hand fed you a couple of snacks. To the casual observer, the four of you would never know you were all strangers.

Despite the cordial mood, Usahara kept up the charade, just in case the man outside was still lurking around, though they haven’t seen his profile in the window for some time now. It’s an unfortunate truth that some men will only back off if they know a girl already has a boyfriend who can potentially beat them up. Usahara, although not quite as intimidating looking in comparison to his friends, is the tallest and he does spend a good amount of time training on his own. He’s confident that if nothing else, all three of them are more than enough to take down one shady weirdo. 

It’s too bad though. Usahara can't smother the twinge of bit guilt he feels at how much fun he’s having; there’s no need for him to put up a front or try to play it cool since this is very much not a date. There’s no pressure to look good in front of you, so Usahara can relax and not think about what he says too much or how he holds himself. 

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“It’s awesome!” You tell him excitedly, hands grabbing onto his arm as if to shake sense into him. “An absolute classic, how the heck have you never heard of Killer Clowns from Another Dimension? Do you even watch movies?”

“Sometimes” Usahara sips a new glass of water you made him order. “I can’t believe you’re judging me.”

“I saw it.” Kumatani raises his hand. “The effects are next level.”

“A man of culture.” You give him a thumbs up. “This guy knows. Uramichi, make Usahara apologize.”

“Don’t drag me into this.” Uramichi drones. “I don’t get what any of you are saying.”

“Now who needs to watch more movies.” 

“I saw one recently.” Uramichi cocks his head to the side. “It was a comedy; some idiot didn’t know when to stop running his mouth so his co worker buries him alive.”

“That’s a horror movie! If I go missing, you’re gonna be the first one the cops talk to.” Usahara clings to your arm. “Babe, tell him to leave me alone.”

“If you coddle him, he’ll never learn to shut his trap.”

“There, there, honey bunny.” You pat Usahara’s head lightly. “I promise to light a candle for you until they find the body.”

“You won’t even look for me?!”

“I think it’s more likely you’ll be disposed of by some loan sharks.” Kumatani deadpans but even he has a hint of a smirk on his lips. “Keep up the gambling and you’ll be found in a river instead of a shallow grave.”

“You guys are terrible and when I hit the jackpot none of you are seeing a cent.” Usahara tells them before leaning his head on your shoulder, sticking his tongue out at the both of them. “She’s been way nice to me and we only just met.”

“Because she doesn’t know how insufferable you are yet.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” You glance down at Usahara as he gives you puppy eyes. “He’s doing a pretty good job of letting me know.”

“Babe, not cool.” 

“Sorry, honey.” You giggle and poke his flushed cheek; it’s funny how comfortable you feel right now and you don’t think it’s because of the beers. Maybe it’s because Usahara has no filter; you were so tense before, yet now you’re joking and chatting like this was the plan, to show up and hang out with these odd characters. “So, what would you do if you won the lottery?”

“Hm…”

“You should pay your rent on time.” Uramichi remarks; he’s eating his own plate of mackerel, sashimi style. “It would be nice to never have to get up for work again.”

“I want to take time off and buy a boat.” Kumatani closes his eyes. “Just floating out to sea, nice and quiet, fresh saltwater air.”

“Lame.”

“Usahara.” You smack his shoulder lightly. “Knock it off.”

“Hey why are you defending that jerk?” 

“This jerk is going to leave you to pay for all our food and drinks if you keep running your mouth.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” You shake your head somberly in disapproval as Usahara sulks. “Apologize or you’re sleeping on the couch, mister.”

“You sound more like a naggy wife than a cute girlfriend…”

“What’s that?”

“Sorry.” Usahara bows his head. “Sorry, Kumatani.”

“Good one.” Kumantani reaches over to refill your glass with a fresh pour of beer. “I’ll lend you the Man-Eating Salmon boxset if you can keep him quiet for the rest of the night.”

Usahara sips his water as you grin at Kumatani; oh well. He gets it. On paper, Kumatani makes sense: even he admits, it was pretty cool how Kumatani was going to go out there and take on that creep head on. It’s not Usahara’s style; he’s scared to get beat up and can barely throw a punch. Sue him. Still, it stings that even on this pretend date, Kumatani is still showing him up. 

“Hey guys?” It’s Uramichi that breaks the silence. “I think that creep got tired of waiting.”

They all look to the door; it’s not clear at first, but from your shaken expression, it’s apparent the man who’s made his way inside the bar is the same one who was stalking you. The smile is gone from your face; he’s approaching the table with an almost apologetic smile. He looks like a fairly normal person, to Usahara’s slight surprise, not like a thug or anything. Hell, he looks more intimidating. 

“Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping to get your number?” 

“What?” You sink into your seat. “That’s why you followed me?”

“Followed? I didn’t do anything like that.” The man looks surprised. “I go here all the time. I just saw you, thought I’d shoot my shot, you know? Besides, I don’t need anyone’s permission to come inside and have a drink-”

“Excuse me, but we’re trying to have dinner.” Usahara stares at the man blankly. “We saw you out there. If you just came to eat here coincidentally, why were you lurking outside?”

“I wasn’t-”

“Cut the bullshit.” Kumatani glares at the man, grip tightening on his mug like he wants to smash it against the offending stranger’s head. “Get the hint already, asshole.”

“You’re making everyone uncomfortable.” A dark look crosses Uramichi’s face; he’s poised as though he’s about to rise from his chair. “I think you ought to leave. She’s not interested.”

“Let her tell me herself-”

“She shouldn’t have to talk to some freak hounding her in the dark.” Usahara takes his jacket and drapes it over your shaking shoulders; he puts his arm around you. “You’re bothering my girlfriend; who do you think you are? She doesn’t owe you shit.” he forces himself to temper his anger and speaks to you gently. “Don’t feel like you have to say anything, okay babe? You haven’t done anything; it’s not your fault this loser is bugging you.”

“Fuck you.” The man snaps, posture rigid; he’s shaking, but he doesn’t move any closer. “I didn’t do anything, this bitch-”

“Don’t call her that!” Usahara stands up, but doesn’t try to attack the man; he stands in front of you, arms out slightly to obscure you from the stranger’s eyes. “You can either get your ass handed to you by my buddies-”

“Really? What are we, you bodyguards?”

Usahara ignores Kumantani’s dry stare. “-or leave in handcuffs.” he makes sure you’re blocked from view. “Your choice.”

“Go to hell.” 

But the confrontation ends there. With a sneer, the man storms out of the bar, rather quickly in fact; one of the staff members comes out from behind the counter with a concerned frown and asks if she needs to call the cops. Kumatani explains the situation and Uramichi actually goes himself to check if the man is just hiding around the corner of the bar. Usahara stays with you; despite how relieved you are, tears come to your eyes, dripping down your face.

“It’s okay.” Usahara hands you some napkins. “Do you need these?”

“Thank you.” You sniff and blow your nose into the offered napkins, but the tears aren’t stopping. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t even tell that asshole off, it was like I couldn’t even speak. I feel so dumb for being scared.”

“Not gonna lie, I was kinda scared too; Uramichi still has him beat in the dead eyed stare competition though.” Usahara chuckles; he tentatively holds one of your hands; your palm is clammy and your fingers are cold. “Sorry you had to go through that. I really thought he had left; I think the owner’s gonna call the cops anyway, dude seemed unhinged.”

“Oh, your jacket,”

“You can hold onto it. Your hand’s freezing.” Usahara ignores the slight chill he feels as you squeeze his hand. “You want me to get you a hot tea or something? Sorry, I have no clue what to do for these kinds of situations.”

“You’ve done more than enough.” You smile at him; your cheeks and eyes are red and puffy. “Thank you; the only reason I was able to feel okay at all is because of you guys being so kind. I’m so sorry for all this.”

Usahara feels bad for your gratitude; he’s also angry. He’s half tempted to go outside himself and chase after that creep, but more than that, he could cry himself from how sad you look, how you actually felt like you had to apologize for someone else's horrible actions.

“Don’t apologize. Hell, I didn’t do anything.” Usahara has to stop himself from trapping you in a big bear (bunny?) hug. “Look, do you want one of us to take you home? It’s past midnight and sometimes you get creepy drivers on that app if you request a ride this late at night.” Usahara averts his eyes to the table, trying to sound assuring despite the pit forming in his stomach. “Kumatani seems grumpy, but you won’t find anyone more reliable and Uramichi is a decent guy, even if he mopes a lot. They’ll keep you safe on your way home.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

You look nervous. “I trust you…of course, you’ve already helped me so much. I can walk home alone, I’ll pretend to be on the phone.”

“No, not at all!” Usahara scrambles to talk. “I’d be totally okay walking you home! Just leave it to Tobikichi Usahara, you won’t have anything to worry about!”

“Are you trying a stand up routine?” Uramichi reenters the booth, unmoved by Usahara’s objections. “Anyway, I think he’s really gone this time, but the owner’s still going to call the police and have them take a look around. I guess this isn’t the first time they’ve had a problem, she’s pretty sure it’s the same guy too. With any luck, he won’t be bothering anyone again.”

“I hope so.” You wipe your eyes. “Thank you, Uramichi; where’s Kumatani?”

“Settling your tab.”

“What?!” You gap at him, almost expecting this to be a joke. “That’s way too much, I was going to pay for you guys-”

“Give it a rest.”

“Uramichi!” Usahara is scandalized. “This is why girls don’t talk to you.Would it kill you to show a little tact? She's upset.”

“Are you seriously telling me that? Who asked you anyway? Look, I’m just saying, it’s no trouble.” Uramichi’s eyes soften a smidge as he looks at you. “Don’t get me wrong, I really hope this never happens again, but tonight was almost fun.”

Kumatani approaches the table, tucking away what you assume is a receipt in his wallet. “Let’s finish up and call it a night: Usahara, you owe me half the tab.”

“Saw that coming.” Usahara shrugs and manages a weak smile. “Fair enough; but I’m only paying for her and my stuff.”

“Okay.” Kumatani chuckles. “I expected you to put up a fuss like usual. We should invite your girlfriend out every time we get drinks.”

“Dude!” Usahara’s already flushed face turns bright red. “Jokes on you, I’m never inviting you guys out with us.” he sends you a lopsided grin. “If I win the jackpot, it’ll be dinner for two, wherever you want to eat.”

“Actually,” You fiddle with the sleeve of his jacket. “I was hoping we could all do this again sometime; you know, without the looming threat of being stalked. Is that weird?”

“You want to put up with us again?” Kumatani asks, but you can tell he’s mostly teasing. 

“I guess.” Uramichi concedes. “It’s nice to have a buffer.”

“Buffer? What, so you can ignore me and get drunk in peace?” Usahara sighs dramatically. “Well, that’s fine with me; having another person around makes your mood swings less stressful-ow, ow, ow! I’m sorry, I give up, you’re not moody!”

Uramichi stops grinding his fists on either side of Usahara’s temples. “Just take her home already and try not to fall over in the street.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, that’s us.” Usahara laughs somewhat embarrassed. “Did you really have fun tonight?”

“Yeah.” You say honestly; you’re leading the way to your apartment, walking slow. “You’re looking pale; do you always drink that much?”

“....yeah…” Usahara admits reluctantly. “I know, I know, I’m a mess.”

“Without a doubt.” 

“So mean…”

“But you’re very nice.” You offer him with a half smile. “And brave.”

“Me?”

“Uh huh.”

Usahara stares at you from the corner of his eye; the street lights overhead shine a dim glow on your hair and face. You’re still wearing his smelly old jacket, a grease stain on the front from dropping fried chicken on himself the other day. It looks better on you.

“Uh oh.” Usahara could slap himself. “Dude, not cool. She’s been through enough tonight. You were pretending so she could feel safe. It’s not like she actually wants to date you. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the moment. She’s a nice girl who needed your help and as it stands, she doesn’t think you’re a complete loser. Let’s keep it that way and call this a win.”

“This is me.” You come to a stop in front of a complex Usahara has gone past quite a few times before. “I’d invite you in for tea, but I should be going to bed. Can I give you my number? If you want to hang out again sometime.”

“Sure thing.” Usahara switches phones with you. “Call, text, whatever; let me know when you’re free.”

“I’ll do that.” You nod and hand him back his cellphone. “Wait, don’t go yet.”

Usahara was about to leave. “Is everything alright? I can wait until you get inside to-”

“You’re sweet.” You take off his jacket, putting it around his shoulders; you peck his jaw, not quite able to reach his cheek. “Next time, maybe we can go on a real date?”

“Am I passed out at the bar?” Usahara touches the spot where you had pressed your soft lips against his skin. “Sorry, let me get this straight: you want to see me again? Me, Usahara, specifically? For a date? Like a ‘date-date’?” he frowns, examines your face carefully. “Are you drunk? I don’t want to take advantage, I mean, you might have second thoughts later, which is totally okay, I-I don’t mind just being friends-!”

“I am a bit tipsy, but I don’t think that’s affecting anything.” You smile a little. “Maybe you should text me first thing in the morning? Just to make sure.”

“I’ll probably be super hungover.” Usahara looks at you like you’re too good to be real. “I usually go to this breakfast place, if you’re interested. It’s a cheap spot but the food’s good. Sorry, I-”

“Are you treating?”

“Yes! And I’ll pick you up?” Usahara is on pins and needles, utterly failing to reign in his excitement. “I have a spare helmet, if you don’t mind riding on a motorcycle. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“It’s a date.” You start to walk away. “Tell the guys I said thank you, again. Do you think they’ll want to get breakfast too?”

“NO!” Usahara hates how his voice pitches so high in panic; he looks down at the ground, a little ashamed of himself, but not enough to be unselfish. He really is shameless. “At least for this time, I want it to be just us. You can see for yourself if I’m worth your time; I swear, you won’t be disappointed.”

“I’m holding you to that.” You smile playfully. “Honey bunny.”

Usahara blushes so much he thinks his face might be on fire, waving in a daze as you disappear into your apartment. 

“Oh crap." It almost hurts how hard Usahara's smiling as he thinks about seeing you again. "I'm so screwed.”

[teddy-bear-baby]

Their Deadly Flower - One

A/N: Please enjoy this written version of one of my many hallucinations. As a reminder, this doesn’t directly follow the canon events of CoD. Also, feel free to leave feedback and share if you are so inclined.

Prolog    Chapter Two

Pairings: Ghost X Reader,  König X Reader

Warnings: Mentions of violence, 

     Some things would never change, from the silence of your steps to your highly perceptive hearing. All of your training had stayed with you even after your leave from 141. Your eyes were always sharp, keeping watch for what could be lurking around the corner. Shoulders always squared and feet poised to strike at anyone who might try to take you out. You were constantly on edge, rarely ever sleeping due to the fear of those seeking your head. The things you had done, the face of those whose lives you had taken, would flash through your mind when you closed your eyes. On the rare occasions you did sleep, you’d wake in a cold sweat, screaming from the night terrors that plagued you. Memories of the capture that lead to your forced leave from the 141. Flickering images of the torture you were put through at the hands of the enemy.

     You had been sloppy in your work only once, but once was good enough for them to take advantage of. They captured you as you lay in a puddle of your own blood. You weren’t fast enough as the bullet started flying, shelter just far enough from you for them to get one good shot off. You were too weak to crawl away as the crimson stained your clothes, seeping from the wound in your abdomen. The taste of blood in the back of your throat kept you from yelling for help. The hands of the enemy dragging you out of sight as the rest of your team made their escape. Too little too late did they notice your absence. By the time they had realized, you were already too far gone. Forced to evacuate and regroup, they made a plan back at the main base.

     Another team had gotten to you first, though you distinctly remember Laswell having been there. The other team took you for medical assistance in the building where they would eventually push you from the 141.

     That was two years ago now and you had built somewhat of a normal life for yourself now. Going under a fake name and being under 24/7 surveillance from those who had employed you before. You still didn’t feel safe. You never felt safe anywhere unless you were surrounded by your team. They had been your family, never had you felt like you belonged somewhere more in your entire life. Gaz and Soap were like brothers to you, Price like a father and Ghost... Well, he was a complicated one. You get along well and all but he was never one to open up. You knew little things about him, but you were sure the others knew those things too. He never opened up to you and for some reason, it bothered you. He hadn’t been cold to you like he was with most, he treated you well enough and would even occasionally joke with you. They were wry and sarcastic, sure, but they were jokes nonetheless. Which meant there was at least something there, right? Some semblance of a friendship?

     “Desert?” A female voice snaps you from your thoughts as your brain registers the fake name you’d been given. Alice was calling for you, your eyes snapping to meet her brown ones, the worry on her face evident. “Hey, are you ok?” 

     Batting away the concern in her voice, you allow your eyes to readjust to your surroundings. “Yeah, yeah. I was just… lost in thought, that’s all.” Shaking your head you begin picking at your food, not really hungry anymore. You knew that this brunch thing wouldn’t go well, you spent most of your time busying your mind with work and chores. You even went as far as to fill any unoccupied time with volunteer work and excessively retraining your movements, just in case. None of it was necessary, however. Your ex-employers were paying for everything for you. They’d literally handed you the keys and address of a one-bedroom flat and a box of food would arrive at your door every Friday at 2 p.m. But none of that kept your mind from slipping back to the day you lost everything. You hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye. They took you to a separate outpost, then shipped you out here.

     “You seem a little more than just lost in thought, Hun.” She gives you a look as if to say ‘I know you better than you think’ before returning her attention to her food. “If you need to talk you know I’m here. You’re like, my best friend and I’d hope that you’d feel safe sharing your thoughts and feelings with me.” She smiles mischievously leaning slightly over the table. “No matter how fucked up they might be. Believe me when I say I have seen some shit.” She pushes her pin-straight blond hair over her shoulder as she bites into a carrot she’d picked out of her salad. 

     You nod silently as you stab the salad in front of you with the cheap plastic fork it came with. “I, um…” Your nerves are on fire after everything that just ran through your mind. “I’ve been thinking back on all the fucked up things I’ve done in my life, you know?” Taking the forkful of salad into your mouth, you look up at her to gauge her expression. She seems passive enough as she nods slowly, encouraging you to continue. And so you do, trying to keep the words that spill from your lips as cryptic as possible. Swallowing the bite of salad, you plaster a fake smile on your face. “You know, like, when you do something so completely avoidable and get into a lot of trouble over it or hurt yourself in the process.” Your smile falters as your mind again drifts back to that day.

     A small laugh escapes her plump lips. “Yeah, no, I get it.” She shakes her head looking you dead in the eyes, brows creased with amusement dancing in her eyes. “Is that really what you spend all that time thinking about?” Her cocks slightly to the side.

     An odd feeling rolls through your gut as you stare at her for a moment, trying to keep your features as neutral and light as possible. Something about her felt familiar, almost dangerous. Your mind races trying to figure out why she seemed familiar. Of course you knew her, you’d befriended each other a few months after you’d been moved here, but something about the look she just gave you sent your mind into a spiral. You remember that face, from a long time ago, way before you’d messed up. Then, as if you’d unlocked a hidden door somewhere deep in your mind, it all comes flooding back. All the negotiating you’d done with the enemy’s intelligence unit, it was her. She was always the one that would show up to speak with you, always completely unarmed and far too casual for the serious discussions that took place. You remember the odd, creepy vibes she gave off whenever she’d crack an inappropriate joke about whichever team member had been partnered with you that day.

     You’re sure at this point in thought that your mask had slipped, letting her in on the feelings flooding through your body. Fear and confusion, among many other feelings, flood you. As you regain composure you notice her once amused face has turned serious. “I’d be careful what your next move is soldier, wouldn’t want to make any more stupid mistakes, would we?” The smile returns to her face, sickeningly sweet and overall creepy as the tone in her voice turns sardonic.

     Inhaling deeply, you push your nerves down, blowing the anxiety out of your body with the exhale. “No, no more stupid mistakes.” With a light shake of your head, you stand slowly, clasping your hands in one another. You can only hope this action has the effect you're looking for. The last thing you’d want is an innocent getting hurt in the crossfire of a war they weren’t part of. Your eyes shift from her face to the rest of her body, searching for any signs of hostility. None immediately present themselves outright, perfect. Now you could easily lead her away from the civilians who were just trying to enjoy their remaining days on this spinning ball of hell. “Shall we?” Your voice comes out more confident than you were anticipating. Gesturing to the exit of the small café with your hands still clasped., you take a cautious step towards it, eyes never leaving her form.

     A knowing look crosses her gaze as she dabs her lips with a napkin. “Of course bestie.” An almost crazed smile paints itself across her thin lips. “Wouldn’t wanna waste our hours away sitting here all day.” She stands tall and straight, walking with intent. She strides up to you, giving you a cocky look as she links her elbow with yours. Leading you through the exit, she stops a few steps down the sidewalk, appearing to map the best route in her head as she looks up and down the street. 

     Sizing her up mentally you come to the conclusion that in hand-to-hand combat you could easily subdue her. If she possessed a firearm, however, your chances were slimmer. In the current environment, she’d be stupid to try anything. Civilians and shop owners would see everything and most of them knew her face by now. A small hiccup with living so long in such a small town, but an advantage you’d abuse in your current circumstances. On top of that, you’d taken the time in your paranoia-stricken state to map out the whole town repeatedly. At this point, every street, alley, and building was permanently ingrained in your mind. You’d need to make it to the forest on the west side of town. You knew what path you’d take if you got the chance to make a break for it. You stay silent as she continues to inspect the intersecting roads. Now though, you’re not sure whether she’s mapping out her surroundings, or looking for someone. It hit you then that if she had been this close to you the whole time, her team probably wasn’t far from her.

     Your mind begins to analyze the situation again, this time with the assumption that her team was also here, watching you both. Taking a silent deep breath, you clear your mind. There were some obvious spots that they would hide, plain sight for instance. You’d never got a glimpse of her team members’ faces, anonymity was almost a must for field ops during any mission. The town could be chock-full of enemy soldiers waiting around any corner ready to gun you down. Your mind flips through the nearly infinite paths you could take to safety, each one being tossed out for one reason or another. Corners you couldn’t see around, places not dense enough with buildings to duck behind, alleyways that didn’t lead directly into each other, and places too busy with civilian activity. You could do this, it would be risky but you knew you could. 

     Your eyes fix on the side of her head, trying to assess if you had the time to slip away before she located what she was looking for. Her eyes were still flitting back and forth, deciding now was the best chance you’d get, as time only allowed whatever danger there was to get closer. You steel yourself against the thought of being shot at and chased down, your leg muscles twitch as you shift your feet silently into position. Your mind flashes the path one last time, the hardest part would be the 180 you’d have to make to start the long trek out of this place. You glance once behind you to ensure the path is clear. Your body begins to move on its own, your hands unwinding from each other before you swiftly yank your arm from Alice’s. Using the moment of your own movements you spin on your toes taking off in a mad dash for the first alleyway you’d mapped in your head.

     Time seems to slow as you round the corner. Your strides nearly halt as the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rings off of the walls around you. Your sense of self-preservation kicks in and your legs begin to move faster. Rushing footsteps sound off from the street behind you. Wasting no time as you come to the next turn in your mental map, your right-hand jumps away from your body. It grips tightly on the pole of a street sign, using the momentum you’ve gained to whip yourself around the corner, losing little to no speed. With the path still clear in your mind, you focus all of your energy on putting as much distance as possible between you and your assailants. More gunshots ring in the air coming from all directions, confusion growing in your mind. Your chest heaves as you push yourself to keep going, running for what felt like forever as the sounds of all-out chaos resound through the streets. The footsteps behind you hadn’t ceased but had grown a bit quieter, farther away. If you could, you’d find a place to hunker down and hope they’d run right past you, but with no weapons to defend yourself with it wasn’t the best option. 

     Your legs ache from exertion, your chest heaving with every footfall. ‘You can do this’ repeats in your head over and over, a sort of mantra to keep yourself going. You were so close to the outskirts of town, the sweet taste of freedom stuck to the back of your tongue. One left turn, then a right and you’d smack face-first into the trees you plan to use to get away. The sound of gunfire is slowly dying down as you ready yourself to make the swift turn around the corner. For what has to be the twentieth time today, your arm jumps away from your body and you fling yourself around the corner. Your eyes widen as you catch sight of a large looming figure standing in the middle of the small alleyway. Suited in full tactical gear, a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, he’s a menacing sight. His whole body is covered in weaponry and as your eyes scan up his body you catch a quick glimpse of a skull mask peering back at you. Using the little bit of clarity left in your head, you make a split decision, knowing you wouldn’t have time to stop before colliding with his large frame.

[thenixkat]

also the president gave shoot on sight orders for the Joker. I dont think anyone would care if a superhero murdered the Joker who's orchestrating the mass death of thousands at this very moment, Nightwing. Get off yer fucking high horse

of course the Jokerization is randomly killing/dropping villains now. We can't have this ass pull have any real long term effects

faces

they got paid. so the doctor that diagnosed the Joker with a brain tumor was playing a prank on the Joker and didnt think it would go horribly wrong

folks making deals with that fuckin brainworm that i know is usually up to some shit

ok just spread the jokerness via tainted rain, sure, whatever

you were just fleeing from Joker the other issue why are you demanding being taken to him now? Fuck it, let Harley go to the Joker so he can rape and kill her, it's what she fucking wants right now. Let her get her dipshit ass killed.

also Dr. Langstrom is that Dr. Langstrom, the werebat. In this he turns when stressed.

there's a protocol in place for getting Dr. Langstron to calm his shit when he goes werebat. They shot him with some calming drugs

meanwhile, Harley is getting cavity searched for a 3rd time apparently by an overly gleeful lady soldier, cause sexual assault is funny when its lady on lady apparently.

Oracle calls in Huntress, a hero known for killing fuckers, to do whatever she feels necessary to save Robin and clear out some jokerized villains. Just dont tell Batman

jokerized, ugh, Killer Croc called dibs on some Robin wings

Nightwing you know better than trying to reason with the fucking Joker. Also staple gun

oh hey Batman put tracking devices in the costume upgrades he gave his allies. Gotta love that paranoid big brother bs. Someday folks are gonna get tired of that shit and beat Batman's ass

like that's rude as hell also fucking boob socks on the fucking bulletproof vest is a shitty art decision

i doubt Tim-Robin got eaten that quickly and Killer Croc is still fucking hungry. Tim's a decent-sized child, with plenty of meat

again, I don't think Tim-Robin is dead. An offscreen death in a miniseries that doesnt focus on him? I dont buy it

and even if he was he'd be back sooner rather than later

also since when does a superhero need to be sanctioned? I doubt Batman can keep every hero he doesnt like/wont bow to him out of Gotham

oh so now Nightwing is ok with killing Joker. It only took the Joker killing Jason, crippling Barbra, and killing Tim too. Damn, fuck you Nightwing

The Joker has to murder and maim multiple people that Dick is close to b4 dude would consider killing him. Man, I'd be pissed off at Nightwing if I lived in this world and had folks I knew murdered and maimed and the heroes only get serious when it gets personal

yeah, these heroes should have more enemies with the common people just for that alone. 'You had teh chance to stop a terrible fucker and chose not to. Repeatedly even tho the bodies kept pilling up' also the folks in charge with stopping the prison riot are …alive after getting sucked into a gravity well. B/c gravity wells transport fuckers to a pocket dimension instead of crushing the shit out of things in this world. They've been dodging the aquatic villains and murdering one villain who's power is he gets a new power every time he dies which is extremely unethical

Oracle switched positions and wants Batman to stop Nightwing from murdering the Joker.

let him kill the Joker and get him some therapy after, yall making this more of a problem than it needs to be

No shit Tim-Robin wasnt dead. They didnt even put a whole issue between the fake out and him being back

fucking bleeding hearted saps feeling bad about killing the Joker. Couldn't be me

Batman you should have let him die. Everyone the Joker kills after this is directly on your fucking head.

yall weak ass bitches. Everyone the Joker kills after this is on you all for reviving the fucker.

the put the Joker back in prison instead of just killing him. so he can escape again at some point for more adventures. Lex Luthor is the president, its not like he has fucking morals or that the global public doesnt want the Joker dead. Just kill him

and that's the end. There's no good reason for anyone involved to not just fucking kill the Joker

the villains dont like him, the heroes should kill him for the greater good and they'd actually be justified in this one case more than anything else, the world governments should want the Joker dead. No one benefits to the Joker continuing to be alive

[eddygoldarm]

Okay, in this post, I will put all my headcanons for the brawlers origins/backstories.

I'll update it little by little as I go and find more things about them. Note that I I sometimes quit the game for long periods of time so I'm not always updated on the lore. So this is mostly my personal interpretation, if you have any canon information/trivia from the creators/interesting headcanons, feel free to share them! With that said, let's do this!

⬇️

WILD WEST

🩹Shelly : She was a normal farmgirl from the frontier, living in her family's ranch with her animals. But many gangs from the area made her life very difficult, and the rangers never did anything for her, so she decided to become some kind of vigilante. After many lonely years, she met Colt, who she thought was just another idiot. While she was right, he proved himself to be efficient and caring, and he convinced her to stop the cycle of crime by joining him. She accepted, and is now a mercenary working with Colt, fighting to make the frontier a better place. While still hot-headed, she's way more well adjusted and reasonable now, she's just a bit jealous of Colt. As her best friend, she knows him better than anyone else and dislikes the fact that this utter idiot gets more recognition than her.

⭐Colt : Colt has a secret : He is the son of Belle and Sam from the goldarm gang. Born as Edwin, he was raised by the gang and learned all the ins and outs of the criminal life since he was little. His mother Belle pushed him to perform better each day in order to make him strong. That way, he became an incredible shot, but also a boastful and well-groomed boy, never letting show a sign of weakness. But as the heists were getting more difficult, and the gang more violent, Eddy struggled to keep up, and Belle started to neglect him when he failed. He started to hate himself, as he felt like nobody would ever love who he was becoming. So, after a terrible accident that mutated him (that Shelly was in too!), he decided to fake his death to start his own new life. He assumed a new identity, and thanks to his gun skills and tactical knowledge, became a security officer at Starr Park. He slowly climbed the ladder, accomplishing his duty, pleasing the people and making a name for himself. Until he became the Oldtown sheriff, Colt is now happier than ever, as he has all he ever wanted: A great job, a lot of fans and friends that move him... unless?

🌵Spike : Spike was originally a regular cactus, living his normal cactus life in the middle of the desert. Until one day, a mountain of a human fell and landed on him, completely destroying the plant. Hopefully, a little chunk stayed attached to his shirt, and he managed to survive. The small shoot was given to a young Eddy, and then potted. The little plant was the boy's new best friend, he took care of it, carried it everywhere, and even talked to it. Spike learned a lot, everything even, and developed feelings for the boy as he watched him grow and struggle. Until one day, where the plant was blasted once again, it managed to survive, but something changed in Spike. He started to slowly mutate into a humanoïd shape, and could even now form "thoughts". Spike essentially turned into a little human (which freaked out Colt and made him sholt Spike in chock but we avoid talking about that.), that became Colt's new friend. With his newfound appearance, Spike became a weird little guy, just wandering around, either helping his friends or causing mischief. He is living his best life and nobody can stop him, he's a cactus! While more independant, he his still close to Colt, he cheers him up in his own weird ways, and keeps his secrets... which is very useful since he can't speak.

SHAMAN TRIBE

🦅Bo : The shaman tribe are the oldest group of the land, they live secluded in the jungle, in harmony with nature. Bo is one of their warriors, strong, wise and courageous, he was always curious about the world around him. When he was still young, he stepped out the jungle, and fell in love with the beauty of nature and mankind. He started to explore the world, acquiring knowledge and new connexion, that he shared with his peers. Of course, this idea didn't sit well with everyone; Leon and Nita's father, was killed by a man of the frontier, going outside could lead to catastrophe. Bo knew this, but thought it was worth the risk, and some people of the tribe started to go out as well, notably the widow, who was intrigued by Starr Park. While the warrior didn't care for it, he saw that it was cheering her up, and they started to hang out there together, they fell in love, and got married. Taking little Leon and Nita was becoming their ritual, until one faithful day, where the mother vanished without a trace. Submerged by guilt, Bo looked for months for her, sadly, he couldn't find any trace of her. Instead, he decided to take responsability, and took Leon and Nita under his wing. Today he is still a respected warrior, but ha has to carry the burden of his wife's disappearance. Also, Bo isn't his actual name, it's a nickname the people of the frontier have given him. He also uses merch from the park as a voluntary hinderance, to sharpen his skills, they're also gifts from the kids.

🦎Leon : Leon is a child from the shaman tribe, unfortunately, he didn't have a warrior spirit, and was rather shy. He preferred to stay in his corner, observing the world around him, his parents didn't care, and still cherished him. Sadly, the accumulation of his father's death, his replacement by a scary stoic warrior, and his mother's disappearance, made him close in on himself even more. Thanks to a gem mutation, he developped invisibility powers, and used it to hide and to cause trouble. This was a pain to deal with for Bo, who had no experience with parenting. Eventually, with the help of Nita, he managed to earn the child's trust. With time, Leon learned to open up and be a happy kid again, it's still difficult sometimes, he's still a troublemaker! But that's why we love him!

🐻Nita : Nita barely knew her parents, she always carried the teddy her mom had given her for comfort. When she disappeared, all she had to look up too was her big brother (Bo was too busy looking for her mom to take care of them), so she became a fierce little troublemaker like him. Together they began causing mayhem wherever they went, and this was the happiest she ever was. Of course, this fell back on her, when the teddy got destroyed (Bull did it), this got her seething with rage, giving birth to Bruce, the fierce spirit-bear (thanks in part to a gem mutation). After seeing the damage Nita had done, Bo finally decided to step in : he defeated the bear, and stitched the plushie back together. That way, she could always be comforted by someone if she ever felt angry.

RETROPOLIS GANG

🐂Bull : Bull (I think I saw his real name somewhere but it might have been a jape) was born and raised in the frontier. He was always a big boy, but contrary to his appearance, he was kind and well-mannered. Sadly, those traits that aren't desirable in this harsh environnement, Bull's childhood was difficult, because despite his herculeand strenght, he couldn't bring himself to hurt anyone. I like to think he briefly dated Pam, but she dumped him because he was too much of a wimp. Having enough of this, he quit his farm for Retropolis, where he got a job as a waiter. All wasn't perfect though, there were many gangs fighting, and he always got caught in the fire. One day, he got a spike of courage, and tried to save an innocent client, only to recieve a deadly gem explosion. The radiation, as well as the frustration of years of suffering, made him loose all his tempter, and in an instant, he singlehandedly obliterated the gang responsible. They all started to respect him and do favors for him. At first he didn't want this kind of power, he felt guilty for beating all these people, but he soon realized he could use it to do some good, he could maintain order and protect underdogs like him. Bull slowly assumed a stronger, bolder character, recruited some goons, and founded his own gang. While Bull's gang was terrifying, their goal was only to put those who caused trouble, and hurt innocents back in their place. Today Bull owns the diner, and is a well-known figure in Retropolis, feared by some, respected by many, despite his looks and methods, it's undeniable that he made the city a safer place. He might be scary now, but deep down, he's still the kind humble farmboy, so, as long as you're polite, you're always welcole at Bull's diner! His pancakes are bangin too.

🐦‍⬛Crow: He was just a normal bird, flying around, earing seeds etc... But one day, he got shot and fell into a crevasse filled with gems. This caused him to mutate enormously, and to become quasi-human. Crow was terrified; his body and world had changed, and he was all alone. So he wandered, trying to make sense of everything. But he got soon spotted by many criminals, who tried to capture him. After days of escape, Crow was cornered at Retropolis, he felt like he was doomed to suffer for the rest of his life. It was at this moment that somewhat lended him a hand for the first time: Bull saw what was happening to the strange bird-man, and ordered everyone to leave him alone. He gave him a jacket, lead him to his restaurant, and cooked him a breakfast. Crow had now a roof and a friend. The bird-man had come a long way, he learned to move, to speak and to act like a human, but he still has a long way to go to figure himself out, bird or human? Maybe something completely different, only time will tell. In the meantime, Crow is happy to belong somewhere, somewhere safe.

⚾Bibi : I headcanon that she's Kenji's daughter, she grew up in the sushi restaurant in Retropolis, helping her mom and dad. Contrary to now, she was a sweet and well-mannered girl, all was well until Starr Park attacked the restaurant, her mother got kidnapped, and her father went in hiding to try and fing her. Lost and confused, she didn't understand why her father suddently left her when she needed him most, so she saught refuge at Bull's diner, because she knew he could help. Bull accepted to take her under his wing, on the condition that she would be a part of his gang. Since then, Bibi has toughen up a lot, she adopted a bad girl attitude to match with Bull and Crow's energy, but if you look behind her façade, you can easily see she's still a sweet girl, she likes candy, video games and cute animals. Bull doesn't treat her like a child, but he still takes care of her, he's like a second dad to her.

(I'm sensing a pattern with Bo and Bull adopting weird children here lol)

STARRCADE

🕹️Brock : I don't think Brock has anything special, really, he's probably the most normal of all the brawlers. He's always was a geek, and was frequently bullied for liking comics, cartoons and video games. In his teens, with the help of Colt (who he met at Starr Park), and his dad, who is a ranger, he learned to assert and defend himself. He turned his nerdiness into a strengh, learning to dress cool, talk back, and creating gadgets to defend himself (a rocket launcher is a bit overkill imo). Despite his certified freshness, he's a bit of a bum, but he's fine with his life, he works in something that he's passionate about thanks to the arcade, and he's surrounded by cool friends.

🔫Rico : Like all robots of his kind, Rico was designed for combat, he was part of a squadron belonging to the rangers, and obeyed to the orders like any other robots would. Until one day, when he was ordered to get stolen gems back from the Gold Arm. During this mission, he got shot (by Eddy or Belle) in just the right spot, causing a mutation thanks to the nearby gems. Rico gained a free will and a consciousness, this, mixed to his calculator-brain, made him an extremely accurate shooter. He hid it at first, but the rangers quickly noticed it, and started treating him as an equal, he was given clothes, promoted, and nicknamed "Ricochet" because of his famous gun tricks. Eventually, Rico got tired of following orders, he wanted to be his own person, so he said goodbye to the rangers, and became a bounty hunter. This was the robot's prime years, as he wandered the desert, he became famous, as he was at the time the only independant robot, and a dreaded sharpshooter. It was at this time that he met Piper, but they weren't lovers, I'm not sure if they were partners or ennemies. Sadly, all things had to come to an end, and one day, he crossed paths with the Gold Arm once again, who completely obliterated him, he wasn't buried like a person, but thrown in the scrapyard. A few years after, Brock found his carcass, took it, and frankensteined him with a gumball machine, thinking it could be a great addition to the Starrcade. But by fixing him, Rico woke up again: the bounty hunter returned. Brock realised that he had just ressucitated one of the most famous figures of the frontier, he thought it was lit. The robot didn't feel like going back to his old ways, he thought the Starrcade was a nice place, so he decided to retire, and to hang out in Retropolis. He's not as fierce as he used to be, now he prefers to be silly and to play the gallery with his bouncy balls. And yeah, he dated a vending machine, but Frank broke it, and now he is with Piper, who charmed with his new persona.

👾 8-Bit : He is an old arcade machine that was given life after Brock forgot gems on it. He used to display a bad and difficult game, and all the players that tried to beat it spat their anger and frustration at him. Now that he is alive, he is a pure machine of hatred, trying to beat all the people that mistreated him. He respects Brock because he's one of the few that was good at his game.

BANDSTAND

🏋️El Primo : He is Shelly's cousin, and grew up on the same farm as her. He became passionate about lucha libre from a very early age, and began practicing on everyone and everything. Thanks to his training, he became very strong, he was a bit of a beloved local figure, but it wasn't enough for him. He wanted to become the strongest in the universe, but he felt like he couldn't progress. One night, as he was practicing under the moon, he saw a purple meteor descend from the sky. He thought that if he mutated, he could finally become strong, so he tried to intercept it, not realizing how much danger he was putting himself in. Thankfully, Shelly saved him in extremis, and scholded him for being and idiot, telling him that being mutated isn't fun or cool. They watched the stars fall together, the wrestler felt like he could become as powerful as them, so he modeled his famous jump move after the meteor's fall. Now, to spice up his tale, he tells everyone that the meteor hit him right in the face, gifting him with immense power and beauty. But both Shelly and him know he's just strong like that ;] Now he is a travelling luchador with his bandstand friends Poco and Amber.

🎺Poco : Poco used to be a normal human, he was a promising musician of the frontier, with his own life and family. Sadly, he tragically passed away in a brawl between criminals, before he could meet his fame. Decades later, because of a mutation, he ressucitated (Maybe Mortis did it lol), but he was cursed to be a skeleton for the rest of his life. Saddened by his state, and the loss of his home and loved ones, he began to wander the desert, playing mournful balads to himself. He didn't hurt anyone, but people avoided him for his appearance. One day, as he was approaching Oldtown, he met with someone who was badly hurt and couldn't move (idk who could that be, maybe Shelly when she was a vigilante? or El Primo or Amber), he decided to keep them company, and to play his guitar to soothe them. Little did he know, his beautiful music had now the power to heal others. Extremely grateful and excited by this, the person introduced them to the people of Oldtown, who slowly started to accept him. Now Poco has regained his true colors, and is beloved by everyone, nothing makes him happier than seeing the smiles he brings to everyone.

🔥Amber : I don't know of any potential backstory leads for Amber. I just think she's a normal girl who LOVES fire and wanted to be a performer with the baton (idk how you call this lmao). The problem was, she gets too carried away, and tends to destroy everything, which discouraged her. El Primo thought it was cool as hell though, and asked her to be a part of his show.

OLDTOWN

🍺Barley : Like the other cyclop robots, Barley was a fighter, and like some of his kind, he was destroyed in a fight, then repurposed by the common people (possibly by a younger Pam). He belonged to the previous owner of the Oldtown bar, and served as a simple bartender, he wasn't very special, but he was a fun novelty that attracted customers. While he was a great bartender, it seemed like his code wasn't changed properly, and each time a fight burst in the bar, he would go in fighter mode, and destroy everything himself. At one point he gained consciouness, and the fights multiplied, he started to feel remorse for his owner and fatigue to have to clean everything else. So he worked on himself a bit, his boss gave him a classy look, complete with a nice oufit and a mustache, and he made it a point to keep the bar in order. The owner eventually passed away, and Barley inherited the bar, and to this day, he's still serving his customers with a lovely smile. He still has "anger issues" though.

🌂Piper : Not sure for Piper yet. She was either a deadly criminal, a bounty hunter or a respected ranger, she knew Ricochet and the Goldarm gang personally. But one day she got tired of fighting, so she left her wild life, and came back to Oldtown, where she opened her charming bakery. While she isn't one to fight in the spotlight, she still has her fighter reflexes for before, so don't tease her.

🐍Byron : Byron is one of the sons of the Starr family, and Belle's older brother, since an early age, Byron was passionate about poisons and toxins. He studied snakes, scorpions and other venomous creatures, in the hopes of becoming a pharmacist, and make a ton of money selling miracle remedies. Byron was never involved in his family's business, mostly developping his practice on his side, so he was really surprised when Belle ran away and became an outlaw (he's a bit out of touch with his surroundings). A few years later, she showed up at his place with an injured Sam, he knew how dangerous they were, but as a man of the medical field, he had no choice but to help them. So, he began working for them, little by little, attracted by his greed, and his familial bond with Belle. Realising how successful this partnership was becoming, he gave up on his studies, preferring to supply the gang with remedies and poisons in exchange for money. Eventually, the gang got caught, and Byron with it, he was sent to prison, but managed to smooth talk his captives into getting a shorter sentence. Byron is back in Oldtown now, while unable to become a proper pharmacist, a medical diploma is just a paper to him. Because he's basically Colt's uncle, he allowed him to sell his products, as long as he didn't cause trouble. While Byron didn't achieve his dream, he's still became the richest person in Oldtown thanks to his passion, living the dream life in his big house filled with snakes. Also, like Belle, he's blacklisted from the Starr family gatherings, but he doesn't care.

BIODOME

🌹Rosa : Originating from Super City, Rosa is a talented botanist. One day, because of a lab accident, she suffered from a mutation, which made her strong as heck. So she made it her goal to study this phenomenon. While she had a lot of theoretical knowledge, she rarely ventured outside her lab, and lacked field experience. She worked so hard that she started to neglect her family, and her sisters went missing (One of them being Lily, they are so similar to me!!). Feeling remorse she decided to got to the jungle, where she thought Lily went, and where the mutated flora was plentiful. It was a dangerous territory, but she found a way to protect herself : she punched all the plants that tried to attack her, and domesticated a baby mutated plant to make and make herself and armor out of it. While she didn't find her sister (well, she did, but she didn't recognize her, and punched her as well), she learned a lot on her journey. Thanks to her talent, she was appointed by Starr Park to work at their shiny new Biodome, a giant greenhouse created in the hopes of rehabilitating plantlife in the frontier. Now she works here with her assistants Bea and Sprout, making new discoveries everyday.

🐝Bea : SHE LIKES BEES. I think she grew up in the frontier, where insects are fairly rare. When she understood their importance in the ecosystem, and the power they could have to repopulate the frontier, she fell in love with them, especially the bees. So she studied the bees, and became a bee scientist, and now she works at the biodome where she uses bees to help Rosa with her plant research. She's not as interested in the mutations as her, she's more of a tech nerd, she created the bee drone, as well as Sprout.

🌱Sprout : Sprout was originally a standard smart seed incubator, it's simply designed to keep seeds in good health before while they hatch. One day, after one of her jungle explorations, Rosa found a really strange mutated seed, brought it back to the biodome, and put it in the incubator to study it. Over the days, the incubator started to malfunction, it started to speak and move by itself. Bea checked it, and noticed that as it was growing, the seed was slowly taking over the incubator, who started to mutate as well. At one point, it almost seemed like it was having a mind of its own, so Bea decided to upgrade it, giving it arms and wheels, so it could be monitored more easily, and also drawing a face on it. And so, Sprout was born, they're Rosa and Bea's little assistant in the biodome, taking care of the plants. To this day, nobody knows what the seed holds, but Sprout takes care of it rigourously.

SCRAPPERS

🔧Jessie : She's a wild kid, since she was little, she's used to the rough and tough of the frontier. She was possibly born with a mutation that made her extremely intelligent, and by watching her mother, she quickly learned to make all kinds of different machines. She didn't have any friends growing up, so she considers her home-made electro gun and turret, Scrappy as such. Now that she's a little bit older, she wants to be let on her own, and make new friends by herself. Unfortunately Pam is too scared for her, and Nani won't let her wander off, when will they learn that she is a big girl now? Despite her intelligence and courage, she's still a little girl, she likes dolls and cute animals, and cries like a baby when she doesn't get her way.

⚙️Pam : I like to think that Pam was an heir to the Starr family, but, like Belle, decided to flee as she didn't like the life that was promised to her. Before running away, she was a worker at the robot factory, and she used her experience to make a living as a scrapper. She was a free spirit, and was carried by the wind, one day quietly visiting Oldtown, and the other riding to hell with the bikers. Pam's life was difficult, but she was strong enough to be happy with it. Eventually, she fell pregnant with Jessie (Bull is possibly the father, it could be really funny), and that made her an easy target. She decided to stop wandering, and to settle in the scrapyard, her pregnancy was difficult, as she had to defend herself, her baby, and her livelyhood alone. She managed it, but this experience calmed her down a little bit, she couldn't afford to do as she pleased anymore, now that she had a child. She is very protective of Jessie because of it, and she built Nani to watch over her. That still doesn't mean she's still sitting around doing nothing! Pam is always present for a little action, especially when it comes to annoy the Starrs.

🐥Nani : Nani was a scrapped mousebot, repurposed by Pam to be Jessie's nanny. She loves her family and is even more protective over Jessie than Pam. She doesn't hesitate to spy on her with Peep when she wanders too far. Nothing too complicated about her. I like to think that one day Starr Park got a hold of her, while she was freed by Pam, they still could used her as a basis to create R-T.

MINERS

🧨Dynamike : Mike was a miner back in the old days, his favorite part of the job was seeing the explosions him and his coworkers caused. This lead him to not be very careful with his equipement; one day, the canary they were using escaped in a new tunnel, as Mike tried to retrieve it, a wall crashed behind him, blocking the exit. Despite attempts to save him, the rescuers couldn't do anything, and left him for dead. Over 40 years later, as the miners where digging nearby, Dynamike, and his birdie reemerged from the tunnel, like nothing happened. To this day, nobody knows how they survived in there, when asked, he only responds with nonsense, it seems like years of isolation caused him to go a bit crazy. Nowadays, he's still working at the mines, and loving every second of it.

👷Jackie : She was originally a construction worker in Super City, but she got fired for being too vulgar and destructive. She then reconverted as a miner, where she suffered a mutation because of the gems. While she's not really passionate about her job, she's glad she can unwind as much as she wants.

⛏️Carl : Carl was a standard miner robot, since recent times, they've replaced the miners, as they are safer and more efficient. Jackie pushed him in a crevasse once, and he mutated, gaining a consciouness. Carl is a geology nerd, and unlike the other robots, he spends his time studying the rocks and gems they find. While he is very useful for the miners, Jacky can't stand him and his nerdyness, and she bullies him a bit.

PIRATES

🛢️Darryl : Same as the other cyclops, Darryl once gained consciousness after an accident involving gems. He was badly beat up, but he was repaired by people living near the beach (maybe Penny's family), replacing his full torso area by a big barrel, hence why he looks a bit different from the other robots. He soon realised that he didn't like to work for them, he wanted to live his own life, free from society, so, he became a pirate! He put on a hat, found a boat, and formed a crew, and now sails on the seven seas! Little did he know that managing a crew also took responsability, but he loves his little guys, so he tried his best.

💀Penny : Penny is a rebellious girl from the beach, her parents didn't really take care of her, so she did as she pleased, and survived by stealing from tourists. When she learned that Darryl was looking for crewmates, she immediately joined him. She met Jessie at the beach once, and they became good friends, Jessie taught her a bit of mecanics, and she learned to make her own turrets.

💣Tick : He's one of Penny's creations, and also her pet. He's a very basic robot, made of three canons stitched together. All he does on the ship is blow things up and be silly.

GHOST TRAIN

🚂Chuck : Chuck was a famous and passionate maestro, he was always looking to surpass himself in his art. His concerts where impressive, but he felt like he could do even better. Sadly, one day, the train he was taking derailled at the ghost station. While everyone evacuated safely, some debris fell on Chuck, and he couldn't move anymore, and he passed away in there. He later woke up as a ghost, bound to the train's seat, he had become the ghost train's new conductor. While it was confusing at first, he quickly got a hang of his new body, and exploited his powers to create even more powerful music! Chuck fell into a sick obsession with them, making him look crazy and scary, but the apparition of Gus soften him up a bit, and he remembered how to have fun with music!

🎈Gus : He was a regular kid with his head in the clouds, that liked balloons a lot. One day, as he was coming back from Starr Park, he lost his balloon in a train tunnel, and he went after it. The boy was never seen again, but some people say they can see the apparition of a boy with a balloon in the ghost station. Gus became a ghost because of a mutation, and is permanently bound to the train and the station. It was scary and confusing at first, but Chuck told him there was nothing to fear. He is used to it now, he uses his new powers to give a scare to the ghost station visitors, since he has nothing better to do.

🕶️Shade : It's a pile of clothes from the station's lost and found that mutated. Gus found it and quickly became its best friend. Unlike Gus or Chuck, Shade it very friendly towards the visitors, but they tend to run away from it as well.

MORTUARY

🦇 Mortis : Mortis' mom tragically passed away when he was little, since then, he had a fascination for death, he isolated himself from his family to study it in detail. He took trips to the graveyard to experiment on bodies, and eventually gained enough experience to become a mortician. One day though, he fell in a grave full of gems, and mutated, becoming essentially a vampire. He took this opportunity to study death even further, using his necromancy powers to hopefully one day resurrect the dead, or achieve immortality. He managed to do it several times, notably creating Frank. But as the years went by, started to outgrow his loved ones, and became a recluse in his own family. The only one that wasn't scared of him was a young EMZ, who thought her uncle was really cool. Mortis started to feel loved, and to assert himself again thanks to the little girl. Sadly, she passed away because of a sickness, Mortis couldn't accept it, and he resurrected her, cursing her with a zombified body and eternal life. EMZ hated her uncle for what he had done, but she made peace with it thanks to Frank, and Mortis promised to fix his mistake. Today Mortis is still the local mortician, living a cool vampire life with his zombie friends, he doesn't resurrect anyone anymore.

🪦Frank : Frank isn't actually a frankenstein monster, he's just the zombie of the Starr family's butler. Mortis was close to him, so after his death, he tried to ressucitate him, with mixed results. While Frank is alive, the resurrection made him broken in some ways, he barely had memories of his past life, couldn't speak, and had a very awkward body. Mortis admired him though, considering him as a huge achievement. He didn't really treat him like a person at that time though, which angered Frank a lot. He spent a lot of time trying to cope with his meare existence, and what would be his place in the world. Thankfully, when EMZ entered the picture, Mortis softened a lot, and he pushed Frank to explore himself, and to live his own life. He discovered that music was a great way for him to express himself, and he could do it without destroying everything! So he decided to become a DJ, and hosts raves every week at the graveyard!

💅EMZ : She was an outgoing and a bit quirky girl, liking everything spookh and a bit gross. She loved her uncle Mortis, because he was basically a vampire. Sadly, she passed away because of a sickness, but Mortis ressucitated her later. She was now a zombie girl, cursed with a putrefied body, her skin was purple, she was mostly bones, and had no hair and nose. Her schoolmates were mocking her for her appearance, and made her life miserable. She got so frustrated, that she completely leaned in her monster persona, and became a scary, sassy bully herself. But thanks to Frank and Mortis, she got the courage to assert herself once again, and so, she changed her appearance to become who she really wanted to be. She became the queen we all know and love today, and didn't even give a look to her bullies, she prefered to help girls like her feel more confident in themselves. To do this, she became a beauty influencer, and later launched her own line of beauty products!

STUNT SHOW

🎆Stu : Stu is former fighter drone, who was badly beat up after a brawl, he had no bottom part and his eye glow blue instead of yellow. He was found, and repurposed by Janet and Bonnie's parents to be a crash test robot for their stunts. Stu was "mistreated" but he loved it, and eventually gained a consciousness after a bad stunt, he was truly a part of the family. Sadly, one day, the girl's parents died in a tragic accident. Janet got depressed, and didn't want to perform anymore. Stu was left purposeless, as he only knew how to crash onto things. So, he took it upon himself to take care of the girls, and with the help of Bonnie, he managed to cheer Janet back up. He's now the leader of the stunt show and while it's difficult for him, he does his best everyday to bring the girls to their fullest potential.

🚀Janet : Janet has always seen her parents and Stu perform on stage, she loved the spotlights and the sparks in peoples eyes during the show. But unlike her parents, she wanted to become a singer more than anything, and she began to perform at an early age. Unfortunately, when her parents passed away after the accident, she was too scared to go on stage again. She saw how much Stu struggled to take care of the both of them, and slowly, she started to open up again. Little by little, with the encouragements of her little sister, she got the courage to step back on stage. She now gives everything she has during each show, wanting to impress people with her stunts and voice, as well as honour her parent's memory. She also is now responsible for everything regarding security in the show, making sure that nobody gets hurt, everyone (even Stu) has to wear a helmet now!

🦷Bonnie : Bonnie loved to watch her parents fly around during their show, and wanted to be just like them, but she was still too young to perform such dangerous stunts. Her mother promised that when she'd be old enough, they'd fly to the moon together. When they died, she couldn't accept Stu as their substitute, and began to behave badly to drive him nuts. She'd crawl around her parent's old stuff, and try to imitate them by jumping around between the obstacles. One day, she hid in her mother's canon, thinking she was ready to go see her mom on the moon, Stu fired it by accident, and she was launched in the air. She loved the sensation of flying through the sky, and the adrenaline it gave her, but she didn't notice she was about to crash. Stu managed to catch her, and miraculously, she was safe. This incident made Janet terrified, and she grounded her very badly. Bonnie wasn't discouraged, she wanted to fly again! So she started to slowly practice with Stu, and showed Janet what she was capable of. In return, both Janet and Stu found their purpose again, and you know the rest of the story!

GIFT SHOP

🪙 Griff : Griff spent the majority of his life in the frontier, and made his bread and butter as "professional scammer". With each new day, he came up with a new crazy plan to scam some idiots. He never got rich, but he had enough to live a tranquil life. He lived many years like this, until he scammed the wrong person, and the rangers finally caught up to his misdeeds. To avoid getting caught, he assumed a completely new identity, and sweet-talked his way into becoming the boss of the shiny new Starr Park gift shop! He wore this crazy hat and outfit as a way to hide in plain sight. Little did he know, owning a business takes work, and while he's good at making money, he's bad, oh so bad at keeping it.

🖤Edgar : Edgar is actually an heir to the powerful Starr family. The Starrs are all about their clean and traditional public image, and Edgar... let's say he stands out a bit too much. So, in order to correct his behavior, his mom thought it would be a great idea to get him a job. Meet new people, have responsabilities and all this schtick. So, she forced Griff to employ her son (since she can easily get him fired, or worse), and today, the poor kid wastes his day in this miserable shop. Edgar is a terrible employee, all he does is hang around, hands in his pockets, and complain, but Griff has to keep him if he wants to keep his life.

📒Colette : Since she was little, Colette LOVED everything Starr Park-related, like a Disney adult would. So when she heard a gift shop had just opened, she saw an opportunity to get closer to the brawlers, and to get tons of free merch! So she jumped on the occasion, and practically begged Griff to take her in. He was reluctant to employ this terrifying girl at first, but he saw how knowledgeable and dedicaded she was, and saw a way to cut corners thanks to her. Today Colette is living the best life ever, working her dream job, with loving coworkers, where she can stalk her favorite brawlers all day... Truly the dream!

Castle Courtyard

📞Grom : Little is known about Grom, what we do know is that, he has always served as manpower for various businesses and organisations. He saw a lot of things, bad things, but he had a job to do, and it wasn't asking questions. The second-to-last job he ever had was a playground supervisor in kindergarten, but he wasn't prepared for it. Nobody knows what happened back there, but this is what broke him, and even though he's now walking on greener pastures at Starr Park, he's never been the same ever again.

🗑️Ash : As a kid, Ash had big dreams of becoming a knight in shiny armor like in the old legends, to slay a dragon and get married to a beautiful princess. But life hasn't been good for him, and now he's a Starr Park janitor, who has to fight off rats and is stuck with a crazy russian man. The fact that he's rather crancky is understable. Still, deep inside, Ash still has that childish dream, wearing that trash can and brandishing his trusty broom and shovel is a way for him to reclaim it... charming...

🐀Moe : Moe is of the same rat colony that Ash constantly fights against. Unfortunately, he mutated very early in his life, and was never really part of the colony, as he was too human. He roamed in the park for a while, surviving off garbage that was left on the ground. Ash knew of his presence, and tried to get rid of him, as he thought he was just a big vermin. Grom found the rat though, and immediately fell in love with him, he adopted the little rat and named him Moe. Ash warmed up to him as well, and agreed to keep him, as long as he was helping them. So they built Moe his weird drilling machine, and he's now an unofficial Starr Park employee! Free labor!! Yaay!

SNOTEL

🐧Mr.P : He's always been a businessman on the grind, always speeding off to some meeting, working hours on end, without taking any breaks. All this to reach the top. While it somewhat worked, being now the owner of the Starr Park Snotel, it took a toll on his sanity. The stress of the business life turned him into a cranky, manic and tyrannical boss. He barely articulates when he speaks anymore, that's why his speech sounds like crazy penguin blabberings. No idea why he wears a penguin suit though.

🌬️ Gale : Gale seems to have his life figured out since he was young; he's a gardener/landscaper, and has been for 50 years now. Despite always doing the same job, he is completely contempt with his life. His work is his passion, but he nevers overdoes it: patience, steadyness, and kindness are his keys to a job well-done. Even at 60, at the top of a freezing mountain, under the orders of a crazy boss, he still blows the snow away with a tender smile. He likes his job so much that he doesn't even realize Mr.P doesn't respect his worker rights.

🍧 Lou : The Lous (idk what would be their real name) are a famous brand of robots scattered all over the frontier. They are ice-making robots, design to serve refreshing treats to the thirsty and over-heating people of the badlands. Due to their popularity, Mr.P thought it would be a great idea to buy one for the Snotel. He didn't really get why these robots were popular in the first place... nobody really needs shaved-ice on an ice-covered mountain... So now, poor Lou just sits there collecting dust. Gale comforts him by telling him that he just has to wait, and his time will come, but Mr.P pressures him to work harder to attract customers. He doesn't know what to do!! (Idk how he would've gained a consciousness though).

GOLDARM GANG

🎯 Belle : Belle Starr was one of the many daughters of the Starr family, she was to be raised to become a succesfull heir and raise children of her own to ensure the family's destiny. But she never wanted that life, Belle wanted to be free and make her own choices, instead of sewing and singing, Belle liked robotics and shooting, which she loved to practice with her father, who was a brilliant engineer, partially responsible for the creation of the modern cyclops bots. On the opposite, her mother tried everything possible to force Belle to become a noble woman. This lead her to discover, after the death of her little brother Edwin, how corrupt and evil her family's intentions were. She decided to run away, and to dedicate her life to fighting against the Starr's control of the land, marking her as an outlaw. During these years, as she multiplied her crimes, she became known as one of the most dangerous and terrfying outlaws, slowly recruting others like her, forming her group, the Goldarm Gang. Amongst them was Sam Bronson, a former factory worker who was the first to join her cause, and building her a golden arm after her old one gosld severed in the factory. They fell in love, got married, and had a child together, that she named after her little brother, Eddy. Their life was difficult, but the gang had each other, they were a small family. Nut Belle didn't want her son to suffer like she did in the past, so she pushed him to perform better and better with each mission. She witnessed the stress this was putting him under, but the thought of losing her son terrified her. Eventually, Eddy had enough, and denounced the gang to the rangers. They were all caught on a gem cargo, which exploded, killing Eddy, and all the gang was sentenced to jail. Both Belle and Sam managed to escape years later, and despite the grief, the guilt, the hatred and vindictiveness in Belle's heart, she seems to have settled down a little bit, living a quieter life with her husband and beloved robot-daughter Pearl. Her time hasn't come yet, and she still fights against the Starrs, but she has new opponents now, an idiotic pretty-cow-boy-toy and his enraged and brutish girlfriend.

🧲 Sam : Sam Bronson comes from a poor farmer family of the frontier. He always was the one to repair his family's old broken down trucks, and developed a passion for mecanics. His upbringing was difficult, as he was often the victim of criminal scum and corrupt rangers, who used robots to oppress his family. He decided to work at the robot factory to help them, and he quickly became respected and beloved by his coworkers for his skill and sense of humor. Sadly, one day, the direction of the factory decided to make the factory self-sufficient, and to fire most of the staff. Sam was revolted, and contested the decision, but they started to turn the robots against them, starting a riot. At this point, Sam realized that the machines he helped making weren't made to protect or help people, but to oppress them, and he, who saw technology as a beautiful invention, started to harbor a hatred for this perversion. During the riot, he met Belle, who was trying to destroy the facility, and had lost her arm in the commotion. They saved each other, and from then on, Sam decided to follow Belle, wanting to fight against the corruption of the land. He built her a new gold arm, fell in love, married her, had a son bla, bla, bla, you know the rest of the story. While Belle was very vindictive towards the Starrs, Sam is a bit more mesured: his main goal is to protect the common folk, and so, despite his appearance, is the voice of reason within the gang. He loved his son more than anything, and wanted to give him a happy life, so, he started to build a robot for him, but could never finish it before it was too late. Sam was devastated by his death, and didn't talk to Belle for months afterwards, but he realized she needed him too in order to grieve. So they got back together, and Sam forced Belle to slow down, take their time to heal and enjoy their life. He finally finished Pearl, and she makes their life a little brighter everyday, just like Eddy did. Despite his unconditional love for Belle, deep down, Sam hasn't fully forgiven her for what she did to their son.

🍪 Pearl : Pearl is Sam's passion project, a gift he wanted to give to his family and a way to prove that robots aren't supposed to be made to fight. He worked on her since Eddy was little, she was supposed to be her nanny and big sister, she would be motherly, tend to the house, and even make cakes, that Belle loves. But he was so busy with gang business, he could never finish her in time. Fast forward to when him and Belle escaped prison, Sam needed a way to distract himself from their unresolved feelings, and to cheer up/apologize to/make Belle open up. So he finished her in like, a week. Belle was really touched by this kind of dorky gesture from Sam, and quickly adopted Pearl as her own daughter. Pearl helped repair Belle and Sam's relationship by setting normalcy back between them. She is a bit disconnected from the gang's history, she knows about it, but her job is more to keep her family happy and proud, and she's really good at it. Belle and Sam kinda suck at directly express love to each other, so they express it through Pearl, she's their to represent their love (like a real child would). Well, all that's pretty and all, but Belle still managed to find a way to weaponize her 🤦... things never change...

[mysticaldeanvoidhorse]

Together Always

Gally x Reader

The Maze Runner

Part 2

     You had been there a week, and had spent a few days at each job trying to figure out what you would do.  Today was the day you would be working with the builders.  You couldn’t help but be nervous, not knowing if you were any good at it but mostly hoping you would be able to impress Gally, or at least not embarrass yourself in front of him.  You had found that you wanted to impress him more than the others and though it was early, you knew you were having feelings for this particular Keeper. You knew that wasn’t a good thing, knowing it wasn’t a good idea to have feelings for any of the boys but especially this one; mainly because you knew he would never feel the same.  He was so closed off and hardly seemed to notice you even existed.  However that would change since he would be overseeing you today.

     At breakfast, you went to sit next to Newt, who quickly became your closest friend.  You realized everyone liked him and you weren’t surprised at all.

“Hey Newt,”  You greeted, sitting down across from him.

“Hey Y/N, ready to try out a new task?”  He asked.

“Not really, I feel like I will somehow mess up”  You laughed, trying to hide your nerves.  The truth was you weren't nervous about any other task, knowing if it wasn’t a fit you would find something else.  This particular task had more at stake.

“You’ll be fine, besides Gally won’t let you do anything too stupid. He is pretty good at making sure everyone stays safe.”  As if appearing out of nowhere, Gally had just shown up.

“Talking about me, Newt?”  You quickly turned to see him standing next to you.

“Yep, just reassuring your mentee that you won’t let her screw up too badly.”  You shot him a bored look.

“Nah, I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone.  Mostly worried she will hurt herself.”  You couldn’t tell if he was completely joking or not.

“Hey, I am not that bad!”  You faked being hurt.

“Guess we will see.”  Gally smirked at you.  His intense stare still had you weak in the knees and you were glad you were sitting down already.

“Guess you will have to keep a close eye on her.”  Newt said, though you were too busy to see him and Minho exchange a knowing look.

“I guess so.”  Gally said, not breaking eye contact.  

     After breakfast Gally had brought you to the worksite that was surprisingly farther away from the main area than you had expected.

“We will start with something small.  Do you know how to use a hammer?”

“Honestly, I don’t remember ever using one, but I think I have the main idea.”  You wanted to be honest, but also didn’t want to look dumb.

“Cool, well, take this nail, and hammer these two boards together.”  You grabbed the hammer.

“Are you going to watch me do it?”  You asked, when he folded his arms and stared at you.

“Yes.”  Was all he replied.  You just rolled your eyes and did as he asked.

“How did I do, boss?”  You said sarcastically, knowing you had done a decent job.  Afterall, it wasn’t rocket science.

“Just making sure you’re competent.”  He said, grabbing the hammer from you.

“Wow, with compliments like that you might make a girl swoon.”  You joked.  He just stared blankly at you.  “Geeze, tough crowd.”  You said lightheartedly.

“Follow me, we will work on something a little harder.”

“Sounds good.”  You said, following him.  You wanted to be his friend at the very least and you could tell you weren't off to a great start.  You would just stick to talking only when necessary.

     The rest of the morning went well, and you were proud of what you were able to do.  Lunchtime came and you walked over with the rest of the builders, minus Gally.  He continued to finish what he was working on.  You admired his work ethic.

“How did the morning go?”  Newt asked once he sat next to you.

“Not too bad, I haven’t created any major calamities yet.”  You joked and he laughed.

“I don’t think Gally likes me that much though.”  You confessed and he looked at you surprised.

“Why do you say that?”

“I think I am a nice person”  You started.

“Obviously.”

“But I don’t think my jokes or efforts to reach out are well received.”  Newt seemed to think about that.

“Why do you think that?”

“Well he just seems like he tolerates me at best, and seems like he can’t get away from me fast enough.  So I just decided to not talk so much.  Just do what I am told.”

“I think he just doesn’t know what to say.  He has always been a little awkward like that, but especially with a girl around his whole personality changes.  He isn’t a bad guy he just is rough around the edges and you are trying to break those walls down.. I don't think he knows what to do with that.”  You thought about that.

“I guess that makes sense.  I just don’t want him to not like me.”

“And why is that?”  He gave you a knowing look.

“What do you mean by that?”  You asked a little too defensively.

“It just seems like you are trying hard to be on his good side.”

“Well of course.  He is my boss for the day so I want to make a good impression.” You reasoned.

“Well I don’t think that is your problem.”

“Then what is?”  Before he could reply, you saw Gally walking up to the food line, subconsciously grabbing his shirt to wipe his face.  You were not upset by the glimpse of his abs he granted you with the action.

“You okay Y/N?  Looks like you got a little drool there.”  Minho teased you.  You turned red.

“Shut up Minho.”

“Oh someone is a little defensive,” he joked.

“It’s just because you didn’t give me the same show, so I had to look elsewhere.”  You joked.

“I know you are in love with me, I am sorry I am driving you into the arms of another man.”  He faked seriousness.  You gagged causing Newt to laugh.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the maze?”  You asked.

“Yes, but Alby needed something today so I am here, lucky you.”

“You’re a runner right?”  He nodded.  “So run along then.”  You rolled your eyes.

“Sounds like you are annoying our Greenie here.”  Gally said behind you.  Shuck this boy was more stealthy than you would like.

“Nah, she can’t get enough of me.”  Minho joked.

“Not convincing.”  Gally said, sitting next to you.  You were not upset that he had taken to sitting next to you since you arrived.  At least that was what you let yourself think since you couldn’t be sure he didn’t always sit here before you arrived.

“More like I get too much of this guy.”  You said to Gally.  He smirked.

“Ouch, that really hurts.  And you just said you were in love with me.”

“When did I ever say that?”  You deadpanned.

“Well, when you were ogling Gally, you said it was only because - ouch!”  Newt hit him.  Your eyes went wide.  Gally turned to you.

“What is he talking about?”  A look of amusement on his face.

“Do I ever know what he is saying?”  You played off, not able to keep looking at him.

“That’s true.”  He said, not entirely convinced.

“Minho just saw you with your shirt lifted and tried to play it off as me looking and not the fact that he was checking you out himself.”  You joked.

“Well that makes more sense.  I knew Minho had less than honorable intentions towards me.”  You stopped and looked at him.

“Was that a joke?  Did I actually hear your joke?”  He gave a sheepish smile.

“I guess so.”

“Well I am glad that you are finally able to joke around me.  I thought I was annoying you with my sense of humor.”  You said half seriously.  He leaned over slightly.

“Not at all, I enjoy it actually.  I just don’t always know how to respond.  No one is as happy and lighthearted as you, it is something to get used to.”  You just looked at him.  “I don’t mean that as a bad thing”  He said quickly.  “I just am not a funny guy, not like Minho or even Newt.”  He said the last part a little bit harsher.

“You don’t have to be.  Then you wouldn’t be Gally.”  You smiled at him and he smiled back.  “Besides, I am just glad that I haven’t freaked you out.”

“Did you think you had?”  He asked.

“Well, kinda.  I mean, whenever I joke around, you just look at me like I have grown two heads so I thought you figured I was crazy.”  You played with the food on your plate, hoping to hide your nerves.

“There’s something different about you.”

“Well I am not a guy, there’s that.”  He rolled his eyes.

“Obviously.  Besides that.  You are so refreshing around here.  You are a light in the dark…”  He trailed off.

“You think so?”  You prodded, softly.

“You’re pretty great, Y/N.”  You took a moment to stare into his eyes.  He was so beautiful it hurt.

“But that can’t be a shock, everyone here likes you a lot.  A little too much”  He slightly frowned at the last part.

“I’m just glad you like me.”  He looked at you, trying to find a lie but he didn't and wouldn’t.

“Yea- yeah. You’re a good friend.”  He smiled and backed away slightly.  You tried to not be hurt.  You should just be glad at how much he opened up to you just now.  He may never feel the same, but at least you knew he didn’t hate you.  Progress.

     After lunch you went back to work, and you ended up helping some other builders while Gally got called away.  You found that though you weren’t incredibly strong, having smaller hands and being able to fit into tighter spaces helped in more ways than you thought.  However, that got you into more dangerous scenarios, like the one you found yourself in.  There was an old building that needed a plank fixed and there weren’t any ladders nearby.  So to help you were ‘volun-told’ to get up onto a 2x4 and reach awkwardly to try and fix the beam.  As long as you didn’t overreach you would be fine.  You wanted to help and show them that you could do whatever they could, if not more since you were the only one small enough to reach.  You took a deep breath and climbed up.  It wasn’t incredibly high, but if you fell, it would hurt.  You managed to stay focused, asking for the tools you would need from one of the boys behind you.  You were almost finished when you heard it.

“What the shuck is going on here?”  Uh oh.  Gally.

“She could fit, it needed to be fixed.”

“Not that way!  No one should be up there like that, especially her!”  You quickly finished and handed the tools back to whoever would quickly take them.  Gally came up under you.

“What are you doing?”  He half yelled.

“Trying to fix this beam.”  You told him as calmly as you could.

“Why are you on a flimsy board and not a ladder?  That shuck thing won’t hold you.  Get. Down. Now!”  He sounded panicked.

“It’s okay Gally, I am finished, I am getting down now.”  You tried to tell him reassuringly, but because you were distracted your foot got caught and you slipped.  You managed to stay right side up, holding onto the board. Shuck it, the only way down was to let go.  So you did.  You expected it to hurt, but you landed in some strong arms. Looking up you saw it was Gally.  You couldn’t appreciate being in his arms because his face was fuming.  If steam could come out of his ears it would.

“Are you shucking kidding me?”  He wasn’t really asking.

“Gally, I am sorry but I thought I could fix it quickly.”  

“I don’t need to hear excuses.  You should never have been up there in the first place.  On a flimsy board, not even tied down, no ladder.  What were you thinking?”

“I fixed it, I am okay, I-”  But he cut you off.

“You weren’t thinking.  Use that shuck head of yours, you could have gotten yourself killed!”

“I wouldn’t have died, Gally.  At worst, a broken arm or something, but that didn’t happen.”  You tried to remain calm but your patience was wearing thin.

“That’s because I caught you.  You need to think!  You are smarter than that.”  He said the last part no longer yelling.  It was at this moment you both realized that he was still holding you tightly.  He slightly released his grip but not enough to let you move away. “Are you hurt?”  He asked.

“No.  And the beam is fixed.”  He didn’t say anything, just kept looking at you with those beautiful eyes.  After a second, “Everything is fine.  The beam is fine, I am fine. You are fine, right?”  You asked after a second, putting your hand on his chest.  His heart was beating fast still, but he had calmed down slightly.

“You’re asking if I am alright?  After you fell?”  He asked incredulously.  You just shrugged.

“I could have hurt you, and you seemed pretty upset.  Just checking you are okay too.”  He couldn’t seem to process that.  He just nodded once.   “Okay, well I am going to let you calm down and put away my stuff.”  You pushed him back slightly and he held onto you for a second before releasing you.  It was quitting time and you wanted to be anywhere but there.  You didn’t know what just happened, but you didn't like being yelled at by Gally, especially in front of everyone after doing him a favor.

     After you walked away, Gally knew he messed up.  He was really concerned and he didn’t know where these feelings came from.  And it scared him.  But what scared him most was the idea that you could have gotten hurt.  And it would have been his fault, on his watch.  And he would never forgive himself for that.  But he yelled at you and he hated himself for it.  His feelings for you were intense and they scared him.  He just hoped he hadn’t scared you away.

[taomyou]

meat cleaver, heart stealer

pairing: levi ackerman/reader word count: 12,741 sypnosis: To Levi, there's nothing to ever be scared of, much less on Halloween. That is, until he enrolls in CHEM143. Then, Levi suddenly has two new things to be afraid of: his first CHEM143 midterm, and the feelings he has for his CHEM143 study buddy. Tags: modern au, university au, halloween, haunted houses, friends to lovers, fluff, meet-cute, hair-pulling, one-shot ao3 version here! A/N : this fic is entirely written in levi's pov!! thank you so much for reading, and happy (belated) halloween!!

Levi isn’t scared of anything.

No, really.

He isn’t.

Whether it’s ghosts, axe murderers, or spiders, he’s got himself covered. After all, ghosts aren’t real, Levi’s sure he could win in a fight against an axe murderer, and he knows his place is too clean to house any spiders.

Even during the month of October, when Isabel and Furlan force him to watch all the latest horror movies with them, Levi isn’t shaken in the slightest. He doesn’t really care for such theatrics, but he hardly ever even flinches in the face of actual danger—what makes anyone think he’d be scared of something so obviously fake?

So, yes, Levi isn’t scared of anything.

That is…

Anything except midterms.

Well…

Actually, it’s not quite that either.

A scholarship student at the prestigious Paradis University, Levi is no slouch when it comes to his academic performance. Levi’s a good student, an even better test-taker at that, and there’s no need to suggest that he’s scared of midterms—finals, even.

No, it’s not just any midterm that he’s terrified of.

It’s his organic chemistry midterm that’s got him running for the hills.

Just a single exam, and he’s got himself feeling weak in the knees. He dreads the moment he’ll be sat in the exam hall, pencil in one hand and calculator in the other, trying to make sense of the questions being asked. It makes him nauseous to think about what’ll become of him when he’s left to identify alkane structures on his lonesome. Images of alkynes haunt him when he closes his eyes to go to sleep, forcing him out of bed to aimlessly stare at his notes in desperate attempt to retain information he doesn’t understand.

Truly, organic chemistry is the stuff of nightmares.

So, yes. Levi isn’t afraid of anything but his CHEM143 midterm.

Oh, that, and he’s terrified of the feelings he has for his CHEM143 study buddy.

♡

Many moons ago, in an unfortunate combination of both fate and poor planning on his part, Levi enrolled in CHEM143: Organic Chemistry.

As an architecture major, he hardly had any use for fucking chemistry of all things, but, as per bullshit university protocol, of course he had to take a chemistry class in order to graduate.

Which was… fine.

While he doesn’t care for the subject, Levi took Honors Chemistry in high school and did well enough. It wasn’t necessarily a walk in the park, but Levi did fine (which, by his standards, meant he passed with an A-minus), and, even now as a 3rd-year student in university, he’d like to believe that he’s retained enough of that information for it to help him now. He wouldn’t go as far as to say he was confident he’d do phenomenally, but he thought he’d do just fine.

Sure, it’s a two-hour lecture at 5 in the evening on fucking Tuesdays, and, sure, he definitely has better things to do at that time of day, but CHEM143 was the only chemistry course that fit into his schedule, so he couldn't really be too picky about what time it was.

But whatever.

Just get it out of the way as soon as possible, he rationalized. Better to worry about it now than later when he’s got to start worrying about internships and the existential dread of graduating. This is the last non-major requirement he needs anyway—might as well save himself the trouble of having to fit something else into his schedule during the next term.

And, so, in the spring just before summer, Levi enrolled in CHEM143.

Oh, how he wished he’d thought that through more thoroughly.

But, really, there was no way to know the misery that was to befall him.

After the spring exam season, Levi was off to enjoy a sunny summer vacation with his best friends annoying roommates, and all was well with his world. The trio finally had the time to fully enjoy each other’s company, and even with their everlasting energy and seeming lack of fatigue, Levi still couldn’t help but spend his days in the sun with an appreciation for the life he’d built for himself with his best friends.

The birds sang, the sky was wide and blue and beautiful, and his favorite cleaning detergent was on sale for the entirety of the season. What more was there to ask for?

But as all good things did, summer came to an end. Warm breeze turned into weathered chills, and it was again time for Levi to go back to school. Of course, Furlan and Isabel would still be living with him in their shared home, but the joys of summer would turn into the perils of academia soon enough, so Levi couldn’t help but feel robbed of happiness when he had to go back to school and actually be productive.

For whatever reason, school started back up on a Tuesday, meaning that his only class of the day was CHEM143, but Levi found that to be a blessing. His first class being the one that’d matter the least to him in the grand scheme of things? He might as well skip it.

Come the first day of class, he was just about as ready as he was for any other class. He had arrived 10 minutes before lecture, chose a seat towards the front to make sure he would be able to see the projector (but totally not because he didn’t want to be constantly getting up to see over the head of a taller person), and set down a notebook, highlighter, and a pen that Furlan had stolen the week before.

He waited by his lonesome for the remaining 8 minutes, only letting his eyes drift between his notebook and the blank screen at the front of the hall. He twirled his pen between his fingers, the practiced movements relaxing him, and he watched as the professor came into the hall and started getting ready to give the lecture.

After he’d finished with setting up his own laptop, he cleared his throat and faced the class. “Hello, everyone. I’m Professor Pixis, and welcome to CHEM143: Organic Chemistry. This first lecture is going to cover chemistry basics you should already know, so no need to take notes.”

Levi breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed further into his seat at the announcement, now setting his pen down on the table and crossing his arms across his chest.

Sure, the professor’s voice is about as bland and uninspired as unseasoned boiled cabbage, but at least this first lecture won’t be much work on Levi’s part.

“And before any of you ask: no, I do not reply to emails. Now, let’s get started.”

Levi watched attentively as Pixis loaded up the presentation to the board, and he thought that, for a second, this class would be just fine.

But, as soon as that projector turned on, Levi felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs.

Earnestly, Levi couldn’t even describe what it was that he was looking at. The definition of some obscure scientific concept was up on the screen, its mathematical equations and variables directly underneath it, and it felt like the professor was suddenly speaking in a different language.

A hydrocarbon?

He vaguely remembered the term from high school chemistry. It shouldn’t be too hard to relearn.

Molecular orbitals?

Not quite sure what those are, but Levi could probably figure it out on his own after class. It wasn't really a big deal, he could also just ask Isabel for help if he was completely stumped.

Everything else?

…

Absolutely, truly, no fucking idea.

Levi’s ego wasn’t so big that he’d be afraid to pick up his pen and start writing down whatever he could, but he certainly still did feel a fool for being the only person directly around him to be so frantically trying to retain this new information. His ears weren’t hot with shame and his hands weren’t shaking from fear, but his eyes did strain as he tried to follow along with the presentation as Pixis went through it faster than Levi could write.

He was so clearly out of his element here (get it? element, like chemistry), but he’ll be damned if he was going to let himself fall behind. Still, he felt that serious looming dread—the one where it feels like his heart is caught in his throat.

It felt like… fear.

Time passed both too slow and too fast here, having felt like he was stuck in an entirely new circle of hell he didn’t know existed. Last he heard, there wasn’t a circle dedicated to Organic Chemistry.

Before he knew it, the professor turned off the projector, the people around him were getting up and leaving, and the sounds of metal water bottles knocking against seats rung through the hall as students rushed to their next destination.

He was slow to put his things away at the end of class, his energy having been already spent on taking notes so vigorously for the last two hours. There were seemingly no other lectures being held in this hall, so there was no rush for him to leave as he wallowed in both anger and misery.

What the fuck was he even doing here? What the fuck does he need chemistry for? He’s a fucking architecture major, for fucks sake.

And such a high level at that. Who needs to know what the fuck a ketone is to design buildings?

Of course, Levi already knew the answers to all of those questions, but he still fumed to himself as he shoved his notebook into his backpack and tucked his pen into its side pocket.

God, if he wasn’t on scholarship, he’d just drop this fucking class and replace it with literally anything else, but unfortunately, his academic plans had already been reviewed by the scholarship board, and the last thing he’d want to do was upset them by making them review another schedule.

Sighing to himself, he haphazardly slung his background over his shoulder to get out of class as soon as he possibly could, but before he could get very far, he felt a gentle tug on the back of his jacket sleeve.

Ordinarily, Levi’d be angered to feel the touch of a stranger on him, but he was far too exhausted to scold whoever it was. Instead, he turned towards the pull to brush them off, but they let go before he could.

Looking back towards them, he came to find it was a girl, her hand now awkwardly retracting back to hold onto the strap of her own backpack.

Levi’d never seen her before, but she looked to be his own age, if not slightly younger. The lighting in the lecture hall certainly wasn’t doing her any favors, being an ugly yellow downcast, but she looked well put-together with a nice, warm outfit for the season and a notebook tucked under her arm. She certainly looked less fatigued than him, a gentle smile on her features, and her eyes shined brightly in spite of the horrendous lighting.

And fine.

He wouldn’t be caught dead calling a complete stranger “cute,” but he could think it, even if he was annoyed she was just tugging on his sleeve.

“What?” Levi asked plainly.

“Are you alright?” The stranger asked him.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

She nervously smiled and tipped her head towards the seat he’d just gotten up from. “You seemed pretty stressed out just now.”

“And?”

“Well, I don’t know you, but do you need some help in this class?”

Oh, great.

Another fucking stem major. He should’ve fucking known.

Levi’s dealt with his fair share of these kinds of people already. He has to take a decent amount of physics classes, as per major requirement, and the number of assholes that want to tell him that architecture isn’t a “worthwhile” field of study is unfathomable. Every engineering major seems to think architecture is just making pretty pictures, every math major assumes he spends his days measuring random shit with a tape measure, every biology major thinks he wasn’t smart enough to pursue a “real” science degree.

And, now, this random chemistry major is probably going to tell him to quit while he’s ahead and drop out.

“You’re right. I don’t know you, so it’s none of your fucking business,” Levi barked. “Go patronize someone else.”

Maybe he was too harsh, but whatever. It was getting late, and he had to go home to eat dinner (and, apparently, study his fucking ass off for a class he didn’t even want to take).

He turned around to leave, but, again, before he could start walking to leave, the girl spoke up.

“Wait, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to come off as rude!”

He didn’t halt in his step as he started walking towards the door, but he rolled his eyes. “Sure, you didn’t.”

He could hear her shuffling around to take larger steps to catch up with him, but that only prompted him to walk even faster. The exit was a fair bit away from the front where he was coming from, so he was forced to listen to her talk some more.

“Really, I didn’t! I think we could help each other out!”

Yeah, right. As if Levi had anything to offer this random stranger.

“And how exactly would I be helping you?”

“Well, uh, you seem like you’re really a good student, and-”

What, she wanted him to take notes for her?

Please.

“Yeah, no thanks. Fuck off.”

“Wait, hear me out! It’ll only be a second, I promise!”

His pace quickened further until he seemed to be nearly jogging, and his brows furrowed as he kept his eyes directed at the door.

When he reached the exit, he tried to leave enough space for himself to get out without the door hitting the stranger, but when he realized that she was too occupied with chasing after him to look out for the slab of metal about to hit her, he frowned and held it open for her to get out safely.

There was hardly any breath to catch, the two of them only having been speedwalking through an otherwise empty lecture hall, but they stood just outside of that door for a good few seconds before Levi cleared his throat and crossed his arms before facing the girl.

“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but if you think you can take advantage of me to take your notes or whatever the fuck else it is that you want me to do, then you’re wrong. Leave me the fuck alone.

“Fucking chemistry majors,” he grumbled under his breath.

And then, just as he was about to leave, the strangest thing happened.

He heard the stranger start giggling, then laughing, and then covering her laughter with a hand over her mouth. Her shoulders shook as she tried to stifle the sound of her apparent joy, and her notebook fell to the ground. She bent down to pick it up, but not before she let a small but genuine smile settle on her face.

What a weirdo.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but it was inconsequential enough of a question.

“I’m not a chemistry major,” she said through gaps in her chiming laughter.

Levi grimaced. “Does it really look like I fucking care what your major is? Whatever obscure science it is, you aren’t any better than me for knowing more about chemistry than I do.”

She blinked several times before laughing again, covering her smile again with her hand. “Yeah, I’m not a science major at all, I’m just taking this class for my graduation requirements. Sorry if I came off as condescending.”

…

He didn’t know what else to say, so she continued.

“One of my friends took this class last year and left me their notes, so I thought I could share them with you, since you seemed to be just as lost as me. I have them scanned online already, but I brought a physical copy with me in case the internet didn’t work in the hall.”

…

“...Oh.”

Oh? Who were you kidding, Levi?

Fuck.

She wasn’t looking down on him—she really did mean what she was saying about not wanting to come off as patronizing. She really did want to help him.

Now he has to feel bad for assuming the absolute fucking worst of this random cute stranger.

Of course, he wasn’t going to tell her that he felt bad for thinking what he did of her, but he was going to feel the embarrassment of this situation for the rest of his life anyway.

After a brief pause, she continued. “It’s fine if you don’t want them, but let me get you a drink since I’ve held you up for so long,” she offered, pointing over to a café just barely in his peripheral vision.

Breaking out of his own preoccupied mind, Levi blinked and then shook his head. “There’s no need for that. A drink, I mean.”

“Is that a ‘yes’ to the notes, then?”

Fuck.

Levi didn’t want to admit he needed those notes, but she was already starting to reach into her backpack to take them out, and if she was offering, he’d be an even greater fool than he looked earlier to reject them.

But he didn’t feel right taking advantage of some stranger he’d just spent the last 5 minutes cursing at, so he had to reject them. What kind of heartless jerk would let a sweet girl like this give him her notes for free?

Before he could tell her that he didn’t need the notes (which would be a lie, but she doesn’t need to know that), someone walking behind her abruptly bumped into her, knocking her forward towards Levi.

Because Levi wasn’t going to just fucking let her fall onto the cold cement, he held out his arms to steady her in her fall, and because the person who’d knocked her over didn’t even bother saying a “sorry,” Levi yelled out a “fuck you” at them.

A justifiable reaction, he thinks.

He silently pulled her up to her feet, and seeing as the notes were now all scattered across the ground, he sighed as he bent down to start picking them up for her. She joined him in the regathering of the sheets, thanking him for catching her in her fall, and the two straightened up once everything was back together in two, surely misordered, stacks.

“Uh,” she mused, holding out her part of the picked-up notes, “thank you for catching me. Again, I’m really sorry for taking up your time, but here.”

He stared at the sheets being held out towards him, then at those that were in his own hands.

Well, she did say that they could help out each other, and looking at these notes even further, they were far superior to anything Levi could produce on his own. The colored diagrams and bolded words seemed to scream at him to take them for himself.

It wouldn’t really be taking advantage of her to take these if she also wanted something from him, right?

And, sure.

Maybe he was trying to justify prolonging this interaction, but no one else needed to know that.

He pushed her hands away and gave her back his half of her notes. “I changed my mind.”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“I could go for some tea,” he said, looking over at the café. He hadn’t ever been there before, but whatever.

If it meant he could spend a few more minutes figuring out what it was that this stranger wanted from him, then he’ll tolerate some poorly brewed tea.

“I’m paying, though.”

The girl blinked a few more times, seemingly trying to process what it was that he’d said, and then she smiled.

“Sounds good!”

She took back the notes from him, tucked them into her notebook, and led the way for the two of them to get their drinks. She was already awfully cheerful for someone who just came from a CHEM143 lecture, but the rest of the drab, chilly scenery around her seemed to only make her more lively and bright as she strolled past other students and faculty.

What was this feeling Levi felt in his bitter heart at this sight?

When they reached the café, there wasn’t really much of a line, 7 in the evening being quite late for university students who had plenty of other things to do, so they ordered quickly before Levi took care of paying for it. The stranger with him seemed to be acquainted with the person working the register, the two exchanging smiles, so when the girl from CHEM143 and Levi stepped away to wait for their drinks, he asked if she knew them.

“Oh, yeah! That was Sasha, we’ve been friends since high school. Her and I did haunted houses together.” The stranger leaned closer to him to look at the receipt he’d gotten, and she pointed at a small line at the bottom. “She gave us an employee discount, see?”

Her shoulder brushed up against his in the exchange, and he felt that small flutter in his heart again.

What the fuck was going on with him today? Was it the weather?

Before he could dwell on it much further, his name was called and he grabbed both drinks, and the stranger was motioning him to come over to a booth near a window that let in moonlight.

Levi sat down across from her, and as he placed her drink on the tablespace in front of her, she set her notebook and started rearranging the notes into proper order again, seemingly having marked them with numbers in the corners of the page. He watched silently, unknowing what to say, and when she finished, she handed the stack to him with another smile.

Fuck.

He wasn’t even going to even bother ascribing a name to this feeling anymore. It was probably just the weather.

He thanked her for them, and he absentmindedly flipped through the notes to feel how many things were written and drawn in them. Again, he was amazed by the sheer quality and quantity. The handwriting could’ve been better, but it was well organized, regardless, and he wasn’t going to fault whoever made these for being in any hurry when he could barely keep up during the first lecture.

No matter, no way a normal person made these.

“I take it your friend’s a chemistry major?”

She nodded, taking her first sip of tea. “Yeah, biology too.”

“They must be insane to be majoring in both,” Levi winced.

“Oh, they are,” the stranger laughed. “I don’t think any sane person would enjoy taking 3-hour labs, much less chemistry ones, but they really do like it. They’re studying abroad this semester, though, so I haven’t really been able to keep up with their shenanigans as much as I used to.”

“I see.”

There was an awkward pause as Levi put the stack back on the table to free his hands and grab his own cup of tea to drink from it.

Surprisingly, the tea wasn’t that bad. It could stand to be brewed a bit longer, but it wasn’t god-awful terrible like he’d expected.

“So, what did you mean when you said ‘we could help each other out?’ Clearly, I have nothing to offer you if you already have these notes.”

“Uh, well,” the stranger then sighed, putting her drink back on the table. “You seem like you’re a really focused student, and I’m… not. So I was thinking that we could… be study buddies?

“It’s totally fine if you don’t want to, I'm sure you barely have enough time to yourself as is, but I just thought I’d ask since I know I’m going to be struggling a lot in this class, and, not to be rude, but I think you’re in the same boat as me.

Well, that last assumption definitely wasn’t far from the truth.

A study buddy, huh?

Ordinarily, Levi would find such a proposition laughable. Who needs a whole other person to help with a course subject? If you can’t do it alone, then why bother with occupying someone else’s time?

But, after the disaster that was his first CHEM143 lecture, he knew he’d be lying to himself if he said he didn’t need that—a study buddy—even if that study buddy was just as clueless about chemistry as he was.

At least they could be clueless together. Not like they had any choice in the matter at hand—they both had to take CHEM143 to graduate, and there weren’t really many other options.

It was get a study buddy and pray that you’d pass, or do neither and fail.

And so, with a cordial nod of acceptance and a returned smile, a new friendship began: one between a guy as grumpy and rude as Levi, and a girl as colorful and bubbly as the distant spring season.

That day, it was decided that she’d bring the corresponding notes to lectures, and they’d follow along with them as Pixis spoke, and after some discussion of what worked with their schedules, it was decided that the two would study together for an hour after every CHEM143 lecture, and that they could both arrange more times to get together if the class demanded more time.

It probably would, but neither of them really wanted to broach that topic at such a late hour in the day, so they both silently agreed to have that conversation some other time.

But, quite candidly, before Levi could get to taking note of this addition to his calendar on that day, the stranger’s phone chimed with an alarm, and she abruptly got up and started scribbling on a freshly torn piece of notebook paper.

“I’m so sorry, but I have to leave to catch the bus now! I’ll see you next week!”

She slid the note towards him, and, just like that, she disappeared into the night as if she were the sun and all the sky’s stars.

Levi pulled the slip closer towards himself, and he turned it so that it was facing him. On the piece of paper was a phone number, what he assumed was her school email, and her name.

Oh.

Somehow, in this entire interaction, she hadn’t ever introduced herself. She got to hear his name, what with him placing their tea orders under it, but he didn’t get to know of her name until now.

Aw, fuck.

That feeling again.

Reading the slip again, it hit him that she’d left him her phone number—a gesture that wasn’t entirely foreign to him, but somehow felt different this time.

There wasn’t any sort of expectation of a date or any other informal meeting, either—this was purely for the mutual benefit of passing CHEM143—so why did he feel his ears start to burn up amidst the chilly autumn air?

And was it that having her name—your name—finally in consciousness that had his stomach in small knots?

He felt like he did in the CHEM143 lecture that day—sickly, doomed.

Surely, this feeling was that of fear.

Wasn’t it? It certainly wasn’t any other feeling he could think of.

But whatever.

He wasn’t going to be scared of this stupid fucking chemistry class, and he certainly wasn’t going to be scared of a girl, much less one who was as sunny as his new study buddy for CHEM143.

…

Right?

♡

As the weeks went by, it turned out that it was not the case that Levi would be less scared.

The doom of the first upcoming CHEM143 had Levi more on edge than he’d ever been in his whole life. As the date came closer, Levi’s nightmares of carbon properties became more vivid, and the more he’d agonize during his study sessions with you over having to be in this fuckass class in the first place.

Speaking of such: study sessions with you weren’t much different in that regard.

Don’t get him wrong, Levi’s not a complete idiot.

When he’s studying with you, he genuinely puts his mind to the task at hand, and he’s actually come to find that you’re much more of a diligent student than you’d made yourself out to be. A bit distracted at times, sure, but you were doing your best, and Levi really couldn’t blame you for dozing off when reviewing properties of carbonic structures.

Still, he was right in assuming that you’d both need more time to study together, so it’s become customary for you and him to meet up whenever you’re both free in the week. A random Monday afternoon, a random Friday morning, even a lonesome Sunday—any time that showed itself as an opportunity to cram more CHEM143 knowledge into your brains, he took it. You and him also sat together during class now, not wanting to have to sit next to other, more unfriendly strangers, and you’d both desperately try to memorize what you could in the moment.

To say that either of you had a strong understanding of Organic Chemistry now was a far stretch, but it was evident that these study sessions were of great benefit to the both of you.

But once the studying part was over and there was still tea to be shared, he felt fear.

That sickening, flustering, shake in his knees.

That longing, lonesome, ache in his heart.

When you spoke of your love of the sun and the sky and the beauty of the world, he was wholly, truly bewitched. He no longer had control of his heart and its beats, and that scared the absolute fuck out of him.

It was especially bad when you’d slip out of your more sunny and upbeat attitude to relax into your chair and talk about what you did in the period of separation between when you last saw Levi. Sure, he loved was impartial to how you acted when you were out and about, but whatever fucking witchcraft you were casting upon him when you were just barely awake and telling him about how much you hated Pixis and the rest of your professors, he couldn’t stand up to it.

God, and he’d started walking you to lecture from the bus stop you came from, too.

And yet, in spite of that fear, he still cherished those moments, far more than he did the moments spent studying for CHEM143.

…

It was weird, to say the least.

Unlike the fear he had for CHEM143 and the upcoming midterm, he didn’t want to shy away from you. It somehow made the feeling less intense—being around you so often—but it was still there, and palpable enough to take note of when he would replay the days in his head at night.

And then he’d feel that fear all over again when the random o-chem facts would come back to the forefront of his mind as he was trying to go to sleep, but whatever.

This was definitely just some weird phase, probably in alignment with the weather.

Isabel talks sometimes about mercury being in gatorade, or something like that, so maybe it’s that, too.

But back onto the topic of being afraid of his feelings for you, that fear seemed to peak when, last week, two weeks before the CHEM143 midterm, you and Levi were lounging around that same café you always study in, and with nothing else to talk about, Levi posed a question he so long pondered an answer to.

“Why were you so adamant about talking to me when we first met?” Levi asked between sips of his earl grey tea.

He didn’t know what it was that came over him and prompted him to ask that, but better to get an answer than to have never asked at all, right?

He’d always wondered why you were so intent on getting his attention that day. He was earnestly very rude when he’d first met you, and while he’s grateful to have made a friend in this circle of hell, he couldn’t fathom why you’d chased after him that day.

Sure, he knew you needed a study partner, but he doubted that that was the entire reason why. 

You hummed behind a cup of midsummer raspberry tea, inhaling the earthy, fruity tones. “It’s a bit of a selfish reason, you sure you want to know?”

He nodded, and you set down your cup before looking outside the window and out towards the moon, just barely high in the sky at such hour.

“Well, I didn’t want to be totally alone in the class, and, I don’t know, you just looked like someone I could be comfortable with. Besides, I know fuck all about chemistry, and I thought, ‘well, if I’m going to fail this class, I might as well fail with that cute guy that looks like he also has no idea what he’s doing.’ Didn’t really expect us being study buddies to be actually helpful.”

Levi’s breath found itself caught on his heart, and he found himself frozen for a split second.

Was it that he was mildly hurt that you just confessed to only wanting to talk to him to make up for your loneliness?

Was it that he was embarrassed that you were reminding him of how idiotic he looked during that very first lecture?

Was it that he was flattered you thought he looked like someone you could be comfortable around?

Well, yes to all three of those things, but also that passing descriptor.

Cute.

You called him cute.

The comment was made in such quick passing that he wasn’t sure he’d even heard it properly, but it was clear as day, what you had said.

“Just to be clear, though, I really do like studying with you! I don’t think I would’ve made it this far if I was doing this all by myself.”

You turned to him, who was now facing the moon you’d just stared up at.

Levi didn’t have it in him to muster up the courage to ask the question of ‘What do you mean, cute?’, so he opted to stay silent instead.

“C’mon, Levi, say something. You’re scaring me,” you joked, reaching over the table to wave your hand in front of his face and bring him back to reality. 

He was scaring you?

No, no, no.

You had it all wrong.

You were the one that was scaring him.

Overtaken by that tumultuous feeling in his heart, from that moment onward, Levi was completely out of it.

Conversation still moved along as it always did and with neither of you going back to that your answer to his question. Levi thinks he changed the topic by bitching about your friend Hange’s handwriting (a sentiment that was long held but never spoken), but he can’t really remember when all he could think about was just how badly he needed to scream into the abyss and pray for solace and protection from the evils of CHEM143 and the bewitching charm of his CHEM143 study buddy.

Oh, how thankful he was that you both had a decent grasp on this week’s concepts and didn’t need to have any emergency study sessions. He needed at least a week to recover from this.

And, hey.

Even if he doesn’t recover from it, it’ll be Halloween, and that’s the one time of the year he’s supposed to be scared of something.

Surely, nothing out of the ordinary would happen, right?

♡

This Halloween, Levi has no particular plans.

He’d spent the sunnier part of the day at the campus library catching up on his homework, had a late lunch at the canteen before going back to the library to review his notes for his upcoming CHEM143 midterm, and then walked himself over to the bus stop to pick you up and walk you to lecture.

Nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary.

And yet, his heart is racing as if he’s expecting something terrifyingly scary to happen to him—all because he’s a week away from his first CHEM143 midterm, and a few minutes away from meeting with his study buddy for said midterm.

Fuck, he has really got to get these newfound fears under control.

On his walk, he wonders to himself if you’d want to have dinner instead of just a drink with him today—if for no other reason, then to celebrate Halloween and take advantage of the fact that most of the surrounding restaurants will be relatively empty, what with the amount of students preoccupied with partying or other traditional Halloween activities.

Even better, he can use the holiday as a reason to not have to mask his obvious fear of both CHEM143 and, uh.

Whatever else it was about you that scared him so much.

Don’t be fooled, though.

This is totally not because he wants to have an excuse to hang out with you outside of the weekly hours you spend together studying for CHEM143.

No, definitely not.

As he weaves through lightly forested pavement, he also realizes that it’s quite strange that you hadn’t texted him to let him know that you were on your way, but it isn’t that big of a deal—he knew you’d be there, and, just like every Tuesday, the two of you would bitch and whine about Pixis on the walk to class before trying to follow along with the notes that Hange had left you and keep up with the lecture.

When he arrives at the bus stop, though, there wasn’t any sight of you coming from the bus that’d just arrived.

That’s weird. You always come on this bus. The next one comes in 30 minutes—far too much later for you to make it to lecture on time.

Were you already on campus? Levi suspects not, you probably would’ve texted him to not come to the bus stop at all and to meet you somewhere else.

Maybe you’re coming on the later bus? You mentioned being at your friend Sasha’s house to hang out a bit on Halloween, but you didn’t say anything about having to miss class. Maybe Sasha would be dropping you off?

Did you catch the seasonal flu? Or forget you had class today? Or decide to ditch?

..

Or maybe you decided you were sick of walking with Levi to class. Levi doesn’t want to believe that’s what’s going on, but-

Wait.

Stop, Levi.

Don’t.

You’re not going to be able to concentrate in lecture today if you start thinking like this. Or at all, actually.

Instead of continuing to make assumptions and put his sanity at risk, Levi decides that his next best option is to call you and ask if you’re still on your way to class, or if you’re coming at all. He takes his phone out of his pocket, and, because he’s a total loser, he types in your phone number manually.

Not like he remembered it on purpose or anything, though.

It was just an easy number to remember.

At least, that’s what he tells himself as he brings his phone up to his ear and waits for you to pick up, but whatever.

That’s not important right now. What’s important is that he finds out if you’re okay or not, and whether or not you’re going to be going to class at all.

You’ve mentioned in very brief, very comedic passing that you always have your phone close to you in case Sasha ever burns down her kitchen again, which is why, as he waits on the lone bench facing the bus stop for you to pick up, he’s a bit surprised when you don’t immediately do so.

The phone goes to the second ring.

Then to the third.

Then to the fourth.

He starts to pull away his phone from his ear to avoid having to leave a voicemail and to simply redial you, but he hears sound coming from your end of the line and immediately pulls the device back up to hear the call properly.

“-hey, can you move?! I’m trying to get her phone to her!”

“Wait, who's calling? He looks like-”

"Oh, he's the o-chem guy!"

"-guys, how much more time do we have?!”

“Is that her boyfr-”

Levi’s earnestly confused to be hearing the sound of frantic overlapping voices from your end, but, thankfully, he hears your laughter chiming over the line as you thank someone on your end of the line.

When you’re somewhere away from the noise, you greet him properly. “Hey, Levi! What’s up?”

“Are you on the way to lecture?”

He hears a confused hum from you. “Hm?”

“Are you coming to class today? I don’t see you at our normal spot.”

“Didn’t you get my text?”

“Huh?” Levi muses. “What text?”

Levi never got a text from you—at least, he doesn’t think he did.

“Oh, I texted you to let you know that I wasn’t going to be coming to class today. Did you not get it?”

He puts the call on speaker and goes to pull up your texts, and, to his utter horror, there are several texts from you, in fact, telling him that you wouldn’t be coming to class today, and that you’re sorry you’ll be missing out on your “favorite weekly activity.”

How could he have missed these? He feels like he’s always waiting for a reply from you, whether that be for clarification on CHEM143 notes or help with the homework assignments, so how could he have missed when you texted him something pertaining to something as important as your absence for the day?

Seriously, how did he miss these texts? Is there something wrong with his phone?

But he’s been able to receive texts from Isabel all day, pestering him to do something with her and Furlan for Halloween, so it can’t be that.

It’s almost like he didn’t want to see anything from you, it feels that specific.

Come to think of it, it might be because he hasn’t texted you at all between this week and the last. You’ve both been insanely busy with midterms for other (more relevant) classes, and there wasn’t any particular need to bother you about CHEM143 when he knew there were other things to worry about, but, surely, he would’ve at least seen if you texted him, wouldn’t he?

But it’s you, so why wouldn’t he-

Wait.

…

Clicking back to his list of contacts, when he sees the small bell icon with the slash next to your contact, he realizes he muted your messages.

He muted your texts last week.

Levi feels pink start to tinge the tips of his ears as the embarrassment reaches him fully.

He totally fucking forgot he muted your texts, but now that he does, he cringes as he remembers why he chose to do such an idiotic thing.

After last week’s… whatever that was, he went home and decided that if nothing else, he could just ignore the feelings he had for you until Halloween, which meant muting texts from you so that he wouldn’t be stupidly waiting for a message that wasn’t really expected in the first place.

Truly, a fool he was.

“You still there?”

He lets go of a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Yeah, sorry. I got them, I probably just missed them.”

“No worries. Again, I’m sorry I can’t study with you today, but hey! It’s Halloween, go have fun!”

“Yeah, sure.”

There’s that same clamor in the background again, and Levi can barely hear your reply before you sign off on the call.

“-I gotta go now, but I’ll see you next week!”

Then the call ends, leaving Levi alone to bear the brunt of the hell that is CHEM143. He frowns to himself as he stares at your contact picture— a selfie you’d taken on his phone when he was busy ordering teas for the two of you at that café—and he sighs before he pockets his phone and walks himself to lecture.

And, as per usual, CHEM143 is absolute fucking hell.

The hall is particularly empty, with only Levi and another handful of students in attendance today. Pixis apparently has decided that he’s going to lecture just like he usually does, completely disregarding the fact that the majority of the class is missing out on this information right before next week’s midterm, but he says it’s their own fault for “not making use of their time wisely.”

What a dick.

But, apparently, this seems to work out in his favor.

Because Levi can’t really concentrate on anything in the first place, when Isabel calls him for the umpteenth time today, he just leaves the lecture while Pixis is in mid-sentence. What reason is there to feel bad when he’s clearly not going to learn anything here today anyway?

Levi picks up once he’s outside, and he starts making his way over to the parking lot to just leave campus. “What?”

“Hey, best friend! Wait, why’d you pick up? Aren’t you in class right now?”

“Why would you even call me if you thought I was busy?”

“Well, you’re not, so does it really matter?” Isabel laughs. “But really, why’d you pick up?"

“I’m ditching, and you’ve been bothering me all day. Just say what you have to say.”

“Aren’t you just a ray of sunshine today?” She snickers. “But anyway, I just wanted to ask one last time if you wanted to come to that haunted house with me and Furlan.”

Levi sighs. “Why would I want to go to a haunted house?”

“Oh, c’mon! It’s Halloween!”

“And since when have I ever celebrated Halloween?”

“You watch horror movies with us every year!”

He rolls his eyes. “Because you force me to, and I live with you idiots. Can’t exactly say ‘no’ when you’re threatening to change the locks on me.”

“Just come with us! You aren’t doing anything today anyway!”

Levi might as well try his hand at lying that he has to study with you. “I’m actually going to study with-”

“And don’t use your weekly study sessions with your o-chem study partner to get out of this! You can bring them, too!”

“Yeah, I don’t think-”

“Great! I’ll text you the address, and we’ll wait for you at the entrance! Don’t worry, I can pay for your ticket! See you in 30!”

Isabel then hangs up, leaving Levi to his own devices as he continues walking to his car. He feels the vibration of his phone to let him know that Isabel really did send an address to him, and he stares at the text with a frown.

There really is no getting out of this, huh?

Great, now he has to spend his evening with those two fools, doing whatever it is that fools like them do at haunted houses.

Sighing in exasperation, Levi decides to just cut his losses now and go.

Maybe you were right—he should go “have fun.” He hardly believes something like this is fun, but at least he’ll have something new to complain about when he sees you next.

Ugh, but even that doesn’t seem worth it.

A haunted house? What business does Levi have going to a haunted house when he’s only scared of organic chemistry and his own study partner?

Whatever.

Who knows, maybe he’ll even enjoy it.

And maybe, just maybe, this would actually instill fear in him for something other than anything and everything CHEM143 related.

♡

Who was he even kidding?

Levi hates this place already, and he hasn’t even stepped foot inside yet.

Levi hardly paid attention to the name or location or whatever of wherever he was going; he simply put it into his GPS, blindly drove in the direction it told him to go, and arrived at his destination, but if he knew that this haunted house was at a fucking amusement park, he’d just switch the locks back himself and get his roommates banned from the locksmith’s shop.

But he already paid for parking, so he just has to suck it up and go inside now.

He’s going to look like a complete coward if he doesn’t, and while he can tolerate other university students whispering about him not knowing what the fuck a 1-pentyne is, he will not let little kids think he can’t handle some lame haunted house.

Ugh.

After he parks and walks himself to the entrance, he spots Isabel and Furlan waiting for him at the entrance, just like they said they would.

Isabel waves him over. “Didn’t think you’d make it!”

“Me neither,” Levi glowers. “You didn’t tell me this place was at an amusement park.”

“We know you wouldn’t have come if you knew,” Furlan shrugs. “But you’re here now, so you can’t leave.”

“Where’s your study partner? Weren’t you going to bring them with you?”

“She had other plans,” Levi says. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with and leave.”

“What a party pooper,” Isabel sighs. “Well, at least you’re here now! Let’s go get our tickets!”

The trio walks over to the booth selling tickets, and Isabel takes her wallet out of her purse. “Hello, three tickets, please!”

"Coming right up! Just one second," the ticket attendant says, starting to input the order into the operating system. The total price flashes on the screen, prompting Isabel to hand him her credit card, but before he takes hold of it, he pauses.

And he's staring straight at Levi.

...

Weird.

Levi has never seen this guy before in his life.

"Hey, are you Levi?"

"What?"

Again, Levi has never seen this guy before in his life. How does he know his name?

"You are, aren't you?"

"Why does it matter?"

What the fuck is going on here?

"You totally are!" The attendant exclaims, now turning to face the person working the window next to him. "Jean, get over here! It's Levi!"

The aforementioned Jean doesn't bother sparing whoever this is a single glance, presumably preoccupied with something on his phone. "Yeah, right. Connie, you've said that to the last four guys that came to your window, you clearly have no sense of facial recognition."

"Dude, I'm not kidding! It's the guy from the picture!"

Jean looks up, and his eyes widen he catches sight of Levi. "Oh, shit. Yeah, it is."

This is a bit less jarring because Levi does vaguely remember Jean from his statistics class, but that doesn't explain why Jean's now also fucking staring.

It was annoying enough that he had to be here at all, and now people wanna treat him like he's a zoo animal? Absolutely fucking not.

"Whatever the fuck is going on, stop it, and just give us our fucking tickets already," Levi groans.

The attendant then turns back to Levi, frantically waving his hands out in front of him. "Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to be rude!" 

All the while, Isabel's been awkwardly holding up her card, but the attendant pushes her hand away. "Huh? Do you not take card?"

He waves her off. "We do, but your tickets are on us."

"What the fuck? Why?" Levi badgers.

"Levi," Furlan nudges, "don't question it, just let them take care of it."

"Yeah, what he said," Connie laughs. He grabs the tickets from the dispenser, all of which are to be marked at the actual entrance to the amusement park, and he very sinisterly hands Levi his.

Mind you, he looked completely normal when he handed Isabel and Furlan theirs.

This place just keeps getting worse by the minute, it seems.

The trio now then proceed to the second entrance, which thankfully is a normal and decently pleasant interaction, and when they step past the gates, they're greeted with the very unseemly sight of a performer dressed as a zombie.

And while Levi wouldn't go as far as to say he's scared, he's still caught a bit off guard, and he finds that his breath falters for less than a second at the intrusion.

Which, to be fair, isn't really much of a reaction when he considers that Isabel and Furlan both jump in fear and scream for their lives, but he supposes that this just goes to show how unfazed he is by these kinds of things.

Levi's scared of two things, and two things only: his upcoming CHEM143 midterm, and you. Him getting scared by anything that’s going to happen here is beyond the scope of imagination.

♡

And, as fate would have it, that was exactly the case.

The amusement park had a variety of haunted houses scattered all throughout, in which the performers would hide in the haunted house-slash-mazes and pop out whenever someone walked by. Clowns in haunted circus tents, creepy demon children in abandoned orphanages, werewolves and vampires in a makeshift forest—none of them did anything to him. If anything, they annoyed him more than they excited him—he could only take so much of Isabel and Furlan clinging to his arms for dear life.

He’d keep trying to pry them off of him, but that effort would be fruitless considering the fact that there are scare actors in every dark corner of the park waiting to jump on unsuspecting victims, and Isabel and Furlan are both too deathly afraid of every single monster chasing after them to let go of their raven-haired friend.

God, not to mention their incessant screaming. You’d think they were actually getting chased by killer clowns, the way they were crying for mercy, no matter how many times Levi told them that none of this was real. The scare actors weren’t even really allowed to touch the guests, and they still react like this?

But, needless to say, by the time Levi's been through all but one of the haunted houses, he wasn’t scared by a single thing that’d came his way.

And speaking of that last haunted house—the trio had heard whispers of it all night.

In lines for other haunted houses and in brief mentions as they’d pass by other groups of friends, they’d overheard people talking about how violently they’d cried while stuck in the seemingly endless labyrinth, how ghastly they’d felt after leaving the torturous maze. Most of them seemed to still be reeling in the horror, their faces pale and their hold on loved ones strong.

And, of course, that just made Isabel and Furlan all the more excited to save it for last.

And, so, here they are now, giddily waiting in line for the maze, with Levi still acting as their makeshift lifeline of support.

“I’m so excited! I hope they chase after us and we have to actually run away from them!”

“No, no, they have to rev up their chainsaws next to us, and then chase us!”

Chainsaws? Where the fuck did the notion of chainsaws come from?

The way they spoke, you’d guessed they were going to anything but a haunted house on Halloween, but Levi knows this to be ordinary Isabel-Furlan behavior, so he just sighs as he waits for the line to progress. It’s quite a long queue, but his friends had insisted that they go to this final house to “get their money’s worth” (which, in fact, did not make any sense when they didn’t even pay for their own tickets).

Just one more of these stupid fucking houses, and he could go home and have actually terrifying nightmares about carbonyl compound and catalytic asymmetric synthesis and whatever other 143 concepts he was running from.

After a bit more of a wait where the trio decided to indulge in many, many games of rock-paper-scissors, they finally reach the beginning of the line.

Looking up at the sign that’s perched above the entrance door, Levi raises a brow.

The Butcher Shop.

Huh.

What a stupid name for a haunted house.

What’s so scary about a butcher shop? Surely, they just hang fake pig carcasses from the ceiling beams and call it a day. What the fuck was scary about that? He can hear people’s screams from all the way out at the entrance, but really, what was there to be scared of?

Ugh, the people at these things are scared of fucking everything.

When the screams have subsided enough to allow for it, the short blonde girl that’s manning the door greets them with a smile. Her demeanor is oddly sweet, considering this is a haunted house, but okay.

“Hi! My name’s Historia, thank you so much for waiting! How many of you are in this group?”

“Three,” Levi answers curtly, sensing that his friends are too busy frothing at the mouth in anticipation to answer themselves.

“Sounds good!” The blonde then points to a small board that’s hung up on the side of the entrance to the house with some key information. “Just to let you know, the actors in this house are able to touch you, but if you yell out ‘mercy,’ then they'll leave you alone.”

Oh, absolutely fucking not.

He can deal with getting the blood circulation in his arms cut off and his ears getting blown out by the screams of his best friends, but a stranger touching him? One that’s probably covered in fake blood, at that?

Absolutely fucking not.

“And I’m sure the three of you want to stay together, but it’s recommended that you complete The Butcher Shop by yourself for maximum scare. Did you still want to stay together, or split up?”

“Stay toget-”

“Split up!”

“Split up!”

“Levi! This is the last one! We gotta make sure we’re extra scared!”

“Yeah! Please, Levi! You gotta do it by yourself!”

… Great.

Just fucking great.

Levi doesn’t think he’s going to get scared if he’s by himself, but he’ll be damned if he has to deal with both this and having to find Isabel and Furlan after they complete this fucking maze. Knowing those two buffoons, they’ll be too busy screaming their heads off to find their way out to the exit.

“Well, whatever you decide, have fun!” Historia laughs, and she smiles once more before peeking into the haunted house. “Ymir! Are we ready for more guests yet?”

“How many?”

“Three!”

A scare actor dressed as a bloody farmer then comes out of the maze and puts her arm around the blonde, leaning her head atop the shorter girl. “Yeah, they’re good to go in.” The bloodied farmer girl then looks at the small group of Levi, Furlan, and Isabel before squinting her eyes at Levi, her eyebrows furrowing as she stares at his face. “Hey, do you happen to be taking organic chemistry right now?”

At the mention of… that, Levi freezes, but he nods regardless and tries to keep his face neutral to hide the obvious fear he has for the subject.

The farmer nods back, and she leans down to whisper something to Historia. Both girls then giggle to themselves until the shorter of the two eventually shoos the other back into the haunted house to go back to terrorizing paying customers, and Historia then faces the trio again, motioning for them to head inside.

Isabel’s the first to go inside, practically skipping to her own doom, and while Levi expects Furlan to go next, he stands firmly as he waits for Levi to go first.

“Furlan, go.”

“Nope. I have to see you go inside.”

“I’m not a child, I’m not going to wander off into the darkness and never return.”

“Look, I know you’re only here for our sake, and I really appreciate that, but try to actually have some fun, okay? I rea-”

“Go in already! You’re holding up the line!” A brown-haired guy from further back in the line yells.

Levi finds him immediately in the crowd, and despite the guy being with who Levi assumed was his girlfriend and another blonde guy the couple seemed to be friends with, Levi flips off that heckler and rolls his eyes before going into the maze by himself.

Upon entering the labyrinth, Levi’s met with a splitting pathway with three directions. There’s no difference between each, so Levi just goes through the one directly in front of him, completely disregarding the table display of animal carcasses and bloody knives that acts as the centerpiece of this first section.

When he’s through the door, immediately out pops a girl dressed in a blood-drenched chef’s cloak and hat with a prop axe in her right hand, a huge smile on her face as she stands in front of Levi. The chef hat seems to obstruct her vision just enough to not let her fully see him, but allows her the range to see where she’s going. In her left hand is a huge slab of bloody meat, and she slams it against the wall to cause a huge blood splatter, adding even more red to her coat. The meat drags against the wall as she creeps closer to him, her axe making a grinding noise on the floor, and she stops a sizable distance away from him before she finally speaks, all while lifting her axe to strike the piece of the wall just perpendicular to his head.

“I’m so hungry… for meat!”

It’s almost laughable just how corny her delivery is, but, apart from that, her voice is really familiar. He can’t quite place it, what with her appearance being that of a messy chef rather than the normal person he probably knows her as, but whatever.

This really isn’t scary at all. This is probably what happens in the back of the grocery store, anyway.

When Levi doesn’t react, the girl huffs and pries her axe from the now-dented wall, now resting it back on the ground as she sighs. “You’re no fun.”

Levi just stares at her before he silently walks past her, minding the axe that he could’ve tripped over. “Good to know.”

After walking down this bloody and worn-down path, he encounters his next “scare” in the form of another actor, this time dressed as a janitor equipped with a bloody mop and bloody rubber gloves.

Now that’s something to be scared of—a mess like that could take days to clean.

The actor, his taller statue meaning that he towers over Levi, lifts the mop and swings it towards Levi in a fake-out before he brings the mop back down to the floor and goes back to drawing satanic symbols on the pavement. He mumbles to himself as he does so, occasionally lifting his freckled face to give Levi a sweet, exaggerated grin, but even though Levi’s mildly unnerved as he walks past the acting janitor, it doesn’t really do anything to scare him.

As he makes his way deeper into the maze, there are even more jumpscares and other performers that try to get to him, but none succeed. There’s several setpieces that he has to walk through as well, of which consist of mostly animal carcasses and fake severed limbs, but even though some of the props move and startle him slightly, he feels close to nothing in terms of legitimate terror.

As he reaches what he assumes is the end, already having been in this haunted house for a harrowing twenty minutes now, he sighs to himself and slows his pace.

Finally, Levi’s just about ready to go home and have a nice, good, long talk with Isabel and Furlan about the consequences of dragging him to places that he doesn’t want to go. He loves them too much to ever really dislike these outings, regardless of how much he hates the environment, but he is never going to be coming back here again.

I mean, come on.

If you’re going to market this “haunted house” thing as an actual horror experience, then at least make it scary. Levi’s sure there’s something out there that could maybe scare him as much as CHEM143 and its muses, someone just has to come up with it first.

Whatever. At least he can-

Before that thought can continue, Levi trips over something, and he falls forward and onto his knees. Thankfully, the ground in front of him isn’t completely covered in fresh fake blood and grime, but he doesn’t get much time to be thankful when he feels a tug on his hair from above.

What the fuck is going on?

He opens his mouth to start to say ‘mercy,’ but before the words can slip through his lips, the hand that’s gotten ahold of his hair laces itself further against his scalp and pulls him upwards, lifting him up onto his knees. This person’s foot is placed on the backs of his calves, pinning him to the floor and keeping him from standing up again.

He can see the glint of a meat cleaver that’s being held up against his throat, and though he is being manhandled, the hand that’s firmly holding his hair is gentle and doesn’t hurt.

…

Well, he supposes that this is scary. Unbearably so, that his heart feels like it's beating faster than a bullet train. 

Whoever it is that’s got him underneath them, they lean forward and press the cleaver further into his skin—obviously, not enough to even scratch the skin, but just enough to let Levi know that they’ve got control over him right now.

Ok, that’s enough.

“Mer-”

“Are you sure you want to say that?” The person asks in a hushed voice, interrupting him. The voice is charmingly feminine, but because he’s a bit frozen with mild fear, what with a fucking meat cleaver against his throat, he can barely take note of the fact that it sounds very, very familiar.

“Yes,” he replies dumbly, trying to shift his head to get a better look at whoever it is that’s got his hair in her hand. Though the grip remains as gentle as it did moments ago, it’s still firm in its placement, and Levi isn’t able to get a better look at who this butcher is.

“I don’t think you are,” she whispers again, now removing the blade from his neck and now procuring a fake bloody heart, one that now stains her hand red and drips onto the floor in front of Levi’s knees. “Would you mind if I stole your heart?”

She then holds the heart even closer to Levi’s face, though careful not to touch his face. “Look, you can even have mine.”

Levi gulps, his throat narrowing and struggling to make way for more air.

Fuck. Just one word, and she’ll let him go.

But, again, before the syllables can be spoken, she interrupts him. “After I steal your heart, I’ll make sure to take good care of it. Keep it running on cardiomyocytes, nourishing it with dienes, carbon fibers. You’ll never have to remember how to run your heart yourself, I’ll take care of it for you.”

Oh, fuck.

He is absolutely fucked.

What kind of butcher speaks so sensually?

What kind of butcher tugs on men’s hair to keep them on their knees?

What kind of butcher holds meat cleavers to said men’s throats?

And, more importantly—what kind of butcher knows this much about organic chemistry?

He's drawn out of his more confused feelings to more hazy ones, as he can feel her breath warming the tips of his already cherry-red ears.

"Come on, won't you give me permission to steal it? I promise I'll take care of it. I'll even teach you all the chemistry our hearts could have together."

She tugs a bit harder on his hair. Just enough for him to feel, but not anywhere near enough to actually hurt him. At this point, he has no idea what thoughts are running through this girl's head, but it's a bit weird that she's being so... nice?

At least, nice for someone who's going to have him quaking in fear for the rest of his life.

And, yet, as she's drilling him into the ground and forcing an answer out of him, it feels as if her hands are shaking, like this is her first time ever doing something like this.

He supposes that holding men hostage and forcing them to sacrifice their hearts isn't something a normal person does, but still.

Something about the butcher's uneasiness makes him feel... special.

He's obviously still scared out of his fucking mind, but knowing that he's the only one who's ever been held up like this floods his ego and sets off fireworks in his core.

Without any critical thoughts, the words slip through his lips—only, this time, the word he wants to say isn't "mercy."

"Please."

"Please 'what?'"

Again, Levi fails to exercise any critical thinking skills, because he replies the only way he knows how—"Please steal my heart."

"Aw, you're so cute," the butcher laughs, the chime lighting up a gentle flame in his chest, and she drops her heart onto the floor, and after she reaches into what he can only guess is her pocket, she pulls out a bandana and holds it out in front of him.

“Don’t.

"Fucking.

"Move.”

Levi only knows how to blink in that moment, not knowing how to even breathe, so he doesn’t think he could move even if he wanted to, but he still nods.

The butcher then lets go of his hair to use both hands to tie the blindfold over his eyes, obscuring his vision, and Levi feels her pulling back on his hair to bring him up to his feet. His senses are all over the place so he has to clumsily scramble to stand up properly, but once he does, the tug on his hair turns into a softer, gentler lacing of fingers against his scalp, and he can feel hot breath from her on his lips.

“If you want to, you can say ‘mercy,’ now. I won’t be mad if you do,” the butcher says to him, her voice soft and soothing as she now moves to massage his head and wipe at blood that’s gotten splattered onto his face in this maze.

Earnestly, Levi has no idea of what he wants to say.

All he knows is that he’s fucking terrified, and he’s so fucking confused because he never expected to be afraid of a fucking butcher, of all things.

“C’mon, Levi, say something. You’re scaring me.”

He was scaring her?

No, no, no.

She had it all wrong.

She was the one that was scaring him.

Doesn't she realize that she literally had him held up by the hair on his head? That he was on his knees because of her? That-

Wait.

Levi?

The butcher knows his name?

…

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

My.

Fucking.

God.

It was you this entire fucking time?

You, his study buddy in CHEM143? The same you that had plans with Sasha tonight? The same you that he’d muted over the phone to keep his heart from bursting out of his chest? The same you that extended sunshine to him in the rain?

The same you that's got him pinned to the floor, forcing him to give his heart to you?

Oh, fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Of course it was.

Who else fucking knows how terrified he is of CHEM143? Of you?

Levi’s senses come back to him with that revelation—that, right now, you’re in front of him, asking to steal his heart from him.

Except, you never had to ask.

Hell, you never did.

You just stole it anyway, what with your charming laughter and your friendly demeanor and the comforting company you brought him during all those CHEM143 study rendezvous.

He can feel you starting to move up the blindfold to properly reveal yourself to him, but before you can, he leans forward and crashes his lips into yours anyway, his eyes fluttering closed in spite of his already-obscured predicament.

He can feel you humming against his lips, wanting chance to fully explain yourself, but he returns your earlier gesture of a gentle lacing of fingers into hair, as well as another hand which cradles the opposite side of your face.

He can feel you smiling against his lips, then promptly resting your arms on his shoulders as you let him take the lead in the kiss.

And, finally, he feels that fear again.

That sickening, flustering, shake in his knees.

That longing, lonesome, ache in his heart.

Levi can feel that again.

Though…

Perhaps he was wrong this entire time.

As his lips take mold in yours, and yours in his, he realizes that he was never scared of two things.

What he mistook as fear for the feelings he had for his study buddy in CHEM143 was actually…

The beginning blossoms of love.

The fear he has for CHEM143 is definitely not what he was wrong about, because there’s no way in fucking hell that he’ll ever not be afraid of Lewis dot structures, but…

And maybe, just maybe...

He’ll be okay with that, so long as he has his heart stealer at his side to make his heart light up with something other than fear.

♡

Levi sighs as he sets his pencil and calculator down, passing down his completed midterm down the row to be collected by Pixis.

By now, the class has moved on from being as silent as they had been for the testing time, and Levi puts his head down on the table, far too spent to even care that he looks like a fool. “I completely failed that midterm.”

Whether or not he actually did, he has no idea, but the nerves have been eating him up so much that he just can’t help but believe that that’s the truth of the matter.

He feels the light, cheerful pat of your hand on his hair, and he relaxes further into himself at the touch.

“Oh, come on, I’m sure you did better than you think you did.”

Levi leans further into your touch, but not before you take it away to start packing up your things to leave. He groans at the loss of comfort, but he knows he has to get out of this circle of hell as soon as possible, so he lifts his head from the table before stretching his arms upwards and putting away his things.

You’re already standing by the time he’s ready to go, and when he's fully ready, he gets up to lace his fingers between yours and start leading the way to that same café that you'd been going to for the last however many weeks. Just like that very first day you'd met, Levi orders while you find a cozy booth facing the moon, and when his name gets called and he's back with you, tea in hand.

But, unlike that very first encounter, now, you and him are transported to a place where no such feeling of fear exists anymore.

At least for now, there's no immediate fear of a CHEM143 midterm. Levi's allowed a break from the agony of carbon compounds after such an intense exam, and he'll do everything he can to make sure you feel the same way.

Instead, the budding flowers of love and a yearning for something more exist here, blooming in spite of the winter cold. As your teas heat up your already warm, beating hearts, comfort and reliability seep in where fear and misdirected confused once resided in Levi's soul.

And, as the days and weeks and months and the rest of eternity passed, it came to be that fate would let that feelings become something so much greater, so much richer, so much more sentimental, so much more loving.

But, truly, what Levi meant to say was:

Levi isn't scared of anything anymore.

Sure, he might've been scared of second CHEM143 midterm, and, sure, he might be fucking terrified of going to the butcher now, but...

When he looks over at you, his love who fills his life with such lively colors and passion for something unknown,  Levi isn't scared to face anything.

Not even meat cleavers, and certainly not heart stealers.

[nia-writes]

Headcannons for 141 + Konig + Los Vaqueros with a f!reader on a first date

Like how the date set up would be, where and what would they have for their meal, what activities they would do together

Loads of fluff if you don’t mind. I personally think Konig would do a sip and paint type of date 🥺 man is so big and cute while he paints on a mini canvas and sip tea while Price is the type to take you to see the northern lights cos he’s extra like that

Hiiii~ thank you for requesting!! I love this ask and added in who asked who on a date! Hope you enjoy~ For König, I changed his date a little <3

Warnings: None, just fluff~ a shirtless Kyle~

My requests are open~

Ghosty

You asked him for a date.

You’ve always had a special relationship with him, Simon’s always been softer with you than he is with anyone.

At first you thought it was because he thought you were weak, since you’re new to the 141. Like if he didn’t protect you- you’d compromise the mission and get yourself, and others killed.

But you *thankfully* realised that’s not true one day, while having a conversation with Soap and Gaz.

"Come on, y/n! Are you honestly that dense?!” Kyle exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

“What?!” You shot back, sinking down in your seat. "You’re both just teasing me" You sighed.

"No, lass, open yer eyes" Johnny sighed, shaking you dramatically.

And you did, you began to notice how different his behaviour was towards you. And thus, you asked him on a date.

Simon was frozen, his eyes wide a bit when you did. He had liked you for a while, but could never confess to himself that he did. He was scared to lose you, and if he loved you, that meant one day he would.

But when your eyes patiently wait for his answer, looking up at him with the same eyes he fell in love with, he sighs and says "Sure." a bit too rough. (but thats because hes in disbelief that you actually asked him)

You smiled and decided to plan the date specially for him.

He doesn't like crowds, you've discovered that one day when the boys and yourself went out. You want this date to be enjoyable for him too- something memorable.

You planned him a picnic in the woods, under the stars. A blanket is laid out in a clearing, fake candles lit. Over the years you've remembered Simon's favourite food and drinks, and made sure to get them all for him.

Simon is speechless as he stares at the sight, before slowly looking at you.

"You did this, for me?" He asked in his belief- shocked how much effort you put in for him.

You smile and nodded, "All for you!"

During the date, Simon would try to get to know you better, asking you questions he never knew about you before.

He had fun, and removes his mask for you. "You're so beautiful" you sigh, caressing his cheek.

Simon almost cries- not once in his life does he feel so loved like he does now

He definitely kisses you~

Johhny Foap Mactavish~

Johnny asked you on a date.

Hes liked you for a very long time, and finally had the courage to ask you.

He was very sweet about it, got your favourite snack and a singular rose, he was nervous when he asked- different from his usual confident self.

"I've liked yer for a while, Bonnie. Will yer join me for a date?"

Of course you said yes, wrapping him in a tight hug.

A date with Johnny would be fun, adventurous and full of laughter. You never want it to end.

He took you to a cat cafe- completely unexpected by you.

Johnny isn't fond of dogs- but he does like cats, and he knows you love these fluffy adorable creatures.

He pays for the whole date and doesn't allow you to, hes a gentleman, who wants to make a good impression on you.

As soon as you both enter the cafe, you fell in love with all the cats. Especially one black and white one called Elara. She reminds you of Ghost, and Johnny agreed.

The whole date is filled with laughter and cat cuddles, Johnny buys you some delicious treats (which one cat steals, it was funny watching them fight, you were rooting for the cat)

It was a very cute sight, watching Johnny cuddle a cat. His favorite was called Maxine, a ginger cat.

(He tries to steal her but failed)

You took a very cute picture of them- using it as your wallpaper on your phone.

At the end of the date, you kissed. It was definitely one of the best dates you've ever been on.

John Price

You asked him.

I see Price as not being the one to ask- hes a busy man, no time for romance.

But when you ask him, he goes against all that, and says yes.

He plans it, he has to. He planned your date the moment he knew he fell in love, and he wanted it to be very memorable and special.

He tells you to pack your bags, for a weekend away. You nod, still processing whats happening.

And when the weekend comes, and he sees you all packed, John can't help but smile. He plans to have a lot of fun, and of course, make sure you do too.

You had no idea what he has planned, but you weren't expecting this-

A trip to see the Northern Lights-

You hug him tight, tears forming in your eyes. You once told John you wanted to see them a very long time ago- it came as a shock that he remembered.

He rented a cabin too, a perfect view to see them all night. (You got lucky and it showed for a long time)

John got you a gift too, a bracelet to wear. It's plain back with a hint of blue, perfect to wear all the time. You love it, making a promise to never take it off.

He also packed some food, to cook at the cabin. You decided to help him, laughing as you joke about his cutting vegetables skills. "You know, I've seen Johnny do better" you giggled, remembering the time he cooked at base.

John lets out an amused huff. "That also the time he set toast on fire?" yes it was.

After dinner, you both cuddle by the fireplace, its warm and you feel safe and right in John's arms.

You lean your head back and kiss him, happy to finally be able to love him.

Kyle Gaz Garrick

You asked him~

I believe Gaz is the youngest in the team, that being said, he most likely doesn't have a lot of romantic experience.

But he deserves so much love, and you've fallen hard for him!

It was definitely a shock to him when you asked, and he quickly snapped out of it, happily saying "Yes!"

You both planned your date, wanting to do something fun and new.

Thats when you suggested stand up paddle surfing, and Kyle agreed, already thinking of all the mischief he will cause-

A few days later, Kyle rented some paddle boards, packing them in his car to drive you both to the beach.

The drive was fun- both of you singing to random songs that come up on a playlist, while telling jokes.

Kyle rests his hand on your thigh the whole way.

Once at the beach, you both got the equipment out, rushing to the water. You're so excited for this, knowing you both need a well deserved break.

Kyle definitely stays shirtless on the beach he did it on purpose

As soon as you got in the water, Kyle helps you on your board before he tried to get on his, you laugh hard as he fell in the ocean- screaming when you nearly fell.

"Think that's funny, huh" He laughed, shaking your paddle board. You scream as he does, trying to hold on for dear life.

He chuckles and stops, pulling himself up on his board. He paddles with ease, standing up like his came natural for him.

You on the other hand, were having a hard time. "Struggling, baby?" He laughs, bumping his board on yours.

"Pffft no!" You snorted, clearly lying. He smiles and gets on your board, holding your waist tight to him.

"Stay calm, yeah? I got you" He whispered in your ear.

You nod, a blush appearing on your face.

The rest of the date went well- it was so fun- especially when you both started play fighting in the water.

Afterwards, you cuddle on the beach, watching the sun set. You admire the view, while Kyle admires you.

When you notice he's looking at you, you smile and place a gentle kiss on his lips- to which he happily accepts.

Alejandro

The most romantic guy ever- he asked you.

Ever since he saw you, he was head over heels. He wasted no time in asking you on a date, a bouquet of black roses in his hand.

He did everything for this date- he cooked dinner and baked desert, decorated his garden and table full of flowers and lights, and even got you a present- a beautiful necklace that he put on you.

To say you were spoiled, is an understatement.

When you first enter his home, he gently grabs you by the waist and kisses your forehead. "You look absolutely beautiful mi amor" He smiled.

He looks and smells really good-

When you enter his garden, your eyes widen in shock, it is absolutely beautiful.

You had no idea he was going all out like this- he laughs at your face and guides you to your seat, sitting you down and tucking your chair in.

He compliments you all throughout the date, not skipping a beat to remind you how beautiful you are in his eyes.

He's very smitten~

Alejandro serves dinner, a 3 course meal, he prepped himself. He starts with the starters, smiling as he hands you your plate.

Your eyes widen when you see your favourite foods.

"How did you know?" You asked, blinking, thinking you're in a dream.

Ale smiles and said "A little bird told me"

The little bird was Rudy~~

You smile bright as you ate, enjoying the dinner he made just for you~

Definitely kisses you at the end~

Konig

You asked him!

Konig was too anxious to ask you, he really wanted to, but he didn't know how.

But when you did, he sighed with relief, nodding while whispering a small "Yes please"

You planned the date, something that you've been wanting to see for a while. Konig making and decorating his own pottery!

It was a complete surprise to him what you choice, and when he finds out, his eyes widen a bit.

He was anxious he would never be able to create pottery, but you were quick to reassure him.

Seeing his large self sit at a pottery turntable made you laugh, he's so huge that his poor legs had to be stretched out.

He was surprisingly good at this, he listened to the instructor very carefully and managed to a mug. You were very proud of him, showing him by kissing his cheek.

His brain malfunctioned at the action.

While the pottery was drying, you both walked around the workshop, admiring the other designs other people have done.

He held your hand as you did, smiling down at your intertwined hands.

Konig designs his mug for you, he wanted you to keep it and use it as a way to remember your first date with him.

He paints it in your favourite colour, drawing little smiley faces and adding a little 'K' in the middle. He also very carefully drew some little hearts.

He was anxious when he gave it to you, a light blush on his face.

When you took it with a smile and held it to your chest, he let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

When you handed the mug you made for him, he laughs softly and kisses the top of your head.

He doesn't kiss you, but he does on the second date~

[moon-spirit-yue]

It’s been eons since anyone has talked about an actors au BUT what if Sisu like switched Raya’s script out and gave her a fake bc she was tired of the obvious Rayaari pining:

Raya, acting out the scene where they get encompassed by Druun: then let me take the first step *puts the gem in Namaari’s hand*

Namaari: *looking at Raya with tears in her eyes*

Raya, internally hyping herself up: *okay, just a quick kiss scene! It’s only supposed to last a couple seconds! You’ve kissed people on and off screen before, shouldn’t be that different even though you feel completely weak in the knees*

Namaari: *fully expecting Raya to just step back into the shadows*

Raya: *uses both hands to cup Namaari’s face and kisses her*

Namaari: *very surprised but immediately kisses back, dropping the gem to wrap her arms around Raya*

Director: damn it, this is a really good shot. Really sucks that we can’t use it. CUT!

Raya, pulling away: hey what’s wrong with my kiss?!

Namaari: *is simply happy*

Director: Raya, I love the improv and it was a great scene, but this is a Disney movie! If we pull this shit the whole movie will get canceled. Remember the birdhouse? Remember?

Raya: okay one, it’s the Owl House and two, it was in the script!

Namaari, raising an eyebrow: our characters kissing isn’t in the script

Raya: yes it is

Namaari, grinning: if you wanted to kiss me so bad, you could have just asked

Raya, glaring with bright red cheeks: not everything’s about you undercut! It was in the script!

Namaari: oh? So you don’t want to kiss me?

Raya, huffing: I never said that. Look, I’ll prove it to you! *pulls out the script from her bag and shoved it at Namaari*

Namaari: huh. Yeah. Raya’s script looks normal accept a kiss scene is added between our characters. Hey Tong, Boun, your scripts didn’t have a kiss at any point did they?

Tong: nope!

Boun: nothing for me either!

Raya: that’s so weird. Because I remember Sisu- *realizes* excuse me for just one moment. I’m gonna run an errand

Tong, after Raya left: well at least you two finally got together! I’ve been putting you two on a boat for months!

Namaari: you mean shipping us?

Tong: I like the boat thing better

Namaari: well I’ve been putting us in a boat too

*Sisu’s apartment*

Sisu: *just watching TV because she didn’t have to film at all today*

Raya, who has a key: SISU IM GONNA KICK YOUR ASS

Sisu, not even looking away from the TV: so when are you and Namaari going on a date

Raya:…………this Sunday

Sisu: and what do we say when friends help you confess to the girl you like?

Raya:……….thank you. I’m still gonna kick your ass though

Sisu: fair enough *jumps up and runs away*