#[ besides i am super confused like I dunno if they ever met. ]

[waithyuck]

PUPPY

pairing: werewolf!lee jeno x reader (f) *halloweenie special*

genre: smut, supernatural au

word count: 4k

warnings: mature content, excessive explicit language, sexy times (meaning sexual content), I used the word ‘penis’ ONCE and only ONCE, mentions of a knot, knotting (I’m sorry), slight impreg kink, cumming inside, unprotected sex, blood, aggressive behavior, other stupid cliche werewolf things that are most definitely prob in hundreds of fics, jeno does NOT like being called a puppy even tho he’s called it oNCe

a/n: the first release of the dreamie halloweenie series! I hope this one sets the tone for what’s to come 👀 sorry to anyone who hates werewolf cliches and for the extreme lack of any substance or plot lmaoooo anyway I hope y’all enjoy reading

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~10/10/2020~

~~~~

“are you cool with jeno staying the night?” your brother shot out, startling you as he spoke, not even looking at you as he spread too much peanut butter on a slice of bread nestled in his hand.

you looked up from where you were sitting at the kitchen table to face your brother, not saying anything in reply as you got lost in your thoughts.

jeno was an oddball. he was nice and he wasn’t creepy or even that weird, he just had his moments that were just well, odd. he was your brother’s friend of about six years; they met in their second year of high school and have been inseparable ever since. because of that, you have also been surrounded by jeno in all that time as well.

in the first couple years, you didn’t notice anything strange about him. he seemed like a normal and healthy young teenage boy. he was incredibly handsome, so of course your poor soul developed a small crush on him that only grew as the years progressed.

since you paid such close attention to him, you could pick out the oddities in his behavior occasionally pretty well. just from that, you’ve deducted that his sense of smell was almost god-like, like he could smell things that a normal person couldn’t.

now, you supposed that it wasn’t that weird that he had a good sniffer; there were probably tons of other people in the world with the same ability...but it wasn't just his sense of smell that had you curious.

sometimes he would act strangely at night; not often, but enough to have you questioning it. he would either disappear completely without a word or come up with a half-assed excuse to leave and then run away like a frightened animal.

it was just plain odd...and you couldn't get over it, no matter how much you tried to will yourself not to think about it.

snapping out of your stupor, you felt your heart jump at the thought of jeno coming over, even though he’s been here countless times, but you didn’t let it show and you shrugged your shoulders.

“it’s not like I have a choice in the matter,” you stated truthfully, looking down to pick at your nails. “you would have just said he was coming over anyway if I said no.”

your brother smiled at you, beaming as he placed the bread down and patted your head.

“you know me so well, y/n.”

you rolled your eyes, shoving him away. “yeah,” you retorted, slightly annoyed. “It’s not like you’re my brother, or anything.”

he didn't say anything further and you left him alone with his sandwich, getting up and making your way to your room where you could successfully hide for the rest of the night. before your cold make it far, you heard your brother yell something about jeno coming around 8, but you didn't say anything back and just minded your own business all the way upstairs to your room.

you pathetically holed yourself up in your dark room for about four hours, only coming out to quietly sneak to the bathroom and then you would go back into hiding once again.

even when you got word that there was pizza downstairs, you ignored it and continued to watch horror story narrations on youtube.

you just couldn't deal with being in the presence of your long time crush today. it took everything in your power to stop yourself from going downstairs and being potentially spotted, but you managed to pull through successfully and be a pathetic hermit in your room.

it was around 3 a.m. when you were finally finished with watching youtube videos, and you felt gross. you supposed that the two boys would be sound asleep by now, considering your brother never ever sacrificed his beauty sleep for anyone. you grabbed some clean clothes and gathered them in your arms before trudging tiredly to the bathroom, swinging open the door without a second thought, not realizing that the light was already on when you got there.

your heart almost jumped out of your chest as your eyes bulged out of their sockets.

“holy fuck!” you screeched as you took in the sight of jeno, in the middle of the bathroom completely naked, stroking his painfully hard cock right before your eyes. you couldn’t tear your eyes away from the show and you accidentally discovered that there was something not right about the way it looked...

your mouth fell agape and you barely heard him gasp loudly before trying to cover himself with the closest towel.

“jesus christ, y/n!” he yelled back, both of you not even considering your sleeping brother that was just three rooms over.

your eyes stayed glued to where he was covering himself with the towel, still thinking about the oddity of his dick. it seemed to be swelling at the base, which was definitely not normal for a human penis to do.

“what the fuck is wrong with your dick?” you blurted out unapologetically, causing a blush to cover his entire face and neck. you tore your eyes from his covered crotch to look at his eyes, which were now a shocking shade of bright yellow. you jumped back, dropping your clothes on the floor as you watched him breath heavily, most likely trying to calm himself down the same as you.

“oh my god, what the actual fuck is happening?” you murmured out loud, your eyes wide and never leaving his own as he stood silently in front of you. “am i dreaming? am i fucking high?” you tried to reason out as to why you were seeing what you're seeing, but jeno didn't give you much time to think before he spoke.

“you’re not dreaming,” his voice came out low, almost like a growl, and you felt your heart freeze up. “I dunno if you’re high...but what you're seeing is as real as it gets.”

your mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping out of water, trying to formulate the words to say next. your brain literally couldn't think of anything except his abnormally large and weird dick.

“okay…” you trailed off, your hands coming up to rest over your racing heart. “so then I’ll ask again: what the fuck is up with your dick??” and then you quickly added, “and your eyes??? I'm so confused right now, jeno.”

he sighed heavily and turned around, giving you a full view of his ass before he gathered his clothes to get dressed and cover himself. you really should have looked away, but your eyes wouldn’t listen to your internal screaming no matter how hard you physically tried to stop staring.

when he pulled his shorts on he finally turned to face you once more, forgoing a shirt much to your dismay (but really, you were dying on the inside at the sight of his abs). he stared at you for a second, his eyes back to their natural deep brown color.

“...there's a lot we need to talk about.” was all he said before grabbing your wrist in his scorchingly warm hand and dragging you out of the bathroom and down to your room. you didn’t protest and you let him practically drag you all the way there, closing the door behind him and guiding you to plop down on your bed. jeno walked to the opposite side of the room, distancing himself from you as much as possible.

“um..so,” he started hesitantly, trying to form his words correctly. “I’m uh, I'm a werewolf.”

your eyes bulged out of your head in disbelief, but you didn't say anything in reply. you both stared at each other across the space of your bedroom, not uttering a single word.

at first you were ready to call him crazy; there was absolutely no way that it was true. but then you thought about his eyes, his sense of smell...and then thought about his cock...holy shit wait, was that a fucking knot??

“um, yeah, it was…” you heard him say suddenly. you jumped out of your skin at the sound of his voice, not expecting him to reply. did you say that out loud by accident?

“you did.”

okay fuck, you needed to stop thinking and pull yourself together. what were you supposed to say to that? ‘oh cool, your cock has a knot and you’re a fucking werewolf, that’s super, jeno!’

jeno went on to explain the ins and outs of being a werewolf to you over the next twenty minutes, the small pink blush on his cheeks never truly leaving as he went into detail about everything. he even corrected certain cliches that were not true, a scowl making its way to his features with each inaccuracy you brought up.

“so...my brother doesn’t know?” you questioned quietly, looking down at your lap.

“no one knows besides you and my family.” he confirmed, and you looked up again to see him lean against the wall behind his back, eyes gazing sharply at you.

you panicked slightly, thinking that holy crap, now that you know, he's gonna have to kill you so the secret doesn't get out.

“oh my god,” you whimpered out, “are you going to kill me now?”

you watched his eyes widen before he choked, coughing violently before composing himself. he straightened his posture, but still didn't make any move toward you, still keeping his distance.

“what?!” he practically shouted, startling you. “of course not! why would I do that??”

you felt your face grow hot and you looked away once again, wringing your hands together on your lap. you shrugged, murmuring quietly, “i dunno...I thought you'd kill me to keep the secret, well, you know, a secret…”

you heard him sigh exasperatedly before hearing his soft voice grace your ears from across the room.

“I don't kill people, y/n.” he sounded slightly sad, and you then felt bad about assuming something so terrible of him. “the only time I kill is when my instincts become too much to control, and I snap.” his head hung low, but he quickly added. “but I’ve never actually killed a person, even if my instincts were screaming at me to.”

you tried to wrap your mind around what his wolf instincts were like; he only briefly touched on that topic earlier, seeming like he didn't want to talk about it too much. you being yourself, of course you had to pry.

“so like, what you’re saying is,” you started, your hand cupping your chin in thought as you pondered over your thoughts. “that if you were to like, hypothetically, snap right now and go all feral, you would want to kill me?” the question came out inflected as a statement, but you nonetheless awaited his answer patiently as you took in the sight of his face going through about five different emotions in the short span of a couple seconds.

“I don’t think…” he trailed off, looking down at the floor while clenching his fists. “I don’t think killing you would be my first instinct,” he looked up at you, his eyes blazing a slight yellow again as he seemingly stared into your soul. “...if you catch my drift.”

at first you were completely confused, not sure what other instincts he could express while being feral, but then it all clicked and it had your body heating up at the thought.

“oh.” you simply retorted, your eyes glazing over at the implication of him pinning you down and taking you as he pleased. “oh, fuck. you’re fuckin’ serious?”

his eyes were dark as he drank you in, his nostrils flaring slightly as he subtly sniffed the air between the both of you. dear god, you hoped that he couldn’t smell the sudden arousal that consumed you. you watched his eyes glow into a bright yellow and you felt your instincts screaming at you to run, but you held his gaze as he let a low growl escape his mouth.

“y/n,” he said, low and strained as he tried to fight his animal instincts. “you need to leave if you don’t want this, right now.” his words were final, no room for questioning.

you briefly tried to think it over; what would actually happen if you stayed and let him have you? you could probably die, first and foremost, but you shook that thought away even though it was a very real and serious possibility. you couldn’t deny your arousal at the whole thing, being taken like a bitch in heat by a guy you’ve been thirsting over for a while now. you may not get the chance to fuck a werewolf again, so you quickly made your decision.

“I’m…” you trailed off, dragging your gaze down to his neck and collarbones where you could make out the sweat forming on his perfect skin. “I’m staying, jeno.” you spoke softly to him, watching his brow furrow in confusion before smoothing out again.

you made your way to him and he stiffened up, watching your every move like a predator as you tentatively stopped in front of his panting form. reaching a hand up, you caressed his face, your breathing shaky as you leaned in closer.

“you can have me, puppy.” you threw in the last little jab with that sudden nickname just for fun, your heart soaring at the sound of the deep growl he let out upon hearing it. you fought the smile off your face as he practically pounced on you, pushing you over to the bed and pinning your body underneath his in one swift movement.

“I’m a puppy, huh?” he questioned darkly, his glowing eyes roaming over your face before his head dipped down to nose at your throat. you whimpered softly as his teeth nibbled on your sensitive skin, earning a satisfied growl from him.

you felt your shorts stick to your core from how insanely soaked you had become, and you grew hot at the idea of him pulling them down to find that you were, in fact, pantieless. he had your wrists pinned down against the mattress, not allowing you to touch him much to your annoyance. you tried to struggle against his supernaturally strong hold, but was met with a deep snarl in response. you immediately grew pliant underneath him out of pure instinct.

he pulled back, sharp canines prominent in his mouth as he fixed you with his glowing stare, red swirling with yellow in his bright irises.

“don’t fucking move,” he spat, his voice coming out low and gutteral, causing a flood of your own arousal to escape you down below. his nostrils flared for the second time that night, and he breathed in deeply at the scent of your wet and begging cunt. “be a good girl and take what I give you.”

the statement was final, and you barely had time to nod before he was tearing your t-shirt in two, biting the skin of your shoulder. his sharper teeth did not sink deep into your flesh, but when he drug the canines across your skin, you felt them rip you open. you let out what could be considered a poorly concealed scream, but it came forth as more of a moan as you felt hot blood trickle down your arm.

your shirt was in ribbons, and he looked extremely pleased as he took in the beautiful sight of your naked breasts, no bra in his way. he watched as your chest heaved up and down in anticipation, and he released your wrist to gently trail both of his hand over your body.

“your tits are so pretty,” he murmured, diving down to take one of your nipples into his mouth. he worked your other boob with one of his hands, kneading it and flicking your sensitive nipple.

your back arched into his touch, and you tried your best to stay as quiet as possible in fear of your brother hearing you.

he suckled hard; nibbling your nipple and dragging his teeth along it, causing shivers to run up your spine and your core to clench around nothing. your shorts were without a doubt ruined at this point.

your nails scratched down his back and he continued to ravage your chest, alternating between both of your breasts and teasing your sensitive buds with no remorse. it felt like hours of play, but eventually he pulled back to roughly grip the fabric of your shorts and tear them down your legs, exposing your dripping core to his hungry eyes.

you whined as he stared at you, reaching your arms out towards his own pants, wanting to see his cock again now that you were laying there, desperate and pouting for it.

his eyes shot to your face, smirking as he watched your brow furrow and your lips purse, your hands trying to grab at him from your place on the bed.

he didn’t allow you to pull his shorts down for him; instead he hooked his own thumbs in the waistband and pulled them down slowly, exposing his cock inch by inch before it finally sprung out, slapping against his stomach proudly.

your mouth watered at the sight of him once again and you moved to try to sit up, but didn’t get very far. he grasped your non-bleeding shoulder and roughly shoved you against the mattress once again, not saying anything. the stare he gave you oozed enough dominance for you to clearly get the message that he was trying to send.

jeno didn’t waste any time spreading your thighs open, two of his fingers immediately swiping through your embarrassingly wet slit before easing inside your tight hole. the stretch burned at first, considering he was starting you off with two fingers instead of one, but you welcomed the slight pain that mixed with the pleasure of him reaching up with his thumb to graze over your throbbing clit.

jeno thrusted his fingers into you gently at first, gradually picking up the pace as he went along. before you knew it he was adding a third finger, stretching your more than you’ve been stretched before.

you gasped at the feeling, your back arching off the bed as you cried out while he started finger fucking you with earnest.

“shhh, baby,” he said quietly, his movements never ceasing. “just gotta open you up for me, make sure you can take my knot.”

you held back another moan at that, thinking of how his cock would stretch you open, and how full you would feel with his knot nestled inside you.

he abruptly pulled his fingers from you, causing your back to arch again as you protested the loss of stimulation. his strength amazed you, and with one hand on your belly he pinned you down completely, sucking on the fingers of his other lewdly while stating you in the eyes.

after licking his fingers clean, (which caused heat to crawl it’s way down your belly), he kissed you sloppily on the mouth once again before gripping your waist and roughly flipping you over onto your knees.

your chest was flush against the mattress as well as your face, and your hips were lifted high in the air and you could feel the heat radiating off of him as he positioned himself behind you.

his nails drug down your sides and he gripped one of your hips with his hand, using his other to position himself at your leaking entrance. you wiggled your hips in anticipation, whining as he drug the head through your folds before slowly sinking inside you.

your fingers gripped the pillows as he bottomed out, his knot already slowly forming at the base of his shaft. it stretched you ever so slightly at the entrance of your core, and you whimpered out in pleasure as he started thrusting in and out.

the small form of his knot caught on your entrance with each precise thrust, and you were finding it very difficult to stay quiet. jeno’s breaths were heavy and every so often he would let out a soft growl as he felt his tip pound gently into your cervix.

your small whimpers were short and staggered, escaping your mouth with each thrust, which spurred him on to create a faster and harsher pace. he leaned over your back and didn’t relent as his cock punished you pussy, and when you let out a cry that was just a little bit too loud, he shoved your face right into your pillow to silence you.

“shut up,” he panted, a rumble low in his chest following his words. “just fucking take it.”

you nodded your head in response to the best of your ability, biting your lip to keep quiet as the presence of his hand left the back of your head.

he seemed to be getting close now, and you could feel yourself teetering on the edge as well. it was uncommon for you to cum without any clitoral stimulation, and you were amazed at his ability to reach all of the most pleasurable spots inside you.

you felt your stomach tightening up and you gasped sharply when you felt his cock press right against your sweet spot, making you reach your high almost instantly.

you clamped around him, barely registering that he buried himself completely inside you and was now stretching you to the max with his fully developed knot. the pain of the stretch only intensified your orgasm, which had you screaming into your pillow to muffle your cries of ecstasy.

jeno growled loudly as he came shortly after, biting the back of your neck aggressively and painting your walls with his cum, emptying completely inside of you while his knot kept a single drop from escaping.

he withdrew his teeth from you, surprised that it didn’t break your skin, and gently moved the two of you to lay on your sides as you basked in the afterglow of what just occurred.

your chest heaved as you fought to catch you breath, you pussy still stretched to its limit as you laid with him. you reached an arm around to caress his face, a small show of affection as you smiled in bliss.

after catching your breath, you sat in silence for a bit, just bathing in each other’s warmth, before you had to go and open your big mouth again.

“so your knot is supposed to like, plug me up?” you questioned, your voice still sounding slightly out of breath as you panted. “to make sure I get like, hypothetically, pregnant or whatever?”

he groaned in response and gripped your hips tightly, his hips bucking and causing his still painfully hard cock to sharply jab against your sensitive insides, making you yelp.

“dear god, y/n,” he whined, his nails digging into your skin. “don’t say things like that, fuck.”

“oh, so you like that idea?” you teased, turning your head to try to look at him to the best of your ability considering your current position. “fucking me full of babies?”

his eyes stared down at you intensely, the color of his irises brightening up as he growled lowly at you. he suddenly gripped your hips and turned you both over, his body completely laying on your own as you were pressed against the mattress on your stomach.

“keep talking, y/n,” he growled out lowly, his hips pressing tightly against your ass, the head of his cock kissing your cervix. “I’ll fuck you again right now, and give you my fucking babies.”

he couldn’t see you, but you smiled contently, preparing yourself for another intense round with this beast of a man. there was a small chance that you would actually get pregnant, considering the IUD you had…but the thought of it had you ready to go at it again.

in some fucked up way, you were content with this, and you threw your hips up to grind back against him, grinning even wider as he pinned your body down even harder.

jeno fucked you like an animal until the sun came up, and your brother was none the wiser.

[imaginejamesandsirius]

Can u do a fic where like James is currently dating lily and then Sirius starts dating some random guy from whatever house and James gets like super jealous and possessive trying to keep Sirius to himself (I’d write it myself but I can’t write for shit lol)

((A/N: In keeping with the prompt, there is brief James/Lily in the beginning))

James frowned. "Who's Sirius with?"

"Hm?" Lily looked up, then followed James's stare over to where his best mate was. "That's Fabian, you know that. You're on the Quidditch team together, for Merlin's sake. What's up with you?"

James opened his mouth to say that nothing was wrong with him and bugger you, Lily, for even suggesting it, then he paused. He was bothered by this. There was no reason to be bothered by this. Sirius and Fabian weren't mates, so James hadn't seen them chatting before. Gideon and Fabian were the year above them, and they were busy with Quidditch and all their NEWT classes. Neither of them exactly had time to socialize with random-arse people in the year below them. James's frown deepened. Sirius wasn't a random person, and he was perfectly capable of talking to anyone in Hogwarts, especially someone as cool as Fabian. So why was he upset? "I dunno," he said to Lily, but his mind was reeling, trying to figure it out.

Normally, James was only bothered by people talking to his friends if they were dangerous. All the Slytherins in their year had plenty of reason to hold a grudge, so that would've made sense. But Fabian was a Gryffindor, and perfectly trustworthy besides, so it couldn't be that.

"Look," Lily said with a small smile, "I get that you're used to Sirius always being around, but you wanted to spend time just the two of us, so he has time to branch out."

"He is not replacing me," James said indignantly. He was Sirius's best friend and he always would be. Getting a girlfriend hardly changed that.

"I wasn't saying that. But be realistic, for a second. He wants to spend his time with you, but you're busy. Remus and Peter took all the time you spent off doing your own thing to study, so he can't hang out with them. He had to find someone else."

"Fabian's not drowning in spare time."

"Maybe they have free time at the same time," Lily said with a shrug. "I dunno, do I look like a seer to you? C'mon, stop worrying about what Sirius is up to and let's enjoy our time alone for the next hour, yeah?"

James dredged up a smile for her because he was happy that they had some time alone in Hogsmeade before they met back up with their friends. He should enjoy this. Besides, he'd see Sirius then, and he'd be able to ask him about what was going on between him and Fabian. Because that glimpse that he'd gotten hadn't been two friends talking; it had been more than that.

He might be reading too much into it, but there had been something in the way that Sirius was standing-- or maybe it had been in his smile?-- that made James think they were flirting. If they had been flirting, James would have to caution Sirius to knock it off before he got hurt. Fabian was a good guy, yeah, but getting involved with somebody a year above them was asking for trouble. Everyone knew that they were supposed to date within their year. Less heartache that way, and Sirius was rather sensitive, even if he liked to pretend that he wasn't.

*

"Hey," James said, pulling Sirius off to the side. He waited until the rest of the group was too far away to hear them before continuing, "I saw you with Fabian earlier. What's going on with that?"

"Oh," Sirius said. He sounded a little surprised but not horribly shocked at being seen. He seemed pleased, judging by the small smile that spread across his face. "We were, er- on a date. He asked when he saw that I was alone, and I figured why not?"

"Why would you go on a date with him?" James asked, sounding ridiculously rude.

Sirius blinked, smile giving way to confusion. "Because he's nice to me? And funny?"

"No, I mean why would you date him?"

"The same reasons I just said, tosser. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me," James said defensively.

"Then stop acting like there is," Sirius replied, brushing past him. They were both heading to Gryffindor Tower though, so James fell into step next to him like he always did. "I had a nice day before you got your wand in a knot. The first nice day I've had since you decided to abandon me for Lily, I might add."

"I did not abandon you for Lily."

Sirius snorted, clearly not believing him.

"We still see each other all the time!" James insisted.

"Yeah, because we take all the same classes and sleep in the same dormitory, not because you make time for me anymore."

"I never had to make time for you because you never had anything else to do; that's different," James said, and then immediately regretted it. "I didn't mean that how it sounded. I just mean that there was never someone I wanted to see other than you! Wormtail and Moony always crop up when they wanted to see us, so I didn't have to make time to see them. Lily's different."

"Tell your bloody girlfriend that she can see you when we're hanging out then."

"She already does. Or have you somehow missed her and Marlene sitting next to us in the Great Hall and in the common room? I know, of course, that you haven't. You just ignore them."

"I always ignore Marlene," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "If I look at her, she thinks it means I'm interested. Look, I don't know what's crawled up your arse today, but I'm allowed to date someone. You made time for Lily by spending less time with me. I am now spending that free time by hanging out with Fabian."

James grit his teeth together. What Sirius said made sense, but something about it was bugging him. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but it didn't feel right. Something was wrong with the situation. He knew that he couldn't say anything to Sirius about it right now; he'd only get more upset with James. "Fine," he gritted out.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, daring him to object again, but James stayed stubbornly silent.

*

Sirius's relationship with Fabian was short-lived; he said that while Fabian was a good bloke and all, it didn't really feel like they were dating when they spent time together. James was unreasonably happy about that, and things went back to normal for them. He didn't realise that he'd been ignoring everything else in his life to spend more time with Sirius though, not until Lily confronted him.

"You're spending more time stalking your best mate than you do sat in class, James," she said, arms crossed over her chest. "Look, I knew going into this that you and Sirius were close, but this is obsessive."

He blinked, doing a quick run-through of the last week. He had spent a good portion of his time hanging onto Sirius-- literally, since he hadn't wanted for him to wander off if he looked the other direction-- but he wouldn't call it obsessive. "We're mates," he defended. "Of course we spend time together."

"Yeah, you're mates, but I didn't say yes to a date just to fight for your time. You used to know that you couldn't spend your every waking moment with him, and now you're regressing."

"I'm not regressing," James said. The idea was insulting, and he kind of couldn't believe she said it. He needed to make things clear to her, and there was no time like the present. "Sirius is the most important person in my life, and if you can't handle that, maybe we shouldn't be dating."

"You're a tosser," Lily said, expression stony. "But you're right. We shouldn't be dating." With that, she turned on her heel, hair tossed over her shoulder, and stalked away.

James was pretty sure he should feel something other than annoyed that she'd dragged him away from Sirius just so she could get jealous. He made his way back to their table and sat down without saying a word.

"Hey," Sirius said, scooting over to make room for him.

James had the urge to wrap an arm around Sirius's shoulders and pull him back to where he'd been before.

"What did Lily want to talk about?"

"Nothing," James grumbled, and it was obvious that he was lying, so he didn't feel bad about it.

Sirius frowned. "You alright?"

Sensing that Sirius wasn't about to drop it, he sighed. "We broke up. She said I was spending too much time with you, and I told her to get over it." He shrugged. "It's a good thing I'm not a prefect, or meetings would be awkward as hell."

"You broke up with Lily?"

James nodded.

"Over me?"

"Pretty sure Lily has a problem with me, not you, if it helps."

"You've been talking my ear off over her for three years, and then you break up after a few months?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Over me?"

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

Sirius continued to stare at him like he didn't have a clue what was going on, then shook his head. "Guess not."

*

As much as James wanted to forget what Lily had said, he couldn't. It kept repeating through his head as he laid down to sleep and ignoring it didn't do him any good.

He had been spending a lot of time with Sirius lately. They normally only did this over the summer, when there was nobody else around that they could hang out with. James would be less inclined to do it if he ever got annoyed with Sirius, but that didn't happen. No matter how much time he spent with Sirius, he was always willing to see him more. He never wanted a break. He'd liked Lily, but he hadn't wanted to spend half that much time with her. More than two dates a week and he started to get annoyed. Not with her, necessarily, but with the fact that he couldn't relax. He was always relaxed around Sirius.

When he'd imagined falling in love, he hadn't thought that he'd want to spend more time with his friends than his girlfriend; he'd imagined it at about fifty-fifty. It was probably what Lily had been thinking would happen too, and she'd been good with that. She hadn't been okay with the split being ninetyeight-two though, which was fair. If Lily had been the one ignoring him, he would've been a lot more pissed off than she'd been. Although, now that he thought about it, she'd been plenty angry when she first asked him to talk, and he'd tried to brush her off. He definitely owed her an apology for that.

With a sigh, he rolled onto his other side. He was hoping that he'd be able to get to sleep now, but instead of thinking about Lily, he was thinking about Sirius.

He'd been really upset when Sirius started dating Fabian. It didn't make any sense. Like Sirius had said, he was mostly spending time with him whenever James was with Lily, so it wasn't cutting into what little time they had, or summat. And on the flip side, he'd been really happy when Sirius and Fabian split. He hadn't had a reaction that extreme to his own breakup-- even though the emotion he should've felt was sadness, but his point still stood. He should've been upset about him and Lily breaking up, but he kind of... hadn't cared. He was more upset about the fact that he didn't care than that they'd broken up.

Or maybe, he thought as he rolled onto his back restlessly, he'd gotten upset with Lily for suggesting that he spend slightly less time with Sirius. Because she'd wanted her boyfriend to spend time with her, and he'd said no. If nothing else, it showed that he wasn't ready to date someone, because he didn't think his response wouldn't have been different if he'd been dating anyone else. Well, except for Sirius, because then there wouldn't be an issue. Hanging out with Sirius would be the same as hanging out with his boyfriend.

Whatever, he'd apologise to Lily tomorrow, and hopefully she wouldn't be too pissed at him. He'd be honest, and that would probably be enough.

*

"Lily, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked, going up to her in the common room as she was working on an essay-- History of Magic, by the look of it.

It was obvious that she was still mad at him by the way the corners of her mouth tightened, but she still nodded and set down her quill to follow him outside the portrait hole so they had a bit of privacy.

"I wanted to apologise for yesterday. I acted like a berk, and you didn't deserve that. You were right; I shouldn't date someone unless I'm actually going to make time for them, and I should've realised that before I ever tried to ask you out. I'm sorry."

"...Thank you," Lily said, scuffing her shoe against the floor. "Since we're not getting back together, can I say something?"

"Sure."

"You might want to warn the next person you date that you and Sirius aren't just close; you're a package deal."

James frowned at her. Not because he was angry, thank Merlin, but because he didn't understand what she meant. Weren't all friends like that?

"Like, you don't care for Marlene, and that's fine because we could still spend time together without it getting in the way. But if I didn't like Sirius? Forget about it. We wouldn't have made it a week. I doubt that's going to change, so a little warning might be good for you."

James blinked. "Right. Erm, thanks."

Lily rolled her eyes, sensing his insincerity. Which, in his defense, he hadn't meant to be insincere, but he didn't exactly understand what she meant by that. He'd heard every word, but it still wasn't any different than what he'd been thinking before-- Lily and Marlene were friends, yes, but no one described them as being close, certainly not the way that Sirius and James were described as close. "Whatever, mate, it's your life." With that, she walked past him and back into the common room.

*

James was beginning to hate these late night revelations he was having. Last night had been that he wasn't ready for a girlfriend when he spent so much time with Sirius, and tonight was- well, that maybe he wanted to date Sirius instead of some bird. He'd been horribly jealous when Sirius started spending time with Fabian-- and yes, he realised the irony of having accused Lily of getting jealous of him and Sirius when he was the one who was guilty.

Oh, who was he kidding? He wanted to date Sirius. There was no 'maybe' about it. He'd only had his realisation ten minutes ago, but he didn't know how he was going to see him tomorrow morning without throwing himself at him. Face first. He wanted to kiss Sirius. He wanted to snog his face off.

In his defense, he'd always known that Sirius was fit as hell, but he hadn't known that his appreciation of his best mate's looks was crossing a line from platonic to romantic. He wasn't sure, for a moment, if romantic inclinations were exactly what he was feeling, but when he compared it to how he felt about his other mates, it solidified his suspicions: he fancied Sirius.

And he had no idea what to do about it. He had a feeling that grabbing and kissing him the next time he saw him wouldn't go over too well.

*

Naturally, James dealt with the situation by kissing Sirius the first time he saw him that morning. It wasn't exactly pleasant, because Sirius had been brushing his teeth, but he didn't immediately shove James away so he was going to count it as a success.

Sirius blinked at him. He held up a finger, spit in the sink, then said, "What the hell is going on with you?" He didn't sound upset, which was another point to this being a success for James.

That being said, James really should've waited until he was more awake. He didn't have his glasses on, so everything was blurry. Except for Sirius when he had kissed him because he'd been right in front of James's face. Also it was harder to form a coherent sentence before he'd been awake for an hour. "You know Fabian?"

"I'm familiar with him, yes," Sirius said dryly. He reached for a cup and rinsed out his mouth, then wiped so it got rid of the little white specks dotting his lips.

Absently, James rubbed at his own mouth and was unsurprised that a bit of toothpaste came off. "I was erm, really jealous when you were seeing him."

"I know."

"If you know, then why are you confused?"

"You're weirdly possessive of me. I know that. Kissing me is a bit much, even for you."

James rolled his eyes. "Turns out that the weird possessive rubbish is me wanting to date you."

"What do you mean it 'turns out'?" he asked. At least he wasn't grossed out or summat.

"Well I was thinking last night, and I realised-"

"Last night? You figured out that you fancied me last night?"

"Erm," James said, very eloquently. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

Sirius snorted. "You don't waste any time."

"Well I realised it last night, but it's not like I started to fancy you last night. I think it's been going on for a while."

"You're-" Sirius started to say, then he pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh.

"What?"

"You are easily the most ridiculous person I know."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It's you; of course it's a good thing," Sirius said, leaning against the counter. Thoughtfully, he folded his arms over his chest. "So we're dating now?"

"You never said yes, or how you felt, or anything," James pointed out.

"The answer was obviously yes."

"Was it obvious?"

"Was it not?" Sirius asked, brow furrowing.

James shook his head.

"Oh. Well, when Fabian asked me out, I figured that I couldn't feel worse about seeing you with Lily if I was also dating someone. And I've been pining after since like, third year, so it's probably a good thing that you didn't notice. It would've been really awkward. You're a bit of a dumbarse, but it always works out in my favour," Sirius said with a grin.

"Rude," James said idly. "Be nice to your boyfriend. I'm sensitive."

"Sure you are, mate. Sure you are."

[onceuponamirror]

ghosts

Faintly, Nancy can hear the waves crashing into the shoreline down the road. A buoy rings against the water. She takes a breath. “So…you don’t regret not leaving?”

“Do you?” He counters, as if knowing she wasn’t just talking about him anymore.

[set between 2x05-2x06] [read on ao3!]

“What’re you thinking about?”

Nancy turns to look over her shoulder, surprised to see Ace standing there, hands in the pockets of his puffer. He has a smile emerging from the corner of his mouth, which broadens slightly after a moment. “You look super serious. Am I interrupting something heavy?”

“What? No,” she says, clearing her thoughts, and echoes his grin. “I just thinking about…ghosts.”

“Ghosts,” Ace repeats, and drops into the seat beside her. She’s sitting on the table, whereas he’s planted on the bench, and yet they’re still at eye-level.

She blows out a breath and shakes her head slightly. “Yeah, ghosts. With everything happening so fast last month, I feel like…I didn’t fully process…” She pauses, and waves her hands for exaggeration, “Ghosts. They’re real.”

He furrows his brow, as if waiting for her to continue, or to finish her thought.

Nancy falls back on her palms, glancing up briefly at the darkened sky. “It’s just—I’m supposed to be this…Hero of Horseshoe Bay, or whatever they want to call me in the papers. I don’t really care about that but—solving mysteries is the only thing I’ve been good at, and…”

Ace passes her a slightly mischievous smile. “Is this about me coming for your title? I’m a ‘Hero’ too.”

She rolls her eyes and bumps his shoulder with her own. “No, it’s…I make logical leaps. That’s all it is. How can you make logical leaps with supernatural stuff?”

“Ah,” Ace says.

“If ghosts are real, what else is? And what won’t I be able to solve because I didn’t think to consider…Bigfoot, or something? I don’t know if I’ll be any good at this when the rules of physics don’t apply.”

“Nancy,” Ace says slowly, “all due respect, but that’s super dumb. You’ve already solved like, three ghosts mysteries by now.” She opens her mouth with mock offense, but he just grins at her, and she’s unable to stop herself from matching it again. “You’re good at this. Dead or undead. Besides—people always say stuff about physics as if it just relates to gravity. It’s a lot more flexible than that.”

She cocks her neck. “What do you mean?”

Ace shrugs. “Like, I went down a Wikipedia rabbit hole one night. A lot of physics is about theorizing about other dimensions and energy, and matter. Like—there’s that rule, that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. I think it’s mostly about decay or whatever, like how when we die we go back to the ground, but maybe there’s another part, like with our soul, that sticks around. Who’s to say that doesn’t encompass ghosts?”

Nancy just stares at him, dumbfounded. When she first met Ace, he’d struck her as a quiet slacker; another fellow high school burnout. It’s almost upsetting how much she’d misjudged him. “How the hell do you know that?”

As if slightly embarrassed, Ace ducks his face down, but she can still see his smile. He shrugs again. “Like I said, I love a good Wikipedia black hole. Which, coincidentally, has a great article on black holes.” They meet each other’s eyes, and Nancy feels something sputter against her chest, suddenly deeply aware of their proximity. She wonders if he feels it too, because he clears his throat. “Anyway, I don’t sleep super well. So it gives me a lot of time to collect increasingly random knowledge.” He taps his temple. “It’s a steel trap of trivia.”

She raises her eyebrows, still taking him in. He never seems to stop surprising her. “How did we not know each other in high school? You would’ve been super helpful on some of my earlier cases, you know.”

“I thought you worked alone then,” he says, somewhat teasingly, but like he’s avoiding her question. After a moment, he sighs. “I knew you, you just didn’t know me. We actually had art together, I think.”

“No way,” she says at once, before she can think on it. “I would’ve noticed you.”

It’s his turn for his eyebrows to jump on his forehead. Her neck flushes hotly, but mercifully, he looks away from her. “Nah. I was barely there. I was kind of a big stoner in high school.”

“I’m shocked,” she says dully, and he laughs. At the sound, her chest tightens again.

“I know. It really plays against type,” he counters, smirking.

She laughs, and a silence falls over them gently. She’s still surprised they had a class together and she didn’t even know him—even if they didn’t run in the same circles, he was still Ace. If she wracks her brain, she has a vague memory of a skinny kid in a backwards baseball cap and an oversized plaid shirt, but it’s hard to reckon that with the long-haired, soft-eyed, much more muscled boy who sits beside her.

When her thoughts finally return to the present, she finds him watching her. She turns slowly to face him, breath catching against her chest. Her eyes dart down to his mouth, and he does the same. Anxiously, she pushes her hair behind her ears, unwilling to let this moment last. This is Ace. Get it together.

“What?” He asks, his tone something low and velvety.

She laces her fingers together and tips her chin up, wistfully watching a faint star. “What are you still doing here?” She asks, and he meets her eye again, confused this time. “I mean, you’re smart. You never wanted to get out of Horseshoe Bay? Go to college?”

Ace leans back on his elbows. “Nah,” he says, but something in his voice betrays his attempt at casualness. “I didn’t have the grades, even if I wanted to.” Nancy purses her lips, not sure she believes him. He shifts uncomfortably, like he can tell. “Pothead,” he adds, impishly. “I took a couple of classes at the community college, but…I dunno, I got bored. I’ve had pretty much every job in town, at this point. Never really held anything down, ‘til now.”

“Yeah?” She asks, breathily.

“Worked on a lobster fishing boat for a summer. That was really hard,” he supplies, and Nancy wonders if that was the cause of his transformation from skinny kid in art class to the surprisingly toned boy beside her. “Worked at the video store, until they went out of business. Worked at the library for a bit. That didn’t work out, for obvious reasons.”

“Obviously,” she echoes, grinning at him. He rolls his eyes playfully.

“Last year I even worked at the yacht club,” he adds, glancing away from her. “That’s where I met Laura Tandy.”

At the mention of his ex, Nancy straightens. She tries not to put too much thought into the strange reaction her body has, deciding instead to dig at the larger thought that still nags. “Do you ever wish you’d gone with her? To Paris, I mean. Had adventures…left Maine?”

“Nance, I’m pretty sure adventure isn’t geography-specific at this point,” he sighs, throwing her a knowing look. There’s a slight thrill at him calling her ‘Nance’, and she tries to push it down. “But no,” he sighs. “My dad…I still think he needs me. He keeps trying to go back to work, as if he doesn’t remember why he left in the first place. Someone has to remind him.”

A soft hum escapes from the back of her throat. Privately, she thinks there’s something loaded there, something buried. A lie to himself, maybe. From her observation, Ace and his father are very much alike, but she doesn’t think he’d want to hear that.

Faintly, Nancy can hear the waves crashing into the shoreline down the road. A buoy rings against the water. She takes a breath. “So…you don’t regret not leaving?”

“Do you?” He counters, as if knowing she wasn’t just talking about him anymore. She levels him with a warning look, but he doesn’t back down, just piques an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” she says, honestly. “Right now, no.” She bumps him with her shoulder again. “Look at us. A couple of townie burnouts.”

He grins. “Somebody’s gotta do it.”

Another blanket of silence settles between them, but gentle this time. Again, the waves lap against the shore.

“I still can’t believe I didn’t know you,” she says quietly, perhaps not meaning to say it aloud. Somewhere along the way, he became such a fixture. But she supposes that goes for all of her friends—she was so different in high school. She’s not sure she’s someone she would’ve liked now. She realizes Ace is looking at her again. “I just mean, it’s such a small town. Like, I don’t even know your last name,” she adds.

He still hasn’t budged, soft smile and all. “Oh, it’s—”

“Yo! Lazy Drew! Are we gonna Boggle or what?” George’s voice floats across The Claw’s back deck, and they both turn around to see her at the back exit, her hands on her hips, lit warmly from behind. “Ace, you said you were gonna go get her and come right back.”

“My bad,” he says, getting to his feet. He offers her his hand down, even though it’s barely a jump to the ground. She takes it anyway, but it hits her with a shock of static so strong that she drops it like a hot potato. His eyes are anywhere but on her.

“Game night waits for no man,” George says drolly, holding the door open for them.

“Fine, fine,” she mutters, passing through the doorway. She spins around and points at George. “Tonight, we Boggle, but tomorrow—trivia night. Teams.”

“I’m game,” Ace pips up, as George only rolls her eyes and nods as she struts past them, towards the booth where Bess and Nick wait.

“Tomorrow, you’re on my team, Mr. Steel Trap,” Nancy whispers to him, leaning in conspiratorially. His body heat warms against her skin, even through her light sweater.

His smile is soft. “Any time.”

[abarbaricyalp]

@sambuckylibrary

SamBucky Halloween Prompt 1: Urban Legends

High School AU, spooky ghost stories and dead girl’s revenge

Rated G: mild cursing (AO3 link in the notes)

Haunt me, baby, one more time

“Legend says that every 17 years, the body of Lyla Ray comes back from the dead, looking for her next victim,” Sam whispered severely. Bucky’s attention was rapt on him, unblinking and fully engaged. “She preys on beautiful young men, the kind that killed her all those years ago. And she cuts their hearts out to eat it.”

“That’s a little on the nose,” Bucky breathed back, but his gaze didn’t waver. The bottom of Sam’s truck bed was starting to get uncomfortable, even with all the blankets he and Bucky had piled into it and Louisiana was hot on October 28th, so the blanket thrown over their heads--turning them into one lopsided ghost to anyone who happened to drive by and look--was getting unbearable.

“Do you want to go see where her body is?” Sam asked.

“I thought you couldn't bury people so close to the coast.”

“She’s buried,” Sam assured. “So far down underground so that maybe she won’t dig her way out.”

Bucky shivered involuntarily and Sam grinned. “How long ago was her last supposed appearance?” he asked.

“A year after we were born.”

Bucky let out a breath of realization. “I see. So she’s supposed to come back tonight,” he said.

“Exactly. If we hurry, we can see her come up.”

“Why would you want to?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted the full Louisiana experience while you were stuck down here?”

“Did I say stuck?” Bucky asked, reaching over to cup Sam’s cheek before pulling him into a slow kiss. “I’m sure I didn’t mean stuck.”

Sam grinned against his mouth, a little thankful for the blanket over them since they were parked just off the road. Then again, Halloween always made him feel invincible, so he probably would’ve let Bucky kiss him with or without the blanket.

He let Bucky distract him up until Bucky tried to lay him out over the blankets--later, definitely later--at which point he pushed him back. “Come on, you have to come with me,” he said, pulling on Bucky’s hands.

Bucky sighed like it was the last thing he wanted to do. Maybe it was. Bucky was the biggest skeptic Sam had ever met. Most kids new to the state were wide eyed and excited about the hundred billion ghost stories that permeated every street and building. Not Bucky Barnes though. He couldn’t be tasked to believe in any story about any monster or ghost or legend. Nothing phased him. Not any of the ghost tours Sam had dragged him to, not the haunted houses that had crept up in the weeks leading to Halloween, not the voodoo or tarot shops that always sent a thrill of excitement down Sam’s spine. Bucky just didn’t buy any of it, which made him even more enchanting to Sam’s stupid heart. Opposites attract and all that.

Bucky stood up, knocking the blanket away, and hauled Sam with him before climbing over the edge of the truck and waiting for Sam to do the same. By design, they were already pretty near the cemetery and it was getting dark, so Sam let his fingers graze over the back of Bucky’s hand until Bucky tangled them together.

“Y’know,” Sam said after a few steps, “you’re just like a Layla Ray victim.”

“Am I?” Bucky amused. “How do you reckon?”

“Oh come on. You’re a total pretty boy. Total heartbreaker.”

“Samuel Thomas, have I broken your heart?” Bucky asked in mock affront.

The thought of this thing between them maybe not being permanent broke Sam’s heart every damn day, actually. And Bucky being adamant about going back to New York for college was devastating too. “Not me. But I know you got a string behind you.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and knocked their hands against Sam’s thigh softly. “You’re terrible to me. You’re like her victims. You’re breakin’ my heart right now as we speak. And with eyes like that? A mouth like that? Total pretty boy too.”

Sam laughed and leaned into Bucky’s side. “Now you’re just flattering.”

“Nah, it’s true. I’ve heard the girls at school talk about you. All of Sarah’s friends are obsessed with you. Becca thinks you’re the cutest.”

“They’re freshmen. They hardly have taste yet. Sarah’s friends are just happy I pay attention to them in the hallways.”

“Well, Sarah’s friends like you a lot more than Becca’s friends have ever liked me,” Bucky said. “Which has to count for something.”

“Nah, ‘cause you’re an asshole. I totally get where those girls are coming from.”

Bucky glanced down the street before hauling Sam into a kiss that sent Sam’s head spinning through the dark night. “You think assholes can kiss like that, Wilson?”

Sam still couldn’t think but he nodded anyway because being contrary to Bucky was second nature.

Bucky snorted and let go of Sam’s waist. “Then I’m an asshole who likes you a whole lot. Even if you’re, like, super mean to me all the time.”

“You like it,” Sam said and hurried to catch back up to Bucky. “Here, it’s just up ahead.”

“Yeah, I might’ve missed the gate,” Bucky agreed sarcastically.

“We can be a little extravagant,” Sam said, looking up at the metal monstrosity, a remnant of the past, holding all the secrets of the past too. “Gotta keep the ghosts inside, y’know.”

“From what I hear, you’re not very good at that part.”

Maybe not. “Layla Ray isn’t a ghost, she’s a Revenant.”

“She’s a bear?” Bucky asked, just to be obtuse.

“You’re such an asshole,” Sam repeated and pulled him into the cemetery. “She’s buried towards the back, ‘cause she’s so old, y’know. And so that maybe she’ll be confused while she’s trying to get out.”

“Wait a second, this girl has been eating hearts for centuries now and she’s been buried underground for most of the time this cemetery’s been around to keep her buried, but actually it’s not working since she’s been wandering around?”

“That’s not the point,” Sam said, waving his hand in the air. “The point is the story.”

“I get the story. I’m just saying, stick to a reason why she’s buried instead of cremated or something.”

“She’s buried because that’s how the story works.”

“You know, she ought to come after you, usin’ her name and tragic end to scare new kids at your school.”

“We used to come out here all the time when we were kids,” Sam said. “The worst trouble I ever got in was when I brought Sarah with me once and dragged a stick down her arm while she was looking at the gravestone.”

Bucky snorted. “And I’m the asshole.”

“I’ve been waiting for seventeen years for this. Just let me have this one night.”

“If this is a once in seventeen years event, why ain’t no one else out here?” Bucky asked.

“I dunno, guess you grow out of it,” Sam said with a shrug. “Or maybe no one wants to risk being the guy who gets his heart eaten.”

“Right. Or you just made this up to get me out here all alone. Maybe you’re actually the ghost.”

“Am I that unbelievable?” Sam teased. He leaned up and stole another kiss before weaving Bucky to the back of the cemetery. He made sure to avoid walking over any plots that happened to be in the ground, though there weren’t many. Finally, nearer to the back fence, they came to a stop in front of a gravestone that read Layla George Ray 1796-1813 Beloved Daughter.

“I hate looking at tombstones for people our age,” Bucky said, reaching out to run his fingers over the lettering of Layla’s name.

“That’s almost touching, Barnes,” Sam said.

Bucky crouched down to run his hand over the even, cut grass that adorned the top of the grave. “No fresh dirt. Guess your revenant isn’t so hungry tonight,” he said, tossing a grin over his shoulder. “Even with two eligible guys standing around.”

Suddenly a woman’s scream pierced through the night and Bucky sprawled back on his ass, scrambling away without ever being able to get his feet under him.

Sam wrapped an arm around his shoulders when they finally collided and then sank down himself, cackling so hard he could barely breathe.

“Oh my God, Barnes,” he gasped. “Your face!”

“Sam!” Bucky cried. “Didn’t you fucking hear that? What was that?”

Sam fell onto his back, clutching at his ribs, knees bent up to his chest. It didn’t help retain any air, but it happened anyway. “Jesus, look at you,” he wheezed and buried his face in his own arm. “You really thought--” He wheezed some more and real tears slipped out from his eyes.

“What?” Bucky asked, still panting, still ready to bolt, but now more confused than terrified. “What are you talking about?”

Sam uncurled himself and held out his phone. The scream pierced through the air again and cut off abruptly when Sam silenced it. “You thought-- You really thought a dead girl was coming out of her grave to eat your heart.”

“You’re a fucking bastard,” Bucky snapped, finally catching up to what Sam had done. He sat back heavily on the ground and Sam broke out in new laughter.

“Your face, Barnes! You were so fucking scared.”

“I thought someone was dying, Wilson.”

“You thought someone was coming back from the dead,” Sam corrected.

“I hate you. I hope you do get haunted.”

“You can’t hope for what you don’t believe in,” Sam pointed out.

“I can hope for what you believe in. And I hope all sorts of creepy shit haunts your ass for years. I hope you don’t sleep for ages.”

“Oh come on,” Sam said with a smug smirk. “You don’t mean that. You love cuddling with me when you think I’m asleep.”

Bucky glared balefully at him. “Cuddling with you when you’re awake is just as fine by me.”

“Besides, if I get haunted, that ghostie’s gonna be all up in your business too,” he pointed out. Finally, he pushed himself to his feet and offered his hand down to Bucky. “Come on, baby. I’ll make it up to you.”

Bucky followed the long line of his arm up to Sam’s face before reaching for his hand and standing as well. “That a promise, Wilson?”

“Well, those blankets weren’t just for story time, y’know.”

“I like the sound of that. Keep on talking.” Bucky closed his fingers around Sam’s and Sam took it as the reconciliation it was. Together, they started for the front gate again.

Behind them, others talked too.

[thelustrousyellowdiamond]

The Scavenger Hunt Part 1

Steven was trying to enjoy his birthday. But a certain someone that he invited didn’t want to participate. It was very frustrating for him, especially with the rest of his family trying to get him to stop trying to help everyone else and just enjoy himself for a bit. But he couldn’t help it. Helping others was his whole life, if someone else wasn’t as happy as he was then he couldn’t be happy until they were happy.

Blue and Yellow Pearl invited him over so they could share something important with him. “I think it’s called a... scavenger hunt?” Yellow Pearl said in an uncertain manner.

“You follow the clues to find the surprises until the end where there’s some kind of big reveal,” added Blue Pearl.

“Look, guys,” said Steven. “Thanks for everything, and I really appreciate all the kind gestures, but I’ve already got a renovated house, that pocket telescope Connie gave me, and that party suit from you two, so I don’t really need any more gifts. I just want everyone to have a good time.”

“But you deserve some fun too, Steven,” said Amethyst, who was nearby. “Would it hurt to be spoiled a bit for just one day?”

“I mean, it might...” Steven uttered sheepishly. “Dad often talks about how-”

“Dude, forget it!”

“Besides, we’ve already set everything up,” Yellow Pearl stated. “Everything would go to waste if you said no.”

Steven sighed. “Alright, fine, I’ll humor you this once. But it’s just so we can have fun, got it?”

Blue Pearl nodded. “You may want to get into your adventure appearance modifiers for this one, Steven.”

Connie and decided to join the Pearls along with Amethyst and Steven for this hunt. However the others were rather partied out and opted instead to collapse on the sofas in the expanded house and just chat.

Steven looked at his first clue:

A carrier the shape of a sweet

Lies in the hands of some new old friends

Just down the street.

Steven was confused. “Which street? There are lots of them in Beach City.”

Yellow Pearl blushed. “Uh, we hadn’t really thought that out.”

“Alright, just follow us then,” said Blue Pearl.

“Not much of a hunt then now,” Amethyst grumbled.

“Come on guys,” said Connie. “They’re trying to do they’re best. We should have fun regardless.”

Steven frowned. “I just don’t get it. They’re up to something and I don’t understand why they would do all this for me.”

The three of them followed the Pearls all the way to the end of Beach City, right around where the water tower was. Steven was quite surprised to say the least, not by the gift itself, but by who was presenting it.

“FAMETHYST!?!?” exclaimed Steven and Amethyst at the same time.

“So these are all the gems you met up in space when you were rescuing your dad?” asked Connie.

“Only a few of us,” said Amethyst 8XJ (the Amethyst with the curl) “The rest of the humans and quartzes are back at the zoo. J-10 and Y-6 just decided to tag along. We’ve even been able to unbubble the Rose Quartzes and cruise the galaxy as we please.”

“Woah!” exclaimed Amethyst. “How did you guys convince Holly Blue?”

“We didn’t,” stated Skinny Jasper.

“She got fired and reassigned somewhere else!” shouted Carnelian. “We’re rid of her for good!”

“Ste-van! We were told to give this to you,” said Y-6. He handed him a strange looking drawstring bag. “Happy fifteenth birthday!”

“It’s an ice cream cone drawstring bag from the Wacky Sacks Supply Company!” Steven looked puzzled. “But where did you get this? How did the Pearls get you guys in on this thing?”

8XJ shrugged. “We dunno. We were just doing our jobs and then Holly Blue Agate got a notice of termination. With her out of the way, we figured that we could finally do as we please, take joyrides, relax in the pools, explore other planets, and just hang out!”

“We kinda just bumped into the Pearls while exploring Earth a little bit, and then we had this brilliant idea to say hello to all of you!” said Carnelian.

The Amethysts including 8XM all went into for a group hug. “Whatever the case may be, it sure is nice to see you guys again,” she said. “Feel free to drop by the temple anytime! I could even show you my room and all the junk I’ve collected over thousands of years of living here!”

“Steven, I think it see a note attached to the bag,” said Connie. “It must be another clue!”

“Why don’t you do this one, Connie?” replied Steven.

“Well, okay. I do hope you get to do at least one though.”

The next clue you seek

Involves song, not speech

For under a stage on your way

Is a special recording

For a special day.

“This one is easy!” said Connie. “It’s gotta be the stage that they set up for special events like speeches, Beach-A-Palooza, and concerts!”

Steven was confused. “But they aren’t holding anything special in Beach City today. The stage would have to be folded up and put away somewhere.”

“Well, maybe we can just ask around,” Amethyst suggested. “Didn’t you want this to be a bit more of a challenge?”

However, it didn’t take that long. Since Sadie Killer and the Suspects often had to help set up, Sour Cream was able to point them in the direction of the abandoned warehouse where the stage parts were normally kept in storage. It only took about ten minutes of digging before they found a VHS tape with the words BIRTHDAY BALL BASH written on it.

When Steven found a TV to start the video however, the Pearls got quite flustered and fast forwarded the entire thing, obscuring the screen so that all Steven could hear was high pitched indiscernible lyrics.

“Hey! What gives?” Steven asked, frustrated.

“Eh heh heh...” muttered Yellow Pearl.

“This video was chock full of embarrassing and cringey moments,” Blue Pearl bluntly stated. “We’re doing you a favor by skipping the entire thing.”

“And here it is! The final clue!” interjected Yellow Pearl. “It’s at the end of all this awful footage!”

“Wait, seriously? It’s already the end!?!?” Amethyst blurted. “You guys are terrible at planning scavenger hunts!”

“Amethyst, don’t be rude!” snapped Steven. He turned to the Pearls. “I am really sorry about all of this, I know you’re trying your best.”

At the hill’s apex

Is where you’ll want to go next.

A spotlight will uncover

Your last gift concealed

And all shall be revealed.

“The lighthouse!” exclaimed Steven. “It is rather far from here on foot though.”

“That’s okay! We can just walk back leisurely,” said Connie. “Even if this whole thing was super easy, we can just take our time. It’s been a while since the two of us got a moment to just relax together anyway.”

“Well, I’m always up for long walks on the beach with my best friend,” Steven blushed contentedly. “I’m game!”

After spending about an hour trekking to the lighthouse, the two of them looked over the edge of the lighthouse by the telescope together. By that time, the sun was beginning to set.

““Wow...” Connie said. “I know that Beach City sunsets were beautiful, but I’ve never seen one from this view before...”

“Yeah...” Steven trailed off. The sunset’s glow lit up Connie’s face in sight a beautiful manner that he felt like he could just gaze into her eyes forever.

“Do you think we could stay up and watch the stars come out?” asked Connie. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to study them up close with this kind of telescope.”

Steven looked back and laughed. “I think if we did, the Pearls would get even more impatient. They’ve been trying to cheer me up, I think.” He slowly took Connie’s hand. “But if we may, I... I’d like to share this moment with you. We’ve been through so much together, and- and I don’t think we’ve had much time to make it official, but... will you be my girlfriend?”

“Oh! I didn’t think you’d ask-”

“You don’t wanna be my girlfriend?”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, I didn’t think you would ask right here and right now, but yes. I would love to be your girlfriend.”

However, their moment was interrupted by cheering and shouting below.

“YEAH! WOO!”

“GO GET ‘ER!”

“I just can’t wait to help plan your wedding!” said Sapphire giddily.

“Wh-what!?” exclaimed Connie.

Both Steven and Sapphire looked very awkward. “Oh, sorry! I got so caught up in it that I must have been looking too far into the future...”

“WHAT!?”

“FORGET SHE SAID THAT!” shouted Ruby. “WE’RE JUST VERY HAPPY FOR YOU!”

“Hold up!” Steven called down to them. “First of all, I wasn’t proposing marriage, I just asked Connie to be my girlfriend! Second, what were you doing spying on us like that!? We were having a moment!”

[pototters]

Strawberry Flavored Cranberries

A/N: Inspired by a tweet I saw where someone asked what you would call a strawberry flavored cranberry. My response to them was “KiriBaku”. It’s KiriBaku.

Please enjoy this little fluff piece that I FINALLY managed to get transferred here properly~

Warnings: Bakugo curses a lot

KiriBaku

Words: 2,818

The self-proclaimed Bakusquad were enjoying their summer break at the beach just days before the start of their third year. Kirishima had somehow convinced Bakugo to tag along, but if anyone were to ask their other friends, they’d say that Bakugo simply couldn’t say no to Kirishima. Mina, Sero, and Kaminari all had their suspicions as to why, but Kirishima lived in the denial of his own feelings towards their explosive friend. There was just no way that Bakugo could ever like him back.

Whatever the reason, Bakuogo had come along and the five of them sat on the beach after a long day, enjoying some watermelon. They’d bought three, at Kirishima’s insistence, and were currently working through the second one. Kaminari had watched half in fascination and half in disgust as their redheaded friend devoured nearly an entire melon by himself. “Dude, are you even spitting out the seeds? You’re practically inhaling that watermelon. At least breathe between slices.”

Sero snickered as he commented, “He’s gonna be shitting seeds for a week.” Kirishima slushed, but didn’t get a chance to defend himself as Kaminari cut in, again.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he just turned into a watermelon with how much he’s eating!” Mina and Sero cackled at the thought as Bakugo quietly called him an idiot.

Kirishima’s flush only darkened. “That’s not funny, man. I just really like watermelon, okay? It’s good for you.” Kaminari patted him on the shoulder with another chuckle.

“It’s cool, dude. I’m just pretty sure I’d puke if I ate as much as you do. We still have dinner to eat later, and I know you won’t be skipping it even after eating all this watermelon.” Kirishima grinned a bit sheepishly, knowing his friend was right about that. His stomach was a bottomless pit, and he always ate a ton. While he always loved to eat meat, he had a secret soft spot for sweets and he tried to eat the healthy ones when he could. Like watermelon.

Mina chewed thoughtfully on her current slice, carefully spitting out a few seeds into the sand. “I dunno, you guys. I’m pretty sure Kirishima is already like a watermelon.” She grinned as the guys stared at her with baffled expressions. “Think about it! Watermelon is red, sweet, and everyone loves it!” A laugh escaped her as Kirishima turned the color of his hair.

“Mina, not everyone loves me. Geez.” He shook his head. “That would be impossible.”

“Not true!” She pointed at him. “Name one person who doesn’t like you.”

Kirishima opened and closed his mouth as he thought hard about it. “Villains. That’s a whole lot of people.” He shoved more watermelon in his mouth, grinning in triumph. Mina rolled her eyes.

“Villains don’t count, Kiri. You’re a hero. Of course they don’t like you. They don’t like any hero.”

“Actually, back in first year, I heard about one of the guys he helped take down in the Hassaikai took a shining to him. Wouldn’t shut up about wanting to fight him again.” Sero interjected, picking up another slice for himself.

Mina gaped. “Are you serious? For crying out loud, Kiri. Even villains like you.”

Kirishima pouted as he looked away, feeling the heat in his face build. “That was just one.” He paused a moment as he thoughtfully took another bite of melon and swallowed it. “Monoma doesn’t like me,” he said quietly.

“Since when does Monoma not like you?” Kaminari asked incredulously. “Sure, the dude can be a real annoying asshole, but I’ve never heard him say a word about you that was negative.”

Kirishima pouted even more. “But he can’t stand our class. He always takes the opportunity to say so.”

“Yeah, but that’s as a whole. Like Kaminari said, he’s just an annoying asshole. I don’t think he has anything against you personally.” Sero pointed out as Mina nodded her agreement.

“You’re all a bunch of fucking idiots.” Bakugo, who had been quietly eating his watermelon, finally spoke up. The others gave him a confused look.

“Let me guess, you’re gonna sit there and tell us we’re wrong?” Kaminari jeered as he narrowed his gaze at their explosive friend.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “So what if I fucking am? If you’re wrong, I’m going to call it out.”

“All right, then, Mr. Smart Guy, what did we say that’s wrong?” Sero challenged. Kirishima watched Bakugo closely as a frown etched even deeper into his best friend’s mouth. Bakugo’s gaze dropped to the piece of watermelon in his hands, quiet as he seemed to contemplate something.

“Kirishima isn’t like watermelon, at all.” There was a surprised silence as they waited for him to keep going. “Not everyone likes watermelon. It’s disgusting.”

“You’re literally eating a slice of it right now.” Kaminari dead panned.

Bakugo growled at him. “That’s besides the fucking point!” His voice began to rise in volume. “It’s got all these stupid seeds you have to eat around, which is fucking annoying, and if you eat too close to the rind, the flavor turns bitter! That’s nothing like Kirishima in the slightest!”

It was quiet another moment as the rest of them processed what Bakugo had said. Kirishima felt the air rush from his lungs as he stared at him with wide eyes. Bakugo had all but complimented him, which was a rarity coming from him. Mina slowly smirked at Kaminari, who tried to hide his growing grin. Sero gaped, still stunned at how vehemently Bakugo denied that Kirishima and watermelon were alike.

Finally, Mina asked, a sly smile on her face, “Okay, if he’s not like watermelon, then what fruit is he like?” As they watched him, waiting for his answer, Kirishima could have sworn he saw the lightest dusting of pink color on his best friend’s features.

Without looking at any of them, Bakugo tossed away his half eaten slice and wiped his hands on his swim shorts. “A strawberry.” He’d said it quietly, but it was definitely loud enough for them to all hear.

Still, “What was that, Blasty? I’m not sure I quite heard you,” Kaminari said with a shit eating grin. Kirishima threw a near mortified glare at him, but Bakugo took the bait.

“I said, he’s like a fucking strawberry! They’re sweet and literally everyone likes them! Watermelon is so fucking tasteless. Plus, they’re not annoying to eat!” Bakugo’s face had turned a mottled red as his temper flared, though his friends suspected there was a secondary reason, as well.

Kirishima buried his face in his hands out of sheer embarrassment. That had definitely been a compliment. A very high one, at that.

“I dunno, man.” Sero challenged thoughtfully. “They do have those leaves at the top you have to eat around.”

“Tch, so?” Bakugo glared at him. “Everyone has something annoying about them, but those leaves are easy to remove.” Kirishima’s thoughts were running wild with that remark. Just what was Bakugo getting at?!

Kirishima couldn’t lift his gaze, yet, the watermelon forgotten next to him. His heart raced in his chest as he forced himself not to look too deeply into Bakugo’s straight forward compliment. There was no way there was any kind of deeper meaning to it, no matter how much he wanted it to.

No one was saying anything, and the silence was starting to get to him. Finally, before he could go crazy, Mina let out a heavy sigh. “Okay. I’m convinced. Kirishima is a strawberry.” She smiled and gave a shrug as Kirishima’s head snapped up, shooting her a shocked glare. “Sorry, sweetie, but he’s got a point.”

Kirishima stuck out his lower lip. “Yeah, well, then you’re a pineapple.” Mina gave him a bewildered look.

“A pineapple? How am I a pineapple?”

Kirishima grinned, feeling his face slowly return to a normal temperature as his heart calmed with the distraction. “They’re super acidic, which matches your quirk, but they’re still really sweet and fun to eat.”

Mina laughed, “Hell yeah! I love it!”

Kaminari smirked as he puffed up his chest. “Well, I know that I’m a peach.” They all laughed, but Bakugo scoffed.

“You ain’t a damn peach, dunce face.”

Kaminari gaped at him with indignation, deflating a little. “Well, it’s not like you’re exactly a peach yourself, you damn lemon!” Sero and Mina went into hysterics as Bakugo growled in response.

“He’s definitely a lemon! Such a sour puss!” Sero cackled as he agreed with Kaminari. Kirishima didn’t laugh, though, as he finally looked over at Bakugo. His best friend glared at the others, but Kirishima quickly looked away when their eyes met for barely a moment.

Mina was the first to notice that Kirishima wasn’t joining in on their laughter. “What’s wrong, Kiri? You think he’s something else?”

Kirishima flushed, then nodded slightly. “Yeah. I don’t think he’s like a lemon.” He could feel Bakugo’s stare on the side of his head as though he might burn a hole through his skull. He said nothing else, though, the rate of his heart kicking back up as it pounded in his chest.

They were waiting for him to go on, but he seemed stuck. Would his answer give away how he felt about his best friend? He didn’t want to risk ruining their friendship over a silly crush that he couldn’t seem to get over no matter how hard he tried. Bakugo was always so good at reading him, surely he’d see through him right away.

“What’s he like, then, Kiri?” Damn. Mina asked, so now he had to answer. He brought his knees up to his chest, and put his head between them.

“C-cranberry.” He stuttered out, feeling his face flame, and he knew he had to match his hair. There was a moment of silence; the only sound was the crash of the nearby waves, and Kirishima was certain they could hear his heart hammering against his ribcage as it threatened to burst from his chest.

Finally, “Cranberry?! That’s not even a fruit! It’s a berry!” Kaminari exclaimed loudly.

Kirishima looked up with indignation, “Well, so is a strawberry! What does it matter?” He heard Bakugo snort and call them idiots, but he ignored it as Kaminari let out a huff.

“Whatever.” Kaminari leaned back on his arms in the sand and stretched out his legs, smiling smugly. “I decided. I don’t care what Bakugo says, I am a peach.” Sero immediately scoffed as Mina cackled, and the three of them immediately began to argue about what kind of fruit Kaminari really was. Kirishima would have joined in, but he could still feel Bakugo’s gaze on him and it made him uneasy. He couldn’t breathe. Bakugo was smart and very perceptive. What had he seen in Kirishima’s answer? 

Standing up, he muttered that he was going down to the water and walked away. Their friends continued to argue, barely acknowledging that he was getting up. Once Kirishima reached the water, he let the waves lap at his feet; the cool water felt nice after walking across the burning sand. As he stood there, he let the rushing sound of the water calm him.

He took in a deep breath before letting it all out, attempting to dispel his anxiety. The sun was nearing the horizon and would be setting soon. It had been a good day, all in all. He only hoped that he hadn’t ruined it by speaking carelessly.

“Hey.”

His heart kicked up nervously as Kirishima turned at the rough voice of his best friend behind him. He tried for a smile, but wasn’t sure how successful he was. “Hey.” Bakugo frowned, probably catching the uneasy waver to Kirishima’s voice.

Glancing behind him at their friends for a moment, Bakugo clapped his hand on Kirishima’s shoulder and gently pushed him down the beach. “Let’s walk for a bit. Those idiots won’t notice if we’re gone for a while.” Without resistance, not even the slightest hesitation, Kirishima easily followed Bakugo’s lead down the shore. They walked leisurely, both of them quiet for the moment.

“You okay?” The sudden question caught Kirishima off guard, but he grinned as he nudged Bakugo’s shoulder with his own.

“Wow, first a compliment, now concern? Careful, Bakugo, I might start to think you actually like me.” Kirishima laughed, though he felt a tightness in his chest.

“God, you’re fucking dense. Of course I like you, dumb ass.” Surprise cut off Kirishima’s laugh as he stared wide-eyed at Bakugo. There it was - the telltale signs of a blush coloring Bakugo’s features. Kirishima hadn’t imagined it before, then. Bakugo stopped walking and Kirishima faltered, nearly tripping a step ahead of him.

“I mean,” Kirishima started, “I knew you had to at least tolerate me because you let me say we’re friends, but… I didn’t expect you to actually say it.” Lifting a hand, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Bakugo’s jaw dropped with indignation, his temper flaring up. “Almost three years and you still think I just tolerate you?! Fucking hell, you really make me spell everything out for you.” Stepping forward, he grabbed Kirishima at the nape of his neck, and then their mouths were pressed together in a firm kiss.

Kirishima was too shocked to react, his body seizing up until Bakugo finally pulled away. Kirishima stared at his best friend, his mouth opening to speak, but no words came out. Bakugo couldn’t seem to meet his gaze as he continued to grasp Kirishima’s neck, fingers twining his hair, ungelled from swimming all day.

“Bakugo, I-”

“Shut up. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been trying to get you to notice how I feel?” Kirishima opened his mouth, but Bakugo cut him off, again. “Don’t answer that. Of course, you don’t. You’re so fucking dense.” Bakugo finally looked up at him with a wry smile. Kirishima flushed immediately, and his hands flew to cup both sides of Bakugo’s face.

“I like you, too, Bakugo!” Bakugo snorted, then laughed. Laughed. Kirishima was breathless at the sound, loving it even though it was at his expense.

“Yeah, I know. You aren’t very good at hiding how you feel. You’re always wearing your damn heart on your sleeve.” Bakugo grinned and Kirishima’s heart fluttered.

“That’s not fair, Bakugo. If you knew all this time, why didn’t you tell me?”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “I just did, didn’t I? I wanted to give you a chance to figure it out on your own, but I underestimated just how oblivious you are.” He didn’t mean it in a malicious way, but Kirishima still pouted.

“Okay, that’s fair.” Kirishima blinked as he realized something. “Wait, then, all that stuff about me being like a strawberry? That was a real compliment?”

His best friend, maybe boyfriend, smirked as he raised a brow. “When do I ever say something I don’t mean?” All the time, is what Kirishima would have answered, but saying something like that about someone was definitely something Bakugo would never say lightly. Kirishima felt his eyes start to water, his chest swelling with love and affection for the blond. “Dude, are you gonna cry, right now? What the hell?”

Kirishima laughed and surged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Bakugo’s torso. “I’m really happy! I’m… relieved. I’ve been holding back so long because I was afraid of ruining our friendship.” Kirishima sniffled lightly and he felt Bakugo’s hand cup the back of his head.

He heard Bakugo give a soft sigh. “You couldn’t do that. Not you.” There was an implication behind Bakugo’s phrasing, but Kirishima couldn’t quite grasp what it was, and he let it go. Pulling back from the hug, Kirishima shyly pulled his lower lip between his teeth and chewed it carefully.

“Uh, do you think we could… kiss, again? I wasn’t exactly prepared for the first one.” Bakugo blinked, then immediately grinned.

“Definitely.” Kirishima felt himself being pulled back in and their lips found each other a second time. It was much softer than the first, less exasperated, and lasted longer. All of their emotions combined in the gentle action, and Kirishima felt as though his world had finally shifted fully into place.

They finally broke apart when they heard their friends wolf whistling and cat-calling them from down the beach. Kirishima flushed as Bakugo turned to flip them off. Despite that, he was grinning when he turned back around. “Ignore those bastards.” Bakugo’s warm fingers gently brushed back some stray strands of Kirishima’s hair from his face, giving him a curious look. “Before we head back, I gotta know - What did you mean back there when you said that I was like a cranberry?”

The blush across Kirishima’s face deepened as he gave Bakugo the biggest sharp-toothed grin he’d had all afternoon. “That’s easy! You’re like a cranberry because you’re tart, but then sometimes so unexpectedly sweet!”

“...You idiot.”

[starfirette]

Hello! Can u please write Helena Bertinelli with a Fem!reader tomboy that's a muay thai fighter and look like super cool and cold,but in the apartment its a very soft and lovely girlfriend with Helena? (And how the birds will react when them met her) Thank you,I Love you writing and HELENA IS SUCH A BAE!!! THIS GAL NEED MORE LOVE AND SUPPORT!❤

masterlist | word count: who fucking knows | 🏷 @kurreapormaranet @emofairygay​ | a/n: ;0 There are some things you might want to look up on youtube so you have a general idea of what’s happening. Clinch positions, tactical stand ups, thips

The rink’s seats filled massively, stretching to every wall that bounced the cheering back and forth. 

The overall mission seemed simple, but it had Helena dreading this moment since Harleen explained what needed to happen. 

The trust fund brat of the devilish Rossini family kidnapped the Rossini’s pride and joy: their little baby girl, Ayala. Ayala Rossini, four years old, is the Brat’s younger half sister and the new written in heir of the Rossini fortune. The Brat, Carmen, had been written out of the will after she kidnapped the new little bird Batman was keeping under his wing. She’d been sloppy and left behind all marks of her family’s (unbeknownst) involvement. She made serval costly mistakes which included Batman’s uncovering of the Rossini family’s plans of Gotham, Star, and Jump city. Half the family became arrested.

Carmen was all but disowned by her father, whom she already resented for marrying another woman so quick after the death of her mother. To get her revenge, she kidnapped Ayala.

So, Mr and Mrs Rossini employed Harley and her rag tag team of anti-hero thugs.

To get Ayala back, the girls would have to go undercover.

Their heroic deed would get them 30k each, so that was good enough. The Rossinis are precise and focuses; they’d been willing to pay as much as they had to in order to ensure the safety of their little crime lord baby.

Now Harley had her connections. She knew a guy who knew a guy who saw a friend with a girl outside of the 31 Flavors ice cream shoppe, and this girl just happened to know that Carmen spends her free time hosting epic fights in the secret tunnels of Smallville.

It’s a long ways away from Gotham, but is a perfect place to host such gatherings. The fights are frightfully violent and brutal. Also very illegal. No one would ever know that beneath the wheat and corn fields of Lil’ Ol’ Smallville county lays an intricate mafia maze.

Carmen Rossini is notorious for entertaining the winners to a “fine dinner with wine”. The rumors go that she runs an entire harem of Thai Fighting women, using them for sexual favors and personal security.

The entire mission is actually depending on that rumor.

The plan was to send in Dinah as a participant in the rink and hope she would win and earn the attention of Carmen. 

But then Dinah got bronchitis. It was a nasty case, too, in which she wouldn’t stop coughing and hacking up green stuff into tissues. 

The entire thing would have been called off if you hadn’t admitted that you are, in fact, trained in Muay Thai. 

You’re positive that Helena would have rather kept this a secret, because she doesn’t like putting you in harms way. It’s a nuisance to have the world’s most protective girlfriend. Heaven forbid you even get a paper cut, else she’d make you wear rubber gloves while you read a book. 

The entire group (save Helena) jumped for the chance to replace Dinah with you. You’d do perfect, Harley said, sounding so confident. 

You intended to be flawless in the ring. 

You’d not competed since high school, when Muay Thai was still just a recreational hobby. You’d had your wins and losses, but that was before you grew up to spend majority of your time fighting mafia crime lords. 

Once Dinah officially relinquished her role of the mission, you took to the heavy bags. The repetitions became intense and harsh in the following weeks. You spent every night limping into bed. 

Your sweet whispers that begged Helena for a soothing massage fell onto her deaf ears. She is stubborn, and she had been attempting to force you out of this competition since the day you’d agreed to it. 

You were not afraid of Carmen, or anyone else she’d make you fight against. For the sake of the little Ayala, you would do this. Besides, you tell yourself, what’s the worst that could happen? With the Birds and their abilities, there isn’t much that could happen. 

Nothing would slide through the cracks. 

Hopefully. 

The day did come faster than you’d imagined, though. The drive to Smallville was tense, especially in the backseat where Helena was frostily ignoring you. 

Harleen was road raging, passing every trucker on the two way road that didn’t exceed 65 miles an hour. 

“You know the speed limit is 45, right?” Montoya asked after she had taken a long drag of a cigarette. She had her legs propped up on the dash. Between her and Harley sat Cass, who was oblivious to the chaos around her as she sang along to a pop Spanish song. “Yeah, and?” Harley quipped. She cast her bright eyes towards Montoya, a wicked smile playing on her lips.“You gonna arrest me?” 

Montoya couldn’t do much but sigh in defeat. If Harley didn’t mind crashing, then she didn’t either. 

Between the bickering and the loud singing of the three front passengers, you and Helena were sitting silently in the very back seats. Your head was leaned up against the window which rattled as the tires of Harley’s ‘64 Starfire rolled across the gravely road. 

Helena had been refusing to speak to you since the fight you got into last night. It was a real fight. She’s made it clear that she’s against you fighting in Carmen’s ring, and is especially against you joining her harem. 

You’d first thought she was afraid of disloyalty; you had promised her that you wouldn’t ever cheat on her, even if it was for a mission. But it became revealed that’s not what Helena was worried about. 

She feared for your life. She fears for your life every single day. No matter how small of a task, she can’t help but worry. She lost her mother, father, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles; everyone. She’d been so helpless. She could only watch as she became the sole Bertinelli. 

Helena couldn’t live on if something happened to you. 

The fight ended on a confusing note. It didn’t end, per say, and you two did sleep in the same bed. However, neither of you has said a word to each other. You tried this morning, but she’d given you the snippy, cold shoulder. 

As much as you hate putting her through so much anxiety, you know that you can’t back down. A girl’s life is at stake; it’s not the money you care about. Not to mention Carmen Rossini is about to make the top 50 worst criminals in Gotham County. 

Harley rolled the car to a stop around a patch of gravel and dust. Everyone climbs out, rocks crunching under their shoes as they stretch and look around. 

“Where is it?” Cass asks, shoving her hands in the pockets of her loose denim jacket. Her chapped lips are stained blue from the tootsy pop that she’d crunched on in the car. The soggy stick now hung from her lips, as if she had been imitating Montoya’s cigarette. 

Harley locked, double checked, then re locked, then triple checked her car. She turned around, using her hands to shield her vision as she scanned the open wheat fields. “Dunno,” she admitted. “I guess I supposed someone woulda been here to meet us.” 

You shifted on your feet. You wanted to try and make Helena happy before you’d at least go inside and get in the ring. The only issue is, she’ll only be happy if your forfeit now. 

You would not. 

Across the way, by a few yards at most, a rustling came through the wheat that came at least up to your hips.

A young man emerged; he approached the Birds with a guarded look that furrowed his thick, blond eyebrows. “You are Carmen’s guests, yes?” 

He spoke with a thick accent. His honey blond hair contrasted his coffee brown features. He had a handsome face with a strong jaw, but something about him seemed off. He seemed intimidated despite being taller and broader than most. 

“We are,” you answered for the Birds. “I am Y/n. I am the contestant.” 

The man beckons you all forward. Helena glared at him, her hand steadily tapping the outside of her thigh. She was prepared to draw her gun and shoot anyone that could get in her way. In your way. 

You tasted a bitter foam in your mouth as you attempted to stop Helena without raising too much attention. 

“We––I––am here for the  Carmen’s...event.” 

The honey blond man tallied the Birds on his fingers, visibly distressed. “I do not thinka’ Miss Rossini expected so many of you...” 

After a brief, strangled silence, the man shook his head and waved his arm along to escort you. “The bunker is just this way,” he explained. Harley and Cass walked after him. 

Helena meets your eyes. Her gaze is firm, and maybe even angry. No way could you defuse that situation while still heading into the rink. 

The wheat and grass crunched under your boots as you marched across the pace-by-pace clearing. A trap door in the ground lifted up swiftly, silently, as if they grease the hinges every damn day. 

You remembered how this turned out for Suzie Salmon; casting one more look over your shoulder, you assured yourself with the presence of Helena. 

Down the hatch, under the ground, you, Harley, Cass, Helena, and Mr Cannoli over here shuffled down the hall to a big dressing room. The entire layout felt more like a stadium then an underground crime rink. The dressing room has lush sofas and fur blankets; in the corner a SodaStream is mounted on an Ikea book table. 

“Miss Rossini will join you shortly,” Cannoli-guy told you, nodding his head regally. He bowed out of the room, shutting the heavy oak door after him. 

Cass jumped on the sofa. She sprawled out over the furs, kicking her muddy Chuck Taylors up. “Luxury.” 

Harley snipped to Cass to get her dirty little feet off the merchandise. 

You took a seat in the swivel chair in front of the large mirror. It looked like pure Broadway with the heavy lightbulbs that wreathed the glass. 

“Can’t say they don’t know how to entertain a guest,” Harley squealed as she migrated to the SodaStream. “They got homemade cream soda!” 

Cass jumped off the sofa to run after Harley. 

Instead of facing you, Helena took a heavy seat on the couch. Her legs spread out, looking spectacularly muscular in her tight, black pants. 

Unfortunately, you’re too annoyed with her to go lounge in her lap. 

As much as you’d like to make amends, you know the only way to do that would be to back down. You’re going into that rink.

The door flew open at the second Harley had poured herself and Cassie a drink. 

Carmen Rossini strutted in and you stared in awe. You tried not to let your jaw drop. Tall, voluptuous. Her hair is wavy auburn, her eyes deepest green. 

She looked at you immediately. Reaching out for you as if you were the messiah, she chuckled. “You’re even cuter in person! Oh, sweetie, you––you do know how to drive a hard bargain. Your agent Harleen contacted me, where is she?” 

Harley waved her hand from the corner. “That would be me. Ain’t Y/n a real figure?” 

Scowling, Helena crossed her legs. She glared up at Carmen, and you remembered that Carmen is doing what Helena hates the most; complimenting you. 

It’s not so much that Helena doesn’t like that you receive compliments; it’s just that she prefers giving them to you. 

“I’m so happy to see you all here tonight,” Carmen said, clapping her hands loudly. “There’s nothing more exciting than tonight’s event. Did you know,” she cooed as she ‘boop’ed your nose, “that I’ve got people betting about two million dollars that you’ll win? I am so, so pleased that you’ve chosen to make your debut in my arena.” 

You nod, your neck stiff. “I guess I’m excited?” you mumbled. 

Carmen snapped her fingers. She signaled to one of her lackies to come forward. A box Is presented at your feet. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I brought you a little something. A uniform of your own, courtesy of moi. Don’t you love it? I had your photos analyzed by a fashion expert, and they designed your shorts to compliment you perfectly.” 

The high waisted, Thai shorts are a deep ivory shade, with black flowers sewn into the design. They’re the most beautiful Thai shorts you’d ever seen! Your own were cute, but simple, considering that you didn’t usually think to be a fashionista while working out. 

“They’re amazing,” you admitted. Over the top? Definitely. Did you expect anything else? Honestly, you’re not sure. You weren’t sure what to expect. 

“Oh! I almost forgot.” Carmen, as she smiled, reached into the deep pocket of her red silk kimono-blouse. In her hands is a thickly wound prajoud, made of fine threads and paracord. The black and red jumped out at you like an old friend.

“I hope I got the rank right?”

“You did,” you say as you took the prajad from Carmen. “I could have brought my own if you’d asked.”

“It’s really not a big deal, my darling,” Carmen purred. She ran her hand through your hair, taking note of the silky feeling of each strand. “I will be watching. There will be people outside the door waiting to escort you to the arena when you’re done dressing.”

Her fingers are heavy with her bejeweled rings. The heavy tear shaped gems get tangled in your hair.

“You have ten minutes,” Carmen adds.

Helena glowered after her as she flitted out of the room. Her heels clacked down the hallway following the click of the door shutting in place.

Montoya took a long drag of her cigarette before she  chortled.“You just gonna let her mark her territory like that?”

Helena didn’t say anything.

“Oi, Katniss,” Harley said loudly.

Helena’s cloudy eyes finally look to her friend. “What?”

“Carmen Rossini basically stole Y/n from you, and you let her!”

As you pulled out of your jeans, you sent Harley a little glare. “No one owned me to begin with,” you snapped.

“Hey, I’m all for women’s rights,” Harley exclaimed. “But it just seemed like—,”

“I know what it seemed like,” you snapped. “That’s the entire goddamn point, isn’t it? Get in her good graces?”

Case choked back her soda. “If that’s your idea of getting in Carmen’s creepy ‘good graces’ you gotta do better than that. You didn’t act sexy or flirt back at all!”

Helena stood to her feet. She brushed down the front of her black zip-up sweater. “I’m waiting outside,” she declares before stomping out with a frown wrung on her mouth.

Harley grimaced as the door slammed shut.

“Kid, come on,” Montoya sighed.

“I’m right,” Cass scowled. “You know that I am. We knew from the start that in order to get the little girl back, sexual favors would probably have to be granted.”

You pulled up your shorts. “Can everyone shut up?” You asked.

“What’s that?” Cass proceeded to ask, given she couldn’t talk about Carmen anymore. She pointed at the arm band that lay over the counter.

“Prajoud,” you tell her. Thank you pulled out of tour shirt. The heavy duty sports bra was already in place, but it gave you major uniboob.

“What does it do?” Cass asked again. Unable to contain her curiosity, she grabbed it off the vanity and fiddled with it. 

“It’s like a belt,” you explained. “Instead of wearing a black belt, I wear a black prajad.” 

“Who come up with that?” Cass asked. 

“Uhm, Thai people?” Harley said as though it should be obvious. She snorted and jerked her thumb towards Cass. “Get a load of this guy.” 

You rolled your eyes. “It’s alright to ask questions, guys, just try not to be annoying. ‘M a little stressed out already.” 

Harley took a final gulp of her soda. “Well, I guess we know who’s not getting action tonight. And that’s Y/n!” 

“Why is Helena so upset anyways? Because Carmen was flirting?” 

“No,” Harley explained. “See, she’s angry because Y/n’s going out and doing this fight, one, without asking her to begin with, two, for some other little kid, and three, with a evil Italian mafia tigress. She’s projecting her childhood fear that she’ll never be able to protect anyone she loves. She’s also rash, irritable, and possessive, so it’s just a cherry on top that the plan includes Y/n using her charms to sway Carmen.” 

“Bravo,” you plainly say. “It’s almost like you’re a doctor or something.” 

“Yeah,” Harley grinned. “Or something.” 

You pulled the prajad over your forearm. You pulled the band tight, holding the laces in your mouth so you could knot it tight with one hand. You looked in the mirror, unsure of what to think of yourself. 

You kicked your boots off next. 

In socks, you turned to look at Harley and Cass. “Let’s do this,” you sighed. 

Helena had been waiting loyally outside, leaned up against the jamb. Her eyes flitted up and down your figure, before rolling up towards the ceiling. “Let’s do this,” you said, sounding as if you’d already lost. 

Marching down the hall in tow of the honey blond Italian, you tried to make eye contact with Helena. She was good at ignoring you. You’re not sure if it’s because she’s angry, stressed, or both. 

Riddled with anxiety, you wish that she would look at you, or hold your hand at the very least. 

At the entrance of the arena, you could see it was filled massively to the brim of its walls. You hadn’t realized how far underground you really are until you looked at the expansive seating. The rink’s seats filled massively, stretching to every wall that bounced the cheering back and forth. 

You stepped to the stairs that wound up to the cage. You could smell the sweat and the matts; above the sound of the crowd cheering, you could hear your blood rushing fast in your ears. 

“Find Ayala,” you muttered in Harley’s ears. “I don’t want to be here longer than we have to be.”

Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief, but they were momentairly dulled by a silent question. “I thought...?”

“No,” you said firmly. “We shouldn’t be here any longer than we have to be,” you tell her. “I’ll stay here, I’ll do my thing; you take everyone and look for that girl. If you’re not done by the time the match is over, I’ll distract Carmen.” 

Harley couldn’t respond by the time you were dragged up the stairs. Outside the cage’s gate, you were given a little table at which you could rest at. It had a pitcher of ice water, some glasses, a washcloth, and a bottle of brandy. You took a large drink of the brandy first. You peeled off your socks. 

It felt like a blur as you stepped into the cage. 

Your opponent was your size; she looked your weight, too. You suppose that’s fair, at least. It’s not like in the movies. The real competitions are done by weight and height. 

You turned your head to give one last glance to your friends. 

Helena stood beyond the cage, her hand resting over the gun holster. Her eyes were fixated on you. 

You had to look away. 

Tying your hair up in a tight bun, you walked out onto the mat. Your opponent did the same; meeting you half way, you two shook hands. 

You didn’t exchange names; that would only make it harder. 

“The rules,” a voice boomed around the stadium, “are there are no weapons to be permitted in the arena. Please watch as the fighters return to their corners then begin the match on the sound of the bell. The match will consist of two rounds, each lasting seven minutes.” 

You hovered in the corner of the cage. You stretched and jogged in place. You have enough training for this. You do. You know that you can do it; hopefully, you will. 

The bell rang. You take a massive sprint out into the middle of the ring where your opponent had already paced out. 

You wound up a punch. Your feet lifted off the mat as you leap into the air, and you delivered the blow to the side of her face. 

Her teeth crunched under the impact. It was such a hit that you saw it spew out of her mouth, and hit the cage. 

The crowd exploded into a frenzy. 

Hovering at your face your hands remained in constant motion. Her kicks were well calculated and her movements tactical. She gave away all of her tricks, though, by looking twice at the target she would next go for. If she looked at your side once too many times, you would crouch and use your arms to block your ribcage. 

The sweat that built up made the more precise attacks difficult. Your punch began sliding off her face, keeping you staggering forward, and in her wide open range. 

You were struck once, twice, then thrice on your left cheek. It sent blood and saliva dribbling down your chin. 

Your prajad began to slip as you struggled to regain your balance. 

The girl’s long leg extended forward. Her foot jabbed a strong thip into the center of your stomach, practically digging against your bladder. 

The bell rang, then, marking the end of the first round. 

You fell into your corner with a wheezing gasp. You crawled for the little table. You drank directly from the pitcher. 

You looked back to the crowd, half expecting to see a flash of unfamiliar faces. 

Helena still remained at the ringside. Her hands are clenched through the cage, and her eyes are desperate to meet yours. You were confused. Why hadn’t she left with Harley? Did Harley not need her? Or did she want to stay and watch? 

You felt stronger with her just a few yards away. 

You staggered to your legs, where your knees wobbled like jello on a plate. 

The two minutes of rest time had ended, and the bell rang once more. You slid back rather than go for her first. 

She sauntered to you like a bear, her shoulders hunched and her fists close to her face. She swung hooks and uppercuts that you could just barely dodge. You were close to slipping backwards a few times. 

“Y/n, watch out!” Helena shouted suddenly. 

You couldn’t see the girl racing towards you like a battering ram through your blurry vision. Her fist slammed over your temple. You swore you could feel your brain tumbling around your skull as you fell to the floor. 

You clutched your ear with your bare hands. Pain gushed out of you like water. You thought you could see it, visibly, as it poured down bright green and crystalline. 

It wasn’t there; it was the spots dancing in front of you. Disorientation is a real bitch. 

One tactical standup later, you’re back up on your feet. You pushed yourself forward, forcing the remaining energy you had out of your hands. You grabbed the girl by her long pony tail and dragged her into a tight clinch. She attempted to swim out of it; the friction of her wrists against your neck burned. 

You tugged her down, driving a sharp knee into her stomach. She stayed in your clinch for a long time, gasping for air as she couldn’t evade the knees. You finally released her. She staggers back. She falls onto her ass, visibly shaken up and at a loss for breath. 

The crowd began to scream at you. Some did a countdown, others urged the other girl to get back up. 

It was too late for her. 

The bell rang, marking the end of the seven minutes, as well as the second round. She had lost, and you had won. 

You limped towards her. Despite your own pain, you lifted the girl onto her feet. 

“Good game?” she rasped. 

“Hell yeah,” you wheezed. 

It felt like the ultimate orgasm to go back and gulp down the water. The cold, damp washcloth made a good compress for your busted lip. You judged by the twitching of your left eyelid that you had a pretty sizable welt there. 

Helena ran to meet you as you limped down the stairs out of the cage. She threw her arms around you tightly. “You’re alright,” she gasped. 

You tried to hug her back. Your arm hung loosely over her lower back as you tried to laugh. “Did you doubt that I would be?” you asked her. “Where’s Harley and Cass? Montoya?” 

“They went to find the girl,” Helena said in your ear. “I couldn’t leave you...I had to stay and watch. I had to make sure.” 

She pressed a kiss into the crook of your neck. “Let’s go,” you said firmly, “before Carmen comes for us.” 

Helena helped you leave the arena. By the time you vanished, the stadium was already announcing it’s second match, featuring a woman named Selina. The people went into a hectic frenzy of excitement when Selina’s name was announced over the speakers. You knew as you were walking out she would never be able to escape this place. 

Honey-blond-haired Italian guy jogged to keep up with you. “Miss Carmen asks that you wait in the dressing room,” he called out. “Yeah, yeah,” Helena called out. “We’ll be there.” 

He followed you down the hallway, keeping several paces back to maintain a steady watching distance. He paused as he watched you and Helena head straight into the dressing room. 

Sitting on the sofa inside is Harley, Cass, and a little girl sleeping in Harley’s arms. You were shocked. For a four year old girl, Ayala was incredibly small and fragile looking. Her olive skin and auburn hair is just like her elder sister’s. The hollows beneath her eyes are dark and colored by her greenish veins. 

“Let’s scadadle,” Harley hissed as she rose to her feet, though struggling to keep Ayala in her arms. 

You all rushed out of the hallway, quickly as to make it before Carmen could come back from the arena. 

“Where’s the exit?” Cass asked. 

“It’s this way,” Helena says. She pointed straight down the hallway. “The car’s waiting for us above the trap door.”

“Yeah, unless someone stole it,” Cass mocked. “What if we get locked in? Like in Hotel California?” 

You could hardly begin to understand what Cass was saying. Her words were jumbles of sounds and her figure a blur of her dark hair and red jacket. 

“We’re not getting locked in,” Harley exclaimed. “Let’s just get outta here!” 

Helena climbed up the ladder first. She punched the door up, then open. “Give me the kid,” she said quietly. 

Harley struggled to lift Ayala up. 

Helena scooped her easily into her strong arms. Ayala stirred awake and whined as she became more and more aware. “I want to go home,” she mumbled, her voice quiet and empty. 

“We’re taking you home, pumpkin,” Helena assured the little girl. “I’ve got you.” 

As Cass was going up the ladder, a loud clatter arose down the tunnel. “Uh oh, spaghetti-os,” Harley whistled. She pushed you up the ladder next. “I’ll meet you guys up there,” she promised, sounding entirely confident. “Montoya,” she whistled between her teeth. “Feel like doing some target practice?” 

It was the first time all day that Montoya smiled. 

As you climbed up, you heard Harley’s shrill laugh between the shots of two, little handguns.

“Into the car,” you wheezed to Cassie. She looped her arms around your waist to help you limp into your seat. “Buckled in?” you heard Helena ask the little girl. She looked so shy despite all that’s going on. The curls of her hair were brushed behind her ear as Helena held her tightly. “You’re going back to your parents.” 

Harley came running out seconds later. “Let’s get this show on the road,” she exclaimed. 

“You have the keys!” Cassie shouted back. 

Harley jumped into the drivers seat. She honked the horn loudly. “Renee, let’s move it!” 

Montoya was limping a few feet away, struggling to keep up Harley’s pace. She crawled inside and as soon as she did, Harley pressed the gas, and sped away. 

“Smoking is so bad for you, you know that, right?” Harley chastised. “Maybe if you just used the nicotine patches I bought you for Christmas, then you wouldn’t have so much trouble keeping up with us.” 

“Take the patches,” Montoya huffed, “and shove them up your ass.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh. You leaned back into the headrest of the rear seats. Helena held Ayala beside you, stroking her hair gently as she held her cellphone to Ayala’s ear. Her parents were on the other end, and you could hear the cries of relief. 

You met Helena’s gaze, and you managed a smile on your busted mouth. 

“I love you,” you mouth to her. 

“I love you, too,” she replied. 

[violetwolfraven]

eek also this is a lot but ikeshot for 7, 14, 26, 33, 39 or 43?

Angst in general.

Nightmares.

You have a scar and I asked about it and it’s really angsty.

I thought I lost you and you need to be more careful you dumbass.

and

You fought me (verbally or physically) and I am s h o o k.

*cracks knuckes* aight then.

I haven’t written ikeshot yet! This’ll be my first time figuring out how I wanna portray their dynamic, so we’ll see how it goes.

I’m gonna do all of them except 33 cause that one doesn’t really work with the idea I have but I can combine all the others.

...

This wasn’t the first time Ike had stayed the night in Brooklyn, but it was the first he’d been woken up by a jolt.

It had taken him months to get this far, the point where he was sharing a bed with a Brooklyn boy, where he was pretty sure he was in love with said Brooklyn boy, where he was even welcome in Brooklyn after dark.

It had been a long and confusing road, starting a couple weeks after they won the strike.

See, Mike did this thing with his lover where they were super paranoid about getting caught. And yeah, that was good for safety, when courting a boy could get you killed or arrested, but Mike and Jojo took it to a whole new level, almost never even sitting on the same side of a room while outside the Lodging House.

And as much as Ike liked that his brother was keeping safe, this was also really fucking annoying, because it meant he had to deal with the pining.

So, he’d asked to tag along to Sheepshead with Race for a day, figuring a day of alone time with his boy might tone down Mike’s annoyingness a little. And Race occasionally took a partner to Brooklyn with him, anyway. He hadn’t done it in a while, but nothing bad had happened before.

And besides, since the strike, inter-borough relations had been better than ever out of a proud kind of solidarity. No big deal, right?

Wrong. They’d split up for maximum efficiency, and barely an hour later Ike was getting dragged away from the entrance to the races he was staking out and into an alley across the street, by which time he was getting thrown against a wall before he even got a look at who was dragging him.

Then he’d looked up, already raising his fists, and seen probably the tallest boy in New York.

Ike had remembered seeing him at the rally, this kid about his age who usually stuck pretty close to Spot Conlon, and he’d made the mistake of lowering his guard.

“Hey! I remember you! You’s Brooklyn’s second, right? What was your name again? Uh... Heat?”

This kid smirked, “Hotshot.”

Then he’d punched Ike in the face.

It was hard enough that Ike was knocked to the ground, but he was on his feet again in an instant, raising his fists again.

“I’m Ike,” he panted, “And I’m here—“

He’d been cut off by having to dodge another punch, trying to throw one of his own, but only getting kneed in the stomach after Hotshot blocked it.

Still, he’d raised his fists again, coughing as he tried to ignore the urge to curl in on himself.

“Don’t know when to give up, do ya?”

Ike smiled, still gasping for breath, “Nope! Don’t mean we have to fight, though.”

Hotshot just punched him again, “You’re on the wrong side of the bridge, Manhattan boy.”

“And that’s grounds enough to soak someone?”

“Hey!”

At that point, Hotshot froze, turning to see Race running into the alley.

“He’s with me, Hotshot! Jeez!”

“Well, he didn’t say—“

“Ya didn’t give me a chance to,” Ike interrupted.

Race had helped Ike up, glaring at the Brooklyn boy despite how Hotshot was much taller and stronger.

“I ain’t gonna tell on you, but kid, you need to learn to think before ya start swingin’. If Spot asks about me, I’m sellin’ with Albert today.”

Race had helped Ike get home, then actually gone to sell with Albert, but on the way back, he’d answered Ike’s questions, about how someone that young and hotheaded could help lead the biggest borough in New York.

“Hotshot’s young, you’re right. He’s your age, actually—14. And yeah, he’s defensive. But I’s known him a while, and there’s more to him than that. The short version is that he’s either a good friend or a bad enemy. Once ya got his loyalty, ya got it forever. That’s why he’s Brooklyn’s second. He’s one of the few Spot actually trusts.”

With that description combined with the way Ike had honestly never met anyone who punched that hard, he was just a little intrigued. Maybe it wasn’t smart, but he’d went back to Brooklyn a week later, not selling this time, but just looking for that one Brooklyn boy.

He’d found him, selling at Coney. And Brooklyn boys usually didn’t sell with partners, so Ike hadn’t had trouble sneaking up on him.

“Hey.”

That was the only warning he gave before putting a hand on Hotshot’s shoulder to spin him around and punch him in the face.

Hotshot had wheeled back, raising his own fist.

“You got ‘bout four hits on me for no reason—I thinks I deserve one free shot!”

Slowly, Hotshot had lowered his hand, still glaring at him, but not as much.

“Fair is fair. Now go back to Manhattan.”

Ike was going to, honestly, but then figured, ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ and didn’t.

“So, how often do ya beat up kids from other boroughs without askin’ for their story?”

“Are you completely fearless, or just stupid?”

“Both, probably. Ya gonna answer the question, or punch my daylights out?”

“I ain’t decided yet.”

“Well, while you’re decidin’, I heard you’re close with Spot Conlon. What’s he really like? Is he always that scary, or is it just an act?”

For the next several weeks, it was like that. It was Ike coming over, finding Hotshot wherever he was, and annoying the hell out of him.

And Hotshot always said he was going to punch him, but he never did. Slowly, he started actually answering Ike’s questions, at least a few of them, and asking a few in return. Ike wouldn’t necessarily call them friends, but they definitely knew each other better, now.

“One of these days, I’m actually gonna punch ya,” Hotshot grumbled once, when Ike asked a question a little too personal.

“Every time ya say that, I believe you less,” Ike said cheerfully, “Anyway, I’s heard Brooklyn’s got great sunrises. Is that true?”

Hotshot actually smiled a little, “I dunno if it’s any better than Manhattan, but yeah, we’s gotten some pretty nice ones over here.”

It took a couple months, but Ike started figuring out that by even talking to him, Hotshot was letting down his guard, little by little. He let it down a bit more as he started letting Ike touch him, allowing a handshake when they met up, or a punch in the shoulder in a friendly way.

Once he realized how much Hotshot was trusting him by doing those little things, Ike realized that against his better judgement, he trusted him, too. He liked spending time with Hotshot, probably too much.

Definitely too much, with how he was stupid enough to walk through a November rainstorm months after they met just to see him.

By the time he got to Brooklyn, he was freezing, wet, and disoriented enough that he’d ended up passing out in front of a random store, just so the awning would keep the rain off.

He’d woken up in the Brooklyn Lodging House in the middle of the night, with Hotshot holding him in a bed.

Actually, he’d kind of jolted awake, and apparently woken up Hotshot with him as the Brooklyn boy whispered an explanation to him.

“Hildy found ya damn near frozen. By the time she got ya back here, you were almost dead and needed body heat bad.”

“Oh,” Ike whispered back, almost too terrified to move or even speak.

“That’s all ya got to say, you idiot?” Hotshot hissed, clearly angry as his arm around Ike’s waist tightened, “What were you thinkin’, walkin’ here in a storm?”

Ike was still pretty confused, and for once, he couldn’t even think of something to say.

Then Hotshot sighed, “I thought you were gonna die.”

Oh. So that was what this was about. He wasn’t angry—not at Ike, really, at least.

Ike had finally let himself relax against the taller boy’s chest, enjoying how warm Hotshot actually was.

“Ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

Hotshot had exhaled kind of sharply, and Ike was praying to a god he didn’t believe in that he wasn’t misreading things, but he’d rolled over so he was facing Brooklyn’s second, their faces barely inches apart, though it was so dark that Ike couldn’t really see him.

Beyond that, he hadn’t wanted to make the first move, mostly out of fear. In Manhattan, it was pretty common knowledge that many of them liked the same sex, but Brooklyn was different. It was less of a family and more of almost a gang. Ike wasn’t sure how Hotshot would react if he did anything.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to do anything, because yes, Ike liked boys, and he’d made peace with that, but being with one made it dangerous. Mike wasn’t the only was who was terrified of getting caught, for good reason.

Then Hotshot’s hand had come up to touch a scar on the side of Ike’s face. One he guessed he’d probably never noticed before because their faces had never been this close.

It had been from a pretty bad wound, but was so faded that it looked minor now, because he’d gotten it so long ago.

“I didn’t give you this, did I?”

Ike shook his head, “No. I’ve had that scar since I was 8.”

“How’d ya get a scar so bad it still shows now when you were 8?”

Ike had taken a deep breath, forced down panic over events he’d rather forget, and decided to tell him the truth.

“My brother and me,” he whispered, “Our parents died when we were really young. So’s we got brought up by our mom’s sister and her lover... her lover who was... also a woman.”

Ike paused there, waiting for Hotshot’s reaction.

There really wasn’t one, and he’d felt a bit of relief at that.

“They was good at bein’ subtle,” Ike continued, “So nobody suspected anythin’ for a long while. But then when me and Mike were 8... some bad people figured it out and... and those men came in the night and set the house on fire. I guess we’s lucky to have made it out at all—our aunts weren’t that lucky—but...”

His voice trailed off. Ike didn’t like admitting that he wasn’t this happy-go-lucky kid all the time. He hadn’t told anyone about this, ever. Mike had told Jack, years ago, to explain why they had bad days sometimes, but Ike had never been able to talk about it.

He’d felt Hotshot take a deep breath, and then the other boy had pulled him closer, right against his chest. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination when, later, once Ike was halfway into a dream, he thought he might have felt a kiss being pressed to his hair.

Ike had known right there that something had changed between them, and though Mike gave him hell for staying out all night the next morning, he couldn’t say it wasn’t worth it.

He didn’t know if they were... what, did you call it courting? He didn’t know if what they were doing had a label or if spending a significant amount of their free time together qualified as being together.

But, after that first night, Ike did spend the night in Brooklyn a few more times, sharing a bed with Hotshot under the excuse that he’d lost track of time the Brooklyn Lodging House didn’t have one to spare. In reality, he stayed over because sharing a bed, sharing warmth with Brooklyn’s second... it was nice. It was somehow different from crawling in with Mike if nightmares got bad or huddling on the fire escape with Crutchie and Jack if he didn’t make enough to pay for his bed one night.

Sharing a bed with Hotshot was comforting even when nothing was actually wrong. It was safe and warm and it made Ike feel all fuzzy inside and...

Not that he knew how to say it, not that he could say it, but Ike was pretty sure this was what falling in love felt like.

It was scary, but he didn’t want to stop falling.

Of course, he wasn’t planning on telling Hotshot how he felt. Not unless the other boy made the first move. Or unless they decided to get drunk for some reason. Or if it happened to come up in conversation.

Okay... maybe Ike really wanted to tell him, but he just didn’t know how to go about it.

Well, he’d been sitting on this for a long while already, so Ike still really didn’t know when he was going to tell him, but he still felt the need to follow when he felt Hotshot jolt awake, just before rolling out of bed and leaving the room.

“Hotshot?”

Ike followed him out onto the fire escape, finding the taller boy staring down over the edge, a death grip on the railing.

“Hotshot, are you okay?”

Ike moved to stand next to him, making sure it was clear and visible what he was doing as he put a hand over Hotshot’s on the railing.

For a few seconds, he didn’t react. He didn’t even give a sign that he’d heard or even felt Ike touching him.

Then, slowly, he let go of the railing, flipping his hand over so he could intertwine their fingers.

Hotshot exhaled shakily, most of the tension leaving his frame. Ike took that as a sign that it was okay to lean his head against his shoulder.

“Ya gonna tell me what this is about?”

For a minute, he thought he wasn’t going to.

Then Hotshot took a wavering breath and spoke, still staring over the edge of the fire escape.

“Ya once asked how many kids I’s beat up for no reason,” he said quietly, “I don’t know. I get in fights a lot. I get angry and... and usually, Spot tells me where to aim it, but it ain’t always enough. I always have more and if I don’t put it somewhere, it’ll just build till I... till I explode.”

Ike nodded. He understood. He already knew this about Hotshot. He’d figured out that anger was his drive a long time ago.

“I... I learned that from my folks.”

Ike froze. In all their conversations over the last few months, Hotshot had never shared any personal information beyond the fact that he saw Spot as an older brother.

“They’d get angry,” Hotshot said shakily, “And when they’d explode, they’d...”

His voice faltered, and Ike touched his arm with his free hand, trying to ground him. He could read between the lines and though it made him angry and sad as hell, he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

“I... I got myself out when I was 12,” he mumbled, “Finally just couldn’t take it anymore and ran like hell—ended up here. And I know it’s been a couple years, now, but... but I still go back there some nights, when I’m sleepin’.”

His voice was shaking a little, by the end of that, and Ike tugged on his arm gently so he could turn Hotshot to face him.

He wasn’t sure he was going to allow it, but to his relief, Hotshot hugged him back, leaning down to bury his face in Ike’s shoulder.

“You’re here,” Ike whispered, “They can’t hurt ya here, Hotshot. You’re safe.”

Hotshot wasn’t crying, but he was shaking a little in the cold. It was winter, for crying out loud. Winter at night. And though the Brooklyn kids did wear sleeves like reasonable people in winter, most of them didn’t sleep in their shirts.

“Can we take this inside?” Ike asked, knowing that he was cold, even being a little more dressed for the weather than Hotshot was.

The taller boy nodded shakily and they went inside, curling up together in that bunk, the closeness for comfort as much as warmth.

Feeling brave for a minute, Ike leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on the Hotshot’s forehead.

Hotshot went rigid, but the expression on his face was pure surprise, not any kind of disgust, and he didn’t pull away.

Ike offered him a small smile before rolling over, so as not to push things.

He definitely wasn’t complaining when Hotshot pulled him against his chest to sleep for the rest of the night.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #328

okay i’m going the fuck to bed now. @_@

Have you ever worn fake eyelashes? No; the only time I ever will will possibly be my wedding, if even then. Could you possibly write a successful novel? I think I'm capable, but I don't believe it will happen. Who’s the last person you video-chatted with? My therapy group via Zoom. Do ski lifts make you nervous or do you like them? Never been in one, but they seem cool. Have you ever had dandruff? I have dandruff AND a dry scalp. Nice combo. Do you think sleeve tattoos look trashy? Please explain to me how ANY tattoo inherently equates to being "trashy." I actually love sleeve tats. Have you ever gone through a phase of crushing on EVERYONE? No. I experienced a few crushes my freshman year of high school, but they weren't just anybody. If you had to get a portrait tattoo, who would it be of? I may or may not get a tattoo of Darkiplier doing his i c o n i c debut smile somewhere, but idk. I already have one tattoo related to Mark and would kill for another with his handwriting, so having three would be a bit... wild, haha. Do you have any stickers on any of your electronic devices? No. Do you like the smell of men’s colognes better than woman’s perfumes? Usually. Can you remember what you last clapped for? Yes; everyone in group clapped for one of the women taking a big step against her agoraphobia. Is your hair damaged? No, it's actually super healthy. Are you in charge of cleaning anything in your household? The litterbox and my room in general. Ever carved/written anything on a park bench? No. Most interesting place you’ve ever visited? Chicago was a big shock to me. I am FAR from used to cities that incredible and stocked. Do you keep your eyebrows more thick or thin? I don't groom them, so they're on the thicker end. Do you always wear a bra? Not at home and if there's no company. Do your shoulder blades protrude? No. Have you ever won on one of those grabber machine things? Yeah, a few times. Are you gonna French kiss your hubby at your wedding? Who says I'm marrying a man? But whatever, no. Keep that behind closed doors. How many bananas have you ever eaten in a row? No more than two. I usually don't even have two. Have you ever had sex outside? No. Have you ever been outside naked? No. Have you ever been in a shrubbery maze? No. You ever like someone who liked you back, but didn’t want a relationship?: That's pretty much where I'm at now. Have you ever fallen for someone who didn’t feel the same? No. Are you financially stable? No. Mom can barely afford rent right now; I had to pay it last month with gifted money. Are you emotionally stable? hunny Do you think kids these days are growing up too quickly? I kinda think so, yeah. It's funny how different kids are now compared to when I was whatever age they are. I try to be open-minded about it, though; times change, and I don't expect my generation to be the only "right" way to have grown up. I just think kids are chasing the power of "maturity" with much more vigor. Are you a rebel? Not really. Do you like when people use proper grammar on the Internet? Yeah. I like conversing with people who type just how they talk, like me. Have you ever driven or been a passenger on a motorcycle? Neither. I don't want to ride one. Do you use standard time, or 24 hour time? Standard time. Do you enjoy NASCAR? "HE'S MAKIN ANOTHER LEFT TURRRRRRN!" Lol no, I really don't. Who is the most fascinating person you’ve met? Probably Sara, honestly. What amazing adventures have you been on? What's this "adventure" you speak of? What would you do if had enough money to not need a job? Lots of traveling with my camera, still selling art anyway. What TV series do you keep coming back to and re-watching? None. What would your perfect vacation look like? Y'know, one of those glass dome ceiling cabin... things in the mountains with Sara would be so, SO cool. So much nature for us to explore. What are some obscure things that you are or were really into? Most of my interests honestly, haha. The strangest is probably "vulture culture," in which the remains (typically the bones) of a naturally deceased wild animal are basically recycled for some sort of artistic purpose. You could consider my roadkill photography an example. What are some things everyone should try at least once? I dunno, man. Depends on what you're into. What would your perfect morning be like? Cuddles with an s/o watching some funny videos or something like that to get in some morning laughter. What are you always game for? Video games, haha. What do you do to unwind? Watch YouTube. What’s your favorite piece of furniture you’ve ever owned? I don't have a fave. What would be the best city to live in? I don't want to live in a city. What would you like to know more about, but haven’t had the time to look into it? Time isn't an issue; I just haven't. There's lots of stuff. I'm a very curious person. How have you changed from when you were in high school? I'm less depressed, but more confused, scared, and much less motivated. Imagine a chicken wandering around with its head chopped off. Where is the most fun place around where you live? Nothing, really... Where would your friends or family be most surprised to find you? Like, a strip club or something. What’s expensive but totally worth it? This depends on what's important to you. For me, a quality DSLR camera. When do you feel most out of place? Whenever I'm some place fancy. What’s the most recent thing you’ve done for the first time? No idea. What small seemingly insignificant decision had a massive impact on your life? Accepting Jason's friend request on Facebook because I thought it was a different Jason I actually knew. What did you do last summer? Nothing, just stayed indoors trying not to melt into a sizzling puddle. What are you most grateful for? My mom. What’s the most essential part of a friendship? Trust, maybe. When was the last time you walked for more than an hour? Many, many years ago when I used to walk outside for hours with my iPod. All modesty aside, what are you better at than 90% of people? It doesn’t have to be useful or serious, it can be something ridiculous. 90% is a lot, man. Maybe bonding with animals? What’s the strangest phone conversation you’ve ever had? I don’t know. What do you like but are kind of embarrassed to admit? If I'm embarrassed by it, I have no interest in sharing it. What skill or ability have you always wanted to learn? Even just a smidge of social skills. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had? Probably the spicy shrimp fritas at Olive Garden. I adore those sooooooooo so much. Where was your favorite place to go when you were a kid? The zoo. We didn't go often at all, but I would frequently nag Mom about going. What’s something that most people haven’t done, but you have? Fed a freshly severed rat to a vulture. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wanna go back to that bird rescue... What says the most about a person? How they treat others. What machine or appliance in your house aggravates you the most? The dryer. It can take a few rounds to fully dry something. What places have you visited that exceeded your expectations? Chicago, that I actually remember. Disney World probably did, but I was just a little kid and only have faint memories of the trip. What’s the worst advice someone has given you? I don't know. Besides your home and your work, where do you spend most of your time? People leave their houses? What are your top 3 favorite things to talk about? Mark, meerkats, and video games. When you were a kid, what seemed like the best thing about being a grown up? No one could tell me no for "stupid" reasons. What’s the strangest way you’ve become friends with someone? Strange way? I haven't got a clue. What’s your favorite band NAME (not necessarily your favorite band)? Maybe Cradle of Filth. Badass metal name. There are a lot of good ones, though. What’s your favorite thing to do outdoors? Take pictures of flowers or animals. How often do you dance? Silly/ironic dancing counts. Essentially never. Who besides your parents taught you the most about life? Jason, I guess. What’s been the most significant plot twist in your own life? The breakup that I thought was physically impossible, entirely unfathomable. Where did you take family vacations to when you were younger? We didn't really go on vacations. If you could instantly receive a Ph.D. in any discipline including all the knowledge and experience that goes along with it, what would your Ph.D. be in? Biology. What are the top three social situations you try to avoid most? Anywhere where I have to speak publicly; parties/get-togethers involving people I don't know; anywhere that is extremely crowded. Just social situations in general, really... What friendship you’ve had has impacted you the most? My friendship with Sara. What’s something you’re interested in that most people wouldn’t expect? Uhhh I don't know, really. What’s the hardest you’ve worked for something? My recovery from the breakup. What took you way too long to figure out? The only person who had any right to control my happiness and will to live was myself. What nicknames have you had throughout your life? If you include online ones as well, there's Britt, Britt-Britt, Twinkie, Bee, Flower, Ruby, Mozart2, Ozz(y), Alessa, and uhhh... I wanna say that's it? What do you do differently than most people? I deconstruct my breakfast biscuits to eat one part at a time... haha. Where’s the last place you’d ever go? Prison. What fact floored you when you heard it? That my dad did some hard drugs before us kids were born. I was entirely speechless. Have you ever watched a needle go into your own skin? Yeah, it doesn't bother me. Have you ever spent more than two weeks in a wheelchair? No. Does weed smell good? Or no? Ugh, no. It smells awful. Do you blow dry your hair or do you let it air out? Air dry. Do you catch lizards? No; I don't like the idea of catching wild animals just to pick up and check out. That poor critter is terrified. I'd rather just take pictures of it and let it go about its day. Would you rather get a big tattoo or small tattoo? I want my next tattoo to be a big'n. How many pills do you take every morning? I absolutely do not want to count. A whole lot. What was the last parade you went to? /shrug What theme would you choose for a baby’s nursery? If I was hypothetically having kids, let's see. A son, absolutely dinosaurs. A daughter, maybe meadowy with baby animals. My baby blanket was full of baby animals, so it'd be kinda cute, that connection. What color would you paint a baby girl’s nursery? Not because of gender norms, but by personal choice, pastel pink. Does your first crush know that he/she was your first crush? No. What is the last thing you missed out on that you wanted to go to? Hm. Who do you wish were your best friend? I am perfectly happy with who already is my best friend. Who do you wish you could go on another date with? She knows. Who was the last friend of yours to have a baby, and what’s the baby’s name? I'm not sure, but my high school friend Megan is due to have her daughter Persephone soon! She won the naming game. Like damn, how badass would it feel for your name to be Persephone. Do you have a favorite M&M? Just the classic ones. Is it easy to make you cry? OHHHHH YES IT IS. Have you ever snuck out? Nah. Who was the last person to comment you? On Facebook? My friend Lyndsey commented on a photo I shared. What song reminds you of being in middle school? "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" by A Day To Remember is the anthem for going through puberty in school and trying to figure yourself out. What was the first thing you learned how to cook? Scrambled eggs. What’s something really basic that you’re terrible at? Cooking. Are you pale or tan? I'm very pale. When’s the last time you were kissed? On the lips, like two or so years ago. Do you like the movie Grease? Never seen it, actually. What’s your favorite Jim Carrey movie? The Mask, probably. What was the last baby animal you saw in the wild? I think a fawn. Have you been binge-watching any shows lately? If so, what? No. What’s the best physical feeling in the entire universe? I meeeaaan... Do you have bad anxiety? If so, do you take any kind of medication for it? Yes and yes. If you could, would you work from home? Do you think that would make you more or less productive? Well, it's complicated. I don't, but I also want to be a freelance photographer, so I kinda would. I like the idea of having an office in my house purely for productive activities to prevent becoming lazy because I'd be at home. Would you ever be an organ donor? I am one.

[purplesurveys]

984

Have you ever tried Turkish Delight? No. I’ve looked up photos of it before and it has genuinely never looked appealing; sorry to those who are delighted (heh heh) by them :/ I’m willing to try it if I ever get the chance, but I really doubt that I’ll enjoy.

Do you have a Vietnamese restaurant in your town or city? They’re a lot less common than other Asian restaurants, but I think we do have a fair share, yeah. The most common are banh mi joints. I think the reason why they aren’t super popular in my country is that Vietnamese dishes tend to be veggie-heavy - at least that’s the impression of most people here - and with Filipinos loving rice and meat in everything they eat, other cuisines simply end up being more popular, like Thai and Chinese.

Do you or have you ever owned a portable gaming console? Yes; we had a couple of PSPs and a DSi as kids. These days, we have a Switch.

Have you ever been in a car with a sunroof? Yeah the Vitara has one. It’s my favorite trick to pull off whenever a friend is riding with me in it for the first time, haha. Everyone always gets so excited about it.

Do you have to have an occasion to eat out or do you just do it for fun? Back in college I allotted a certain portion of my weekly allowance to be able to eat out once or twice a week. Food is the way to my heart and happiness and it just felt good to have nice food, man. I didn’t want to have to wait for occasions to be able to eat at my favorite restaurants.

Have you opened a letter today? No, I haven’t.

How far away is the closest cinema from your house? It’s around a 10-15 minute drive.

Have you ever been to the emergency room? Nope.

Are you one of those people who can’t go without their morning coffee? I wasn’t for a very long time, but it’s starting to become that way now that I’ve started having a regular 9-6 shift. I find that I’m way crankier and am prone to crying from anxiety if I don’t make myself a cup of coffee. When I do, I feel super productive and more motivated to do work.

Have you ever worn fake eyelashes? Twice. Once for junior prom and the next was for my college grad photo shoot.

Do you know the story of how your parents met? If so, tell me? They both started out as part of the kitchen crew in a luxury hotel in the city, my mom as a waitress and my dad as a cook. My mom started pursuing my dad when she discovered what school he came from lol because priorities, I guess.

What is your favorite Chinese food? Minced pork with eggplants is a huge favorite of mine. Xiao long bao and pork buns (steamed or baked) are also suuuuuper good.

Would you ever work at a movie theater? Probably not at this point in my life. It would’ve been a nice gig during college.

Do you have a phone charger in your car? Yessir. I need one since I constantly use Waze to get to anywhere for both directions and traffic updates, and the LTE I need for that drains my battery.

Do you live far from your parents? No, they’re like 10 steps away, in another room.

Have you ever submitted a video to Funniest Home Videos? Nope. I always loved the videos though and the show made up a big part of my childhood.

Have you ever been attracted to an authority figure? I’ve found several teachers attractive before, yeah. The biggest crush I had was on my biology teacher...I think everyone else had a crush on her too lol, she was the personification of beauty and brains.

Do you think you have a wide vocabulary? I mean I guess I know more words than most people my age...but I also feel that my vocabulary still would’ve been a lot wider if I just continued to read well into my teenage years and now as a young adult.

What was the last hot food you ate? Lumpia.

Have you ever seen a meteor shower? I don’t think so.

Describe your current position: I’m sitting up on my bed, laptop on my lap, right leg outstretched with my left leg tucked underneath it.

Have you used a microwave today? It’s only 5:01 AM, so I haven’t. We’ll see about today.

What was the last electronic device you purchased? I don’t really buy electronics. I’m more likely to buy accessories for the stuff I already have, and the last one I got was a new case for my phone.

Have you ever slept through an alarm? I think so; only a few times though. I wake up from them easily.

Do you have any celebrity crushes? Kristen Stewart and Kate Winslet are where it’s at for me, y’all.

Do you prefer going out for coffee or brewing your own? I can go either way. Coffee is coffee. I don’t mind making my own for convenience, or paying a few hundred bucks for a little more quality coffee.

Have you consumed caffeine today? If so, in what form? Yeah I have a cup of 3-in-1 barako coffee beside me. I actually made this cup at like, 7 PM last night...then I fell asleep for a bit, woke up at midnight, fucked around for a few hours and now I’m back to drinking it at 5 AM, ha.

Do you have lactose intolerance or know anyone who does? I have a mild case of it. It’s not a complete disaster for me to eat cheese or consume milk, and I wouldn’t say that my trips to the bathroom afterwards are emergencies. My body has for the most part been nice to me, hahaha.

Do you know anyone who follows a raw vegan diet and lifestyle? Not to my knowledge, no.

Have you killed a bug this week? Probably.

What was the first food you learned how to cook? I followed a recipe for onion rings a few months ago and that was super fun, but I haven’t followed that up yet so I dunno if it’s right to say I ‘learned’ it. 

Do you have a Bachelor’s degree? If so, what in? Journalism.

How many email accounts do you have? Four, but honestly I barely use the Outlook one anymore. I have three main email addresses on Gmail.

Can you go see a doctor alone or do you like to take someone with you? My parents come with me because they take care of the finances and insurance that go with things like that.

Have you ever made your own pasta noodles from scratch? Hmm, I don’t think so.

How long is your average shower? 5-10 minutes.

How close is the nearest park from your house? We don’t have any public parks because my country sucks, but my village has a few small parks that residents can flock to and walk their dogs in or bring their kids to play in or whatever. The nearest one is a 10-15 minute walk or a 2-minute drive away, depending on how you prefer to get there. Which household chore do you hate the most? Cleaning up dog pee.

Have you ever been to an all-you-can-eat buffet? So many times. They’re very common here and there are a lot of restaurants that solely have a buffet gimmick. Sambo Kojin was my favorite, and I’m really hoping their business wasn’t affected by this stupid virus.

Can you see out any windows from where you are? Yup.

Do you like pineapple on pizza? No, but I also don’t like pineapples and all other fruits.

What color is your soap? Green or white. I don’t really pay attention.

Is anything bothering you right now? Just about all the time, yes.

When’s the last time you had a headache? Sometime this week or last week.

What woke you up this morning? I woke up naturally as I normally do these days.

Are you planning to go see a movie anytime soon? Yeah my workmates have been watching American Murder on Netflix and all of them so far are raving about it, so I want to give that a shot soon.

Will you sleep alone tonight? I always sleep alone. 

How do you feel right now? Confused at my lack of drowsiness and a little sad but it’s manageable for now.

Is shyness cute? I don’t feel any particular way towards it. I suppose it can be endearing and it can also be annoying.

Will you be up before 7:00 a.m. tomorrow? I already am.

What are your plans for tonight? Maybe keep doing surveys or send in my online interview that a company I’m applying to asked me to accomplish. I didn’t even know do-it-on-your-own-time interviews were a thing; it’s super convenient and removes my anxiety of being interviewed in real time by strangers.

Would you rather write in pink pen or blue pen? Blue.

Have you ever kissed the last person you text messaged? Yes.

Who was the last person you cried in front of? Just myself. Haven’t cried in front of anyone in a while.

Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s? Yep.

Have you smoked a cigarette in the past 24 hours? No, but could definitely use one.

Were you happy when you woke up today? Nah I woke up crying I think. It was one of the more difficult mornings.

Are you the youngest sibling? I’m the eldest.  

[poguesofthebau]

hi! if youre still doing them can i get a ship? my name is sam, im a straight female and i have brown eyes with kinda long brown hair. im about 5'7. im pretty quiet unless im with friends although i can be very talkitive, im very sarcastic. at times i can be stubborn. i care a lot about other peoples feelings and opinions more than i probably should. lowkey a hopeless romantic. i mostly listen to pop and sometimes rock music. i like to draw, watch movies, and hang with friends.

first and foremost... i love your blog. okay now let the ship begin :)

i ship you with jj!! (honorary mention: a lot of the time, you’d seek refuge in pope. aside from jj, pope matched your energy the best of all the pogues, and you often found yourself plopping down next to him on a log at the Boneyard when jj was being annoying, or on the couch in The Chateau when jj wouldn’t get out of the hammock after the nap you’d taken together, or in the back of the van when jj insisted on riding shotgun instead of kie for once. you and pope would just be like... bros. half the time you had super quiet conversations that no one else could hear until one of you burst out laughing. then jj would make a sarcastic comment about pope stealing his girl, and john b would make one about the two of you secretly plotting to dismantle the government or something)

you would be the pogue who insisted on a weekly movie night every thursday during the summer. in your mind, there was no excuse for any of the pogues to miss it, and because they knew how much it meant to you, none of them ever did miss it. eventually, these movie nights led to you and jj’s relationship, so he liked to tell everyone who asked that you made the first move. (not directly true, but we all know how convincing of an argument jj could make, no matter how absurd the lie.) the first few times you guys met up at The Chateau for movie night, summer had barely even started. school had ended on a thursday night, and all five of you had gone straight to john b’s after last period, immediately breaking out the celebratory beers and joints before settling in a few hours later for a movie. the entire time, jj would be snuggled up right beside you, arm tossed around your shoulders, whispering little comments about the film in your ear every few minutes. you’d laugh quietly when he started ranting to you about how much of a rip off the movie re-make you were watching was, and the tiny giggle you let out was apparently enough to light a fire among the pogues. john b and pope were convinced that the two of you secretly had something going on, and, no matter how much you both brushed it off, you knew the taunting and teasing was there to stay for the summer.

unsurprisingly, you were right. john b and pope wouldn’t let it go. the following day, the first official day of summer, the five of you would spend the day on the hms pogue, swimming and fishing and drinking and laughing. when jj grabbed you by the waist, both of you laughing loudly and uncontrollably, and dragged you off the boat and into the water with him, the other boys started up again. “jesus christ, jj, at least act like you’re not desperate!” john b would call as you and jj paddled around to the other side of the boat. “i know, dude,” pope would jump in. “just because you’re in the water now, doesn’t mean you washed the love off your face.” you’d snort at that, jj throwing his friends the finger. kie simply sat there, observing the interaction between her friends with a smirk. she, too, had her own little theory that jj felt some special kind of way about you, but she was holding on to it until she could get one of you alone to discuss it. little did you know, she actually would get jj alone the next day. after your day on the water, everyone would return to their respective homes to clean up and get a good night’s sleep before the first saturday night Boneyard party of the summer. the next afternoon, when kie and jj both coincidentally arrived at jb’s at the same time, she saw her opportunity. “hey, by the way,” kie would say after greeting the blonde, pulling him back by the shoulder with a sweet, sarcastic smile. “how long have you been in love with sam?” his face would pale for a second, but just as he regained his composure to jab back at her, you were stepping out of the Chateau with a grin on your face. “who’s ready to fuck the Boneyard up this summer? come on, losers, me and john b already started pregaming!” with one last knowing grin thrown at jj, kie was scurrying up the stairs and grabbing a beer and getting the party started. that night, jj got totally sloshed and fully confessed his feelings to kiara. he also made her swear on the pogues not to leak his secret before he could confess it to you.

so a few more weeks would go by, jj and kie both keeping his secret perfectly. they’d have short interactions of just the two of them, where the two would gush like teenage girls over the cute thing you’d said to jj one afternoon, or how beautiful you looked in that one sundress you’d worn for a day of hanging around at john b’s. during all the following movie nights, jj would be sure to save you a seat next to him on the couch, always slyly putting that arm around you and telling you little fun facts about the films you’d watch. eventually you caught on to jj and kie’s behavior, and how sneaky they were being. on top of that, you finally admitted to yourself how special jj made you feel. funny enough, you’d wind up confiding in pope and john b about your newfound feelings for the reckless blonde. there’d be one day a few weeks into the summer when kie had to work at The Wreck and jj had to work at the kook hotel, but the rest of you had the day off, so you, pope, and jb would take the boat out for a chill day of fishing and tanning. you’d be laying out on the front of the boat, pope in the driver’s seat and john b throwing a net out to try to catch something for dinner. (the vibes that i am imagining on this boat... immaculate. something about pope x john b seems so comfortable and just literally vibey to me idk but i love it.) you’d have your eyes closed and a hand thrown over your face to block out the sun as you chatted with the boys, and eventually the topic would flow over to jj. “i dunno, i think him and kie might kind of have a thing or something,” you’d admit, disappointment prominent and obvious in your voice. “which, like, i don’t really care, but it’s just kind of... i don’t know.” pope would be looking at you from his spot on the boat, a slightly concerned look on his face. john b would just shrug, shaking his head a little as he spoke despite your eyes being closed. “i don’t really think it’s serious. i’ve noticed them like, whispering a little, too, i guess, but i don’t think it’s a big deal.” you’d sigh at john b’s words, your hand falling from your face as you flipped onto your side to look at your boys. “can i just admit something to you guys? but it has to stay on this boat. no kie, and no jj. this is between the three of us only. promise?” john b would draw an invisible cross over his heart as pope raised his right hand and gave you a quick scout’s honor. “it’s stupid, but i just thought maybe jj had a little thing for me. so with all this kie shit, i’m just kind of confused.” pope’s eyes would widen and john b’s eyebrows would raise. “seriously, do not repeat what i just said. i will kill you both.” “maybe you should just tell jj before either of us get the chance, then,” john b would offer. you’d roll your eyes, laying flat on your back again. “no, seriously,” pope would agree. “just because he’s been spending some extra time with kie doesn’t mean he feels that way about her. maybe they’re talking about you all the time. you never know.” although you didn’t know that pope’s idea was actually the truth, it really got you thinking.

the next thursday on movie night, you decided to sit between pope and john b instead of snuggling into jj’s side. it seemed like a harmless change to the other three pogues, but you could see jj burning up inside. he sat through the entire movie with his jaw locked, grinding his teeth when he heard you mumble something to john b about the movie. by the time the film was over, jj was about to explode, and everyone noticed. “you good, buddy?” john b would ask twenty minutes later when he saw jj’s knuckles going white from how tight his grip on his beer was. he’d glare at his friend before turning to you. “can you come outside with me for a second?” you’d glance at pope in a panic before quickly nodding and standing. jj stormed out of the house in front of you, dropping into a hammock and running a hand through his hair as you nervously followed. “what’s up?” you’d timidly ask. while your voice was steady, your mind was running a mile a minute. he knows. he hates me. i should’ve known not to tell the boys. with their big fucking mouths, they probably-- “do you have a thing for john b, or something?” you were stunned out of your thoughts, freezing where you stood at the (seemingly impossible) question. “why would you think that?” you’d finally ask, jj letting out a puff of air. “i-- can you just answer the question?” you’d shake your head, causing him to sigh. “then why’d you sit next to him? you always sit with me on movie night.” you’d shrug, shuffling your feet and avoiding eye contact. “i dunno. i thought you’d wanna sit with kie.” there was a moment of silence then, and you could’ve sworn you felt your friendship dying. you were gonna lose jj, because of some stupid crush, and you were going to absolutely break over it. “you’re an idiot,” jj would mumble under his breath after thinking for a few moments. as you looked at him, completely puzzled by his words, he was standing swiftly from the hammock and approaching you quickly. “such a fucking idiot, sam.” those would be his last words before his hands were suddenly on the sides of your face, tucking your hair behind your ears, his lips kissing you. barely seconds into the kiss, you heard whooping and screaming from behind you. when you pulled back from jj, he was smirking, raising his middle finger once again to pope, john b, and kie, who were all standing in the door of the Chateau, cheering you on. you, however, were still confused beyond belief, unable to move your eyes from him. he finally looked back to you, still smiling. “are you okay?” he’d laugh, tucking another stray hair behind your ear. “what was that?” he’d tilt his head at you, smile now replaced by a smitten look. “i thought-- i thought you and kie--” you simply shook your head in place of words, causing jj to laugh. “i told you you’re an idiot. every time i was with kie, it was to talk about you.” your jaw dropped at that, and you spun to face your friends. “pope, you fucking genius! you were right!” as per usual. pope was always right, especially when it came to his best friends.

[haikyuu-loves-thiccies]

Third Year!Chubby!Reader x Kageyama Tobio

Wee woo I wrote the thiiiiiiiiing. it’s 4 am and I’m big sleepy so forgive any bad thiiiiiiings. Also there aint no smut smut in this but it is definitely crude sooooooooooooooo >:)

    Y/n was a casual friend of Daichi Sawamura's. They never really hung out, but they were friendly during school hours and often sitting in the same group during lunch. Once highschool kicked in and Daichi took into the boys volleyball team, what friendship they had had drifted. It didn't bother y/n, but what did bother her was that in this year, her final year of highschool, she was standing in front of the tall senior, asking for her to join as Karasuno's volleyball manager- almost half way through the school year.

   “Umm.. Y/n...” Daichi was hesitant, a little confused and almost concerned as to why now someone- this someone, was asking to be a manager for the team. “You can apply, talk to Takeda-Sensei, I guess... But why now? I-If you don't mind me asking! It's just.. We already have Shizumi, and she's training a first year to take over after we all graduate.”

   “Yeah, well. I... Want to do something.” Y/n swallowed hard, tapping the tips of her pointer fingers together. “This is hard to admit, okay? But I just haven't done like.. Anything.. Throughout highschool. I know it'll only be for less than a year, but I'm tired of being... Bored.” A deep breath made it's way out of Y/n's lips, her body relaxing ever so slightly. “That, and, all the other clubs rejected my late entry. For literally every position.”

   “Oh, oh.” Daichi rubbed the back of his neck, not really surprised that her late entry applications weren't accepted. He understood, and was mildly concerned, by what Y/n's motive was. Boredom can drive someone mad and extreme cases, can make someone feel completely empty. It was a sorrowful thought, that Y/n might be feeling that way when in only a couple months she'd be graduating and life would open up with so many new things to experience. But still, Daichi could understand the need for something in the now, rather than later.

   Y/n looked up at the captain, suddenly feeling flushed with shame.

   “I'm sorry if that's like... Not a good reason to want to join- or if it's wrong or, offensive.. Or something.”

   “No, no! It's fine. It's not usual, but I guess on a technicality, we're all just doing things to fight boredom, right?”

    While not exactly true, Y/n appreciated the effort her old friend had made to ease her discomfort.

    “I can take you to Takeda-Sensei, like I said, but I really can't promise anything, okay?”

    A bright, hopeful smile spread on the young girl's face, one Daichi recognized all too well.

    “Okay!”

    It was a miracle, and nothing less. Y/n was as aware of this fact as she was grateful that Daichi had managed to convince the volleyball team's Senseis to give her a shot. It was like new life was breathed into the girl, no more of that awkward, isolated unknown, but the girl Daichi had known before highschool had blossomed back larger than life itself.

   Y/n had settled into Karasuno's pack with ease. She was full of an uplifting spirit and cheerful demeanor, along with a mind full of snarky comments, that the underclassmen seemed to just eat up. Sugawara had never met Y/n personally, neither had Asahi, but both took to her almost as quickly as the second and first years.

   Now, Y/n was refilling the first year boy's water bottles, taking note on whose is whose. The first years, outside of Tsukishima Kei, had the same casual yet not durable style. Hinata's was orange, much like his hair, with it's brands logo on the front. It was plastic- as was Yamaguchi's, while Tsukishima and Kageyama had stainless steel ones. Yamaguchi's was simply green and black, Kageyama's was dark blue with a black stripe down it's front, and Tsukishima's was the odd one out- It had a whole ass dinosaur head on it's cap. Completely decorative, and totally out of left field in Y/n's mind.

   It was hard not to giggle when she was handling the tall middle blocker's cup, but she managed not to make a mess of the others and carry them all back in one piece. Now, she thought, comes her favorite time of the day. The boys were all taking a break, toweling of the sweat and grime from practice, the boys who had their water were already downing it, the first years awaiting their own.

   “Alright sugar-honeys, here's one round of water.” Passing around the bottles, Y/n was giving each of the youngest boys playful, loving winks, flustering up three of the four.

   “Here's one for you, Yamaguchi.” She fluttered around the freckled boy, who blushed and thanked the girl with a soft stutter. Yamaguchi was the easiest boy to truly fluster up. Part of Y/n knew it was because he wasn't used to female attention. Let alone having a third year be so sweet and touchy with him.

   “And here's yours, Hinata baby~” Ruffling the orangette's hair, Y/n dropped the bottle down beside him, which he snatched up instantly and began sucking it down, his face bright red from the chosen pet name the upperclassman gave him.

   With a swift movement from Tsukishima, who muttered a stoic “thanks” quicker than she could drop any lovey-dovey comments, Y/n's final bottle to give was to the raven haired setter who had stolen her heart.

   “Here we are, Kageyama.” Y/n leaned down, allowing her school uniform's top to show off her breasts. Her fuller frame complimented her uniform, from showing her plush cleavage to her ass peaking out ever so slightly from her skirt whenever she bends over. Knowing full well what was happening, she squished her arms together ever-so-slightly, pushing her breasts further out. She saw, immediately, Kageyama's eyes were bouncing from her chest to the bottle, back and forth, quick and panicky movements that gave Y/n all the information she needed.

   Kageyama's hand shakily moved to get his water bottle, when his whole body went frozen stiff. A sly smirk traveled Y/n's lips, and she looked down knowing full well what she'd see.

   “You okay, baby?” Y/n whispered softly, not moving from her position in front of the sitting boy.

   “I-, you- my-” Unable to form a sentence, Kageyama gulped, shutting his eyes tight and crossing his legs ever so slightly, pulling his volleyball bag onto his lap.

   “It's okay, I wont tell~” The setter's head jumped up, a blush spreading on his cheeks and along with it, a bead of sweat. Thankfully, the other boys were deep into a conversation- planning their next moves to practice, who'd be having what for dinner, and other things that Kageyama's head couldn't fit in his mind, when his body was laser-focused on the girl in front of him. Kageyama tried to fumble out an apology, embarrassed and ashamed at his body's reaction to his upperclassman manager, but the girl shushed him with a gentle coo.

   “You don't have to apologize to me honey, you're alright~ Besides.” The girl stood up, relief flooding over Kageyama instantly. “I think you're cute like this!~”

   Kageyama cringed, her comment brought attention from some of the others.

   “Huh??? Kageyama?? Cute?!!” Hinata jumped up into the space between the girl and boy. “Since when?!!?!” He demanded, puffing out his cheeks almost in a manor of jealousy. Kageyama wanted to kick the boy, shove and shout at him for insulting him, but found that he was still glued to his chair, afraid to move a muscle and have someone noticed his little problem trying to force its way up.

   “Since, like, ever! But don't worry, you're cute too pookie-pie~” Y/n brought out the worst of her attacks, the comment embarrasses anyone it reaches just from the sheer force of how aunty-at-a-family-reunion it is. From behind her, Tsukishima snickered. Hinata shrunk away from Y/n, smiling very shakily.

   “O-Oh..” Was all he could manage.

   Finally, Kageyama stood up, his problem tamed for the moment. He took the opportunity and bowed to his upperclassman crush.

   “Thank you for the compliments Y-Y/n-san.” With that, he excused himself and staggered off, making awkwardly cautious strides to the bathrooms. He didn't know until it was too late, but Y/n was following him.

   At the doors of the bathroom, he finally noticed the girl shadowing his footsteps. Kageyama looked at her like a deer in the headlights, and gulped.

   “U-Um, I'll be back in a minute Y/n, I just have to pee.”

   Y/n cracked an amused grin, this boy really doesn't know how to talk to girls.

   “One sec, Kageyama. I wanted to talk to you privately.”

   “I-if this is about-”

   “It's not, well it is, but not completely.” Y/n rested her back against the brick wall of the hallway, looking at Kageyama with an air of cool confidence, despite internally very anxious for what she was going to say next. “Listen, if... If I make you like, super uncomfortable, I'm sorry. I just think you, all you first years, are really cute and stuff..” Y/n palmed the back of her neck, feeling the heat off her own body. “Especially you. I like you a lot, Tobio. Haha.”

   When Y/n looked up at the first year, she wasn't expecting the deadpanned expression he was giving her. It gave her a moment of panic, but soon relaxed her body, knowing this was just... How he tended to look.

   “You like me?” Kageyama whispered, testing out the sentence quizzically.

   “Well, yeah. And trust me-” Y/n's arms went up in the air defensively. “I know you're super busy and focused on volleyball. I get that you aren't exactly super available for dating and stuff, and I'm okay with that. But like, I dunno... If you wanna... Maybe we could give it a shot-”

   “Yes.”

   A stark, sudden answer. Y/n needed only a few seconds to register the blunt honesty in his reply.

   “Wait, really?” She laughed, pleased but also amused by his sudden energy.

   “Yes. I'd like to date you, Y-Y/n-san.” Kageyama nodded his head quickly, blush covering his face to his ears.

   “Well, then.. I hope your gym shorts are ready, cause if we're gonna start dating, there's gonna be a looooot more action going on in there~!” Too casual. Kageyama thought, watching his now date skip swiftly back to the gym, leaving him there flustered up and processing everything that had just happened.

   When Y/n reached the gym doors, she placed her hands on them and gave one last glance at Kageyama, only to fight the urge to crack up laughing.

   He was staring down at his dick in absolute pure wonder.

[hyliagirl42]

This is Indeed the Fairy You Are Looking For

“Veil mentioned that Fuchsia is handsome, right?”

Link, Acisha, and Zelda were climbing up a rocky, forested trail that led up the side of a mountain. Veil had sent them to find the Great Fairy named Fuchsia and ask him for help with an upcoming battle.

“If you need help in the upcoming battle, I would recommend visiting Fuchsia and asking him for help,” Veil had said.

“Fuchsia? Who’s that?”

“He’s a Great Fairy like me, although he is less powerful if I recall correctly. A lesser Great Fairy, if you will.”

“What’s he like?”

“Well, I can’t remember very clearly...I’ve only recovered a few of my memories since I was freed from the malice...but I do recall he was much shorter than me, but still very tall by Hylian standards. I also remember that he had a handsome face and dark hair, and a piercing, cold gaze.”

“Yeah, she mentioned that he was handsome,” Link responded. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, that’s kinda vague, isn’t it? Does that mean he’s her type? What even is Veil’s type? What do you suppose he looks like?”

Link and Acisha turned to Zelda after she spoke. They hadn’t thought about that.

“Maybe she means he’s super muscular or something?” Link suggested.

“With a solid, strong jawline,” Acisha added. “And a six pack.”

Zelda continued, “He’s probably got amazing hair too. With as much hair as Veil has, I bet others’ hairstyles stand out to her, especially on someone she finds attractive.”

“Well, she never said she was attracted to him,” Link pointed out, “she only mentioned he’s good looking.”

“She also said he had a really cold gaze, right?” Acisha added. “Maybe he’s really scary and intimidating, if that’s combined with being tall and buff.”

“Yeah, probably…” Zelda shuddered a bit.

The three climbed on a bit further, still discussing theories about how Fuchsia was going to look and what to expect. It didn’t take long for them to reach the clearing in the trees and rocks which marked the entrance to the Fairy’s Fountain. On the far side of the clearing was a dirt path, which led a bit farther up a hill, towards what looked like a waterfall. They could see a glint of white stone at the base of the waterfall. They figured that was where the fountain was.

“Well, it looks like we’re here,” Acisha declared. “You guys ready to head up?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Link responded. Zelda nodded in agreement.

As the three reached the top of the path, they could see the Fairy’s Fountain more clearly. At the base of the waterfall was a large pool surrounded by white stone, with a small river branching out from it that led back down the mountain. Surrounding the pool were several cherry trees, which were all in full blossom, their petals blowing in the gentle breeze. To the side of the pool were three stone steps which curved around the pool, and flattened out at the top. Sitting on the steps they saw a tall, elegant man wearing flowing purple robes, who also had long silky hair that went down to his waist. The man was sipping on a cup of tea, with a teapot laid beside him on the steps.

Assuming he was a Hylian who had come to visit the fountain like they had, the trio decided to approach him.

“Hello!” Zelda was the first to speak. The man looked up from his tea with a neutral expression on his face, but it seemed as though he had expected them to come. “I’m Zelda, and this is Link and Acisha.” She gestured toward the two of them. “Are you here to see the Great Fairy, Fuchsia, like we are?”

The man narrowed his eyes a bit. He merely sighed and took a sip of his tea.

“Oh, I suppose that would be obvious...I mean, what reason would you have to be here other than to see the Great Fairy?”

The man put down his cup of tea, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I AM Fuchsia.”

The three of them stood in shocked silence.

After a very awkward few seconds of silence, Acisha was the first to speak up. “You are?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“But you look so...I dunno, normal. The other Great Fairies we’ve met had wings and horns…”

Fuchsia snapped his fingers, and a pair of horns appeared on his head, and about fifty or so translucent wings began to grow from his back. “Better?” he asked.

Acisha was stunned. “Er...yeah.”

Fuchsia looked at the three expectantly, but the three of them were still stunned that this seemingly ordinary man was actually the Great Fairy, and they were also embarrassed by their mistake, so they were silent.

Finally, Fuchsia spoke up again. “Did you need something? If not, you’re wasting my time.”

“Oh,” Zelda blushed, even more embarrassed. “Right. Um…”

“We’re about to go into battle, and we were told that you could help us,” Link explained. “Veil told us you’re the best person to ask about...stuff like that.”

Fuchsia’s gaze softened when he looked at Link. For a moment, he was very quiet.

“Is something the matter?” Link asked.

Fuchsia shook his head, dismissing the question. “So Veil sent you, then? I haven’t seen her in a while. I heard she got corrupted by malice. She’s doing better, then?”

Acisha spoke up, “Yeah, she’s doing a lot better now.”

“I see. That is good to hear.” He turned to Link again. “I will gladly aid you in your fight, young hero.”

@linkeduniverse-incorrect @naturaldisaster-goddess I can’t remember who else to tag, if I remember I’ll reblog with the rest of the tags...

Anyway! I hope I didn’t mess up the personalities or plot details anywhere, if so I’m sorry, I just wanted to show y’all what Fuchsia is like.

Also, looking back, I made it kinda confusing why Fuchsia just got suddenly quiet after looking at Link...I dunno how to fix that, but anyway, the reason is because he saw Link’s soul and noticed how pure and light it was, and he was deciding, hey, I like this little Hylian. Pure souls are rare.

So, uh...yeah

Hope y’all like it

[supercasey]

Werewolf Fire, a piece of writing by me

Not quite a poem, but some feelings that have been on my mind for a long time now. I dunno if the quarantine is what brought this out of me, but fuck it, I need to scream and with nowhere to run and hide, I guess I’m being vulnerable on main. Under a readmore because I may be raw, but not THAT raw.

Werewolf Fire by Theodore JJ REDACTED

Love is an oddity to me. It's not that I don't feel love at all- I feel love towards my friends, my family, my pets, my fellow humans- but love in a romantic setting... it just doesn't happen for me, at least, as far as I can tell I doesn't.

I think I've been trying to fall in love for a very long time. There was a boy named Adam in sixth grade, and when my best friend told me she had a crush on him, I told her I also had a crush on him; I was lying. Nonetheless, this was my first attempt, and I really did try to fall in love with him; I took up reading the Percy Jackson series, as it was his favorite, which sparked my love of Greek Mythology and teen coming of age stories involving super powers, but it wasn't love. Besides, he went to another middle school after we graduated sixth grade, so it wasn't like we had a lot of time left together.

I tried again in ninth grade, with my friend Nick. He was funny, polite, and overall one of the kindest people I've ever met, so if I had to fall in love with anyone, it was gonna be him. I knew I liked him, that's for sure, but... well, he started dating our mutual friend Emily, so I gave up. Months later, they broke up because Emily moved away, and my best friend suggested that I ask Nick out. But I didn't, because I thought it would be scummy to date him right after Emily left. Years passed, Sarah told me that Nick liked me back, we danced at prom, and I kissed him on the cheek. Then I graduated, and didn't keep contact, mostly because I'm bad at those sorts of things.

I tried again in eleventh grade, while I was still wondering if Nick was the one. This time it was a girl, Cassidy, and goddamn, was she beautiful. The other kids in class whispered about how she used too much make-up, was faker than nylon, was too popular to be in Theatre class, but I couldn't help but like her. I think, out of all these loves, she was the closest to being real; we were cut from the same cloth, both having hippy mothers that everyone else loved but we resented, and we bonded over it. I used all my birthday money to buy her a protection necklace, as we both believed in ghosts and the like, and she hugged me and said I was her best friend. Then I graduated, and again, I lost contact, but with her it hurt even worse than losing Nick.

I tried so, so hard the fourth time. I tried to love a friend, a girl I won't even name, and although she hurt me and I'm half convinced I was exaggerating the pain she inflicted on me, it was my worst attempt at love yet, and didn't even come close to becoming true.

That was almost two years ago, and I haven't tried again since. Part of me kind of wants to, as I can't help but think highly of love and in it's many forms. I mean, honestly, who wouldn't? The very thought of being in love, of finding the other half- or many halves, in some cases- of your soul, or staying with someone forever and always... it sounds lovely, and I want it so bad, but it feels like a shooting star that's just out of reach, appearing so close yet so far, and even as everyone I know leaps up and catches the stars as they fall, I always manage to miss, much to everyone else's confusion and worry.

I want to fall in love so badly, it makes my bones ache and my eyes wet annoyingly often. It seems so easy, but really, it's so hard. It's hard watching everyone you know fall in love, and yet it just... doesn't happen for me.

Sometimes I think I can't fall in love because of my upbringing- Mom and Dad got divorced when I was ten, and before then I thought that they were the epitome of true love- but this can't be the case. After all, Dane has had a partner for quite awhile now, and I'd honestly be surprised if he doesn't marry them someday. Alyx has dated other boys several times, and he seems content with it. Lisa just fell in love, and her girlfriend makes her so incredibly happy, it's adorable. All my siblings have found love, and yet me, the youngest of the pack, the runt of the litter, can't seem to fall in love.

I've been told I might be aromantic. Hell, even I think I might be aromantic... but I don't want to be. I know that sounds horrible, and probably makes me an arophobe, but I can't help it. I want to fall in love more than anything else, and it feels cruel and terrible to take this human right from my heart, to strip this beautiful, intricate tattoo from my bones. Who decided I should be born this way? Who deemed it humane? Is this nature vs nurture, or something else entirely? What am I, if I cannot fall in love?

I want platonic love to be enough, and sometimes it is. Spending quality time with my Dad, watching TV and building Megablocks with Lisa, hanging out and drawing with Dane, talking about writing with Alyx, those things make me happy, and I love my family members so much. It's not just my family, either! Discussing writing and sharing interesting/funny posts with West, talking on the phone with Jason, watching anime with Sarah, these things make me happy, too.

And yet, I can never remain sated, can never make myself satisfied with this lifestyle. I feel like a werewolf, staying calm and content for a majority of the month, but when the full moon hits- the teasing of love, of something I'll never feel or understand- I scream my throat raw and lose myself to a bloodlust that will never end, will never stop. I am forever wandering, tempered yet so very hungry, begging for an end, an answer, but every antidote that's forced down my throat is temporary at best and poison at worst. I can't even tell if this is normal anymore, it just fucking hurts, like a wound that just won't heal, no matter how well I tend to it.

Something that feels akin to a double-edged sword for me is writing romance. I absolutely love doing it, love giving something to the characters that I will never have, and expressing what I wish I could through them. I've been told I'm good at writing romance- good at the communication, the intricacies, the little moments of contentment they share- and I don't know how to feel about it. Should I be proud? Should I be mad? I don't even know anymore. How can I write something so well, yet not feel it in my soul? I'm highly empathetic, I know this, and yet, this is the one thing I can't absorb, the one feeling I will never truly understand or feel.

I don't much care anymore that I'm asexual... if I ever did, I don't remember it. I'm fine with never having intercourse, and from what I've read, it's not necessary to make a relationship work. And yet... how do relationships work when you can't fall in love, either? Yes, platonic and familial relationships can still exist of course, and as loving and warm as they are, I still end up freezing in the winter. I'm cold, shivering as I await the roaring fire of romance, and yet, no matter how much timber and dry leaves I gather, no matter how many hours I spend with a flint and steel, struggling to light the smallest of embers with my shaking fingers, getting brief glimpses of sparks every so often, the fire won't come to life, and I'm left with only piles and piles of fuzzy, soft blankets... but they're not a fire, and I damn well know it.

This must all seem so strange, so exaggerated, but I'm a writer, and writing my feelings, it's the only way I know how to express this pain, this misery. I wish I could fall in love, but I don't think I can, and that, above all else, is what's killing me.

[thebusytypewriter]

Having a Moment

Summary: Holly spends some time with Buc during his watch on their team’s space pirate ship. Banter and accidental admittance of feelings ensue.

Author’s Note: Woo! Here it is! This one’s not in a fandom, just loosely based on me and my friends’ D&D shenanigans. Special thanks to @pinestripes and @pardonthefangirl for editing and giving super sweet feedback! You guys are amazing! Also asdfkgsdklg I tried with the cut, so sorry if it didn’t work!

Warnings: None, aside from some mild language. Fluff ahead! Enjoy!

[[MORE]]

He must be lonely up there… Holly thought to herself, eyes trained on the crow’s nest. Never did like the traditional ‘one person keeps watch’ thing. I bet he’s hungry, too.

She shoved the wrapped sandwich into her jacket pocket and began climbing the ropes. If Buc knew that she was coming, he didn’t say a word about it, only continuing to gaze out into the never-ending cosmos, something almost like melancholy present in his expression.

Upon reaching the top, Holly gave two firm knocks on the bottom of the nest. “Package delivery for the first mate.”

There was no yelp, no other noise of surprise, only an exasperated wood elf opening the trapdoor and gazing down at her. “What the ‘ell are you doing here? You know ‘s my turn to watch, right?”

“I know, but aren’t you hungry? Want company? It’s quiet up here.”

“I like it like that, I’ll ‘ave you know.”

That wasn’t going to do. Holly gave him her best set of sad puppy eyes, which, according to the entire crew, were impossible to resist.

He stared into them for a moment, attempting to hold onto his willpower, but ultimately sighed. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt if you stayed up ‘ere for a short while.”

“Yes!” She hoisted herself through the open trapdoor and kicked it shut. “I’ve got food for you.”

The first mate snorted and pulled her into a standing position. “Did Ginger make it? Thought he wasn’t a night owl.”

Reaching into her pocket, she gave a quick laugh. “I made it, silly. Ginger’s asleep and has been for hours.”

Upon seeing the sandwich come from her jacket, Buc narrowed his eyes at it in mock suspicion. “And ‘ow do I know you haven't poisoned it?”

“You wound me, good sir!” Holly held the food closer to her chest as if to protect it from him. “I would never do such a thing!”

“Right. Fine, then, ‘and it over.”

She complied and waited patiently while he opened the wrapping and took a bite, staring once again into the stars. “So?”

“What?” he replied, mouth still full, though his brow was furrowed in genuine confusion. “Am I supposed ta ask you how your day was or somethin’?”

“No, Buc, gods!” Was it getting hot up there, or was it just her? “The sandwich! How’s the sandwich?”

Buc swallowed, cheeks darkening. “Oh. ‘S good. Thanks, Songbird.”

“No problem.”

The crow’s nest was quiet again.

Holly’s gaze wandered from star to star, planet to planet, thinking about everything that she and her friends could find in the universe. She wondered if they’d ever find her home dimension, whether it be in ruins or not. Perhaps they would stumble across the universe with Repron, stop by to visit with Fayni or Thela. Or maybe they would meet another band of adventurers and give them aid in their quest.

“I see why you like it up here,” she found herself saying. “It’s quiet.”

From beside her, Buc gave an unsure hum, crumpling the sandwich wrapping and shoving it in his trousers pocket. “Quiet’s fine. Company’s good, too. But you know what would make it even better?”

She nonchalantly reached behind herself and pulled her lucky ukulele out from its pouch on her back, a grin forming on her face at the way his expression lit up. “Got any requests?”

“Just somethin’ peaceful.”

As she took a moment to make sure that it was still in tune, Holly noticed Buc turn and take a seat on the wood floor of the crow’s nest, then gesturing for her to do the same. She sat cross-legged there, her knee barely touching the side of his thigh, and began to play an old lullaby. The lyrics were lost in her memory still, but the tune was there as clear as day, so she hummed along with it. Holly definitely didn’t miss the warm content smile spread on her friend’s face at the music, nor did she miss the way his eyes drifted shut after several measures.

It made her happy to know that she could put a smile on his face.

“‘Ey, Holly?”

Twang. A sour note rang out when her hand jerked in shock. Holly stared in confusion and disbelief at Buc, who hadn’t even opened his eyes. Did he just call me by my name? After a moment, she tried to continue playing as if that wasn’t peculiar. “Uh, yeah?”

“Can I ask ya somethin’?”

“Shoot.”

“Are you an orphan?”

TWANG. Her song stopped completely, the last horrible note still hanging in the air. Holly turned to him sharply, eyes wide, suddenly hating the way he seemed so relaxed. “Excuse me? What makes you think you have a right to ask that?”

“Just askin’,” he drawled, raising one hand to scratch his stubble. “I don’t mean any harm by it, I swear. Jus’ had to figure out the reasons.”

“Reasons for what, Buc? Whatever it is, it must be damn good enough to warrant asking someone if their parents are dead!”

He cracked one eye open. “I ask ‘cause I’m an orphan, too, ya see. Felt somethin’ familiar ‘boutcha ever since I met ya. Almost like the gods themselves were tellin’ me somethin’. Crazy, huh?”

Holly blinked at him, irritation gone, and she held her ukulele just the slightest bit closer to her chest. “Yeah...crazy.”

The first mate pushed himself off of the crow’s nest wall, using it to shift his body closer to hers, close enough for him to wrap an arm around her shoulders and give a firm squeeze. “Listen, Holly. I really appreciate you comin’ up ‘ere, givin’ me somethin’ to eat, and playin’ your special music for me. Wouldn’t mind it bein’ a regular thing, actually.”

“Really?” Holly gazed up at him, looking for any sort of joke, only to find sincerity in his warm brown eyes. “You mean it?”

“‘Course I mean it. You’re really something, Holly Bea, and I like ‘aving you around. Even if you’re better than me at everythin’.”

The two of them shared a laugh, leaning on each other, gazes traveling upward to the stars.

Or at least, Holly’s did. After a moment she noticed that Buc’s eyes were still on her. “Can I help you?”

He opened his mouth to answer before his cheeks flushed a little and he looked upward to the surrounding space. “It’s nothin’.”

“No, what is it? You can tell me.”

Buc was silent for a moment, then turned back to her, looking almost embarrassed. “You don’t...happen to ‘ave someone you fancy back at your place, do you? That half-drow guy, maybe?”

“Leofyr?” She let out a sharp laugh. “Gods, no. One, he’s like my dorky older brother. Two, he’s married, star-brain. So your answer is no, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Do ya want one?”

Holly froze, and the rest of the universe seemed to, as well. She once again searched his eyes for any sort of humor or teasing, but found only warmth and—dare she even think it—affection. “I—what?”

“I asked you if you wanted someone t’ fancy!” The longer he ranted, the darker his face grew, and the more his gaze flickered everywhere but her. “I dunno, Songbird, I thought we were ‘aving a moment! I thought we’ve been ‘aving moments for months! Maybe it was jus’ me seein’ things that weren’t there. But I get it; you’re a bard, flirt with everyone, stick with none—”

“Woah, hey!” She reached out and gently grabbed his shoulder, a light flattered pink dusting her own face and mingling with her freckles. “I don’t flirt with people, only when it’s necessary to get information or access to something. As for the ‘stick with none’ bit, well…” As she lowered her gaze to the floor in embarrassment, her hand dropped and joined its pair on her lap, anxiously feeling the wood of her uke. “I just hadn’t found the right person to stick with, that’s all.”

Buc finally watched her expression, his own brow furrowed. “What’s with th’ past tense? Hadn’t?”

Holly’s face practically burst into flames, and she clutched her ukulele, startled that he had picked up on her purposeful slip. “I—I mean that I’ve—that I’ve found someone to stick with!”

“Oh.” She didn’t miss his disappointed tone. “He’s a lucky fella, then. What’s he like then? Musical?”

“Buc.”

“Charmin’? Handsome?”

“Buc.”

“I bet he’s just as good as you at everythin’, if not more—”

“GODS, IT’S YOU, OKAY?”

Both of them froze, bright red. Their eyes finally met again, and when they did, Holly saw something else sparkling in his dark brown gaze. Adoration.

“‘S that so?” he asked, though not with nearly as much cockiness as usual. It was practically a whisper, almost in wonder.

She swallowed, nerves and adrenaline very much awake and active. “Of course. You’re...amazing.”

Buc gave a single breathless laugh. “Well, you’re extraordinary.”

“You’re incredible.”

“Gorgeous.”

“Dashing.”

“An angel.”

“Out of this...” Holly trailed off, face burning once again, though she hardly felt it this time.

As they fired compliments back and forth to each other, Buc and Holly had been subconsciously leaning in, closer and closer, until they were only inches apart. The bard could feel his breath tickle her lips, but she was too busy getting lost in his dark pools of infatuation. She hardly registered his warm hands moving her uke from her lap to the floor beside them.

“Go a’ead,” he murmured, gaze appearing to dart from her own to her lips. “What were you sayin’?”

The butterflies were back, filling her stomach as she struggled to speak. “O-out of this world.”

The only visible betrayal of his amusement at her pun was the way his eyes crinkled slightly at the edges. Nevertheless, he moved just a little closer, then asked, “Can I kiss you, Holly Bea?”

Her heart pounding, hands shaking, Holly answered. “Absolutely.”

And in an instant, Buc had closed the distance between them, his lips gently meshing with her own.

Holly had been told by friends what first kisses were like. Sweet. Magical. Mind-melting. Those didn’t begin to describe what she was feeling as she threw her arms around Buc’s neck and pulled herself closer. It was electrifying, to say the least. Every nerve in her body was tingling and sparking at the sensation, especially when Buc wrapped one arm around her waist and raised the other to run his hand through her hair. His lips were rough and tasted just a bit like ale, she noticed, but paid it no mind. He was gentle with her, though continued to give her the most pleasant experience she had ever had.

Finally out of breath, they parted and gazed at each other, forest green meeting dark brown. Their faces were flushed as they regained their breath, warm smiles growing on their lips.

And without a word, they were on each other again, heartbeats pounding in their ears as the second one lasted nearly twice as long as the first. They enjoyed the warmth that was shared, the emotions, the ever-growing love, known only by the two of them and the cosmos around them.

Holly agreed that she would continue to join Buc when it was his turn to watch.

[changingourdestiny]

Fictober Day 2: The Enemy of my Enemy

Prompt number: 2. “Just follow me, I know the area”

Fandom (AU if applicable): Destiny (Changing Our Destiny Fan-Series)

Rating: M (Destiny is rated PEGI 16)

Warnings/Tags: Minor bad language

After receiving a mysterious message from the queen of rogues, Marcia, Fireteam Paralight set off to the Cosmodrome to aid in a search-and-rescue mission.

—

“Greetings Fireteam Paralight. While sending this message deals a massive blow to my pride, I am requesting your help. Many of my people have been taken captive by the Eliksni. We have sent rescue squads out to retrieve them, but all attempts have met with failure. We’d have concluded that…*sigh*…ok, look. I ain’t good with this humble crap, but I need your help. Badly. My people are being kept hostage in the Cosmodrome by Eliksni forces. We’ve been trying to send rescue parties to save them, but they’ve been captured too. I have eyes on the inside, but it ain’t enough. Our numbers are dwindling and…if I’m being fully honest here, I’m scared. I’m trying to act brave for my people…but with the Eliksni getting bolder and the threat of the Hive looming over us, I fear that we won’t last much longer out here. I’m considering moving the Umbrialyx somewhere safer than the Cosmodrome, maybe down south. There is not a hope in hell I’m going back to the Tower, so don’t even think about it. I hate to ask help from the Guardians, especially a few Kinderguardians, but I will put aside my pride for the sake of my people. Please…help us. I can’t lose anyone else. Queen Marcia of the Umbrialyx, signing off. 

P.S: Tell the Vanguard, and Ghost gets an arrow to the eye.”

“I can’t believe we agreed to this.” Blaze grumbled. Fireteam Paralight arrived at the Steppes outside the Cosmodrome. “Marcia can be a…pain.” Rae began, “But she’s a Lightbearer too. We can’t just sit by and let others get hurt. Now where…” “Psst! Oi! Over here!” A hushed voice called out. Rae looked around for a moment in confusion before spotting a familiar figure hiding amongst the trees, her cloak wrapped around her. The Fireteam approached the rogue Guardian as she emerged from the trees, removing her bandana and goggles. “Huh…you punks actually came.” Marcia began, disbelief in her voice, “I…can’t believe I’m saying this but…thanks. I mean it.” “As the saying goes, ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’” Rae shrugged. “Heh. I guess that’s true.” Marcia chuckled before a serious look took her face, “Alright, I’ll lead the way.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why should you lead?” Blaze interrupted. “Just follow me, I know the area.” Marcia gave a frustrated sigh, “I’ve been keeping an eye on this place ever since the Eliksni started taking my people. I know where they’re being held captive.” “Lead the way then.” Rae nodded while Blaze just huffed, really not wanting to take orders from a rogue. “So, what should we expect from this?” Ghost asked. “The basics.” Nox, Marcia’s Ghost, replied, “Couple of Shanks, Dregs, Vandals…maybe a Captain or two. Haven’t seen any Servitors, so that’s good news…never liked those things. Creepy buggers.” “So what’s the plan?” Stormbringer spoke up. “I know my rogues are being held somewhere around Dock 13. Dunno where exactly though.” Marcia responded, “Once we’re in, we split up into two groups. Hothead and Titan on one, myself and Rae on the other.” “Why do you call Rae by her name and us by dumb names?!” Blaze growled in a hushed whisper. “I respect Rae. You I don’t. I kinda respect the Titan.” Blaze just sighed in defeat as Marcia continued, “There’re Dregs guarding the entrance. I have a spot where Rae and I can snipe ‘em and take ‘em out easily. Once their down, you two head in and we’ll be right behind ya. Once we’re in, split up and scout the area. Have your Ghosts contact me if you find my people. Do not, I repeat, do NOT engage until we group up with you and vice-versa. All good.” “Right.” “Sure…” Adam gave a thumbs up. “Alright. Move out. See you on the inside.”

———————————————————————

The two Paragonialans crept through the darkened halls of the Cosmodrome, their Ghosts lighting the way. “Hey, Nox?” Ghost began. “Yes?” Nox responded, still keeping his focus on the hall ahead. “Forgive me if this sounds rude…but why is your eye pink? Was it a modification like Firefly’s or…?” “…I don’t wish to discuss this topic.” “Oh…um, alright then…just trying to make conversation…” Rae turned to Marcia, “Was Nox’s eye pink when you met him?” “Nox always respects my wishes when I don’t wanna talk about somethin’.” Marcia replied, “It’s only fair I do the same.” “Ah. I can respect that. I try to respect Ghost’s wishes most of the time too. Right, Little Light?” “Oh, haha. Very funny.” Marcia chuckled before shaking her head, “Alright, let’s focus. My rogues have to be here somewhere.” “Anyone else find it weird that we haven’t seen a single Eliksni since the entrance?” Ghost piped up. “You’re right…either they’re all busy guarding the prisoners…” Nox began, “…or we’re walking straight into an ambush.” Ghost glanced behind him and exclaimed, “Watch out!” A tall Captain stood looming over the two Lightbearers and their Ghosts, a shock blade in one hand and a shrapnel launcher in another. Rae went for her auto-rifle, but was stopped by Marcia, “Hey, it’s cool.” Marcia looked up at the Captain, “Took ya long enough, Zakris.” “Would’ve been easier if there was any privacy in this blasted place.” The captain, who Rae assumed was Zakris, replied, “The House of Devils have increased their numbers here ever since the Hive arrived. Don’t blame ‘em. Little buggers are creepy as all hell. ‘Specially the Thralls.”

“Hold up, I’m super lost here!” Rae interrupted, glancing between Marcia and Zakris, “You know this guy?” “Ah…right, I forgot to mention it, didn’t I?” Marcia scratched her head sheepishly, “Rae, this is Zakris the Reborn. The very first Eliksni Lightbearer.” “Wait, you’re a…” Rae trailed off as a small grey and red Ghost popped up beside Zakris and spoke in a timid, child-like voice, “H-hello…I’m Vakoh…” “I…didn’t know Eliksni could become Guardians…” Ghost was at a near loss for words. “N’or did I…and yet the Great Machine, or the Traveller as you name it, saw me worthy. It is a gift I will not waste.” “Zakris was revived here on Earth but felt he wouldn’t be welcomed at the Last City.” Marcia explained, “So when we came across him, we took him in as an Umbrialyx. He’s the best rogue in the kingdom.” “Besides you.” Zakris added, before facing Rae, who still seemed to be in shock, “You are the one they call Rae, yes? My former house call you ‘Taker of Great Ships’. Queen Marcia calls you a strong warrior. Therefore, I call you my ally.” Rae broke out of her shocked stupor and gave Zakris a friendly smile, “Pleasure to meet you, Zakris.” Zakris nodded in response before addressing Marcia, “Come. I have located the prisoners. And the sooner I leave this place, the better.” “I’m a little surprised they haven’t recognised you…I mean, they are your old house…” Vakoh piped up. “I was just another Captain out of many.” Zakris replied, “They would not tell the difference if I was replaced with another. They aren’t very…intelligent. The Dregs specifically. The other day, I caught one of them trying to attack their own shadow.” 

“You sure that wasn’t Blaze?” Marcia smirked. “Speaking of Blaze, I should probably contact her and Adam.” Ghost spoke up, “Let them know about-”

Suddenly, gunshots erupted from a nearby room, followed by the familiar whoops of a certain Awoken Hunter. “That punk had one job.” Marcia sighed in frustration. “My former house calls that one ‘Reckless Idiot’. Not as flattering as your title.” Zakris added. “I mean…they’re not wrong…” Rae laughed nervously. Marcia just sighed, “Let’s go and make sure she doesn’t get any of my rogues killed.” “Or herself.” Rae added. “Yeah, that too…”