#A personal arc that just wrapped up this past weekend

[project-sekai-facts]

VBS event teaser commentary

Welcome back, it has been *checks calendar* 8 months since I was last able to do one of these jeez. Anyway, this will be a bit different to the ones I've done in the past, since rather than trying to predict what the event will be about, we already know. This is more of me trying to guess what will be in this event and what will be in VBS' next arc.

(TL by Project SEKAI ENG on twt)

(TLs from here onward by lozy bug on YT)

This event will have VBS finally surpassing RAD WEEKEND!!! This has been their primary goal since the start of the story, however more recently it has become more of a stepping stone for them in order to go beyond it. BREAK DOWN THE WALL has a lot of talk about how RW is a step for VBS before they go and do their own thing. It also is the obstacle blocking their SEKAI from expanding fully, in the form of a wall (hence the event title), which is also referenced in the event synopsis. The wall has started to crack with them honing their skills and resolve, but won't fully crumble until VBS can go beyond Nagi's dream.

Now all the way back to LUTF. Specifically the Nagi flashback section. So Nagi's dream was always for RADder to go on and reach a worldwide stage. They were popular in Japan and doing tours, and they had plans to do stuff overseas, but Nagi fell ill and died before any of this could become a reality. Nagi is like, the most important person in VBS' story. Ultimately she's the one who started it all. She decided to hold RW which inspired a whole generation of young people, passing the torch and hoping that they would go beyond what she achieved and do the things she always dreamed of. Without Nagi, there would be no VBS and no Street SEKAI.

So VBS' current goal is to go beyond what Nagi did, which entails VBS reaching around the world. However, the first step right now is to surpass RW. Now for what a lot of people have been asking me all day: is this rushed. Well, we won't really know until the event is out. But, imo, not really? It's been pretty obvious we're leading up to it, and while I thought we would have a few more events, this placement makes some sense (also WLEs are clearly leading up to a soon-ish big lore event so we need to get those sekai expanding lol).

I think some aspects could get rushed though or will happen offscreen. Again. Which was kinda an issue with On Your Feet, their last arc ender (though this was no fault of the writers i'm pretty sure they were not intending to wrap everything up at that point in time but plans were changed kinda last minute... you can tell bc events got insanely long for a bit and some units clearly needed more or less time than they were given). Mainly what comes to mind and what i've seen people talking about is Toya's song writing, and Arata's Whole Thing (& Souma!).

Toya's song writing is undoubtedly going to happen offscreen or in a card story. If it happens in the event itself, it probably will just be something that happens in passing and not given any focus, since this isn't his event. As for Arata (and Souma)? I think Arata will probably come back in this event, just because it feels very wrong to surpass RW without him. How they're going to bring him back? No idea, it was set up in BDTW and vaguely in Toya4 that he would come back in a future Toya event but this now feels like something that won't happen. However I still think the emotional baggage (aka his feelings about Souma and what Taiga said to him) will be dealt with in more detail in a future event, probably Toya5. Also then you can deal with Souma's stuff too, like the song he wrote for Arata that has been a thing since woao. Seriously, this is Toya event stuff, the only way they can get it in here is if they pull an Our Happy Ending and give Toya a dedicated chapter and try and squeeze it all in there. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if Arata stays MIA or is limited to a small appearance. It would be a bit disappointing, but there's a lot for the Squad past RW, so he can be there for event that surpasses the event that surpassed RW ig.

So what's next? I seriously suggest reading the epilogue of BDTW, it's only 6 minutes long and talks a lot about VBS' goals from here on out.

Their new SEKAI area takes inspiration from many places worldwide and their cultures and music, and the graffiti is all the names of famous street music events. They conclude that it's a place for teams that take the world. There's also an interesting scene earlier in the event that Miku reflects on here - Nagi's ghost (possibly her actual ghost, possibly a physical incarnation of An's imagination) was walking around the SEKAI, and she was looking at this one specific blank spot on one of the walls. Obviously, that spot was meant for RADder, but they never got to carve their name. VBS' new goal is to do exactly that. Maybe we'll see some travelling from that (where on earth they'd get the money i don't know), or maybe we'll deal with everyone's feelings and unresolved plot points first and Then get on the worldwide stage stuff (probably in the same arc. two if they decide to continue this past 6th anni).

[snowbellewells]

Self Promo Sunday: "Sky's Canvas"

This little future Swan-Jones-Mills family fic envisioning them during their happy beginning post-s6 would probably have been well suited to Father's Day last week, but I didn't think of it until too late. I hope it will still be enjoyable this week too. It's a part of my one shot collection on AO3 or ff.net (if you'd prefer to read it either of those places instead) I hope you have fun picturing this alternate idea of what might have happened - and I'd love to hear what you think!

Notes: I toyed with the idea for this one for quite some time. The prompt elements that I have used are: a museum, the phrase “it was just a joke”, and also some small art facts – mostly about the particular museum itself (which is real). I have also put in a CS daughter (my personal head canon imagined one, Morgan Ruth Jones, whom I have written about before), and a college aged Henry. So, this is set somewhere in an alternative post-season 6 reality, where Henry stays in the Land Without Magic to seek his story, and also to be close enough to visit his family often, and for them to return the favor…)

by: @snowbellewells

The bubbly, nonstop chatter of her four-year-old little girl, which has cheerfully been filling Emma Swan’s ears for the past hour and a half, suddenly stills, immediately grabbing her attention and setting off an interior maternal alarm. She turns to seek out Morgan Ruth Jones – her little pirate princess – wondering if her daughter has yet again managed to sneak away from them and find herself in some sort of trouble.

Luckily, Emma doesn’t have to look far before she hears a chortling trill of baby laughter and locates her toddler with the disheveled head of dark, ringlet curls and twinkling, mischievous eyes – an aquamarine mix of her own green gaze and her father’s ocean blue – standing before a huge oil painting of a Spanish galleon rocking precariously on the stormy main and looking up at her father with fixed adoration. “Really, Papa?” Emma hears Morgan chirp, practically bouncing on the balls of her little feet as she tugs anxiously at his hook in eagerness to hear his answer. “Was it a storm that big you sailed ‘Roger’ through when you went to save Henwy in Neverland?!”

Emma is just chuckling wryly at the changes which have transpired in her life to give her a little girl more interested in daring adventures, ancient naval ships, and sword fighting than frilly dresses or dolls and makeup, even as her husband raises his eyes just enough to smirk at her knowingly over Morgan’s head, when another voice, youthful, warm, and settling into its masculine, adult timbre, answers Morgan’s question from over her shoulder, announcing Henry’s arrival to join them. “It was bigger, Pipsqueak,” he confirms jovially, pausing briefly to wrap a wiry arm around his mom in a quick side-hug before continuing to the side of his younger half-sister, kneeling to her level and adding with a gleam in his eye, “A mermaid summoned it to drown them all.”

“Hen-wy!!” Morgan squeals with glee; the painting, and even her papa’s beloved ship, forgotten as she flings herself into her brother’s arms with enough force to nearly bowl him over, causing Henry to chuckle as he catches her close to his chest.

“Hey Munchkin,” he greets affectionately, standing to his full height again – now even with his stepdad’s – still holding Morgan, her arms wrapped around his neck so tightly that Emma has to wonder if she’s ever going to let go. Turning to include his mom and his surrogate father in his next statement, Henry adds. “It’s great to see you all. Things must be quiet in Storybrooke, if you’re still going to stay all weekend.”

Here he arcs an eyebrow in curious bemusement, a trait Emma realizes all too well that he has picked up from her dashing scoundrel of a husband and probably uses to equally charming effect on all the girls he meets in his freshman courses at Bowdoin College. It is clear he has settled easily into the small arts school in Brunswick, Maine, just under a two hours’ drive from them, and that the campus atmosphere and freeing anonymity and normalcy he has there must be agreeing with him. Emma wants to snort in disbelieving laughter at his jest, though well aware that he knows better than to ever think his hometown would go completely, boringly normal. Instead, she shakes her head resignedly, merely giving her grown son a playfully long-suffering sigh. “You know how it is,” she shrugs, “never a dull moment. But – if you don’t count the dwarves coming to blows at Granny’s the other morning because Tom Clark accidentally sat in Leroy’s spot at the counter and got his flu germs on Leroy’s plate of bacon and eggs…”

“Which I do count,” Killian interrupts smoothly, winking at his adopted son. “I am the one who risked infection from the virus in forestalling their skirmish.”

Emma rolls her eyes at her deputy husband’s interruption and mutters “drama queen” under her breath, which Henry and Morgan both clearly hear and snicker at before she continues, “Otherwise it’s been as quiet as it ever gets. No deathly dangerous villains or curses meant to tear us apart and wipe our memories blank.”

“Yet…” Killian adds on needlessly, an ominous tone in his voice acknowledging the fact that they all know it’s only a matter of time before some new threat is wreaking havoc again. Their sleepy little town might seem like a place lost in time and space, but it is still a veritable magnet for trouble, and none of them can deny it.

Killian, however, waggles his brows playfully after his foreboding aside, making Henry shake his own head at his stepfather. It had seemed a rather grim pronouncement for the reformed pirate – more like his mom, really.

Morgan grins widely back at her father, nodding in gleeful agreement, her gap-toothed smile showing where she has lost a fair few of her baby teeth recently. “Yeah…yet!” she exclaims, not fully understanding the concern behind the sentiment, but always ready – as is her entire extended family – for action and excitement.

Emma shakes her head in humored exasperation at her two “children” – wondering, as she often does, how someone who has seen and experienced as much as Killian, who has witnessed some of the worst humanity had to offer and suffered at their hands, who has lived so long and weathered such crushing heartbreak and hate, can still easily find such simple, child-like joy in the littlest things. “Really, guys?” she questions, looking to her college student son for more mature support. “Can’t we just enjoy things being normal for once?”

“Aye, of course, my Love,” Killian replies deftly. “ ‘Twas merely a joke,” he adds, leaning over to brush a quick kiss to her brow that makes Morgan giggle, hide her face in Henry’s shoulder, and cry out, “Eww, they’re kissing again!” in a frank, tickling whisper against her older sibling’s skin.

“Just a joke is right,” Henry declares, motioning them forward to venture on into the rest of the Bowdoin College Museum and toward the particular exhibit he wants them to see. The collection was an 1811 bequest from a wealthy benefactor to the school and was one of the earliest college art collections in the country, as Henry had enthusiastically told her over the phone some weeks ago when his project had commenced. His Maritime History class had done a cross-curriculum partnership with the arts department to put together a student exhibit of research and mixed media in the college’s museum, and Henry has been quite secretive about his entry, even if insistent that they needed to see it in person. “Like anyone could be around you lot for long and think you were normal!” he scoffs.

“Ha ha,” his mother laughs drolly, bumping into his side with her shoulder in playful retribution as they move ahead side-by-side, with Killian, who is now holding a wriggling Morgan once again, following closely behind. However, once the jostling ceases, Emma grasps her nearly-grown son’s hand in hers for a moment, stunned anew at how much he has changed from the little boy who had found her in Boston all those years ago, and led her into the very life she has now. Squeezing tightly with emotion welling up in her throat, she wishes he could truly understand how much she loves him.

“Missed you too, Mom,” Henry murmurs softly, pressing her fingers back with his own wrapped around them. It is more than enough and makes her heart flutter in gladness.

Once Henry leads them through a few different rooms and several intriguing displays, he slows when they reach a large, somewhat circular room with a high, arched ceiling, and then turns to them with a mysterious smile on his face and clear anticipation in his big, brown eyes, just as they have always held, even at ten years old.

At first glance, this particular exhibit, this room in itself, seems empty. Looking around with faces equally full of curiosity and confusion, Killian, Emma, and Morgan end up staring back at Henry expectantly until Killian finally speaks up, “Begging your pardon, Lad, but I’m afraid I am not quite certain what you wish for us to see.”

Henry gives a nod of acknowledgement, rather knowingly pleased, and making Emma smirk to herself with a mother’s satisfaction at seeing her son so confidently happy and in his element. ‘He’s definitely got something up his sleeve,’ she thinks affectionately, admittedly finding herself anxious to see what his surprise might be. She knows that Henry has been loving this course all term – not to mention how thrilled her husband had been at the news – and that the long term practicum research projects are being showcased here throughout the entire month of April. Emma can only conclude that her son’s hard work has paid off in a way he’s proud of, and he must believe wholeheartedly that they will be too.

All Henry says is, “I take it you’re ready then?” and at Killian’s nod and Morgan’s “Yes, yes, YES, Henwy!!” exclamation, while she hops up and down exuberantly, he switches off the lights and presses a previously unnoticed button next to the light switch.

Immediately, the light and airy sound of some sort of flute or piccolo trickles through the quiet air of the room, a gently evocative melody with a lingering, haunted quality to its tone, enhanced by the sound echoing beneath of waves washing gently against the hull of some easily floating ship or back and forth over the shore of some deserted bay. Even as the sounds which are familiar and comforting to his tiny family audience wrap around them, small pinpricks of light appear just like stars in the night sky out on the ocean, sparking to life on the walls around them and the high ceiling overhead. It is a constellation spread out just for them in breathtaking majesty. Then, the Author begins to narrate his newest story…

Listening to Henry’s words, Emma feels her breath catch just a bit in both awe and emotion, glancing quickly over at her husband and daughter, before either of them realizes they are being observed. Morgan’s green eyes are wide and sparkling with interest and excitement, her mouth an open “o” as she looks above her, dazzled at what would appear for all the world to be the stars and constellations in the night sky brought indoors and spread out for their entertainment. Killian is silent and still, so much so that Emma knows – as few others would – just how valiantly he is battling some strong emotion…how very touched he is. Emma was never as great a student of the star charts and navigational astronomy as her sailor would have loved to make her, but Henry ate it right up, and she would bet her battered and beloved old VW that Henry has recreated some particular display that holds an extra meaning for he and his stepdad alone.

Shaking herself slightly to bring her focus back to earth and her attention back to the words of Henry’s presentation once more, she hears her son’s voice – soothing, engaging, and reeling her into the adventurous stories behind the scattered specks of light arrayed above them and their meaning and guidance to generations of sailors making their ways on a wide and pathless sea.

“The Cygnus,” Killian mouths silently beside her, appearing genuinely awestruck as he takes his gaze just momentarily from Henry’s representative “sky” to look in the eyes of the young man he has for years now cared for and loved like a son; a sincere gaze of fond understanding passing between them that brings a film of unshed tears to Emma’s vision that she has to rapidly blink away. In fact, soundless though it may be, she catches Killian’s comment only because she is so focused on her husband and his emotional reaction to this gift Henry has given all of them – but her pirate in particular. Emma senses that Killian knows it in this moment and holds tightly to his fingers twined with hers while practically beaming at her son, wondering again how she ever got lucky enough that the two most important people in her world would love each other as much as they each love her.

Morgan reaches over from Killian’s arms to pat her mother’s cheeks as Henry concludes his tale and turns the lights back up. “Don’t cry, Mama,” Morgan coos sweetly. “Henwy’s story was happy in the end. The Swan leads the sailor to his home.”

Emma smiles shakily at her daughter, and then the rest of her family with their looks of understanding. “I know, Baby,” Emma murmurs softly, still brushing away the evidence, but with her smile growing broader all the while. “Don’t worry. These are happy tears.”

Tagging a few who might enjoy: @jennjenn615 @searchingwardrobes @kmomof4 @jrob64 @apiratewhopines

@whimsicallyenchantedrose @laschatzi @stahlop @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @winterbaby89

@spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @tiganasummertree @optomisticgirl @xsajx @bluewildcatfanatic

@xarandomdreamx @booksteaandtoomuchtv @anmylica @jonesfandomfanatic @motherkatereloyshipper @branlovestowrite

@linda8084 @lfh1226-linda @the-darkdragonfly @elizabeethan @donteattheappleshook @let-it-raines @ineffablecolors

[storiesofsvu]

Journey to the Past Ch 22

Bryan Kneef x reader Sorry this one took so damn long to get out. I kept getting stuck with it and working out the logistics of everything for this chapter. plus like... life... am i right? ANYWAYS, here ya go. enjoy this chapter. we enter the final plot arc now.

“Bryan!” Your shriek turned into a giggle as the man wrapped around your waist from behind, pulling you flush to him, his lips burying into your neck as they made home against your skin.

“What?” He chuckled, teeth scraping into you and you let out a soft moan, followed by a laugh as your hand tugged into his hair, pulling him off you.

“I have to go!”

“Oh come on.” He nearly whined, “it’s just a girl’s night.”

“And we spent half the morning fucking.” You laughed, turning in his arms to press a gentle kiss to his lips. “I’ve barely seen Kim this month. Besides…” you kissed him once more, “it’ll give me a chance to go through my apartment, see what I’m moving in versus what I’ll give away.”

“Fine.” He grinned, cupping your chin in his hand with a wicked grin, “I’ll accept that.”

“Thought you might.” With a grin you popped up on your toes to kiss him again before squeezing at his arm, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He left a kiss on the tip of your nose that you let out a giggle at before you were finally able to turn from the apartment and disappear down the hallway to embark on your evening plans.

*

You managed to get to your place with enough time to spare, ordering some take out that would get there shortly after Kim would and cracking a bottle of wine that you poured a glass out of to drink in the meantime. You meandered into the bedroom, starting to make sure all of your personal belongings were removed, sorting through the clothes you’d left to either take home or be donated. It wasn’t long after that that you heard the knock on the door, followed by Kim’s voice and you called out to let her know you were in the bedroom.

“What’s…. going on?” She asked with a raised brow as she perched in your bedroom doorway, eyeing the piles of clothes and belongings strewn across the bed.

“Figured I should take some time to clean my shit out and you could probably help with that.” You gestured to the bottle of wine and empty glass, “grab some wine.”

“Oh fuck, I haven’t eaten since breakfast, I should probably wait for dinner first.”

“Raid the fridge?”  You suggested, “grab a non booze drink or some snacks?”

“You’re an angel.” She shot you a grin before darting off down the hallway, returning with a sparkling water and a power bar, settling at the foot of your bed, “So… you just get the urge to clean out or?”

“Well…” You grinned at her, pausing for a sip of wine, “I’m trying to downsize a bit, not really with the clothes but more with the other shit. And to figure out what I own that are super personal versus stuff I’d be okay with strangers being around on a regular basis.”

“What are you talking about?” She laughed and you felt a brief heat sink into your cheeks.

“I’m moving into Bry’s place.”

“Are you serious!?”

“Oh don’t sound so shocked!” You laughed.

“I just didn’t ever see you selling this place!”

“I’m not, at least not yet.” You laughed, tossing another pair of pants into a suitcase, “I still kinda want my own space, I figured I’ll list it on Airbnb, that way I can control who and when stay here and when I’ll be able to have time on my own, or if we wanna have a super drunk weekend or something.”

“I mean… that’s probably the smartest choice, you can make bank with that shit.”

“Exactly.”

“He really asked you to move in?” Kim took a sip of her drink, casting you a knowing look and you rolled your eyes.

“Are you judging?” You suddenly stalled, “oh god. Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

“No!” She shot back, “I think it’s a fucking great idea. Have you guys talked about any more of a future yet or is that like, on the back burner?”

“A bit of both.” You laughed, your head shooting down the hall as a loud knock echoed through your apartment, “I guess the rest of this will have to wait.” You tossed down a pair of pants, “movie and dinner?”

“Always.” Kim shot you a grin, following you down the hall and picking up what you’d need from the kitchen for dinner before making herself at home on the couch and picking out a movie while you paid for the take out.

You brought the bag to the coffee table and started to scoop things out onto plates, the two of you splitting things up as evenly as you could before settling into the movie Kim had picked. Conversation flowed easily between the two of you, commentary on the movie while you complimented the food, digging into takeout containers for more. You fell into the usual routine, laughter taking over when you weren’t paying full attention to the movie. It was a few hours later, the movie over, you were on your second glass of wine, about to offer Kim one when you noticed.

“You still nursing that Perrier?”

“It’s been a weird week.” She laughed, practically avoiding your gaze and you smacked at her leg.

“What is going on?” You asked and she took a heavy breath, letting it out slowly.

“Something that I really don’t want to do but I need your help with.”

“Okay?” You raised a brow in her direction and she huffed, her shoulders sagging before looking up at you in defeat, “do we need to immediately rephase into attorney client privilege or is it something else?”

“I think I’m late…”

“Like your period?”

“Yeah.” She huffed, “I forgot to track last month’s so I’m not sure when this one’s supposed to come and I’ve lost track of time and have no clue anymore. Plus the guy I’m seeing… it’s just super casual, he doesn’t want anything past a casual relationship and I’m fine with that, but this would throw a loop into things…”

“Okay, well you don’t have to really worry about things yet.” You assured her, squeezing at her hand, “either give it another week and wait for your period, or we can run down to the store and get a test for you to take now.”

“I’ve already got one…” She admitted, glancing up to you with a sheepish look on her face, “I think I’m just way too up in my head and freaked out to want to do it.”

“You could wait the week?”

“And send my stress levels through the roof?” She laughed, “I don’t think that’s ideal.”

“Okay, then…You know where the bathroom is.”

“Yeah, but they only sell these things in multiple packs and I’m trying not to freak out, don’t make me be the only one, please….so what do you say?”

“That you’re being ridiculous, but you’re lucky I have two bathrooms.”

“Oh thank fucking god.” Kim let out a heavy breath, “I just like, didn’t know what to do and then this tik tok trend popped up where groups of friends all take—”

“Babe… do you seriously think I have enough time to engage in tik tok?”

“You’re right.” She barked out a laugh, moving from the couch to dig through her purse. She pulled out the box, ripping it open and handing you a wrapped test.

“Take the hallway bathroom, we’ll set a timer, I’m sure it’s fine.” You gave her arm a squeeze and shot her a reassuring smile before you made your way into the bedroom and crossed through to the en suite.

This certainly wasn’t the first time a friend had come to you freaking out about something like this, or even asking you about your own experience. So with someone like Kim, you weren’t about to tell her no, she was your best friend and you finally knew why she had been acting so weird all week. You didn’t take long, popping the top off the test and quickly doing what you needed to do before putting the cap back on and wandering back out to the main part of the apartment to be the emotional support you knew would be needed. Wondering if Kim would finally be wanting wine or if it would be a night of non alcoholic fun. You placed your test down on the island, letting out a soft sigh as you refilled your wine glass, picking up your phone to kill the time. You smiled at a couple of texts from Bryan, shooting off a couple of replies to him, a few about how you couldn’t wait to come home to him daily, and it didn’t take long after that for things to get dirty.

“Sorry.” Kim’s voice nearly made you jump, her own test sliding onto the counter across the sink from yours, “I may or may not have freaked out again.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about.” You assured her, squeezing at her arm, “besides, this is just step one, you never know what’s going to happen after this and there are always a million ways things can go.”

“I guess.” She let out a huff, taking a swig of her soda right before the alarm on your phone went off and she nearly jumped, looking to you, “fuck, do I really have to?”

“Just flip it over.” You let out a chuckle.

“Fine.”  Kim shot you a glare before doing so, her eyes settling on the small stick before she let out a heavy sigh of relief, “oh thank fucking god!”

“See! You’re fine!” You swatted at her arm, handing her a glass of wine and she laughed, glancing toward your unturned test.

“Are you gonna look?”

“I don’t see why.” You laughed, but you turned back to it, flipping it over and it suddenly felt like your entire world stilled at the sight of a little pink plus sign staring back at you. You felt absolutely frozen, pure shock taking over your entire system as your eyes widened briefly before you finally felt like you could breathe again. You blinked a couple of times, making sure you weren’t seeing something before you finally spoke, Kim’s relief not even realizing your awkwardness. “Are you sure yours was on that side of the sink?”

“What?” She glanced up over the rim of her wine glass, her eyes widening over the panic written across your face.

“Did you put your test down on that side of the sink or did you move around afterwards?”

“I… I don’t think so. I came in, put it down and waited.. I think?” She winced, “why?” You let out a heavy breath, running a hand over your face.

“Because this one’s positive.” You flipped the test over to face her and she let out a small gasp.

“Oh fuck.”

“Where did you get these?”

“CVS.”

“So like, not the dollar store?”

“No.” She laughed, “but I’ve heard they’re all the same accuracy…”

“This has to be a false positive.” You murmured, “fuck, oh fuck… you said these came in packs, right?”

“Yeah…” Kim replied cautiously, placing her wine glass down on the island, “you think we should do a round two?”

“Well considering this says that one of us is pregnant, yeah, I do.”

“I’m like ninety eight percent sure that I put mine down on this side.” She gestured to the island, “like you said, it’s probably a false positive, I mean, when was your last period?”

“I don’t keep track.” You admitted with a huff.

“Are you serious?”

“Kim! I’ve got shitty ovaries, or a uterus or whatever, my periods have been all over the place for like, ten years. I miss them regularly; it’s never been a concern.”

“Are you and Bryan using condoms?”

“No.” You groaned, “why would we?! Once we said we were exclusive it went out the window.” You let out a weary sigh, “what the fuck?”

“Hey, hey…” Kim grabbed at your arm, “you’re lucky these things come in packs…” she rustled through her bag for a minute, pulling out the box once again, “round two.”

“Christ…” You muttered, taking one of the tests from her before you both retreated back to the bathrooms you’d been in prior.

This time when you returned to the kitchen, the air was much more tense, only a few words exchanged between the two of you as you waited for the timer to go off. When it did you both let out a low breath, flipping over the very separated tests to make sure you knew whose was whose.

“Oh my god…” You whispered, a hand coming up to your mouth as the bright plus sign stared back at you, “this… I think this is actually real…” Kim’s hand came up to yours, gently taking the test from you as she flipped it to look at it.

“Oh shit….” She muttered, “you’re pregnant…”

“Yeah…” You glanced up at her, “I really didn’t think it was ever possible…. I mean they told me it wasn’t…”

“Maybe it’s a fluke… like you said.” She squeezed at you hand, “call your doctor, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Oh I know.” You huffed out a breath, a million thoughts swirling around in your brain, going a mile a minute, “it just seems so fucking surreal.”

“Does Bryan want kids?” She asked and you were suddenly sent crashing back to reality, remembering it wasn’t just your future you were thinking of.

“Oh god… I… I don’t even know. We very briefly talked about it, he seemed wary…. But maybe?”

“Okay, forget I asked.” She grabbed your arm, tugging you away from the tests and back toward the couch, “we’re gonna forget all of this, you’re going to make a doctor’s appointment and we’re going to finish this take out and watch the rest of this movie, okay?”

“Okay…” you let out a soft sigh, dropping down onto the couch beside her, letting yourself get distracted with the media in front of you rather than dwell on your thoughts and worries.

*

Bryan was in the kitchen, packing up his own dinner into Tupperware and doing a couple of dishes, rinsing out the bowl while he tried to decide if he was having another glass of wine or was going to swap to scotch. The noise from the front door pulled his attention, glancing up, his brow furrowing as you appeared around the corner, dropping a duffle bag onto the floor with a little sigh.

“I didn’t expect you home tonight.” He greeted with a warm smile, crossing through the space to kiss you softly.

“Guess I just missed you.” You replied with a soft smile, pecking him gently before moving through the room slowly.

“Wine?” He asked, crossing back to the island and lifting the bottle in your direction, causing you to stall, shaking your head.

“No, thank you.” You gave him your best smile, “I’m not feeling great.”

Bryan’s head shot up to look at you, watching the way you dropped against the arm of the couch, letting out a gentle sigh and he crossed the room to you a hand gently cupping at your cheek, “you okay sweetheart?”

“Yeah.” You smiled, leaning into the embrace, “just tired.”

“Alright.” He leant in, kissing you tenderly and you hummed against his lips, tugging him back for a second.

“Can…. can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” His thumb stroked across your cheek; his eyes soft as he gazed across at you.

“You want a future here, right?” You glanced up to him, your heart beating a million miles a minute as you did your best not to hold your breath.

“Are you fucking with me?” Bryan laughed, “of course I do. You’re all I ever wanted….”

“Okay.” You let out a shaky breath, smiling at the way he squeezed at your hand, “I just… fuck, Bry,” you let out a small laugh, sinking further into the arm of the couch as Bryan moved forward, his hand continuing to stroke at your cheek. “I don’t want to freak you out or anything, and I know it’s fast and kinda weird, we haven’t technically been together that long..”

“But time doesn’t really mean anything?” He murmured with a raised brow and you laughed softly.

“No, no it doesn’t.” You let out a breath, the wheels in your head spinning as you tried to put your words together. Considering how he’d reacted to a minor inconvenience before you were serious when you said you didn’t want to freak him out, and something like this might send him running for the hills. Kim was right, you should wait until after going to the doctor to bother bringing it up, there was still a decent chance it was false, you sighed, glancing back up at Bryan and you could feel the adoration pouring from his eyes onto you, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you, and I love you more than anyone ever. I don’t need you to say the same back right now but there is no one else in the world I would rather spend the rest of my life with.”

Bryan let out a soft chuckle, nuzzling against you softly, “if you want me to buy you a ring, I will.” His lips hit yours softly, “because you are, without a doubt, the absolute love of my life, and I would give everything to spend my life with you.”

“I don’t need a ring.” You laughed softly, your hand coming up to catch his cheek, redirecting his next kiss to your lips, “but how about some cuddles? I honestly am fucking exhausted.”

“Whatever my girl wants, she gets.” Bryan smiled, kissing you gently before helping you up and guiding you down the hallway.

You couldn’t help but smile at the way he helped you out of your clothes, shifting you into comfortable pyjamas, making sure you were okay, a bottle of water by your bedside before he changed himself. He then wrapped you in his arms, pressing a soft kiss to your head, his hands ghosting over your body until they settled in a very affectionate manner. You weren’t totally sure, but you thought that you might have fully broken into Bryan Kneef’s soft side, one that wasn’t going to be reserved for just you anymore.

As you finally drifted off to sleep your thoughts shifted from whether Bryan would be as receptive to this news as you were or if he would go against his word and disappear out of your lives to ones of a long happy future with him. He had you tucked so tightly in his arms, nuzzling you deeper into the embrace with each breath, lips gently brushing against the top of your head, you felt safe, protected and most importantly, loved. And exactly where you needed to be.

__________________

@detective-giggles @plaidbooks @thatesqcrush @witches-unruly-heartt @beccabarba @bisexual-dreamer02 @amelia-song-pond @madamsnape921 @whimsicallymad @mrsrafaelbarba @mysticfalls01 @ssaic-jareau @caracalwithchips @barbasbodaciousbeard @alwaysachorusgirl @beardedbarba @michael-rooker @rafivadafreddy @lustvolle-liebe @anlin2058 @fandom-princess-forevermore @tinyboxxtink @alexusonfire @xovalliegirlxo @nobody-important12122 @somethingimaginative177 @momlifebehard @misscharlielulu @fighterkimburgess

[the-stoked-flame]

RELICS OF THE PAST, ACT I

Chapter I: The Crystal Cavern Chapter II: Souls to Rest Chapter III: The Spurned King Chapter IV: The Stoked Flame

Act II

Act III

[bakumu]

four years and eleven months (july)

bakugou x fem!reader

part of the ruby red series. this is part iv and the finale of the breakup arc.

part iii

summary: Your feelings for bakugou still hang over your head six months after your breakup and you can’t seem to move on. Will you be able to resist him on your birthday, especially since he will do anything to get you back?

cw: SMUT(creampie, oral (fem receiving), possessive, dry humping, little bit of cockwarming as a treat, pretty tame ngl), soft bakugou, side mina x kiri, side unestablished kami x shin, various other class 1a past relationships hinted at, food mentions, miscommunication, mutual pining, idiots to lover, nicknames (princess)

a/n: reader has a birthday for story purposes during the last week of july, thank you fae for helping me think of the present part a million years ago, and im very excited for everyone to read this!

minors do not interact. this work contains mature themes and if you continue reading you have agreed you are willing to see such content

You hear the gravel crunch beneath your tires as you turn onto the private drive. The tree-lined road is a familiar sight as you make your way towards your destination, a Yaoyorozu summer mansion always used for the biggest party of the year.

Your birthday party, specifically. Well, more accurately the combined birthday party of Sero, Mina, Jiro, and yourself.

When the four of you found out that your birthdays were all on the same weekend, chaos insued and Mina started to plan out a huge party. That was almost five years ago and the parties just get bigger and bigger every year. Momo offered one of her family's many mansions, along with helping foot the bills, claiming it was her birthday present to all of you and even when you tried to protest against it, she insisted. And so the tradition began.

At first, the parties were just class A and a few other people that wanted to join in the festivities, but slowly, more and more people were invited. When you graduated from UA and joined the hero ranks, even the older pros started to make their appearances, bringing with them more and more people until the party grew into what it is today: the largest party of the year.

Somehow Mina has been able to keep the press and paparazzi away, and you have suspected it has something to do with how elaborate and press-filled Deku’s birthdays are, but you've never wanted to ask. Whatever she's doing is working and you are glad that there aren't a million photos of you stuffing your face with burgers and hotdogs while in your swimsuit.

When you finally pull up to the mansion, you can see people busying themselves with last minute preparations: pruning the hedges, carrying food trays, and wheeling ice out of a truck towards the back of the house. But your eyes are distracted from the hard workers by the flash of pink that runs out of the house and down the elaborate staircase leading from the house.

“You finally made it!” Mina belts at you, running to your side and wrapping you in a hug as soon as you're out of your car.

“Am I late?” You check your phone when she finally pulls away and sees that you're here thirty minutes before Momo had told you to be. The late morning sun reflects off your phone and into Mina’s eyes.

“Hey! Watch that thing,” she says, angling your phone away from her face. “Also, no, you're not late. But you are the last of the set up crew to be here.” Mina reported before helping you grab your bags from your car and leading you inside the expansive mansion.

You saw people setting up tables along the walls and hallways just on the off chance that it would rain, but it never has. You have to commend Momo for always being prepared, she is the party's saving grace.

Mina pulls you through the house while chatting your ear off about her morning, leading you to where she knows you will want to stop first. Gift tables labeled for each of the birthday persons are set out and you place the presents that you've gotten for your friends on their tables before hiding your bag and your bathing suit under the table marked for you.

Once you're all set hiding your things away, the two of you make your way to the kitchen where you find Momo and Jiro talking. Momo is sitting on a stool at the island while Jiro sits on the counter swinging her legs back and forth.

“There she is! Way to be late to the party!” Jiro beams.

You roll your eyes before taking the seat next to Momo. “I am not late and you guys know it.”

They all let out a laugh before Momo gives you an update about the party.

“Apparently, the catering miscalculated the number of plates I requested and now we have to grill some extra burgers and food for everyone,” she exhales, laying her head down on the cool countertop.

“Ahh, I'm sure the guys will hate that,” you respond with a playful wink. Every year, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Sero complain about not getting to use the fancy grill. Well now is their chance, you think.

“Eijiro and Hanta are out playing with it right now,” Jiro adds with a laugh. “You could see them bouncing off the walls when the caterer told Momo about the mix-up.”

The four of you talk and laugh in the kitchen for some time, until the planners and catering tell Momo that everything is set up and they are taking their leave. There’s still about twenty minutes until the early birds will start to arrive. Maybe now is a good time to put on your bathing suit and get some peace in the pool before it gets too rowdy.

But your friends have other ideas.

Momo uncrosses her legs, before spinning in her chair so she is directly facing you before recrossing them. Jiro hops off the counter to stand on your opposite side and even Mina leans over the island to get closer to you.

You let out a nervous chuckle, “Uhh, can I help you?”

“God yes, we want details.”

“Details on what?” you ask, confused by the sudden confrontation.

“See guys, I told you she was dense about it!” Mina exclaims, “Babe, we want to know about you and boom-boy!”

“Oh.” You wring your hands together. You figured that this conversation was coming at some point today, but you guess it's good to get it out of the way before he's actually here. “There isn't really much to tell. We hung out after Deku’s party for a bit and then I went home.”

“Oh is that what we're calling it now? Hanging out?” Jiro adds, arching her eyebrow at you.

Momo sees your shoulders start to shrink as you try and make yourself smaller at their questioning. She puts her hand on your shoulder, and you look into her trusting gaze. “We just want to make sure you're alright.”

“Plus, we want the juicy details because you're getting more action than the rest of us!” Jiro adds with a laugh.

“Hey! You don't know that!” Mina exclaims, “I am in a very healthy relationship you know!”

The girls laugh at that, while giving you the space you need to gather your thoughts.

You weren't sure exactly what you wanted to tell them. Sure you and Bakugou had fucked a handful of times since your breakup, and yeah, you still loved him, but at what point is that too personal? You didn't want to burden your friends with your all-over-the-place emotions but you also didn't want to keep secrets from them.

Plus there the fact that the tabloids have started saying—

“Girl, I can see your mind running a million miles an hour. Just talk to us, you'll feel better! Promise!” Mina smiles at you, as Jiro and Momo rub your back.

“Okay,” you roll your head towards the ceiling, letting out a huge sigh before explaining your feelings to them.

“Katsuki and I have been sleeping with each other after almost every party since Tsu’s birthday. It’s really, really good sex. Like really good.” They all giggle and you continue. “Each time he invites me over, he says that he wants to talk or whatever, but I never want to listen. I just jump his bones and then leave right after. I'm sure he just wants to be friends with benefits or something but I can't stand the thought of that. Because…”

Another sigh escapes you before you let your head fall into your palms.

“Because I’m still in love with him and it just hurts so much,” you try not to let your voice crack as you speak, “It hurts to stay away and it hurts to be close.”

Momo rests her head on your shoulder as you continue to talk while Jiro rubs soothing circles on your back.

“It's just— when I see him now, it feels like we're back at UA, flirting and having fun, like nothing bad happened. And I want it to be like that again, but I can't. I just think about how much I want him back and how much he does not want that. I'm just somebody he has sex with.”

“Hey, you don't know that,” Momo is quick to add.

“I mean, I kind of do. You guys didn't see the tabloid photo of him this week? There were a bunch of photos of him and Camie together at a jewelry store or something.” You pause, your voice becoming smaller. “I didn't look at it long enough to figure it out but they looked really close.”

“You know how those things can be! It doesn't mean anything,” Jiro adds, hoping to bring a little lightness to the situation.

“Why else would he be jewelry shopping with her?” You bark out more aggressively than you intended.

Mina grabs your hands, holding them in the space between the two of you. Her gaze is heated and she leaves no room for negotiation.

“There could be a million reasons why he's shopping with her, maybe he needed something for his mom or something. But that's not. The. Issue.” She enunciates each word with a small shake to your hands. “You don't see the way his eyes are always on you, or the way he talks and asks about you all the time. And, God, do you remember how long it took for him to admit that he liked you the first time? There is no way he has moved on to someone else.”

You smile at the memory of the months of pining as Mina lets go of your hands, and trots around the island wrapping her arms around your shoulders. Jiro and Momo join her in giving you a squeezing group hug until you have to beg for mercy.

When the others pull away, she whispers into your ear, “Trust me, okay?”

She pulls back and wipes at the tears forming in your eyes before you nod at her, trusting her with your life. And she was right, you do feel a little better after talking to your friends.

You give your friends a small smile before Jiro starts poking fun at Mina, “‘I’m in a healthy relationship!’ I follow your private Twitter! You’re always posting about your lack of dick!”

“Hey!” Mina yells back. “At least I get some!”

Momo throws her arm over your shoulder and leads you towards the changing rooms with a laugh, “I love you guys.”

The party is in full swing when you finally see Bakugou arrive.

He walks along a stone pass, framed in the pinks and purples of blooming summer hydrangeas as he emerges around the side of the house, carrying a large bag of ice over his shoulder. His typical black tank top clings to his sweaty body letting your eyes feast upon his glorious arm muscles flexing to put down the bag of ice next to Kirishima and the grill.

Even from across the pool, you can see how small pieces of his spiky blonde hair stick to his forehead and you watch with bated breath as he lifts up the bottom of his tank top to wipe away the sweat beading on his temples, revealing his toned abs and his perfectly tanned skin.

You can see Kirishima say something to him before his head whips around, and his eyes scan through the crowd until they land on you. His eyes roam over your body— your bathing suit and sheer covering not leaving much to his imagination— his gaze leaving you breathless.

Heat blooms up your chest as his eyes slowly meet yours and your heart dances from the heat of his gaze.

You feel someone elbow your side, “Earth to Y/N. Hello?”

You blink away your stupor and look at your friends surrounding you. Mina and Momo share a look and laugh as you squint your eyes at them.

“What's so funny?!”

“Oh nothing, girl, you're just so predictable,” Mina laughs, “and you've never been able to hide that look on your face!”

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” you say with a huff before rolling your eyes even more at their continued laughter. “I need a drink.”

Across the pool, Bakugou pretends to miss the way your friends poke fun at your staring, but he can't deny that he's addicted to the way it makes him feel. He loves your eyes on him, the heat he feels from your gaze alone is enough to drive him wild, but now he has to add the fact that you're looking like that in your bathing suit.

The way the sheer orange coverup gives him just a taste of the way your black two-piece fits snugly over your curves would have him begging on his knees for a taste of you if the situation was even slightly different.

Bakugou hates the situation he finds himself in, and he knows that it's one hundred percent his fault, but that's why he's trying to change it. He broke up with you, the love of his goddamn life after a few bad weeks caused by the stress he was putting on himself to be the number one hero. He lashed out, said things he didn’t mean, and walked out of your apartment just a few days before Christmas.

He is an ass, he knows this, but he can't get over you. And he doesn't want to.

The pull you have on him is something irreplaceable. Every time you're in the same room with him, he can't help but gravitate towards you, hoping to catch the sound of your laugh in the air or see you smile at someone else's jokes, even if it makes him jealous.

And he must still have that effect on you as well, seeing as how you always seem to go home with him, finding momentary comfort in between his sheets before you scurry out of the door and out of his life once again.

He doesn't want your meetings to go like that. He never plans for that. All he really wants to do is talk, to beg for forgiveness, to see if he can even have a second chance, but as soon as you press your lips against his, his mind goes blank. He reasons with himself that he will just talk after he finds comfort in your warmth, your scent, and your voice. But the after never seems to go correctly, as you always have an excuse or a reason you have to leave right away.

He doesn't blame you: it's confusing for him too, but god, it hurts to see you walk away from him every time. And every time he's reminded that's exactly what he did to you; he deserves it.

But today will be different. It has to be.

The smell of burning meat hits his nose and Bakugou quickly turns towards the grill.

“What are you idiots doing!” he shouts as he swats Sero and Kirishima away, taking their spot, trying to salvage the burning meat.

“Whoops, got distracted,” Sero blurts out, rubbing the back of his head.

Kirishima puts an arm around Bakugou’s shoulder, “Yeah Bakubro, he's not the only one! You seemed to be pretty distracted too!”

“Shaddup,” Bakugou says, pushing his friend's arm off his shoulder. “Just let me fix your shitty grilling in peace.”

Denki joins the three around the grill with several blended, fruity-looking drinks in his hands, each with their own umbrella and swirly straw, and hands one to each guy.

Today is too hot for Bakugou to turn down such a cold drink, so he takes it reluctantly and starts sipping while flipping the burgers.

“So, Bakugou,” Denki starts, with a playful lit in his voice, “Did you see Y/N yet?”

He answers with a roll of his eyes; how he ever asked to let them help with his plan to get you back, he will never understand, especially since they were not very helpful anyways. Denki’s only good idea was a flash mob, which is a very big no.

“Oh you missed it!” Kirishima responds for his best bud. “They had this super heated gaze from across the pool!” His best friend pokes at his back before he continues, “I bet it was like they were the only two people at the party!”

Maybe if he just ignores the guys they will go away.

Denki groans, “Man, I can't believe I missed it!”

“He did the whole ‘wipe down his face with the bottom of his shirt after carrying something heavy’ thing,” Sero adds, and Bakugou wishes could throw them all in the pool without facing Momo’s wrath.

“Alright, stop talking about me like I’m not here. What's all this build up for? Spit it out,” Katsuki states, quirking one eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest, still holding the sharp metal spatula.

Kirishima puts his hand up in defeat with a smile, “You're right, you're right. We want to know what the plan is.”

Bakugou turns back to the grill, checking the meat, “Then you should have just asked.”

He takes a long thin box out of his pocket and hands it to Kirishima behind him, “Careful, shitty hair, don't drop them.”

The other two boys gather around the small box, before they gently lift the cover off.

Nestled in the box are two rose gold lockets. One has a thicker longer chain, a moon engraved on the front as well as the phrase, ‘Always and forever’. The other has a thinner chain that seems to glint in the sunlight.

“I actually asked someone who would have good ideas about presents... that weren’t lame,” Katsuki turns to make quick eye contact with the three before turning back to the grill. “I called up Camie, and she actually gave me really good advice and went to the store with me. Apparently her family has connections in the jewelry industry so she knows her stuff.”

Eijiro hands his drink to Sero before he picks up the thinner chain and reads the inscription on the back, ‘You are my destiny.’

The boys are quiet as the fun and teasing atmosphere is washed away and replaced by the seriousness of the love Bakugou has for you.

Denki opens the locket hanging from Kirishima's hand revealing two photos inside.

The first is one that they all recognize as it's one that Kirishima took in secret during your first date. Bakugou’s looking at you with such adoration while you laugh at something he said. It was your first photo as a couple. After it was taken, Bakugou threatened to kill Kirishima but Eijiro would have died a happy death seeing his friend so happy.

The second photo is one that the boys had never seen before. Soft light illuminates you curled up on Katsuki’s chest, cuddled and warm in one of his hoodies. There's a small smile on your face and your eyes are closed as Bakugou places a gentle kiss on your forehead.

Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero are all silent, the weight of their friends' world on their shoulders as they very carefully pack away the lockets back into the box.

Kirishima breaks the silence first, “Wow, Katsuki. You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

“Yeah, well,” Bakugou starts, taking the box back and putting it in his pocket, “I love her, of course I thought it out.”

It's all too silent for Katsuki’s liking and when he turns to look at his friends he did not expect to be met with each one of them blubbering, fighting back tears in their eyes.

Almost in unison the three of him pull him into a giant hug, and for once he doesn't fight back. He allows himself to bask in the love of his friends. Until he feels someone move their hand to his ass.

“Hey! Hands off the goods!” he yells, swatting the three off him.

“Sorry bro, I just had to take the chance to grab your ass before you're taken again!” Denki laughs before he high tails it out of the grill area in fear of incurring Bakugou's wrath.

Katsuki rolls his eyes with a huff before plating the sizzling meat, trying to ignore the fluttering of his heart at Kaminari’s implications.

Sero leans against the stone counter of the grill area and laughs at Todoroki jumping into the pool, “You know Bakugou, you could always wear your locket now, you know? It's waterproof and everything, right?”

Bakugou thanks for a minute, would it be bad? It's not like your answer is going to change his commitment to you. It will always be you, no matter what. “Yeah, maybe,” he responds lost in thought.

Kirishima stands next to him, siping on his drink, noticing the look on his best friend's face. He gives him a reassuring pat on the back, “Don't worry, bro, you’ve got this. Tonight's your night.”

The party is in full swing now: people are jumping in the pool, playing chicken, and having a blast as you make your way towards the delicious scent of food.

People call out a chorus of ‘happy birthday’s and other well wishes as you pass them, but you can’t stop to talk because you're on a mission. A mission to fill your belly with as much of the delicious food as possible.

The food tent is filled to the brim with every delicious treat that you could want. Momo and her caterers have spared no expense lining the tables with summer favorites from all over the world.

By the time you get around to making your plate, the first wave of hungry party goers is just about cleared out, leaving you to peruse the dishes in peace.

You get to work filling your plate with all your favorites, conveniently and not so sneakily avoiding the healthier vegetable dishes to indulge in the rich flavors of savory carbs. Breads, noodles, cheeses, and everything that makes your mouth water is piled high onto your plate.

"You've gotta eat more than carbs, dumbass.” His voice startles you and you almost drop your food. You look over as Bakugou comes to stand next to you, and damn, if your breath isn’t taken away by him for the second time today. He looks just as handsome as ever, his ruby eyes crinkled at the edges, obviously amused to startle you. His own plate in his hand looks to be overflowing as well.

“Here take some fried corn too, I know you like it," he leans to the side, grabbing a spoonful and offering it to you.

He's right. Bakugou knows you way too well, even after six months of being apart. Butterflies erupt in your stomach, and you try to hide the way heat spreads through your body.

“Fine, but only because I was already coming back for it,” you lie with a pout, causing him to roll his eyes.

Still, he chuckles as he responds, “Whatever you say, princess.”

The nickname rolls right off his tongue and into your caged heart. How this man still has such a hold over you after this time is something you'll never understand. Damnit heart, he broke you! Why are you still so in love with him?

He dumps the serving on your plate before leaning over again to pile some on his own.

Your plate is so heavy you have to use two hands to carry it, and when you turn to leave the tent, Katsuki follows. He lifts the tent flap over your head as you step back out into the blazing sun.

“Hey, do you want to eat with me? I saw an empty table in the shade before I got my food.” His voice is surprisingly soft and filled with insecurity.

You turn to look at him and that's when you see it. The glimmer of metal against his skin catches your eye as it shines in the sunlight. The thick chain dips low beneath the fabric of his tank top.

Oh.

You can't keep your eyes from darting around, wanting to focus on the new discovery but not able to keep your mind from running. The shopping with Cami, his new jewelry, nervously asking you to talk: it's all got to lead up to one thing.

He is going to tell you that he is dating her and your little ‘afterparty rendezvous’ needs to stop.

Of course, of course, of course. You try to work through your emotions quickly, willing yourself not to feel the extent of the stabbing in your chest while at a party surrounded by your closest friends and peers.

You shouldn't care. He's not yours and you're not his, so why does it still hurt? Why does the thought of him with anyone else make you feel like your soul is burning alive inside your body?

“Hey, what's wrong?” he asks, looking over your expression with worry in his eyes. You've never been able to hide your emotions from him before, so why would you think you'd get away with it now?

“I—" your eyes search your surroundings looking for anything, anyone to help. Ah! There! “—I’m going to go sit with Ojiro and Iida, I haven't gotten to talk to them yet.”

“Oh okay, can we talk…” he trails off as you leave his side, seemingly in a hurry to get away from him. “...talk later.”

He lets out a deep sigh, confusion and hurt settling in his chest as he glances around for a place to sit elsewhere.

He spots Denki sitting alone in the grass under a large tree looking at his phone and decides that it’s as good a place as any.

He plops down next to his blond friend, and Kaminari gives him a half-hearted smile before going back to his phone.

Great, he's going to have to deal with his own feelings and also probably whatever is bothering his usually bouncy friend.

After food, he decides and digs into his plate, replaying the interaction from the tent over in his mind. Everything was going fine until he asked you to eat with him. Was that a boundary you didn't want to cross? Was it too informal?

From his position under the tree, he can see most of the party area, including you seated at a table next to Ojiro. Iida must have left and… wait, why is Ojiro so close to you, and why is his hand caressing your back? He's far away so he can’t see exactly what's going on but he knows his eyes aren't playing tricks on him.

His blood starts to boil as his vision turns red. Is that why you didn't want to sit with him? Were you waiting to go sit with Ojiro? Did you have feelings for him? Was he really too late?

He feels the plastic of the fork start to melt down his palm as they heat up.

“Fuck.” He hasn't lost control of his quirk like that since high school. He needs to calm down.

“Bro, are you okay, what is it?” Denki asks, with a shocked expression. Bakugou tries to form the plastic handle back into a usable shape but gives up when it just starts to melt again.

A few deep breaths help him ease himself down, and he wipes the sweat off his hands onto his shorts.

Denki gives him a glance before deciding it's better to wait for Bakugou to share, and he reclines in the grass.

Katsuki sets his plate aside, choosing to join Kaminari in the grass. He lays down and looks up at the sky through the canopy of green. The gentle breeze rustling through the leaves calms him more, until he’s ready to talk to Denki.

“It’s Y/N,” he pauses. “What if I'm too late?”

Denki is silent for a while, not exactly sure how to reassure his friend. “But what if you're not too late? You can't possibly know that until you try.”

“I have been trying; fuck, I’ve been trying for months, and all I get are closed doors and ‘sorry I had to go’ texts.”

“I know buddy,” Denki glances over to his friend, hair blowing in the wind, eyes impossibly clouded, “but it's not like you can just let her go.”

“No, never.”

“What even brought this on, you were so ready before?” Denki tentatively asks, not wanting to reawaken the misery swirling inside Bakugou.

“I asked her to eat with me and she turned me down to go eat with Ojiro, and then he had his hands all over her.”

“I'm sure that's nothing,” Denki soothes. “I think that he just started working at the same agency as her so they've gotten closer.”

Bakugou rolls his head on the ground so he can look at Denki, “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

A small laugh escapes from Kaminari’s lips, “No, I suppose not. But you know Ojiro’s a good guy, he’s not one to mix work and pleasure.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes with a groan, and he really wishes that Denki would have chosen a different phrase, but it is true, Ojiro is a good guy, and he lost the right to hog your attention six months ago.

“I don't want to think about it anymore, what’s bothering you?” Katsuki asks, wanting to return the favor.

“Ahhh, well you know how Hitoshi and I are almost a thing?” Bakugou gives a grunt in response and Denki continues. “Well, he texted me a few hours ago saying that he’s running late with work stuff, but then I checked Twitter and saw that he is posing with fans doing photo ops. I know that is technically work… but I wanted him to be here, to prioritize spending today with me.”

“You like him right?”

“Duh, obviously.”

“Well then, you just have to trust him. You know how agencies are, maybe they forced it on him today or something. There's no way to know if he is or isn't prioritizing it without talking to him. Is he still coming?”

Denki absorbs his words, “Yeah, said he’d be here as soon as he can.”

“See? Just wait for him to get here and then you can talk about it. And then from there you can figure things out.”

“Damn Bakubro.” The playful lit of Denki’s voice returns and the sweet solemn mood between the two is quickly erased, “When did you get good at giving advice? Pining for Y/N has made you so soft!”

“Hey! I’ve always been good at giving advice, you fuck!”

The party kept moving as you analyzed the interaction with Bakugou in the food tent over and over. Sero got pushed into the pool, Mina got yelled at after putting ice cubes down multiple peoples swim trunks, people all around you came and went. Some of them sat and talked with you for a while, before you got up to walk around the party, doing a few laps past the dessert bar, joining conversations, laughing, and genuinely trying to enjoy the day.

The sun starts to set and you watch Jiro make her way towards her DJ equipment. She sets up her laptop and turns on extra sets of colored lights before testing the speakers with a low bass beat.

“Are you ready!?” she yells into the mic before she drops her finger on her space bar. Her own remix starts playing, the bass deep and pumping as people start dancing on the makeshift dance floor in front of the pool.

You watch your friends one by one go to the dance floor, getting dragged off by various other people, but you have no intention of joining them this year.

You have too many memories of Katsuki pulling you onto that same dancefloor, pulling you close and swaying back and forth together. Even if it wasn't a slow song, he kept you in his arms, holding you close so that he could whisper into your ear.

You remember the first party, just a few months after all of you started at UA, held on campus after everyone was moved into the dorms. It wasn't even summer anymore but you all did your best, celebrating every birthday that you missed, and trying to ease the uneasy feelings after the villain attack on the training arc and Bakugou being rescued.

You’ll never forget the fun everyone had on that day: eating Sato’s desserts, dancing to Jiro’s playlist, and the first time that you danced with Katsuki. It wasn't anything slow or special, but when you saw him walking past the dance party toward the elevator, you made the split second decision to grab his hands. The scowl he gave you as you danced around him and pulled him into the group should have scared you but it just made you feel so much better when you saw it start to slip into a small smile. Kirishima and Denki joined you, jumping around until he finally let loose a little, joining in on the fun, jumping around with everyone and actually having fun.

You never noticed it back then, but you came to the conclusion that that's when his eyes would start to linger on you longer and his cheeks would start to flush pink when you smiled at him.

The next year, the party was held just three weeks before Katsuki would ask you out. He was so nervous and cute back then, practically dragging you onto the dancefloor when Jiro played a slow song. You're sure that he bribed her or something because it's the only time she's ever played a slow song at a party. The rest of the class paired up after seeing Kirishima whisk Denki onto the dance floor, saying something about it being manly with a laugh.

That was the first time that you had slow danced with anyone and the fact that you had the biggest fattest crush on Bakugou did not help the nerves that you were feeling as butterflies threatened to rupture from your stomach. But the way he pulled you close to him, swaying to the music, made you feel like you were the only two people in the room. That is until he whispered something about how Todoroki looked as stiff as a wall while dancing with Mina, and he slowly spun you around so that you could see, before pulling you back into him as you giggled right into his ear.

That dance was the start of the tradition. The two of you are swaying and chatting, as Bakugou said anything to make you laugh. Poking at your friends dancing, the way people jumped into the pool, or the “shitty” music that Jiro played sometimes.

You look over the crowd from the sidelines with an ache in your heart. The firsts without him always hurt the worst. You can see Iida and Todoroki doing some variation of the chicken dance with Mina and Sero hopping around them, shaking their asses, and you can't help but imagine the shitty jokes that Bakugou would make.

“They look like they’re trying to summon some sort of sex crazed chicken god.”

Yeah, just like that. Wait.

“Bakugou.” Your voice sounds breathless as you register his appearance once again at your side, his face lit up by the bouncing lights emitting from Jiro’s setup. “You startled me.”

Your heart jumps in your chest as his eyes trace your face, seemingly just as mesmerized by the dancing light across your skin as you are with his. But then the light glints off the metal hanging around his neck.

Ah yes, the necklace he must have been out buying with Camie. You try to push your jealousy down, as it's no longer your place to be concerned about who he's keeping company with. You look away from him and back into the dancing crowd, letting your friends' ridiculous dance moves keep your heart from plummeting into sorrow.

“Sorry about that,” he almost laughs. “Lost in thought?”

“Yeah,” you pause, thinking about his other appearances tonight. “You know, if I didn't know any better, I’d think you were watching me or something. Planning the perfect moments to come talk.”

He opens his mouth again before quickly closing it, turning instead to watch Momo join the dancing group, playing air guitar and swinging her ponytail around, hitting Todoroki in the face with it.

“Tch, idiots,” he says with a hidden laugh.

You shift in place, watching Momo apologize until Todoroki picks up her pretend air guitar, handing it to her and then finding his own. The two of them start head banging when the next song starts playing

You feel a pull on your arm, before you're suddenly being dragged into the crowd of dancing people. The burst of purple hair illuminated by the swirling lights gives away exactly who your captor is.

“Shinsou! What are you doing!” you yell over the music. He flashes a smile at you before he continues dragging you through the mass of people.

“I'm helping!” he shouts over his shoulder.

He leads you through the crowd until reaching an empty standing table by the bar. It's quieter here, a blind spot from the speakers and far from the peering eyes of a certain someone.

The hand that was holding on to you spins you in place before letting go, leaving you to bop to the music as he does the same.

You've always had a soft spot for Shinsou, and he's grown to be one of your good friends. He's always the person you text when you're up late because you know he's awake, and he’s very good at handling the chaos that people bring him, which is probably why Denki has managed to fall for him. They are really cute together.

“You looked like you wanted an escape, so I provided you with one,” he calmly shrugs.

“Shouldn't you be hanging out with Denki? Where is he?”

“This was actually his idea! He wanted to talk to Bakugou about something. Apparently they had a heart to heart earlier about something, and Denki wanted to tell him something.”

“Ouhhh,” you coo slightly, “I bet it was about you!”

You can see Hitoshi’s face flush just the tiniest bit as he tries to play it off, “About me? It was probably about you!”

“Me? Why me?”

“Oh, don't play like you and Bakugou haven't been having special adult fun times lately.”

You groan, laying your head down on the table, “God, does everyone know about it?”

“Yes, you guys aren't subtle. When are you getting back together already?” He laughs, poking your side playfully.

“Ow!” you hold your side in fake hurt. “When are you and Denki getting together?”

He deflects your question skillfully, “Do you want a drink?”

“Sure! Get me whatever.”

He taps the table before leaving, “Alright be right back.”

“Not too strong, asshole!” you call after him and he raises a hand in acknowledgement as he stands at the bar.

It's funny how the two of you are in similar situations, almost like you're both wearing the same life jacket on very different boats. He and Denki have been dancing around each other forever, a will-they, won't-they thing that has got to be draining them both. You wish they would just come out and admit their feelings and be together.

The hypocrisy is not lost on you, but your situation is different. It's not ‘will-they, won't-they’ it’s ‘they did and then they broke up’.

Hitoshi comes back with two rum and cokes, and you take a small sip, before setting it down on the table. “Thanks,” you say, lost in thought.

“Welcome.” He takes a sip of his own drink, his head bouncing to the beat as he looks you over. “Hey, do you want to talk about it? You know I’m always good to talk.”

You sigh and let your head drop, “I don't know, yes, but also no.”

A small smile appears on his face at your indecision, “Okay, then how about we ask each other questions and we both have to answer?”

You raise your eyebrows at him, “Okay, fine. Do you think this is a stupid game?”

He laughs, “Nope; your turn.”

“Yes, I do.”

He rolls his eyes but continues anyways, “Well at least you understand the rules. Since you used your question first on something dumb, I get to go next.” You open your mouth to object but he gives you a small shake of his head that causes you to roll your eyes. He taps his chin as he thinks, “Hmmm, ok, got one. How do you feel about Bakugou staring at you all night?”

“Wha—" Has he really been staring at you that intently? You didn't really notice it that much, but if it's true…

If it was anyone else, it would make your skin crawl. The thought of someone watching you intently should make you want to run away, but if it's Bakugou? Your heart warms at the thought as your mind races. Why would he do that? Just waiting for the right time to come and tell you he's dating Camie?

“I guess it makes me feel… warm. But I don't think that means anything.” You pause to play with your fingers, before you remember the game, “How do you feel about Bakugou staring at you?”

Hitoshi snorts into his drink, “I would feel very uneasy and would probably run very far away.”

You laugh at his response as you try to think of a question that will make him reveal more than you, “What's holding you back?”

“Damn. Okay.” He takes another sip of his drink pondering your question. “I’m scared that once we get into a relationship we’ll realize that it was all a mistake and that we aren't supposed to be together.”

“Damn is right,” you respond; you had fleeting thoughts of the same concerns before you and Katsuki started dating and look where you are now. You take another sip of your drink.

“Yeah, heavy shit. But it's your turn.”

You try to hide the way you bite your lip behind your glass before you speak, “That's easy. He broke my heart and now I think he's dating someone else.”

“What are you—" Hitoshi begins before he's cut off by a bounding Denki jumping onto his back.

You smile at the two of them. Denki says something in Hitoshi’s ear, and they look so cute as a spotlight quickly illuminates them. But you miss the way Hitoshi’s eyes linger on you, his brows furrowed, confused about how you think Bakugou could love anyone other than you and wondering how you're so blind to see it.

Around midnight, the party starts to wind down. With most of the guests working in hero agencies, it makes sense that the party can't dwindle into the wee hours of the night. There are a few people still swimming in the pool, a few gathered with drinks on the patio, but you and the rest of your friends that could stay are sitting around the firepit.

There is a fire going, just small enough to light up everyone's faces and put off enough warmth to keep the chill of the night air away. Mina and Kirishima are on your left, while Denki and Hitoshi are to your right. Jiro, Ojiro, Tsu, Todoroki, and Sero were also able to stay, but sitting directly across from you is the one person you thought would be leaving as soon as possible.

Bakugou is staring into the fire as the warm light dances across his features in one of the rare moments that his face is calm. You can't help yourself from staring while Mina leads the charge for what game to play, just like she does every year.

“Let’s play ‘Never have I ever’!” she giggles, but her excited tone is drowned out by a chorus of groans.

“We play that every year, Mina,” Jiro says, leaning back in her seat.

“Can’t we play something else? Even ‘Spin the bottle’ would be better than that,” Denki grumbles, fluffing up his hair.

Mina’s eyes narrow at the group. “Come on! It's tradition! We can play dirty ‘Never have I ever’ then.”

You chuckle to yourself at her insistence. This happens every year; people grumble and protest, but you know everyone will agree to play as soon as she says:

“I guess you guys are just chicken shit.”

You take a sip of your drink; it's something fruity but spiked with sprite instead of vodka, and you smile to yourself. Mina knows how to play the whole lot of them like a game of chess.

A small chorus of ‘fine’s ring out as everyone gets more comfortable, adjusting in their seats, and Bakugou lets his gaze follow an ember floating up into the night sky from the fire. He could really care less about what game is played; all he knows is that tonight is almost over and he still hasn't achieved his goal: winning you back.

Kirishima sits up a little taller next to Mina. “I'll go first! Never have I ever peed in a pool.”

“Come on, really! That's what you're going with?” You can almost see the steam rise from Mina’s head.

“Aww what, Mina?” Momo picks at her before laughing, “Is that not what you had envisioned?”

Todoroki smiles as he joins Momo in laughter. “That is one definition of dirty.”

“Alright, come on,” Mina pouts. “I know at least one of you has peed in the pool. Let's get this over with.”

“Are we doing fingers down or drinking?” Sero asks.

Mina rolls her eyes and grumbles, “Whichever you guys want, it doesn't matter.”

Kaminari, Sero, and Todoroki all drink and a chorus of ‘ew’s echo around the circle as Sero gives Todoroki a knowing nod and smile before offering up a fist bump.

Momo rolls her eyes at the interaction and interrupts the incoming comments, “Okay, I'll go. Never have I ever fallen in love at first sight.”

‘Ooo’s sound out through the small circle as you ponder the question. Did you fall in love with Bakugou at first sight? No, it was a slow build up of friendship and trust that your feelings grew from. Sure he was cute and all, but acknowledging his cuteness is not love.

Mina berates Momo for yet another question that doesn't fall into her definition of dirty as you swirl your drink. While you don't think this is a dirty question, it is going to be interesting to see who drinks.

Denki makes eye contact with you before winking and taking a drink, watching Jiro and Tsu follow suit. Your brow furrows, why would Denki wink at you—

Across from you Bakugou picks up his drink, and your eyes meet through burning embers as he lifts the cup to his lips, taking a slow sip.

His eyes never leave yours as he lowers the cup, your chest tightening as butterflies settle in your stomach.

You know in your heart that you're the only person that Katsuki has ever loved. He had told you many times before, so he has to be referring to you with that admission... right? You refuse to let yourself think otherwise, for once actually squashing the small voice in the back of your mind.

You try to suppress your smile as heat creeps into your cheeks, and it's definitely not from the fire. Someone asks Tsu about her love story, but it's all just white noise as you hold Katsuki’s gaze, watching how his eyes crinkle from holding back his own smile.

This shared moment in time makes your heart ache. It's exactly how it used to be: the stolen glances, the comments that you can hear him make in your head, the roll of his eyes when someone points out how the two of you are — how the two of you were, you correct yourself — and always touching in some way. Hell, at last year’s ‘Never have I ever’ session, you were sitting on his lap the entire time with his arms wrapped tightly around you.

You let yourself break eye contact, instead watching Jiro and Tsu defend themselves from the barrage of questions. You set your drink down on the ground in front of you and wrap your arms around yourself. Hopefully you just appear cold, but in reality you're pleading with your body to stop yearning for his touch.

You hear someone call your name, looking around to find Ojiro smiling at you. “Are you cold, do you want me to go grab my jacket?” he asks.

How do you tell someone that you're just yearning for the touch of your ex? “Oh, no it's fine, really. I—”

Mina saves you from yourself. “We have blankets for just this reason!” She reaches behind Kirishima and pulls out a rolled up blanket, shaking it loose and laying it across your shoulders. “No need for anyone to share jackets,” she states as she secures it against your shoulders.

You thank Mina, offering her and Ojiro a quick smile before glancing back at Bakugou. His arms are crossed as he stares daggers at Ojiro untilKirishima throws a blanket at him.

“Bakubro, you're looking a little chilly too!”

Katsuki huffs, laying out the blanket across his lap and resting his head in his palm, the tiniest pout appearing on his face.

“Me next, me next!” Jiro exclaims, obviously over her questioning from before because she has a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Hey, Mina. Never have I ever caught my parents having sex.”

Eyebrows raise at Jiro’s questioning, all eyes turning to watch Mina stutter in her seat.

“H-hey. Why direct this at me!”

Jiro’s lips quirk up into a knowing smirk, “Are you gonna drink or not?”

Mina purses her lips and narrows her eyes at Jiro, taking a sip from her cup. Momo, Hitoshi, and Bakugou join her in drinks as everyone shakes their heads.

“That must suck,” Ojiro laughs. “But I think I get where you're going, Jiro.” He takes a big pause, leveling his eyes on Mina. “Never have I ever lied about my virginity.”

“Okay, first of all, how do you know that? Second, this is rude.” Mina responds, taking another drink from her cup.

Ojiro shrugs his shoulders. “I hear things,” he retorts, giving her a cunning smile.

Everyone almost misses Todoroki taking a sip of his glass, until you pipe up. “Shoto! What do you mean you lied about yours?”

All eyes turn to him. “I was with a more... let's call her an experienced woman, and she only wanted me if I was a virgin,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

“Do you still have her number? Maybe you can give it to Sero!” Denki interjects.

Sero stands from his chair, pointing his empty cup at Denki. “If I had more booze and if you weren't seated between Y/N and Hitoshi, I would end you right now! But luckily for you, I need another drink, anyone else need anything?”

Sero grabs a few drink orders and runs off towards the bar while Mina passes out a few more blankets.

“Alright, I'll go next.” All eyes turn towards Bakugou, surprised that he would volunteer to participate.

“Wait,” Tsu pipes up, “Shouldn't we wait for Sero to get back?”

“Nah, I already know his answer for this one,” Bakugou's eyes gleam in the firelight as he levels them on Mina, a small smirk appearing on his face. “Never have I ever sexted the wrong person.”

Mina’s head falls forward, “That was one time! I said I was sorry!”

She takes a big drink from her cup, and Denki and Kirishima follow her lead, gulping down their drinks.

Bakugou rolls his eyes, “I just want to know how all three of you managed to send your shit to me.”

“To be fair,” Denki coughs, trying to swallow his drink, “‘Baby’ and ‘Boom Boom Man’ are pretty close in my contacts list.”

Katsuki sits back and makes a face, before crossing his arms, “Let's move on, I don't want to think about it anymore.”

Sero gets back from the bar and is handing out drinks when Tsu raises her hand, “I'll go, I have a good one.”

“Alright, Tsu, let's hear it!” Kirishima encourages her.

“Never have I ever streaked nude!” Tsu shrieks before breaking into laughter.

You let out a groan, “Tsu, you know too much.”

“Tsu,” Jiro whines, “I thought we had something.”

“This is a betrayal,” Momo utters as you, her, Jiro, Kaminari, and Mina all take drinks.

Mina has a smug look on her face, and speaks while raising her glass to Tsu, “If I’m going down, you all are coming with me.”

Todoroki sits forward in his seat, “Me next. Never have I ever had sex in the ocean or in a swimming pool.”

Your eyes go wide as you try not to look at the smug grin forming on Bakugou’s face. Images flash before your eyes of last summer and the beach trip the two of you took. For a split second, you can feel his hands on your hips, his cock pressing against you, and the way his lips grazed over your bare shoulders.

Heat creeps up your skin, flourishing across your cheeks and you suddenly wish that you didn't have the warm blanket wrapped around you.

You take a sip of your drink, begging to the gods that your friends don't take notice. Bakugou drinks with you, along with Ojiro, Hitoshi, and Tsu. Luckily for you, most of the conversation turned on Todoroki for asking a question that didn’t get Mina.

“Alright, alright. Stop ragging on Todoroki,” Sero says, coming to the rescue. “I have one that will get her. Never have I ever joined the ‘mile high club.’”

Sero’s proud smile is washed off his face as Kirishima throws one of his ice cubes at him, “Stop doing sex ones ‘cause they get me too!”

“Sorry man, not my fault! Shut up and drink!” he hollers back.

Kirishima rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his drink, followed by Mina, Todoroki, Momo, and Ojiro.

“Damn, that got more people than I expected!” Sero laughs before he is elbowed in the side by Hitoshi.

“You won't be laughing for long,” Hitoshi’s purple hair blows in the wind as he looks around the group. “Never have I ever had a crush on a teacher.”

You hear an offended gasp from Mina, “When did I ever—?!”

You pat her shoulder, offering her faux comfort, “It's okay Mina, you don't have to hide your crush on Aizawa any longer, this is a safe space.”

“Girl, get out of here with this,” she pushes your hand away as she drinks. “It wasn't Aizawa, for the record.”

Mina drinks from her cup, yet again, and Denki, Sero, Kirishima, and Tsu follow suit.

“I know we're all targeting Mina, but why do I also feel victimized,” Denki pouts, turning to Hitoshi looking for sympathy.

Hitoshi pats his head like he's comforting a small puppy. “Go on, it's your turn.”

“Fine.” Denki turns to the group, “I'll just use the my ultimate weapon, never have I ever had sex with anyone here.”

For once, everyone around the fire pit is quiet, and it makes Bakugou uneasy. What are people so nervous about? It's not like you don't all know each other's dirty laundry already, unless something new has happened.

Katsuki is the first to take a drink, making sure to carefully watch everyone else. Mina and Kirishima drink next, which surprises exactly no one. You go next, also not a shock to anyone. Momo raises her glass to her lips and drinks shortly followed by Shoto. Bakugou wishes that surprised him, but he always suspected something happened there. Wait— why is Ojiro lifting up his glass?

Ojiro takes a sip of his drink and suddenly all of the air is stolen from his lungs. Is this why the tailed bastard has been so close to you? Why he offered his jacket to you earlier? Fuck.

His mind spirals, as he fights off every negative thought swirling in his head. There's no way. There can't be. What if he really is too late? No, no. It can't be too late. If you really were with him, there would be signs and you'd be sitting next to him. Right? Maybe it was a one time thing? A mistake?

Bakugou feels like he needs to run away, or to fire himself into the sun. With the way he's burning up, it feels like he's already there.

He touches the locket box in his pocket and grounds himself, thinking of the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh and the way he feels so comforted in your arms.

He can't lose you, he won't. He won't.

The conversation had flowed around him without him noticing, and when he looks up, you're smiling at something Mina had just said. Your beautiful face glows in the warm light of the fire as you laugh, and god, every negative emotion drains from his body. He could stare at you all day, just like this, letting the world melt away until there was nothing else.

Bakugou feels something hit his hair, pulling him from his trance. Picking a small piece of popcorn from his hair, he looks up to see Kirishima wiggling his eyebrows at him. Of course. Leave it to shitty hair to ruin his moment, and where the fuck did he get popcorn?

Denki gets up for drink refills and you try to stop laughing long enough to speak, “Okay, okay, everyone else has gone. It's my turn.”

Mina turns to you with pleading eyes, “Please no, you have too much dirt on me. Don't do this to me.”

“It’ll be okay,” you say, giving her a fake look of concern, “I'll be gentle.”

“No you won't,” Mina replies with a huff.

“You're correct, I won't.” Mina learns towards Kirishima and he rubs her back as you prepare your final blow. “Never have I ever fucked in a library.”

“Damn,” someone from your group whistles from behind you, but you're too focused on the way Mina’s eyes narrow on you, like you just took the last cookie she had claimed as hers.

“Which library was it, Mina? Don't tell me it was the one on campus,” Tsu teases.

“Wait, we had a library?” Sero interrupts before Mina can answer.

You laugh at Sero as Mina pouts. “Why is this the thing we're getting hung up on! Not the airplane sex or the ocean sex, but the library sex!”

“This does explain why you both had to go to summer school every year!” Todoroki jokes.

Kirishima rolls his eyes as Mina grows more irate.

“Aww Mina, isn't this what you wanted?” “Wasn't this your idea?” “You love ‘never have I ever’, it's your favorite game!” Everyone's voices meld together until Mina can feel herself snap.

“Fine. Yes, I love this game so much.” He voice is filled with malice as she speaks, “Never have I ever fucked my ex.”

Immediately, the laughter stops.

Your eyebrows raise as you take in her words, the breath you were taking freezing in your throat as a small “oh” falls from your lips.

Mina’s face contorts in shock, “Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean—”

You stop her, “Please, just don't—”

Back from the bar and not wanting to interrupt, Denki tries to sit back down quietly, but when his foot catches on a piece of firewood in front of him, he is sent careening forward.

Bakugou watches in slow motion as Denki catches himself from falling into the fire pit at the cost of his drink. His drink that ends up spilling down the front of your shirt.

You feel so many things all at once. Heartbreak, shame, betrayal, but most of all the iciness of Kaminari’s drink clinging to your shirt and seeping into your heart.

You barely say anything as you get up from the firepit. A small muttered, “I'm going to change,” is all you give them before heading for the house.

You don't make eye contact with Bakugou as you walk past, but why would you, he thinks. He can feel your distress and anger, and he feels it too. He’s mad and angry looking over the now solemn group of friends.

He locks eyes with Kirishima, and Kiri nods his head towards the house, mouthing the word, “Go.”

Katsuki doesn't need to be told twice as he rises from his seat, quickly following the path you took into the house.

Katsuki takes a deep breath as he opens the door into Momo’s mansion. The night is almost over, and the box with your locket weighs heavy in his pocket as his mind fills with all the words he hasn't been able to say.

The house is dark but the party lights outside cast enough glow to fight off the darkest shadows. He closes the door behind him and clicks the lock. He knows Mina and the others will want to apologize but he has way too many things to get off his chest first.

He makes his way through the empty house and follows the sound of running water to the kitchen. Your figure is illuminated by the light above the sink and your back is to him as you curse at the stain on your shirt, but to him, you look ethereal. The golden light above you casts away the darkest shadows in his heart. The corners of his mouth threaten to twitch into a smile, but he fights the urge away. There's nothing to be happy about yet, but just being in the same room with you eases the hammering in his chest.

You hear his footsteps stop on the other side of the island; you'd know the sound of them anywhere. You used to get so excited hearing him walk towards you; they meant kisses and hugs and head pats, but right now it only brings an ache into your heart.

You turn your head slightly, just enough to make sure that it’s really him before leaning back over the sink. Who else would it be, of course it's him. His blonde hair and red eyes are such a familiar sight, but with the shadows of the house behind him, he's almost drowned in darkness.

You try to swallow the emotions building in your throat, keeping your voice as monotone as possible. You can't let him know how much your friends’ words and this stupid stain are affecting you. "What do you want, Katsuki?"

What does he want? That's too big of a question. For starters you, and a life with you, and a future with you. Followed by your laughter filling his ears every morning, and a kiss from you every night before bed.

But he can't tell you all that, he has other things to say to you first.

"I want to help." He wants to help you with every issue in your life because your problems are his problems.

Ignoring his words, you scrub even more viciously at your shirt, leaning further over the sink to try and rinse more surface area.

It's not working. If anything the stain is getting worse, the water combines with the sugary concoction Denki was drinking and turns your shirt into a sticky playground. This stain is just like everything else tonight, it's just like every word that was spoken, clinging to your body in a suffocating sarcophagus.

All of your emotions well up in your chest, forming into a giant, glowing, frustrating ball of rage. It's eating away at your heart; the events of the past few months replay in your head and each memory that you relive in this millisecond of time makes the core of your being rage with heat.

The unknown relationship boundaries, the back and forth, the trying and failing to keep secrets from your friends. It’s all the miscommunication, the sad nights alone, trying to better yourself and trying to protect your heart from breaking any further.

You want to scream and cry and break things. You want to be held and loved and have someone tell you that it’s okay. The warring emotions inside you make you scrub even more relentlessly at the stain.

You let out a frustrated growl that claws its way up your throat, and your lips curl in on themselves as tears form in your eyes. You don't dare look up from the sink, knowing that the second you aren't focused on this task, the emotions will take over.

Your hands slowly stop moving against the dark spot on your shirt and you feel the warmth of Bakugou next to you. His arm reaches around you to turn off the water and the warmth of him invades your senses. Your body begs to wrap itself around the familiar comfort that only he seems to provide but you don't give in.

Bakugou's mouth opens and closes a few times, trying so carefully to choose the right words to say to you. “Hey,” he starts, his hand hovering over the small of your back before he clenches his fist and lets it drop to his side, “How can I help? Do you—”

“Stop, Bakugou. I don't want to hear whatever you're going to say,” you say as you push yourself away from the sink and away from him. “Why don't you just go join everyone else outside and leave me alone?”

“Who the fuck says I want to be anywhere else?”

The tabloid images of Bakugou and Camie shopping at the jewelry store pop into your brain before you can stop them and you try to push away the insecurity that comes with them.

You wrap your arms around yourself; there are too many emotions swirling in you, a back and forth you don't want to deal with anymore. You want to leave, to go home to your bed and hide under the covers for all eternity. Maybe this time you can actually succeed and forget about Bakugou Katsuki. But before you can leave, you really need to change your shirt.

You didn't bring any more clothes with you, but luckily you know Momo has enough spare clothes to supply an entire army in the spare bedroom closet upstairs.

“Go enjoy the rest of the evening,” you say, turning away from the kitchen and for once the resolve in your voice doesn't waver. You make your way towards the staircase, leaving Bakugou alone.

It takes him a second to register what just happened. The way your emotions just shifted and the icy tone you used felt like a final goodbye. A dagger pierces through his chest wall, stabbing his beating heart and, if he was any less stubborn, maybe that would stop him. Maybe it would be enough for him to give up on you. But you're both still alive and breathing, and he's going to fight for you until the very end.

He pulls the metaphorical knife from his chest and with a small shake of his head he rushes after you up the stairs to find you looking through the closet in one of the spare rooms.

“Woman, will you stop running from me?”

You turn to look at him and wipe your face quickly before turning back to the closet. “I told you to go back outside, go have fun.”

“And when have I ever been one to listen?”

“Bakugou—” his heart clenches when you say his family name so frostily, “—just leave me alone, okay? You have other people that care about you. I’m sure Camie wouldn't be very happy about—”

“What the fuck did you just say?”

“It's not important, just leave me alone, please.”

“You think I’m with her? Is that what this is about?” He watches you grab one of the spare hoodies in the closet a few sizes too big and pull it over your head, his brows furrowing. “Why are you grabbing a hoodie?”

Your jaw ticks to the side and you shake your head in disbelief. “Because I'm cold, Katsuki, what else am I supposed to do?”

“You could have asked for mine.”

You blink a few times, trying to process what he said before narrowing your eyes at him. “No, I couldn't, for a million reasons. But firstly because it’s not mine to take— ”

“What if I want it to be?”

His words hit you like a freight train and it's suddenly hard to breathe. You take a few steps to the four-poster bed and use one of the wooden posts to help hold yourself up. “What did you just say?”

Katsuki closes his eyes and lets his head hang low, taking a deep breath before looking up at you through his lashes. “What if I want it to be yours?” His voice is so soft you almost missed what he said.

You take a shaky breath, as suddenly your world is tilting on its axis. The emotions start to well up behind your eyes, but you can't take your eyes off Katsuki. He walks closer to you, stepping into the warm light emitting from the closet. The shadows fade from his features, his eyes sparkling like rubies in candlelight.

“I want it to be yours,” he says. “I want everything of mine to be yours.”

You clench your fists together and sit down on the bed. The two halves of your heart are warring inside: one begging to hear him out, to let him back into your life, longing to feel the warmth of his skin and be held in his arms, and the other made of solid ice, guarded and easily shattered, resting precariously on a ledge threatening to fall at the first sign of danger.

Your throat starts to close as you try to fight off the tears. "Katsuki, you're the one who pushed me away!” The anger tries to rise in your throat and your voice catches, before your lower lip starts to tremble. “You're the one who left. And now?! And now…” The words can't form in your head fast enough, what is this? What is his game? “You can’t keep playing with my heart like this."

“I'm not—” he closes the space between you, kneeling on the ground at your feet “—please listen to me. I was with Camie the day the tabloids saw us because she knows her shit about jewelry. She was helping me with this!”

Through your watery eyes you see him pull out a small box from his pocket and hold it out for you.

You reach out hesitantly, your fingers barely ghosting across his skin before you take it from him. Slowly opening the box, you see a rose gold locket nestled against dark velvet. There's a sun engraved on one side and when you flip it over the words, ‘You are my destiny,’ are inscribed on the back.

You blink away tears and pull the locket from its box, carefully opening it. Two tiny photos are inside, nestled against the metal.

The first you would recognize anywhere; it was your first date with Katsuki. You are laughing in the photo while Katsuki looks entirely love struck. You aren't holding the bear that he won you that day, so it must have been before that but you were so in love with him back then, back before life got complicated.

The second photo is one that Katsuki actually insisted on taking. It was a sunny winter morning and you had somehow convinced Katsuki to have a lazy day, the two of you spent the whole day cuddling in the warm blankets. You're pretty sure that you binged your favorite movies from your childhood, but neither of you paid much attention to what was playing, too invested in each other and how Katsuki was being extremely soft with you. His gentle touches almost lulled you to sleep as you laid against his chest. His voice was so calm when he brought up taking some photos, it was almost like he was body swapped with another version of himself, but you agreed and he hoarded them on his phone. He claimed, “This is some soft shit, I can't let it get out.” but you know it was really because that side of him is only reserved for you.

Katsuki pulls the chain at his neck from his shirt, revealing his matching locket. It has a moon instead of a sun, and when he turns it to the back, you can see the engraving, ‘Always and forever’. He opens it to reveal the matching photos inside.

“I fucked up, I know I did—” Katsuki places a gentle hand on your knee as his eyes start to fill with tears, “—and I can never take that back, but I want to prove to you that I can do better, that I am better. You're the only person I've ever loved, the only person that I will ever love.”

You bite your lip to stop it from wobbling. “What are you saying Kats—”

“You’re always on my mind. Every second of every day. I can't stop seeing you everywhere, hearing your laugh, looking for you in the crowd trying to catch any small glimpse of you. It’s driving me crazy that I can’t call you and tell you about the dumb thing that happened during patrol, or listen to you complain about your problems.”

“Every time—” he takes a deep shaky breath, steadying his voice before he speaks again “—every time I saw you I wanted to tell you. Every time you went back with me to my apartment, god I fucking wanted to.”

Tears spill from his eyes but he refuses to look away from you, even when his voice is so small. “But then you'd kiss me and it felt like coming home. I could pretend that nothing had changed between us because it just felt so goddamn good to have you in my arms again.”

“Katsuki—” you wipe away his tears with your thumb and he leans into your touch.

His hand holds yours in place against his face, but he has more to say. “Please, let me finish.”

You nod, clutching the locket tightly in your hand.

“I feel like I don't have the right to love you, but I never stopped.” His choked voice gets louder as he pleads with you, “Tell me you don't love me and I'll never bring it up again. Tell me you don't miss me so I can stop thinking about what you're doing, who you're with. Tell me so I can force my heart to let you go."

His eyes search yours, and your breath hitches in your throat. You’d be kidding yourself if you said that you didn't love him. He split open his own heart with a knife and poured it out to you, and you feel the ice encasing your heart shatter.

You shake your head, “I can’t.”

The agony on Katsukis face washes away, his mouth parts and turns into a small smile, “You can't?”

You try to suppress your own smile, “I can't... because I'm still in love with you too.”

Katsuki takes a deep breath and, for the first time in months, he feels like he's not suffocating, his head falling back in disbelief as a genuine smile flashes across his face. “Really?”

“Yes, but—”

Before you have time to finish your sentence, Katsuki places a hand along the side of your neck and pulls you into a soft kiss. His lips brush against yours, taking your breath away.

He pulls away from you just enough that his lips touch yours as he speaks. “But nothing; whatever it is we can deal with it.”

Before you have time to respond, Katsuki leans in to kiss you again. He’s still kneeling on the ground but he slips between your knees, encasing you in him.

Your heart feels like it's glowing in your chest, the warmth of your bodies melding together as he angles his head to kiss you deeper has butterflies erupting in your stomach.

You push away your own urges and place your hands on his firm chest and ease him away from you, “You had your turn to talk, let me have mine.”

A small pout forms on his lips, but he nods as his hand finds yours, interlocking your fingers on the bed. He looks like a small puppy that just got scolded, and you know you're about to make it worse.

“Katsuki, these last six months without you have been the hardest in my life. You left me to pick up the pieces after you walked out. And you walked out so easily, like… fuck Katsuki, it was almost Christmas.”

“I know and that wasn't fair of me, I shouldn't have left. I’m sor—”

“I don't need any more apologies, okay?” you reply, caressing his cheek. “Just listen to me. I have grown and learned so much. I got my own place. I learned to live on my own for the first time in my life. But I was still shitty to you; I didn’t hear you out when I should have and I pushed you away in order to spare my own feelings because I assumed I knew how you felt. I'm sorry.”

He cups your jaw with his hand and shakes his head in response, “No, don't apologize for that. That was my fault too, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

You can see the tears well in his eyes again, and you cover his hands with your own “I need you to know that it can't go back to the way it was before,” you whisper as you wipe away his tears. “You're going to have to win me back. Take me out on dates, be a gentleman, woo me properly… It won't be as easy this time either.”

His eyes crinkle at the corners, “I can do that.” Teary eyes search your own as his thumbs swipe across the tear tracks on your face, until a realization hits him. “Does that mean that I shouldn’t kiss you anymore tonight?”

"Hmmm..." You pucker your lips and furrow your brows in faux concentration. You're all for making Katsuki sweat, but give in to pull him back to you when he moves to stand up. "I think that can wait until tomorrow because I'll need a kiss when you put your locket on me."

Katsuki pulls the chain from your fingertips, unclasping the lock and placing the locket delicately around your neck. He slowly closes the ends together before placing a chaste kiss at the base of your neck. Katsuki stares at the locket resting in the hollow of your throat, “I knew it’d look amazing on you.”

His smile warms your heart and you pull him towards you, guiding his lips to yours eagerly. Your lips move together slowly and deliberately, and with each drag of them you're reminded of what this means.

It means he's yours again, and you're his.

Your heart blooms in your chest, making you dizzy with need. Your hands thread into his hair to keep him close, needing every ounce of yourself to be entangled with him. Katsuki senses your urgency, wrapping his arms around you tightly and digging his fingers in your flesh. His own need drives him to hold on to you so tightly that you couldn’t pull away from him even if you wanted to.

Being in his arms feels like coming home for the first time after years away. His lips are the warm sun after a frigid winter storm and you're basking in it as if you’d never see the light again, warming your soul from the deepest parts of your heart to the tips of your fingers.

He catches your bottom lip between his teeth and you gasp, tugging his hair in response. Katsuki groans into the kiss and your eyes flutter as his tongue rolls along yours.

"Katsuki,” you gasp, his fingers digging into your skin as he pulls you closer to him and to the edge of the bed.

He kisses you hard again before he rests his head in the crook of your neck. Katsuki can't seem to get his body under control. He feels so hot, from the tips of his ears to the burning deep in his gut, and you moaning his name almost made him cum untouched. He’s addicted to your voice, and he needs to hear it again.

His lips ghost along the column of your neck, savoring the way your skin feels against his lips. "Say it again," he mutters.

“Katsuki,” you moan again, savoring the groan that you feel vibrating through his chest.

He leaves an open mouth kiss on your neck before commanding, “Again.”

You angle your neck to give him more access and moan his name over and over, each utterance earns you another kiss.

You can't help but give in to your body's pleas for more. How can you refuse when Katsuki easily turns your insides to lava. The flames and heat consume you, making your head spin. His tongue on your neck, tracing circles over your pulse point drives you wild. You can't stand it anymore.

“Hey,” Your voice is like honey as Katsuki hums into your skin in response but he doesn't pull away from your neck. You poke at his shoulder to get his attention, “Hey, go lock the door.”

He pulls away from you, looking at you with furrowed eyebrows, before it dawns on him. Oh, fuck. He scrambles off the floor and you can't help but giggle, readjusting yourself on the bed so that you are kneeling. You watch him make sure the door is secured shut and click the lock in place.

Katsuki comes back to the side of the bed but your voice stops him, “Wait, Katsuki.”

His mouth opens to respond, but his words are lost as your hands ghost down your body, grabbing the hem of the sweatshirt and pulling it off slowly. You toss it to the side and make eye contact with him as you pull off the stained shirt too.

If Katsuki was having a hard time controlling himself before, he doesn't know what to call this. His eyes trail over your body, and his cock throbs in his pants at the sight of you before him.

You reach your hands behind your back and ever so slowly undo the clasp to your bra. Dragging the straps of it down your arms so, so, so slowly. Katsukis fingers twitch as you reveal yourself to him.

His eyes are transfixed on your body, and his hungry glare has your thighs clenching together, but his body is so still. Even his breathing is slowed as you watch his chest rise and fall.

“Are you going to touch me, or just stare all day, Katsuki?”

He throws off his shirt quickly and the glint of his locket falling against his skin catches your eye before he crawls up the bed to you. He matches your kneeling position and his hands slide up the curves of your body.

His eyes feast upon your skin as his breathing starts to get heavier. His gaze leaves goosebumps in its wake, from your navel to your breasts to your neck, until he finally looks into your eyes. “Fuck, you're so beautiful. I can’t believe I ever let you go.”

Your hands reach up and cup your boobs, presenting them to him. “Make it up to me then,” you pout.

His gaze turns devilish as he palms your tits. His thumbs flick across your nipples and you gasp. “I will, princess,” he replies, lowering his head to your chest, nuzzling against your skin.

Your head falls back when he licks your nipple. His greedy mouth quickly moves from licking to sucking and you don’t hold back your moans. He lets his teeth ghost across your sensitive bud, shooting lightning through your body, and heading straight to your core.

He pulls off one nipple to give the other the same attention, sucking and lapping enough for you to feel wetness start to pool in your underwear. Your hands thread into his hair, holding him close as moans flow endlessly from your mouth.

He kisses your bosom, until his gaze meets yours. His pupils are blown wide as he looks at you through half-lidded eyes. His voice is lower as he speaks, and it rumbles through his chest, “I want you so bad right now, you have no idea how hard I'm trying to hold back.”

You run a finger up his toned chest, “Then stop holding back.”

A growl leaves his throat as he pushes you back on the bed and climbs over you. His knee slots between your legs and he pushes it up to rub against your clothed cunt.

His mouth is on yours again, his tongue flicking along yours while he angles your chin, deepening the kiss.

You grind onto his leg, and the seam of your pants creates a delicious friction against your clit. Your hips move on their own against him as you chase the pleasure.

His body shifts and you can feel his thick cock pressing into your hip. Your hand wanders down his body to palm at him over his shorts, smiling as you feel him twitch under your palm when you rub him through the material.

He groans into your mouth, and your bodies grind together with a slow needy pace, savoring the way the air feels electric around you.

The chain around your neck shifts on your collarbone, your new locket sliding against your skin until the metal rests over your heart. It’s fitting that it should land there as the last remaining piece of ice starts to melt in your chest. Katsukis own locket drags across your skin with each grind of his body.

The locket symbolizes so much more than just his atonement. It's every word he's never been able to say, every promise he's made to you, and it's the symbol of his devotion to you. It’s resounding evidence that he is yours and you are his. But you can't help the nagging thought in the back of your head.

A question that shouldn't matter. But you can't help but think about it. Why now? I don't care.

But somewhere deep down inside you, you do care.

What if he was with someone else? He loves you, but he could have been with someone else, someone better. Six months is a long time; he could have taken a lover, nothing wrong with a one night stand, right? Or is that only acceptable when it's you?

You squeeze your eyes shut tight, trying to push the nagging voice away and focus on Katsuki. He's here in front of you now, the rest doesn't matter. It doesn't.

But you can't fool him so easily. He pushes himself off you slightly and eyes you suspiciously.

“Where’d you go?” You try to look away from him, but his hand holding yours squeezes and you know he's not going to let this go. “What is it? You have to talk to me, princess.”

“It’s stupid,” you respond and you wish that your tits weren’t out for this conversation.

Katsuki blows at a piece of hair that hangs in his face, “I love stupid, tell me.”

You drag your hand away from its position on his dick, and let your arm hang over your face, hiding your eyes into the crook of your elbow. “It's just… have you been with anyone else?”

His response is instant. “Never. ‘M only yours.” You peak at him from under your arm, and you're greeted with a smug grin. “It’s cute you’re worried.”

You pout and cover your face again, “Don't be mean, Katsu.”

“Lemme see your face,” he says, peeling your arm free and holding it above your head. “No one in the world can ever compare to you. Why would I ever think about anyone else when I’ve always been in love with the perfect woman?”

“I don't know, sometimes you can be stupid.”

He lets out an exaggerated huff of air, “Yeah, well what about you? Did you sleep with anyone else?”

You shake your head. “No.”

“Good, because I might have murdered them.”

You hit his chest in jest, “Katsuki, don't say that!”

“Why? It's true,” he says, nuzzling against your ear before biting it. “Anyone who sees you like this, sees what's mine, would have to go.”

You shake your head and his fingertips curl in the waistband of your pants and underwear, tugging them down your legs while he moves lower on the bed. His breath fans your skin as he travels down your body until he pulls the fabric off of you.

His hands rub up and down your thighs and he takes in the sight of your body fully exposed to him. His body reacts to every inch of your beautiful skin, his cock throbbing against the confines of his jeans and his mouth watering for a taste of you.

He spreads your thighs, watching you take a deep inhale of breath as his thumb dips between your folds, applying pressure to your clit..

Katsuki lowers his face to your cunt, licking up your slit and flicking his tongue against your clit. He groans at the taste, and feeling you thread your hands into his hair only encourages him.

He licks at your cunt like he’s starved, eagerly watching your eyes roll into the back of your skull as he feels a flame fire up in his chest. The need to please you is always greater than anything else, including his own pleasure.

He buries his tongue into your cunt, working you open slowly with the thick muscle. He flicks it inside you, and your finger nails dig into his scalp. The pain mixes with your heady taste and Katsuki bucks his hips into the mattress, looking for any sort of friction against his own weeping cock.

“You taste so fucking good,” he growls before licking into you again and again. Your taste swirling on his tongue, and his mind fills with only thoughts of you as you moan out his name.

He can't believe he's here, that some part of you loved him even after everything he did. Here you are, letting him eat you out and wearing the locket that he picked out so carefully. He can see the metal glint as your chest rises and falls, knowing that the matching one is on his chest… fuck.

Bakugou tears himself away from your cunt so that he can take off his own pants. You watch him unbutton them, before pushing them down. As soon as they are off, you reach out your hand to him, pulling him back to your embrace.

His kiss consumes you. It's powerful and passionate and sloppy, and every second you feel more and more of the air in your lungs begin to burn. You can taste yourself on his tongue and your heartbeat quickens. Every second of his touch makes you crave more.

The weight of him on your chest, pressing you further into the mattress makes you groan. And when he grabs your ass with heated palms, you can feel the feral energy radiating from him. Yor kiss gets rougher and messier, teeth biting at his lips, nails digging into his shoulder, moaning into each other, getting lost in the tortured lust.

He wraps your legs around his waist, and you can feel the tip of his hard cock press against you, so close to your entrance. You try to adjust your hips so that he will press into you but he doesn't let you, digging his fingertips into your skin to still you.

He leans back from your kiss, searching your eyes before adjusting himself against you, and lining his tip up with your cunt.

He watches your face intensely as he pushes into you. Your eyes flutter from the stretch of him, and your breath stutters with each inch he pushes into you. His hands grip at your hips as he settles inside, his body is already begging for release from the way your velvety walls squeeze him.

Your voice is small as you beg him to move, and he can't deny you anything. He grinds into you, swirling his hips before he starts thrusting into you.

Katsuki wanted your first time back together to be soft or romantic, but he underestimated how much he missed this. He craves you, every breath from your lips is the life force that he needs, and now that you are giving it to him so freely, he's drowning in it.

His heart hammers in his chest as your cunt clenches around him. Every plunge of his cock into your cunt brings him closer and closer to his orgasm and he isn't sure how much longer he can last when you make him feel this good.

You let out a gasp when he hits your g-spot. “Right— right there. Fuck,” you moan, and he focuses on feeling the spongy spot against his cock.

He feels so connected to you, surely this is what it means when two hearts beat at the same time. Every facet of his being melds with yours as his thrust turns frantic. His mind fogs and he can barely concentrate on holding off his own orgasm and as his locket beats against his chest. It’s fucking up his rhythm, distracting him from what matters most.

Katsuki grabs the chain quickly, bringing it to his mouth and biting it. He can feel you clench around him as he does and it almost topples him.

His abs clench and his thrusts turn frantic. He's going to cum soon, and he's not going to be able to hold back.

“Be my good girl and cum for me.”

Your thighs clench around his waist, but he doesn't stop fucking into you. Your back arches and you throw your head back in pleasure, screaming his name as your orgasm washes over you. Your cunt pulsing around him, practically dragging his own orgasm from him.

“Fuck,” he gasps as his cock twitches inside you before he’s pumping his hot cum into you, painting your walls with him. His hips stutter, fucking it even deeper until both of you are twitching from overstimulation.

Both of you let your bodies relax as the cum seeps out around his dick growing soft inside of your fluttering cunt.

“Stay inside please,” you sleepily mumble.

“Why do you always want that,” he grumbles, resting his forehead against yours.

You lazily smile at him and wrap your arms around his neck, holding him in place, “Because it feels nice, and it's mine.”

“You're lucky you're cute,” Katsuki replies with a smile.

The two of you stay connected for a while before he finally pulls out and lays next to you. You stay resting comfortably on your back, your muscles too tired to try and readjust. Katsuki's on his side with his head resting against one of his biceps, cock shamelessly resting against his thigh. He looks lost in thought as his eyes are on you.

You let your head fall to the side so you can get a better look at him. “Katsuki, you're staring.”

He puckers his lips like a child that just got caught with their hand in the candy jar. “It's not my fault you look so beautiful.”

You hide a smile and roll over to mimic his position. “So what do we do now?”

He reaches a hand out and rubs his thumb over the apple of your cheek. “Whatever we want.”

“I do not want to go back outside, especially since we just fucked in Momo’s mansion.”

“Let's leave then.”

“Where should we go?”

“Wherever we want, as long as I'm with you.”

Bonus:

You giggle as you walk down the stairs holding Bakugou’s hand. You feel like you're in high school all over again sneaking around the dorms. Especially, since he insisted that you wear his shit and that he would simply go without one.

The two of you sneak through the dark house to your birthday table, you grab your purse and try to release Katsuki’s hand to pick up some of the presents on the table but he won't let go.

“Katsuki, you know you're going to have to let go of my hand eventually, right?”

“Nope,” he says, picking up some of the boxes and holding them carefully against his body. “Not allowed.”

You roll your eyes at him but help him stack presents on his already growing pile and lead him out of the front door towards your car.

You fish for your keys with difficulty as the gravel crunches under your feet. It’s hard doing things with one hand trapped by his but you can think of worse fates.

Bakugou’s voice from under the pile of presents makes you turn to face him, “I wonder when they will figure they are locked out.”

You tilt your head and give him a look, “You didn't.”

“I did, but there are other doors. They will manage,” he says with a shrug, almost dropping a small present from the top of the pile.

You secure the presents in their rightful spots before continuing on the path to your car, “If they don't we're going to have a bunch of angry friends on our hands.”

You load your car up and close the trunk, looking around for Bakugou’s car but not seeing it anywhere.

When you look back at him, he shrugs. “I drove Ei’s car here so he could leave whenever.”

You pull him closer to you, “So, you're going to come home with me.”

He raises his eyebrows, “Is that a question or are you commanding me?”

You let go of his hand and wrap your arms around his neck, “I’m commanding you.”

“I like the sound of that,” he replies, pushing your back against the car and gripping your hips.

He closes the distance between you, catching your bottom lip between his teeth and smiling before kissing you. Your heart can’t beat any faster in your chest as he moves his lips against yours.

You recall six months ago when you drunkenly told the man in front of you that you didn't want to be in love anymore, and you wish that you could go back in time to tell that version of yourself that maybe, just maybe, things will work out between the two of you.

a/n: this is the end of the breakup/makeup part of this series! I hope you enjoyed it! Did you feel like you just read 16.5k?

I will be posting more fics that fall within this relationship, like a proposal, and how they started dating, and other drama that happens in life! I hope you enjoyed this part of the series and I look forward to seeing where the story takes us from here. Updates will be sporadic as I get inspired to write them.

Thank you for reading! And I'd love to know your thoughts!

< back to masterlist

[ameliora-j]

what a lie // ts x reader

words: 1.5k

warnings: angst, smut, mcd, blood, mention of injury, nipple play, pull out method (pls don’t use this irl), pregnancy mention

a/n: this is only half proofread but as always, lmk if i missed any warnings pls. italics is a flashback :)

“you’ll be okay, little dove,” thor whispered as he set a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“we’ll all be okay, y/n,” steve added, accompanied by a hiccup and a small sniffle from his spot next to you. you could no longer contain the loud sob that raked your body as you set down the flower reef that held your fiance’s arc reactor in the center and read: proof that tony stark has a heart.

the blonde super soldier pulled you into his chest and allowed you to harshly sob into his suit coat. tony was your forever. and he just got ripped away from you.

⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊

you walked into the grandiose building called “stark industries” one--very sunny--monday morning. you went to the desk and were greeted with a very pretty blonde woman. “can i help you?” she asked you.

“yeah i um... have a meeting with tony stark. he... he told me to come and meet him here,” you stuttered shyly. 

“ah, you must be y/n,” you nodded and she offered you a smile, leading you into tony’s office. that day, he hired you as his personal assistant. however, at the time, you had no idea what was to come of that one fateful day.

in the coming weeks as tony’s assistant, you picked up his coffee, and scheduled his press conferences, and answered e-mails, and scheduled his meetings, and answered the phone. in that time, you had also become closer to the man you called your boss. you might even go as far as to call the two of you friends.

tony was really funny. whether it was intentionally or not. he told a lot of jokes, and he was nothing like the media painted him out to be. he was nice and caring. he was also very attentive. he stopped turning the ac so high when he noticed that you would always bring a jacket into the office, and he kept little candies laying around for your sweet tooth, and he always had your favorite pack of pens delivered weekly because you were always losing your’s and stealing his. he even let you sign all of his important documents with your pretty, purple glittery pens because he knew you liked them the best. 

not to mention, tony bought you a whole set of y/f/c office supplies for your desk after you called his decoration “bland and boring.” everyday working for mr. stark was a brand new adventure and you absolutely couldn’t wait to see what the future held for you at stark industries.

you learned a lot about tony while you were working. you were the first person that he revealed his identity as iron man to. you, of course, freaked out, lecturing him on safety and being careful while fighting literal aliens, all while he chuckles and assured you that he was fine. one night--or early morning is a better term for it--there was a knock on your window. when you checked your bedside clock, the numbers “2:23″ flashed across it in bright red. when you looked over to the window, you noticed tony in the iron man suit, floating outside of your window.

“what the hell stark?! it’s half past two in the morning!” you complained as you opened the window and allowed him in. he grumbled loudly as he took off the suit and stumbled his way into your bathroom. he ignored you as you flung a million and two questions in his direction. untill finally, you noticed the blood running down the left side of his face. “what the hell!” you exclaimed before leading him to sit down on your toilet seat. you took the small first aid kit from underneath your bathroom sink and began to clean him up while simultaneously muttering what an idiot he was and how he could have been killed.

once you were all finished, you looked down at him. you had seen tony monday through friday for ten hours a day and sometimes on weekends if he had a press conference on a saturday or needed you to come in quickly and do something on a sunday, but this was the first time that you had truly noticed him. cuts and scrapes and bruises over his face, his hair sweaty and some falling into his eyes. those eyes... pretty, brown, and tired. the way that his facial hair had begun to grow on his jaw as a result of not shaving that morning. tony stark was gorgeous... ethereal even. you knew your boss was an attractive man, the media said it every day. hell, your boss said it himself every day. but now, actually looking at him, you saw it. you truly saw it, anthony howard stark was quite possibly the prettiest man you had ever laid your eyes upon. 

you and tony sat in silence. it was in that silence that you realized your current position. the only thing donning your body was a very short pair of black sleep shorts that really didn’t cover much and a black tank top with no bra. you were standing above tony, straddling his left thigh and your faces were mere centimeters apart. the silence was long and loud as you stared, unblinking, into each other’s eyes. it was a hairs breath of a second when tony’s eyes flicked from your’s to your lips, and then back up before he was hungrily pressing his lips to your’s.

the kiss was nothing but the clashing of teeth and tongues. it had you moaning into his mouth as he stood and quickly pushed you against your bathroom counter. he wasted no time as he quickly rid the both of you of your clothes. “you have protection?” he asked from his place, sucking dark hickies into every inch of your neck.

“just pull out, please i want it,” you whimpered as you tugged on his chocolate locks. your whimpers and begs were all the encouragement the man needed as he pushed his cock into you, making you release a loud moan.

the way tony fucked you was a stark (no pun intended) contrast to the way he kissed you. his thrusts were slow and deliberate, hitting spots you never even knew existed, while his kisses were rough and hungry. “feel so good wrapped around me, princess. fuck,” tony moaned into your mouth.

“fuck, tony please. more. give me more,” you whined, causing him to chuckle as his lips traveled down, sucking your nipple into his mouth as his hand came up and twisted and tugged the other one. “feels so good. ‘s so big,” you whimpered as he fucked his cock into you even harder. he moaned at your praise as his teeth scraped across your sensitive nipple before he pulled off of it with a small ‘pop’ and began giving the same attention to the other one.

“always knew your little pussy was made for my cock, princess. knew it from the day you stepped into my office. looking all innocent, just begging me to bend you over my desk and make you mine,” you moaned loudly at this, causing him to smirk. “that what you want? come on, use your words, princess.”

“wanna be your’s. make me your’s tony please. want you to corrupt me. ruin me for anyone else’s cock.” you whined out pathetically as the head of his cock abused your gspot.

“who’s pussy is this?” he asked as he began to rub harsh circles onto your swollen clit.

“your’s. your’s ‘s your’s please let me cum,” you whimpered as you arched into him. 

“cum on my cock princess, go ahead,” that’s all it took for you to cum with a loud shriek of his name. he continued his assault on your clit to fuck you through your orgasm as he pulled out and used his free hand to stroke his cock untill he came with a groan of your name, all over your stomach.

that night, after tony took care of you and made sure you peed and were cleaned up, as he pulled you into his chest, you whispered, “can i really be your’s?” 

“you can be mine forever if you want princess.” you fell asleep with a wide smile on your face.

⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊⎊

you stayed at the lake after all the avengers had left. you sat against the tree with your left hand on your stomach, staring down at the large ring that tony presented you with just days before going to fight on titan. the one that was supposed to symbolize forever. the one that made tony stark your official future husband. 

“i’m pregnant tony...” you whispered as the tears collected on your waterline. “you promised forever. you promised that everything was going to be okay five years ago,” you took a deep breath as you rubbed the small, three month bump that was forming. “what a lie that was.”

how the hell were you going to raise a baby by yourself. how were you supposed to go on without your other half? how were you supposed to heal your heart? your baby would never know how amazing their father was. and your husband would never know how amazing his baby was. it still didn’t feel real. it never would feel real.

but you would figure it out. after all... you were a stark now. and stark’s are nothing if not strong-willed.

[homoose]

Teach Me Something I Don’t Know: Part VII

Summary: Spencer’s unresolved trauma catches up with him. Reader gets her heart broken.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Category: angst, I’m so sorry guys

Warnings/Includes: brief mention of violence and details of a case; brief mention of prison, past trauma; a lil self-loathing and self-sabotaging

Word count: 3.8k

a/n: I knew that this was where this story was going from the very beginning. The dialogue is one of the first parts I had written. It still hurts. Relevant to the story: I operate with the understanding that the Jeid arc does not exist, which also means that Spencer never went to therapy in season 15. Also, huge thanks to @reidscanehand​ for beta-ing and just generally being my hype person!!!!

Song Recs: Shrike by Hozier; Better As a Memory by Kenny Chesney (don’t come for me if Spencer made playlists this would ABSOLUTELY be on there)

Series Masterlist

———

Spencer made his way to Emily’s office, ignoring the team’s eyes on him— varying degrees of understanding, concern, and uncertainty plain on their faces. As he reached the threshold, he paused for a second before moving into her line of sight. When he moved into the doorway, she looked up and waved him in. He closed the door behind him.

She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. Spencer hesitated for only a split second, but it was long enough for her to notice. He lowered himself into the chair and met her eyes.

She folded her hands on top of the desk. “How are you feeling?”

He drummed his fingers across his kneecaps. “I’m fine.”

It was a lie, and they both knew it. She bit back a sigh and flipped open the folder in front of her. “I’m finished with the official report. I wanted to go over it with you before I submit it to the director.” She looked at him briefly before reading out the report. “On January 9th, our team pursued a lead at the residence of suspect Andrew Hurley. We divided into teams to cover the two entrances to the home, as well as the barn behind the house.”

Spencer fidgeted slightly in his chair and rubbed the tips of his fingers together. Emily continued, “During the raid, Supervisory Special Agent Spencer Reid became separated from the team and was ambushed and disarmed by the suspect in the barn.” She paused but didn’t look at him. “The team was unaware of the altercation for some time, during which Dr. Reid employed various approved restraint methods and was ultimately forced to utilize self-defense measures to preserve his own life. Consequently, Mr. Hurley sustained serious injuries.”

She did look at him then, a steady and unrelenting gaze that had him shrinking inside himself. “However, I have determined that Dr. Reid’s actions were justified in order to maintain his own safety.” She returned her eyes to the report. “Mr. Hurley was detained and treated for his injuries at Sebastian River Medical Center, and he is expected to make a full recovery. Based on the cognitive interviews and physical evidence, a grand jury hearing is scheduled for January 25th.” She brought her hands to rest on top of the report.

“I’ll sign off on it and deliver it to the director by the end of business today.” She let out the sigh she’d been holding back. “Reid.”

He pressed his mouth into a thin line, torn between shame and vindication. “Emily.”

“What happened in that barn was unacceptable. And I need you to recognize that.” Her eyes were back on him, a leader’s gaze boring into a weak link. “You went against a direct order. You put your life in danger unnecessarily, and in the process you endangered this entire team. Furthermore, you could have cost us the ability to close this case, to put Hurley away and bring justice to his victims.”

“It won’t happen again,” he assured her.

“No, it won’t.” Her tone told him that if it did, he’d have bigger problems than a meeting in her office. “My recommendation to the director is that you transition to your next mandatory leave cycle early.”

“I can handle—”

“It’s not a request. You’re on sabbatical starting tomorrow. That’s an order, and one you’d do well to follow.” She closed the file in front of her. “We’ll see you back in the bullpen on March 7th.”

“I don’t need more time off, Emily,” Spencer snapped.

He could see her grind her teeth together at his tone, but he couldn’t seem to care enough to feel contrite. She took a deep breath in through her nose, leveling him with a pointed look. “If Simmons hadn’t broken it up, you’d have killed Hurley on the floor of that barn.”

His mind snapped back to the lifeless eyes of Hurley’s victims— eight year old boys in shallow graves. Boys who died afraid, and in pain, and crying out for their mothers. His thoughts raced to the feel of Hurley’s throat under his arm, the crack of the zygomatic under his fist. Emily was right of course. If Matt hadn’t found them in the barn and dragged him up and off of Hurley’s nearly lifeless body, Spencer would have killed him without compunction.

“Reid.” The stern edge was gone from her voice. Spencer refocused his eyes on her face, now showcasing an underlying concern that made his stomach turn. “I’m not recommending another cycle of mandatory counseling at this time, although I reserve the right to require it moving forward. But… I’m asking you to take care of yourself. You’ve been through a lot in the last two years. More than a lot.”

“I said I’m fine,” he insisted, but there was less fire behind it this time.

“And I’m not saying you aren’t,” she countered. “But I am saying that the person in that barn… that wasn’t you. That was not the Reid that I know.” Emily tilted her head and furrowed her brow. “The Reid I know uses his intellect and empathy to see angles that the rest of us miss. He depends on the strength of his mind and his unwavering compassion to diffuse conflicts without violence. He invites his friends to foreign film showings and puppet theater.”

When he didn’t budge, she let out a long breath. “I want you to take the next fifty days to find that Reid and bring him back to us.”

...

Y/N dropped into her desk chair with a huff. They’d been back from winter break for two weeks, and she already needed another vacation. But tomorrow was Friday, and then they had a long weekend. She could make it through one more day.

She closed her eyes for a long moment, tired in the way that only kindergarten teachers fresh off a long break can be. She heard the click of Anita’s shoes coming before she even entered the room, and Y/N couldn’t stop the twitch of her lips.

“Dude. How is it only Thursday?” Anita flopped down into the plush Calm Corner chair.

“This has been the longest week of my life,” Y/N agreed. “My kids were off the chain.”

“There is so much drama in middle school right now,” Anita groaned. “I can’t keep up with all the tea, and you know how I love to stay up to date on the freshest brews.” She shot Y/N a look. “Speaking of, where’s the good doctor?”

“I think they’ve had a lot going on at work,” Y/N surmised. “I haven’t seen Mrs. Jareau in over a month.”

“Well, I’m getting antsy,” Anita complained. “Thought for sure you’d be going steady by now.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help but feel a little impatient herself. If she’d known it would be this long before she’d see him again, she might have made a move when he’d volunteered. Then again, probably not. She sighed.

Her phone chimed with an email message, and she automatically swiped the screen open to read it.

Spencer Reid Re:

Are you free today? If you are, I’ll be at Soho.

...

Spencer sat at the table in the corner of the coffee shop. He sipped absentmindedly at his tea, almost gone cold. He hadn’t waited for a reply before leaving Quantico. He drove straight to the city, figuring he’d wait at Soho until he felt some semblance of calm returning to his body.

He didn’t know why he’d emailed Y/N, and he wasn’t sure he really wanted her to show up. Usually he’d talk to Penelope or maybe JJ. But he’d wanted to get as far from the BAU as possible, and he didn’t want to drag Penelope away from the colorful, safe corner of the world she’d created for herself. He didn’t want to fill it with all the tragedy she’d tried so hard to leave behind.

If Y/N did show, he was certain he could keep the conversation vague, focus on her and the classroom, ask her about her holidays. She wasn’t a profiler, didn’t know his tells well enough. She’d be none the wiser, and he’d have her warmth and presence to focus his energy on, if only for a few hours.

Every time the bell chimed, his eyes flew to the door, searching for her. He knew it was ridiculous. He’d only known her for one hundred and eleven days. Pragmatically, he knew she shouldn’t be the one he wanted to talk to. Realistically, he wasn’t planning to burden her with all of the mess of the past week, the past year, his entire life.

But in the six hundred and forty seven minutes he’d spent with her since September, he’d felt more like himself than he ever had. He was never afraid to be himself with her— the silly story voices, the ridiculous costume, the magic trick, the vulnerability about his mom. All of these pieces of himself were things he usually waited years to show people. It had taken her a matter of weeks to draw them out.

He couldn’t help but believe that if he wanted to, he could tell her everything. She’d know exactly what to say. She’d listen for as long as he could keep talking. She’d cover his shaking hands and wrap him up in the warmth of her spirit. She’d give of herself to guide him back to the person he used to be. She’d be more than willing to use her radiance to illuminate the dark so that he might have a little light again.

The bell sounded, and his eyes focused, and there she was. She was wrapped up in a puffed jacket, a bright blue scarf tied around her neck. Her nose was adorably red from the cold, and she rubbed her hands together as the door closed behind her. Her eyes found him immediately. A small smile turned up the corners of her mouth, and she gave him an enthusiastic wave. And he knew that he was right about all of it.

She approached the table, unwinding her scarf. “Hi!”

“Hi.”

Her eyes flickered over his face, and then settled on his mostly empty mug. “I’ll get you a refill, and then we’ll catch up?”

He nodded, and she headed to the counter. There had been a part of him that thought she wouldn’t come, but of course she did. For some reason, unbeknownst to him, she liked talking to him. Even among his closest friends, he was often made to feel self-conscious about his tendency to ramble, but Y/N had literally asked him to. She sought him out, asked him questions, listened intently, and remembered things he’d told her. She was kind and thoughtful and genuine. Of course she came when he called.

She returned with two mugs, carefully setting them down on the tiny table. She unzipped and removed her jacket, hanging it on the back of her chair and revealing a crew neck sweater covered in tiny astronauts and rocket ships. When she sat across from him, her hands wrapped around the mug and her eyes met his.

“Hi.”

He couldn’t stop his lips from twitching, despite the events of the day. “You said that already.”

She laughed, and he felt the weight begin to lift. “Yeah, well, I haven’t seen you in forever, so— I’m just making up for lost time.”

“Sixty one days.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s been sixty one days, eighty eight minutes, and approximately,” he looked at his watch, “fourteen seconds since we saw each other last.”

She laughed again, and his mouth completed its curve. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I like that you’ve been counting.” She let her chin come to rest in her hand, eyes studying his face. “How are you?”

He wanted to lie, but she was looking at him so earnestly that he mumbled out, “I’m managing.”

She mirrored the way he’d looked at her across this same table nearly three months ago. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” That was a lie, too. But asking her to meet him was enough of a burden.

“Okay. Well, if you change your mind at any point, let me know.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Until then, I can just regale you with all the kindergarten stories you’ve missed while you were out saving lives.”

And regale him she did. For almost an hour, he listened to her tales of love (budding crushes were taking over recess time), loss (the class pet— a stuffed zebra— had accidentally taken a swim in the Atlantic on a vacation to Florida), and lessons learned…

“So, in case there was ever any doubt, we are now painfully aware that we shouldn’t attempt to flush our underwear.” Y/N let out an exasperated laugh.

She’d been talking to him for fifty three minutes, and his heart already felt one thousand times lighter. “I’m really glad I wasn’t there for that one.”

“I really wish that was the only poop story I had.” She shook her head. “There are a lot of things they don’t tell you in grad school. I think there’d be a global teacher shortage if they warned you about the amount of bodily fluid management involved in teaching kindergarten.”

She toyed with the edge of her empty mug. He watched the movement of her fingers.

“Do you—”

“Do you—”

She laughed and gestured for him to speak first.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

…

They ended up in Mitchell Park. The trees were bare and the grass was brown, but he was with her, and so it was beautiful.

They’d been walking in comfortable silence, when she asked, “Did you change your mind? About talking about it.”

Spencer put his hands into his pockets. “It’s, um— it’s kind of a lot.”

She shrugged. “I’ve got time.”

“I don’t mean— I mean, it would take some time to get through it all. But it’s also— it’s a lot.”

“We don’t have to.” He could feel her eyes on him. “Do you talk to— someone about it?”

“I talked with my unit chief today,” he answered.

“Okay. But— I mean, have you ever— talked to someone. Like, a professional.”

Spencer bristled slightly. Although he knew she wasn’t passing judgement, her question exposed the reality that she thought he could use it. “I’ve had some mandated counseling over the years.”

“Obviously it’s your choice whether you talk to someone or not,” she mused. “I just— I know that I’ve benefited a lot from seeing my therapist.”

Spencer was unsure of what to do with that information. Here she was, confessing that she went to therapy— sweet, lovely Y/N. In comparison, he wasn’t sure if even daily meetings with a counselor would be enough to tame the darkness that had grown and festered inside him over the years. That sometimes threatened to swallow him whole.

For a long while, there was only the crunch of the frozen ground beneath their feet. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but there was an uncertainty about them that felt uncharacteristically heavy. He was hyper aware of her presence, and so he felt her pace slowing down before she came to a complete stop. He walked a few more paces before it became clear that she wasn’t planning to catch up.

He turned and saw that she’d taken a seat on one of the park benches. He carefully made his way to the bench, sitting beside her quietly. She didn’t look at him, but instead studied her fingernails intently. She cracked her knuckles once, twice, and then turned her body slightly toward him on the bench.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” she hedged carefully. “I didn’t mean to tell you what to do, or like, imply that there’s anything wrong with you. There’s nothing wrong with you at all. I just—”

“It’s fine,” Spencer assured her. The way she looked at him then— like he was something fragile, delicate— made his eyes burn. He kept his voice even. “I know what you meant.”

She smiled, eyes crinkling and filled with something that felt familiar and far away all at once. “Good. I can’t have you out here thinking you’re anything less than wonderful.”

He couldn’t stop looking at her, attempting to solve the impossible cypher behind her irises. As he failed to decode it, his inability to read her blinded him to what came next. He missed the dilation of her pupils, the way her tongue darted out to wet her lips, the increase of the beats in her carotid. So when she leaned in and pressed her mouth to his, he was momentarily paralyzed.

Her lips were so soft against his slightly chapped ones, pressing with a perfectly gentle pressure. She brought her hand up to cradle his cheek, the pads of her fingers just barely ghosting the curls falling around his ear. She sighed into his mouth and pressed a little closer. He took one peaceful moment to bask in the realization of a desire he’d had for almost four months.

And then she swiped the very tentative tip of her tongue against the seam of his mouth, and his hands involuntarily wound into her hair, dragging her closer. He opened his mouth against hers to swallow her sweet little gasp. His grip on her hair tightened, and she let out the tiniest mewl, and like a switch had flipped— suddenly his mind was full of the darkness she’d spent the evening chasing away.

Y/N beneath him in the dark. Maeve in a pool of blood. His hands around Cat’s neck. His mother’s slap against his cheek. Max walking away from him. His fingers pressing the plunger on a dirty syringe. The slam of the door behind his father. Y/N calling out his name. A knife at his throat under a canopy of bones. Innumerable sets of lifeless eyes staring up at him. His life being snuffed out on the dirt floor of a shed. The clanging of metal bars and fingers ghosting over old bruises. Y/N looking at him with warm, loving eyes. The violent crack of bone underneath his fists. Y/N’s face, lovely and perfect— and then twisted in pain.

He broke away from her, releasing his hold on her hair and pushing her back into the bench. He took a second to gather himself before he dared to look at her. Her hair was tousled from his rough grip; her eyes were half-lidded and focused on him; her lips were red and kiss-bruised and turned up in a small, sweet smile.

And all at once he knew he had to hurt her, and it had to be now. Because what Cat had said about him was true. He might have escaped his mother’s illness, but he hadn’t been able to outrun the violence— and unlike her, he didn’t have the excuse of being sick. He had hurt people, and he had enjoyed it. He would have killed Hurley, and he would have slept soundly. He was no better than the men his team hunted.

Every time he thought he’d moved past it, that wickedness lurking just under the surface would grab him by the throat, choking everything else out. Emily’s directive rang in his ears. Find that Reid and bring him back to us. He knew who she was talking about. The problem was, he wasn’t sure that person still existed.

He was going to hurt Y/N eventually. Better to do it now, before things got too far.

“You’re Michael’s teacher,” he said, as evenly as possible.

Her smile faltered, and she pressed her lips together. He could still feel the phantom press of them against his own, and he was sure he’d never forget it. She cleared her throat. “You’re right, you’re totally right. I, um— I won’t be in a few months, and maybe then—”

“You don’t even know me,” he interrupted.

Now there was confusion in her eyes. That much he could read. She huffed out a small laugh. “I— I don’t think that’s entirely true.”

He looked directly at her. “Why? Because you read my bio on a university website? Because we got tea a couple times?” His voice sounded harsh, patronizing, and he hated it.

Her confusion shifted into shock, and he ignored the tug on his heart. “Are you serious?” she questioned, genuinely searching for a sign that he was joking.

“Dead serious.” He shrugged, and it felt like his bones were breaking. “You don’t really know anything about me, Y/N. If you did, you wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

“Where— where is this coming from?” Her voice was small, close to breaking. He lined up the last nail on the lid of the coffin.

“Maybe I gave you the wrong impression. I’ve appreciated talking to you. Volunteering in your classroom was entertaining. But I don’t— I don’t see you that way.” It was a lie, and if he didn’t have such a practiced poker face, she might have seen through it. As it was, his poker face had helped get him banned from every casino in Vegas, so he watched her as he hammered the final nail. “You’re just Michael’s kindergarten teacher.”

“Oh.” The hurt flashed across her features— the furrow of her brow, the tightening of her mouth, the storm clouds in her eyes. “Well, I— I really read this wrong, huh?” She laughed, but there was no humor in it.

“Yeah.” He put his hands into his pockets to keep himself from reaching for her, the desire to comfort her a strange juxtaposition to the pain he was intentionally inflicting on her. “I guess so.”

She opened and closed her mouth twice before taking a deep breath and nearly whispering, “Okay. Well. I’m— I’m gonna go.”

She brushed some imaginary dust from her pants and then stood. She turned to him, and he waited for her to explode— to scream and curse at him. But it didn’t come. She didn’t look at him at all. “Um— yeah. I’m gonna go.”

He didn’t say anything, and he knew she’d take his silence as indifference. But he had to keep his mouth shut, because if he didn’t, he’d beg her to stay. He’d tell her every single random piece of information he had stored in his brain. He’d tell her that he loved her from the moment he watched her help a child pick a solution from a pencil box. He’d tell her that he only ever dreamt of two things these days— her or the lives he didn’t save. He’d tell her every single one of his deepest, darkest secrets. He’d tell her that sometimes he was so afraid of himself that he could barely breathe. And if he told her all of that, she’d walk away anyway.

So instead, he watched her turn and start back up the path, hugging her arms around herself and swiping her cheek against her scarf.

When she disappeared over the slope of the path, he scrubbed his hands over his own damp face and let himself break.

———

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Broken tags: @saspencereid @this-is-gublerween

[achaoticeternal]

THIS IS ME TRYING

AVENGERS X READER (tony stark x daughter!reader, platonic peter parker x reader) masterlist // taglist

Request: @big-galaxy-chaos​ “Hey so I see that you also need requests as much as I do 😚 so here is mine! So it's Peter x stark!reader angst. Where Tony is afraid of becoming like his father but in reality, he is worst than him. He favors Peter more than her. Even though she is smarter than her own father, and won tons of awards and shit. Tony doesn't realize what he lost until the reader is gone. Btw the relationship between the reader and Peter is platonic! Also, everyone is oblivious to how she is feeling. Just pure angst”

Summary: Dads and daughters are supposed to have a beautiful relationship. But you could never be the song he always wanted. Word Count: 2.5K A/N: Based on the song this is me trying by Taylor Swift. Reader and Peter are both 18+; takes place after Thanos and Tony lives. Warnings: Heavy angst, cursing, self destructive behaviors, mentions death

“Mr. Stark, I’ve been working on the chemical formula of my webbing and I’m pretty sure that I’ve completely perfected it,” Peter talked while walking with your father to the lab.

“That’s great because I’ve been working on your web-shooters. Now, they can shoot up to 200 yards in length and the error rate of them getting jammed is less than one percent.”

Tony rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder as they left the room together. Neither of them acknowledges you on the couch, reading another novel involving quantum physics. But you’re used to the cold shoulder your father has given you since he first met Peter Parker. You’re used to the way he’s turned you away all your life, justifying his choice by saying he’s protecting you. 

You knew that he feared to become his father. Pepper explained that to you when you were a child and you couldn’t leave your room until Tony’s lady of the night let. Or as you and Pepper called it at the time “taking out the trash”. 

Maybe that was when you became more interested in the mathematics and science you found in the book and the workshop over good ole bonding time with dear old dad. If he wanted to neglect the time and opportunity to raise you, you would at least make sure to put his money and name to good use for your own personal benefit. And in the back of your mind, you knew that part of you was doing this to earn the attention and love you desired from your father.

Tony just saw it as taking an early interest in your future. So he didn’t stop you when you preferred to sit with tutors over playdates, draw out designs for engines and inventions instead of scribbling in coloring books, or even reading through scientific theories over watching Disney movies. He didn’t think it was strange, because that’s what he did at your age. Hell, by the time you were 10 you had won three first-place national science fair ribbons, third place in the national spelling bee, and began developing a prototype to turn the emissions from cars back into breathable oxygen. 

Everyone noticed your brain, and how much you had achieved now at 18 years old. You held 2 Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and Organic Chemistry from MIT and a Master’s in Astrophysics from Georgia Tech. And you were now planning out when you wanted to go to Law school and earn your doctorate. But you were living at the compound now, taking a gap year.

When you went away for school, you learned from others how normal life was for everyone else. You met kids who were the first in their family to go to college or were looking for opportunities outside of the small towns they came from. When you came home from your second semester at MIT, you told Tony about all this and he created the September Foundation in order to fund the projects and inventions those kids were creating. It was another punch in the gut to you, because you realized that you would never be enough for Tony.

If you were enough, he would have passed the mantle of Iron Man onto someone else after he almost lost you and Pepper to the Mandarin. If you were enough, he wouldn’t have enlisted Peter to help him in his fight against Captain America. If you were enough, he wouldn’t have gone into space for a final fight. If you were enough, Morgan wouldn’t be in the other room watching cartoons. And if Tony acknowledged you, just even a little but, maybe you wouldn’t be trying so hard to impress him and the world.

“Ms. Stark, your package has arrived. Shall I send it over to the labs?” F.R.I.D.A.Y echoed into the room.

“No, send it over to my personal workshop. In fact, send all of TS-2008 to my personal workshop.”

“Of course, miss.”

“Oh, and F.R.I.D.A.Y?”

“Yes, miss?”

“Please stop referring to me as ‘Ms. Stark’, (Y/N) is fine.”

“Alright, CASS, reboot the system diagnostics and run test C-24,” you yawned as you asked your personal AI system. The personal AI system you built for yourself, bu yourself - no help from Tony at all. 

“Systems are checked out, shall I launch the test?”

“Go for it,” you groaned and took to Advil for your poundingheadachee. It was now two in the morning after another long night of coding, calibrating, testing, and perfecting the project you’ve been working on the past two years. 

When you were younger, you tried to replicate the Iron Man suit, but your father quickly discovered the helmet and nearly perfected arc reactor you’d created in his lab. He trashed all of it and told you never to attempt to create the suit again. He said you were better than that, that you had more potential than pretending to be a superhero. You realized as you grew older that he didn’t care if you were trying to become a hero or not; but that you were copying his work. His precious Iron Man that he took months to perfect only took a week for his child to solve.

Dear old dad couldn’t let you have things the easy way. So instead after SHIELD fell and Tony began working to finish wiping out HYDRA, you began working on your own original model suit. Now it was almost ready to showcase to the world. 

“Test C-24:successful. Shall I continue to run diagnostics to watch the processing and reaction time of TS-2008?”

“Yes, CASS. Run virtual simulations L-29, O-400, and T-38. Let me know when the trials have finished running and whether or not they were successful or not.”

“Yes, Ms. (Y/N),”

You pushed away from your desk and left your workshop. Before you knew it, you were in the kitchen pouring yourself another cup of coffee. You had been through 3 pots already tonight and no one noticed. Guess that was the nice thing about being Tony’s kid. Everyone else acknowledge your accomplishments and paid no mind to your destructive tendencies. In fact, maybe you’d celebrate tonight and snag a bottle of champagne from the extravagant wine fridge next to the dishwasher. You’d done it plenty of nights before when you wanted to drown out and numb the pain in your heart.

“(Y/N)? Why are you awake? And why are you holding a bottle of champagne?”

Ah, Peter... of course he would be spending the weekend at the compound. It’s not likely he has a perfectly good and happy home back in Queens with a guardian who loves him very much and would give the world to him. Guess that’s something May and your Father. 

“Hello, Perfect Parker”

“You know I’ve never understood why you call me that, it doesn’t make sense.”

“Of course it doesn’t make sense from your end of the looking glass.Why are you up?” You tried so hard not scowl or be too rude. Peter had tattled to TOny before about you having a ‘bad attitude’ towards him.

“I believe I asked you that first.”

“That you did, but if you want an answer out of me, you’ll have to answer first.”

“I couldn’t sleep. thought I would get myself a glass of water. You?”

“I’m getting wasted, just like all my potential,” You faked a smile and started peeling the gold wrapping off of the cork of the bottle.

“Don’t say that, everyone knows how talented and brilliant you are,” He sighed while grabbing himself a glass and walking over to the fridge, “You’re a Stark”

“Tell that to Dad, because you’ll always be more of a Stark than I’ll ever be,” You huffed as you pulled a corkscrew out of a drawer near you.

“That doesn’t make any sense, (Y/N), are you sure you haven’t been drinking already? Because you sound delirious. Maybe you should spend some time outside of your bedroom, maybe even get out of the compound. When was the last time you left to go somewhere?”

“Thanks for the concern Parker, but I’ve been able to hold my own for at least fifteen years now. And I know I don’t leave here a lot because I don’t have the opportunity too. If there’s a private event, either Pepper attends with Tony or Spider-man makes an appearance with Iron Man. I’m just surprised that there aren’t rumors across the media wondering ‘Is Spider-Man the lost of the Iron Man, Tony Stark?” You waved your hand in the air to match the dramatic tone.

“Haha, you’re so funny,” He took a sip out of your water, “People know you exist”

“Yeah, maybe if they do a quick Google shirt. But I’m not offended, I know that I just live in your shadow. But I’m used to it,” Your poured the alcohol into a glass and began to sip from it, relief flooding through you.

“Okay , I get it. You’re just in another one of your dramatic moods, maybe you should just go to bed before you say or do something stupid,” he took a step towards you.

“Don’t I always?”

“Always what?”

“Say or do something stupid?”

He halted and shook his head, “That’s not what I meant, (Y/N), I-”

“No, that’s exactly what you meant, Parker,” You brushed past him and stormed into the living room, “You don’t understand how lucky you are.”

He came stomping after you, “Oh, so you’re feeling brave, huh? Well you just sound like an idiot. I’m not just some lucky kid! I’ve lost my parents, my Uncle was killed in front of my face, and I disappeared from existence! The only people who care for me are Aunt May and Tony.”

You turned to face him, face completely red, tears threatening to spill, “Well at least you have Tony, because I don’t! I’ve just run around all my life trying to be perfect, be easy for him to deal with, live up to his and everybody's expectations! But I’m not good enough, I’ve never been good enough, and I’ll never be good enough. I’m just Tony Stark’s bastard child who built herself from the ground up without the slightest bit of help from her father!”

“(Y/N)...”

“No, don’t you ‘(Y/N)’ me. You’ve gotten everything you wanted from my father since day one. I never had that. You didn’t have to work to really make your own suite, you didn’t have to endure a lifetime of pain because of his arrogant ass, YOU didn’t have to wonder where Tony was on your graduation day for MIT - his alma mater - because he attended your fucking high school graduation instead!”

“What the hell is going on?” Tony yelled from the opposite end of the room. Pepper stood behind him and you could hear other door creaking open to here the events down the hall, “Not only are you two fighting in the living room and woke up half the compound, but you woke up Morgan and now she’s crying in her room because you two are screaming at each other.”

“Well boo-fucking-hoo, poor Morgan woke up in the middle of the night,” you mumbled to yourself.

“I just came to get a glass of water,” Peter attempted to defend himself.

And from Tony and Pepper’s angle, he did look to be more innocent. He had a glass of water in his hand and was completely cool. While you stood opposite of him; a bottle of booze in one had, dark circles under your eyes, a tear stained face, and looking to be in a mad frenzy.

“(Y/N), explain yourself,” Tony spoke sternly.

You took a deep breath in and wiped away fresh tears with your sleeve, “No, I don’t have to.”

“Excuse me,” your father marched across the room, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight but-”

“What’s gotten into me? Do you even listen to the bullshit that comes out of your mouth? No, of course you do, because you like listening to yourself talk more than you’ll listen to me. So talking to you is as fucking useless as talking to a deaf man!”

Peter and Tony now stood stunned at you and your sudden tantrum, but you knew it had been coming, you had always known. You knew one day you were going to explode, and it just happened to be tonight.

“I get it, I’m not precious Peter, or your beautiful Morgan. I’m just your bastard child from some broad you met on Malibu Beach. Even though I’m just a kid, I’ve always been your competition, a threat to you and your name. And even after every nearly life-ending event, I thought things would change - that you’d finally love me. But that never happened not even after Extremis infected not just Pepper’s body, but my own! And now I’m dying, I’m fucking dying, dad. I’m running out of time and trying to do everything I can. I go to school and get these diplomas and certificates to impress you. I invent and build thing to get your attention. I do it all because I still desire your validation and I’m running out of time,” you fall to your knees, everything becoming to much, “this is me trying, just like I have been all my life- but it’s still not enough.”

The room went silent. Only sobs echoed around the room as champagne poured out the bottle, staining the carpet. Neither Tony or Peter knew what to say or what to do. How could they begin to comfort the crying girl on the floor, or fix everything that ha occured over a lifetime.

Tony finally knelt down, “(Y/N), you know I never meant for any of this to happen, for you to ever feel like this. I’ve always been so scared of becoming your grandfather... I thought I was doing right by never pushing you, I guess it just never clicked.”

“Oh yeah, is that why you pushed me away and found Peter? And then when you realized you had messed up and forgot about your first daughter, you had another one in order to make things up?” You raised to head and shoulder up first, then finally rose back onto your two feet, “well congratulations, you’re worse than Howard Stark. And I hope you’re proud, Dad.”

With that, you left the living room. You couldn’t deal with in anymore that night, maybe ever again. Because when Tony came to check on you the next morning, you were missing. Only a note by your bedside remained as the only proof you had even lived in the room.

I didn't know if you'd care if I came back I have a lot of regrets about that Pulled the car off the road to the lookout Could've followed my fears all the way down And maybe I don't quite know what to say But I'm here in your doorway I just wanted you to know that this is me trying

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[psychewithwings]

The Canary Pt. 2 Todoroki x F!

hi, this is pt 2 of my Shouto Todoroki x musician!reader where its a hot mess bc its kinda a love triangle with Enji????

Listen if ya missed pt 1... its here

TW: anything on my page is 18+, fuck outta here children and get some juice... manipulative relationships, messy love situation/ love triangle, hints at abusive relationship (between reader and her ex), her ex is also a drug addict... and a criminal... if you're wondering why this is such a messy fic its inspired by my watching the show euphoria... 

and lemme address this: i know enji got a redemption arc but i wanted to write him with a similar vibe to nates dad from euphoria... to explore the manipulative sides of age gap relationships or relationships with clearly unbalanced power dynamics, my portrayal of him here is not what i would deem perfectly canon but more a vessel for the plot and ideas i want to explore with this piece and the complexities within it, now... that being said... i give you a long awaited pt 2 to The Canary

You watch as Shouto opens the front door and slips away into the night. The door closes and upon hearing the latch click you realize you’d been holding your breath. You exhale long and slow, still stunned by Shouto’s vulnerability. He worries he will never be able to save himself. Yes, you very much relate to that problem. There is something about Shouto that scares you, looking at him in person, it feels like he is someone you’d known forever, that you should have memories of him but the place in your mind that they should be, is blank.

How he feels about you is still incredibly unclear. You had been very aware of how carefully he watched you during your meal, his eyes seemingly tracking each of your movements and committing them to memory. Dinner was uncomfortable, you had wanted to hide and simultaneously prove yourself to him; that you were different from his idea of who you must be considering the circumstances. You knew what he thought; that you were just some shallow girl dating his dad for the money. But that wasn’t the truth.

Maybe someday you and Shouto would learn the truth of who the other was, your pasts, desires for the future, and maybe what that feeling was that made him seem so familiar. You could easily picture yourself trying to make him laugh on a warm spring day and you smile to yourself.  

“Well I’m glad to see you smiling,” Enji remarks as he sits next to you on the couch. “Shouto can be a bit harsh, I apologize…” Enji murmurs and wraps his arm around you, a protective and comforting gesture. “No, it’s okay, it’s only natural for him to feel suspicious or confused,” you console. You pull your legs onto the couch and snuggle into the cushions.“I’ll talk to him about it,” he offers but you shake your head. “No, it’s really okay, I think he’s warming up to me.” Enji raises an eyebrow at you and smiles slightly. “Shouto doesn’t warm up to others easily… or at all,” he dismisses and kisses your cheek. You look up at him and blink. “I’m not worried ‘bout it… best to just give it time,” you smile. Enji gives you a single nod before his expression falls stern.  “As much as I enjoy your optimism, we need to discuss Friday, I won’t be able to go and I don’t want you going alone.” You inhale slowly and hold your breath until you can figure out the words exactly.

“Enji, I told you, I can take care of myself for a night, I don't need you to watch over me every time I do a gig.” His gaze bores into yours, eyes piercing. “And I’ve asked  you nicely not to play this weekend, you’re sophisticated now, a place like the Viper Lounge should be considered beneath you.” You move away from his touch, crossing your arms. While Enji is more supportive than anyone else about your music career, he still didn’t understand. He had been a hero, a place like The Viper is considered scummy in his circle but for you it’s the holy grail of performance venues. You explain time and time again and the words are becoming dull and grey with repetition. “It’s one of the best places for someone who’s looking to get scouted to perform… and the Viper  invited me, that's a big deal.” Enji shifts to face you, “I know this feels big to you but it’s just a small set in a shitty dive.”

A part of you wanted to cry hearing those words, but the tears didn’t come. Just a small, sad smile. “There’s going to be talent scouts and agents there… just to see who was selected for the line up and I’m the closing set… It's a pretty big deal.”  

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Shouto walks from the house, his head filled with thoughts of you. Your smile, your voice, that ridiculous yellow guitar. Your eyes, their inquisitive nature. He thinks back to his answer to your question, “I'm afraid that no matter how many people I save, that I’ll never be able to save myself.” He sighs, he can’t remember the last time he could be so honest with someone, let alone someone who was practically a stranger… But there is something about you that seems oddly familiar, though for what reason he felt this way was unclear.

He is about halfway to his car when he feels how light his pants pocket is. His phone… he must have left it inside somewhere, maybe the kitchen? He sighs, he doesn’t want to return to the house, to have to look at you again after being so honest. He had been bold in hopes of- well he isn’t all that sure why he had said something like that so openly, all he knows is the heat is creeping to his cheeks. He takes a breath before hesitantly opening the door. He collects himself, hoping you wont be able to see his embarrassment.

“I told you, there will be plenty more opportunities and you won't have to perform in such a dump,” he hears his fathers voice. He knows that voice… Shouto opens his mouth to call out but shuts it again hearing your icy tone, “you’re not listening... Enji.” Shouto’s eyebrows raise in surprise, you’re not as childish as he first thought. In fact, it seems you’re holding your own against his father in an argument of sorts. He hears Enji laugh mockingly, “I’m not listening? What about Kai?” There’s a long pause, the sound of cicadas filling Shouto’s ears while the name Kai tumbles around his mind. He knew that name from somewhere. “What about Kai?” your voice is so low he can barely hear it. “Is he going to be there?” Enji pushes. Your voice raises slightly in aggravation, “I don't know, I don't talk to Kai, I haven’t said a word to him since the day I left.” Enji scoffs, “Really? It’s suspicious that the Viper Lounge invites you to perform when you’re almost a year out of that scene, he has connections there, what if he’s just using this “gig” as an excuse to get close to you? C’mon y/n, use your head.” Enji’s tone is viciously condescending. Shouto clenches his jaw, waiting for your reply. “I’ve thought about that possibility, but it's an event to showcase new upcoming artists and I haven’t performed there solo before, so I don’t find it totally unbelievable they would ask me.” For once Enji has no rebuttal and you take that as your cue to continue. “Kai isn’t even in the line up… and even if he was, I’m going because this is important to me, this has nothing to do with him.”

Shouto couldn’t keep standing outside listening, he had to get his phone now. He briskly steps inside and shuts the door loudly behind him. “I left my phone,” he announces as he walks through the house to the kitchen. The silence that follows his interruption makes him worry you both figured out he had been listening, though perhaps you were both just embarrassed to be caught arguing. He finds his phone by the kitchen sink and pockets it quickly, before heading back towards the door. He nods towards you both before turning his back.

“Hey Shouto?” The sound of your voice stops him in his tracks. He shifts carefully to face you and sees your eyes glinting with mischief. “You own a hero agency right?” Shouto nods, watching carefully to see where you were going with this. “I’m sure then that you would have a hero capable of a simple bodyguard job, for just this little gig I’m doing on Friday, I know it’s last minute so if you don’t have anyone… I’ll be fine.” He had to play this carefully so as not to expose himself for eavesdropping. “Where’s the gig?” “The Viper Lounge,” Enji scoffs. His father must be furious that you’ve now involved a third party. If there was something Enji Todoroki hated, it was airing his dirty laundry. Shouto was careful not to laugh… you were far smarter than he initially gave you credit for.

“I’ve performed at the Viper before… tons of times-``''You have, but only with Kai Chisaki.” Your face tells Shouto that name hits a sore spot. Hearing his whole name sparks Shouto’s memory and he realises who Kai is. Kai Chisaki, an underground rapper… face tattoos and some nasty habits that earned him a hell of a rap sheet; burglary, assault, possession of unlicensed weapons, public indecency, drug counts too high to keep track of… He’d been arrested again a few months ago, but just like the last, he was bailed out and the charges were dismissed.

“But the Viper asked me to be a part of this gig for showing off upcoming talent… Enji’s just worried for me because he can't be there and my ex has a reputation- ``''That’s putting it lightly,” Enji interrupts, “he’s scum, deserves to rot in prison.” You rub your palms on your thighs and smile gently at Shouto. “I just think the situation would be more comfortable for everyone if I had some protection… Maybe you know of someone that could watch out for me for the night?”

Shouto resists the urge to volunteer, though the temptation of hearing your voice again is overwhelming. “Tch- as if I would trust any of the foolish heroes Shouto babysits to watch after you in that cesspool…” You gaze at Enji with big doe eyes, your body turning, hands inching towards his father’s legs. “You trust Shouto don��t you?” Enji pauses, before he sighs “I do.” You give him a winning smile, “then he’ll pick someone fit for the job.” Enji’s brow creases pensively, “Shouto,” he addresses. Shouto meets his father’s eyes, his heartbeat quickening as he realises what he’s about to ask. “What are your plans Friday? Could you take her?”

Shouto pretends to consider it, but really he counts the seconds until he can agree. He didn’t really know what it was about you that made him want to go with you so badly to this gig. It’s a separate part of himself that Shouto was unfamiliar with, a part of him that wasn’t thinking but desired only to know you… or understand you? There was just something about you. That was all he knew for sure. He nods, trying his best to hide his true feelings. “I could make arrangements to accompany y/n, as long as,” he looks at you, “you’re comfortable with that.” You hold out your hands defensively and shake your head, “if you have to move things around- you’re so busy- I-I don’t wanna cause you any trouble.” Shouto dismisses your statement, “it’s not trouble, I wouldn’t agree otherwise.”

You shift uncomfortably, “as long as you’re sure…” Shouto turns towards the door, facing forward as he leaves you with these words. “It’s important to you, right? Just accept my help.” He opens the door, and holds the frame tightly. He knows he shouldn’t, he hears the chorus of voices telling him not to look back, but it's that one part of him again that takes control and turns his head. He can’t help but smile slightly seeing your expression. Mouth parted and brow raised slightly in surprise. Beautiful.

“We’ll connect about details sometime during the week,” he confirms, “see you Friday.” He hears you call out your gratitude as he closes the door and makes for his car. He slides into the driver's seat and turns on the engine and looks towards his childhood home. The light from the windows casts a glow onto the grass. He finally exhales and with each new breath he gains more clarity about the situation. He shouldn’t care about you, he can’t let himself get any closer. He would help you with this gig and go back to avoiding family dinner like the plague. Shouto leans his head back into the seat and puts the car in reverse. He tries his best to shake off these thoughts but that little devil on his shoulder keeps cackling and whispering suggestions he chooses to immediately ignore.

He pulls out of the driveway and onto the road, pushing thoughts of you away and doing his best to find another topic to think about, something to distract him from the confusion of his swirling emotions. But as much as he tries, he can’t stop thinking about you.

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[theyilinglaozus]

Word of Honor spoilers for episode 29 onwards under cut:

Okay, so I know the last few episodes were hurried. I know there were budget constraints, so don’t get me wrong here. I truly understand that there are things that just haven’t been wrapped up because there just wasn’t the time available to do so, and that there are things that are being explained either.

But can I just say how hilarious I am finding it that no one seems to care that Zhou Zishu has likely literally killed Prince Jin or at the very least left him for dead?

When Zishu’s being tortured by Window of Heaven he’s like ‘oh I’m dying anyway so it’s okay if I die here, but if you kill me before I can help you save the Prince from what I’ve done ... well then I guess Prince Jin dies by your hand as much as mine’. He’s then saved by those still loyal to him and then later Wen Kexing and his Ghosts, goes back to the Four Season’s Manor where everyone just seems to randomly be and goes to recover and -

- no one comes looking for him to exact revenge??? No one asks what happened to the Prince??? No one even mentions if he’s alive or dead??? Even though so many of the Prince’s guards and Window of Heaven members were quick to take Zishu in as a prisoner after the attack???

It’s like ‘he’s no longer important to this story therefore you don’t need to remember him’ and I’m just sitting here being all ‘no???? Please tell me if he died because I kinda wanna know if Zishu killed his cousin / the person he gave so many years of his life in service to as an assassin? That seems like an important part for his character arc, as well as a closing on a chapter his past.

It’s not a big deal - maybe I’ll add it to the ficlets I want to write for WoH to fix a few gaps after I finish the series over the weekend. But I am just kind of laughing about how the plot moves on over this entire point without even someone say ‘oh did you hear Prince Jin is in a bad way’ or ‘hey heard the Prince died?’

Sorry Prince Jin but ((old man shrug)) guess you’ll die offscreen.

[wafflesetc]

I’ll be there for you II- Chapter 5 (previously)

A/N: It’s been a while. More like a hot second. It was much needed the time I took from writing some of my original stuff. I’ve been in a much better place and have been able to find my footing again. A special thanks to  @missclairebelle,  @kkruml, @walkinginland​ and @happytoobserve! Sometimes it really does take a village and I am so grateful to have them in mine. This chapter will be a two part arc, so hang on tight.  XO. 

The One With The First Fight Claire 

Late Tuesday Night

What was happening? I didn’t really know.

Was it something I could blame on the hormones? Probably. 

Was it something that was inevitable? Maybe.

Being with Jamie was something that was as easy as breathing. He was a missing half I hadn’t known I had even been missing. Our coming together was under less than ordinary circumstances, yet falling in love with your best friend-- that’s the thing I had heard about in movies. I had never seen myself falling for a red-headed Scot from the Highlands.

Truthfully, I hadn’t seen myself falling for anyone. Especially not when it came to the long haul. I had a plan for my life: medical school, residency, trying to save the world. I had always just had a plan for me.  I had never envisioned having to involve someone else in my hopes and dreams.

In retrospect, I had been self sufficient for so long that it almost hindered me. It was one of my greatest strengths, yet it was also my biggest flaw.  And while I had dated men off and on for long spurts, marriage had never seemed like it would happen for me. 

I also had not pictured myself becoming a mother, yet here I was. I had reached 17 weeks. The app on my phone said baby girl was the size of a pomegranate. I was starting to have some small stretch marks on my hips. My boobs were itchy and it seemed like every time I got on the scale the number just grew heavier and heavier. Not that I minded- because I didn’t. Our little lass was healthy, and that was all I could ask for.

So much had changed in my life in such a short amount of time. Things had been perfect… It was only right that something happened and a blow up occurred. The honeymoon phase couldn’t last forever.

My hand searched the vacant spot next to me. The sheets were cold and the lack of his presence set chills down my spine. He hadn’t come to bed yet- if at all. I reached for my phone and glanced at the screen - 2:08AM. No missed calls. No text messages. Nothing.

Hmmmm I mused to myself. Slowly, I got out of our bed and walked around our bedroom. No sign of the clothes he had been wearing discarded on the floor. It looked like nothing had been touched. I made my way through the living room and into the kitchen, no sign of Jamie anywhere. 

I could feel a sense of urgency and nervousness rising in the pit of my stomach. Surely nothing had happened to him- if it had, someone at the hospital would have called me.  They would. Geillis, no doubt. 

I took the plaid blanket from the edge of the couch and wrapped myself in it, waiting.

12 Hours Earlier (2:15PM) Jamie

“She hasna been home in almost 50 hours.” He looked to the right before entering the crosswalk. “I get she is a doctor, but it’s no’ just her she’s looking after now.  We have the bairn coming and I dinna think she should be on her feet this long.”

He heard John’s sigh through the phone and could picture the eye roll that went with it. “I heard you Jamie, but Claire is a smart woman. And she is a doctor… I highly doubt she would take any unnecessary risk that would cause harm to her or the child.” 

“Yer no’ helping me, man.” He clutched his phone a little tighter. “It’s my child too- I think I have some say.”

“I agree with you, friend. I think you have a right- as the father of the child- and as her boyfriend to have the discussion with her,” John let out a breath, “But remember it is her body and her career, ultimately she is the one who will make the final call.”

“I ken.” Jamie said, stopping in his tracks. He leaned against the wall behind him. “I just… I dinna want anything to happen to her or the bairn. When she’s home I can protect them but when she’s gone, I canna do a thing.” 

“That’s a natural response, Jamie. You two will find the balance- this has all been moving at a rapid pace and there’s been very little time for you or Claire to adjust.” 

“Aye” He mumbled, trying to listen to his friend. Logically he knew John was right but he was still slightly annoyed that his friend didn’t agree with him.” Weel, listen, I have to walk into a meeting here in a minute. I’ll talk to her tonight.” 

“Good luck.” John encouraged him as the call promptly ended. 

He gathered the last of his reserve, stashing his phone in his pocket and headed into his work meeting. 

                                                   ___________

He was tired- mentally, physically, emotionally. The work project he had on a deadline was wearing him out. It had been days of meetings upon meetings in person. It was late nights staring into his computer screen. 

And somehow, it was only Tuesday.

The start of the weekend hadn’t been bad. Claire had gotten home at a reasonable hour and spent the night lounging in his old shirt while watching medical documentaries on the TV. He had completed two work proposals with her feet in his lap. It had been decided they were ordering in- their favorite Thai place from right down the road. Later that night, she had fallen asleep in their bed with her head in his lap. The pressures from his job eased every moment he looked to find her presence close to his.

Saturday was a day she used to clean the apartment. Claire had turned on her 80s romcom playlist, still wearing his shirt from the night before. She hadn’t even bothered to wash her hair. He had set up camp on the dining room table. Papers and plans laid out all around him. There were no conference calls or videos to be had, but finalization of contracts and plans. 

His favorite thing about the day had been the sheer fact that Claire had decided not to wear any breeks. His shirt hung just past the bottom of her bum and every time she reached just up enough he caught a glimpse of her solid round arse. Her hips had been slowly changing becoming a wee bit wider. It was subtle and normal people wouldn’t see it- she was carrying her  pregnancy in her petite frame, yet with the changes there was just more for him to dote on.

“You like me just for my butt.” She quipped when she wiped down the last window. 

“Aye,”  He had said, closing his computer. “I am done for the day, Sassenach. It’s been the first real day we have alone and together. I dinna intend to spend it staring at yer arse, when I can fondle it.” 

“See if you can make me scream.” She challenged him. 

The next morning he woke to find her kneeling beside his side of the bed. 

“I don’t want to leave you,” She whispered, running her hands through his hair, “But I must. The hospital is short staffed and you,” she kissed the top of his nose, “Have some deadlines. I think we both are better off getting actual work done.” 

“Will ye be home, later?” His voice was husky with sleep. 

“I should be. I’m tired, I didn't really sleep last night thanks to you.” She smiled at him, her curls falling down the sides of her face.

“Mmmm, it doesna sounds like ye were complaining to me.” He reached his hand from under the covers and placed it on the small swell of her belly. “Take care of yerself, Sassenach.” 

“I’ll take care of the both of us, I promise.” She said in honesty. She placed a hand over his, squeezing it. “I know my limits.” 

The sound of her pager went off, reminding him of their goodbye. 

“I’ll call you on my break, love you!” 

It was the last thing she said as he turned over and fell back asleep.

[abigailnussbaum]

Legends of Tomorrow, Season 5

I was going to write weekly reviews of this season, and then with one thing and another ended up dropping it in the spring (hey, remember when there was so much weekly TV that you couldn’t keep up with all your shows? Wonder how long it’ll be before that happens again). I caught up with the entire season this weekend, and honestly, that feels like a better standpoint from which to write about it - I think if I’d stuck with weekly reviews, I would have ended up saying the same thing week after week.

A couple of years ago, Emily VanDerWerff suggested that there is a standard lifecycle for high-concept, large ensemble, off-the-wall genre shows: 

Season 1: still figuring this whole thing out 

Season 2: now we’re cooking with oil 

Season 3: we can do anything! 

Season 4: whoops, no, we’ve gotten a bit over our skis here 

Season 5: ??? 

Legends, I think, encapsulates this progression to a T. The show’s second and third seasons were some of the best and most exciting genre storytelling on television, but last year was a bit of a mess. That’s not entirely the writers’ fault - Nick Zano’s limited availability due to family obligations forced them to beef up the Time Bureau’s role in the season, and their desire to keep Maisie Richardson-Sellers on board even after Amaya’s story had wrapped up led them to create a character, Charlie, who had no real reason for being on the Waverider. But a lot of it was self-inflicted. The cast was too unwieldy, the Time Bureau story seemed designed to expose the thin spots in the show’s self-presentation as irreverent but fundamentally compassionate (it certainly didn’t help that the decision to rewrite Nate Sr. into a good guy was made almost at the last minute, requiring the entirely unconvincing argument that forcing magical creatures to perform in a circus act is somehow morally superior to forcing them to be secret agents), and some of the character choices felt entirely parachuted in (Zari/Nate, anyone?).

Season five, therefore, had a lot of clean up work to do, while also demonstrating that the Legends formula had more life in it than just those two transcendent early seasons. And while this is undeniably a more successful, more enjoyable season than the one preceding it (which also does a great deal to address some of the show’s structural issues, chiefly the overlarge cast), I also can’t help but notice that instead of finding new places for the show to go, what the fifth season delivers instead is a hodgepodge of story elements from seasons two and three. So we’ve got a mystical object that can rewrite reality (The Loom of Fate vs. season two′s The Spear of Destiny); a token hunt across time and space in which the Legends face off against the estranged relatives of one of their members (the totems in season three vs. the search for the pieces of the loom, Amaya’s evil granddaughter vs. Charlie’s evil sisters); a late season loss that forces our characters into a nightmarish alternate reality in which they don’t even remember who they are (the Legion of Evil rewriting the Legends’ lives to make them ordinary and unsatisfying vs. being stuck in TV shows in a world run by the Fates); which comes about because of a betrayal by a member of the team (Charlie in season five, Mick in season two) whose eventual return to the fold enables to Legends to win in the end. There’s even an abandoned, abused girl who has turned evil, and has to be won back to the side of good through the offer of true companionship and understanding (Nora Darhk vs. Astra Logue).

This isn’t exactly a bad thing - a lot of these storytelling beats cut to the very core of what Legends is and what makes it work, so it’s not necessarily wrong for the show to repeat them. And even if the basic structure is the same, Legends just keeps getting more adventurous in how it delivers that structure. I’ve already written about how well done the season’s mockumentary episode was, and the same can be said for the 80s slasher movie riff, the Mr. Rogers parody, and of course, “The One Where We’re Trapped on TV”. Like the multiple universe episode in season four, these are things the show couldn’t have done when it was just a few seasons old, and they’re proof that whatever other issues it has, Legends is constantly pushing the envelope in terms of the kind of tropes and genres it can graft onto a superhero template. That said, there’s a very real possibility that this is all the show will ever be - a standard story template, enlivened by increasingly gonzo riffs on existing tropes.

Some more thoughts on where the season worked and where it didn’t below.

THE GOOD:

I really hated the decision to make Nora a fairy godmother in season four, not least because it felt like yet another way of infantilizing her (it certainly didn’t help that it was a choice she was forced into, and that she spent the remainder of the season catering to the every whim of Gary, a character I still have very mixed feelings towards). But season five really reclaims that choice. Having Nora embrace the fairy godmother life as a way of both helping children and working through her own issues makes a lot of sense, and the character feels happier and more confident than we’ve ever seen her (certainly a step up from how gloomy she was last season). I even like the wardrobe change - once the fairy godmother dress was ditched except for specific occasions, having Nora dress all in teal is a nice touch, and certainly an improvement over her rather boring season four wardrobe. I still think Legends missed a lot in how it handled Nora last season (I will never stop being annoyed that she and Sara didn’t develop a deeper friendship, given how similar their life trajectories have been), but this was a good way of righting the ship, even in a very limited timeframe.

I already mentioned this in the episode review, but watching the rest of the season really cemented my admiration for how quickly the show embeds Behrad into the crew, and makes it feel as if he’s always been there. That’s all the more impressive given that Behrad doesn’t really get an arc in season five. Most of that storytelling energy goes to establish Zari 2.0, and Behrad is, of course, absent for much of the latter half of the season. And yet he feels almost instantly like a fully-rounded character who is integral to the show, so much so that you’re heartbroken by his death (and convinced that it will be rolled back, even though Zari could easily take over his superpower). That’s really excellent work by both the writers and Shayan Sobhian.

I was a bit nervous when Zari 2.0 was introduced, because replacing a heroic, cool-girl-coded, nobly self-sacrificing character with a version of herself who is extremely femme-coded and obsessed with things like fashion and social media is the sort of move that is ripe for easy misogynistic point-scoring in the guise of feminism - of course the Zari who is good with machines and eats donuts is superior to the one who has a perfume line and spends hours in the bathroom every morning! But the show very quickly established that Zari, though certainly not without her flaws, is awesome in any guise, and it did so without trying to change her into “our” Zari, eventually even establishing that they are two completely different people, each with a right to exist (though not simultaneously, unfortunately). I get why the show didn’t keep both Zaris around - it would be asking a lot of Tala Ashe to play two characters, much of the time against herself, not to mention a production nightmare - but I appreciate that it didn’t decide that Zari 2.0 was the lesser version. (Also a nice touch: Behrad, though obviously fond of Zari 1.0, doesn’t think of her as “his” sister, even though to us she’s the “real” version of the character.)

Similarly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Ava moved to the Waverider full time - obviously, it would be an improvement on her playing a tinpot fascist at the Time Bureau while the show pretended that this wouldn’t really bother Sara, but at the same time Sara and Ava are both so similar in their functions and abilities that I worried they’d step on each other’s shoes. Instead, the show leaned into their differences and made the season about Ava finding her place as captain of the Waverider, a role she fills in very different ways than Sara while still doing a good job at it. It also allowed her to expand her point of view a little - bonding with Zari 2.0, or reaching out to Astra, both things that would have been outside of her comfort zone in the past. Obviously, this is setup for Ava taking over as captain in season six now that Sara has been abducted (though I hope not for very long - Legends isn’t Legends without Sara), but good on the show for taking the time to bring Ava to a point where she’s ready for this, and in a different way from Sara.

And speaking of looking ahead, the show takes the wise step of thinning out its cast. Personally, I would have kept Ray, Nora, and Mona and written off Constantine and Nate (and possibly also Gary), but either way, it’s good that the writers realized their cast was getting unwieldy. I was concerned, for example, that the show figuring out what to do with Charlie and giving her an elaborate backstory was a sign that she would stay on, but instead she leaves once that story is resolved. And I think that in an earlier season, Astra would have been positioned to stay on the Waverider after the end of the season, but instead she’s clearly a one-off character, who goes off to live her own life once the show has brought her story to a satisfying conclusion. (This also, however, means that Legends has written off two black women in a single season, not to mention Mona, and in fact has only one WOC main character remaining; I hope that’s something season six addresses.)

THE BAD:

I realize that I am very much in the minority on this, but I’m sorry: John Constantine does not belong on Legends of Tomorrow, and certainly not as a main character. Season five feels, in fact, like a perfect demonstration of this simple truth. The early parts of the season feel like two different shows, the Legends show and the Constantine show, that happen to have some points of intersection and shared characters. And even once those storylines converge, it’s notable how John’s quest for the Loom of Fate very quickly becomes Astra’s quest for it, and then Charlie’s, and how they both feel more grounded in that story and more affected by it than he was. What it comes down to, once again, is that John Constantine is a character who can’t change, and putting him on a show that is all about change and growth can’t help but feel unsatisfying for both the character and the show. Season five tries to suggest that change is possible for him - he finally comes clean with Astra and make a real apology to her; he admits that his pursuit of magic has cost him relationships and a chance at happiness; he reaches out to his friends when he thinks his life is about to end; he even quits smoking. But the character just doesn’t have that much give in it. To be John Constantine, he has to be the cynical, arrogant, self-destructive fuck-up we’ve always known. On a show like Legends of Tomorrow, that can work in small doses, but not as the main character that Constantine has been positioned as.

Though I’m glad that the show figured out something to do with Charlie before writing her off, the similarities between her story and Mick’s can’t help but shed a light on how poorly thought out this character has been, and how much her season five story is parachuted in. When Mick betrays the team at the end of season two, it’s barely a season after they’d put him off the ship for being perennially untrustworthy, leading to him becoming their nemesis. They only take him back out of pity for the decades of torture he suffered, and sympathy for the loss of his only friend, Captain Cold. His betrayal is a direct outcome of those cracks in the relationship - he does it because he wants to live in a world where he hasn’t been hurt or hurt others, and where his friend is still alive. When he changes his mind at the end of the season, it’s a culmination of two seasons of character growth, the realization that holding on to the pain in his life is worth it if it means he gets to keep the friendships he formed on the Waverider, and to continue to grow as a person - as expressed by his choice to put Snart back in his timeline, where he will become a better person (and eventually inspire Mick to do the same) but will also die. Charlie’s very similar storyline just doesn’t have this kind of depth. Neither her heel turn nor her face turn feel particularly earned, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that it took the writers so long to figure out who this character even was.

For a season of Legends, this was an awfully heteronormative stretch of episodes. Sure, Sara and Ava are still center stage, and that’s fantastic. But every other romantic relationship in the season, and there are quite a few of them, is a straight one. You might blame this on the fact that season five is a housecleaning season, wrapping up dangling storylines like Ray/Nora or Nate/Zari. But even the new characters like Behrad or Lita express only opposite-sex attraction (I guess Astra never demonstrates a preference). I mean, if you give John Constantine two different love interests in a single season and they’re both women, surely something has gone terribly wrong?

And speaking of John Constantine’s love interests, is putting him together with Zari meant to make the old her’s romance with Nate look organic and true to the characters in comparison? Because I can’t think of another reason for it. Do not want.

THE UGLY:

Words cannot express how much I hate the Damien Darhk episode. Not all of it, obviously - the Mr. Rogers riff, as I said, is pretty good (and pays off handsomely later in the season), and pretty much all the Ray/Nora stuff, especially the moment where she realizes she’s not going to lie to her father about the man she loves and the life she’s chosen, are golden. But it is simply mind-boggling that after two seasons in which Nora was firmly established as the survivor of a lifetime of abuse, Legends takes an entire hour to not only rehabilitate Damien, but pretend that he was always a loving father who just made some mistakes. For crying out loud, the man fed his daughter to a demon in order to gain power for himself. It was always an interesting wrinkle in his character that he clearly saw himself as a loving, protective parent, and was even capable of some level of self-sacrifice on Nora’s behalf, but I had assumed that the show realized this was at least partly a self-serving lie. To discover that we’re actually meant to think that one act of sacrifice cancels out a lifetime of abuse is nauseating. I wanted Nora to stand up to her father, but as a victim calling out her abuser, not a loving daughter trying to renegotiate a relationship with an overprotective parent. It certainly doesn’t help that the episode features inexplicably popular wedding story tropes, such as the groom asking the bride’s father for permission to marry her, or the father trying to keep the couple from physical intimacy before the wedding, which are gross in any context but especially so here. I suppose in the end it’s all worth it to be rid of Damien once and for all, but I was squirming with discomfort and rage throughout the entire episode.

[dragonotaku-justineverything]

Majin 21 using her tail to get Jaune off

I fucking loved this ask! Thank you @nate-the-content-creator!

I also really got into this ask. By that I mean 3050 words into it! Hope you all enjoy reading as much as I did writing it. I can also post it to my Ao3 page if you’d all like. Just let me know if I should!

{21′s Counseling Arc} 

Jaune stood outside one of the professors offices in Beacon. This office belonged to Ms. Android 21. He’d had been called to his professor’s office on the weekend, so he wasn’t expecting something good. When he knocked, Ms. 21 had called him inside and told him to close the door. He was a little unnerved but did as he was told on both regards. 

Ms. 21 was sat behind her desk, doing paperwork. When she heard Jaune enter. she leaned back in her chair and smiled. “Hello Mr. Arc.”

“Hello Ms. 21.” Jaune remembered when that should have sounded weird, but after almost a year at Beacon and calling her that, it didn’t even phase him now. He also knew that when she called him “Mr. Arc“, it wasn’t good news.

“Please, take a seat.” 21 gestured to the cushioned chair right in front of her desk, which Jaune did indeed sit down in. “You’re probably wondering why I called you here on your day off from school correct?” Jaune nodded. “Well it’s because I just received this.” She held up a vanilla envelope. “Your report card.”

And just like that, Jaune’s face paled. “R-really? A-and what about it?”

21 sighed and opened the envelope. She took out the sheets of paper and looked at them briefly before extending them out for Jaune to take. Jaune’s hand shook a fair bit as he accepted the papers. As he started to look over them, he heard Ms. 21 speak. “I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I’m proud of you Jaune.”

Jaune glanced up at her in confusion after hearing her use his first name before looking back down at his grades.

Grimm Studies: B-

Combat Class: B

Dust Affiliation: A- 

History: B-

Aura Control and Manipulation: A

Strategic Thinking: A

Jaune stared at the letters. After rereading them four times, he moved on to the comments his other professors wrote. All of which we commenting on how he’s improved recently and is becoming a better student. Except Oobleck, he couldn’t make out a thing that man’s chicken scratch read. But even Professor Goodwitch had written some okay things about him! That was huge!

Jaune felt joy well up inside of him at all of it. This was proof her was getting better! That maybe he was meant to be at Beacon! He couldn’t help but let a goofy smile form on his face as he looked up to his professor. “You really had me Ms. 21! I thought it was going to be like last time!”

21 giggled at her student’s smile. His joy was pretty infectious. Now down to business. “I couldn’t help it. It helped sell the surprise though. However, speaking of the last time you were here, do you remember what I said near the end of our conference?”

Jaune paused to think. It was vague, but he remembered something. “You said that I needed to try harder to do better.”

“Yes I did, which you have, but also promised that if you managed to bring your grades up to a suitable level, I’d reward you personally.” 21 opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a file folder. She put it on her desk, opened it, then pushed it towards Jaune. “This was your report card from last semester.”

Jaune winced as he saw his old grades.

Grimm Studies: F

Combat Class: D

Dust Affiliation: D- 

History: F

Aura Control and Manipulation: C

Strategic Thinking: C

21 saw his wince when he looked over his past work. “Nothing higher than a C last semester. And now nothing lower than a B-! All you grades went up at least two marks! That’s a great accomplishment Jaune. And the fact that you managed to improve this much in just a single semester is outstanding.”

Jaune turned bashful and started listing off reasons/excuses. “W-well I-I had a lot of help. Pyrrha started training me, Blake made me spend more time in the library,”

“Jaune.”

“-Weiss let me join in on her tutoring sessions with Ruby, and both our teams started have study groups at least once a week and every night before a test!”  

“Jaune!”

21 stopped her student. He fell silent and she smiled warmly. “All of that may be true. Maybe you did get help and needed others to push you a bit. But there isn’t a person alive that doesn’t need help at some point. However, the fact of the matter is that you wanted to get better. So you accepted their help and pushed yourself. If you didn’t want to better yourself, then you wouldn’t have even tried. And that is something to be very proud of Jaune.”

As his teacher reassured him, Jaune felt pride swelling inside him. His eyes grew misty against his will so he rubbed them dry with his sleeve. “Thank you Professor, that…that means more to me than you know.”

21 nodded and then clapped her hand once, suddenly and loud. “Well now we need to move on to the second reason you’re here right now. Since I feel that these grade improvements are easily ‘suitable’, it’s time for your reward.”

“Oh, Ms. 21 I really don’t-”

“Now now, none of that. I promised you I’d reward you personally and I won’t feel right if that was just an empty promise. You did work very hard to achieve this, so I feel like you deserve something in return for your efforts. While you did improve much more quickly than I’d expected, I fully intend to follow through on my word.”

21 stood up from her desk and walked over to the door. “Besides,” She twisted the lock close and brought down the curtain to her door’s window. “I think I thought of something that a hard working young man like you would enjoy very much.”

Jaune turned around in his seat to look at his professor and what she was doing. Ms. 21 stood by her office door, taking off her red glasses before she activated her semblance and turned into her Majin form. Everyone at Beacon knew about her semblance. Most of them also feared it for good reasons. Which is the reason Jaune sprung out of the chair he was in and nearly flipped over 21′s desk. 

Her long auburn hair turned such a pale shade of pink that it was almost white, her skin also turned pink, though a darker shade, her ears grew more angled, and her eyes turned from normal blue eyes to solid black with blood red irises. A smug smirk formed on her face. 

Her clothes changed too. Her red and blue square patterned dress with a white lab coat, black leggings and red and blue shoes seemed to just morph with her body. Now in her Majin form she wore a black tube top that was barely enough to hide the bottom half of her D-cup chest, but did nothing to hide the top half and most of her cleavage. Her pants became white and extremely baggy, held up by a tight gold band around her waist. A gold collar shimmered as it appeared around her neck. In fact the only thing that still remained of her original outfit was the black arm sleeves she wore from her wrist to bicep.

The most noticeable thing however was that she also grew a large, pink tail. It came out through the back of her pants just underneath her golden belt and wagged lazily behind her back.

Jaune was nervous when he saw her enter that form. It only got worse when her red eyes focused on him, and she smirked. Before he could voice any of his numerous questions, 21 disappeared. Like, she just seemed to blip out of reality. 

Though Jaune soon found out where his teacher went when two pink arms reached around from behind him and wrapped around his chest. 21 grabbed her own wrists, fully ensnaring Jaune and pinning his arms down to his side. Jaune proved she had a good grip when he instinctively struggled, but couldn’t get free or move his arms. Jaune stopped trying to break free when he felt a breeze over his legs. He looked down to see why and went wide eyed seeing his pants around his ankles. His face turned rosy red when he saw his underwear was down with his pants, leaving his penis to hang free. ‘Wh-?! H-how!? I-is Ms. 21 just that fast!?’

“Oh you look so cute~!” Jaune was brought out of his thoughts by Majin 21 speaking up. He looked over his right shoulder to see her smiling widely at him from behind him. She squeezed her arms a bit tighter around him, pressing her large, soft chest into his back below his shoulder blades. “My favorite little student has been working so hard~. Now here you are all alone with me~. You look simply adorable and delicious and you’re all mine~!!” Jaune felt something tickle his cheek and snapped his head forward again to look at what it was. 

There, less than two inches from his face, was the tip of 21′s pink tail. It swayed side to side, looking like a cobra ready to strike. It moved forward again to gently, almost teasingly, flick the tip of his nose. He followed it as it slowly moved to his side and up to 21′s own face. 

“Get ready for your reward sweetie~.” Jaune watched as 21 opened her mouth. A tongue at least a foot long roll out. Jaune watched as 21 dragged her long tongue all over her own tail. She sensually moved it up and down her tail and even wrapped her tongue in a complete ring around it as she did. Jaune’s dick slowly began rising from the show. 21 pulled back her tongue and shot her now saliva slick tail downward. 

Jaune looked down when he felt the tail push up his against his dick. 21′s tail bounced his dick up a few times. The attention helped it reach full mast. Feeling him get fully erect, 21 giggled madly while she began coiling her tail around her student’s shaft. Once, twice, three times she fully wrapped her tail around the boy’s cock and his head was still showing! 

“You’re so big! A full meal for me to enjoy~!” 21 giggled again as her tail moved, sliding easily along his shaft thanks to her spit lubing up her tail.

Jaune let out a sharp gasp at the feeling. 21′s tail felt amazing! The appendage that he’d seen crush a training drone in half, lift over 200 pounds in Beacon’s gym, and bat aside an Ursa Major effortlessly was around his cock! It was so soft and warm! It wasn’t like any faunus tail he’d seen before. It wasn’t furry or scaly, it was just silky smooth skin. Wrapped tightly around his shaft and jerking him off.

Velvety soft and warm coils pumped his cock. Squeezing down a bit tighter made Jaune gasp and when they’d loosen he’d feel it lightly brushing along his shaft. 

Each move it made up towards his head sent waves of pleasure up his body and when it came back down he tried to buck his hips into it. Jaune threw his head back and let out a throaty groan, his eyes closing in bliss. He didn’t even bother struggling anymore. He didn’t want this to end!

21 shivered slightly both from hearing Jaune’s delightful groans and the feeling of her sensitive tail sliding along Jaune’s rock hard dick. She simply loved the appetizing noises he was making! She kept pumping her tail, the smacking sounds of her tail patting back down against his hips meshing with Jaune’s moans. 

For five minutes, 21 jerked Jaune off with her tail. Squeezing and letting go with her coils so that Jaune didn’t get use to how her tail felt. He speed kept its steady rhythm. ‘Pat pat pat pat’ the sounds of light slapping sounding from Jaune’s hips when they bucked into her tail.

21 was both impressed with how well he was holding back, but also getting incredibly impatient! Jaune was getting there, but he wasn’t giving her what she wanted! From behind Jaune, she cried out, “That’s it! I know my meal will be done soon, but I can’t take it anymore! I need to taste a sample~!”

Jaune eyes shot open when he felt Ms. 21 lick his neck. Given how long it was she was even able to lick his Adam’s apple and the under side up his chin. She scrunched up her shoulders as her tongue retreated back into her mouth. “Mmmmmm! Sooooo tasty~! Bon appetit!” Without another word 21 latched her mouth and teeth on Jaune’s neck, making his body tense up. 

She softly gnawed and suck on Jaune’s skin. She was loving the taste while Jaune was loving the feeling! Her tail pumping his cock quicker than ever and the sucking on his neck was too much to handle now! 21 felt Jaune’s cock twitch as she sucked away. She gave one last nibble to his neck and pulled off, leaving a red oval with small teeth marks where she was latched on to. “Mmmmm here comes my meal~! Give it to me sweetie! Gimme gimme gimme~!”

Jaune let out a semi-restrained “Fuck!” and came. 21 moved her tail up to wrap around his sensitive head, catching all his white cum in her coils. Every strand of thick cum landing on her tail. Not a drop was missed.

As Jaune came down from his climax and panted hard, 21 finally released her grip around him. Suddenly being able to move again along with his pants still being around his ankles, Jaune stumbled forward a bit. He stood straight after catching himself on the chair in front of 21′s desk. He spun around to look at 21. 

21 had brought her tail back up to her mouth, her tongue tracing over every inch where Jaune’s cum had landed. Making several passes over the part of her tail she’d just used to get her student off, she lapped up all his baby batter and brought her tongue back into her mouth. When she close her lips again her entire body shivered. Her eyes began to sparkle as she sighed heavenly. “So thick and creamy! Absolutely delicious just like I knew you would be! 100/100!”

21 came out of her bliss when Jaune spoke. “Wh-, why did you-?”

“Oh sweetie that was your reward! The delicious snack you gave me was just a bonus for me~! So did you like it~?” 

Jaune finally caught his breath. “Y-yeah. I really did. It was amazing!”

21 clapped her hands together. “Wonderful! Now I have another promise to make too you~.” 21 sashayed up to Jaune and poked his chest. “If you can bring your grades up to perfect, you’ll get to fuck me anyway you want~! Doesn’t that sound great?”

Jaune stared into his professor’s eyes in disbelief. “Y-you’re being serious?”

21 giggled at Jaune’s dumbfounded face. “Uh huh! Bent over my desk while you fuck my ass, holding me down in a mating press as you pound my pussy, stuffing my mouth and throat with your dick, or having me jerk you off to your hearts content~! Anything for my favorite student~.” 21 watched as Jaune’s mind seemed to shut down as he probably started imagining the things she just said. 

21 let him ponder for a bit, then said a loud “But!” breaking Jaune out of his lewd daydreams. “You’ll only get your reward if all your grades are A’s. Until then, the only thing you get to fuck is my pretty tail here.” Her said tail came up to wag a little in front of him as if showing off. 21 closed the little distance that was between them and whispered in his ear with a hot breath. “So do your best Jaune~.” Her tongue traced all the way up his ear making him shiver.

“I-I will try my hardest Ms. 21!”

“Splendid! Now get going sweetie. It’s still your day off. I don’t want to hog you all day and make people suspicious.”

Jaune quickly pulled up his pants, mind still racing from what he’d just heard. He walked over to Ms. 21′s door and unlocked it. As he opened it, he waved goodbye to 21. “T-thanks again Ms. 21! I’ll do even better in the future!” 

In return 21 waved back with one hand as well with her tail. With a giggle she said, “You’d better, Mr. Arc~.” Her tail formed a quick heart shape behind her, something Jaune barely caught before it was gone. He turned around, red faced all over again and closed the door behind him when he left. As he walked down the halls back to his dorm, he completely forgot about the love bite his professor left on his neck.

…

…drip…drip…

Now alone in the silence and solidarity in her office, 21 barely stayed standing as her legs grew weak. She let out a heavenly sigh. If Jaune had looked a bit lower on his teacher, he would have seen a wet spot appearing at the crotch of her baggy pants. It finally grew so wet that it dripped down to her tile floor. 

The whole exchange she’d had with her adorable blonde student had her so wet! From hearing his moans to the pleasure of her own sensitive tail sliding along his cock! It all added up to her dripping wetness right now. And when she tasted his cum! Mmmmmm she nearly came just from that! 

Then she had the idea to offer him another reward. Those thoughts filled her head and loins with so much anticipation for what could happen in the near future. 21 stared longingly at her door as she morphed back into her normal form. The wet spot on her white pants transferring to the black leggings that took their place. She straightened up, intent to get back to work, but not before one final thought crossed her mind.

‘I can’t wait to see how you do Jaune~. I’m looking forward to your reward even more then you are~.’

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

Story word count: 3048

Posted on Tumblr: 8/6/2019

[ichigopanhpff]

BNHA Fic: Blink! Ch. 22

Read Ch. 21 | Masterlist

We are back! Sorry for the delay.

This is in between the Villains Power-up in Deika and Redemption Arc. This’ll be a festive one. Enjoy!

With the midterms finished, everyone in U.A. let out a huge sigh of relief and geared up for the holidays. Class 1-A put in a collaborative effort in putting up Christmas decorations around the dorm. Even though the school secured them a Christmas tree, the class still asked Todoroki to use his ice quirk to make a giant ice block in the courtyard for Kirishima to carve one out so the dorm would be extra festive. To really make it 1-A’s tree, Ashido suggested putting a personal item of theirs to decorate. At the end of it, their makeshift tree looked like a hot crystallized mess, yet it worked well with who they were.

Eri stopped by the dorms with Togata the weekend before Christmas because she wanted to see everyone. Ren took the chance to grab the prepared gifts from her room and came back down.

“Eri-chan,” she called and squatted down beside her to hand her the sky blue gift bag. “Merry Christmas.”

“What’s… Christmas?” she asked.

“It’s a wonderful time where people exchange gifts and have parties,” Togata explained to the young girl happily. “You also get to eat a lot of yummy food with people you like.”

“Like candied apples?” her eyes twinkled with delight thinking of the one Midoriya made for her.

“All the candied apples!” the tall blond boy strongly declared with wide gestured arms.

“Open it,” Ren encouraged.

Eri’s tiny hands reached in past the white tissue paper and took out a knitted accessory set consisting of a beret, scarf, and mittens in peach pink. Each of the items had a simple apple design stitched into it.

“It’s so pretty!” Ashido pointed out.

“This… is for me?” her small voice quivered out with excitement, with the pink-haired girl nodding with a smile gracing her lips.

“I made it for you.”

Eri wasted no time in putting the beret and scarf on her person, the apples of her small cheeks flourishing a tint of cheery pink.

“It’s so warm!” she beamed out with a full smile and laughed while snuggling into the scarf. “Thank you!”

“Waah, you look so cute!” Asui complimented and patted Eri’s head.

“The color looks so good on you, Eri-chan!” Uraraka happily endorsed.

“You look great!” Togata looked down at the elated girl with a full smile. “Now you won’t be cold when you play outside.”

“And neither will you,” Ren chimed in and handed the tall blond boy a bag.

“You… made something for me?” the muscular boy asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“Of course,” she replied with a tone of obviousness. “You can’t be a proper hero without this around this time of year.”

Surprised by her gesture, he gratefully accepted her present and pulled out a long scarf made in the colors of his hero costume. On one side of the scarf, a yellow ‘1000000’ had been intricately stitched on.

“Whoa! A handmade scarf from a girl!” Kirishima pointed out. “So friggin jealous, dude!”

“Not quite what you’re used to wearing but...” She bashfully commented with a light shrug of her shoulders. “Just a reminder of who you still are no matter what happens.”

Togata was filled with thankfulness as he clutched the scarf close to his chest, his smile widening into a full one.

“I love it.” His usual loud and happy demeanor was toned down to a rare soft and quiet one. “Thank you, Ren.”

She immediately blushed and looked away, taken aback by him not using honorifics again. Surrounding class members even noticed the label was dropped with her.

“I-It’s not a big deal...” she mumbled out and looked to the side, her blush growing more obvious by the second. At a glance, she looked like Midoriya. “I just… had extra time to make it.”

“Senpai,” Ashido called with a tone of suspicion. “You hidin’ something from us?”

“Togata-senpai...” Asui slowly spoke. “Are you and Ren-senpai an item now?”

Ren physically choked on air and saliva upon that question being asked, heaving a loud cough. All Togata did was blankly blink.

“You think we’re a couple?”

“I mean, you let slip of Ren-senpai’s name so casually without the honorific, I just presumed something developed between you two after everything,” the froggy girl explained herself. “And she did say she used to like you.”

“Tsuyu-chan!” she yelped nervously, trying to cover her now fully flushed face.

“It’s nothing like that,” Togata replied with a hearty chuckle. “Ren will always be a good friend. I’ve just found her to be more and more reliable like Tamaki after what’s happened, so I dropped the prefix to show that.”

He turned to Ren with a half curious, half concern gaze with his dark blue eyes at her startled form.

“Unless… it bothers you?”

“I-It’s fine...” she squeaked out and huffed an audible sigh, her blush pretty much permanently stained on her face. “I just need an adjustment period.”

The tug on Togata’s jacket sleeve drew his attention back to Eri.

“What does it mean to like someone?” the small girl asked. “And why are Ren-neesan’s cheeks so red?”

She knew Eri meant it as an innocent question, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel extremely called out. Students around her couldn’t help but snort out bouts of laughter.

“When you like someone, it means you’re always happy with them no matter what,” the blond boy simplified. “And Ren’s cheeks are red because she’s so happy from it.”

“Don’t dumb it down like that!” she belted out and groaned.

“Then, I really like Lemillion!” Eri strongly declared with sparkly eyes. “And Deku! And everyone here!”

Leave it up to a young child to diffuse all the tension in the room. Everyone laughed aloud and also declared how much they all liked her too. Wanting to take her new gift for a test drive, Togata and Midoriya took Eri out to the courtyard to play in the snow and show her the ice tree. Ren looked on from inside, smiling to herself. Her inner peace was short lived when Jiro wrapped her arms around her neck in a headlock from behind.

“Ren-Ren, you sneaky little minx,” she playfully cooed out. “Makin’ your senior a heartfelt present like that! Where’s ours huh?!”

“If you asked nicely, I would’ve made it,” Ren coolly replied, not caring about the pressure her junior was putting on her jugular.

“Eh?! Seriously?!” Kaminari belted out from surprise. “Then I want one!” The electric blond strongly declared with his arm shot up into the air like he was answering a question in class.

“Maybe I can make one for your birthdays...” she thought aloud and placed her hand to her chin. “That’s… gonna take a lotta time to plan out.”

“Don’t worry about it, senpai,” Kirishima disregarded. “It’s just Kaminari being desperate for a girl’s attention.”

“Bro! Don’t call me out like that!” his friend argued back. “And I’m not desperate!”

“Says the guy who doesn’t discriminate in hitting on every girl who walks by, despite them having already rejected you,” Jiro teased, now leaning into the crook of Ren’s neck, her arms draped around her shoulder.

The class spent the rest of their free time hanging out and got a head start putting up decorations for the holiday party. On Christmas Day, Sero, Kirishima and the girls helped with the finishing touches to the decorations while Asui, Ren, Sato and Bakugou tended to the food situation in the kitchen.

The rest of the crew helped with moving furniture around and set up equipment for music, games and the like. Jiro, Ren and Kaminari joined together in creating a playlist for it beforehand. Somewhere in the corner, a suspicious Ashido shot a devious grin as she hung the mistletoe at the highest and busiest spot of the common area: the narrow walkway between the common area and dining tables.  

Mission: MidoChaco is a go!

To really get into the festive mood, everyone wore a Santa Claus costume with the ball of the hat customized to reflect their quirks; the R.A.’s was a shooting star to reflect hers. Bakugou being Bakugou, refused to be “lame and dress up like the rest” and wore his usual black long sleeve skull shirt and black pants. Ashido and Kaminari pretty much made it their mission to get the explosive boy to give into peer pressure.

The aroma of various foods lingered in the air with the music playing. Copious amounts of chatter could be heard all around while some took to the makeshift dance floor. The party menu consisted of some hor d'oeuvres, giant platters of pasta, cutlets and other goodies. A baked whole chicken and desserts of bite sized cakes were made by Sato.

Mineta, spotting the mistletoe a mile away, purposely stood underneath it in hopes of catching one of the girls walking pass to kiss him. Iida thankfully put a stop to his plan by clamping his face with his palms, banishing him from the area.

“You aren’t a man, Iida!” the purple gnome shouted out. “Why would you block me from the barrage of kisses I was to get!”

“No one was really gonna do it, Mineta,” Asui pointed out. “And your underhanded tactics were already found out before you realized.”

With the party underway, Seri and Tomoe popped on by to hang out with the contagious festive mood. Everyone greeted the second years energetically.

“God-fucking damnit!” a familiar gruff voice shouted, catching the two girl’s attention. They saw the back profile of Bakugou and Ren facing the TV, playing a fighting game on console.

“Gotta do better than that to beat me, Bakkun,” Ren retorted with a cocky grin. “Eat this!”

Pressing the proper buttons, she unleashed her character’s finishing move on Bakugou’s, winning her the match.

“Fucking hell! One more time!” the explosive blond shouted and pointed at her. His grip on the controller is one squeeze away from cracking the plastic casing.

“So I can beat you again? Bring it,” she openly teased to piss him off even more.

“You should quit while you’re ahead, Bakugou-kun,” Tomoe warned.

The blond boy turned his head to face the voice, his face contorted to full on rage mode.

“The hell you say?” he glowered with his intense vermillion eyes, a vein popping out from his temple.

“Ren-Ren’s very good at fighting games. Your chances of beating her is slim to none,” Seri pointed out. “She’s always held the top three spots at the arcades when we were in junior high.”

“Fuck that shit! I’ll take her down if it’s the last thing I do,” the blond boy shot back and turned his attention back to the screen.

“Kacchan, c’mon,” Kirishima complained. “You’ve been hogging the controller. Let some of us play.”

“Shaddap, shitty hair! I’m staying on until I fuckin’ kill her!”

“Oh ho ho. Them’s fightin’ words, Bakkun.” Ren glowered with mischievous intentions. “Don’t go crying to your squad when I decimate your soul.”

“You got a lotta balls sayin’ that, senpai,” he growled out.

“Uh oh. Here comes Dark Ren,” Tomoe flatly noted within an earshot.

“What’s ‘Dark Ren’?” Midoriya asked.

“You’ll see,” Seri remarked.

A small crowd formed behind Bakugou and Ren when the new match started on screen. The two characters exchanged blows, neither one backing down in the fight. As each character’s HP crawled slower down to zero, the cheers got increasingly louder.

“Get him Kacchan!” Kaminari yelled.

“Take him down, Ren-Ren!” Tomoe shouted.

Just as Ren was about to lose, she let loose a smirk and timed her counter attack at Bakugou, consequently K.O.ing his character and won. She let out a strong laugh.

“I have defeated you,” she bullied with a cocky expression and stood up doing All-Might’s hero pose. “The queen remains undefeated, peasants! Grovel!”

“Don’t go fuckin’ copying All-Might as you’re glowering at us, you damn emo-hair!” Bakugou growled out.

“At least my hair has style, unlike yours, you unkempt porcupine!” she shot back and flipped her locks with the back of her hand.

“Standing right here...” Tomoe off-handedly blurted out dejectedly, feeling the sting of her friend’s words. Seri offered a comforting back pat and reminded her the words aren’t coming from a place of malice.

“The hell you say?! I’ll friggin’ kill you!”

“Ah...” the green haired boy quietly blurted out, eyes hollow when he suddenly had flashbacks of Kacchan from when he used to bully him in middle school. “That’s what you mean, Kubo-senpai.”

With majority of the Bakusquad trying to diffuse the tension, the two called a temporary truce over food, with Bakugou stealing the last of the cutlets from Ren as she reached for it.

“Too slow, emo-hair!” the blond barked out triumphantly and shoved the fried goodie into his mouth. “Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?!”

The pink-haired girl sulked and picked up some pasta and hor d'oeuvres instead to carb-load her sorrows as Bakugou continued to cackle loudly at his win.

“You deserved that,” Tomoe and Seri both said.

“I deserved that,” she muttered out and took a big bite of pasta.

On one side of the room, Bakugou seemed to have given up and temporarily caved in wearing his holiday get up, much to Kaminari and Ashido’s joy. As the food was being consumed, talks of internships starting up again excited all of them.  However, with it being mandatory at this point even for first years, it really showed the sense of urgency the Public Safety Administration had given what happened recently in Deika. Ren chewed on the tip of her spoon, wondering if she’d go back to Kansai for Fat Gum.

Hawks had been increasingly difficult to get in touch with. Before he became the number two hero, he would at least respond to her text messages a few days after. Nowadays, it’s just left on read.

“Why are we still talking about school?!” Mineta shouted angrily, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Mineta’s got a point,” Sato agreed as he carried in the giant roasted chicken he took out of the oven. “Let’s eat, drink and be merry!”

The front door to the dorm suddenly opened and emerged Aizawa with Eri all dressed up in a cute Santa Claus dress and hat. Everyone was fawning over how adorable she was, even though she was getting all the holidays messed up by giving Uraraka Easter Eggs and throwing Setsubun beans.

Ashido proposed to get started on the holiday group games. Whoever lost the most amount of games will have to do the Pocky Punishment Game. With all the girls, except for Uraraka in on the plan, they strategically mapped out where they’ll take their wins and losses as they knew where the auburn haired girl’s strengths and weaknesses laid.

First up was a no-laughing contest, to which Kaminari won hands down with his signature ‘whey’ face. Next was a game of Twister, to which Mineta was all too eager to play. Having planned this ahead of time, the girls purposely put him with only the group of boys in his heat, subsequently pissing him off. The group up first was Midoriya, Uraraka, Ren and Bakugou. In order for them to have better maneuverability, they removed their Santa coats and wore their usual clothes underneath.

“Why do I have to be in the same group as the damn nerd?!” the blond shouted.

“That’s just how the cookie crumbles, I guess,” Ren casually commented.

“The hell does that even mean?!”

“Language, Bakkun,” she shushed. “A child is present.”

“Okay, let’s get started!” Ashino announced and spun the pointer on the card. “Right foot, yellow!”

The four found their dot and placed the requested limb on top. The pointer spun again to left hand, blue, to which they obeyed.

“This game’s ridiculous,” Bakugou complained through gritted teeth.

“Now, now,” the pink hair soothed.

“Left foot, green!” the pink alien shouted.

And that’s where it got awkward.

Midoriya was straddled and bent over with Uraraka underneath, her right arm in between his legs. Ren was bent backwards with a full view of Midoriya’s posterior while Bakugou was the only one who had moderate personal space, but had a view of Ren’s side profile and Uraraka’s left thigh.

“Deku… don’t you try to touch me, you moron,” the blond growled out while holding his position.

Spectators of the game couldn’t help but burst out laughing while taking a slew of photos on their phone.

“Delete that, you damn extras! I’ll murder all of you!” Bakugou barked out.

“No way man!” Kirishima said between his gasps. “This is friggin’ gold!”

“Lord Explosion Murder in his most natural environment,” Sero tittered out.

While everyone was distracted, Ren’s lips curled up in a devilish way with a cocked eyebrow.

“Wow, Midoriya,” she said aloud. “You have a really nice butt.”

The viridian haired boy blushed profusely and whimpered as his limbs started quivering. The rest of the class wolf-whistled and cheered. Ashido spun for the next step, already catching on with what their resident advisor was going for.

“Right hand, red!”

“Uwah, this is getting hard,” the freckled boy groaned out as he attempted to reach, only to end up having his face hovering over Uraraka’s butt. It didn’t help his situation at all. Not wanting to make her loss look purposeful, the pink-haired girl reached for hers and ended up close to Bakugou’s angry face. Unfortunately for the blond, the cowl to her shirt was hanging loose enough for him to catch a glimpse of her cleavage and bra. His cheeks burned and looked away to the side.

“Right foot, blue!”

Ren tried to slide her appendage to the circle, only to have it cramp up and ended up headbutting Bakugou on his nose bridge. Both went down in the process with groans of pain.

“You moron! What the hell!” he shouted while holding his nose, only to see Ren holding her foot and forehead.

“Charlie Horse,” she hissed out, her face wincing from pain. “Sorry.”

“Ren-senpai and Bakugou are out!” Ashido announced. It was only Midoriya and Uraraka left on the mat. Gingerly standing, he unexpectedly picked up the R.A. bridal style.

“B-Bakkun! What the–”

“Just shut up,” he interrupted. “You can’t walk right?”

“I was gonna crawl, honestly.”

The blond huffed a short laugh, amused by her answer.

“You should relish in this. I don’t just carry anyone in my arms like this,” he boasted. “Consider it an honor.”

“Then I rather you drop me,” she deadpanned and lightly yelped when the blond boy did the moment they got to the couch. “Stupid conch shell.”

“Buzz-hair.”

The match continued on as the remaining two competitors’ positions got more and more awkward. At one point, Midoriya found his lower half hovering over Uraraka’s chest, his face near her navel. Ren watched the two blush fifty shades of tomato and snorted in laughter from the couch. Her leg cramp gradually subsided.

“I think they may be getting dehydrated,” Todoroki pointed out.

“Nah, they’re fine.”

“I think I see steam coming out the top of their heads.”

She huffed a breath through her nose and gestured the dual-hair colored boy to bend down. Ren whispered into his ear as to what the girl’s plans were. When he pulled away, she gestured a shush over her grinning lips and a teasing look in her eyes. After a while longer, Uraraka’s legs gave out and ended up falling on top of Midoriya, her legs straddling his right thigh.

“Wah, sorry, Deku-kun!” she shouted and leaped off, her face a mess of red blotches. “I didn’t mean to do that!”

“I-I-It’s fine, Uraraka-san,” the boy squeaked out, unable to make eye contact and looked down at the Twister mat.

“Hm, shall we call that a draw?” Ashido wondered out loud. “They both fell.”

“But the rules say whoever makes contact with the mat first loses, so that’s Midoriya no?” Shoji pointed out.

“True, but Ochaco slipped first,” Jiro added. “Making Midoriya fall from her actions.”

A small group debated among themselves and decided to rule it as a draw, considering the end goal was that much sweeter. Taking a small break before the next group, the two walked toward the kitchen to get something to drink.

“Oh! Mistletoe!” Hagakure shouted and pointed at the two.

“It’s tradition! Two people under it have to kiss,” Ren stated.

“Whaaatttt?!” they both exclaimed and flushed an impossible glowing red color.

The flustered teenagers stood underneath it awkwardly, their legs shaking out of nervousness. As everyone waited, the pink-haired girl could feel the girls’ impatience whittle down little by little. Their aura was practically screaming “KISS, DAMN IT!”

To keep this moving along, she was going to have to get her hands a little dirty. Sliding off of the couch, Ren strode up with casual purpose in between the two with an air of virility. Before either one could respond, Ren placed her hand on Midoriya’s shoulder and pecked him on the cheek before turning to Uraraka with a sinful curl of her lips.

She leaned into the auburn colored girl’s ear and whispered, “If you don’t act, someone else will steal him away.” She then peck her on her flushed left cheek before walking off.

“Back to your regular scheduled programming,” she shouted as she went to the kitchen to get a drink.

“Ren-senpai...” Ashido gushed out with a blush on her cheeks. “That was so cool!”

“I actually felt my heart beating just from watching that,” Yaoyorozu hovered her hand above her chest. “Our advisor is quite brave.”

The boys could only stare wide-eyed, mouth agape. Sure, they were brave when it came to heroics, but displaying physical affection like that?! They all collectively realized they still have much to learn. Ren came back a short moment later with a glass of water in hand like nothing happened.

“You sure are havin’ fun, Ren-Ren,” Tomoe cooed out with a grin.

“A necessary sacrifice to push along,” she calmly answered and sipped her water.

“My heart actually hurt for a moment,” Seri mock cried and splayed her hand on her chest. “How dare you do that.”

“Aw, c’mon Secchan,” Ren fake comforted her with a playful smirk. “You know you’re the only one for me.”

“Senpai, please take us under your wing to be as manly as you!” Kirishima pleaded.

“This explains so much about Takahiro-senpai’s attitude to the opposite sex,” Mineta noted in seriousness and wiped his oncoming nosebleed away with the back of his hand, his imagination getting away from him yet again.

“I assure you it’s nothing like that, you perverted grape,” Ren answered with a straight face and linked arms with Tomoe and Seri. “But these two got my heart, so boys gotta work extra to win me over,” she gushed out.

“S-S-Senpai,” Midoriya finally managed to find his voice. “Please don’t do that again.”

“Why not?” she casually asked. “It’s not like it’s the first time we’ve kissed.”

“WHAAAATTTTT?!”

“Uh oh. That came out wrong.”

“Phrasing, dearest Ren,” Seri sighed and placed her hand on her forehead.

Almost all the boys ran up to the now extremely flustered freckled boy. Kirishima immediately wrapped his neck in a headlock while Kaminari, Mineta, Iida and Sero interrogated him. Uraraka stood idly by, her face blank from shock. Senpai… kissed Deku?!

“Midoriya, you bastard! How are you getting a leg up on all of us!” the electric blond shouted out and grabbed his arm. “Tell us your secret!”

“Y’always gotta watch out for the quiet ones,” Sero noted. “They’re usually the ‘steal your girl’ types.”

“And here I thought Midoriya was one of the good ones,” Ashido flatly remarked. “How disappointing.”

“You guys got it all wrong!” the boy yelped out. “It’s not like that at all! Senpaiiii!!!!”

“Ren, you should clarify,” Seri solemnly advised. “They may actually kill him.”

“I guess so,” she mumbled. “It was just a peck on the cheek,” she shouted. “It’s nothing serious.”

“It is serious!” the group of pubescent boys shouted. “This guy’s always doin’ extra stuff on his own like we don’t friggin matter!”

“Oh boy, I think I opened a can of worms.”

The testosterone levels of the males calmed down and they were able to get through the rest of Twister, with the finalists being Sato, Iida, Midoriya, Uraraka and Todoroki. It came down to Sato and Iida at the end as the two had the most leg power. Midoriya and Uraraka ended up losing earlier on in the game when their hands accidentally touched and lost their balance. While it looked like Todoroki was going to win, his elbow ended up touching the mat and disqualified himself. With the match going a lot longer than expected, the two decided it was a draw on their own accord.

Next up was leg wrestling, where two people sit across from each other with one person’s knees were wedged in between the other’s. The point was to see if one can break through the other’s legs’ clamping power within 30 seconds.

First up were Bakugou and Kirishima. In the first round, Bakugou managed to get his legs to open about three centimeters from his vice grip thighs; when the tables turned, the redhead successfully opened his legs close to eight centimeters, declaring him the winner.

Next round was between Jiro and Yaoyorozu. Both seem to have been evenly matched in strength, to which the creating quirk user won by a thin margin. After the two girls wobbled off of the chair supporting each other, Ren and Todoroki were up. They were situated for the game, with Ren going first.

The moment the timer started, she put half of her strength into her legs to test the waters while Todoroki looked on with his usual stoic expression. Hissing breaths between her gritted teeth, she had to up the ante if she were to get anywhere with this. Using her full strength now, the hetero-chromatic boy reacted with widened eyes when he felt his legs beginning to shift little by little, her hands gripping the sides of the chair.

“And time!” Ashido called. Ren panted out loud. She threw her head back with sweat forming at the sides of her face while the spectators measured how far she got.

“4.5 centimeters!” the referee announced. “Okay, let’s switch.”

Rubbing both her thighs to relax her muscles, she lifted them off of the floor to shake them out and huffed a few hard breaths from her mouth. Positioning hers over Todoroki’s legs, she never realized how thick and muscular they were compared to his lanky build. She could feel his muscles already attacking hers the moment Ashido said go. It didn’t take long until he managed to fully spread her legs as she fell over the chair from the sudden pulling sensation on her inner thigh muscles.

“Senpai, are you okay?!” the bi-colored haired boy knelt beside her and asked with extreme worry. “Did I hurt you?”

“Just my pride,” she groaned out with her hands between her legs in fetal position.

Even Seri and Tomoe were surprised how quickly Ren went down. Out of everyone in their class, she was the second strongest when it came to leg strength. Just a beat longer, the pink-haired girl slowly got up off of the floor and gingerly made her way back to the couches, only to have Todoroki intercept her in the form of being picked up.

“Okay, seriously?” she complained aloud and threw her hands up. “I’m not some damsel in distress who needs this.”

“You let Bakugou do it to you before,” he muttered out within an earshot.

She looked up to see his lips in a small pout with a tint of pink on his cheeks. Was he… jealous? She knew it was inappropriate to laugh at a time like this, but her reaction failed her in the shape of snickering and tried to cover it up by putting her hand over her mouth.

“What’s so funny?” he blurted out in minor irritation.

“There’s still so much you don’t know about yourself and I find it adorable.”

He set her down on the couch a lot harder than he wanted to.

“I’m gonna pretend you did that on purpose,” she blurted out with a smirk and rubbed her tailbone while he settled beside her in comfortable silence, deep in thought.

With the games tapering off from everyone’s exhaustion, the class decided to relax a bit before exchanging presents for the Secret Santa, completely forgetting about the punishment game. Sero went around taping the presents to the designated person. At the count of three, everyone pulled their tape and up went the presents toward them.

By some sort of miracle to make up for the failed games, Midoriya got Uraraka as his Secret Santa and her in return. The gravity defying girl got a small keychain plush All-Might, whereas the viridian haired boy got a bag of cut mochi. Little Eri received the giant sword Tokoyami put in the pile, much to everyone’s surprise.

Bakugou caught his and pulled out a long black scarf with his signature orange X stitched at one end with a horizontal green stripe across it. There was only one person who could’ve made this. He looked around and saw a familiar rose-gold hair colored girl curiously eyeing an immaculately wrapped box in blue paper with a ribbon decorating it.

That was his present.

Watching her open it with care, she held her gift up to see it was a blind box from a vinyl figure series of dogs. Opening it, Ren tore the shiny foil bag inside and revealed a Pomeranian. Looking at it with curiosity, she held it in her palm to examine it.

“Oh it’s so cute and tiny!” Uraraka beamed.

“It looks like Bakkun,” the pink haired girl blurted out, her expression unchanging.

The whole room went silent for a second before all doubled over from raucous laughter. Bakugou’s temper exploded as his face flushed tomato red, the veins on his temples were strongly protruding out.

“How the hell do I look like that thing!” he yelled out and pointed to it.

“Do we need to point the obvious?” Sero belted out and pointed at the fur style and color. “This is better than when your hair was combed down by Best Jeanist!”

Tomoe and Seri walked up to see the figurine up close and agreed.

“Sorry. Really sorry,” Ren got out between breaths, tears streaming from her eyes. “I love it. I honestly do. But seriously.” Words failed her as her laughter took over again. The explosive blond boy got more irritated by the second.

“What should we name it?” Seri asked. ”Bakuwan?”

“Borkugou,” Tomoe tittered. 

“Eat crap and die!”

For the rest of the night, everyone engaged in conversations and picked off what’s left of the food. Jiro grabbed her acoustic from her room and serenaded everyone with song. Ren participated with the songs she knew, singing harmony. Seri and Tomoe decided to leave after a bit and said good night to everyone. Eri and Aizawa followed suit not too long after.

“Sato’s cakes are the best!” Ren gushed and took a bite into the airy dessert, a childish smile beamed from her lips.

“Is it really that good?” Todoroki asked.

“Wanna try?”

She held her half bitten piece of cake between her thumb and index. The boy leaned in to take a bite. The girls who noticed squealed out loud.

“I-I-Indirect kiss!” Uraraka yelled in a voice two octaves higher than her own. “Senpai, you’re too bold for us!”

“Indirect kiss? What’s that?” she questioned with genuine naivete and blinked.

“It’s basically when your lips have touched something and then someone else touches it with theirs after,” Jiro remarked with a light tint of her cheeks.

“But… it’s food. You don’t kiss food,” the boy logically stated, to which Ren agreed with a nod.

“That’s beside the point!” the girls yelled and waved their arms madly to disregard rationality.

“Haven’t you done stuff like this before, Ren-senpai?!” Hagakure asked.

“With my friends, yeah.”

“I mean with a boy!”

She let out a thoughtful hum before answering, “Not really.”

“How was it you even get a boyfriend then?!” the invisible groaned out and gripped her hair in frustration, if it could be seen.

Ren shrugged. “It just… happened. I guess I went with the flow too much then.”

“Are you sure you two aren’t a couple?!” Ashido interrogated and pointed between Ren and Todoroki. “You’ve been super close with each other.”

The accused two turned and looked at each other with a blank expression and turned back to the pink alien.

“Just friends,” they both replied. The pink skinned growled out in frustration and yanked at her short hair.

“You two are the worst, you know that?”

“I thought that was Mineta,” Ren joked.

“Hey!” the small boy shouted.

“She has a point, ribbit,” Asui agreed.

With the party coming to an end, everyone helped clean up. Not too far from where she was, Ren saw Todoroki, Bakugou and Midoriya talking. Gathering what she could of all of the recyclable items into her hands, she walked past and heard the two-toned hair colored boy extend an invitation to the other two to do their internship with Endeavor. Their eyes lit up in shock and opportunity.

“A-Are you sure, Todoroki-kun?” Midoriya asked.

“I’m sure my father won’t mind,” he calmly replied. “If you’re interested, I can put in a good word.”

“Screw that. I’m not takin’ any hand-me-downs from–”

“Bakkun.”

The blond boy turned his head to the R.A. who called him, flashing an annoyed expression.

“It’s an opportunity,” Ren corrected. “You should take it. Unless you’re happy with being a B-rated hero and treated like a trouble-making punk who’ll get zero exposure for the rest of your life.”

Bakugou gritted his teeth, remembering the recent failtastic interview he did with Todoroki. He scoffed aloud before turning away and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“If you won’t take it, I will,” she firmly stated and crossed her arms. “How ‘bout it, Todo-kun?”

“I thought you’d go back to FatGum’s?” Midoriya assumed with a tone of surprise.

“With Tamaki-senpai and Kiri-kun with him, I’d just be in the way,” she confessed with a crooked grin. “And I rather leave that spot open for someone else who wants that experience.”

“But you helped so much with the boosters and Hassaikai case,” the green haired boy argued.

“That was purely coincidental. Besides, an efficient hero should take in as many experiences as possible in bettering their abilities.”

While it was true she thought she’d be in the way of FatGum, her real reason was to track down Hawks. Seeing how he was with Endeavor on the day of the Nomu fight, Ren was hoping Endeavor could help her without having to rely on her own sources. It was a habit she needed to break now if she wanted to go legit.

“Alright, alright. I hear ya,” Bakugou finally conceded with a grumble. “Get me that damn internship, Todoroki.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Todoroki confirmed and rubbed his chin.

Doing final checks after the last student retired to their room, Ren looked up and saw the mistletoe was still up. Sighing, she grabbed the closest chair to use as a step ladder and even then it was still too high for her to grab. Her thighs were still sore from the game before so jumping wasn’t an option.

“Damn it, Mina-chan...” she hissed out in annoyance.

“Need some help there?”

She quickly turned and saw Todoroki.

“I need your height.”

Ren hopped down from the chair and let the bi-colored haired boy take care of it. She thanked him after he got back down.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t get Mido-kun and Ochaco together,” she chuckled out and rubbed the back of her head. “But I think they were catching on. Mina-chan must be so pissed.”

“So what’s the deal with mistletoe anyway?” he asked and examined the berries up close.

“Two people who stand under kiss for good luck and to ward off evil spirits based on Nordic mythology,” she explained.

He held it over her head. She could only stare at him wide-eyed when his face got closer to hers.

“Todo… kun?”

Ren’s breath hitched in her throat the moment their gaze met, just like when they were walking back to campus last time. Todoroki’s eyes were half-lidded and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. His lips were soft and warm against her now hot skin. Drawing his face back up, his hetero-chromatic eyes seemingly glowed in the twilight.

“Did I… do that right?” he whispered. He was still close enough for her to feel his hot breath fan on her skin. She tried to talk, only to realize she lost her voice when her mouth was still trying to form words. Her heart was pounding against her chest like she ran a marathon.

“I… guess that… counts,” she slowly uttered out in a hushed manner and swallowed hard, remembering what she did to Ochaco and Midoriya earlier in the evening. Was Karma working for or against her here?

“Oh.”

Todoroki’s response almost sounded disappointed. He withdrew from her personal space and stood back up straight, uttering a good night before leaving. Ren let loose a breath from her lips and let her fingertips hover over where he kissed her.

She didn’t mind it, but why did she feel unsatisfied?

[her-words-her-stories]

Her Favorite Time of Day

Pairing: Tony Stark x Pepper Potts (Established Couple) Word Count: 1,717 words Request: Nope! Warnings: It's a lil angsty, but it's really fluff

Summary: After a long day of working at Stark Industries, Pepper Potts looks forward to one of the rare times within her workday where she gets to see Tony within the office. A bit of loving closeness is of course to ensue.

A/N: I imagine this takes place during somewhere between Iron Man 2 and Infinity War ( I know some kind of gap! xD ) I totally welcome feedback as this is my first time writing a non-Reader centered work :) I recently got into Pepperony, and even though I initially wrote this as a Reader / Anyone, I saw the potential for some Pepper / Tony and went for it! 

ALSO: I I'll posted this over on Ao3! ( Here! )

ENJOY! <3

Could time go any slower?

Virginia "Pepper" Potts thought to herself as she watched the analog wall clock slowly tick, tick, tick away of every minute left within the hour. Time seemed to be moving at an astonishingly glacier pace, when all she wanted to do was see Tony, head home, kick back, and relax. The day itself had been a taxing one with all the newfound assignments that had found their way onto her desk and with merely an hour left before the end of her workday, she couldn't possibly find the motivation or drive to give a damn about what was in front of her.

Nevertheless, she pushed on, forcing herself to type each word that followed the next within her report on the recent spending trends of Stark Industries, typing as fast as she could with her eyes trained on that damned clock. She started to watch as literally at 4:59 PM as the clock ticked it's final one, a feel of slowed time waved over her as it felt like Father Time himself was teasing her. Thankfully, he knew mercy, as 5 PM hit right on the dot. With relief, Pepper slumped forward letting her forehead land on the keyboard, adding an space after space after space to her document, and gave out a long awaited sigh.

Even with the hustle and bustle of the office during the day, it was always interesting to hear how right at the end the office seemed to be renewed with a new breath of life as everyone made their getaway. A woman in the office next to Pepper's would quickly pack her lunch and her personal things before heading off to speak with her friend down on the 1st floor. The man overseeing the mailroom would actually lean back and watch as everyone crowded the way home, waiting the 5 or so minutes for it to thin out before even lifting a finger to do the same, but Pepper? Pepper knew this was the time to get her things and head upstairs towards the 3rd floor offices to see her Mr. Stark. This was really one of the few times Pepper even got to see him during the day, since with her now being the one in charge, Tony usually had a lot more time to do what what he felt was more deserving of his time. But, nevertheless, each time she saw him within the office, it was always a nice time to be had.

Pepper waited as the halls filled with gossip, laughter, and the hurried sounds of dress shoes and heels hitting the grey tiled floors before making her way towards the back stairwell to make her ascension. The clacking of her heels on the concrete steps always reminded her of the taunting sound of that analog clock, but she endured it to maintain her professional style. Soon, she accessed the 3rd floor offices with a beep of her keycard, and as she entered she was much like the idle rock that rested within a bustling creek. The offices poured out with staff and clients as they too longed for home, heading towards the lower office floors to make their weekend escape. The scene was much like going against the tide, as Pepper passed through, sliding and weaving, until she finally came to stand at the doorway of one of the glass walled conference rooms.

And there Tony sat.

For the second time today, she saw him, sitting at the head of a glass conference table with a lovely backdrop of Manhattan, hand on his forehead, and phone in hand. He looked as well kept and professionally dressed as he did when he greeted her in her office this morning, but seemed just as tired with the day as she was, with his day being filled with an endless stream of meetings that could have literally been an email. His surprisng weariness made her smile sometimes, just knowing how hard he worked to get where he was and how even at his weakest he still wanted to going. Pepper tilted her head as she just watched him there, taking on his phone, and slowly made her way over to his side. She had grown skilled at muffling the sound of her footsteps on the carpeted floors, and nearly startled him once she spoke up.

"Rough day?" She teased as Tony whipped his head up from his phone, lifting his head from his hand.

"Oh! Hey, Pep," Tony's eyes lit up as he saw her visage. Her presence had always done that, "Yes... It has and I can confidently say 100% certainty... that I don't miss this at all," He chuckled as he leaned back and sighed, "A 3 hour meeting to go over why you shouldn't try unsupervised tests with older versions of the Arc Reactor tend to do that." He scoffed as he reached over for one of the side chairs and pulled it over beside him for her to sit down. "But enough about that stuff, I already talk to you about that every day. How was your day?"

Pepper smiled as he presented her with this throne chair at his side, and sat beside him, legs crossed and head leaning on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. You two never worried about "office etiquette" after work hours or when the office was as empty as it was now, nor did Tony actually even care. It was only 5:15 PM and the office floor was as quiet as a library on a Friday night, though the mere presence of the CEO and the familial founder in the space space can do that, too.

"It was alright, just more of the same thing." Pepper cuddled her face into his black blazer jacket. It smelled of his cologne, a deep calming scent of rain near a woodsy cabin within the midst of Fall, crisp with October spices, and a hint of oil and his own natural scent. It always made her feel so relaxed and it was a truth that he knew very well. She already knew once her head hit his shoulder that he was wearing quite the smirk. She soon felt as his fingers curled around her hip and slowly kneaded at her side to relax her. A soft sigh slipped past her lips, and her breath had tickled at his neck only slightly. It was quickly apparent with the tension she felt from his fingers pushing into her skin and the sudden clearing of his throat. Pepper stifled a giggle as Tony tried to keep his eyes fixated on his phone then, not wanting to make a deal of it.

She too then looked to his phone, seeing that even now, 30 minutes after the workday had ended, Tony was still looking at notes about needed materials and previous tests and results he had saved about his suits. It only made her laugh as she moved her hand to his thigh and patted him there.

"What?" Tony asked, sightly moving his head to look over at her.

"You never cease to amaze me - Or stop working." Pepper moved her arms to wrap around him, propping your chin on him as she looked up to meet his gaze.

The locking of their eyes on one another only fermented the adoration they both shared for one another, and she felt it he pulled her in closer to his side of his chair. Tony moved to put his phone on the table softly, and reached for her chin, pulling Pepper in for a soft, delicate kiss. His lips were the right kind of soft that simply complimented hers completely, with a slight rough feel from his perfectly sculpted goatee. His touch mirrored that as well, has soft at first contact, but yet the hands of a man who labored hours of hard work. She smiled at the nuzzling of his nose with hers and pulled herself in even closer to his body, even though there was no godly way the two could be anymore in sync with one another.

However, it didn't stop Tony from trying.

That soft, tender kiss soon grew with want and dedication as Pepper felt his hand lift from her chin to pull her crossed legs overtop his lap. There they rested as his other hand pushed into the back of her red locks on a journey for those roots he loved to grip and pull. A gasp from her lips passed onto his own, and underneath the back of her knee she felt his want for her straining against the zipper of his slacks. That workplace etiquette that they had "both" believed they could ignore was starting to show a line that was slowly becoming more and more defined. In this moment of need, intense want, and craving, Ms. Potts wished it would blur as it started to get harder and harder to pull herself away. Her hand started to venture into his silky, raven black hair, allowing her fingers to claw up the back of his head which earned her a deep groan as he pulled back to bite at her bottom lip.

His eyes caught hers again in that instance, and it was then that they both knew it was well over time to go home.

"Tony..." Pepper panted out as they both came to stare breathlessly at one another. "We-"

"...Should head out?" Tony smiled at her, causing her to give a mirrored smile and nod.

Within the next few minutes, the both of them had gathered yourselves again, heading towards her office where he got the last of his things, and headed towards that back stairwell to make their way downstairs to freedom. Pepper walked in front of him, not thinking much about how she walked in her skirt and heeled ensemble, but rest assured Tony did. He reached passed her to push open the exit door, his face coming exceedingly close to her own as he towered over her, slightly tickling her cheek with the stubble of his beard. Pepper blushed as you moved forward, leading them both down, and out of the building, finally on their way home.

This was really one of the few times she even got to see him during the day, and.... it really is a nice time to be had.

[iknownothingihearnothing]

Game of Thrones 8.6 “The Iron Throne”

Well, our watch is over. 

I don’t know how to feel, considering this entire season was very up and down and all over the place. Not to mention extremely whiplash-inducing. From Jaime’s whole show arc meaning zip to Daenerys’ roller coaster descent into the “Burn It All” Mad Queen to Cersei’s boring death, season 8 as a whole was NOT GREAT, BOB.

There were a few decent moments in the finale though. Sansa was crowned Queen in the North, so that was awesome. Drogon’s “but mama, wake up!” moment broke my damn heart. Ghost finally got his good boi snuggles. 

But overall? Yeesh.

‘Kay, let’s try not to boo and hiss when the “Executive produced and written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss” credit flashes across the screen.

Try.

As the finale opens, Tyrion is seen wandering through the desecrated streets of King’s Landing, dumbfounded that the Queen he (and many of us) believed in actually did this crap.

He separates from the others while Jon, Davos, and Co. locate Grey Worm about to commit some post-surrender slaughter of some Lannister army soldiers, in the name of the new Queen. Davos suggests he and Jon go speak with Dany while Grey Worm continues his slaughterin’. 

If there is one thing you can say for Torgo Nudho, it’s that he’s fiercely loyal.

Tyrion meanders to the crumbling remains of the Red Keep, heads right for the basement, presumably with his fingers and toesies crossed, and realizes the escape to the beachhead where he’d stored his little dinghy is blocked by a rock wall. So he heads to one of the few piles of bricks on the floor and lo and behold--

Really, Cersei and Jaime look more like they are in the middle of a good nap. And there aren’t that many brick piles on the floor. Like they could’ve moved somewhere else in the basement and avoided dying but yanno, plot. 

Arya’s picking through the fire-lined streets of King’s Queen’s Landing until she eventually comes to the town square...place. The Redkeepplatz? Der Rotenwohnturmplatz? Where she spies some jubilant Dothraki playing with their horsies. They won, they’re feeling (temporarily) awesome.

Of course, GoT is legally contracted to never go more than a scene or two without featuring the brooding face of Jon Snow, which it does, as he climbs up the stairs leading to Der Roten Wohnturm. Naturally, the gold and red lion banners of the Lannisters have been removed (and likely thrown into a corner somewhere for the Dothraki horses to poop on) and in their place is one big Targaryen one.

Rather reminiscent of a dog pissing on a fire hydrant, is it not?

So Brooding Jon and his wolfhead cane (I am still pissed that he didn’t beat off any errant Dead with it, I must say) climb up the steps under Grey Worm’s disapproving eye--remember, Jon has been kinda against slaughterin’ Lannister soldiers who already surrendered to which Grey Worm is all *Pikachu gasp face*--to meet his Queen/sort of girlfriend/aunt, who makes her grand entrance like this:

Fabulous, dahlink! Dany is like a catwalk walker at a high-high-fashion Milan event. In fact, if Versace or John Paul doesn’t hire Emilia Clarke to recreate just this moment for the next Fashion Week (yanno, the one at Milan or Paris or New York, not at, like, Tallahassee Fashion Week), I will not buy any more of their products. Not that I could before.

No, she didn’t paste dragon wings to her back. It’s just Drogon. But the shot sure looks cool!

Daenerys catwalks out to her adoring public--quite a lot of adoring public.

Srsly. I thought from the glimpse of trailer that all those soldiers were, idk, surrendered Lannister Army who’d sworn fealty or something. Weren’t most of her forces annihilated during the Battle of Winterfell? There were certainly not this many after Drogon Dracarysed the crap out of the K.L. gates and they burst into the city walls. 

There is raucous cheering and whooping...from the Dothraki. The Unsullied just sort of stand there and bang their poles against the ground because they are boring. 

Dany gives a rousing speech about the Dothraki being the blood of her blood, they kept all her promises to her, defeated her enemies, blah blah, and Drogon roars as if it is a football game. 

She makes Grey Worm her Master of War, which he kinda was all this time, just now it’s official. I guess he gets better pay now.

Dany switches tongues and addresses the Unsullied in High Valyrian. The Dothraki are there like “Dafuq is she talking about?” Just as the Unsullied were before. She calls them “liberators”.

Audience:

You should really stop using that word, Dany. English teachers would red-pen all over this essay.

Dany continues in her exuberant High Valyrian that they will not stop until every man, woman, and child in the world, from Winterfell to Dorne and Lannisport to Qarth, has experienced her flavor of “mercy”.

Arya’s in the back watching like--

Is it me or is this victory speech rather...”Hitler giving a rousing oration at a Nazi rally” esque?

Arya may not be loving this but the Unsullied, with their *tap tap* and the Dothraki excitedly raising their Arakhs and Scimitars in glee, sure do. Tho idk exactly what has the Dothraki so riled up. Dany’s still speaking High Valyrian; they have no idea what she’s saying.

Tyrion is not happy with Dany either. Probably because she killed his brother and burned a shitload of people. He walks up to her as she winds up her Hitlerish speech and she looks at him with some of that ice borrowed from the North. In English, she accuses him of committing treason for freeing Jaime. He in turn meets her gaze and throws away his Hand to the Queen pin.

Dany orders Tyrion taken away, presumably to be Dracarysed. And Jon is watching all this happening like this:

We’ve all done it, don’t lie. “I know he has a swastika tattoo on his face but he’s only a Nazi on the weekends!”

Dany meets his gaze silently telling him to “respect mah authoritah”--

--and she walks away with Unsullied flanking her. I am not sure where to. Half of the Red Keep is in ruins. 

As Jon watches, Arya appears beside him like a ghost. He asks her what she is doing here and what happened and the audience goes in tandem--

What do you think happened, Jon?! Your girlfriend torched the city. Arya’s there in the city. You think she magically poofed there covered in dirt?

You still know nothing, Jon Snow.

Arya confesses that she came to kill Cersei, who of course died the most boring and undeserving death. Her presence right now is solely to remind Jon that Dany knows his true name and heritage and because of that he will always be a threat to her. 

Jon goes to visit Tyrion in isolation--handing over his cane, which for a second I thought was an umbrella; I now think every Great House should have a House Umbrella--and the first thing he asks is thus:

Tyrion is disappoint but thanks Jon for coming to see him anyway. It is ironic, he pontificates. He is the one who told Dany of Varys’ treasonous acts and now he’s getting the Drac for the same thing. Well now Varys’ ashes can say “I told you so”. He then asks Jon if there is life after death. Cus, you know, Jon would know. But Jon does not remember any. Tyrion is relieved. Oblivion is all he can hope for after choking Shae, shooting Daddy Tywin with a crossbow, and betraying Dany. 

And he is prettttttttyyyy sure the war ain’t over. Dany will go on “liberating” until everyone is “free”--and of course by “free” I mean either loyal or barbecued. 

Jon is checked in at Justification Station:

Tyrion asks him if he would’ve done it. After all, he’d been on the dragon’s back before. Jon stutters that he doesn’t know but Tyrion, and all of us, know he would not have. Tyrion is probably speaking to the same portion of the audience who loves Dany when he bites out that “Everywhere she goes, evil men die and we cheer her for it” and that portion, of which I count myself, reply--

Why wouldn’t we? When she Dracarysed those assholes at Astapor, I fistpumped like Pauly D. 

Jon slumps down on a nearby stool. “Love is the death of duty” Maester Aemon said long ago. But, Tyrion posits, maybe duty is the death of love. Jon always tried to do the right thing by the people. Who is the biggest threat to the people now?

Tyrion knows that he’s asking Jon to do a horrible thing, but it’s the right thing. After all, Jon is the most dangerous person in the world to her, being the rightful heir. Alas, Jon stutters that it’s Dany’s decision as Queen, I guess whether to kill him or not, tells Tyrion he’s sorry he’s gon’ be Dracarysed, and is about to leave when Tyrion tries one last ditch by bringing up Sansa and Arya. They’ll never be loyal to Dany, and Jon will have to choose.

With lots to think about, Jon goes to confront Dany, who is prowling around the mess she made of the Red Keep. Drogon, as always, is faithfully standing guard beneath a pile of ash. Or is it snow? Is there snow in the capital? Questions.

Inside (I...guess?), Dany ventures into the once glorious throne room, which now looks like this:

Hope you have a good Master of Coin in mind, Dany.

The new Queen is stunned and delighted about finally coming face to face with the Iron Throne.

Yes. Hundreds of swords all melded together sounds fabulous for my back. Why does everyone want to sit in this thing so badly?

That is when Jon shows up. He begs Dany to spare the lives of the remaining Lannister prisoners. Tyrion from the impending doom of the dragon’s breath. Dany shakes her head. They cannot get by on “small mercies” when there is a whole world who needs...mercy. It will be a good world, she insists. She will make Jon see that it will be a good world. 

He asks about everyone else. The people who “don’t know what’s good”. Dany’s reply: “They don’t get to choose.”

Dany wraps Jon in her arms and demands he be with her because they’re fated, they’ll break the wheel together, blah blah 

And for a moment, just a moment, it almost appears to be working. They kiss passionately, there’s a glint of metal, Dany looks shocked. And then...

Yeah, I didn’t spoil myself, though the season eight plots were easily accessible on Reddit. Probably posted by an annoyed PA who is firmly in the “this season blew” camp. In fact, I am willing to bet it’s the same guy who left The Cup in 8.4. He did it on purpose. 

But still, though I had a feeling Daenerys would not make it out of the finale alive, I was not prepared. It makes total sense for Jon to ultimately kill Dany, as he is the only one who could get close enough to her to do it aside from Grey Worm, who would never, and, of course, Drogon. There is a poetic irony to having the man who loves her ultimately be her end.

And yet...

Poor Jon. Two girlfriends, both dead. 

As Jon cradles her, Drogon starts creepin’. His dragon senses tell him that something’s happened to his mommy. Jon lays his deceased lady love on the floor and Drogon creeps up behind him, scaring the pants off him. He pads over to Dany’s inert body, trying to wake her up.

All together now:

I literally aww’d out loud when I first watched this. Twice. On Twitter, people have likened this scene to Simba pawing at a deceased Mufasa after the wildebeest stampede in The Lion King. It’s pretty reminiscent. “Mom? Mom? Wake up, we got the Iron Throne now!” 

Realizing that his mama really is dead, Drogon is not happy. He growls at Jon, rears up, and fire swirls at the back of his throat. Jon, for his part, remains stoic. I suppose he thinks he deserves this after becoming a Queenslayer. 

But Drogon spares him, perhaps unable to harm a Targaryen? Instead, he takes his ire out on the ironically defenseless throne made of dead men’s swords.

He melts the fuck out of that throne until it’s nothing but molted metal. No one entirely knows why, but two theories are prevalent. One, that Drogon understood that it was really the Iron Throne that killed his mother in the end, her ambition to lead, and not Jon. Dragons are supposed to be incredibly intelligent. And two, as Leslie Jones put it, “If my mama can’t have it, ain’t nobody having it!”

Once the evil pointy chair is gone, Drogon cradles Dany’s body in his talons and flies away with her. 

And I’m dead.

Oh, I’m so sad for Drogon. First the Night King took Viserion. Then, Captain Underpants shot down Rhaegal. Now his mom’s gone. 

I want to hug him.

The next day, Grey Worm and Co. come for Tyrion, but instead of being Dracarysed, he’s led to the Dragonpit, where various heads of Great Houses are assembled to discuss What To Do Now--yanno, that Jon Snow killed the Queen. Yara wants him dead, as well as the Prince of Dorne. Arya threatens to cut her throat if she says that again. Davos, as usual, is the voice of reason. He tries to bribe Grey Worm with the Reach but the Unsullied do not want payment; they want justice. 

Tyrion says it’s not for Grey Worm to decide, and Grey Worm is pissed. But it’s for their King or Queen to decide, and the powerful people before him must pick one.

Grey Worm’s like--

He is not all in on this idea but he’s gonna humor it.

Sam starts to suggest democracy but everyone’s like LOL.

Edmure Tully, aka Tobias Menzies, aka Frank/Black Jack Randall on Outlander, who we haven’t seen since season six, rises and attempts to make a case for himself being named King. Sansa has no time for his antics.

Burn after reading, Edmure. 

Honestly, I’d have preferred this side character we haven’t seen for two seasons over the guy they actually picked. Tyrion, who, I may remind, is the prisoner here, makes a case that the best man/woman (it’s a man) for the job is someone with “the best story”. Okay, cool, I can get behind that.

And then he says, “Who has a better story than Bran Stark?”

Uh...

Let’s see, of the remaining nobles, Sansa has overcome a shitload of adversity to become a really kickass, strong leader of her House, Arya was raised a spoiled little girl and could’ve lived off that but instead threw all those trappings aside to transform into a literal assassin, Brienne is now the first woman knight in all of Westeros, Tyrion went against his House to support a southern Queen and survived a false accusation of poisoning his nephew by his sister, Sam was sentenced to the Night’s Watch by his jackass of a father only to find love, family, and survive the Battle of Winterfell, Yara was kidnapped by her pirate uncle, lost her brother, and is now Queen of the Iron Islands, and Jon, well Jon, what didn’t Jon fucking do? 

Bran was carried around by the poor dude whose head he fucked with for a few years and spent this season being an unemotional robot.

Tyrion asks Bran if he’s up to the role and Bran replies--

.....!

............!!!!!!!!

WHAT HAPPENED TO “I CAN’T BE THE LORD OF WINTERFELL, I’M THE THREE-EYED RAVEN”?! Even Isaac Hempstead-Wright said when he originally got the script, he thought it was a joke. 

We’re supposed to believe he is not up to the task of lording Winterfell but the Seven Kingdoms? No problem.

I’m sorry, the Six Kingdoms. Sansa will not agree to appoint Bran King unless he gives the North independence, which he does.

Six Kingdoms does not sound as good, y’all.

Bran’s a Six Chick now.

So everyone votes and the newfound oligarchy of Westeros toast to their new KingBot.

They call him Bran the Broken because every royal needs a nickname. It’s kind of insulting but I highly doubt Westeros was at all #woke.

I like my ideas better.

Bran makes Tyrion his Hand to make up for all his mistakes in the past, and Grey Worm bugs out because he’s a criminal and deserves justice. But Bran is now a KingBot and can do what he wants so there!

Tyrion, saved from execution, reports to a reckt-looking Jon that KingBot has decided to send him to the Night’s Watch, which still exists for some reason. He will take no wife, bore no children, etc, al., we’ve heard the spiel before. 

Jon asks Tyrion if what they did was right because he feels like shit and Tyrion tells him to ask him again in ten years. So they don’t even know if killing Dany was a good thing or a bad thing.

As Jon ambles through the docks, he passes Grey Worm’s ship. One of the Unsullied lets him know in High Valyrian that all the men are on board and wistfully he nods his reply.

Naath, being of course, Missandei’s home. Grey Worm and the Unsullied are fulfilling a promise he made to Missandei before the Battle of Winterfell--that he would accompany her back home to protect her people from slavers. Now, sans Missandei, he is keeping that promise.

At the docks, Sansa asks Jon if he can forgive her. He is a better person than I because I would’ve been like--

Jon tells her the North has its independence because of her, they hug, and he moves onto Arya. She can’t visit him at the Night’s Watch because she is going on an adventure! She’s gonna start world-building. Arya the World-Builder!

She’s going west of Westeros. For the glory of the Starks and the North. Maybe start a colony there and push some indigenous people onto reservations.

 Next, Jon goes down the line to bid goodbye to his new KingBot.

Seven Six Hells, it’s a good thing this is the finale because calling BranBot “Your Grace” and bending the knee to him will never not be super odd.

Jon tells him he’s sorry he wasn’t there when KingBot needed him and KingBot assures him he was exactly where he was supposed to be with that creepy blank face. Y’all may as well have installed HAL as King.

In the miraculously intact and debris-free Red Keep, the new Commander of the Kingsguard is searching through the Big Book of Westerosi Knights For Dummies--

--for Jaime’s entry, I guess to complete his story, and somehow she finds the wherewithal not to be catty.

There, Brienne. Fixed it for you.

At the small council table, Tyrion reverently sits in the seat of the Hand to the King while the rest of the council comes pouring in. Sam places a thick tome in front of Tyrion, and when he asks what it is, Sam proudly states that it’s A Song of Ice and Fire, a history of the wars following Robert’s Rebellion and death. 

There isn’t much that takes me out of the experience more than mentioning the title of the show I’m watching. And although this is Game of Thrones, we all know it’s based on the ASoIaF book series. 

By Archmaester Ebrose, eh? You sure it wasn’t, say, Archmaester Jyrge of House Martyn?

The in-universe AsoIaF doesn’t even mention Tyrion, which is hilarious.

Brienne and KingBot enter and everyone stands and calls him “Your Grace” and we snicker. At the table, the first thing KingBot does is ask about the missing Masters of Whisperers, Law, and War. And also where Drogon is. Sam says he is flying east but KingBot seems determined to find him.

What’s he gonna do, warg into Drogon? You leave that poor baby alone, KingBot! In a short time, he’s lost both his brothers and his mother. He’s totally alone. Don’t bother him no more!

#LeaveDrogonAlone!

Before Podrick, who is now Ser Podrick, takes him away, everyone stands to salute their KingBot.

Maybe I’m a broken record, but Bran being crowned King is like getting an A+ on the presentation when you spent the whole prep time playing Words With Friends on your phone.

When he leaves, the remaining small council members discuss rebuilding the armada and distributing wealth responsibly. Bronn has been named Lord of the Reach and is now Master of Coin. His first priority as such is--

Naturally. 

Tyrion also comes to the conclusion that after extensive research into the sewers at Casterly Rock, clean water=healthy people.

No!

The camera slowly pulls out on our happy merry men (and woman) of the council so I guess that means that is the last time we will see them.

At Castle Black--

And so fast? Are all the builders in the North drinking Four Loko or what?

There, waiting, is Tormund, like he’s Leo at the end of Titanic. He knew Jon would be back. Because he’s “got the real North in him”.

In all corners of Westeros, the Starks are doin’ their thang. Arya is setting sail for places unknown, brandishing the Stark sigil.

Sansa is attending her coronation of Queen in the North after winning the Northern independence.

And Jon is among the wildlings at Castle Black. He seems to be searching for someone in particular amongst the throng. 

And then, he finds him!

It’s Ghost! The goodest good boi in the wide world finally got his snuggles from his Daddy. 

He deserves all the love and treats because he’s the best boi.

Yes, he is! Yes, he is!

The finale closes with Tormund and Jon leading the Free Folk into the woods. Hmm..

Is Jon destined to be the King Beyond the Wall now? We’ll never know for sure because the show is over. But there is always fanfiction. 

I am reading one right now where Jon and Dany meet in Pentos before she is crowned Khaleesi. It’s good shit. 

So, uh, pros: Sansa being crowned Queen in the North was awesome. She deserved it. I can see Arya as an explorer. Cons: KingBot. WHY?! I cannot see him being the “great king” the other characters think he will be. He has no emotion, which is why he is KingBot. The first thing he does upon calling to order his first small council meeting is wondering where the fuck Drogon is so he can kill him. And it’s not enough that he’s elsewhere in the east. KingBot has to warg into him or into something near him to get his exact location. Idkkk him being King is pretty absurd. 

The finale was a week ago and I’m still in mourning for Dany. I’m in mourning for how fast the writers took her to Mad Queen status. I like the theory that Drogon is flying to Volantis to have Kinvara of the Red Priesthood revive her so that she can come back to Westeros and kick ass and take names. 

In the meantime, and forevermore, the wheel keeps on spinning...