#And anything that remotely makes spy look ridiculous

[writeforfandoms]

Last Night You Were In My Room

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Kyle is perhaps the best comfort you could ask for while cramping on your period. He just loves having the excuse to spoil you.

Warnings: Period mention, cramps, kissing, established relationship, Kyle is far too smooth.

Word count: 1.4k

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x f!reader

“I’m back,” Kyle called, entirely unnecessarily, as the front door closed behind him. 

“That was fast.” You reluctantly pushed yourself up, stretching your arms up over your head. 

Kyle just laughed quietly, setting down his bags. You twisted to watch him - ice cream went in the freezer, chocolates stayed on the counter, electrolyte drinks went in the fridge. Except one, which he left on the counter. 

“Got you a surprise,” he said, glancing back at you with a little grin.

“Oh yeah?” You tried to peer around him at what he might be referring to. 

“Mmhm. Pick a movie to watch and I’ll bring it to you.” 

You eyed him for a moment longer, trying to decide if you could get away with spying. And then gave in with a little huff. He always caught you anyway. So you faced front again, kicking the blanket into better position and navigating to Jurassic Park. 

The microwave beeped and you leaned back into the couch, waiting patiently for your boyfriend to join you so you could both laugh at the blood sucking lawyer. 

Gaz did settle next to you, drink now on the coffee table in front of you. But he also held out something to you. 

“Saw it at the store,” he admitted with a grin. “Couldn’t not get it, love.” 

You blinked at the lilac sloth in his hand. It was soft, fake fur sticking up all over the place, and warm. “This… is so cute. It’s ridiculous.” You pulled it closer, taking in its silly little face, when a familiar scent teased your nose. “Is that lavender?” 

“Mmhm.” Kyle grinned, watching you. “Heatable, lavender scented, and adorable. Perfect for you.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, leaning in to hug him. “You’re too sweet,” you murmured, pressing as close as you could get to him. “Thank you.”

“You deserve the world, love.” Kyle pressed a kiss to your temple before getting comfortable, pushing your new sloth down onto your abdomen where the heat would help your cramps. “What is it about being on your period that makes you bloodthirsty?” he asked, clearly joking, even as he snuggled in closer to you to reach the remote. 

“Hormones,” you drawled, bland as anything. “And it’s fun when it’s well done.” 

Kyle huffed with amusement, turning on the movie. “Need anything else?” he asked softly. 

You shook your head, cramps already less intense with the warm sloth on you. You hummed softly along with the music, and Kyle just laughed quietly. 

It didn’t matter how many times you’d seen this movie, or how many times you and Kyle had watched it together. It never got old. 

You did snicker though at the blood sucking lawyer getting chomped by the Rex. 

“Helluva way to go,” Kyle muttered, amused, eyes sparkling when you looked up at him. 

“On the toilet, or the Rex?”

“Both.”

You snickered, cuddling in closer to him. Not that you could get much closer - there was no space between you to begin with. Kyle groaned softly and grabbed your leg, pulling you a bit and adjusting you.

“Elbow in my side,” he explained when you blinked up at him.

“Whoops.” You immediately felt bad, because you honestly hadn’t noticed.

“You’re fine, love,” he assured you, pressing kisses to your cheeks and forehead until you smiled. “There we go. Much better.”

Warming under the adoration in those eyes, you melted into him. “Too good to me,” you muttered, refocusing on the movie. 

He just chuckled and rubbed one big hand up and down your thigh soothingly before checking your sloth. Which was no longer warm. “Want it warmed up again?” 

You made a face. You didn’t want to get up, but you needed to go to the bathroom. “Yeah, alright.” You paused the movie and got up (carefully so you didn’t elbow him again), stretching up onto your toes with your fingers stretched towards the ceiling. You did squeak when hands snuck around your stomach, teasingly gently at your shirt. “Oi.”

Kyle chuckled softly. “Sorry, love,” he murmured, clearly not sorry. “Take your time.” He kissed the back of your neck and released you. 

When you came back, the lights had been dimmed, the blanket fluffed, and your new sloth was warm again. Kyle had stretched out to wait for you, doing something on his phone.

“What do you think for dinner?” he asked, lifting one arm to let you come cuddle again.

“We should eat it,” you agreed easily, cuddling into his side again and putting the sloth against your lower back this time. 

“No preferences?” 

“Not really.” You hummed as some tension leaked from you at the soothing warmth both of your boyfriend and the sloth. 

“Got it.” He kissed the top of your head, doing a few more things on his phone before he locked it and slid it back in his pocket. “Ready to face Mr. Arnold?”

“Or what’s left of him,” you agreed easily, pressing play again. It never failed to amaze you how good the movie still looked. 

The movie ended, with you still humming the music as the credits rolled, when there was a knock at the door. Kyle extricated himself to bring in dinner, bringing it over to you so you didn’t have to do anything. 

“Keep up this treatment and I’ll have to marry you,” you half-joked, smiling up at him. (Not that you’d tell him yet, but the thought had crossed your mind more than once. Marrying him.) 

Kyle just chuckled, bringing over cold drinks for both of you and settling down next to you again. “Sure you wanna be stuck with me, darling?” 

You snorted. “Kyle, darling, anyone would be lucky to have you,” you said matter-of-factly, pulling your food closer to you. “Seriously.” 

He hummed but didn’t push the topic further, the two of you eating in peace. He turned on The Mummy to watch while you ate, which amused you.

“And you say I’m bloodthirsty,” you teased, grinning at him. 

“Never said I wasn’t,” he pointed out reasonably. 

You snickered, getting up to clean up. “Before you protest, I need to move anyway,” you said, pointing a stern finger at him.

Kyle held his hands up in clear surrender, smiling as he watched you clean up from dinner. Another quick bathroom break and Kyle had your sloth warmed.

This time, though, he pulled you down on top of him, face to face, so you laying on his chest. 

“Kyle–” you started to protest.

“Not doing anything except rubbing your back,” he murmured, nudging his nose into yours gently. “Okay? That’s all.”

“Okay,” you agreed, grateful that he didn’t make you say more. 

“Relax,” he whispered, his hands settling on your back, rubbing gently. You hummed and gave in, closing your eyes. He somehow always got the pressure just right - firm enough to feel good without digging in and causing pain. You hummed with contentment, tucking your head down into the crook of his neck. 

“Better?” he murmured, keeping his voice low, his hands on your back just above your hips. 

“Much,” you agreed, lifting your head again. He was right there, handsome and warm and considerate. He really was too good to you. The best thing that had ever happened to you, really. Your eyes stung with the threat of tears, your heart suddenly over-full of emotion. 

“What?” he asked, lifting one hand to your cheek instead, gaze darting around your face. “What happened?” 

“Nothing,” you managed, a little scratchy, wrinkling your nose even as the threatened tears started to accumulate in your eyes. “Really, nothing, just–stupid fucking hormones.” 

He relaxed a little, thumb rubbing gently against your cheek. “You sure?” 

“Yeah.” You sniffled, embarrassed on top of everything else now. “I just… really love you.” 

He blinked at you, clearly caught off guard, before he smiled, bright and beaming. “Love you too,” he murmured, tilting his head to kiss you softly. And then again, and again, until the both of you were breathless. 

“Bedtime,” he husked, eyes dark now as he looked at you. You smiled slowly and nipped his lip before getting up and scooting to the bathroom. 

(Which was fine. Gaz took the chance to grab a few supplies, just in case, and check the ring waiting in his duffel bag. Maybe tomorrow, when you felt better.) 

[miraculouscontent]

It’s heeeeere! Another summasalt, this time with nearly twice the length of the first one!

(Turns out that not having caffeine doesn’t help me talk any slower.)

Script below:

Anonymous asked:

Thoughts on Rocketear?

Can you Rocketear the newest episode apart with your salt, my beloved Salt Queen?

Penny for your thoughts on Rocketear?

Aw, anon! You can have that for free! I'm a generous goddess.

"Rocketear" begins with Chat Noir and Carapace - just Carapace, really - holding back a pack of what I presume to be the physical manifestation of the writing staff's age, or at least a representation of how behind the times the writing seems.

Just as the dinosaurs break through Shellter. Ladybug shows up with the scientist who revived the dinosaurs in the first place and said scientist uses a whistle to calm the dinosaurs down. There's also a line from Bob Roth about putting the dinosaurs in a theme park to make money and I know what it's referencing but it's so incredibly random that it doesn't really come off as a proper joke.

Carapace was notably sad right after battle, but insisted that he was fine when Ladybug asked. Rena, sporting a... - I would like to say "new design" but it's a recolor in every sense of the word - is hiding behind part of a building and smiles after the heroes before walking off. Ladybug takes Nino's miraculous back but sees that he's still upset and asks him again what's wrong. Nino asks where Alya was and Ladybug claims that she only needed Carapace for the job, which cheers him up but only until Ladybug is already gone.

Mm, I guess Nino and Adrien relate in heroism not being enough for them unless they have their respective love interest to flirt with.

Also, I know this is an obvious set-up, but the show can't tell me that Ladybug just always brought Nino and Alya whenever she needed one of them. Season 3 required her to go to Master Fu to get the miraculouses, and unless she already knew that Nino and Alya would be in the same location - which, okay, the show does basically shove the two of them together whenever Nino is onscreen, fair, if two characters are in a relationship in this show then it's weird for them to NOT be with that person - but it just seems like a gamble, not to mention proof to Shadow Moth that the two are close if Ladybug constantly brings both of them.

Anyway, Ladybug goes into the sewer and asks Rena if she's seen any sign of Shadow Moth or his traps. Rena didn't see anything and they de-transform. Marinette is about to leave when she thinks of something, but Alya assumes it's about her new look, which was apparently not voluntary on her part and the suit automatically adapted to Alya's new role as Rena Furtive, which she has now named it as.

Marinette reminds her that this is supposed to be a secret and that they agreed that the fox has no owner. When Alya is evasive about whether she told Nino that she won't be Rena anymore, Marinette stresses that everyone needs to believe that Alya won't be using a miraculous anymore so that she can remain an undercover spy.

What's the point in changing the look if you're not going to show yourself anyway? I mean, insurance, I guess, but still.

Alya, exasperated, parrots what Marinette has apparently told her before: that she helps Ladybug with Mirage in case Shadow Moth tries to follow her so Rena can follow him instead. Marinette stresses the situation again and Alya tries to get Marinette to agree on her telling Nino that she's Rena Furtive, but Marinette refuses.

At Marinette's house, Alya talks further and explains that she doesn't know if she can lie to Nino since they don't keep any secrets--Alya, babe, you kept Rena Rouge from him and didn't tell him that you knew he was Carapace until Ladybug was forced to give you your miraculouses at the same time. I don't wanna hear it.

Marinette states that it's too late for that and also not technically a lie, but Alya gets upset and says that Nino will never trust her again if he finds out that she kept something from him. Marinette brings up how she had to keep secrets from Alya too, but they're interrupted by Tom appearing and wanting to play games with them. Marinette makes an excuse about homework that she's repeated many times, as Tom comments that the teachers give her too much. After Tom is kicked out - hang on, lemme just... - Marinette uses the moment to show Alya that she's lied to her family a lot and hasn't played games with her father in months. She states that there's no other option as they have to protect their identities, and Alya agrees to talk to Nino.

In Alya's room - I just presume at this point that Nino's house doesn't exist and Chris is an illusion - Alya tells Nino that they need to talk, but stammers and states that it's hard to talk about. Nino thinks that she wants to break up with him, but Alya assures that she loves him. She finally gets to the cover story that Rena herself made up in "Sentibubbler" and Nino understands, sad that she won't be around anymore but agreeing if it's what Ladybug thinks is best.

Is it weird that Nino respects Ladybug's wishes more than Alya does?

Nino hugs her and is confused by why Alya was nervous to tell him, as she can tell him anything and nothing will change their relationship. Alya feels guilty and hugs back, murmuring about how they don't have any secrets; that's not what Nino said, but sure, push this plot to its already predictable conclusion. I mean, I thought it was vaguely sweet that Nino switched to seriousness immediately when Alya said that she wanted to talk, but how am I supposed to be invested in this couple when their dynamic boils down to "STRONG, INDEPENDANT WOMAN who wears the pants in the relationship because her boyfriend is portrayed as a wimpy coward"? Like, the show constantly dragged Nino down to make Alya look "powerful" by comparison, and then when it comes to characters like Marinette, we get a girl who works very well outside of her relationship with her endgame love interest.

It's the fakest form of "girl power," dragging guys down to raise girls up or actually making a strong girl character but having her love interest be a weakness that creates flaws in her that weren't there originally and having that love interest be who she's "destined for."

I'm rambling, sorry.

In class, Marinette assures Alya that she did the right thing and Alya agrees. As they're leaving school, Marinette talks about how their "night walks" start soon, and Alya non-subtly talks about how Rena Furtive will be on the lookout while Ladybug and Chat Noir patrol. She stops, however, as gets excited about some pictures she took of herself as Rena Furtive, which has a lot of details that Marinette hasn't seen. I don't know whether to groan at what I just heard or remind everyone that Rena Furtive is literally just a recolor and therefore this is the writers patting themselves on the back for this design, so let's just move on.

Alya then shows Marinette her phone--AUGH, MY EYES--and suggests making a poll on her Ladyblog so people can vote for their favorite Rena design. Marinette has to stress again that Rena Furtive is supposed to be a spy and thus invisible, which Alya admits that she forgot about.

Okay, I've been holding off on talking about this, but now seems like the best time to bring it up. Alya has been a trash friend as well as a trash confidant, and her role as Rena Rouge boiled down to, "it was convenient for her to be the fox at the time it was needed." She's not particularly stealthy like one would expect of a fox, and she was easily one of the worst candidates to be told Marinette's big secret. I'll get more into this later, but I have to stress that Alya has treated Marinette no differently since learning of Marinette's identity and has already gone against Marinette's orders once before at the time of this episode airing. Episodes are constantly torn between validating their decision to have Marinette tell Alya, having Marinette be worried about the decision while the show considers her to be ridiculous for it, and then having Alya either consider or make choices that clearly don't gel well with what's good for her role. Much like Marinette, she lacks a sense of self-control and--wow, a female character who's impulsive, never seen that stereotype before.

Point being, "Sentibubbler" stressed over and over that Alya was the right choice and deserved to be both the permanent fox and the understudy for guardian, but then we have "Rocketear" here where Alya is making basic emotionally-driven errors that I'm not even remotely sympathetic to when Marinette has gone through so much worse over the course of three+ seasons.

*sigh*

Alya laments that it's hard to find new content for the Ladyblog - ah, yes, tell me more about your struggles, Alya - but figures that at least she can post stuff about Chat Noir instead of--I don't know--making fake Ladybug theories to lead people off Marinette's trail. Marinette says that it's a great idea, though Alya still doesn't look too happy. The scene then rewinds to a little bit to show a different point of view, this time with Adrien and Nino. Wait, this feels familiar, wasn't there another episode that did something like--ohhhh no, this is going to hurt.

After saying good-bye to Adrien - something I wish I could do every time he's mentioned or on-screen - Nino catches the bit of conversation where Alya talks about the Ladyblog. Nino talks as if Marinette isn't there and asks Alya out to the movies because Marinette is chopped liver and this is about Alya and how sad she is, guys.

Wow, she's turning into Adrien faster and faster.

Alya hesitates, but Marinette assures her that there's still time. Alya excitedly runs off with Nino and they watch what I presume are previews given the narrator, featuring recycled footage from the Ladybug PV. Nino is upset because Rena is mentioned but not Carapace, and the preview features Rena telling Chat Noir to forget Ladybug because it's Chat and Rena herself who are trulu made for each other.

I don't know what's funnier; the complete lack of self-awareness or the suggestion that a biracial couple would exist in this show outside of a special that gives them maybe a minute of screentime and acts more like suggestive canon anyway. I think I might've been too generous with that line about dinosaurs.

Nino is offended by the preview and Alya brushes off his comments, stating that it's just a cartoon and it's made to entertain people, though Nino himself is certainly not entertained. Can't say I entirely blame him considering that Alya doesn't really try to say anything substantial or even agree with him. No cuddling or reassuring kisses, she just gets slightly sad and turns to her phone for a bit.

After the movie, Nino is cheered back up again until he catches Alya on her phone once more. He offers to take her home, but she's distracted, and he comments that what she showed to Marinette looked pretty nice; I don't know because they didn't show it. Nino asks what it was and Alya evades the question, stating that her battery is running out. Nino is suspicious, but spots Andre's ice cream cart and the two head over there. Andre calls them his favorite couple and asks what they want, but Alya sees Ladybug gesturing for her and has to run off, giving Nino a cheek kiss as she goes which feels like too little too late at this point.

Nino catches some conveniently-placed kids arguing over who Chat Noir loves, but they settle on the fact that girls in general love Chat Noir. Nino is then seen at the Seine watching the Ladyblog's latest video, where Alya is talking up how amazing Chat Noir is. I hate to stop every five seconds to complain - okay, actually I don't - but I presume this video must've been made after the movie since Nino seems like the type who would actively follow his girlfriend's blog, yet not only is this video perfectly set up to echo the kids and the movie preview, but Alya - despite apparently caring about her boyfriend soooo much that she kept trying to convince Marinette to bend the rules - didn't even try to warn Nino or text him so he doesn't take it too seriously. It's like "Sentibubbler" with the conflicting messages about identity rules; Alya cares about her boyfriend but both isn't thinking about how he'll take the things she says and apparently doesn't know him well enough to realize that he wouldn't be mad over her keeping a secret that she was told to keep. I already talked about how they play up Nino to be the emotionally weaker one of the relationship, but then they don't have Alya try to cover or make up for that. She's been acting very much not like Alya - you know, the one who in "Sapotis" practically bragged about how great she'd be at covering for Ladybug - with her stutters and weak excuses, so I can't completely blame Nino for being upset after everything that's happened when he sees the writers projecting onto Alya as she talks about how Chat Noir is brave and funny and cute and showing all these images of him as well. I don't agree with all of his actions, but--oh yeah, speaking of which--

Nino calls Adrien and is talking to him about how Alya must be in love with someone else. Adrien dismisses the idea, as Alya and Nino are together basically all the time, and asks who she could possibly be in love with. When Nino suggests that it's Chat Noir, Adrien laughs and jokes about it being Fang instead. Nino points out the video but Adrien did see it but is overall unphased and convinced that it means nothing. Nino says that he'll find proof and hangs up, but Adrien is certain he'll find nothing. Plagg comments that Nino will find someone because Plagg's charisma has definitely contaminated Adrien.

Ugh.

Adrien expresses concern that he put on the cat's charm too much and accidentally made Alya fall for him, and decides to visit Alya as Chat Noir to be sure.

Meanwhile, we get a reference to film noirs as Nino narrates. That's the second blatant reference this episode and now I feel like they wrote this script while doing a movie marathon.

Chat Noir arrives at Alya's house and Trixx hides before Alya opens the curtains to reveal her surprise guest. Nino is nearby watching the scene with his phone as Alya wonders aloud if something's wrong. Chat assures that everything's fine, but brings up the video she posted. He insists that it made him happy, but points out that she's been following him and Ladybug since the beginning and that they know each other much better due to everything that's happened. He has some conveniently-worded dialog as he starts to say that he hopes something's just an illusion and Alya gets worried that he's about to bring up Rena. Chat continues and clarifies that he wonders if she started to feel something for him, though adds that he understands because just look at him.

UGGGGH.

Chat clarifies by making a heart with his hands, which Nino sees. Alya laughs at this gesture and states that she has a boyfriend, doing the same heart gesture and suggesting that her love for Nino is even more than that. Chat Noir apologizes - hm, I didn't know he had the capacity to do that - and hugs Alya, saying that he was just confused.

An absolutely unnecessary hug for two people who, at least in terms of their current selves, have had very little screentime together, but this is also the show where making eye contact basically means your friends and it's all just to push the plot along so Nino inteprets that Alya is in love with Chat Noir, so whatever I guess.

Alya states that Nino is far more irresistable than Chat, then adds that she doesn't even know his secret identity, and she'd never fall in love with someone she doesn't know. Nino then runs away upset and the scene cuts away to the next day where--

Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second. Two things right off the bat there.

First off, we're just gonna sidle past that "wouldn't fall in love with someone you don't know the identity of" while ignoring the existence of the love square? Not even Chat thinking about how he doesn't know Ladybug's identity and trying to excuse that he doesn't have to? This guy is that certain of their relationship?

Secondly, Nino is practically sobbing and Shadow Moth doesn't take this as his opportunity? Same guy who akumatized Mr. Pigeon 72 times and has akumatized Gigantitan more than once? What is this pacing???

But--alright, so Adrien comes into school and sees Nino, still dressed up in his detective gear, which gets ignored completely as Adrien goes to tell him about Chat Noir and Alya. Because the show doesn't know how Adrien would convey this within reason, Nino interrupts him, taking him down into the lower part of the school where he has a desk and chairs set up. Adrien goes to ask when Nino had time to do this, but Nino slams his hand on the desk to cut him off. Nino presents the evidence he took and they go back and forth, likewise with Adrien turning off the background music while Nino turns it back on. Adrien insists that it's a misunderstanding, but pleads innocent when Nino asks how he knows. Adrien states that Alya is just a superhero fan and that she and Chat Noir have nothing in common.

Again, the complete lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Adrien repeats what Alya said about secret identities and how she wouldn't fall for someone she doesn't know - they're really ignoring this, aren't they? - and continues hitting Nino's soft spots about how unlikely it is until Nino decides to tell Adrien something he's not supposed to.

He tells Adrien, not only that Alya is Rena Rouge, but that he's Carapace. Adrien goes through a range of emotions beyond sAD for once, shocked at the fact that they know each other's identities. Nino states that they don't keep secrets from each other, except now Alya is with Chat Noir. Adrien still doesn't understand and brings up how secret identities have to be protected, or else Nino wouldn't have told him because Ladybug wouldn't agree to it.

Oh, here we go. So that's why they waited.

Nino states that it was Ladybug herself who gave them their miraculouses at the same time; not giving the reason why, of course, nor pointing out that they're temporary heroes so there's understandably some leeway. Adrien is having a moment, but manages to bring the subject back to Alya and Chat Noir, who he still doesn't think are a thing. Nino argues that it's because Adrien doesn't know Chat Noir, but he does because he's Carapace and knows how Chat Noir acts. He says that it's all flowers and confessions when Ladybug appears, but he gets rejected because Ladybug thinks that he's annoying, and she's right. He adds that Chat flirts with Rena Rouge and that's all that needs to happen, with Chat stepping in on the first mission Carapace lost in. Nino laments the loss of the love of his life and wishes to shut Chat Noir up forever; we all do, Nino, we all do. Shadow Moth finally steps in with - oh, less than eight minutes left in the episode, yikes - and Nino is akumatized into Rocketear.

Rocketear rejects Adrien's pleas to stop, insisting that Chat Noir is who he's after, not Adrien, and Adrien transforms in sad fashion despite Plagg's reminder of who Rocketear is after. Alya, meanwhile, is in the art club with Marinette - wait, since when was Alya in the art club - telling Marinette about how Chat Noir thought she was into him due to the video, which Marinette groans at. There's an earthquake and they peek outside to see Rocketear firing his tears at Chat Noir, shouting that he stole Alya from him. Chat Noir tries to tell him otherwise, but Rocketear won't listen.

Alya groans at Nino doing this, then she and Marinette set off to find a place to transform. They conveniently go to the same place Adrien and Nino were, so they see the desk that Nino had set up.

Genuine question, how seriously does this episode want me to take itself, because now when I recount all the unnecessary love square drama in my head - because you know that's where this is going - I'm going to have to think, "Nino, dressed in a detective outfit, ripped off his fake mustache and told Adrien both his and Rena's identities, and also that Ladybug was totally cool with it and thinks that Chat Noir is annoying."

Gettin' two completely different vibes here. The episode clearly wants to be important but it doesn't take itself seriously either, which it totally could while including enough jokes to keep things light. Instead, I'm just left scratching my head and wondering what tone they're going for.

Marinette finds Nino's phone on the desk - I'm calling continuity error on that one because he at no point put it on the desk, at least not on-screen - and she questions Alya on the video she sees. Alya insists that nothing happened, apparently completely unphased by her boyfriend having spied on her, and says that he wouldn't have misunderstood if he'd heard the actual conversation.

The two transform and Ladybug immediately uses Lucky Charm, receiving a projector. Ladybug is clueless and Rena Furtive suggests creating an imaginary movie like Nino. Ladybug gets an idea, remembering Alya's earlier comments, and Rena confirms that she remembers every word of it.

Aaaaand, just like that, all of the tension has been completely sucked away. You know, "Backwarder" was a trash episode, but at least when Ladybug was showing every step of her plan, she didn't tell us what it was.

Meanwhile, Rocketear and Chat Noir are still arguing--I started zoning out at hearing the same thing over and over again at this point, so I just presume they were fighting over who does stuff behind their love interest's backs better; I don't think they came to an agreement but they're both losers anyway.

Chat Noir says that he'll prove his innocence, tossing his baton aside to show him giving up, but Rocketear points out that it proves nothing and strikes Chat Noir with his tears.

Our endgame love interest, everyone. Straight As yet about as smart as a sack of bricks, and that at least won't flirt with anyone non-consensually.

Chat Noir makes a point that he doesn't want to hurt Rocketear, and Shadow Moth tells Rocketear to take his miraculous before finishing him. Chat Noir can only weakly tell him not to before Ladybug snags Rocketear's wrist and diverts the shot. Ladybug explains to Rocketear about the projector and how it'll let him hear the audio of the recording he took. She adds that she doesn't know what Chat said, but she trusts him.

Marinette, I'm sorry, I feel so bad for you.

Ladybug turns on the projector and Rocketear relaxes at actually hearing what was going on. Rena then de-transforms and hurries out to meet with Rocketear, hugging him as Rocketear apologizes for doubting her. Alya also kinda sorta apologizes in a way I don't understand and Rocketear then breaks his akumatization, very casually, all on his own.

Yeah, just--casually, in a matter of seconds in fact. You know, it's really sad when people resisting akumatizations are more tense and emotionally compelling than them breaking them. This is twice in one season now and has zero impact considering that Nino's reason for being akumatized was already taken care of so he had no reason to stay akumatized anyway. Him breaking his own object to release the akuma would've at least been different, but instead it's just a repeat of what Alya went through with even less tension considering that Alya's wasn't even that good in the first place, relying on her relationship to Ladybug rather than who she knew to be her best friend.

Moving on, Ladybug captures the akuma and uses Miraculous Ladybug to bring everything back to normal. Shadow Moth monologues about how love and secrets don't go well together and he's sure that she has a lot and I'll talk about this later.

Ladybug hands over the magical charm, which Nino takes but insists that he won't need it, as he'll never let Shadow Moth use his love to manipulate him again. Plenty of other things to get akumatized over, but they gave the supposedly ace character a robot to help him stick out and also gave the supposedly aro character a miraculous back in season one to give her more importance. If characters aren't in love then they need something to ceompensate for it.

Nino apologizes to Chat Noir for being wrong and Chat Noir assures him that everyone has doubts, even him. He gets sad and Ladybug asks him what's wrong, but he insists that he's fine - officially throwing away his right to be upset at her later as far as I'm concerned - and they do their usual fist buuuuu--

...Really?

Everyone then splits up and Chat Noir sulks by himself instead of--you know, talking to Ladybug, or asking her anything, or making any sort of excuse for her because that would mean he actually has faith in her and understands that their partnership is different from temporary heroes, even if the excuse was as basic as her wanting to protect him more than the others because he would be that egotistical if they didn't want to stretch out this unnecessary drama.

Later on, Adrien is staring at a picture on the Ladyblog that might be a metaphor for the show considering how "in the foreground" Chat Noir and Rena are.

Adrien vents about Ladybug giving miraculouses to Alya and Nino, but Plagg states that she's the guardian. Adrien clarifies that he's referring to Alya and Nino knowing each other's identities, but Plagg doesn't see the issue. Adrien gets huffy and asks why the rule exists for LadyNoir but not Ninya, but Plagg again points out that she's the guardian, so she makes the rules, though obviously he uses cheese metaphors to convey it.

Okay, Plagg is only, like--half-right because he doesn't have all the information. If you don't mind me rambling for a bit, I'm on the fence here because, on one hand--yes, I agree that Marinette should be allowed to make her own rules, and I often do that in my writing because I think she should be permitted leeway in order to let herself be happy, but on the other hand, it's not technically her rule, as she had to let Alya and Nino in on their identities back in the Season 2 finale, so Fu was still around for a season. She wasn't even guardian yet!

Now, presumably so the fandom could blame Marinette if anything happened, Marinette never discussed this with Fu on-screen, so I can't say whether or not Fu knew, but I feel like he must've since Marinette had to have told him the heroes' identities off-screen, given "Party Crasher," and thus I imagine that Marinette would tell Fu everything that happened, which is consistent with what she does on-screen even if she'd keep things from him for a little while.

"Furious Fu" had also established that not even Master Fu followed rules completely, meaning that Marinette is in this awkward spot of mostly following what Fu taught her, which aren't all guardian rules anyway, and having to break the rules on occasion for various purposes. I can't say what Fu approved of and what he didn't, because episodes spend so much time on the love square that they forget about Marinette as a person and how she interacts with everyone else. From an emotional standpoint, I can't blame Marinette for not revoking the miraculouses of people whose identities get discovered because of her, as I imagine she feels guilty and it probably doesn't seem fair to force them into another miraculous or have them be entirely without one because of a mistake that she made, meaning that someone needs to be throwing a lot of red flags for Marinette to be through with them.

Though obviously, from the show's standpoint, it's just an excuse to not make new models, but I complained about that enough in "Sentibubbler" and this episode even went out of its way to design a detective model for Nino while spraypainting Alya's bodysuit in the same breath, so this is the world we live in.

Anyway, Marinette is essentially in this position where she still has Fu's rules hovering over her, but she's also trying to step out on her own and make her own decisions to varying degrees of success or failure depending on your point of view. Tikki--wait, no, bad idea--Su-Han then, could easily give input on these things, perhaps with Marinette discussing a modern day set of rules for someone her age and going back and forth with Su-Han on what the right choices to make are, finding something that's comfortable but within a realm of predictable control. Su-Han was okay with some rules being broken after seeing how Ladybug handled them and they could've easily made this episode about that instead, but instead, we get rules being set and then being broken on a writer's whim.

Which now brings us to the end of the episode, where Marinette is on the phone with Alya and apologizes for causing trouble between her and Nino. Alya tells her not to worry and she'll fix things - you know, those things that, to Marinette's knowledge, have already been fixed - and asks if Marinette trusts her. Marinette does, and Alya hangs up in order to face Nino.

Yeah, that feeling of dread in your stomach? That means you know how predictable the writing is and what's about to happen, good for you.

Alya explains that she has to tell Nino something and he's worried, this time trying to sheepishly break the tension. She explains that she's still Rena Rouge, much to Nino's shock, and adds that she's in hiding, which is why Ladybug didn't want her to tell anyone. Nino asks why she's telling him if she's not supposed to tell anyone - proving my point from a while back that he wouldn't have been upset had she kept it a secret - then asks if Ladybug agreed with it.

I want to give him a pat on the back for considering Ladybug, but he didn't even tell her when he had the chance that Adrien knows his identity now, so I'm just beaten down at this point.

Instead of answering the question directly, Alya says that she can't hide her identity from him because she loves him and they don't have secrets.

You know, like Nino telling Adrien about Rena's identity, or Alya saying specifically that she's a permanent holder, which I'm sure both of them will confess to since they said that they don't have--aaaaand the episode ends on happy triumphant music, okay.

I mean, I guess Alya at least didn't tell him that Marinette was Ladybug, but that is such a low bar and not even remotely worthy of congratulations when Alya told Nino the specific thing that Marinette told Alya not to tell; the thing that they had agreed on.

Nino wasn't upset anymore. He won't be getting akumatized either. Alya endured the supposed hardship of being a permanent fox holder for four episodes before breaking down and telling her boyfriend. Even her excuse doesn't hold any water because, again, they're both still technically keeping a secret, particularly Alya who knows Marinette's identity as Ladybug. The episode also apparently forgets that Alya and Marinette's friendship must not be as strong by her logic of telling Nino specifically everything, as Alya kept Rena Rouge a secret from Marinette for all of Season 3, but tells Nino about continuing to be Rena Rouge in Season 4. Boyfriends before BFFs without explicitly saying it, or to be more specific, whatever screws Marinette over the most, because that's what this comes down to, made worse by "Optigami" where Marinette told Alya that she'd tell her everything and I guess that doesn't go both ways.

"Sentibubbler" had Alya stress that no one would ever know. She promised Marinette and told Marinette to trust her, and the episode spent its entire running time talking her up and assuring Marinette that she was the right choice, even considering Marinette ridiculous for worrying when Alya had done something without Marinette's permission the episode right before it. Then, three episodes after "Sentibubbler," when Marinette is finally comfortable and trusts Alya completely, Alya betrays that trust. Nino betrayed that trust, knowing he wasn't supposed to do so but telling Adrien his and Rena's identity anyway, because he was losing an argument and needed to PROVE something.

Marinette gives them an inch and they take a mile. Marinette bent the rules so that they could continue to have the miraculous they'd started with and they disrespected her because it was hard for like a day.

And if this bites them back, it won't reflect poorly on them, it'll reflect poorly on Marinette.

It's not like Alya just overrode Marinette. She didn't go, "Hey, I'm telling Nino, I'm sorry," or tried her hardest to go back and forth with Marinette until they both agreed. No, she did what she told Marinette she wouldn't do without saying a word to her, because LOVE and SEEEECRETS.

And this only applies to her, of course, because don't think I didn't notice the parallels between this episode and "Truth," because WOW.

Episode begins with Marinette hoping for something and it blows up in her face? A date at the cinema that ends on a sour note? Plot-centric couple trying to get Andre's ice cream and the female with a secret needing to leave in a hurry? Boyfriend character getting akumatized over their girlfriend's secret? Boyfriend assumes/suggests that the girlfriend's secret involves Aaaaaadrien - or his alter-ego in "Rocketear"'s case - and the episode hints as much to him even though he's completely wrong? Akuma's colors are blue and black? THE BRIDGE?

But, ahhh, little difference, here and there, y'know, like how Marinette was forced to break up with her boyfriend while Alya got to keep hers, and Nino got to have long talks with Alya while Luka got little to nothing with Marinette.

Because do note that Alya, while trying to convince Marinette and talk to Nino about not keeping secrets, at no point suggests that Marinette deserves to be happy and deserves to have a boyfriend and that Marinette should be allowed to tell Luka her secret so they can get back together, so you have Alya here selfishly prioritizing her relationship with Nino while making no comment about Marinette's relationship, essentially asking Marinette to allow her what Marinette herself didn't have the luxury of, and Alya knows this because Marinette told her. It is both incredibly insensitive of Alya and incredibly insulting of the show to make so many parallels between this episode and "Truth" just to have everything crash down for Marinette because she's Marinette while everything goes well for Alya and Nino because they're not Marinette.

We've talked before about the formulas that are literally baked into the show, and one of those is how Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and has to learn from it. What that mistake is in this episode, I don't know, but considering that she apologizes for Alya and Nino's problems, I guess the show blames her for what they themselves had taught her.

Point being, there's a clear karma system in place, but it only applies to Marinette, and forcing her to mess up in every episode means that she is literally not allowed to be with Luka because had she been able to clear things up between them, he would've eagerly accepted her and they could've been happy. It'd be too difficult for her to mess up when Luka doesn't put mountains of pressure and expectations on her like everyone else. Factor that in with how she can be herself around him and it leads to situation that are too difficult for her to screw up in because her mistakes - more often than not - center around Adrien or her role as guardian.

And because another rule in the show is to bring up Adrien so they don't "lose him for too long," she can't avoid bringing him up either. If he's not in the plot, he has to be mentioned, leaving Marinette in a lose-lose situation that she'll never be free from.

So, let me just get this straight then:

The guy who spied on his girlfriend instead of talking to her about his assumptions gets to keep his girlfriend, not because he realized it was wrong regardless of whether he was correct or not, but because the situation had been cleared up for him, yet the guy who actively resisted his akumatization, saddened by his girlfriend's secrets but wanting her to share them when she was ready, gets broken up with and tossed to the wayside because he's not a rich blond boy who got a miraculous because he happened to be within the twenty meters of space where Fu was searching for new holders?

Meanwhile, the girlfriend who has gone against the wishes and insistence of her best friend - guardian of the miraculouses, by the way, so she calls the shots, something that Alya herself said in "Optigami" BEFORE GOING ON TO DO HER OWN THING IN THE SAME EPISODE AND BEING REWARDED FOR IT - is allowed to go against the wishes and insistence of her best friend again for the sake of "all love, no secrets" with her boyfriend and so she can have the happy ending she wants, yet the girl who was chosen for a miraculous without her consent, forced to screw up and talk about a random boy who doesn't even go out of his way to spend time with her, treated like absolute trash by writers who find humor in her misery, and is the only one to receive overly harsh and long-lasting consequences for her actions while also covering up and forgiving the actions of others within the episode where they do it...

doesn't get her happy ending, and won't ever get her happy ending. That thing Shadow Moth said about love and secrets not going well together? Yeah, only goes as far as the writers want it to, because both Nino and Alya still have secrets, and some of the ones they did tell each other were forced by someone else and kept until that very moment. This idea that people in love have to tell each other everything and that it makes a relationship stronger makes me immensely uncomfortable, and that lesson is also in "Guiltrip."

People should be allowed their secrets, and obviously there are exceptions for things that are being hidden with malicious intent, but being essentially forced to share everything or risk not having a "full and complete" relationship is stifling and sounds like it'd only cause stress.

This episode sucks. It furthers and confirms everything I've already thought about the show, Nino's screentime continues to be dependent on Adrien, Alya, or both, there are pointless references that completely take me out of the experience, and the utter betrayal from Alya and supposed message of the episode just reminds me that Marinette is inevitably going to be stuck with a guy who didn't even DO anything in this episode and is going to let himself stew instead of asking for any sort of clarifications from someone he apparently trusts so much.

So the takeaway is that Marinette's life is awful, she'll be forced to apologize for rules that she didn't even come up with herself, her best friend will walk all over her for the sake of her relationship with a guy - not even for the sake, really, they were going to be fine, it was more for HER personal comfort if anything - and the guy who actually makes Marinette happy and could've known her identity instead BECAUSE HE AT LEAST DIDN'T HAVE A TRACK RECORD OF SPILLING HER SECRETS gets treated in the exact same way that she does; like nothing, just something to abuse unfairly.

What a waste of an episode.

[wandaromanova]

Little Sister

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Warnings: one cuss word, minor BW spoilers

A/N: hello! i’d like to note that this takes place sometime before the events in the Black Widow movie! if you haven’t seen the movie yet, please skip over this story and come back later if you’d like! happy reading <3

anon requested: hiii i have a fluff request after seeing bw haha: could you do nat x fem reader where they're laying in bed snuggling, and r asks her about her family and nat tells her and r notices how cute she looks when she's talking about yelena and it's so soft and ahhhh

Summary: Natasha tells her girlfriend about a piece of her past that she never talks about; her sister.

Word Count: 2K

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please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work. reblogs, likes, and comments are always welcome. <3

Natasha Romanoff has lived a lot of lives. She has been through more than most.

Nat had been taken as an infant by an organization that trained little girls to become lethal assassins.

She was psychologically conditioned to become a killer, having taken more lives than she could count.

Eventually, Natasha had managed to break free from the cage she was forced into and was recruited as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent; it was a new start for her, an opportunity to compensate for the red in her ledger.

So, Natasha took her job seriously, saving as many people as she could, even more so when she became an Avenger; one of earth’s mightiest heroes.

Natasha found something in the team that she never really had before; a family. She found a home within the dysfunctional team she had been recruited into.

Not only did Natasha find a family within the Avengers; she also found the love of her life.

Natasha hadn’t even considered the possibility of ever finding love.

For starters, the Red Room had instilled the concept that love was nothing but a distraction; a liability.

She had been taught that love was for children and it was nothing but a weakness that needed to be avoided at all costs.

She was quite literally programmed to be emotionally closed off and to always have her guard up. Letting someone into her heart was a risk she didn’t want to take.

When Natasha gained her independence from the organization, she had to do a lot of self-discovering. She had never been able to be her own person, but now that she could, she quickly learned that she didn’t even know herself.

However, it was Natasha’s insecurities that truly turned her off from the entire idea of love.

How could any ever possibly love her? She thought she was a monster for the things she’d done. She has done the unspeakable since ever she was a child.

What if she wasn’t enough? What if her baggage was too much for someone else to carry? She didn’t want to be a burden. She didn’t want to have to protect someone, just to fail them like she had failed so many others.

Natasha was positive that no one would ever be crazy enough to love her.

Little did she know, she would end up finding someone crazy enough to do so; you.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

When the Avengers were formed, you were extremely nervous about it.

All of the files that you’ve read on your new teammates were unbelievable; they were all phenomenal in their own rights. A super-soldier, a god, a genius, a trained-spy.

You were a spy yourself, so you knew exactly who Natasha Romanoff was. She was a S.H.I.E.L.D legend, the best of the best.

You were more nervous about meeting her than anyone else. What if she judged you? What if she didn’t think you were good enough to be an agent, let alone an Avenger?

Not only was she your superior, but she was also your crush. Yeah, you’d never even met the woman before, but you were crushing on her hard.

She was drop-dead gorgeous, but also quite literally a deadly force. Natasha could easily take down anyone she wanted to, and honestly, you wanted to be one of those lucky people.

When you met Natasha for the first time, you were a flustered mess. The redhead found it amusing, how your cheeks turned a bright shade of red and you stumbled over your words as you praised her work.

Natasha never told you this, but she was immediately smitten the moment she laid eyes on you.

There was a kindness and positivity that just radiated off of you and it was extremely contagious.

You were this beaming ball of light that lit up the darkest parts of her soul.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

You got to know Natasha extremely well while being on the team. From observing her closely and paying very close attention to her actions, you had managed to pick up on little things.

She didn’t put any creamer or sugar in her sugar; opting for strong, black coffee.

She was kind of a clean freak. If she saw something out of place, she would be quick to put it in the correct place or position.

When she was happy, she would let a small smirk cross her features. When she was annoyed, she would raise her eyebrows.

When she was stressed out or angry, three little creases would appear on her forehead as her eyebrows would knit together tightly; a subtle frown on her face.

Of course, when you began dating the redhead, you didn’t really have to survey her so closely anymore because she’d tell you things herself.

No matter the circumstances, Natasha would always come to you and rant about it. Whether it was about how shitty a mission went or how she beat Clint’s ass during training; you were the only person she wanted to tell.

Natasha had opened up to you, something she never did with anyone. She told you all about her past.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

You had some knowledge of Natasha’s previous life, considering it was in her files, but you didn’t realize just how horrible her childhood truly was.

The Red Room, the heavy weight of guilt that rests on her shoulders, the nightmares that forced her to relive the murders she committed, her time as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, and becoming an Avenger.

She’d go on and on about her road to redemption or ‘clearing the red out of her ledger.’

Natasha was terrified when she told you about her demons. She figured you were going to leave her the second she finished talking, waiting for you to get up and walk out the door, but you didn’t.

So, you completely caught her off guard when you pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, placing a soft kiss onto her temple, the redhead relaxing in your embrace.

“You’re the strongest person I know. It’s not your fault, you were forced and conditioned to do the things you did.”

Natasha focused on the sound of your voice and took in your words as you softly caressed her red locks with one hand.

“Baby, the amount of respect I have for you is immeasurable. I applaud you for turning your life around for the better. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Your words had brought tears to Natasha’s eyes, which was a rare occurrence.

She was expecting you to run for the hills, but you chose to pull her closer instead.

In that moment, Natasha knew she never had to be afraid of love again.

You were the most understanding and accepting person she’d ever met.

You would never judge her for her worst mistakes; Natasha had found the one for her and she wasn’t ever going to let go.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

Now, a few months later and a year into your relationship with the Russian, you were both lying in bed and cuddling.

You were both watching a movie when a particular scene came on. It was of a family gathering around a Christmas tree, children excitedly opening up presents with gleeful smiles across their faces.

“You know, my sister and I got to take pictures with a Christmas tree once.” Natasha spoke, her eyes fixated on the screen.

You looked up at her in shock. You didn’t know that Natasha had a sister. She told you that she didn’t even so much as know her parent’s names.

Natasha looked down and noticed your confused expression. She reached for the remote on the bedside table and paused the movie before returning her gaze to you.

“There was a mission I was assigned to in Ohio, as a kid. I was assigned to play the daughter of two other Russian spies, Alexei and Melina. It wasn’t just me though, there was a little girl who was assigned as my younger sister. Her name is Yelena.”

Natasha had a reminiscent, happy smile on her face as she recalled the brief period time of her childhood. She looked absolutely adorable as she rambled on about this part of her childhood.

“We took photoshoots of various holidays to make our family look more realistic. My favorite one was Christmas. Even though I knew they were just empty boxes, I wanted to rip open every single one.”

Natasha let out a small giggle at the thought. Even though she had a smile on her face, you could feel and hear the underlying tone of sadness in her voice.

“Yelena and I would spend hours outside, just playing together. Swinging on the swing-sets, looking up at the stars, bending over backward, and getting into a ridiculous competition to see who could hold the position the longest… I always let her win.”

You could see the fondness in her eyes, the longing. It warmed your heart that there was a small glimmer of light in Natasha’s past. There was at least a sliver of hope that she clung tightly onto throughout her time in the Red Room.

“After 3 years, the mission ended. Yelena and I were sent back to the Red Room and were torn apart from one another.

Natasha’s breathing grew heavier as she recalled the unfaithful day. The sight of her sister being taken, and not being able to do anything to help her; still haunted the redhead to this day.

“There were so many men with guns and armor, they literally ripped us away from each other. I was eleven and she was only six.”

Your heart sunk at your girlfriend’s words as her smile dropped. She tore her eyes away from yours as she blinked rapidly, fighting back tears, but failed. You reached your hand up to her cheek and wiped away the fallen droplets.

“I haven’t seen her since. I’d like to think that she found a way out and got a life of her own; a nice, happy life.”

Natasha placed her hand on top of yours before looking down at you once more. You sent her a soft smile when she let out a shaky breath.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I knew that the it was all fake, but it was still the best part of my childhood. It was real to me.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

You nodded your head at her words. She took a brief pause, trying to regain her composure, before continuing.

“Even if we have no true relation to one another, and even if I haven’t seen her in years, she is still my little sister.”

Natasha finished off with a big gasp as sobs wracked her body. You sat up from her embrace and pulled her into your arms, just like you had many times before.

You rubbed her back soothingly as she cried into your shoulder, her tears hitting the exposed skin.

“She sounds amazing, baby. I’m really happy that you had some sort of happiness back then and I hope one day you get to see her again.”

You whispered and Natasha pulled away from the hug, still in your arms as her emerald eyes surrounded by a sea of red, a result of her crying.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I doubt she’d even want to see me. I didn’t even try to find her. I’m a horrible sister! I-“

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

You immediately pressed your lips against hers, effectively getting the Russian to calm down. You broke the kiss when her breathing slowed.

“Honey, of course, she’d want to see you again. Like you said, you guys are sisters. I’m positive that it was just as real to her as it was to you.”

You reassured your girlfriend, her eyes a pool of worry and guilt. You rubbed your thumb against her waist, the material of your her hoodie beneath your touch.

“From what you’ve told me about the Red Room, it would’ve been impossible to find her. Stop beating yourself up over it. You’re the best, and I’m totally not biased or anything.”

Natasha let out a small chuckle at that and you smiled at her, wiping away the last of her tears. She collapsed into your hold further, shoving her face into the crook of your neck.

“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you so much.”

Natasha’s words came out muffled as her face pressed further into your skin.

“You never need to thank me for anything. I’ll always be here for you, Natty.”

You hugged her as tight as you possibly could, her cold skin meeting your warmth. Natasha let out a small sigh at the feeling.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wherever you go, I go.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────────

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[lilbabycee]

bunny // steve rogers (part one) 🐰

READ PART TWO

↳ summary: the reader finds herself in a little bit of trouble... financially. enter steve rogers. 

↳ relationship: soft dark!steve rogers x brat!reader

↳ word count: 5.6k

↳ warnings: sugar baby au, eventual dark steve, daddy kink, eventual smut, mentions of substance abuse, unhealthy coping mechanisms + relationships, the reader is rich and a little bit of a bitch

↳ author’s note: i started writing this series ages ago but i’m thinking that maybe posting it on here will give me the inspiration to continue! please enjoy! ❤️

chapter one: you expensive you know that?

—

" you expensive, you know that?

i'm high-maintenance a little but not in a, not in a negative way

i just like extremely expensive things"

- faithful, drake

—

“But Daddy-!”

“No, absolutely not,” your father shuts you down without hesitation which immediately makes your eyes water.

“Please, I promise I won’t do it again-”

“That’s what you said the last time,” he reminds you nonchalantly and you can hear the rapid clicking of a keyboard in the background of the call. He’s not even paying full attention to you, likely still working on whatever the CEO of a multi- billion dollar corporation needs to work on.

“But I’m serious this time!” you insist, cocking a hip and tapping your acrylics loudly on the top of your marble kitchen counter. “You know what I’m like - I swear I’ll do better this time-”

“Nope,” his hard tone cuts you off as you hear his office phone ring. He sighs loudly over the receiver which makes your heart fall. “Look, honey-”

You know what’s coming and you can’t even try to stop it.

“-I’ve got another call coming in. I’m not sending you another dime until you can prove to me that you have the ability to be financially independent. I didn’t pay for all of those expensive private schools so that you could sit on your ass all day and blow my money like it’s in endless supply. You have all the necessary credentials to go and get a well-paying job, so go get one, goddammit. And please call your mother - she’s been trying to call you all day. Neither of us have any time left to entertain your little addictions nor your blatant disregard for the hard work that we’ve put in to get you where you are today.

“You’ve proven to me before that you are grossly incapable of doing even the simplest of tasks, so don’t let me down with this one,” he sighs loudly. “Sometimes, I wish you were more like my colleagues’ kids - they’re doctors and lawyers but all you are is ungrateful. I’ve really gotta take this call,” he says your name sternly which makes you tap your nails even faster. “Do as you’re told for once in your damn life.”

“Daddy-!” you borderline shriek once more before the phone clicks and he’s off attending to more important business.

You don’t even realize that you’re pouting until your lips start to tremble, nor do you realize how much his words have gotten to you until you touch your cheek gently with your fingertips and they come back wet and glistening like gold in the warm light of day.

Maybe he’s right. You’ve been living in this penthouse for the past year without having to worry about anything. You loved it when you attended the first viewing, mainly because of the huge windows, three bedrooms and bathrooms (that you definitely don’t need because you live alone), the open plan, spacious kitchen and living areas, and the fact that all of your neighbors are either famous or excessively wealthy like you. You saw the acquirement of this apartment as a prime opportunity to further climb the social ladder, not that it’s really all that hard for you considering the fact that your father is one of the richest people in not only New York but the entire country. But you’d lived in Italy for a year prior to moving back to New York and upon your return to the USA, you decided that you really wanted to re-establish a name for yourself here, of course with the help of your father. He bought the penthouse almost the moment that you said you had your eye on it, and he just kind of…left you here. He’s only come to visit a handful of times since you bought it two years ago, though your mother has been over far more frequently to your utter dismay.

You inhale deeply through your nose, your eyelash extensions fluttering dramatically against your cheekbones. Grabbing your phone - the newest iPhone that you bought after you broke your other one at your friend Peter’s party - you sulk over to one of your ridiculously overpriced couches and fall dramatically - but not dramatically enough to crease the material of your latest drunk purchase, a white Gucci jumpsuit - on top of all your throw pillows, the picture of a damsel in distress. Your freshly manicured toes - painted white yesterday - curl into the softness of it as you huff, dabbing delicately at your face again to rid yourself of any traces of sadness before thinking about what the hell you’re going to do next.

Yes, you have a savings account that is far more than enough for you and your grandchildren’s grandchildren to live lavish lives and while that’s all well and good, even you know that you probably shouldn’t spend that... but it’d have to do until you found another way to get your money. With that, you shrug noncommittally and your face ID unlocks your phone so that you can start your newest endeavor - buying one of everything off of Alexander Wang.

Sure, you should be proactive and take initiative to finally take the steps to distance yourself from your parents, but you’ve only just had your twentieth birthday. After graduating from high school at fifteen - yes, fifteen: your parents really pushed you, to say the least, and it helped that you were naturally intelligent beyond the capabilities of even the nation’s best high school teachers -  you started your undergraduate at Harvard in the fall and finished at eighteen. You took what you dubbed an ‘extended summer vacation’ - hence Italy - and now you’re at an impasse.

Okay, admittedly your various interests - you refuse to call them addictions because they’re really not that serious - that may or may not include a wide array of party drugs and alcohol probably don’t make you the most trustworthy person in the eyes of your parents. But you’ve done everything that they’ve told you to do for the past twenty years of your life - can they blame a girl for wanting to have a little fun? A smile spreads across your face as, while scrolling, you spy the blue dad jeans that were completely out of stock just last week and quickly add them to your cart with a sense of self-satisfaction before continuing to add almost everything else to your bag. It’s not like you’re heavily dependent on anything - substance abuse is not a good look for you: it was definitely more early 2000s than now - and you only do them recreationally in social situations, so your parents really have nothing to worry about. They’re overly paranoid about you somehow tarnishing their image when in reality, your work in and outside of an academic setting has really bolstered their reputation more than they could have ever hoped for - not to toot your own metaphorical horn, but your endless philanthropic work coupled with your eagerness to “make a change” and your work in fashion has put you on the Forbes 30 Under 30 every year since you were fifteen.

You press the checkout button and your Apple Pay seamlessly completes the purchase for you: $29,000. Shrugging noncommittally, you lock your phone and stare pensively at the picturesque view of New York City outside of your window; that is until Alexa alerts you that Natasha is calling you.

Perfect timing.

Natasha’s voice echoes over the loudspeakers in the ceiling. “Hey, bunny,” she greets you and you groan loudly at the nickname, restlessly hopping up to grab a glass of water from your kitchen.

“Hey Nat,” you reply, more of a whine than anything else, and she laughs loudly at your tone.

“What happened to you? “

“Daddy cut me off,” you huff, walking to the couches in front of the TV and settling down with your glass of water. With a press of a few buttons on the universal remote, you FaceTime your best friend instead - a flash of red hair and then a blindingly white smile. She assesses you on your couch and laughs again, a full-bodied cackle that only intensifies your pout.

“It’s not funny,” you protest, although the corners of your lips are quirking up in amusement at her ridiculous laughter.

“What did I tell you?” Natasha struggles to get the words out in between chuckles. “I knew he was gonna do this-”

“Yeah, so did I, but I didn’t think he’d do it this soon-!”

“I’m surprised he didn’t do it sooner,” Natasha moves around a little before propping her phone up against her knees so that you can see her sitting comfortably in her bed. She starts picking at her own black acrylics, “and you can’t deny, bunny-”

“Don’t say I deserve this,” you narrow your eyes at her, and Natasha only sends you her signature smirk.

“I wouldn’t say you deserve it, per se,” Natasha begins, “but you’ve gotta admit,” she says your name, clearly on the verge of laughter again, “I like a party as much as the next girl, but you do go a little overboard-”

“I wouldn’t say overboard,” you insist, suddenly taking up a very keen interest in your cuticles. “Here’s what it is: Mother doesn’t like the fact that I don’t like her and Daddy’s just flat out disappointed in me for no reason-”

“-apart from the fact that you very nearly got caught doing lines of blow off of Senator Pierce’s son-”

“Shhhh,” you interrupt her, closing your eyes and pressing a finger to your lips while shaking your head, unable to fight the growing grin on your face. “That was one time-”

“You mean the one time you got caught-?”

“Yes, Natasha, that’s what I mean. Anyway - you never call me like this unless you need something - thought you were gonna text me instead. What’s up? Is it Bru-”

“Oh, no,” Natasha quickly cuts you off, her cheeks flushing red. “Bruce and I have been over for a while now-”

“You were just talking about him last week-”

“Yeah, yeah,” she deflects, tapping her fingers on her thigh. “I was actually calling to see if you wanted to go shopping for Parker’s party that’s tonight-?”

“Yes, absolutely yes - why would you even have to ask-?”

“Okay, cool,” she interrupts you, smiling toothily. “Get Jarvis to get you there by 2:30 - I wanna go to the Louis store: the summer collection just dropped-”

“Sounds perfect-”

“But one more thing,” she says your name again but in a more concerned tone. You finish your glass of water and set it on the coffee table before leaning forward slightly.

“What’s going on, Nat?”

“I’m worried about you, bunny,” both her eyes and her tone have softened drastically, making you purse your lips. “What’re you gonna do now that your dad’s not giving you any more money?”

You sigh loudly through your nose, shaking your head. “I don’t know, Nat,” you admit, snapping a hair tie against the skin of your wrist rapidly. “I’ll just have to find a job - or do more sponsorships and ads and get back into modeling and maybe actually try acting this time?”

Her green eyes pin you to your couch, even through the screen, and she scrutinizes your face for almost a full thirty seconds before scrunching up her nose and nodding hesitantly. “Alright. As long as you’re sure that you can make it work… because if not, I have an option that I think you may like…”

Your eyebrows shoot to your hairline as you motion for her to continue.

“Y’know how Wanda got really into that thing a couple of years ago?”

Your brain works overtime, trying to remember exactly what it was that Wanda was doing - all you remember is that it was fairly secretive and she didn’t tell you a lot about why she kept sneaking around.

“She was seeing that older guy,” you snap your fingers when you remember, Natasha’s slow nod confirming it, and then promptly frown because-

“What does this have to do with me?” You stare directly into Natasha’s eyes as she falters, obviously wondering if it’s too late to just backtrack altogether - yes, it is - and then she sighs.

“She wasn’t just seeing him,” your best friend starts slowly, choosing her words with great care, “she was his sugar baby.”

Now, this is news to you.

“You’re fucking with me,” you scoff in disbelief. “Wanda?”

Natasha keeps nodding, blowing her bubblegum between her rouge-painted lips until it pops with a sharp snap. “I’m serious, you can go ask her. But believe me, I was just as surprised as you when she first told me-”

“She didn’t tell me,” you murmur, something akin to betrayal burning your tear ducts. Natasha only barks out a laugh and clucks her tongue at you in a decidedly motherly way.

“Of course she didn’t tell you,” the redhead snorts, shaking her head. “She didn’t want you getting any ideas,” she says your name through a laugh, “you were - what - like eighteen two years ago? That would’ve been questionable at best -”

“But you guys didn’t know that I was gonna do anything-”

“Come on, bunny,” Natasha pins you with a look that shuts you up almost immediately. “Give us some credit - we’re not dumb and we know you-”

“Fine,” you drag out the last syllable of the word childishly. “So why mention it to me now?”

“Because you’re old enough… and in a situation where your Daddy’s not paying for any of your stuff anymore.”

You tilt your head to the side, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Yeah, okay, but I’ve got, like, a lot of other opportunities that I don’t even need to work for,” you tell her cockily, crossing your arms over your chest defensively. “Why should I take this one when I could get any other real job so easily?”

Natasha’s lips curve into that same smirk. “Because you’re a whore.”

You collapse into a fit of giggles but she’s right. Really and truly, you are - what you like to call - a self-proclaimed slut. But any woman who’s free enough in her sexuality seems to be one these days, so you own the title that’s been hurled at you like an insult for so many years. You wear it with pride... for the most part, but not too much pride because you still have parents who still - somehow - think you’re a total virgin.

(you are still a virgin but your promiscuity makes people think otherwise)

“Right,” you agree easily, tapping your nails on the arm of the couch.

“Just something for you to think about,” Natasha hums, checking the time on her watch before rubbing the sleeve of her white Balenciaga hoodie over her face “Now, leave me alone. I’ve gotta go get ready; I’ll see you in a few.”

Without any further conversation, she ends the call and leaves you laughing light-heartedly although something heavy continues to weigh on your conscience. A sugar daddy. You can’t lie to yourself and say that it’s something that you’ve never thought about before - because it most definitely is - and it’s been the shameless subject of some of your filthiest dreams. Are you going to lie and say that you don’t have an… affinity for older men? No, you aren’t. Are you gonna tell yourself that the idea of a man spoiling you doesn’t make heat burn in your core? Absolutely not. However, you’ve never thought of yourself as the submissive type. Your confidence - no, cockiness has always been a real defining trait for you and that’s always worked in your favor when it comes to romance or even sex. You take what you want, rather than waiting for it to come to you. Although, you have a feeling that an attitude like that could get you in a lot of trouble in circumstances like these.

But what’s life without a little danger?

—

You’ve put on a tight, cropped black t-shirt and on top, a brown Fendi mini dress with thin spaghetti straps that clings to your body like a second skin; your feet are clad in heeled Louboutin ankle boots. Grabbing your black Prada bag and almost comically giant black, square Burberry sunglasses, you stare at your reflection in the mirror. You only put on a little bit of blush, mascara, and tinted lipgloss, accessorizing with small golden hoops, an array of rings that have been gifted to you by either your father or your ex-boyfriends and a simple gold necklace that spells out ‘bunny’ in cursive, a gift from Natasha. Satisfied, you slide your sunglasses onto your face and head to the elevator, phone in hand.

When you reach the lobby, Jarvis is waiting for you, holding the door open with a kind smile on his face.

“Miss,” he greets you, ushering you out the door. You basically jump on him, winding your arms around his neck and he chuckles as you sway back and forth in your embrace.

“Afternoon, Jarvis,” you grin at him.

The two of you walk outside to the black Range Rover with the tinted windows - black matches your outfit today - and as you climb in the back, your security detail split up into the other SUVs in front and behind you.

“So, what’s the plan today?” Jarvis asks you conversationally, stopping at a red light not even 15 seconds after you pull away from the front of your apartment. Damn New York traffic.

“Nat and I are going to Nordstrom’s,” you tell him despite the fact that he already knows, but he nods regardless. “And then Peter Parker’s hosting a party tonight.”

“And will you be needing a ride to that event?”

“No thanks, J,” you shoot him a smile before looking back down at your phone. “I’ll probably get a ride with Natasha.”

Jarvis nods and the rest of the ride passes in comfortable silence, the radio playing softly and the clicking of your nails on your phone screen the only sounds in the car.

—

“There’s absolutely no way you’re wearing that-”

“Shut up, Nat!” you squeal, grabbing the dress off the rack. “It’s kinda cute!”

Your best friend rolls her eyes at you fondly, staring at the monstrosity that you’re clutching in your hands.

“Tell me you’re kidding,” she deadpans, searching your face almost desperately for any sign of sarcasm.

You act offended: “I’m not!”

Nat just pokes you in the sides, tugs on your earlobe, and continues her hunt, which makes you burst into loud laughter and leaves the store employees looking at the two of you  in what you’ve come to recognize as contained, professional amusement.

—

It’s about an hour before the party starts when you even start thinking about getting ready. In a Versace robe with your hair wrapped up in a towel, you’re scrolling through Instagram with a mud mask on. Nat comes into the room and shrieks at the sight of your face, making you flick your eyes up and grin as wide as the mask lets you. With her hand over her heart, she stares at you dryly while silent little chuckles shake your whole body.

“You’re in a good mood,” she remarks, eyeing you with an air of suspicion.

“Of course I am, Nat,” you look at her in disbelief. “I’m about to get wasted tonight-”

She interrupts you by calling your name out in a warning tone. Your only response is a dramatic roll of your eyes.

“We’re going so that we can have fun, not so you can go on a bender-”

“I won’t!” you drop your phone and throw your hands up in exasperation. “Holy shit, Mom - do you have no confidence in me?!”

Loud silence hangs in the air for a minute while Nat just blinks at you.

“...remember when you left me alone in Manhattan because you went to go trip on acid with Senator Coulson’s son-”

“Oh my God, Nat, okay, I get it - I’m a shitty friend and a drug addict, blah blah blah, whatever-”

“You’re not an addict,” she corrects you. “You just... really like doing drugs.”

You shrug, stretching your arms over your head, bringing them back down and then slapping your hands loudly on the bare skin of your thighs. The sound makes Nat flinch which amuses you mildly before you yawn loudly.

“Need me to help you with anything before I start getting ready?” you offer, knowing that once you start getting ready, you’re going to be in your own little world for about an hour and a half.

Natasha - who is significantly less high-maintenance than you - shakes her head. You nod, standing up and heading into her bathroom to wash the mud off your face.

“Did you think about what I told you earlier?” she asks, following you into the spacious room to lay on the chaise tucked against the wall behind you. You lock eyes with her in the mirror as she stretches herself out like a feline.

“Yeah,” you say nonchalantly. “Just for a little, but I don’t know if that kinda thing is for me.”

She runs her tongue over her bottom lip, looking down at her nails. “Oh, okay. I was just wondering ‘cause Wanda said there would be some people that she knows are into that kinda thing at Parker’s tonight-”

Oh, now your interest is peaked. You whip around, towel still in hand from drying your face, and stare her dead in the eye.

“For real?”

“Yeah, but if you’re not really interested-”

“Shut up, Natasha, you know I’m interested.” Your heart beats fast in your chest and your teeth catch on your lower lip, gnawing on it gently. Your fingers come back up to your wrist and stretch the elastic so that it bounces back against your skin. “Like… a lot of them will be there?”

She nods, regarding you with cool interest. “At least that’s what Wanda said. She’s better versed in this whole thing than I am.”

You can only bob your head up and down, suddenly nervous about attending this party. Natasha can sense it, putting a comforting hand on your arm.

“Look, bunny, it’ll be fine,” she gives you a reassuring smile. “They’ll love you. And if you change your mind, you won’t even have to interact with them in the first place; you’ll just be like any other person attending this thing. But Wanda knows a lot of them - that should be reassuring enough: she knows all about these guys, so it’s not like she’s going to introduce us to any major creeps.”

“Okay.”

—

“Okay,” you breathe out. Okay, you can do this. You’ve met presidents and prime ministers, singers and actors, kings and queens, but you’ve never been this nervous in your entire life.

Granted, none of those people were asking you to exchange sex for money, so it’s not really the same thing.

You’re wearing Dolce & Gabbana tonight - because they asked you to - and the golden silk dress that hits your mid-thigh and hugs your body so tight that it looks as if you were poured into it makes it all worth it. It shows off all of the dips and curves of your body and paired with your Alexander Vauthier clear slingback heels and a gold Vanina pearl-embellished handbag, you feel like a million dollars (even though that’s definitely not what this outfit costs). Natasha is standing next to you in a black Dolce & Gabbana corset dress - because they asked her to - and black red bottoms.

Your long red nails come up to toy with your ‘bunny’ necklace while you scan the massive crowds for a friendly face. It’s true that between the two of you, it is very much likely that you know - or know of - everybody here. But you don’t spare them a second glance despite the fact that they’re ogling you. No, you don’t linger on the bulging muscles and impressive height nor the full lips and pretty hair like you usually do. Instead, you’re looking for-

“Wanda! ” you call out, eyes falling on her reddish-brown hair flowing down her back in loose waves.

She’s standing by the bar, speaking to someone that you don’t know when she turns around, blue eyes quickly landing on you as she gives you that charming smile. Grabbing Nat’s hand, you run over to her and envelop her in a warm embrace. She squeals loudly, stumbling back as you realize that she’s probably already had a few drinks by now.

“Hi, guys,” she greets the two of you, looking up and down at your outfits approvingly. “You look hot.”

You return the compliment and pressing a kiss to her cheek, you stroke her hair while she and Nat engage in conversation. You take the opportunity to stare at all of the different groups of people who have gathered on Peter’s rooftop. There must be at least 300 people here already - the night has barely started - and you can see not a single person who looks like an old man. You furrow your brow, squinting and pushing up on your toes to see if you can see anyone that you don’t vaguely recognize from somewhere or another.

“Lookin’ for someone?”

The voice is unmistakable.

“Peter!”

He says your name in what’s only a mildly offensive mockery of your tone. You abandon Wanda and throw yourself into the arms of the boy, ruffling his already unkempt hair and also smacking a loud kiss on his cheek. He chuckles, his arm winding around your waist as he says hello to both Wanda and Nat.

Apparently you’re in a hugging mood tonight.

“I’m glad you guys could all make it,” he smiles so sweetly that you kiss him again, his cheeks turning flaming red. Peter has always been like a little brother to you although he’s actually a year older. You both went to high school and college together, and it helps that your mother and his aunt are also really good friends.

Except you don’t know how anybody could want to be friends with your demon of a mother.

“We couldn’t miss this,” Wanda gestures around her, pinching Peter on the cheek like a child which makes him frown. “Where’s MJ, Petey?”

You all “ooh” like high schoolers and Peter’s face turns somehow even redder - your heart swells - and he takes this as his cue to leave, slipping away and mumbling something about having to greet guests like a good host. It makes you all giggle, watching the boy with fond eyes.

Wanda abruptly turns to you, downing the champagne that she picks up off of the tray of one of the passing waiters.

“So Nat told me that you’re looking for a sugar daddy-”

“Shhh!” you hiss at her, clamping your hands tightly over her mouth because oh my god, Wanda, please speak louder. This makes Natasha laugh into her own glass of champagne.“Oh my god, why are you yelling?”

“Okay,” she drags it out and rolls her eyes, leaning into your group of three and whispering exaggeratedly. “So I heard you’re looking for a sugar daddy.”

“Sure, okay,” you whisper back, looking around before standing up straight because it’s just occurred to you how sketchy you all must look huddled in a circle like this. “So like… how does this work? Do we just… go up to them? Is there like some kind of code-?”

Wanda snorts loudly, throwing her head back and laughing. Your face slips into a pout and you cross your arms over your chest.

“No, idiot,” Wanda replies, pulling a tube of lipstick and a mirror out of her clutch. She starts to apply it while speaking to you. “They’re here already, and we’ve just gotta go up to them,” she smacks her lips together with finality, “and tell them we’re interested. Or, more like you’re going up to them and we’re here for moral support.”

“What happened to your guy, Wanda?” Nat asks, signaling to the bartender for a refill.

“And how did you get into it?” you ask her, one eyebrow quirking.

She smiles conspiratorially and runs her hands carefully through her hair. “There’s an app. And Viz and I are still together-”

“Viz? ” you almost choke on your own spit because you laugh so hard. Natasha joins you in a far more respectful way, her shoulders shaking as she picks up her now-full glass. Getting literal daggers thrown at your face would’ve been less piercing than the look that Wanda’s giving you right now, so you decide to shut your mouth and listen.

“Yes,” she says your name condescendingly, which makes you roll your eyes. “His name is Vision - it’s a long, personal story that I won’t share with either of you because you both fucking suck,” she stares the two of you down, “but that’s his nickname and what everyone calls him. It’s kinda cool, you know: super contemporary. Like Madonna or Beyoncé or Cher-”

“Okay,” Natasha licks her lips, putting one of her hands on her hip. “We get it, Wanda, thanks. But you told us that you guys broke up-?”

“Yeah, we just took a break,” Wanda shrugs. “Now, we’re back together and better than ever.”

You and Nat share a look before blinking back at Wanda, nodding your heads compliantly.

“So,” you rock back on your heels and start snapping your hair tie again. “Are we gonna go do this, or?”

Wanda’s eyes drift down to your wrist before she places a hand on top of it, stilling your actions. Your eyes are wide and glossy, your teeth worrying your lip.

“What’re you nervous about?” Wanda begins quietly, rubbing circles into your skin with her thumb. “They’ll love you - they’re all super cool and really hot. I think that the only problem that you’ll have is that you’ll be spoilt for choice.”

Your laugh comes out watery but sincere nonetheless, so Wanda loops her arm through yours while Natasha grips your hand tightly.

“Maybe we should get you a drink-”

“No, Nat,” you inhale deeply. “I wanna be completely sober for this. After… after, yeah. I’m definitely gonna need a drink after.”

You all laugh while Wanda weaves you through swathes of socialites, stopping to say hello to some people. When you finally make your way all the way to the other end of the roof, you can see why you didn’t see them before. There is a set of stairs that lead down to what looks like a zen garden. Tall torches flame a collection of very comfortable-looking couches are placed around a stone firepit and on top of those couches are a group of some of the most handsome men that you’ve ever laid eyes on.

The first one to make eye contact with you is astoundingly attractive, so much so that you almost trip over your own feet. You know- you can just tell that he smells incredible. His mahogany skin shines in the light of the fire, and his full lips curve over a gap-toothed smile that he shoots your way; it immediately makes a smile of your own spread on your face. His beard is lined up to perfection and there’s a mischievous sparkle in his whiskey brown eyes. A little bit of his chest hair pokes out from underneath the top of his almost halfway-unbuttoned dress shirt and your mouth waters. You almost feel sorry for the slacks that are hugging his thighs sinfully tight because his powerful legs look like they’re about to burst through the seams.

You decide that you’ve never wanted to be a pair of pants so badly in your life.

Jesus Christ. These men aren’t even close to what I expected.

All you can say is that you’re glad to see that the same caliber of attractiveness holds up for the rest of them.

The man next to him has longer brunette hair that hits his shoulders and you just want to run your hands through the silky strands. He has a bit more of a rugged look, his facial hair groomed purposely to give off that energy. He’s wearing a tight, long-sleeve black shirt and black slacks too, the monochrome outfit highlighting every inch of his well-toned body. When you look at him, he’s staring down into his glass, the sweetest smile on his face that makes you bite the inside of your cheek. But then he looks up at you, and you’re taken aback by the vibrance of his steel-blue eyes. It stops your breath momentarily, and you have time to regain it when he taps the man next to him on the knee and points towards the three of you.

The man in question raises his head, face shielded partially by a pair of yellow-tinted glasses. His blonde hair is slicked back away from his face, and you take a second to admire his prominent bone structure. But he’s looking right past you, eyes boring holes into Wanda which makes you stop your ogling.

You assume that this must be Vision.

There’s one of the men who isn’t facing you and doesn’t even turn around to do so, but you can make out his extremely broad shoulders clad in a white t-shirt even from where you stand a distance away. Even the back of his head is attractive, his thick neck and pushed-back blonde hair. Wanda tugs on your arm impatiently, evidently eager to reach her man.

The three of you linked together almost fall down the stairs before you regain your collective composures and strut over there with all the confidence that you don’t feel. Wanda lets you and Nat go when you draw closer, fixing her hair before the brightest grin that you’ve ever seen on her face shines at Vision. He opens his arms to greet her and you have to look away because of the very much x-rated kiss that she plants on him: you feel like you’re intruding on something.

“Jesus,” Nat snorts in your ear, her hand still resting in yours. This makes you giggle, high-pitched and nervously, so Nat squeezes your hand before she pulls you forwards.

Wanda has situated herself in the lap of her man, his hand resting gently on her hip. She clears her throat, cheeks red from her public display of affection, and begins to speak.

“Hi, guys,” she says, waving and smiling at all the men politely. They all greet her back warmly, raising their hands too. “These are my best friends. This is Nat,” she gestures to the girl next to you and Nat just nods her head in acknowledgment.

“And this is the friend I told you about,” Wanda introduces you by name to the four men who she points at in turn: “Bunny, this is Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Vision, and Steve Rogers.”

Giving a little awkward wave of your hand, you unglue your eyes from the floor and scan all of the men up close now.

They’re all so much prettier up close.

From this distance, you can now clearly see how pretty Sam’s eyes are, how bright Bucky’s smile is, how strong Vision’s jaw is, and-

Holy shit.

It’s obvious that you must’ve died and gone to heaven some time in these past few minutes because Adonis’ blue eyes are scorching holes into your face. His high-neck white long sleeve sweater is probably in his size but the way that his muscles flex under the material is telling you otherwise. The size of his biceps - probably as big as your head - briefly make you wonder what they would feel like wrapped around your neck-

If you stare hard enough at his pecs - which you are - you can see the hard peaks of his nipples; you decide that there’s something so sensual about that and if that alone didn’t just make you wet, you decide that you can’t be human. The sweater is tucked into grey checkered pants with a black Yves Saint Laurent belt wrapped around his surprisingly narrow waist. He’s leaning back in his seat with his huge hands on his thighs, his strong legs spread wide almost an invitation for you to crawl between them. Your eyes move past his clearly tailored pants to his huge feet clad in black Versace loafers and you can feel the liquid that pools in your cunt. Realizing that you’re shamelessly checking this poor man out, your eyes snap up to his face only to have the breath completely knocked out of you, not for the first time tonight.

Not only is his body complete perfection, but his face is also arguably even better. His defined jawline gives you the urge to run your tongue over it but that beard. Your squeeze your thighs together because you want to know how it feels between your thighs. His ears are perfectly proportional to his head - a characteristic that should never be underestimated, mind you - and his cheekbones are high. But you can’t ignore the fullness nor the rosy pigmentation of his lips - his lower lip is fuller than the top and you wanna bite it so bad and he’s smirking a little. When you finally lock eyes with him, you feel as if you’re drowning but admittedly even if you were, you wouldn’t mind doing so in the blue of his irises. They darken slightly when they train onto yours, and one of his perfect eyebrows lifts questioningly.

This whole interaction has only lasted about five seconds but it feels like you’re in a movie, everything moving in slow motion. He stands up abruptly and you do actually choke at his size, his sheer height and width alone soaking your panties. One hand in his pocket, he takes slow, measured steps until he stands directly in front of you, not even sparing a glance at Natasha.

“Bunny, huh?” you pray that your knees won’t give out at his deep baritone and you can’t take your eyes away from his, even when he sticks out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Steve Rogers.”

tagged: @literaturefeen​ @donutloverxo​ @evnscvll​ @stargazingfangirl18​

[obwjam]

the tiniest jedi

okay folks, here we go... i’d like to introduce you all to my oc, Jedi Knight Jayla Nor’al! she is five inches tall, 22 years old and the former padawan of good ol’ yoda. she was knighted so she could fight in the clone wars, and now she’s off to help command her first-ever battalion! 

when i rewatched clone wars recently i basically took note of episodes where a tiny could fit into the plot (spoiler: there’s a lot lol) so this is part 1 of the first installment of me recreating the filoniverse into the obwjamverse

i hope y’all enjoy <3 love you all sm

the hidden enemy, part 1

>> part two

To say Jedi Knight Jayla Nor’al was nervous would be a tremendous understatement.

It had taken a lot of convincing that bordered on begging to get the council to agree to this. Having Anakin vouch for her seemed like a good idea in theory, but in practice it usually ended with Obi-Wan rubbing his eyes while the council fiercely debated the merits of Anakin’s argument. 

Anakin was always sticking up for her. She was a few years older than he was, but more than anyone, he understood what it was like to have a tough life. They first met one day when he was a padawan, no more than 13 years old. Obi-Wan was sent off on a mission by himself to retrieve a holocron and a disgruntled Anakin went to Yoda to continue his training. He was far more advanced than the group of younglings he was with, but before he could complain too much, something -- no, someone -- caught his eye.

She was standing on a table at all of five inches tall, arms crossed in a dim corner of the room. The other younglings were practicing basic combat stances. She looked rather bored with it all. Anakin would have probably glossed right over her if it wasn’t for the tunic she was wearing.

“Master Yoda, who is that?” Anakin asked while the group was taking a break. She had now sat down, cross-legged, with her eyes closed and her shoulders relaxed. He marveled at how her tiny silhouette almost blended in with the scenery entirely.

“My padawan, she is,” Yoda stated. 

“Padawan?” Anakin was shocked. Obi-Wan never told him Yoda had a padawan.

Yoda hummed. “Surprised, you are, hmm?”

Anakin could only nod as Yoda trotted over to her. “Well, it’s… she’s…”

“Padawan Nor’al, ready, you are?” he asked quietly. Anakin gasped at how Yoda practically towered over this tiny person. She calmly opened her eyes and gave a single nod.

“Younglings, gather here,” Yoda called out to the group. He nodded to Anakin, who curiously followed. He heard a couple of the other younglings snicker in disbelief. “Demonstrate Form III, my padawan will. Close attention to footwork, you must pay.”

Anakin’s eyes widened as a training remote whirred to life. To a normal-sized person, practicing with a remote could sting if you didn’t know know what you were doing. But she was not a normal-sized person. That remote must look like a tank to her!

“Master Yoda--” Anakin started, but Yoda held his hand up.

“You may begin.”

What Anakin witnessed next may or may not have changed his life. 

It was like she knew where the blasts were going before they were even fired. She was so quick that Anakin’s eyes could barely adjust to the blinding speed she seemed to be moving at. She firmly stood her ground as she deflected blast after blast, her eyes moving wildly as she deciphered the shooting pattern of the remote. She found her opening, charged forward, leaped up and sunk her lightsaber straight through the metal. The droid sputtered and sparked before falling to the table, lifeless. She hopped down and gave Yoda a small bow as if nothing had even happened.

“Thank you, padawan. Continue to practice, younglings. Much work to do, you have.”

Still in shock, the younglings picked up their sabers and began to practice, some yelping in surprise when the blasts stung at their legs. She had made it look so easy.

She was taking note of the younglings’ form when she paused to raise her eyebrow. Anakin was still standing there.

“Staring is rude,” she said shortly. Looking at her up close, Anakin could clearly see how she was nervously eyeing him.

“That was really cool,” he said, crouching down a bit so he didn’t loom too large. 

She gave a small smirk. “Master Yoda is a good teacher.”

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Jayla... Jayla Nor’al,” she said, giving Anakin heavy side-eye. What does he want?

“My name’s Anakin. I’m Master Kenobi’s padawan.”

“Anakin Skywalker?” she asked incredulously. “What -- what are you doing here?”

“My master is on a mission and didn’t want to take me.” 

She scoffed. “That’s silly. Padawans should always be with their masters to learn.”

“Tell that to Obi-Wan,” Anakin sighed. “Does Master Yoda take you on missions with him?”

Anakin’s lips pursed into a frown as she sat down, looking dejected. “Mostly, yeah. But sometimes I think he thinks I’m too… well… you know.”

“Too small.”

She gave him a surprised look. “Yeah.”

“A little ironic, coming from him.”

Jayla laughed. “You can’t say that!”

Anakin laughed back. “Sure I can.”

It was hard for Jayla to really grow close to anyone, no matter how hard she tried to befriend the others. Anakin knew exactly how that felt. The two were lonely, and they found each other. Their friendship only grew stronger as they got older -- Jayla helped Anakin learn to trust in the Force more and Anakin helped Jayla grow her confidence. Obi-Wan admired how well they complimented each other.

Yoda eventually began to take Jayla on more dangerous missions. Spending time with Anakin and Obi-Wan had diversified her skill set more than most padawans and, as the Jedi Council sensed the growing discourse between the light and the dark, Jayla and Anakin were both knighted so they could fight in the Clone War.

But everyone had underestimated the fierceness and enormity of the conflict.

It was evident from the beginning of her training that Jayla was fearless -- that she would not let her size stop her from doing anything. She was a fierce negotiator; a skilled fighter; she had a deep and powerful connection to the Force. And yet, her size was the very thing stopping the council from giving her any responsibilities outside of putting together training recordings, teaching younglings and spearheading negotiations.

“I can’t believe this,” Jayla groaned to Obi-Wan one rare quiet day on Coruscant. Anakin was off on a recon mission. Obi-Wan had duties to attend to, but he would always take a pause to talk with Jayla.

“If Master Yoda and the council feel this is for the best, then you need to listen.”

“I didn’t become a Jedi to play it safe. I just… I don’t understand why Yoda keeps babying me.”

“You’ve only recently become a Jedi knight,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “You need to be patient.”

“Yeah, the council did that so I could fight in the war.” Jayla got up, pacing around the windowsill. “I mean, it doesn’t make sense! I’m trained in combat. I have useful skills. I’ve been out there before, Obi-Wan! Why spend my entire life telling me ‘size matters not, hmm’, then use it as a reason to hold me back?”

Obi-Wan frowned. He hated how her frame seemed to get swallowed up by the bustling backdrop of the Republic captial outside.

“Can I be honest?” Obi-Wan asked slowly. Jayla’s expression softened as she plopped down, resting her elbows on her knees and meeting Obi-Wan’s gaze a few feet from her. 

“Always.” 

“Well, I shouldn’t really tell you this, but I think it’s important that you know. The council has its reservations, but they mostly agree that you are more than capable of being a general. It’s… it’s the Chancellor who has persuaded them into keeping you here.”

“The Chancellor? Why would he care?”

“It’s my understanding that many in the senate feel it would be a sign of weakness if you were to command a battalion.”

“That’s ridiculous! It’s not even the senate’s decision to make!” she cried.

“On military matters, it is. And until Chancellor Palpatine changes his mind, then I’m afraid there’s nothing that can be done.”

Jayla tried to forget about that conversation every time she got upset. But as the conflict raged on and Republic forces took beating after beating on the Outer Rim worlds, Obi-Wan felt the situation was becoming dire. It was less about who had strength and more about who had the tactical advantage. The better strategy. The better intelligence. 

Yoda too felt desperate. He was engulfed in the war and convinced that winning it was the only way to save the galaxy from certain doom. He heard the plight of his former padawan day after day, to the point where he began to question if his gut feeling was really right. He hadn’t been meditating as much lately. The Force always gave him the guidance he needed. Between Anakin, Obi-Wan and her own former master, the council was able to convince Palpatine that allowing her to lead stealth and recon missions was a perfectly reasonable starting point.

Since it was nearly impossible to plant a conventional spy into the droid army, Jalya and Anakin had conspired and came up with the idea of using her as a spy. Mace Windu was concerned about her being captured. Anakin argued that her life sign registered so faintly on scanners that capture wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Ki-Adi-Mundi feared she would get lost in the blur of so much violence. Obi-Wan said that all she needed was a wrist comm and someone to use as transportation and protection.

So after months of debating, planning, talking to Yoda and gear-building, the perfect situation had arisen. Today, it was finally going to happen.

And she… didn’t know how to feel.

She was accompanying Anakin and Obi-Wan on the Resolute to Christophsis, where the GAR was getting whalloped day after day. Most recently, a secret plan was thwarted before it had even gotten underway. It was obvious that the Separatists were somehow accessing Republic intelligence. And it was Jayla’s job to find out how.

“You’re not nervous, are you?”

From the comfort and privacy of sleeping quarters, she was perched pensively on Anakin’s shoulder; which, in retrospect, was probably a bad place to be with the way she was fiddling with her hands and bouncing her leg. 

“Don’t ask me that when you already know the answer,” Jayla mumbled. 

“I didn’t, actually, but thanks for confirming it for me.”

Jayla groaned. “I’m not nervous about going into the field.”

“Good. You shouldn’t be.”

“It’s…” she started, but couldn’t bring herself to admit. She was hoping Anakin could connect the dots.

“It’s… what? It’s the ship?” Anakin knew how much she hated flying.

“This isn’t my first Star Destroyer. It’s the starfighters that make me sick.”

“Okay, so it’s not the ship. Is it Obi-Wan?”

Jayla sniffed a laugh. “Why would it be Obi-Wan?”

“Well, it took a little bit of convincing to get him to agree to this.”

“You mean a lot of convincing,” she sighed. “I can personally guarantee you that Obi-Wan is not making me nervous.”

“Well, Tiny, I’m at a loss--” 

Anakin was cut off at the sound of his wrist comm beeping. She quickly grabbed onto a stray piece of his hair for support as he moved his arm up.

“Anakin, Jayla, come meet me at the bridge. Captain Rex will be arriving here shortly.”

“Copy that.” Anakin turned his head slightly to meet Jayla’s gaze, and the Force flashed in a brief moment of worry. Anakin furrowed his brows.

“You’re nervous about Rex?”

Jayla sucked in a deep breath. “No -- not particularly -- no. No, I’m not nervous about Rex.”

Anakin knew she was lying, but he wasn’t about to push it. After all, he didn’t want Obi-Wan lecturing him for being late. Again.

Jayla clung to Anakin’s robe as they made their way through the gray halls of the ship. Even from her perspective, the walls seemed suffocating, so Jayla kept her eyes trained on the ground, avoiding the gaze of every trooper that passed. The rigidness of clone armor was… off-putting.

As they approached the bridge doors, Jayla cautiously took a seat and closed her eyes. When all else failed, the Force was always there for her, guiding her and bringing her to a place where she felt at ease. Going into this mission with any apprehension would be fatal, and she knew it. The Force was pulling her toward the battlefield -- to Anakin, to Obi-Wan, to the citizens of the worlds they were helping to protect. The Jedi Order was her life, and that meant she was forever in service to the people of the galaxy that needed her. She was chosen by the will of the Force; bestowed this great power that so many lusted after. In the galaxy’s biggest conflict, she could finally start making a difference. She could finally be worthy of the gift she was given.

“There’s gonna be a lot of clones in there, you know.” Anakin’s tongue-in-cheek remark broke her from her meditation. “You could always turn back and let me and Obi-Wan handle this.”

Jayla sniffed a laugh. “And let you have all the fun? I’m alright, Anakin, I promise.” She paused, took one glance up at her giant friend, and stood up. “I’m ready for this.”

Anakin smirked. “Well then, here we go.”

The vastness and buzzing energy of the bridge brought about a sensation that Jayla would never get tired of. There were clones on the lower levels punching buttons and pulling levers; there were clones standing around tables, going over strategy and making sure they were ready for the fight. Then there was Obi-Wan, standing in front of a star map and pretending to read it. His mind was occupied with other things.

Anakin nodded his head to Obi-Wan. “Master.”

“Ah, Anakin. And here I thought you’d show up late.”

“For Tiny’s first mission as a general? I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Is now really the best time to bring up nicknames?” Jayla groaned. It was times like these she was glad she was small; nobody could see her blush.

“I thought it’d help loosen the tension.”

“Sure you did.” She wasn’t going to admit it, but in his weird Skywalker way, it did help bring her back down to earth. This was her first mission as a military general. She outranked nearly everyone in the room. To the clones, that meant everything. Even if they didn’t want to listen to her… they had to.

It was then she noticed a tiny brown bag on the holotable below. Just poking out of the side was something that looked like armor. 

Armor fit for a tiny.

She slid off Anakin’s shoulder and flipped down to the holotable. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but grin as she pulled out two shoulder pads, two wrist guards, a pair of black gloves and a torso pad. They fit perfectly.

“We couldn’t have you going out in the field unprepared,” Obi-Wan said as she practiced some stances in her new armor.

“Huh. You look like a tiny Obi-Wan,” Anakin smiled.

“I thought we were done with the degrading comments,” you said smugly.

“Oh, very funny, you two. It’s a wonder the council took this long to allow you both to work together.”

Jayla was prepared for another quip when the main door slid open. Her eyes first fell on the wide shoulder wing, then to the Jaig eyes painted on his helmet. She had never seen clone armor quite like what Rex was wearing. She blinked and straightened her posture.

“Captain Rex. Nice of you to finally join us,” Anakin joked.

“Sorry sir. Needed to help Fives find his other blaster.”

“He lost it again?”

“...more like misplaced,” Rex clarified.

“Good to see your troops are on top of things, Anakin,” Obi-Wan quipped.

“Sorry sir,” Rex repeated. Jayla could sense… unease. “So, where’s the new general?”

Anakin’s lips curled into a smile. He had told Rex that the 501st was to be accompanied on this mission by a Jedi knight who was a master of stealth. When Rex asked who it was, Anakin refused to say. He wanted it to be a surprise.

“Rex, I’d like you to meet Jedi General Jayla Nor’al.”

Rex was glad he had kept his helmet on, because the look of confusion on his face would not have done him any more favors. 

“Uh… sir?” Rex asked cautiously, trying his best not to sound too lost. Is this some kind of joke?

“You know, I think it’s helpful to scan the entire room before saying something.”

Rex’s stomach dropped. That voice… that voice was coming from the holotable. Ever so slowly, he tilted his head down. He tried to keep his body language as neutral as possible, but he had a sinking feeling that all three Jedi in the room could sense his surprise.

“Oh,” was all Rex could utter for a moment. It was like this Jedi had stepped right out of a holoprojector and onto the table in front of him. This has to be some kind of test. She’s only a few inches tall! She won’t survive five seconds out on the battlefield. 

Anakin cleared his throat. Rex snapped back to attention.

“Right. Uh, sorry about that, sir,” Rex fumbled, giving this General Nor’al a nod of acknowledgment. “Nice… nice to meet you.”

Rex tensed up when Jayla ever so slightly rolled her eyes. He was surprised he could even see her do that.

“Likewise, Captain. General Skywalker has told me all about you.” She smiled softly when she sensed Rex’s heartbeat escalating. “All good things, of course.” 

She turned to Obi-Wan and, without either of them saying a word, Obi-Wan placed his hand next to Jayla and she casually stepped on, using his thumb for support as she was lifted up from the holotable.

“You’re going to be offering General Nor’al support in the field,” Obi-Wan said, tapping the holotable to life. “We’ve drawn up a plan to get her to the chief tactical droid stationed here to extract information and battle strategy.”

“I think we can finally turn the tide if we can get ahead of the Seps like they seem to keep getting ahead of us,” Jayla added. “Once I get the information, I’ll need an extraction team to get me out of there quickly.” Without warning, her tone shifted from stern to somber. “The last thing I need is to be caught by those stupid battle droids.”

Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged a brief glance.

“I’ve got to finish some mission prep,” she said quickly. “When are we getting to Christophsis?”

“Should be there within the hour, sir,” Rex replied immediately. 

“Great.” She tried to peer through Rex’s helmet, but unsurprisingly, she only had the downturned expression plastered on the front to work with. Rex was not expecting to see a five-inch-tall Jedi -- that much was obvious. Her worry lied more in the possibility that she was embarrassing him just by being here. 

“I’m sure Anakin will become bored and come join us in, oh, five minutes or so,” Obi-Wan cut into her thoughts with a smug smile, throwing a glance to his friend as he walked out.

“For mission prep? You know me so well,” Anakin shot back with a smirk, turning back to the window. 

Before Obi-Wan left the room, he turned to Rex, who was all but frozen to his spot.

“Do come and join us when you’re done here,” he said shortly. Rex could only nod.

Once the doors finally closed behind him, he stiffly made his way to Anakin’s side and took off his helmet.

“Rex…” Anakin sighed, already prepared for the conversation they were about to have.

“Sir, you know I mean no disrespect…” Rex paused to see if Anakin would say something witty to that. He didn’t. “...but I’m not sure how well my men are going to respond to taking orders from someone who can fit in the palm of their hand. Especially someone who hasn’t done this before.”

“Rex, she’s a Jedi knight, just like me. She wouldn’t have achieved that rank if she wasn’t fully capable.”

“I--I believe you, General. It’s just… well, they’re used to the way things work. We’re used to a Jedi leading us through battle.”

“And she can’t do that?”

“Well, it’s not like she can cut through clankers like you or General Kenobi.”

Anakin was prepared for this, but it still didn’t change the awkwardness of the conversation. He knew how fierce of a Jedi she was. Rex didn’t. He was hoping this mission could change things. He knew as well as anyone else that a warrior of her size would wreak havoc against the Separatists if used properly. Plus, he knew how painfully boring it was to be stuck inside the temple all the time. He wanted this to work for her.

“Her strengths lie in other areas. She doesn’t need to cut through droids like me and Obi-Wan,” Anakin said, putting his hand on Rex’s shoulder. “Given the world she’s grown up in… the things she’s had to overcome… I’d say she’s the bravest out of all of us.”

Rex hummed and turned his gaze to the front of the ship. He never really grew tired of the swirling brilliant blue of hyperspace. He found himself wondering if it looked any different five inches off the ground.

“...I should go brief the men,” Rex said finally. 

“Yeah,” Anakin said, pursing his lips. “You probably should.”

[prettywordsyouleft]

To Be Continued - Part 3

Summary: As an author, you had created Brian Kang for your current trilogy series to represent the ultimate man that everyone would love, along with Charli Evers - your female protagonist. What you hadn’t expected was for him to find a way out of the story and begin shaping up your world instead

Pairing: Brian Kang x female writer (ft. Park Sungjin)

Genre: writer au / romance / fantasy

Warnings: fictional characters coming to life / a bit of angst here and there / Sungjin as a cop (or does that only affect me?) >_>

Word count: 2288

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue

“I know it seems ridiculous,” you stated as you led the constable to your home office, pointing at your desk where both the pen and message waited for him to inspect. “However, I didn’t hear a thing and yet this is all here.”

Sungjin quietly investigated the space, looking to the window and then went over to jiggle the catch. He stepped all around the room, searching for clues, his hand rising to his mouth to cover it as he processed his thoughts.

And then he turned to you. “I don’t really know what to say. This makes no sense.”

“I feel like I’m going insane!” you admitted emotionally, dropping to a crouch and holding onto your legs. “How could someone get in and out without my knowledge whilst everything is still locked?!”

When you glanced up at Sungjin, who came to your side, you noticed the look of scepticism within his eyes. There was nothing factual aside from the second fingerprints, which in your mind, was enough to convince you that someone else had been here. For a moment, the trained professional looked at you and assessed something before smiling gently. You realised then Sungjin was questioning your well-being.

Standing up suddenly, you took a step back from his proximity and looked out the window. “I might have proclaimed just now about feeling as if I’m going insane, but I can assure you, Constable Park, that I’m not already insane.”

“I know,” he answered, trying to catch your attention. When he gained it, he nodded genuinely. “I’m sorry, my brief thought was too brash.”

“I can understand why,” you breathed out with a sigh, shaking your head. “It would be easy enough to plant such evidence, right? I’ve watched enough spy movies and read enough novels to know that it’s relatively simple enough to obtain someone’s fingerprint.”

“Yes, but I believe you haven’t done this on purpose either, Y/N.”

There was comfort in the way he spoke your name and you nodded softly, tears spilling down your cheeks. Sungjin stepped into your space again, patting your shoulder gently. “What do I do?”

“We need to catch the person in the act,” Sungjin suggested and you stared at him curiously. “Have you tried messaging the person back?”

“No… I mean, how does that work? It’s not a social app they’re writing on but Microsoft Word. Even with a cloud sharing system, it would show me that another user is signed in.”

Sungjin shrugged. “Still. Worth a shot, don’t you think?”

“Do I try it now?” you asked and Sungjin shook his head.

“Nothing will happen with me here,” he guessed and you sighed, defeated. You kind of liked that nothing would happen with Sungjin here. But he had a job to do and you did want to solve this issue too.

If it was simply a fan, you would thank them for nursing you back to health that night and ask them to stop this. That seemed simple enough to request. Surely, if they cared that much about you, they would comply.

You didn’t want to consider that their fan status was anything more than just that. Once again, movies and books you had perused with obsessive stalkers cropped up and you shuddered.

Sungjin noticed and rubbed at your shoulders to relax you. “You’re going to be okay. You have my number and I’ll make sure to check in on your regularly too. Let me know if anything happens with the messages, okay?”

“I will.” Leading the constable back out to the front door, he turned and rubbed at his wrist.

“Did you need a lift to get your groceries?”

“Is that allowed in a police vehicle?” you wondered and Sungjin grinned.

“I could write it off as protection services.”

“I’m touched, really,” you responded, trying to rein in the smile you knew was splitting your lips all too obviously.

Sungjin nodded and chuckled back. “Knowing you would take the offer if my car wasn’t government-funded is all I need, Y/N.”

“You best get back to patrolling the streets for proper crime,” you suggested and he nodded. You then laughed. “And I have a date with the fruit and vegetable section to help improve my immunity after dealing with this cold.”

“Take it easy. First dates can be hard to deal with.”

You grinned. “I will. And if I’m in trouble from it, I’ll know who to ring.”

You could tell Sungjin wasn’t usually one for this type of banter, and despite his ears turning red, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Which was no doubt why he was reluctant to step off your front porch right now.

However, he finally did so with another wave and you stepped back inside, locking the door before going to write out your list. It felt weird to use the pen that reappeared so you put it away before reaching for another and jotted down the groceries you needed.

“Have you tried messaging the person back?”

Sungjin’s suggestion lingered in your mind as you prepared to stand and fetch your bag. Relenting, you looked at the screen and inhaled a deep breath before you began to type.

Thank you for returning the pen. And for helping me with my illness.

It felt odd to type anything more and you shook your head to loosen off the feeling, getting to your feet and taking the list out with you.

The words you had written then disappeared without your knowledge, reaching the person they were intended for.

You had almost forgotten all about the incident that led to the constable ending up in your house again today, but the interaction by your front door had replayed so much in your mind that you were too giddy to focus on anything else. As you put away your groceries, you contemplated what Sungjin was like to go grocery shopping with.

It was juvenile. You felt like you were back in high school crushing on a student you liked. You entertained the idea, all the same, slipping further into more domestic actions, swooning over your hypothetical relationship with the man.

You were destined to be a writer. You were far too much of a dreamer for any other profession.

By the time you had eaten a late lunch, you had already jotted down on your phone’s notes app more information to add to your police officer document once back at your desk. You did some house chores before stepping back in there, and before you could even sit down, there was a knock at your door.

It wasn’t Sungjin, however, but your mother, armed with an arsenal to help your illness improve.

You grinned even though you whined out loud. “Mum, I’m basically over it now.”

“You had me worried sick about you. Especially when you mentioned someone broke in!”

Taking what she held and helping the woman inside, you shook your head. “Well, there’s no evidence that’s solid enough to say someone broke in.”

“Should I stay with you tonight?”

“Why tonight when I was more frightened last night?” you asked with a teasing tone and the older woman swatted at you in distaste.

“I’m your mother! I’m allowed to be worried.”

“I’ll be fine! I’ll have the doors all locked, and my favourite police officer’s number saved into my phone. Besides, I’ll no doubt spend my night writing and-”

“Forget I’m even here. Yes, I know how you get when you step out of reality, Y/N.”

You grinned again at her understanding and then were gathered up in a hug. “At least let me cook you dinner. I’ll leave before it gets too late for your creative juices to start rolling out.”

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“Of course I do. I have to be the best to be your Mum!”

After watching two feel-good movies from your childhood and your mother had fed you your favourite dish for dinner before wrapping the night up with fussing over you sufficiently, she headed back home and left you to your own devices.

So it surprised you to finally sit back down after hours away from your laptop to find the screen still active.

Peering closely at it, you blinked slowly at your message or lack of it. Where had it gone? You knew you written the two sentences and pressed enter.

Just as you were about to close the document, your eyes rounded with shock as words began to appear on the screen before you.

“I’m going insane after all,” you said jarringly, reading the sentence as it was typed.

I hope you will stop fearing me and calling that police officer. I’m really not that scary. You know me.

Instead of reaching for your phone, you felt compelled to reply.

Do I?

Again words started to appear before you. Of course. You know me better than I probably do.

How?

You created me.

“Maybe I’ve had too much coffee,” you tried to rationalise but it didn’t make any sense. Looking around yourself to see if someone was remotely plugged in somehow to your laptop, you even searched the connection settings before coming up blank.

So you challenged the writer of the messages.

If I know you and created you – which sounds absolutely absurd by the way – why won’t you show yourself?

You laughed when there was no immediate response and hovered the mouse pointer over the exit button to Microsoft Word, intending to then power off the device. The screen flickered then and you looked back at to see new words forming.

Don’t turn off the laptop.

“What would that have anything to do with this?” you murmured, feeling exasperated from chatting with some strange person within a word document in the first place.

More words appeared. Because the world you created was made on this.

“Okay, it’s getting too late for me now. I’m going to save this document and-”

The screen went blank and you sat back in your chair then, watching it to see what would happen next. Nothing did and you hit the power button on and off, laughing at the predicament. “My battery must have died. Great.”

Searching on the desk for the power cord, you plugged it in and the machine brightened up instantly, blinding you a little with the sudden change.

And then it opened Captivated again.

You watched as the story scrolled down at an unbelievably fast rate, reaching the bottom of the manuscript where you had changed the words back to The End for the third time. They disappeared and were replaced with To Be Continued once more, infuriating you.

“Leave my work alone! This is an intrusion on my intellectual property! You have no right interfering with--”

You weren’t sure if you were hallucinating or not. You weren’t even sure how it happened. One moment, whilst you were ranting to whoever may be listening in about your rights, you were all alone.

The next, a man was leaning against your desktop beside you.

“What the… how did you get in here?!” you cried, not looking up at him properly, reaching into your pocket to retrieve your phone.

“I really don’t think you need to call for him. But if it makes you feel safer, by all means, ring your hero.”

His voice, although you had never heard it before, felt familiar, as if you had imagined that’s how someone would sound. You glanced at his hand resting on the table beside you, wondering why it looked as if you had written about this hand so often it almost felt intimate. Following your gaze up his arm, you ran your focus along his shoulder and up to his face, hearing your phone clatter to the floor beside you.

As you looked intensely into his warm brown eyes that watched you back, and then took in the sharp slant of his nose that was definitely a characteristic point, before finally moving to his lips, you knew exactly who you were staring back at.

Brian Kang.

He grinned, scrunching up his nose a little in the process and it made you gasp. This seemed to please the man. “Well, I guess it works on more than just Charli Evers, huh?”

“You’re… wait… how can you… I mean, this is exactly how I pictured you but… it’s impossible.”

Brian nodded, glancing back at your laptop and tapped on the screen. “I guess it would seem like that to you since my world is created from your imagination.”

“Sungjin’s right, I’ve gone mad.”

“Darling, you’ve been mad for some time but I wouldn’t go thinking this is a hallucination.”

“You’re not real.”

“Well, I guess I’m not meant to be real. I’m not really sure how I figured this all out either. I’m still learning about the outside world so forgive me for scaring you with all this.”

“The outside world?” you repeated incredulously, grasping your head as you felt faint. “Why am I talking to my imagination?! This is an all-time low for me; even I have to admit it.”

“Y/N,” Brian stated, capturing your attention once again. His expression was resolute. You knew without him saying anything else that he believed in what he was about to say wholly. “Whilst you are my maker, I do exist. I’m real.”

“I bet I can’t even touch--” A whimper left you then as he reached out to take a hold of your wrist with the same hand you had inspected. And then he slipped it down so he was holding yours, marvelling at the connection.

And like any normal, logical person who just met their creation in the flesh, you completely blacked out from the experience.

_________________

Part 4

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[teenwolffanclub-me]

Season 1, Episode 10: Co-Captain

Hey there beautiful reader! If you’re new here, this is a series I’m writing where each chapter is an episode from the first season of Teen Wolf. If you’ve been here before, hey! I missed you! Previous and future chapters are linked at the end of each part if you want to catch up.

Pairing: Stiles x Psychic! Reader (eventually)

Notes: I somehow forgot that Deaton existed until I wrote this. My bad guys, but he’s not really that relevant in the first season anyway so...

P.S. Kate needs a therapist, Sheriff Stilinski is kinda bad at his job, and so many people almost die. Seriously, it’s getting ridiculous at this point.

                                                    ————————

Lydia huffed in annoyance, struggling to keep up behind me in her high heeled boots. The ground crunched with each quick step I took, the dirt barely visible through a thick layer of dried leaves. I pulled the sides of my jacket tighter around my sides, feeling a chill run up my spine as a gust of cold air blew against me.

“Allison. When you said you needed to run an errand before we went shopping, a five mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting.” Lydia had been complaining nonstop since we got here, and didn’t seem likely to give up anytime soon.

We’d been walking through Beacon Hills Preserve for at least ten minutes by now, Allison leading us with a big bag slung over her shoulder. She seemed aggravated, practically running with a tense look on her face. I had no idea what the hell we were doing. She’d been acting weird all week, more angry and on edge than usual.

We were supposed to be shopping for winter formal dresses at the mall. Lydia had been begging us to go all week, since the dance is next Friday. I kept dodging her invitation because there were just so many other things going on right now.

Me and the guys had spent the week trying to figure out where Peter’s been hiding, while keeping Jackson from spilling the werewolf beans to the whole school every time he got pissy.

I wasn’t sure who either of them were taking to the dance, and I honestly didn’t care much. I wasn’t planning on going. No one had asked me, and stuff like that wasn’t really my thing anyway. I definitely wasn’t annoyed that a certain spastic boy hadn’t even mentioned it yet. Not at all.

“Before I forget, I wanted to ask if you’re okay with something.” Allison quipped, not even bothering to turn around and look at us. “Jackson asked me to winter formal.”

My eyes widened and swept toward Lydia quickly to see her reaction. I wasn’t expecting that, even though the two of them had been incredibly flirty lately. It was obvious that Allison still had feelings for Scott, and Lydia for Jackson, so the whole thing was just a big mess.

“Did he?” She tried to sound unaffected as she nearly stumbled over a rock. My arm instinctively stuck out to steady her, and she sent me a small, grateful smile.

“Just as friends, but I wanted to make sure you were okay with it first.” 

Lydia pursed her glossed lips tightly and flicked a lock of hair away from her eyes. Her gloved hands tightened into fists at her sides. “Sure. As long as it’s just friends.”

Allison scoffed quietly, seemingly annoyed. I quirked a brow at her back in curiosity. Yeah, she and Lydia had a bit of a love hate relationship, but stealing her boyfriend was a little over the top. Something was clearly bothering her. I’d been trying to figure it out for days, but she never wanted to talk about it when I asked.

She stopped suddenly, and I nearly toppled over as I narrowly avoided running into her. Her bag dropped onto the leaf covered ground with a thud before she knelt down to unzip it. Lydia and I both watched in curious silence as she pulled out a huge bow and inspected it carefully.

It looked like something a professional would own. I’d nearly forgotten that she was into archery as a kid, but that thing was intense. Plus, why she felt the need to do this right now, on a Saturday afternoon while we were supposed to be shopping, I had no idea. She popped back to her feet quickly and screwed a big cylindrical arrowhead onto her arrow.

“What does that do?” Lydia shivered beside me and crossed her arms tightly as another gust of wind blew past us.

“We’re about to find out.” Allison muttered, more to herself than us, as she strung the bow.

She turned her back to us and raised her arms up beside her head. I watched closely as she narrowed her eyes and scanned the area for a good target. After a moment of wobbling, she let out a breath and squared her shoulders. Then, she let go.

The arrow whizzed through the air with a zip before landing in a tree a few yards away, immediately exploding with a bright waterfall of sparks.

I jumped back, not expecting that at all. “What the hell was that?”

That was not an ordinary arrow. I wondered for a moment how she even got it. It was most likely her dad’s, so she either stole it or knew way more about her family than she was letting on.

She dropped her arms with a jerk and whipped around to face us, her eyes glassy. Their hard edge had disappeared entirely, replaced now with something close to fear. “I need to tell you guys something. It’s going to sound really ridiculous and I-I don’t want you to laugh at me.”

Her sudden change in demeanor was a little jarring. It seemed like this was coming out of nowhere. I glanced at Lydia, who was doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that she thought she was completely crazy.

“We would never laugh at you.” I narrowed my eyes at Lydia, silently pleading with her to be nice. She just pouted and looked at Allison expectantly.

“It’s about my family.” Allison let out a heavy breath and wiped at her eyes. “Awhile ago, I caught them in a lie. A little one. But now, I’ve been overhearing some really strange conversations. I think...I think some of it has to do with Derek.”

“Derek?” I sputtered, my breath catching in my throat at his name. I’d learned earlier this week that he was, in fact, alive after our encounter with Peter. They’d both shown up at school a few days ago to intimidate Scott into joining their pack, which was honestly so much worse.

I let out a sigh and cleared my throat. “I mean, are you sure?”

She nodded, glancing around the trees as if he could be spying on us right now. “Yeah. I don’t think he is who he—”

She suddenly stopped, her whole body stiffening as something rustled in the leaves nearby. I watched her closely as she looked from side to side, wondering if something happened that she wasn’t telling me about. She was acting so jumpy and weird.

“Hold this.” She absentmindedly handed her bow to Lydia, who balanced it on her upturned palms as if one wrong move would set it off.

“What? Why?” Her emerald eyes widened in horror.

“Because I thought I heard something.” Allison whispered harshly, as if that would help the situation at all.

She turned her back to us and took a few timid steps forward.

“Allison,” I sighed, moving toward her. It was probably nothing. And if it wasn’t, she shouldn’t be the one going to investigate. “I’m sure it—”

She turned around just long enough to shush me before continuing on her way. I paused, my lips parting in surprise. Did she really just do that?

I stood in place, my eyes firmly planted on her back until she turned a corner, disappearing among the trees. I was ridiculously confused by her sudden personality change. Up until this week, she’d been terrified of anything even remotely out of the ordinary. Especially after we spent that night in the school.

“She’s being weird. Right?” Lydia breathed from beside me, still standing completely still and holding the bow gingerly.

I nodded, eyes narrowing in the direction she’d gone. I guess there was a chance the noise was something supernatural, but we were in the woods. It could’ve been anything and was most likely harmless. Still, part of me wanted to go after her and make sure she was okay.

“Very.” I moved to walk away, but stopped when Lydia’s panicked voice sounded from behind me.

“Um, absolutely not. You are not leaving me alone with this thing.” Her wide eyes glanced down at the bow apprehensively.

“Oh, for God’s sake...” I stepped toward her, quickly plucking it from her hands, and she visibly relaxed with a heavy sigh.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I dropped it on top of Allison’s bag. She was always so dramatic. I motioned for her to follow me and continued forward. Allison couldn’t have gotten far yet, so I figured we’d find her pretty quickly.

I rounded a corner and immediately staggered to a stop as my eyes landed on Allison only a few feet away. She was crouched on the ground hugging Scott, who looked like he’d just fallen or something. His eyes found mine and immediately widened as he shook his head frantically with a wave of his hand.

I whirled around and nearly ran right into Lydia. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as I grabbed her biceps and jerked her the other way. I had no idea what he was even doing here, but I didn’t want to ruin their moment. He’d been trying to get back on her good side, and apparently it was working if what I just saw was any indication.

“Y/N, what the hell is wrong with you?” Lydia snapped, turning her head to try and see what I was taking us away from.

“Uh. It was a...wolf.” I cringed at my pathetic attempt at lying. I’d always been complete shit at it.

She gave up on tying to see what it was and let me continue pushing her forward, but still glanced at me as if I’d lost my mind. “There haven’t been wolves in Beacon Hills in—”

“Sixty years. I know.” I let out a huff as we made it back to Allison’s bag, and finally released her.

If only she knew how wrong she was. 

                                                  —————————

I crossed my arms over my chest impatiently, watching as Stiles fumbled with his house key for several seconds before finally managing to push it into the doorknob. He was always such a spaz, no matter what he was doing.

We didn’t have much time, but in my experience, Stiles and rushing don’t mix well. We were only stopping here so that he could grab his laptop before we met up with Scott at his house. The three of us were trying our hardest to find a pattern in the people Peter was trying to turn, so that we could hopefully stop him before he kills anyone else. 

“Why would Jackson want to be a werewolf?” I asked slowly, not fully believing what he'd just told me.

He turned around long enough to twitch his eyes at me incredulously before facing the door again. “Because it’s Jackson.”

I mean, fair enough. 

I’d been delivering dinner for mom at the hospital when Scott texted us that he wanted to meet up. Stiles came to get me, since she would need the car to get home in the morning. On the way here, he’d filled me in on his and Scott’s afternoon.

The three of us had a new policy: no more secrets, and no more lies. 

They decided to follow Jackson after school because they still don’t trust him and also, they’re nosy as hell. Apparently, he didn’t make it far before being cornered by Mr. Argent, so it was a good thing they have no concept of healthy boundaries. The fact that they saved his ass didn’t stop him from threatening to out Scott—again—if he doesn’t give him what he wants.

Stiles also casually mentioned that the Argents are actively trying to kill the alpha and his beta, who they think could be Scott, Jackson, or Derek. 

Things were a shitshow, basically.

Stiles popped his front door open and I trailed in behind him. My eyes immediately landed on his dad, who was sitting at their dining room table surrounded by various documents. Stiles perked up at the sight and practically ran to his side.

“Whatcha doin’?” He sang, peering down at the mountain of papers.

“Work.” Mr. Stilinski muttered curtly, his brows furrowing as he scribbled something down onto a notepad.

“Anything I can help with?” Stiles’ voice rose eagerly as his eyes continued flickering around the table.

His dad let out a long sigh and rubbed a hand across his forehead. It looked like he hadn’t gotten a good nights sleep in days. “You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, that’d be awful nice.”

Stiles jerked upright and nearly bolted to the kitchen. I just stood in place by the door, watching him curiously. It was like he’d completely forgotten that we were supposed to be doing something. He had a tendency to be forgetful, especially when stressed. I’d say he was pretty wired lately, since he could barely go a minute without worrying about Scott and all his werewolf issues. 

He reappeared in the doorway a few seconds later, the bottle of alcohol and a shot glass in hand, and quickly pulled out a chair next to his dad. I decided to join them because I was honestly really curious about what he was working on. Plus, getting Stiles back on track usually took a lot more effort than I was willing to give right now. 

“Any leads?” He put the stuff onto the table and picked up the closest paper to him.

“Hey.” Mr. Stilinski swatted his hand away before wagging a pencil disapprovingly. Stiles cried out dramatically and rubbed at his fingers. “You know I can’t discuss that with you.”

“What about with me?” I slid into a free chair on the other side of the table, my lips pulling up into a teasing smile. It instantly dropped at the unamused stare he gave me. 

Okay. Do not joke with a tired Sheriff. Got it. 

I cleared my throat and glanced at Stiles for help, only to find that he was already looking at me, an amused smile twitching at the edges of his lips. He was trying to be discreet about it, so his dad wouldn’t see, and it was ridiculously adorable. 

He sagged back into his chair with a sigh. “Son, the last thing I need right now is you and your girlfriend shoving your noses into my classified investigation, so if you could just—”

My heart nearly stopped beating in my chest at his words. I looked at Stiles with wide eyes, but he was too busy sputtering silently toward his dad to notice. “Uh, we aren’t—” 

We still hadn’t talked about that. Sure, we’ve kissed a few times, but we haven’t gone on a proper date or anything yet, and he didn’t even ask me to the dance. As far as I was concerned, we were...friends? That sometimes kiss?

“Yeah. No. We-we haven’t...” He rushed the words out as he finally remembered how to talk, his cheeks turning bright pink.

“Look. I don’t care.” His dad sighed before sliding his glasses off and massaging his temples. “Just please go do...anything else.”

“Alright. Fine.” Stiles started pouring a shot of the whiskey, his eyes widening after a moment as if an idea dawned on him. He kept going until the glass was almost full before sliding it across the table. “Bottoms up.”

He got up just as quickly as he’d sat down, striding around the table to take my hand in his. I nearly tripped over my own feet as he pulled me out of my chair and up the stairs quickly. He shoved his bedroom door open before practically throwing me inside and slamming it behind us. 

I just stared at him with wide eyes as he leaned back against it with a sigh. 

“I didn’t want him to notice what I did.” He glanced at me fleetingly before pushing himself off the door and walking briskly toward his desk. 

I swear, he never slows down. 

“Which is...?” I drawled, turning around to watch him dig through each of the wooden drawers. 

He tongue swept across his bottom lip in concentration. My eyes followed the movement, my own lip rolling between my teeth. I was always surprised that he could manage to make even the smallest things attractive. “I’m gonna get him drunk. He talks a lot when he’s drunk.”

“So that’s how you know so much about police stuff.” I wandered over to his bed and plopped down, figuring I might as well get comfortable if we were going to be in here for awhile.

He stopped rummaging through his stuff to frown at me. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Manipulating a Sheriff into giving you classified information? That one’s not exactly north on the moral compass.” I dragged my toes along the hardwood floors and leaned back on my palms.

He rolled his eyes and turned back to the desk, searching for another few seconds before letting out a frustrated huff. He practically slammed the last drawer closed. One of his hands came up to scratch at the side of his head as he turned and let his eyes flicker around the room. 

“Where the hell did I leave that thing?” He muttered, more to himself than me.

He suddenly perked up, as if remembering something, and took a few big steps toward the bed. He bent down in front of me and started moving his blankets around. I leaned to the side in an effort to give him more room, since it seemed like he somehow forgot I was sitting right here. My eyes flickered over his face, which was only a few inches away from mine. 

The window beside his bed let in just enough light to perfectly illuminate his freckled skin. It reflected off of his eyes, making them look like molten amber. His nose was scrunched adorably in concentration as he weaved around me to look for the laptop. He suddenly stopped fidgeting and moved back slightly. 

“Ah ha! Got ya, you little...” He trailed off as his eyes met mine. He froze, as if only just then realizing how close we were. 

I stole a glance at his lips before deciding to close the distance between us. It was hard to think about anything else but kissing him when he was this close. My hands moved up to the sides of his face and I tugged him those last few inches closer. When my lips slanted over his, he stiffened against me, as if caught off guard. The contact only lasted a few seconds before he pulled back with with shaky breath. 

I took one look at his stunned expression and erupted into a fit of giggles. 

“What?” He frowned and moved away, his eyes searching mine.

“Why do you always kiss me like you think I’m going to punch you in the face right after?” I chuckled and let my hands drop back down to my lap.

It looked like he was about to argue as his mouth opened and closed a few times. He eventually just dragged his tongue against the inside of his cheek and sighed in defeat. “I just—uh. I want you to be comfortable, and I don’t want you to think that I want you to do something that you don’t want to do.”

My brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what the hell he just said. 

“I’m gonna go check on my dad.” He jerked up to his full height and rubbed at the back of his neck before practically running out the door. 

I watched it bounce off the wall from the force he’d used to open it, and shook my head in amusement. I wasn’t sure how he still managed to be such a spaz around me after all this time, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t endearing as hell. After a few seconds, I wandered out of his room and down the stairs to join him.

“You know, Derek Hale would be a hale—” My eyes landed on Mr. Stilinski, still sitting in the same position we’d left him in, as he stopped slurring for a moment to chuckle at his own slip up. “A hell of a lot easier to catch if we could get an actual picture of him.”

Stiles was sitting in the spot beside him again, already nose deep in some document. I padded over to the table and slid into the empty chair on the other side of the table. I finally processed his words and looked at him in question. They didn’t have a single picture of Derek? He’d been arrested at least two separate times now. How was that possible?

“How do you not have a picture of him?” Stiles’ eyebrows pinched as he voiced my thoughts perfectly.

His dad peeled a small piece of paper off the table and studied it as if it held a code he had yet to decipher. “It’s the weirdest thing. It’s like, every time I try to get a mugshot, there’s like two laser beams pointing at the camera...”

Stiles ripped the picture out of his hands and inspected it closely. I leaned over the table to get a look, my eyes widening at what I saw. It was definitely Derek, but only a fraction of his face was visible through the two bright circles that took up most of the shot.

“Nice.” I breathed before sitting back down, honestly impressed. That was a pretty cool trick and could probably come in handy later on.

“Oh my God.” Mr. Stilinski groaned and slid his glasses off before leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hands down his face. “That ounce hit me like a brick. I’ve said way too much, and if you repeat any of this...”

“Dad. It’s me. I’m not gonna say anything. Come on.” Stiles scoffed and put the picture down, as if his dad questioning him at all was offensive.

The Sheriff’s eyes swept toward me and I swallowed, feeling nervous under his intense gaze. It was like he couldn’t turn off the whole cop thing. Or maybe he just really didn’t like me. I looked away from him and picked up a nearby file to distract myself.

“And Y/N, she’s ya know, trustworthy...too.” A frown pulled at my lips. That stuttering mess made me sound anything but. How did he still manage to be awkward even in front of his own dad?

“See, the thing is, they’re all connected.” Mr. Stilinski started, that jumble of words apparently enough to convince him to continue. “The bus driver that was killed was the insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire.”

My eyes widened as I realized I was looking at that very man’s file. I flitted through the pages quickly, looking for anything relevant. 

“Terminated under suspicion of fraud.” I read the words slowly, wondering if it had anything to do with the fire.

I glanced up toward Stiles, who fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably before moving his attention to his dad. “Alright. Who else?”

“The video store clerk who got his throat slashed? A convicted felon with a history of arson.” 

“What about the other two guys? The ones in the woods?” My eyes swept back to Stiles quickly. I’d nearly forgotten about them. They were “mysteriously” killed the night Stiles took Scott into the preserve to get drunk after Allison broke up with him. 

“Priors all over their records. Including—”

“Arson?” I quipped, putting the pieces together easily.

Every single murder was connected to the Hale house fire. But why?

He breathed out a heavy sigh and let the papers he was holding flutter back down to the table. “There’s just so many questions. I mean, if Derek wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire, why start with his sister? She didn’t have anything to do with it. You know, why make it look like some kind of animal did it?”

Stiles looked away from him, his jaw clenching. His eyes flickered to mine fleetingly before moving down to his fingers as he tapped them on the edge of the table, his brows furrowing.

“And, when that cougar showed up in the parking lot, I checked with animal control. Did you know that the incidents of wild animal reports are up seventy percent over the last few months? It’s like they’re just going crazy and running out of the woods.”

It was in that moment, as I saw him so confused and dejected, that a heavy wave of realization crashed down onto my shoulders. Allison wasn’t the only one being hurt by the secrets in Beacon Hills. Not even close. There were so many layers to the problems that all of this shit had created. I hadn’t even considered how it would effect people like Stiles’ dad. 

But it made total sense. Of course, how would they solve any of these cases without the most important piece? He’d run himself into the ground trying to figure out the impossible. Until he knew about the supernatural aspect, he wasn’t going to make any progress. The thought made my heart twist uncomfortably in my chest.

I finally realized how much it was weighing on Stiles, too. It was clear that it pained him not to tell his dad everything. His jaw was tight as Mr. Stilinski rambled on about the unknown, his lips rolled into a thin line. He couldn’t sit still for more than a few seconds, and he kept fidgeting with his fingers. 

It dawned on me then, too, that he wasn’t just complacent in all the lying like I thought this whole time. He was a caretaker. He quite literally couldn’t help but try to protect everyone around him all at once. I had a feeling that even if Scott said it was okay to tell his dad everything, he still wouldn’t.

“Or something’s scaring them out.” Stiles finally sighed, looking defeated. 

Just then, both of our phones dinged with a notification. I pulled mine out of my pocket, brows furrowing at the somewhat incoherent text we’d gotten from Scott.

Mom. Date. PETER!

A second later, another message came through.

MY MOM IS ON A DATE WITH PETER. FREAKING OUT. HELP.

Holy shit. What? That is beyond bad. That’s so fucking terrible I can’t even put it into words. 

My eyes jerked up when Stiles’ chair scraped against the hardwood floors loudly. He bolted to his feet and practically ran around the table, grabbing my arm in the process. He muttered something about us having to be somewhere over his shoulder, but his dad was too far gone to think twice about our quick departure anyway.

We scrambled out the door and into his Jeep, peeling out of the driveway as I recited the address and license plate Scott had sent over. Neither of us said a word as he sped to the other side of town.

After several tense minutes, I spotted the car up ahead. My eyes widened as I realized that it was parked on the side of the road. That couldn’t be good. I saw the silhouette of a man in the driver’s seat, but couldn’t find anyone else inside. 

Oh, God. I hope we aren’t too late.  

“There.” I said, pointing at the car. Stiles immediately veered off the road, but he wasn’t slowing down. I put my hands on the dash for support and looked over at him frantically. “Uh...Stiles?”

I lurched forward, my seatbelt digging into my shoulder as he slammed into the rear bumper of the car. My jaw dropped in shock as smoke started pouring out from under the Jeep’s hood, which was now bent. 

The passenger door in front of us popped open, a very angry looking Ms. McCall tumbling out. “Oh, God! Stiles!”

Well, at least she was still alive.

“Ms. McCall?” He scrambled out of the Jeep, looking flustered despite doing that very much intentionally. 

“Yes!” She threw her hands up in exasperation as she walked around to survey the damage. 

“Wow. Well, this is just crazy. What a coincidence!” Stiles chuckled nervously as he met her between the cars. 

I threw my door open and slid out, immediately shivering as the freezing night air wafted over my skin. My head tilted up to the sky as it started sprinkling. Great. That’s just what we need right now. I came to a stop beside Stiles, crossing my arms tightly over my chest to hold in of my warmth.

“I-I really don’t know what happened. You guys came out of nowhere.” He let out a huff and put his hands on his hips, eyes twitching as he raised his eyebrows, hoping she would buy the excuse. 

“Came out of nowhere? We were parked on the side of the road, Stiles!” Yeah, she so wasn’t believing any of this for a second. 

“How crazy is that?” His voice rose with panic as Peter came striding toward us, looking equally as unamused. “Man, we should probably call the cops. Do like an accident report or something?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Peter drawled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. What was with the Hale’s and leather? Was it a fashion statement? A werewolf thing? Or did they just not own anything else?

Either way, being this close to him was making my skin crawl.

“Are you sure?” One of Stiles’ eyes squinted shut as he lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck with a forced grimace. “I think I’m feeling a little bit of whiplash.”

“Whiplash?” It looked like Ms. McCall was going to injure him herself as her voice became sharp with frustration. “You hit us!”

Peter suddenly turned his back to us and began muttering something under his breath. I peered around Ms. McCall’s shoulder and watched as he seemingly talked to himself. My brows furrowed in confusion and I pulled my phone out of my pocket. As I suspected, there was a new text from Scott saying that he was here a few minutes ago. 

I looked around, but couldn’t find him anywhere. My eyes landed on Peter again as he continued taking slow steps away from us. He was clearly talking to Scott, who would be able to hear him from a good distance away. But where was he?

“You know what, I seriously can’t do this right now.” Ms. McCall threw her hands up and walked back to the car with a huff. 

Without thinking too hard about it, I started walking toward Peter. I wanted to know what he was saying, and what the hell he thought he was doing by going after Scott’s mom. If I stopped for even a second I would’ve realized how epically stupid that was, but at the current moment I was too angry to care. For some reason, putting a human face to the alpha had made him just a little less scary. 

I only made it a few steps before a firm hand on my wrist stopped me. I turned to see Stiles staring at me with wide eyes. “Are you out of your freakin’ mind?”

At the touch of his skin on mine, I suddenly felt like the earth shifted beneath my feet. I staggered back a step, a gasp escaping me as a vivid image of Scott flashed in my mind. The only thing I could see was his face, scrunched into a pained grimace.

Stiles ripped his hand away and I was dropped harshly back into the present. “Whoa. What? What?”

I stumbled to the side, feeling lightheaded, and met his wide eyes. He stared at me with parted lips, his eyebrows raised in shock. The vision had come and gone too fast for me to see what was going on, but I knew it couldn’t be good as my stomach tightened uncomfortably.

“Do that again.” I rushed the words out in one breath. “Touch me again.”

He stammered silently for a few seconds, his confused eyes searching mine. I jutted my arm out toward him expectantly and he rolled his lips into a thin line, looking uneasy. After a few moments of hesitation, he slowly wrapped his hand around my wrist again. 

My eyes fluttered closed as the image of Scot instantly returned. I could no longer feel the rain on my face or the chill of the night air. I was just looking down at Scott, watching as he writhed around on the leaf covered ground, a wet stain on his shirt just below his heart slowly expanding.

A thick liquid stained his lips and chin. It looked like blood, but was almost black. He took in a hoarse breath, his chest heaving from the effort.

Suddenly, my eyes snapped open with a jolt. I nearly toppled over as my legs gave out under me. Stiles wrapped his hands around my biceps and studied with me a hard look. I blinked at him a few times, trying to get my eyes to refocus.

“I’m sorry, but I had to stop. It looked like you were in pain. What the hell was that?” His voice was tight with concern as his eyes flickered around my face.

I rubbed a hand against my chest in an effort to steady my breathing. My head pounded harshly as I looked around, trying to convince myself that I was actually back in the present. 

“We need to go. Right now.” I made a move toward the Jeep, but Stiles stood firmly in place, stopping me easily. 

He gave me a hard look and shook me slightly as he spoke. “Okay. You’re really starting to freak me out. What’s going on right now?”

“I’ll explain on the way. Just...please. Trust me.” His eyes twitched as he swallowed slowly. I tried my hardest to silently convey how serious this was. If we were going to make it to Scott before whatever the hell that was happened, we needed to go. Now. 

He hesitated a moment, looking at me as if he wasn’t convinced of my sanity, but eventually nodded in agreement. I let out a breath of relief, casting a final quick glance at Ms. McCall and Peter as I climbed into the Jeep. I was nervous about leaving her with him, but right now Scott was the priority. 

I just hoped we would get there in time. 

                                                —————————

I squinted through the darkness, using my phone’s flashlight to help illuminate our path as we walked through the woods. It was nearly midnight now, the sun long gone. I was starting to lose hope that we would find Scott. It looked like he was somewhere in the preserve during my vision, but we had yet to run into a single other living thing yet. With each passing minute, it seemed more and more likely that I was actually just crazy.

“So I’m your anchor? Me. Stiles.” He asked from beside me, for the third time in ten minutes.

I sighed, pulling his jacket tighter against me as a gust of wind brushed along the back of my neck. He’d given it to me without hesitation when we got out of the car, already assuming I’d be cold. Since we had nothing else to do while looking for Scott, I told him about what I saw by the cars and explained how Derek helped me with my visions last week. 

He wasn’t happy, to put it mildly. He probably hated the guy more than any of us, and had since let me know how much he despised the idea of me being alone with him. Repeatedly. 

“Don’t go getting a big head about it.” I quipped, mostly joking. “I’m sure I could pick a new one if I wanted to.”

He stopped walking and looked over at me, utterly offended. When he leaned forward to narrow his eyes, I noticed something over his shoulder. I took a big step toward him and shoved his head out of the way quickly.

“Hey! What the hell was—”

“Oh my God.” My heart instantly started hammering in my chest as I saw a crumpled figure a few feet ahead. “Scott!”

As I sprinted toward him, I heard a low, pained groan. Within seconds, I fell onto my knees beside him. His eyes were fluttering as he stared vacantly up into the sky and clutched his injured side. My hands twitched in the air above him, wanting to help but having no idea what to do. Thick smoke started pouring out between his fingers, and I reeled back in disgust. 

Stiles scrambled to his other side a moment later, wide eyes flickering back and forth between Scott and I as if he couldn’t believe that I was right. Honestly, I couldn’t either.

“Allison...” Scott choked the word out, barely able to get a breath in. 

“Seriously?” I shouted urgently as panic surged through me. “You’re literally dying and that’s all you can say? What the hell happened?”

“Derek...Jackson was...” He sputtered and coughed, thick blood oozing from his mouth.

I groaned in frustration. This whole gasping out one word at a time thing was not working for me. I looked up at Stiles desperately. “We have to do something.”

“Uh. Right. Okay...” I could practically see the gears turning in his head as his eyes flickered around spastically before finally coming back to mine. “The clinic. We have to take him to the clinic.”

“What?” I breathed, surprised by the suggestion. 

“Just, come on. We don’t have much time.” 

We both draped each of Scott’s arms over our shoulders and started dragging him back the way we came. I was obviously Incredibly freaked out because he was dying right in front of us, but I was angry, too. I was so mad at myself for not being able to see this sooner. If I had control over my visions, we could’ve been here before he even got hurt. I couldn’t help but feel partially to blame for the whole thing. 

Within minutes we were barreling through the vet clinic’s doors. We came in using the garage, the same way Scott had told us to when Derek was in this same position. It was obvious that he’d been shot with a bullet covered in wolf’s bane, since he wasn’t healing at all. Stiles and I dropped him onto one of the metal operating tables the second we got in the room.

He was passed out cold at this point. I bent over to rest my hands on my knees, my chest heaving with labored breaths. He was heavy as shit, and Stiles and I aren’t exactly the peak of fitness. After I caught my breath, I stood up straight and immediately froze at the sight of Deaton in the doorway.

He was just standing there, observing us curiously. We were so screwed. He could charge us with breaking and entering, at the very least. Plus, Scott was laying on his table with a bullet hole in his chest. There was absolutely no way to explain this, and we didn’t have time anyway.

“Uh...” I stammered, not sure what to say. 

“Remove his shirt.” Deaton said slowly, his eyes firmly planted on Scott as he walked across the room. 

Stiles and I exchanged a quick glance, but did as he said. I grimaced and reared back as I saw the bullet wound properly for the first time. It was still discharging that weird smoke and was oozing a thick, nasty looking black liquid. Deaton returned to the table with a pair of long tweezers, gauze, and a small jar. He looked strangely calm as he peered down at Scott’s unconscious frame.

“I thought you were a vet.” My eyes trailed over him as he snapped on a pair of medical gloves. I appreciated the help from an adult right now, but he wasn’t exactly a doctor.

He glanced at me fleetingly before picking up the tweezers. “That’s correct. And ninety percent of the time I’m mostly treating cats and dogs.”

“Mostly?” Stiles muttered from beside me, his eyes glistening down at Scott with worry. 

Deaton paused just before digging the tweezers into Scott’s side. He looked at the two of us, a small smile pulling at his lips as if he knew something we didn’t. “Mostly.”

Just then, my phone started ringing loudly. I winced at the high pitched tone and reached into my back pocket to fish it out, but stilled when I came up empty. My brows furrowed as I patted my hands against my jeans. I could’ve sworn I put it back in there once we found Scott. 

“What are you doing?” Stiles eyed me curiously from the other end of the table. 

“Have you seen my phone?” I muttered, walking around the room to look around the floor. The ringing kept getting progressively louder, to the point that it was almost painful. I rubbed at my ears as I continued searching. 

“Y/N...” Something about his tone made my attention snap back to him. I glanced down at his hand as he held it out toward me. “You dropped it in the woods so I picked it up...”

My breath caught in my throat as I looked down at the screen. It was black. There was no one calling me, but I could still hear the ringing even now. It didn’t make any sense. I took it from him with a shaky hand, avoiding his concerned gaze. I nearly jumped out of my skin as it started actually going off the second my fingers touched it. 

My eyes flickered up toward Stiles and Deaton, who were both watching me closely. I cleared my throat and turned my back to them before answering. 

“Y/N!” Allison yelled harshly, panic clear in her voice. I immediately stiffened. What more could go wrong tonight? “You’re never going to fucking believe this.”

“What?” I breathed, my heart already beating erratically in my chest with anticipation.

“My aunt just showed me this creepy room we have in our basement—which I didn’t even know was a thing by the way—and you’ll never believe who she has chained up in there.”

I blinked a few times, taking a moment to process what she said. “Allison, just spit it out already.”

“Derek fucking Hale! And—and that’s not all. He was...he’s. Oh my God, I can’t even say it. He’s a...a...”

I pinched my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable bomb to drop. How did he always manage to get himself in these ridiculous situations? Like, are you kidding me right now? As if dealing with Peter wasn’t enough, he goes and gets himself kidnapped by the Argents too.  I turned back around to face Stiles and Deaton, my gaze shifting to the fresh bandage on Scott’s side. I took the relieved look in their eyes as a good sign that he was going to be okay. I held onto the small hope that Allison’s innocence had been preserved and she wasn’t about to say what I thought.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but he’s—she said that he’s a...werewolf.”

Yeah, I knew we weren’t that lucky.

Episode 9                   Episode 11

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Title: The one where Vetinari is seventeen, has a UTI, and is deeply embarrassed about the entire situation. 

Rating: General 

Summary: what it says on the tin. Downey tries to be helpful.

(it’s the weird scene that I’m not sure if it’s going to make it in anywhere, so I thought I’d dump it here for good measure.) 

___________________ 

It is a cold night in his seventh year at the Guild and Vetinari sits in the bathroom feeling sorry for himself. 

He is unsure how all of this came about. Well, he knows logically how these things come about but based on what he knows, it shouldn’t be happening to him. Which is to say, it hurts when he takes a piss.

In some form of youthful naivety, he had assumed that urinary issues were things women dealt with, predominantly. Not men. Sure, men sometimes. But he never thought it’d happen to him. 

Therefore, it is in a state of mild discomfort that he sits in the inset of the first floor bathroom window and laments his life and how it is full of trials and tribulations. Not to mention frustration and embarrassment. 

The doors to the bathroom open and close. Bare feet on tile. Downey’s dark brown hair peeks over the stalls as he rounds the corner to the sinks carrying his toothbrush and a cup. Spying Vetinari, he makes a rude gesture. 

Vetinari watches the older boy splash water on his face then ready his toothbrush. Downey idly shifts weight from foot to foot. The tiles must be quite cold, Vetinari thinks. It is Ember, after all. A floor cold enough will send an ache up calves as muscles clench in retaliation to the temperature. 

Around the toothbrush Downey asks: ‘What’s wrong? You look like death.’ 

‘Go away, Downey.’ 

‘Why’re’you’in’ere?’ He spits. Resumes brushing. ‘It’s midnight.’ 

‘Same question back at you.’ 

Downey motions to his toothpaste and the sink. 

Vetinari believes that this is the last person he should tell anything remotely personal to. It’s Downey, after all. Downey will spread it like wildfire, surely. 

Dog-botherer something something a pun on pissing and pain, probably. Vetinari doesn’t know how Downey comes up with his ridiculous rhyme schemes. The boy evidently has a talent for it. 

Unfortunately. 

Yet, it is cold and it is late. Vetinari is tired but cannot sleep and hadn’t been able to the night before. All day he felt like he had to use the loo, but didn’t. And here is Downey, dancing foot to foot because he was daft enough to not wear stockings or slippers, staring at Vetinari as though he thinks Vetinari the stupid one. But it is a patient ‘you’re stupid, DB’ stare. 

So, against better judgement, Vetinari sighs: ‘I think I have a problem. Urinary related. Um. Have you ever had a thing where — where it hurts when you urinate?’ 

Downey blinks at him. Then, turns back to the sink to spit out his toothpaste and rinse his mouth. ‘Hurt how?’ 

‘It sort of burns and then, upon occasion, it feels as if I have to relieve myself, but I don’t.’ 

‘That sounds like a urinary tract infection. Classic, really. Piss in a cup and test the PH level.’ 

Vetinari blinks. Downey shrugs. 

‘Drink lots of water,’ Downey continues, gathering up his toiletries. ‘Sometimes it can be flushed out. If it doesn’t go away in a few days, talk to Dr. Herbert. My diagnosis, Dog-botherer, is that you’re a stupid scag but you’ll live.’

Then he leaves. The door bangs shut behind him. 

Vetinari leans his forehead against the window and returns to lamenting his life and the decisions he makes when sleep deprived and in discomfort. 

-

The next morning, Vetinari dreads breakfast. The very thought of it brings up his nerves and he is not someone who suffers from nerves. Walking into Hall he expects looks, whispers, laughs. 

But there’s nothing. 

He spends the next few days waiting for mocking that never comes. And after a week, Downey grabs his arm, smiles sneeringly at him, and asks, ‘Well? It’s gone?’

To Vetinari’s great relief, they are alone.

‘It isn’t something you want festering. I looked up what happens if you let it linger too long and it’s nothing good, I can tell you. The infection is caused by E. Coli, you know. Or, most of the time that’s the cause. Sometimes it’s another bacteria or fungus. Do you know how many different kinds of fungi exist on the Disc?’

‘This isn’t something I need to think about, Downey.’  

‘It attaches to the bladder wall, that’s how it starts. The fungus, or bacteria, latches on and forms a film around itself which makes it resistant to your body’s immune response.’ Downey laughs at Vetinari’s disgusted face. ‘I’m trying to be helpful, Dog-botherer.’ 

‘Well, you’re not.’ 

‘I thought you the sort who likes random bits of information. I can pepper you with esoteric knowledge about parasitic worms, if that’s preferable.’ 

‘Not really.’ A beat. Vetinari states: ‘You didn’t tell anyone.’ 

Downey, affronted, ‘Why would I do that? What do you take me for, DB?’ 

Vetinari doesn’t answer. Downey sniffs that he is a gentleman and gentlemen don’t discuss each other’s personal matters of such an intimate nature with others. It’s rude and not the Done Thing. Vetinari refrains from pointing out that Downey is often rude and rarely does the Done Thing.

‘Consider this the last time I attempt to make myself useful to you, Dog-botherer,’ Downey declares. Then he swishes around and waltzes down the corridor and out into the sun-filled Guild courtyard. There is snow on the ground. The air shimmers with light.

[betwecouldmakesome]

car full of moments untold

fandom: julie and the phantoms

pairing: luke/reggie/alex and julie/flynn

word count: 3,656

read here on ao3:  https://archiveofourown.org/works/27090439                         

Julie watches critically as Luke and Reggie seemingly play Tetris with everyone’s bags to get them to fit into the trunk of Alex’s Subaru outback. She isn’t sure why they have so much packed, they only plan on being gone 3 weeks. Flynn made sure to mark where their route and local laundry mats overlap so lack of clean clothes shouldn’t be an issue.

She also has a sneaking suspicion that one of Luke’s duffle bags is entirely beanies. She’s going to let it slide, knowing she’ll end up borrowing them.

She, however, won’t let whatever Reggie is trying and failing to smuggle into the car by hiding it behind his leather jacket, slide.

“Reginald!” Julie calls as she pushes off from the garage she was leaning against, hiding her smile when he jumps and flails. He looks to Luke for help, who shrugs and gives him a look, one she knows means “you’re on your own dude” before he heads back inside.

Reggie leans against the car and brings his hand up to hold his leather jacket closer to him, “Hey! Julie, fancy seeing you here, how’s it going? I’m doing fantastic, totally not doing anything."

“Whatcha got there?” she asks, purposefully ignoring his question and pointedly looks at his hand. Now that she’s closer, she can make out that the something he is holding is moving.

“What? this?” He lifts his hand and chuckles nervously before rubbing at the back of his neck, “it’s just uh, my binder? Yeah! my binder! I wanted to make sure I have a few extras on the trip just in case?” It sounded more like a question then anything.

Julie hums, knowing the boys made sure their binders were the first bags packed. They even checked to make sure they were in the car three times.

It only takes 13 seconds of making direct eye contact with him before he cracks, which to be fair, is a new record for him.

“Okay! Stop giving me the disappointed mom face.” Reggie sighs. He pulls his hand out from underneath his jacket, revealing Miss Petunia, his pet corn snake.

Julie continues to stare at him, slowly raising her eyebrows higher.

“Okay! Okay I’m going” He turns around heading back inside, presumably to give Petunia to Carlos who agreed to take care of her while they were away.

Julie sighs, this is going to be a long trip.

                                     «»

They haven’t even made it out of Los Angeles before it starts.

“Why does Luke get shotgun?” Reggie complains, shoving his upper body between the two front seats.

“Because I won rock-paper-scissors.” Luke says, shoving Reggie back by his forehead. He sounded way too proud for someone who won a child’s game that involves no skill.

“Why is that how we always decide things? I always lose” Reggie pouts, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“That’s why we do.” Luke laughs, quickly flattening himself against the door when Reggie lurches forward again.

“Hey! Cut it out. Reggie put your seatbelt on, you can switch with him when we stop.” Alex interjects, his gaze flickering between the road and Reggie.  

                                   «»

They’ve only been back on the highway ten minutes when Julie slurps down the rest of her slushie, noisily sucking on air at the end. It only takes a few seconds of her shifting around before she leans forward and announces her need to pee. Reggie and Luke quickly agree with her, although Luke looks sheepish about it.

“Seriously?” Flynn asks, raising a less than impressed eyebrow.

“Why didn’t you go at the gas station?” Alex also is not impressed but his eyebrows are less expressive then Flynn’s.

“I didn’t have to go then” Julie defends, Luke and Reggie nod in agreement.

“This is why Flynn is my favorite.” Alex complains. Although he changes lanes to get off at the next exit, so it doesn’t hold much weight

                                  «»

It is pushing half past nine before Alex decides they’re done for the day. They planned on driving until eleven but there are only so many road games that he can take. If he had to listen to one more game of eye spy, he was going to drive them straight off a bridge. Flynn, the goddess she is, finds them a motel to stay in with two available rooms and reads off the directions to him.

For the first time since they left, silence takes over the car when they pull up to the motel. The place is creepy looking, like straight out of a horror movie.

After spending about a good twenty minutes trying to convince Reggie the motel is not haunted and that they won’t die, they cautiously make their way up the old rickety stairs leading to the second floor. They all jump when a loud clang echoes out from the alleyway and quickly scuffle up the rest of the stairs and into their respective rooms.

Alex lets out a relieved sigh, locking the door behind them and looks around the room. It’s not as bad as he was expecting. There is a weird smell he can’t, and doesn’t, want to identify, but it looks relatively clean.

Reggie comes out of the bathroom with Luke right behind him, both now having taken off their binders, changed into pajamas, and brushed their teeth. Reggie drops his backpack at the end of the bed and flops next to it, immediately grabbing the tv remote, “I’m so tired, driving is exhausting.”

Luke shoves at Reggie till he groans and moves to the top of the bed. Reggie takes the side farthest from the door and Luke lays beside him, taking the middle as he called dibs on it, “You didn’t even drive, Alex did all the work.”

Alex listens to them bicker while he brushes his teeth, dreading going back out there. He might have been the one to convince Reggie the motel wasn’t haunted but that does not mean he wants to sleep closest to the door. He spits out the mouthwash and heads back into their room, not at all surprised to see Reggie already asleep cuddled into Luke who looks seconds away from passing out himself. Alex smiles softly and shuts off the lights, he leaves the tv on but turns the volume down. He slides in next to Luke, who immediately, even in his half-asleep state wraps his arm around him and pulls Alex closer to him, burying his face into Alex’s neck. It doesn’t take Alex long to fall asleep, the comfort of laying with his boyfriends outweighing the worry of being haunted.                           

                                  «»

Julie and Flynn wait till ten am for the boys to wake up before giving up and going to explore the town on their own. They walk down main street, hands intertwined, weaving their way through the crowds of people, stopping at any store that catches their eye.

So far, they had stopped at a local café for coffee, a bookstore where they got books for themselves and for each of the boys. Their favorite spot so far was a thrift store that they spent most of their morning trying on the most ridiculous clothing items they could find. and were now googling places they could go next.

Flynn keeps her attention on her phone as she walks, googling places they could go next. She glances up once and awhile but mostly relying on Julie to make sure she doesn’t run face first into a pole. She hums in question when Julie tugs at her arm, only to get her arm tugged on harder in response.

“Look!”

“What? Is there another dog in a stroller?” she asks, locking her phone and sliding it into her back pocket.

Julie grins and points across the street, “We have to go there.”

Flynn eyes where Julie is pointing and grins back at her, letting Julie pull her across the street to where a tiny tourist trap store is.

The bell rings when they push open the door. The person behind the counter jumps at their arrival, startled by the bell, and plasters a smile on their face before just nodding at them in greeting and goes back to flipping through their magazine.

They decide to split up and peruse the shelves for Knick Knacks. Looking for gifts for their families and funny things for the boys.

Julie ends up getting Carlos a snow globe with a ghost inside, her dad a joke book, a pair of earrings for her tía, some shoelaces with rainbows on them for Alex, and two cowboy hats for Luke and Reggie. 

Flynn gets her mom a scented candle gift set, her dad a 1,000-piece puzzle of the town, her older brothers each a screaming goat figurine and a world’s okayest brother coffee mug, an assorted pack of stickers for cryptids for Alex, a pair of socks with ostriches on them for Luke, and a kid leash for Reggie.

 (She got him a stuffed horse as a real gift but the look on his face, and the laughter from everyone else, when she hands him the leash is worth spending the extra money.)                                                                                                  

                                  «»

It takes 3 days and too many coffees and red bulls for them to get Alex to let Julie drive. 

It takes an additional 15 minutes for them to convince him that they will not, under any circumstances, let Luke drive, before he hands over the keys and climbs into the back with Luke and Reggie, falling asleep in seconds.                                                                                                                                     

                                   «»

They are somewhere in Arizona when it becomes evident that it is too hot to keep driving. The temperature pushing 106° Fahrenheit and they are sweating through their t-shirts, hair sticking to the nape of their necks. They are practically all climbing over each other to get out of the car when Alex slows to a stop, having found a river nearby to stop at. Reggie and Luke collapse on the grass under the shade of a tree, leaving Alex, Flynn, and Julie to rummage through the bags for their bathing suits. They jerk upwards with a yelp when Julie throughs their swim trunks and tank tops at them, managing to hit them right in the face.

Luke is the first one changed and immediately runs towards the water. He dives under as soon as it’s deep enough before coming up again just as quick, a wide grin on his face as he shakes out his hair.

“Last one in has to pay for dinner!” He yells out.

The rest of them all share a look before sprinting towards him, letting out battle cry’s as they hit the water                                                                                                                                    

                                    «»

After spending a few hours having chicken fights and wading through the water they decide to camp out beside the river for the night. Alex makes a quick trip to the nearest store to get the supplies to make sandwiches and s’mores, Reggie and Flynn oversee the fire while Luke and Julie set up their sleeping bags.

They settle into their sleeping bags, the sound of crickets chirping, the river flowing, and the crackling of dying embers from fire the only noise, everyone silent as they look up at the stars. It’s dark, the fire barely going anymore, the moon and bright stars now their only light source. It’s peaceful and reassuring in a way the city could never be.

“What if we didn’t go back?” It’s Luke who whispers it, but it doesn’t matter, they were all thinking it, this is the most relaxed they’ve felt in forever.                                                                                                                           

                                     «»

They take lots of pictures during their trip, snapping them whenever they get a chance. Photos of Luke, Flynn, and Julie passed out in the back seat, cuddled up and drooling on each other. Videos of Reggie yelling “Horses!” and pressing his face against the window every time they drive by any and Alex saying “if you do that one more time, I swear I’m going to crash the car” every time. They take pictures of themselves at every state sign they pass, and every landmark they visit. They take pictures of the scenery, the sun rising and setting. There are videos of them singing along to the radio at the top of their lungs. They have videos of every dumb stunt the others try, videos of them joking and laughing. They take as many as they can, trying to capture every moment, hoping to savor as much as they can.                                                                                                                                       

                                    «»

It takes Julie and Flynn 5 days to realize Reggie and Alex never call their parents.

It takes a few more for them to realize Luke doesn’t answer when his do.                                                                                                                                      

                                    «»

Julie and Flynn are leaning against each other drifting in and out of sleep, Luke already snoring in the passenger seat when they get startled awake by Alex swearing loudly and slamming on his breaks before making a U-turn.

“Alex! What the hell?” Julie yells, smacking the back of his headrest repeatedly.

He swats at her hand halfheartedly, “We forgot Reggie at the last stop!” 

They all exchange a look, knowing they will never hear the end of this.                                                                                                                                      

                                  «»

Alex knows, rationally that it’s dumb to worry. Reggie can take care of himself, but there’s still a hollow feeling in his stomach as he pulls back into the run-down gas-station. He sure they’ll laugh about it later, just another funny story to tell, but the silence that hangs in the air as they pull in to see Reggie nowhere in sight is chilling.

As soon as the car is in park, they all spill out, running across the parking lot and into the building.

Reggie is fine, of course. They find him sitting on the checkout counter, kicking his legs back and forth as he chats with the cashier who’s working. He beams when he notices them, waving at them with the hand he is holding a hotdog in.

“Hey guys!” 

Alex is the first one to react. He rushes forward and pulls Reggie into a tight hug, lifting him right off the counter, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

Reggie hugs him back at laughs against his neck. “Took you long enough.”                                                                                                                                     

                                   «»

They get ten miles down the road before Reggie clutches his stomach and groans, “I’m gonna hurl.”

They pull over three more times for him to throw up before deciding to stop for the night.

Reggie swears that he is never eating another hotdog again.                                                                                                                                     

                                  «»

It’s six am, raining and gloomy out as they leave the motel. It is entirely too early after checking in after midnight. Alex wordlessly hands the keys to Julie and climbs into the back, Reggie and Luke both still half asleep following him.

They don’t wake up for another few hours and even then, it’s not by choice, it’s by the girls shaking them awake. Flynn hands the cardboard tray with 3 coffees back to them and goes back to quietly talking to Julie.

Reggie yawns and takes a sip of theirs, leaning forward after to kiss the girls on the cheek in thanks.

“It’s a Them day.” They say, slouching back against Luke. They only stay awake long enough to hear the groups hums or mumbled “okay’s” in acknowledgment.                                                                                                                               

                                   «»

They get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. A straight stretch of road going for miles and big open fields going as far as they can see.

“Shit,” Alex swears under his breath and looks to Reggie hopefully, who shakes his head and looks to Luke, only to get a sheepish shrug in response.

“Shit.” Alex repeats, louder this time.

Julie and Flynn exchange a glance before rolling up their sleeves, “We’ve got this, boys.”

“How did you know how to do that?” Reggie asks in awe, as the girls stand back up while wiping the dirt of their hands. The flat tire now replaced by the spare.

“My mom taught us.”

“We’d be lost without you.” Luke grins.

Flynn pulls him into a side hug and ruffles his hair, “Damn right you would.”                                                                                                                                    

                                    «»

Alex pokes at the paint on his cheeks, checking to see if it was dry. He had rainbow stripes on one side, and purple, white, and green on the other. He had been the one put in charge of doing everyone’s face paint and he had waited to do his own last. Luke had the demiboy flag painted on one cheek and the ace flag on the other. His nails painted pink, yellow, and blue, and is wearing a crop top with a trans flag wrapped around him like a cape. Reggie had Alex paint the genderfluid flag and trans flag onto his face, and his nails painted with the bi flag colors. Julie has the demigirl colors on one cheek and the bi colors on the other, with an ace flag wrapped around her. Flynn has dark orange, light orange, white, pink, and dark pink, representing the lesbian flag painted onto both cheeks.

Alex reaches around Reggie to grab his trans flag, the last part of his outfit, and wraps it around his shoulders. 

Julie claps her hands together, getting everybody’s attention, “Everyone ready?”

Reggie lets out a shout of excitement, grabbing Alex and Luke’s hands, lacing his fingers with their own and tugging them out the door. Julie and Flynn follow them, shaking their heads and laughing as they watch all three of them try and walk down the narrow staircase side by side.                                                                                                                                      

                                   «»

“I’m dying.” Reggie gasps out, dramatically flinging themself over a rock.

“We’re almost there, it’s just a few more minutes.” Julie reassures them, the rest of the group taking the opportunity to stop and rest. All of them had woken up at five am to hike a mountain and watch the sun rise. The trail was about two miles, and this was the third time Reggie had announced that they were dying, although this one was more dramatic than the others.

“You’ve been saying that for the last 20 minutes!”

“Well this time I mean it.”

“Luke.” Reggie whines, drawing out the name as they shift their gaze to Luke, who is pouring some of his water over his head.

“No.” 

“Babe! Please, I’m dying here.”

Luke sighs and rolls his eyes before crouching down, not being able to resist Reggie’s puppy dog eyes, “Hop on.”

Reggie cheers, jumping up onto his back, “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“I think you should remind me.” Luke grins, tilting his head back towards Reggie.

“Maybe I will.” They laugh, leaning forward and press their lips against Luke’s, smiling into the kiss.

“Hey!” Alex calls after them, “I’d like to be reminded too.”

“You were going to let me die, you don’t get any kisses.” Reggie looks back over their shoulder, sticking their tongue out at him.

“Well I’m the one carrying the food so maybe you should reconsider.”

“Are you bribing me?”

“I don’t know, is it working?” Alex asks.

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Reggie slaps at Luke’s shoulder, telling him to let them down.

Julie and Flynn make their way around them, wanting to make it to the top of the mountain in time.

Reggie skips down to Alex and wraps their arms around Alex’s neck, pulling him down to kiss them.

“So, can I have a snack now?”

                                   «»

“Guys,” Flynn looks at the scene before her in exasperation, “I was gone for literally five minutes.”

“We know, help now scold later.” Reggie shifts, trying to yank his foot out for underneath Julie

“How did you even manage this?”

“We couldn’t decide which one of us got to sit in the cart and we thought we could all fit.” Julie peaks her head out from behind Luke. She blows a piece of hair out of her face so she can see, only for it to fall right back.

“You too, Alex?” Flynn asks.

Alex shrugs, looking guilty, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“You’re apart of a human pretzel!”

“We won’t do it again, just get us out. I have to pee, and Luke is crushing my bladder.”

“Hey! at least you don’t have Reggie’s knees in your back,” Luke argues, “and I’m not even that- wait, Flynn are you taking pictures?”

“Oh yeah, definitely” She nods.                                                                                                                                       

                                   «» 

“That’s the fourth store we’ve gotten kicked out of this week.” Flynn complains, glaring at the grocery store.

“That’s not too bad.”

“Luke, It’s Wednesday.”

                                     «»

They sit on a pier in silence, feet dangling off the edge as they lean with their upper bodies over the bottom railing. The sun is setting, gradually receding into the waters below. The sky is more purple than red now, further indicating that their night is coming to an end. 

It had been a few hours since they made their way away from the carnival that was bustling with activity to somewhere quieter. Further away from the bright lights and loud music, the yells excitement and overwhelming noise of big crowds of people all talking and closer to the sounds of waves crashing against shore and seagulls squawking.

Julie picks at her cotton candy, ripping a piece off and hands it to Alex, who accidently dropped his into the ocean below them.

“Maybe we don’t go back.” Again, It’s Luke who says it. He sounds more confident this time.

“Are parents would kill us,” Alex says. He looks down awkwardly when Luke looks at him pointedly. 

“Okay, Ray would kill us.”

“Hey! Ray’s cool, he would never.” Reggie objects.

“We can’t just not go back, right?” Alex looks around at each of them, “Could we?”

Flynn shrugs, “I hear Maine is really pretty in the Fall.”

                                    «»

Ray is cool and he does not kill them. His exact response is “I get it, I’ll miss you! Stay safe and be careful. Send post cards. And because I’m being so cool about it, you get to be the one to tell your tía.”                                                                                                            

[thegreymoon]

Broker

What better way to celebrate Luo Yunxi going back to work than by watching Broker? 😋

***

LMAOOOO, did her crazy sister book a hotel room for them? A hotel room to have sex in? With a water bed?? 🤣🤣

Oh, yes, that will fix all their problems 🤣🤣

***

LMAO, this is going as well as expected 🤣🤣

I’ll be very shocked if anything even remotely resembling sex happens here 🤣🤣 With that said, the two of them have zero chemistry. None at all. I just can’t imagine them together. When I think back to Bai Lu and Love is Sweet, you could just tell that the two of them could barely restrain themselves from ripping each other’s clothes off and going at it any time, any place. But these two don’t even feel like they are in the same world together, let alone the same room, or in this case, the same bed. 

***

LMAOOOO, she actually checked under the covers if she’s still dressed 🤣🤣

And not only is she still dressed, she’s even still wearing her fucking coat 🤣🤣

Girl, you’re a disaster, but at least they both got a nice nap out of this whole... debacle 🤣🤣

***

YOU ARE A CORPORATE SPY!!

I mean, LYX is cute and all, but Jianing needs to run FAR and FAST. 

***

OK, so where else was he supposed to take his girlfriend? Please enlighten me! 

The people in this office are absolutely ridiculous and really need to learn to mind their own business. 

With that said, I hope she lets it slip to the idiot secretary that ZXS brought a girl home, just so that we can watch her have a meltdown 😆😆

***

I can’t believe they turned out to be my favourite ship on this show 😆

They are wonderful and I’m so invested in this relationship! 

***

LMAOOO 🤣🤣

This is him 👇👇

This is the guy in the picture 👇👇

I am crying 🤣🤣

***

LMAOOO, wtf.

Chunrarn, you work in a pharmaceutical lab. I’m sure you know how to cook up so many great poisons that will make him suffer but still be hard to detect! You have the skills! The means! The opportunity! Please kill him. Kill him for us all! 

***

I am dead and buried 🤣🤣

I need a full comedy drama of this man making a fool of himself and getting roasted/robbed blind by the women he gets set up with. 

***

Yes, be ashamed you loser. 

I am frankly sick of the trope where the chubby but good-hearted guy ends up with a girlfriend who looks like she stepped right off the runway because the opposite never happens, so I was really looking forward to seeing it reversed here (although I am going to refrain from airing my judgement on the state of his hotness and her chubbiness), but he’s really pathetic. 

***

God, he’s such a waste of oxygen 🤮

Chunran deserves better than some half-grown, immature imbecile who is ashamed of liking her. Fuck him. Fuck him with a cactus. 🌵🌵

***

It is with great surprise that I have to report that these two have, in fact, stopped being annoying almost entirely. 

How? Why? I don’t know, but I this change pleases me. 

***

WAIT, SHE’S YU-ER’S MOTHER????

AND SHE NEVER COMES AND VISITS HER SICK CHILD BECAUSE SHE IS “TOO BUSY”???????????????????

***

LMAO, what the fuck is she wearing?

She’s supposed to be at work, not a cocktail party!

***

SHE SAID IT AND THIS IS A HILL I’M DYING ON.

Xiaoshan is plenty manipulative and shady, but this is one thing I will not let them malign him on, he clearly wanted them to be open, and she didn’t want daddy to find out. 

I HAVE RECEIPTS. 

***

LMAOOO, so much for ‘best friends’ 💀💀

If your ‘best friend’ doesn’t know you have a child, much less a terminally ill child, you are either not much of a friend or much of a mother. Or both. 

***

Yes, Jiaxin, your girlfriend is hot 🔥🔥

She’s so smitten, LMAO 😆😆

***

Girl, he’s red flag central 😫😫

Run, Jianing, run! Or at the very least discuss with a therapist why you insist on dating him when you clearly see him waving those red flags and still choose to ignore them. 

***

Mte, Jiaxin. Mte 🙄🙄

I can’t believe we are at a stage where she is the most reasonable and mostly sane character. This is, indeed, the darkest timeline. 

***

Lady, the two of you are not friends. 

You are casual acquaintances who go clubbing together from time to time at best. I thought Qianya was untrustworthy and a liar, but Jianing never asked?? Really?? In ten years of ‘friendship’, you never met a single family member or heard them talk about them? She has a whole ass elementary school child that she never told you about? THERE ARE RANDOM TUMBLRS I IDENTIFY ONLY BY THE USERNAME AND ICON THAT I KNOW MORE ABOUT THAN SHE DOES ABOUT HER SO-CALLED ‘FRIEND’.

***

This height/size difference 😅😅

With that said, this is so toxic and fantastically creepy. Qin Bin has no business approaching Xiaoshan like this. Jianing is a woman who turned him down clearly and repeatedly and very much drew the boundary at having a professional relationship only. And here he is, having a ‘little talk’ with her boyfriend, menacing and threatening him. Qin Bin continuing to pester her even after she clearly said no and even reiterated that she was already in a relationship when he wouldn’t relent (not to mention his creepy, sexist ‘jokes’ he likes to crack in public at her expense) was already way over the line, but this is retraining order territory. If I was Jianing and found out about this, I would be a) embarrassed, and b) beyond pissed off. I’d never speak to him again. 

***

LMAO, what a prize you are! 🤣🤣

I swear, they put him into this show to distract us from how much of a creep the two above him are being 🤣🤣 They seem mild in comparison to this loser and, yeah, at least they are handsome.  

***

With parents like these, who needs enemies? 

Girl, if no contact with your asshole parents is not an option, then low contact should certainly be! You are 30 years old, stop entertaining their bullshit and letting it affect your mental health! 

[lozzypoz321]

Word count: 1.3k

A/N: I really enjoyed writing this and loved Harry Spiles 🥺 thank you to @canadianhufflepuffavenger for proofreading this and helping me with ideas, I really appreciate it <33

Warnings: swearing, arachnophobia

This is an entry for @ssebstann’s 1k challenge!! I hope you enjoy!!

The secret spider

-

“You got a... spider?” You asked the two superheroes, concern dripping from every word. Truth be told, you were absolutely terrified of spiders and wanted nothing to do with them.

“Yes. We adopted him, his name is Harry Spiles.” Peter shared, Shuri nodding enthusiastically with a glass tank securely in her hands. The three of you were currently standing in the living room and luckily there was nobody else in the room. You were certain that the adults in the building would be very against this, and that is why you promised the two teenagers that you would keep your mouth shut.

“Yes Peter, yes Shuri. I will not tell anyone else about Harry Spiles the spider.”

-

A sudden shrill scream sounded through the building, alarming you and the rest of the avengers who were currently seated in the room. Your head snapped towards the door where the noise had come from, a panicked expression formed on your face. Your dad and Steve shared a look before the younger man faced the door while your dad set a hand on your shoulder, silently reassuring you.

Although before anyone could go and explore the sound, Friday’s voice erupted from the speakers in the building “Mr Parker has requested the assistance of Miss Shuri on floor 5 immediately”

Shuri stood up, apprehensively, shrugging her shoulders when Thor looked at her with confusion. Everyone watched as she headed to the elevator, not bothering to spare a second glance to you all.

By now you had completely forgotten the spider that the two teenagers had brought home a week prior, or else you would have made the connection as soon as he asked for her help through Friday.

“What do we do?!” The noise was easily distinguished as the girl’s voice, making everybody who was currently in the room, whether they were sat on one of the leather couches or stood up, scrunch their faces in confusion. “I’ll go see what’s going on” Steve mumbled to the group and removed his feet from the hardwood floor where they had been previously glued and began to make his way up the stairs and closer to the noise. He decided not to use the elevator as the glass windows had the view of the city, the height making him unsteady.

“I do not want to be involved in whatever’s happening up there,” Sam said and slid down the sofa, regaining his attention on the movie that was currently playing upon the screen. Your dad nodded in agreement and took a seat next to Pepper, while she tried to make polite conversation with everyone.

“How’s everyone’s day today?”

You, your dad, Sam and Thor shrugged your shoulders simultaneously, making a small laugh fall through your lips. Sam grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and began flicking through the channels, skipping past 60-minute makeover, Spongebob and Ice Age before settling on Supernatural, knowing that if he didn’t then you would have something to say about it. “Ah, this is the demonic tv show-“ Thor was cut off by yelling upstairs, instantly making your dad scrunch his eyebrows together in confusion. The reason being the voice belonged to a certain super-soldier.

“What the fuck is going on up there?”

“I’ve no bloody idea,” He responded and heaved himself up off the leather couch, indicating he was going to explore the mysterious yelling and screaming. You decided there and then, that you wanted to be involved in the adventure and followed your dad, joining him near the steps so that you wouldn’t miss out on anything.

He chuckled at your antics and began the climb up the stairs. He didn’t bother to rush as he didn’t actually want to get involved in the first place, only get answers for the small group downstairs. You let your hand glide across the wall as you began to reach the top: where you could see the back of Steve in the bathroom doorway, panicked yelling to whoever was in there, presumably Peter and Shuri.

You and your dad joined the soldier at the entrance, mouth parting in confusion when you saw Peter on his hands and knees on the marble floor as if looking for something and Shuri on top of the toilet, getting a good shot of the whole bathroom. “Erm, sorry to interrupt, but what the fuck is going on?” Your dad was leant up against the door with his arms crossed over his chest, black hoodie tightening over his biceps.

“Mr Bucky sir, I think we might have got ourselves into quite a predicament,” Peter told your dad nervously, silently hoping the man wouldn’t ask any more questions. But luck obviously on the two teenagers side today.

“And what’s that, Parker?” The boy didn’t respond, so Shuri stepped up, desperately fighting off the overcoming laugh, “we’ve lost our Snek.”

“I thought it was a spider?”

Your eyebrows flew up at Peter's input, realization hitting you like a truck. So that’s what they were looking for, they’d lost their- wait. “You lost a spider?!” Your tone was full of panic. A huge scary spider was not exactly something you planned on running into today and you certainly didn’t want to. “Harry Spiles actually,” Shuri corrected, earning a scoff from your dad, who was currently attempting to process the prospect of a wild spider on the loose in a 93 story tower and how it could be anywhere by now, ready to jump out at anyone, maybe even bite Peter for the second time.

“Harry Spiles?” Steve asked the four of you with confusion, he had no idea what Shuri was talking about and why she named it such a ridiculous name. Although before either of them could reply with a sarcastic comment, you interrupted them with a scream.

On the wall, directly beside your face, was a ginormous spider, one that you hadn’t realised was that big when it arrived a week ago in the glass box. “What the fuck?!” Your dad yelled and instinctively wrapped an arm around your waist to pull you away from the spider and against his chest.

“There’s a damn spider in the bathroom!” Steve panicked and backed himself against the furthest wall away from the hairy monster, leaving the two teenagers to deal with the whole situation that you three had been forced into. “Aha!” Peter practically screamed in triumph, he went to grab the six-legged arachnid off of the tile before being distracted by a loud, obnoxious cough from the hallway.

Natasha stood with both arms rested upon her hips, a questioning look in her eyes and a smirk plastered on her lips. “I would not ask but this is too good,” She said, holding in a laugh when she caught sight of the grimace Steve gave to the spider.

Peter narrowed his eyes at the super-soldier before scooping up the small animal and handing it to Shuri, making her grin widely, happy that after the exhausting search they had finally succeeded. Bucky grabbed a hold of your hand and made his way to the doorway, no longer wanting to be involved in the confusing situation. “Technically, isn’t there three spiders?” you asked with a laugh as you were dragged by your father away from the group.

“There’s more?!” Steve shrieked in a high pitched voice with, once again, panic encasing his features. You shook your head violently with a laugh, making him sigh in obvious relief. “Peter, Nat, and Harry Spiles”

Peter snorted while the red-headed spy just rolled her eyes at you, for a second everybody completely forgot about the furry creature but the moment was short-lived when Shuri squealed. Everyone snapped their heads towards the girl to see what was going on but dread filled your stomach at the sight of her empty hands. “Not again” Bucky sighed. Steve looked hesitantly around the bathroom for any sign of Harry but grew more uncomfortable once he couldn’t see anything.

“I thought you had him”

“I did, but he must have escaped or something-“

Shuri’s explanation was cut short by a loud band and panicked yelling from downstairs where the rest of the group was waiting. “THERE'S A BLOODY SPIDER ON THE WALL!”

@marvel-ous-hobbit @snarky--starky @rae-is-typing @stargazingfangirl18 @canadianhufflepuffavenger @herecomesthewriterwitch @every-marveler-ever @hera-the-writer @lovers-in-japan-reign-of-love @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @xbongox @rooskaya-yelena @deephideoutmilkshake @kidney9-9 @js3639 @am3l1a-24 @bonkybarnes107 @ilovemarvel-andcats @vickcat @sapphireplums @deannawallacee @keenmarvellover (lined through are untaggable) (join my taglist here!!!)

[akegatacchi]

Sense8 AU!aftg

In the honor of absolutlynothing I’ve decided to put out there one of the many au I have on my phone and archive it there

Big shout out to @a-m-peengoo and @bluesuederose for participating in this mess with genius lines and always be there to bear my 36 ideas per hour. We did a masterpiece girls.

Here we go it’s gonna be long

The cluster:

Kevin: Nomi. He’s just a fuckin hacker who’s running away from his family (riko). When he’s bored, he spends nights crashing the Pentagon system for fun, and makes every screen in the White House play Best Exy Actions Compilation (the longest and hardest part is choosing one compilation to play).

Dan: Will. One of them have to keep them under control. Plus, Dan with a gun i can’t even-

Matt: Riley. Soft, blue strand of hair, a heart of gold, maternal. As a DJ. Yes. SO SOFT (he still knows how to box)

Allison: Capheus. Listen. Imagine Allison in high heels, skin tight leather pants, driving a bus. Also, a F1 pilot champion who can drive anything (even if it’s the first time)

Andrew: Wolfgang. Duh. Do I need to explain myself. Just think abt him saying “This is Berlin. Those are my people. And we go to our knees for no one”.Boy he does NOT like this situation, at all. Will keep the others out with sheer willpower and no blockers. The cluster’s deadliest weapon. PLUS HELLO???? ANDREW IN A PASTEL PINK BOMBER SHOOTING ON A HELICOPTER WITH A BAZOOKA????

Aaron: Felix? Sorta? not a senseate but a great doctor. Senses bullshit and when someone is in Andrew’s body real quick  (Andrew: says more than 2 sentences and is pleasant. Aaron:.....who’s that bitch where is my brother) . Later helps to manufacture blockers.

Neil: Kala. A pharmacist that uses his skill for arson and may or may not be running away from mafia/family matter and currently hiding in India. Him saying “Bring it, bitch” to Riko is my sexuality and Andrew’s. Can create explosives from a Fanta can and spices I mean it’s already canon in aftg. (plus andreil would work even better bc technically Neil can’t even touch Andrew for real)

Nicky: Lito. The drama, the sass. Also the scene where he discovers the Twinyard in Germany are his cousins would be hilarious. The scene where Lito seduces the nurse but with Nicky (“engaging into heterosexual activity? me????”) or the scene where Lito screams in the museum but with Nicky

Erik as Hernando. That’s it that’s the post.

Renee: Sun. I mean, a korean fighter lady in prison trying to be a better person and had a silent bffs relationship with a german gangster? Come on. Also. Allison in a bus and Renee doing art martials stuff. 

Riko: whispers i guess he can eat Allison’s high heels

Now the ~scenes~ (it’s just shitposting):

Aaron, on the verge on several break downs: wait so you have like … DJ Blue Matt and F1 pilot Allison Reynolds in your head? since when? ANDREW SINCE WHE-

*

Neil: what’s a better use of a multiple thousands dollars education than precise arson?????

*

Aaron: why does your boyfriend always end up burning things up?

Andrew: he lits up my heart as well

Aaron: FOR FUCK SAKE

*

Kevin, shocked and betrayed: is there a better sport than exy?

Aaron and Allison: YEAH A REALLY GOOD CAR RACE

*

Allison: you’re - you’re like the spirit of Lucy Liu. In Charlie’s Angels. I watch it once a day. Renee:.....that’s sweet actually :) 

*

Neil: does a molotov cocktail

Matt: I tHoUgHt yOu wErE a PhArMaCiSt

Neil: Yes? That’s PHYSICS

Matt: no that’s ARSON NEIL

Alternative:

Kevin: breaks into the Pentagon virtually

Neil: breaks into the Pentagon physically

Matt, again: i thought you were a PHARMACIST!!!! Neil: Yes I am??? That’s irrelevant

*

A senseate sibling, escaping, grabbing a vehicle at random: someone knows how to drive that?

Allison, in stilettos : no, but I sure will soon

*

Just Allison driving Renee around to fight people

*

Everytime someone mocks a senseate sibling Neil or Nicky shows up to roast them. Sometimes they do it both at the same time. It’s apocalyptic. The sass. The drama. 

They can also bullshit their way out of any situation. Neil is such a smooth liar and Nicky is just ridiculous. The FBI agent charged to arrest them somehow ends up crying abt childhood trauma while hugging a teddy bear.

Neil, caught in the act of making a string of explosives by the FBI guy: uuuuuuh….Nicky?

Nicky, currently dealing with a white mom in retail: somehow convince the FBI to buy christmas lights

(Yes Nicky works in retail bc his family cut ties with him but he hopes to be an actor.ON BROADWAY)

(From retail to actor to cluster negotiator real quick)

A  fuckin moron to Allison: a hottie like you driving a bus? what is this, hooker on wheels?

Neil: please let me have this one

Allison: seats back and enjoys Neil roasting him

Nicky: brings the popcorn

Nicky, to the FBI guy: You can’t arrest me Daryl I’m your long lost little brother

The FBI guy, a white man: My name is not Daryl Neil: THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE

The FBI guy, texting Neil (don’t ask): I guess I’m still in love with my ex

Nicky: aaaaaw we have to help this sweetheart

Neil: do you want me to burn his current boyfriend’s car, buddy?

(Nicky: DON’T REMIND HIM THAT HE’S SUPPOSED TO ARREST US)

*

A fuckin homophobe: ready to get your ass kicked, faggot?

Andrew: appears through Nicky

Nicky, smiling: fuck yeah, baby 

*

Andrew, between two bazooka shot, to Neil:  we’re nothing

*

Nicky, through Andrew, all cheery: Hi!!!! :D

(Aaron jumps like a scared cat)

*

Andrew: ready to kill ppl for mafia business

All the senseate siblings in the back minus Renee, eating popcorn and enjoying the show: Kick ass, Drew!

*

Andrew, on the hospital bed: has an emotional moment with Aaron

Aaron: sir or ma'am, idk who you are but it’s family only, I will ask you, as his doctor, to leave my brother’s body

*

Aaron: Andrew is2g if you’re making psychic love to that fuckin red hair rn i will-

*

Andrew each time a senseate is hurt: Aaron it’s for you

(Just Aaron doing med tutorials for a whole cluster while Andrew repeats it with a bored tone to everyone)

(Aaron, sighs: it is Neil again? Just let him bleed for a few minutes)

*

Neil, making bomb with kitchen stuff: If it means losing you then no

Andrew, falling in love: oh

*

Bad guy: You have no weapon, blondie!

Allison, with Renee and Dan behind her: Think again, sweetheart

*

They made a little “honorary cluster member” badge to Aaron (he does not cry STFU NEIL)

*

Dan and Neil both knows by heart the laws of different countries…..for very different reasons.

*

Luther: humiliates Nicky once again

Renee: calmly breaks his hand at dinner while smiling like an angel, all the while stopping Andrew from killing him with the other hand

*

Neil, a pharmacist: blowing shit up and arson

Aaron, a doctor, watching him: yk what hold my beer I know several ways to stop a man’s heart

*

The whole “You don’t know how to use a gun” “No, but you do” with andreil or matt and dan

*

Just Drew and Renee kicking some mafia asses together as buddies

(While Neil blows some shit up in the background and Allison/Nicky cheer)

*

Matt has the perfect ear too

Him and Kevin are the remote operation/communication team but one day all the fighters/criminals of the cluster are busy so they both start to fight as well and fuck they are good at it

Nicky: I expected this from Biceps Matt but Kevin??? You can land a kick like that???

Kevin, outraged: I WENT TO THE EXY OLYMPICS WHEN I WAS 16

*

Speaking of Kevin, they all call him “nerd” or “einstein”

Allison: so the nerd can fight uh

*

Aaron, counting down on his fingers: so you have F1 Pilot Superstar Allison Reynolds, former gold medalist and tech genius Kevin Day, a human diapason, a multilingual arsonist, World no.1 Taekwondo Champion Renee Walker, a cop, an actor…..what are you there for??

Andrew, literally a mafia king:....ice cream and crime?

*

Neil to Andrew, after the whole debacle with his father is out: You did know there were mafia out of Germany too, right?

Andrew: I can’t even have that for myself fuck this family

*

Dan, every time before each “mission”: okay guys I know we need to do it but I’d like to remind ALL of you *looks pointly at Neil and Andrew* it’s STILL illegal and morally dubious

Neil: …….like I said to Nicky, irrelevant *without missing a beat blows up the entire building and puts on stolen Gucci shades*

Alternative:

Neil: ok saint theresa why were you the one to suggest we explode Riko’s brain off then

Dan: ...don’t turn the conversation around me it’s about you

*

Allison “guess we’re detourning a place next” Reynolds and Kevin “It’s not that hard to pilot” Day

(Kevin: But why are you on a plane to Russia? I thought you were in India last time?

Neil:....don’t ask)

*

Aaron to Andrew, where they are trapped and betrayed: your boyfriend wouldn’t happen to know how to poison a whole room with gaz?

Neil: I was born for this moment

(Andrew: just bc you’re my brother doesn’t mean you have the right to dirty talk my boyfriend)

*

Andrew: be gay, do crime and eat ice cream

Nicky: AND BLOW NEIL’S D-

*

(before they know abt Neil’s past, when Andrew is angsty bc he caught feelings)

Andrew: You  shouldn’t get close to me, it’s dangerous, i’m mafia

Neil: oh haven’t you heard-

*

Jeremy, bouncing out of nowhere: Hey Kev ! Love how you BI-nary code ahah have you heard of the ARCHIPELAGO 

*

Neil, sipping tea: so my father is the Butcher

Matt:  okokokok coolcoolcoolcool yk what arson doesn’t sound like a bad idea after all

*

(this one is not funny sorry) but Neil taking over each time someone is hurt bc he is used to deal with it

“Give the pain to me”

*

Andrew and Aaron like to fuck around a lot with the whole sensate stuff (since only one of them is a sensate)

Bad guy: only one of you is a sensate, which one is it?

Twinyard, in a perfect and flat tone: try to guess

A bad guy is spying on Andrew and waiting to kill him in Germany, via a cam, thinking he’s safe BUT SUPRISE MOTHERFUCKER it was aaron dressed as Andrew in a mafia meeting and now you have to deal with a 5 feet tall mafia boy

*

For real tho they are a little protective of the normal doctor who heal them every time (yes even Neil but don’t tell him) so you bet something like that happens one day:

Aaron: comes home from work angry

Andrew, cleaning up blood or counting money: whassup shithead?

Aaron: There’s this older doctor he’s great and all but he’s a fuckin asshole to me he belittles me everyday bc i’m young and we lost a patient today bc he rathers humiliate me than let me save him 

Andrew, a dangerous glint in his eyes and a whole cluster behind him: oh?

Kevin, opens his computer and digs up dirt on him: give me a sec

Allison: I can roll over him with my truck

Neil: there is so many ways to mix two meds and kills him ON ACCIDENT

Dan: let’s see how he deals in prison

Nicky: oh this is going to be fun

Kevin, reciting facts like he’s reading a grocery list: so yeah he smuggles meds from the hospital so local drug dealers, illegally sells meds for himself on the black market, does tax evasion, is friend with a local senator and both of them are involved with minors….i have already several reservation at X hotel btw and cases of work harassment on nurses and interns, threats to others older doctors in serve, and OH. OH. We have a spanking kink on our hands too.

Every members of the cluster, turning to Nicky and Neil:....go wild

Nicky, giggling: not that’s it’s a shame when it’s consensual but not here so - let’s start with the spanking :D

Neil: Can I make him cry

No violence is used but the doctor is found on the floor drowning in his own tears after a few minutes and after an hour he’s resigned and leaving the country

Andrew was dressed as Aaron for that (that being: smuggling Neil and Nicky into the hospital to meet the doctor through him)  and sends him a selfie of a 5 feet surgeon and the man crying on the floor 

It’s their best memory as a family (Aaron hates Neil a little less after that)

Neil to Nicky: why did you stop me from pushing towards suicide??? He’s gonna do that in another country

(Kevin: no if I can help it)

Nicky: bc we don’t do that to people!

Neil, Andrew, Aaron, Allison:...........right

Neil: killing even indirectly is no good but destroying their life and humiliating them publically is good?

Nicky: YES!

Matt and Dan: WAIT NO

(Allison: don’t brother Neil you’ll just hurt your head)

(Neil, close to tears: but...but...but arson?? Andrew, with knives out: alright fuckers who broke his heart?)

*

Matt and Dan bc they’re fuckin weak to Neil: ITS OK BUDDY ARSON IS GOOD

*

I have to end on this note:

Storyline wise, Neil would have make the perfect Wolfgang too….if Wolfgang was a twink.

[uh-ohspaghettio]

Wang Fire the Date Crasher

Description: it’s Katara and Aang’s first date and what kind of overly protective brother would Sokka be if he didn’t spy just a little

Ao3 link

“I thought this was a date” Suki pouted while gazing at her boyfriend as he continued to adjust how he sat in order to see something behind her.  He looked like an overgrown child trying to get a view at the circus.

“We are on a date” Sokka said absentmindedly while still distracted with whatever was behind her.

 “Well explain these” Suki argued as she reached across the table to tug at the fake beard Sokka was wearing and with the other hand tugged at the long black wig sitting atop her head. They had actually seen the wig in the market along with other Mai related memorabilia- ever since Zuko was crowned as firelord not only has his status rocketed but Mai’s had too along with her style. Many young fire nation girls sought out to copy Mai’s signature hairstyle.

Sokka sat down properly and swatted away his girlfriend’s.“Hey hey be careful this beard has been through many adventures I don’t want it to be ruined” The warrior complained as he readjusted it. He then paused and struggled to find an actual answer to his question while Suki stared at him quizzically. “ uhhhh….roleplay??” Sokka finally answered almost as a question. The smart kyoshi warrior of course didn’t buy it for a second and decided to turn around and finally sneak a peek at what Sokka was struggling to look at earlier,

As she turned she immediately recognized the waterbender and the tattooed avatar sitting across from each other. Suki snapped back around to Sokka who donned an apologetic face and smacked him in the arm.

“Sokka! You just did this so you could spy on their first date!” she  yelled at him in a hushed tone so as not to create a scene in the public restaurant. She couldn’t believe he would do this, well actually she could, but she skipped out on training today for this so Suki felt justified in her reaction.

The water tribe boy resisted the urge to rub at the arm that got affiliated. His girlfriend was by no means weak but he wasn’t about to show how much it actually hurt.

“I-no-I just-I didn’t” he blubbered while trying to scramble for an answer but realized it was pointless “ fine you caught me” he resigned after a few moments.

“Why?! I thought you loved Aang, and don’t you trust your sister?!” she questioned him.

“I do! It’s just she’s my little sister and I don’t know I just want to be there for her incase something bad happens” he explained with a sigh, his secret plans were revealed. “Even  if it does give me the oogies” he adds as he sees the air nomad across the room holding his little sister’s hand while they made goo goo eyes at one another.

Suki was still mad but she let out a little smile from the heartwarming sentiment. “As sweet as that is, you know better than anyone else that Katara can hold her own. You really have nothing to worry about, let’s just have a nice evening together, without you being all overprotective. Sokka reluctantly agreed. Suki was right, as always, he had nothing to worry about.

Suki took off the wig with relief because it was getting a bit hot. Sokka was quick to try to grab it and put it back on her head “What are you doing?! what if they see us?!” he exclaimed.

Suki began to laugh at her goofy boyfriend “I don’t think they’ll notice” she retorted while gesturing to a giggling Aang and Katara across the restaurant. “Besides I don’t think these disguises are all that convincing” she claimed as she dropped the wig on the floor by her feet while shaking out her hair actually attached to her head “Why don’t you take off your beard too?”. 

“I - uh- I can't, I kinda glued this to my face” Sokka admitted while mumbling towards the end of his statement.

Sokka agreed to not pay attention to Aang and Katara’s date and just focus on having a fun evening with Suki. That being said he did look over the kyoshi warrior’s soldier every now and then, just to be sure.

They went on to discuss the new girls who had joined the Kyoshi Warriors. Although the war had ended not too long ago there were many girls asking to join the warriors or to just learn self defense. It certainly kept Suki occupied, even more so because Ty lee offered to teach everyone how to block Chi which will be a great asset in battle but longer training sessions. Despite this she enjoyed it and the rewarding feeling all the same.  They continued chatting and every once in awhile Suki would joke about Sokka’s first interaction with the warriors, which Sokka did not laugh with out of stubbornness but he was grateful that Suki had set him in his ways, she’s really astonishing and he can’t believe he ever underestimated her. They continued like this until Sokka heard something that made him go stark white.

Three tables over there was another couple enjoying their evening, or budding couple. Aang and Katara sat across from one another not saying anything. This was their first date and although they both knew they had feelings for one another both of them have never actually been on a date before and they weren’t exactly sure how to interact. After a minute of awkwardly blushing at each other and passing pleasant casualties they both started laughing at themselves.

“ I don’t know why we’re both being so awkward, this really shouldn’t be different from all the other times we hung out” Katara pointed out. 

“Only difference is I can do this,” Aang replied as he reached over to Katara’s hand that was resting on the table and held it. Katara blushed and giggled at this air nomad’s cheesiness and he began to laugh along with her. He really didn’t know what he was doing but it sure felt nice to hold her hand and Katara felt the same way. Aang was relieved Katara didn’t pull her hand away, he knew she had kissed him after the war ended but he had felt so bad after the night of the play, he didn’t want her to feel her boundaries were violated again. He hated that he made her feel pressured, he wished he knew how to do any of this. He wondered if any of the past avatars could give him guidance on this but he’s not sure that was the intention of being given worldly wisdom.

“What are you thinking about?” Katara questioned. Noticing Aang’s change in expression.

“Just how funny it is that I ended a 100 year war but I’m struggling to talk to my best friend, I always thought if I got the chance with you I’d know exactly what to do and I’d sweep you off your feet” Aang replied with a sigh.

“Don’t be silly, you have already swept me off my feet” Katara stated, making Aang give her a quizzical look. “Remember when we accidentally sent off the fire nation booby traps when we first met? You picked me up and carried me off to safety” Katara answered with a smile remembering that hectic day. He had remembered that day, before they had found the old fire nation ship that day was one of the funnest he had in awhile. After it had been announced he was the avatar none of the other kids wanted to play with him. Having Katara penguin sled with him made him feel so happy. He was terrified that when it was revealed he was the avatar, Katara would’ve reacted the same way as his best friends and distance herself from him but he’s incredibly grateful that she didn’t, even though he did put her tribe in danger. He doesn’t know how he’ll ever repay her for giving him a family when he lost his and everything he knew.

“I guess I did” Aang smiled back at Katara.

“Besides, do you think I have any idea what I’m doing either?” Katara pointed out to Aang. Although she was older than him by two years she didn’t really have any experience, all the older boys went off to war, the only boy she really interacted with was her brother. Sure during her adventures she met a few boys she found cute but none of them had the connection that she and Aang had. As much as her friends like to tease her about Jet and Haru, Aang was her first kiss, so she’s just as new to this as he is. “We'll figure it out together” she finishes as she squeezes his hand that she was still holding and leaning over to give Aang a kiss which he embraced happily. As they broke apart from their tender moment Katara noticed something, or more accurately someone, out of the corner of her eye.

“I can’t believe him!” Katara suddenly blurted, making Aang jump a little breaking him out of his trance. He instantly became alert, expecting some enemy from their past to be in the restaurant ready to fight because of the anger in Katara’s voice. When he looked around and didn’t see anyone that looked remotely threatening, Aang just stared at Katara with a puzzled face until Katara pointed to a table close to the entrance of the restaurant that had her brother wearing his ridiculous Wang Fire beard and Suki with a wig by her feet.

“Ugh, does he really not trust me to go on a date by myself” Katara complained who had turned away from her brother who hadn’t noticed that she saw him and neither had Suki. “I mean I never pulled something like this with him and Yue or him and Suki, he could at least do the same” Aang gave a shrug in consolation and was not really sure what to do in this situation. He wasn’t surprised that Sokka would do this but he was disappointed and Katara’s moment was ruined.

Suddenly Katara had a devious grin slide across her face. “How about a little prank on my brother?” Katara suggested. Aang nodded, happy to do whatever she had in mind.

Sokka had noticed Aang and Katara getting up from their table, he tried to just look down in hopes of the pair not noticing him. He shushed Sukki which caused her to glare at him until she noticed that because of the location of the table in proximity to the door that Katara and Aang would walk by them. She put her head down as well making it seem like the noodles before her were the most interesting thing in the world. Although she was against her boyfriend’s idea of spying she still felt bad for being here, but she wasn’t gonna waste an opportunity to get some delicious food.

As the new couple walked by Sokka and Sukki’s table they overheard their conversation.

“I don’t know Aang don’t you think we’re a little too young to be that intimate but I am willing to try it could be fun” Sokka overheard her sister say. Sokka went stark white, she couldn’t mean what he thinks right? They wouldn't, right? Especially not Aang, isn’t he a monk- do monks even? Is Aang even old enough to-? Oh god he doesn’t want to be thinking about these things he’s starting to wish he never came.

Suddenly his sister walked back to his table where he was having a crisis. “No not actually, we’re only kids” Katara suddenly spoke up answering the questions she knew her brother probably had. “But that's what you get for spying” she stated, she then walked back to Aang who was blushing bright as a tomato because of the nature of the prank Katara pulled, he was expecting something like using waterbending to splash Sokka’s drink in his face. The young couple left the restaurant hand in hand as Sokka kept his hands in his face and Suki was left spitting out her tea with laughter.

[leverage-ot3]

notable moments from The Stork Job

leverage 1.06

Joe: Where is he? What have you done with him?

Dana: Why haven't you returned our calls?

Joe: Did you think we'd just go away?

Dana: We’ve given you the money. What else do you want? (approaches Irena) What have you done with Luca?!

(thug grabs Dana and pushes her aside)

Joe: Dana!

(Joe goes to help Dana and is stopped by the thug. Joe punches the thug, who then beats him into the ground as Irena and Nicolas walk away. Thug leaves, and Dana crawls to his side)

yo can we take a moment to respect and love these parents??? like technically luca was just a kid they were going to adopt but these two were ready to THROW DOWN for him because even though they didn’t really know each other, he was going to be their kid if that’s the last thing they did

- - - - -

Dana: $120,000. We had to take a second mortgage out on the house.

Nate: Well, we can get the money back.

Dana: We don't want the money. All we want is Luca.

Nate: Right. (looks at picture of Luca)

we love to see the clients being noble as hell

- - - - -

Eliot: Are we seriously considering this, huh? Swiping a kid?

Nate: Yeah, well -- What happened to you?

Eliot (scrapes on his face): Well, how was I supposed to know it was a lesbian bar?

...I bet it was from something fucking stupid

eliot “distinctive” spencer would have known it was a lesbian bar

(edit: I heard that on the commentary for that episode CK got the injury from trying to play football while wearing cowboy boots and honestly what a chaotic fav)

- - - - -

Eliot: How do we even know this kid is an orphan?

Parker: See him pocketing those cookies? He’s hoarding food. That bag on the table -- he keeps his essentials light and portable. He knows he's gonna be taken away at any moment. And there, when she goes to touch him, he flinches. He’s expecting… for her to... Trust me. He’s an orphan.

parker’s Tragic Backstory™ is about to be told in 40 minutes, let’s go

- - - - -

Sophie: Hey, can we -- can we stop off in Paris on the way?

Nate: Uh... maybe on the way back.

Sophie: Cool

sophie loves paris and was so happy and excited im-

- - - - -

Parker: Yes. And she's with someone.

Eliot: That’s never stopped me before

parker, rolling her eyes: bruh

- - - - -

sophie being “princess magda of slovenia” rb if u agree

- - - - -

Nate: You know, just hurry up.

Hardison: It’s not so fun working in the crappy command center, is it? No, see, you're usually off doing your European spy thing. Well, welcome to my world.

(Computer shows facial recognition program working on picture Eliot sent. Hardison offers Sophie a bottle of pop)

Hardison: Orangescu?

even in a foreign country hardison manages to get something akin to orange soda

- - - - -

Sophie: Who was it? -- Dagmar from the car-rental place was a lovely girl, but listen, Irina’s a professional grifter. She's gonna see straight through your moves. She does this for a living. You know, gets people to like her and trust her, even to fall in love with her. She doesn't do this for sport.

Nate: Mm. Sounds like someone I know.

s a v a g e

- - - - -

Nicolas: Beautiful name for a beautiful lady. Tell me, Hardison, what brings you to Serbia?

Hardison: Oh, do my fangs and cape frighten you

hardison being Done™ with a skeevy guy hitting on parker and making jokes to ease the tension 🥰

- - - - -

parker says that sleeping is one of her hobbies and honestly bitch me too

- - - - -

Parker: It’s amazing how far Serbia’s come, but the scars must still be there. I mean, all the families who suffered during the war.

Nicolas: Yes, but history always has its casualties.

Parker: Yes, but those families and those children.

Nicolas: It’s tragic, yes. But the strong, the smart, the... the beautiful, they survive.

[Flashback]

(Joe, Dana and Luca on home move.)

Joe: Smile!

Dana: Smile.

(A young Parker swinging, cuts to Luca sitting in the car that will take him away, cuts to young Parker on a merry-go-round, cuts to Luca being driven away)

Woman: What’s wrong?

(a young Parker in a car holding her bunny, cuts to Nicolas driving the car that takes Luca away)

Nicolas: It’s time to go.

[American Embassy]

Nicolas: Not everyone is worth saving.

(Parker gropes behind her and grabs a fork from the table, stabbing Nicolas with it. Everyone in the room looks in their direction)

parker’s past is developed a lot in this episode and we love to see it + bby you can stab anyone you want

- - - - -

parker fucking yeeting out the window is me after I do anything remotely embarrassing

- - - - -

Eliot: I’m lucky to have you on such a short notice. (takes paper from man) Zhavaliti. Is that right? Zhavaliti? Thank you? See? Yeah? No? Welcome to the set.

Hardison: Fire in the hole!

(Hardison sets off explosion of flame behind them)

Eliot: Yeah, it's exciting, isn’t it?

Irena: yes.

Eliot: That guy's our special-effects guy. He ain't all there.

friendship means gently bullying each other

- - - - -

Parker (sits down near prop truck): This is ridiculous.

Hardison (sits down next to her with fake gun): Tell me about it. We’re supposed to believe these are real?

Parker: This is what he expects me to do, fetch scripts and water?

Hardison: No, it's a trust thing. He just needs to know that you’re gonna go along with the game plan.

Parker: Yeah, yeah. I get it; we're a team.

Hardison: A little more than a team. I’m just saying

this was such a big episode for parker and her opening up to the team (hardison in specific)

- - - - -

Hardison (picks up papers): Sophie, are you -- seriously, Sophie. It was supposed to be a two-page scene between Irina and a boy.

(Eliot grabs pages)

Sophie: That’s still the heart of it.

Eliot: "The heart of it"? There’s like 10 pages here! You have a stunt. You have special effects.

Parker: "Sister Magda crosses and gets a loaf of bread." Wait, who's sister Magda?

(Sophie rolls out dramatically wearing a nun’s costume while ethereal music is playing)

Hardison: Tell me you didn't see that coming.

(Eliot grabs the pages and walks away)

sophie: is dramatic

eliot: surprised pikachu face

hardison: ??? were you expecting something else

- - - - -

Sophie: Listen. All right, look, look -- look at all this. This is my world, okay? You need -- you need someone to, I don't know, crawl through an air duct, you call Parker. Bash her head in - Eliot. Internet porn -- Hardison. If you need someone to take over a movie, then...

Nate: yes, an -- an actor. Right

sOpHiE bRuH

poor hardison, he never gets enough credit

- - - - -

Nate: And... cut!

(everyone claps, Sophie sits up, smiling)

Eliot: She can't act.

Nate: She can act when it's an act.

Eliot (going to Sophie): Unbelievable.

Sophie Really?! Really?!

Eliot: Yeah, really. It was great.

eliot is such a supportive friend because literally his jaw dropped at her acting and literally the first thing he did when they said cut was rush over to her and compliment her

eliot is secretly a hype man disguised in many layers of gruff

- - - - -

Hardison: Just take it slow until she leads you to Luca.

Parker: I can't believe they sent you to babysit me.

Hardison: I’m here on my own

hardison cares about her so quickly I’m soft

- - - - -

parker’s haunted look and glassy eyes when she stumbles into the room with all the children? her heavy breathing? how she has to brace herself on a bed frame so that she doesn’t fall over? heartbreaking

- - - - -

[Harbor]

(van pulls to a stop and Parker and Hardison get out, Parker pacing nervously)

Parker: This isn't just an adoption scam.

Hardison: I know. I already called Nate.

Parker: These are arms dealers, and they're using the orphanage for cover.

Hardison: I already called Nate. Now, look, we can go over this with the others back at the hotel.

Parker: We have to bail.

Hardison: No. no, no, no. What about Luca and the others? We can't leave them like that.

Parker: Why not?

Hardison: You don't mean that.

Parker: You think this is the only crappy orphanage in this place? This is a country full of orphans, okay? We can't save them all.

Hardison: No, but we can save this one. Parker, we can -- we can save this one. Look, I know growing up was tough. I-I know that you -- you grew up in the system. It was -- it was bad. I know. It was, it was worse than bad, but that doesn't mean that all foster parents are monsters. Mine wasn't.

Parker: You grew up with your grandmother.

Hardison: We called her "nana," but she was our foster mom. She, uh... she -- she would cuss like a sailor. The old girl would tan your ass just as soon as look at you. But -- but she fed us, she bathed us, she put a roof over our head. And, oh, she would raise hell if you so much as looked at us crooked.

Parker: Yeah?

Hardison: Yeah.

Parker: Well, you were lucky. No. We’ll put these kids in the system, and odds are, they're gonna -- they're gonna... (trying not to cry) they're gonna turn out like me.

Hardison: I like how you turned out.

(Parker breathes hard, getting control of herself)

Hardison: Let’s go

this whole conversation was a lot meta wise but also this was one of the real defining moments in their relationship in s1. it’s also one of the first times parker starts to open up to the team for real, even if it’s only hardison

also, I personally will never get over the “I like how you turned out”

- - - - -

Hardison: I ran humpty and dumpty through the usual databases. Chechen separatists. Seriously bad dudes.

(Eliot chuckles)

Hardison: After reading their bios, I don't think I’m ever gonna sleep again.

Eliot: Never tell a Chechen his sister has a nice smile. Trust me

eliot is an idiot

- - - - -

Nate: Okay, let's go. (leads Luca forward)

Sophie (in Serbian): Everything’s going to be okay. Do you understand?

Eliot: Maybe this will help.

(Eliot leads Luca over to the Mortons)

Dana: Hi, Luca. Do you remember us?

(Luca smiles, Dana hugs him)

Dana: Thank you.

Joe: Thank you so much. Come on.

(The Mortons and Luca get in their car)

Eliot: I got to tell you, I had my doubts at first, this feels pretty good

and the eliot-being-soft-around-kids saga B E G I N S

- - - - -

parker trying her best to translate but just making the kids giggle

“men will sadden you” same

and what gets the kids up and going? Haagen-Dazs

- - - - -

fierce, determined parker beating up scumbags is my sexuality

+

parker isn’t violent a lot in terms of being anywhere close to the team’s fighter/hitter, but she fights so hard for the kids in this episode and it’s one of the only times we see her fight fight and that shows just how much she cares

- - - - -

Parker: Shh, shh, be quiet, they have armed guards at that door.

(door bursts open and a man falls through. Eliot stands in the doorway, looking angry)

Sophie: No, they don't

her team always has her back, even if they’re angry at her trying to go at it alone

- - - - -

parker spreading herself out to cover as much space as possible, bracing herself to get shot over and over with the hopes that at least none of the kids will im-

she’s so selfless sksjdnnsns

- - - - -

eliot being all gruff that things happened the way they did but smiling at the exploding building because they did it and the kids were safe

- - - - -

THE FUCKING PROP TRUCK PLAYING SPOOKY AND WEREWOLF NOISES AS THEY DRIVE AWAY JUST TO MOCK THEM

+

bonus: nate’s “anD CUT”

- - - - -

Parker: Hey, how did you know I’d be at the orphanage?

Nate: Thank Hardison for that. (follows Eliot)

Hardison: You know you could have gotten killed. Did -- did you even have an exit strategy?

Parker: I didn't really think that far ahead.

Hardison: You don't work alone anymore. You know that, right?

Parker: I know.

Hardison: We're a team…?

Parker: We're a little more than a team.

this important conversation but also HARDISONS SMILE

- - - - -

Parker: (gets on the van) Hey, Nate. I have to tell you something.

Nate: What is it?

Parker: We have to stop at Hagen Daaz.

Children: Hagen Daaz!!!

after all that they deserve like a billion pints of ice cream

[ellana-ravenwood]

NEW PART : “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” 2/3 - Batfam x Fem!Reader (Marvel crossover)

Well, almost two months of not writing as I really lacked the motivation to do...anything, here I am. Back, with the part two of my little Batfam/Marvel crossover ! This is a transition chapter just to settle a few things before the big final chapter where the all action will take place ;). I hope you will still like it :

If you wanna catch up, here’s PART 1 And here’s my masterlist : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

“Wow, this looks a LOT like Wayne Manor !”

Damian exclaimed as he looked down from the jet and spotted a gigantic house in the middle of the trees. Even the grounds looked like his home, with the forrest surrounding it, and it’s remote location a bit out of a big town. 

The basketball court opened, and the “X-jet” slowly lowered down into it. 

The guy called Wolverine absolutely refused to take one of the Avengers’ planes, saying that the S.H.I.E.L.D tracked those down, had all kind of surveillance on them, and didn’t want one of them inside the school. Too many valuable informations could be stolen and used against them. 

When “Iron Man” assured him he checked those planes daily to make sure they weren’t rigged, Wolverine just raised his eyebrows, smiled and said : “Sure bub, sure. Nick Fury would totally let that happen, and your technology is definitely superior to the S.H.I.E.L.D. They most definitely do not steal and copy everything you do, and know how it works”...And they ended up taking the X-Jet.

According to your youngest sons, it looked and was much cooler anyway. Kinda reminded them of the Batplane...It made Bruce smile, that they liked the X-Men’s plane better just because it kinda looked like his. 

You were landing inside a bunker like place, when Wolverine said :

“Welcome to Xavier school for gifted youngsters.”

************

A few hours before :

Shortly after Wolverine announced you needed to go see a certain “Charles Xavier”, and after a quick introduction, most of you got ready to leave. 

It was decided that not all of the Avengers would go to the school because searches and investigations were always more effective when multiple groups would work in multiple places. And there were a LOT of those dudes, so they could most definitely cover more grounds by scattering all around, and asking questions. 

You absolutely refused to be separated from your family again, and even if Bruce thought it would’ve been better to split up and each go with a search team, he didn’t push it too much. 

Obviously, none of the kids wanted to be separated either, and when you had an idea in your head, it was very difficult to change your mind. You’ve always been a very stubborn woman. 

So Bruce relented and it was decided you’d all go to the Xavier school, as you were the one that knew Klarion the most, and could help Charles to narrow his search down a bit. 

With you came Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Storm of course, the Xavier school was their home after all. Along also came that Captain America guy, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Thor. 

Hawkeye, Black Widow, the big green guy and a few other Avengers you could not remember the name of for the life of you (there were so many new people ! Even with your “charity” practice, where you often faked remembering people’s name, you just couldn’t keep up...it didn’t help that they obviously all had code names rather than simple easy to remember ones like... “Kevin”, for example. Or John. John was good, short and easy to remember) left for other places where the trail was still warm.  

And so multiple “teams” were formed to cover multiple grounds. 

Your family and a few others were going to the school in the hope that Charles Xavier could find Klarion thanks to his mental powers, while other teams would go investigate the Brooklyn Bridge where Klarion was last seen, and yet another team was going to find a certain “Dr Strange” since he was apparently able to travel through dimensions or something ? 

You weren’t too sure, honestly, after hearing so many new infos and names you kinda zoned out and expected Bruce to remember everything for you (as often, really, more than once he was the one to help you remember the name of a politician or actress, whispering it in your ear as they walked towards you).

As you were in an elevator that would lead you all to the roof’s airport so you could go and try to find Klarion, Dick bended to whisper in your ear :

“Do you remember any of their names ?”

You turned to him and, as discreetly as you could, answered :

“Absolutely not. Except for that Spider kid, because he’s adorable and Damian seems to like him. And the one that got Jason and I here, Deadpool. Though he’s not even here anymore. I can’t recall any of them...I think one is like, Odin or something ? The one who brought Tim, I forgot which one but I know he’s a viking god or something.”

Your son let out a little snort, trying to suppress his chuckle so none of the people can hear you, but...

“I wouldn’t blame ya if you can’t remember many of us. After all, travelin’ in another dimension and seeing all those new things is a lot to take in, I know what I’m talkin’ about. So rememberin’ our names ? Tough.”

The short man who made you blush earlier said. He had a sort of gentle smile on his face that you’re pretty sure was rarely there, but it seemed yours and your son’s inability to remember much of anyone’s name made him genuinely smile. He adds, his voice lowering a few octave in an intimate way :

“I can help you rememberin’ in the plane if you want to.”

“I’ll help her, thank you very much.”

Your husband says, interposing himself between you and that...Badger guy ? Was that his name ?

“Logan.” 

He answers the question you didn’t ask, and you’re genuinely surprised. With a charming smirk that you thought only Bruce could have, “Logan” adds :

“It was written all over your face you didn’t remember my name. And hey, I’d like for you to call me Logan more than Wolverine y’know.”

Bruce gives an outraged look to “Logan”, as you try your best not to blush (that guy had a strange kind of aura...he was essentially a hairy midget who was totally not your style and yet he seemed to have a strange effect on you).

Wolverine answered your husband’s glare with an infuriating knowing smile, and you could almost feel Bruce’s blood boiling. 

It’s only Tim and Damian laughing quietly that eased the atmosphere. But their laughter most definitely finish to vex your Broosh, who threw an arm around your shoulder and looked proudly high in front of him. 

Jealous Bruce always made you smile, and here, doing some PDA while on a mission ? Yup, definitely jelly. 

The elevator quickly brought you to the top floor, where you discovered a rather big “airport” for such a building. Quite the fancy place. Even Bruce never even though about putting an airport on his roof. A heliport was amply sufficient. 

The man called Tony Stark, who had a rather advanced armor around his body, casually walked towards one of the plane stamped with a big “A” on. 

“Seriously, those people don’t know the meaning of the word “discreet””. 

Your husband said as he saw the planes. You roll your eyes, but don’t say anything. You don’t think any less though, because those words were coming from a guy who had a “bat” aesthetic in everything he did, including flying vehicles so...Not particularly discreet either. 

But Logan grabbed Iron Man’s shoulder before he could reach one of the “A” plane, and said : 

“Ah where are you going Stark ? We’re not taking one of yours.”

Tony rolled his eyes the hardest he could, as he shooed away Logan’s hand and said, beyond exasperated : 

“I’m telling you for the thousands time Logan, our Avengers planes aren’t tracked !”

“Says you. We’re still taking the X-Jet.”

“But there’s more space on our planes.”

“We’re still taking the X-Jet.”

“They’re faster !”

“We’re still taking the X-Jet.”

“I promise you they’re safe, they won’t spy on your precious little school, the S.H.I.E.L.D has no hold over our planes !”

Short silence. 

“We’re still taking the X-Jet.” 

“Be reasonable Wolverine please, this is getting ridiculous.”

“Bub, do I look like someone who’s reasonable ? We’re taking the X-Jet.”

“But-”

But the short hairy man known as “Wolverine” was already leaving, clearly not about to listen to more of that Stark guy’s plea. 

Well apparently...you were taking the X-Jet.

************

It must’ve been less than ten minutes since your family, a few of the X-Men and a few of the Avengers climbed into the jet flying in the direction of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, when Logan jumped on his feet, put the plane on auto-pilot and rushed at the back of the vehicle.

“The hell is wrong with that guy ?”

Jason asks as you all turn to look at him run across the plane. Your husband looks insistently at you as if to say : “see, I’m better” (like you needed a proof of that). Clearly not quite over the fact the clawed mutant managed to make you blush. Twice. 

For the past fifteen years, he was the only one that ever managed to do that !

Dick says :

“Maybe the toilets are over there ? I mean, when you gotta go, you gotta go.”

But then Logan comes back with Deadpool, dragging him by the collar.

“What are you doing here Wade, I thought we told you to leave and never come back !”

“Wow alright Scar, tell your hyenas to lower their guard please I’m not here to cause trouble; honest !”

Deadpool says, his hands up as he faces the Avengers taking a fighting stance in front of him. 

The man who brought you to the Avengers’ Tower was immediately kicked off of the building as soon as you all started to make plans to run after Klarion and Loki.  Somehow though, and oddly enough it didn’t really surprise you, he managed to get onto the X-Jet. 

“Wade, whenever you’re around trouble just comes by itself. We told you not to tag along already. Three times at the watch tower until we forcefully throw you out. So now, time to leave.”

Wolverine was opening the jet’s hatch, but before he could get a hold of “Wade”, Deadpool jumped on his feet and went to hide behind your husband.

“He’s clearly a mad man, he’s trying to kill me ! Hey, you’re very against killing right ? I read it somewhere in a comic once...”

“What ?”

“Nevermind, I’m crazy. But I deserve to live, just like everyone ! Just stop him from trying to kill me ! PLEASE GOD OH GOOOOOOOD, I’M TOO YOUNG TO DIE !! I STILL HAVEN’T SEEN ALL THE FANTASTIC BEASTS MOVIES AND I’M...TOTALLY A VIRGIN !! I’VE BEEN A FAN OF J.K ROWLING FOR DECADES, I DESERVE TO KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEEEEEEEEEEEN !! I DESERVE TO KNOW REAL LOOOOOOOOOOoooOooooOoooVE !!”

Deadpool was yelling dramatically, latching his arms around your husband’s leg.

And you had to admit, there was something comical about seeing a grown ass man holding the big scary Bat like that. Bonus point for the face Bruce was making, clearly unsure as to how to react to all of this. It was rare to see an unsure Batman.

Ah, but in the short time you’ve known that Wade Wilson, you already realized that he was probably the only person that could destabilized anyone with his behavior. You kinda liked that. 

Logan was rolling his eyes now, and with a sigh walked resolutely towards Deadpool and Bruce. 

But your husband stopped him by putting a hand on his chest. And though Logan was at least an entire foot smaller than Bruce, he still looked impressive as his eyes narrowed at your husband and his muscles tightened, fists slowly closing. You had a bad feeling about all this...

“Listen, bub. You have no idea what this guy is capable of. And believe me, if I throw him out of the plain  he won’t-”

“I can’t let you do that. He might be clinically insane, but we can’t just kill him like that !”

“But he can’t die and-”

“YES ! YES I CAN, I’ll die a horrible death if he throws me out.”

“Wade you-”

“Please mister Batman, don’t let him throw me out ! Show that you have a heart and ignore all the bad writing you’ve been a victim of lately !”

Once again, there’s a small silence following Wade’s apparent words of madness...But you have to say, you’re not a big fan of throwing people out of planes either. So before everything turns sour, as you can see both Wolverine and Bruce getting wayyyy too tense, you interpose yourself in-between all of them. 

You know that Bruce already having prejudice against Logan because he flirted a little with you is not any good news, and Wolverine himself ? Well it seemed like he also could suddenly snap if pushed too much. 

“Wow wow wow wow. Let’s be reasonable about it. Yeah yeah I know, you’re not a reasonable guy. Well you’re going to be right now.” 

Your words surprise the Wolverine so much, that his fists unlock and his eyebrows raise. Your husband gives him a sneaky look that most definitely means : “haha, she got you didn’t she ?”. But he’s immediately put back in his place as you glare at him too, and he relaxes as well. Forcibly.

“Ok. I must admit I don’t know Deadpool since very long, but he’s the one that lead us to the Avengers. You guys are the one that instantly attacked him without giving him any chance ! Now maybe you gave him lots of chances before -at those words, all the Avengers and X-Men nods- but just give him one last one ok ? I have a good feeling about him.” 

************

You were sitting next to Deadpool...Who was literally taped to the wall. You guessed in this world, the black electric tape was very strong. According to Logan, this was the only way to make sure he wouldn’t do anything stupid. Dangerous for everyone, or for himself. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t convince them to let you join and all.” 

“Ah well no worries, at least they didn’t throw me off the plane ! I hate when that happened. Regenerating from being as flat as a pizza is very painful.”

“You can..regenerate ?” 

“Yup ! Haven’t you noticed, the tear your kid made with that knife looking like a bat in my awesome costume I definitely clean often...is still there. But the wound isn’t.” 

“Oh right. Neat.” 

“Not really. Healing powers mean I can’t die, and I really want to die...” 

“...That’s awful. Are you ok ?” 

“Does someone that tell you they want to die sound ok ?” 

“Well if they say out loud they want to die it’s like a cry for help, so a sort of step to recovery you know ?”

“I-Wh-...What ? I never saw it like that. I mostly just talk about it out loud because I hope someone will hear me and finish me off somehow.” 

“Oh.” 

After that, it seemed like Wade did not want to talk anymore as he turned away from you, and somehow managed to put on a pair of knock-off air pods in his ears, and blasted the main theme from the movie “The Godfather” so loud that you could hear it as you were sitting next to him. 

************

There was a long silence that installed itself in the plane, as no one talked and thought of the task ahead, completely focused on...

“So, I have no idea what you guys’ names are. I zoned out half-way through the little man’s explanation, as I already listened to it when I found him and my friend Hulk was holding him upside down.” 

Thor said casually, shattering this all impression of seriousness. It makes you chuckle, even more so when Dick exclaimed : 

“OH THANKS GOD (literally) ! I was so afraid to ask ! I’m so glad you started. Because except for Logan, Ororo and Kurt who literally saved my life, I cannot remember who any of you are !”

You full on laughed, as the idea that none of you really knew how the others were called and yet still managed to trust each others was very funny to you. Quickly, your communicative laughter reached the rest of the team (well, almost, Bruce and Logan only exhaled a little bit of air, like a millisecond chuckle). 

It takes you all a little while to calm down, but as you all stop to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, Thor continues : 

“So, should we introduce ourselves again ? This time there’s much less of us, it should be fine. Guests must start, it is the norm. Go ahead now, little Red Robin’s sidekicks. Introduce yourselves.”

“...Red Robin’s sidekicks ?” 

Your entire family turns to Tim, who turns very pale all of a sudden. He smiles awkwardly at you all and says : 

“Um. To my defense, I was hung upside down by a green goliath who was threatening to “smash” me and the subject of family seemed a little iffy with Thor here. I said the first thing that came to my mind.” 

This makes you and your husband smile, and your two oldest son to roll their eyes. Your youngest however, jumps on his feet and says : 

“I’m Robin ! And most definitely not his sidekick ! I’m...”

There’s a pause where Damian looks at his brother almost sadly, and oh you know exactly what he’s about to do. 

“I’m his brother. His equal. Or so I thought...” 

Oh. Smart little Damian. Guilt tripping your Tim, so that in a near future he will do something for him. Tim reddens even more in embarrassment and adds : 

“It really was just to save myself ! I don’t think of any of you as my sidekicks ! Of course you’re my equal Dam-Robin ! And um, I’m Red Robin by the way. Like the restaurants. Um.”

Thor shakes his head, lost in thoughts, and then says : 

“Robin and Red Robin. Very smart. I see how much research you put in your aliases.” 

You weren’t sure if the man was serious or being sarcastic...But the way he was nodding thoughtfully made you think he was actually more serious than anything else. The blond bearded man continued : 

“Well my turn now ! I am...Thor ! GOD OF THUNDER ! Son of Odin, God of all. We’re going after my brother, Loki. Who befriended that Klarion of yours. Your turn again now.”

Thor points at your oldest son, who doesn’t hesitate to jump in and say : 

“Nightwing ! Son of Batman, the Black Knight of Gotham ! I’m the oldest of our ass beating organization. Criminals. I mean, we’re not criminals...Well, depends of your definition I guess. But what I was saying is, we beat the asses of criminals. Um. Yes. Have I said I’m the oldest of the family ? Well technically my dad is the oldest, but I mean-”

“I’m Jason. Perpetually helping my older brother here to avoid embarrassment by cutting him off rudely and fulfilling my little brother’s duty at the same time. Two birds with one stone. I like guns. Unlike my dad...”

Bruce just gives an exasperated look to Jason, and your son rolls his eyes : 

“I just gave you the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself ! Amazing transition ! But I guess you weren’t ready, so um...Discout Bruce Wayne, go.”

You slap the back of your son’s head at his disrespect towards your new friend, and give an apologetic look to the one you think is called “Iron Man”. But clearly, your son’s jab doesn’t bother the man (probably because he has no idea who Bruce Wayne is) and with a hint (a big big hint) of arrogance and pride, he says : 

“Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Also Iron man, I saved this planet multiple times.” 

“...And very modest. Not over the top at all. Mm. Reminds me of someone, before I met him, and with less charisma.”

You say, giving a look at your husband. He smiles and winks at you, while Tony Stark frowns, pretty sure you just insulted him. But you don’t leave him the time to say anything as you continue : 

“(Y/N). I don’t have a superhero name because technically I’m not one. It was kind of...unlucky for me to be there. At the same time lucky, I would be dying of being worried sick right now if I wasn’t there and knowing where my family was. And...That’s all.”  

“Wolverine. But y’all can call me Logan.” 

Ah. Short (like him). To the point. You liked it. 

“Batman.” 

Even shorter (unlike him), you liked it even more. 

Turning to your husband you smile and forgetting for a second you were surrounded by a bunch of strangers, you cuddled a little closer to him. 

“I’m Storm. Or Ororo. As you wish. I control the weather, and I teach at the Xavier school, I help young mutants to understand their power more. As I wish I had that kind of help as a child.”

Wow. Majestic. You were quite impressed, and clearly, so were your sons. You had to close Jason’s mouth. And Dick’s. Tim and Damian got the message. 

“Spider-Man ! I um...Can do whatever a spider does. According to that song at least. Sorry. I’m not good at introductions, my teachers always said so. ”

You smile encouragingly at him. He was one of the only one you remembered the name of, only because he brought your youngest son and seeing how Damian talked about him, he seemed quite fond of him already. And it was rare, that your kiddo was fond of someone that fast, so that Spider kid must be quite something. You got it though, he did have a relaxed, nice vibe about him, if not a bit awkward. 

“I am Captain America, please to meet you all, I am very glad we’re on this mission together. Let’s hope for a peaceful coalition until this is all over. Now that the introductions are done, I think we should-”

“Oh, typical American to forget the German guy ! I’m Kurt, an X-Men since many years. But a lot of people in the circus called me Nightcrawler and it stuck. You can call me whatever you want.”

“In the circus ! No way I used to be in a circus ! I was an acrobat !”

“Oh me too !”

Dick excitedly jumped on his feet, so did Kurt, while the one called “Captain America” was clearly feeling very uneasy. 

“I um, am sorry, Nightcrawler. I did not pay attention. I would never-”

“Relax Kapitän, I was only teasing. I know you would never forget me on purpose ! It was my fault. I was standing in the shadow. I disappear, in the shadow.” 

Damian’s eyes widen as he witnessed Kurt slowly becoming invisible as he retrieved to the shadows. 

“WOW ! So cool !”

Nightcrawler came into the light again, and smiled brightly at your son : 

“Thank you very much young man, it is rare people think of my ability as rare. Usually, they’re frightened.” 

Damian looked curiously at Kurt, and asked : 

“...Why ?” 

You could clearly see the shock on the mutant’s face, at the candid and innocent question Damian asked. It was probably the first time in a very long time he met someone that did not judge his appearance at all...You were very proud of your son, in that moment. 

“Wow is that really what you’re all going for ? What a joke ! And you say I’m the dishonest one ? Well let me re-introduce all of you.” 

The cute and sweet moment is shattered by Deadpool sly laughter, the shift in the mood is brutal and you wonder how it happened. He continues : 

“I can’t say anything about you all...Batfamily, I don’t know you, only through a few terribly written comics. I’m sure you’re much more than the cliches in there...Proof is that little Tim here hasn’t had a drop of coffee in hours ! And Jason didn’t shoot anyone, also that Damian kid totally accepted Nightcrawler seconds ago and wasn’t a brat !” 

Silence. What ? Comics ? What was he even on about...

“You’re such hypocrites though, all of you -he points at the Avengers and X-Men- Stark for example, he’s an ex-arms dealer. He likes to think of himself as a philantropist but he really never did something for someone else that didn’t benefit him in some ways, so he really isn’t like your husband. I don’t know why people in the real world always compare the two...”

“What ?”

“Nevermind. Wolverine. He killed more people in his life than me, and my job for a long time was literally to kill people. Granted his life is long, but the man can get crazily out of control and kill anything that moves ! It happens a scary amount of time. Storm, thought she was a goddess back home but really was just a pickpocket that gullible villagers put on a pedestal ! Kurt ? Act all nice and religious, but did some pretty terrible thing in moments he had to survive ? Isn’t that right Kurt ? Oh and Cap ? A literal war criminal. Well, I mean in some stories, but like he fought during World War II and was most definitely not always nice and did questionable things...As for Spidey here ! ...Well he never did anything wrong. I refuse to hear about all those times he supposedly was an asshole. Spider-Man is amazing. That’s all.” 

There’s a big silence, as your family looks at the Avengers and X-men suspiciously. But then Deadpool adds : 

“Oh, and by the way, I’m Wade. Completely crazy, and highly unreliable. I hear voices. A lot of them. Well not a lot of them. Just two. But it’s two more than most people do.” 

And then he laughs like a mad man, and the sudden tension falls just as fast as it rose. Wether Deadpool was telling the truth or not, you couldn’t know. But there was something sure about this all thing : he was most definitely not all there in the head. 

Plus, you had a gut feeling that you could trust those guys, after all, they did look like a lot of people you knew back in your own world. Like if they were their counterpart in this universe. Plus it seemed you all had the same goal...Stopping Klarion, and whoever that Loki was. 

It was vital, to avoid chaos across the multiverses. 

************

The introductions made, you started to all talk about your respective world. How it was where you were from, and how it was here. 

“Registering mutants ? It sounds very...Germany nineteen forties.” 

“Ah yes, some of our mutant compatriots think the same. But us, X-Men, still hope for a peaceful and nice way to resolve everything.” 

(...)

“But what are you really avenging ?” 

“I’m telling you it’s just a name !” 

“...It makes no sense. Like, the X-men are called like that because of the X genes, if I understood. Back home, our League of Justice is called like that because...Well, pretty self-explanatory, but you, why “Avengers” ?” 

“It just sounded cool ok ?!”

(...)

“And so we did that trick in the circus, where I would jump and teleport to the other side and in the dim light people would just think I did an impossible jump !” 

“That is wayyy cool !” 

(...)

“Are you a mutant too ?”

Damian asked Spider-man, and Peter answered : 

“No, I was bit by a radioactive spider.”

“Oh ! Were can I acquire such a spider ?!”

“Damian ! Stop trying to get superpowers , you’re perfect as you are !”

You scold your son, and Damian continues, looking dad : 

"I used to have superpowers...When my father resurected me with a crystal from Apokolips.”

“You died ?”

“Yeah. We all died once. Or faked our death.”

After those words your youngest son glares at your oldest, who yells : 

“OH YOU’RE NEVER GONNA LEAVE THAT DOWN ARE YOU ?!”

(...)

Conversations were happening a bit everywhere, as you were steadily flying towards The Xavier school for gifted youngsters, slowly discovering each others, and the worlds you were coming from.

************

“Wow this looks a lot like Wayne Manor !”

“Wayne Manor ?”

“Our house, back in our World.”

Damian exclaimed, and his father cleared his throat in a scolding way (a talent, really).

“What ? Do you seriously expect them to come to our dimension and tell everyone who we really are ? The chances are thin father. They’re the good guys of this world as well. Plus look at them, none of them really hide their identity. Except for Spidey.”

“Well they’re wrong. I already told you keeping your true identity secret is crucial. This is why we keep our aliases, even here.”

“AH ! Couldn’t agree more dude !”

Spider-man says, turning to your husband. Bruce continues :

“Very poor choice of them. If any of their enemies truly know who they are, their home will be targeted.”

“RIGHT ?! They all parade around with everyone knowing their real names like what’s their problems right ?”

“I have to agree young man.”

“You know the X-Men ? Their school was blown up like, thirty times because everyone knows where they live, and because they dox themselves all the time !” 

“Irresponsible.” 

“RIGHT ?! I’m so glad you agree !” 

Ignoring the current conversation about secret identities, Wolverine, or rather “Logan” as he himself told you to call him (most definitely have a problem with the concept of code names and secret identities, in this universe) lands and says : 

“Welcome to the Xavier school for gifted youngsters.” 

************

“So, how dangerous exactly is this Klarion boy ?”

Charles Xavier asked, sitting in one of the salon in the school. 

“He’s already extremely dangerous, but if paired with someone like Loki, he’d be even worst. At least according to what Thor told us about his brother.” 

Your husband answers, all stoic and serious, and then Thor awkwardly says, as if ashamed : 

“He’s adopted.” 

“Adopted brothers are still brothers !”

Damian fiercely said, narrowing his eyes at the god of Thunder. It made your heart warm, to think how such a long way he came. A few years ago, when he first entered your life, he would’ve never defended adopted sibling with such convictions. 

Tim ruffles Damian’s hair, and winks at him before saying : 

“Look at him Dam-Robin, he clearly didn’t think before he spoke ! And I think it was a joke, right Thor ?”

Thor nods, even though he wasn’t sure he was really joking. He most definitely loved his brother, but it was true he was adopted ? The God of Thunder was a bit confused as to why the little man took it so personally. Ah, but they were raised in very much different ways...

In any case, the focus of the conversation went back to Professor Xavier.

“So, do you think you can find Klarion ?” 

Your husband asks, his seriousness back (he might have been a little on the softer side when he witnessed Damian defending his “adopted” brothers as being really his brothers, but now he was all back to business). 

“Well, we won’t know if I do not try, right ?” 

************

You, Bruce, Tim, Jason, Dick, Damian, Storm and Charles Xavier went to the school’s underground, while Wolverine, Nightcrawler and the Avengers stayed in the upper levels. 

Logan didn’t seem to trust them much, especially not Tony Stark. And if he stopped Tony Stark from going down to Cerebro, then in all fairness he had to stop all the other Avengers too. 

You and your family ? It was different. He had a good feeling about you, and his guts never lied. Plus Charles needed you to guide him to find Klarion, the infos you had on the boy being crucial in his search.

And so Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Nightcrawler stayed up there, discussing any plan of action possible once they’ll find Klarion. If, they find Klarion. 

Deadpool was there too, now taped to the wall in the salon, as no one was quite ready to give him his freedom yet. He was softly whistling an unknown song, all the while carefully listening to his “friends”. 

************

Cerebro was an impressive room with a single helmet in the middle. Was this huge size really necessary ?

“The size of the room is indeed necessary. It permits for a lot of components to be added, and for it all to function. All the walls are made of very complicated circuits without which the all machine wouldn’t work. 

Wow ! It was as if he-

“Read your thoughts ? I am sorry, I tend to indeed do so with people I just meet. It’s a...defense mechanism if you will, to make sure they’re not ill intentioned. But in your thoughts, I perceived no malice, which is why I’m allowing all of you here, in my Cerebro. Plus, your common knowledge of that Klarion boy is crucial to finding him.” 

Ah. So this is why the X-men left you alone with their leaders so easily. He was a telepath, not just able to find people with his mind. He could read them, and know if someone was thinking something bad or not...Well, at least, it was easy to build trust. 

At least on his side, because thinking about someone always reading whatever you thought were made you uncomfortable. What if you suddenly thought about a wild night you spend with Bruce ? Oh my God, here you were, thinking exactly about that !

“Ah, do not worry, I read into the minds of those I do not know up until I trust them. And I trust you know, so you can...Think of whatever you want. I’ll just add that you most definitely find each others well.” 

What Professor X implied as he smiled at you and Bruce made you both blush, and you quickly looked away, trying to think only about Klarion. Thankfully your son had been completely oblivious to it all, or...Well, those poor souls.

“Stay perfectly still, please.”

Before you could ask why, the machine started and WOW, it was overwhelming ! Millions and millions of voices all talked at the same time, and silhouettes of people started to appear everywhere. 

How the hell did that Xavier did...whatever he was doing ? 

Slowly but surely, less and less people floated into the air, until eventually, only one person remained...

“It’s Klarion !” 

Tim exclaimed, and sure enough, in front of you, was Klarion. He was sitting on something, and saying unintelligible things. 

“Where is he ?” 

Bruce asked avidly. But Professor Xavier’s forehead had more and more creases, and sweat slowly pearled at the corner of his temples. 

“Hey, hey what are you doing you sneaky little rat ?!” 

Klarion. That was most definitely Klarion. Looking straight at you all. Did he just sense Charles ?

“I’ll have you know I’ve been train about mind invasion, it’s witch school 101 ! Now, get...OUT !!” 

And suddenly, the entire machine shut down and with a groan of pain, Xavier took his helmet off. You rushed to him, worried, but in his calming voice he said : 

“I am alright my dear, but this Klarion boy is much stronger than I thought. I wasn’t quite able to get his exact location, but I think we can work with what I have...”

************

Charles managed to have an area where Klarion could possibly be, but it was very vague. However he projected the 3D image he found of him as he searched with Cerebro, and showed it to everyone in one of the X-Men’s many briefing room. 

“This is what he looks like. I can actually manage to print a decent quality picture of him, based on the mental image I have in my mind. If we go to the area I spotted  him, we could...”

“Heyyyyyy ! I know that little Wolverine haired guy !” 

Cutting the professor off, Deadpool, who, from his spot handcuffed to a heater (it was still an improvement from being taped to the wall) said. He had managed to catch a glimpse of Klarion, and clearly...recognized him ?

“You’ve seen him before ?” 

Bruce asks, suspicious. After all, Deadpool had proven so far to not be the most reliable guy indeed. Yet he still somehow tried to help nonetheless. 

“Yeah I did ! You should’ve told me what he looked like, would’ve saved us a lot of work ! I kinda thought he was just yet another one of Logan’s kid, I mean, the dude NEVER uses protection ! Anyway I saw him on my way to get you two from the subway station, and I saw him go in a very special place, from which I was coming out. He’s at my ex-wife’s Shikla’s place...And I mean “ex” as in we’re no longer married, not like, she’s part of the X-men; They’d never accept her, she’s a total psycho ! She kinda rules over the world of monsters and often plans for the end of the Human race. Should we go visit her ?”

And that’s how you embarked for a new adventure down under...Literally. 

To be continued...

__________________________________________________

Well after months of not writing...I tried :/. I hope you still like this little transition chapter. You probably noticed a lot of characters had almost no “screen time” even though they were present (and how Deadpool has a lot of said screen time...i needed him to find the witch boy), I’ll do better in the next chapter ! It’s just I needed a little sort of transition to go from searching Klarion to finding him, if that makes sense ? I hope you’re not disappointed and think things are moving too fast, or things aren’t making sense/are a mess, with this more lighthearted chapter, real action coming next chapter, and thanks for reading ! 

If you did like it, as always : feedbacks and reblogs are more than welcomed <3. Thanks in advance !

[apriorisea]

BTS Imagine Series: Don’t Leave Me, Pt. 3

Hoseok x You

For the millionth time in the last 5 minutes, you look at your watch, then look at your phone.       Surely the plane is landed by now, you think, pulling up your text conversation with Hoseok and staring at it. Maybe if you just stared hard enough, you could will a message into existence.     But nothing.     Exhaling dramatically, you drop your phone to your lap and slump back against the couch, refocusing on the TV screen. Frowning, you reach for the remote and, for the millionth time since you’d started the show 30 minutes ago, go back 15 seconds: you (once again) had no idea what was happening. The only thing you could focus on was Hoseok. Hoseok and the fact that he was going to be home soon. Today. Finally.     3.5 weeks had felt like an absolute eternity. Even though he had called you every night and FaceTimed you after every concert, even though the Snaps were endless, you still missed him so much it hurt. Not even nightly phone calls could change that.      But now it was almost over. He’s almost home.      And safe, a corner of your mind whispers. That was the most important. Though Hoseok had been relatively open about his condition---admitting how exhausted he was after a weekend of 3-in-a-row concerts, showing you the marks left from a cupping therapy session---you had also been regularly checking-in with your secret spy, and Namjoon never had anything terrible to report. They’re all fine.       Now if he would only get home.      You look at your watch again. But this time as you grab your phone, it buzzes in your hand. Feeling your heart jump into your throat, you nearly drop it in your eagerness to see the screen:       MY HOPE: Angel~~~ I’m coming. See you SOON<3<3<3<3      The grin that spreads across your face is automatic and unstoppable. Now that you’d heard from him, you’re able to focus on the show, knowing that it truly wouldn’t be long now.       In fact, you’re so engrossed in the drama that you don’t even hear the sound of the lockcode being entered, so when he pushes open the door it takes you a full second to recognize him.      “Hobiiiiiiiiiiii,” you squeal, unabashedly scrambling off the couch to get to him. He barely has time to close the door behind him before you’re there, wrapping your arms around his neck.       There’s a loud thunk as he drops his bags to the ground and pulls you securely into his arms. Burying his face in the crook of your neck, you feel him brush his lips against your skin before murmuring your name.       If there had ever been any doubt that he had missed you it would have been obliterated by how tightly he was holding onto you, the slight hitch in his breath as he said your name a few more times.      It’s an eternity before he releases you, but it still doesn’t feel like long enough. Stepping back, you look up into his face, unable to keep the goofy grin off yours---and are surprised to see tears in his eyes. Inhaling sharply, you instantly cradle his face in your hands. “Baby,” you say, searching his face, “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay??”      He smiles, looking slightly embarrassed. “It’s okay,” he says, then repeats it when you don’t look convinced. “Really, angel, I’m okay. I just...I missed you so much. I’m glad to be home.”     “I’m glad, too,” you say, then lean up to kiss him.      He responds immediately, wrapping his arms around your waist and pressing you closer. After a few minutes, you feel him carefully start to move you out of the doorway, never breaking the kiss until you reach the couch. With a small laugh, you sink down onto the couch and pull him on top of you.       Brushing a strand of his wavy hair out of his face, you grin and say softly: “Don’t leave me ever again, okay?”     He responds by kissing the tip of your nose. “Okay.”      “Promise?”     Instead of grinning and making a joke back, you’re surprised when he looks seriously into your eyes and murmurs, “I promise” before bringing his lips back against yours.      It’s a long time before you break apart. 

    You crawl into bed and reach for your phone, checking the time quickly: nearly 9:30pm. I’m sure he’s still awake...      You open your texts: Hey Joonie^^ Are you glad to be back? I’m happy you guys are all safe. Did everything end okay?     As you put your phone down, you hear the sound of the shower turning off, which brings mixed feelings.      You and Hoseok had spent every single minute together since he’d gotten home: you’d eaten delivery chicken tangled up on the couch together, unpacked his things together, dumped his clothes into the washing machine together, shared the ice cream cake you had bought for celebration of his return together, and, finally, locked the front door and turned out all the lights in the kitchen and living room together. As silly as it was, it felt like you were whole again. Everything was easier now that he was back, and you relished in the way the apartment wasn’t silent now that he was home. It was essentially for this reason that you’d sent him to shower on his own, volunteering to switch his laundry to dry but really just hungry for an opportunity to hear the sounds of him humming and setting the shampoo bottles down too heavily from where you sat on the bed. He’s home, he’s really home.       But....      Starting with the uncharacteristic tears in his eyes at the door, you couldn’t help but feel something was...off. You couldn’t even describe what exactly it was: his behavior wasn’t that different. You were still beyond thrilled to have him near you again. The two of you had immediately settled back into your normal routine without a hitch. And yet...      Throughout your reunion, you’d tried to slip in a few questions here and there; nothing too deep or serious, and though he’d answered, you couldn’t help but feel there was more to the story. It worried you.       The bathroom door swung open, and the familiar smell of Hoseok’s shampoo washed over you, automatically alleviating some of your worry.       “Hey, little fish,” you say with a smile, watching as he wandered to the walk-in closet to find some clothes. “Started to worry you’d drowned in there.” Your smile grows a little bigger at the sound of his laugh from inside the closet and grows to a grin when he finally reappears, dressed in a huge, oversized white t-shirt and gray sweats.      “No way,” he says, giving you a wink. “My swimming skills are too good.”     “I’m relieved.”     He laughs, and the sound is so real it lifts a little more of the worry away. Even so, he can’t completely get rid of the lines of exhaustion on his face.       “Time for bed,” you say more quietly, your eyes locked on his face. “Even little fishes must be tired after almost a month of touring.”      “Mmm,” he agrees, but instead of coming to the bed, he stops to crouch down and hunt through one of his bags. After a moment, he straightens and gives you a little smile. “Close your eyes.”      Pretending to be suspicious, you only narrow them instead. “....Why?”      “Don’t you trust me?” he asks, widening his eyes innocently.      “Oh, stop.” You close your eyes. “It better not be something gross.”      When he laughs, the sound comes from directly in front of you. “Gross? Like what?”      Folding your arms over your chest, you shrug. “I don’t know. Like...a bug. Or a spider. Or a worm!”      “You think I routinely keep live insects in my travel bags?” he deadpans.      “I don’t know. Don’t little fishes like bugs??”      He brushes a kiss to your forehead. “Not as much as they like silly little koalas. Okay. Open.”      You open your eyes slowly and see him holding a delicate silver-chain necklace in front of you. Hanging from the chain is a tiny, silver “H” intertwined with a sapphire-colored gem stone---your favorite. “Oh!” you gasp, looking at him. “Hoseok...it’s beautiful.”      He’s grinning. “Do you like it?”     “So much!” you say as he sits on the bed next to you. “Baby, I really love it.”      “I’m glad. Here, lean forward.” When you do as he says, he reaches to carefully put the necklace on you, moving your hair out of the way so he can fix the clasp.      You catch him as he tries to sit back, giving him a long kiss. “Thank you,” you say sincerely.        He just tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear---and that’s when you notice the other thing in his hand. Noticing your attention, his smile softens a little and he displays the other item: it’s another silver chain, but this one has the first initial of your name intertwined with emerald stones (his favorite). Before you can offer, he reaches up and puts the necklace on himself. “Now we match,” he announces, the tips of his ears going just a little red.       You grin and reach out to kiss him again. “It’s perfect, my hope. I love it. I love you.”      “I love you too,” he says, a lazy grin on his face when you pull apart, and you can once again see how exhausted he is.       “Now,” you announce, reaching up to fix a strand of his still-damp hair, “It’s time for you to get some rest.”      Jumping to his feet, he gives you a ridiculous salute. “Yes, ma’am!” Winking playfully, he turns off the lights, closes the door, and then climbs around to his side of the bed. Once he’s under the covers, his eyes immediately droop. “I am pretty tired,” he admits, his voice soft and small.       Your heart melts a little. “I know.” You lay back a little, still propped up by several pillows, and smile as he automatically curls towards you, resting his head on your chest and cuddling around you, exhaling a long, content breath when he’s settled. “Just rest, baby,” you say softly, brushing your fingers through his hair. “You don’t have a schedule tomorrow, right?”      He shakes his head sleepily. “No...”     “Good. You can sleep for a long time,” you say, your voice slipping into a soothing tone. You hesitate for a moment, then breathe, “Are you sure everything’s okay?”     He’s so close to sleep that it takes him a moment to answer. “Yes...” he says quietly, already drifting off. “Now that...I’m here with...you....Angel, everything’s wonderful...again.”      You don’t entirely believe it, but you decide that right now it doesn’t really matter. “I love you, Jung Hoseok,” you say, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “I’m so glad you’re home.”      “Mmm...” he answers, and then he’s gone, off into an exhausted sleep.       Once his breathing has settled into the even pattern of someone who is sleeping deeply, you reach for your phone again: Namjoon hadn’t messaged you back yet.       It’s fine, you reassure yourself. I’ll find out tomorrow. For now, he’s home. He’s here. Everything will be okay.